Garp vs. Blackbeard: Who Would Win in a Fight?

One Piece is an anime that certainly has its fair share of strong and powerful characters. While we usually do use Luffy for these comparisons, this one is going to be a tad different. Blackbeard is known as one of the biggest nuisances in the One Piece franchise and we honestly doubt that there is anyone that likes him. Not only is he responsible for the deaths of Ace and Whitebeard, but he also has a very detestable personality. On the other hand, Monkey D. Garp, Luffy’s grandfather, is known as one of the most powerful Marines in the whole story. In this article, we are going to compare Blackbeard and Garp to see who would win in a fight.

Blackbeard would win in a fight against Garp. At this moment, Blackbeard is, thanks to his two Devil Fruits, stronger than Garp. Garp might be physically superior to him, but Blackbeard’s two Devil Fruits make him a truly formidable foe that would be able to defeat Garp. On the other hand, a younger version of Garp could definitely defeat a younger Blackbeard with just one Devil Fruit.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Blackbeard and Monkey D. Garp in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Blackbeard would ultimately be able to defeat Monkey D. Garp if they fought directly.

Physical powers

Garp’s fists are incredibly powerful. In fact, they are so powerful, that one punch of his was able to hurt Luffy and make him feel pain and in the War, he managed to hurt Marco in his Phoenix form with a single punch. This is because he is an expert user of haki. Also, his alias “Garp the Fist” is due to this quality and he calls it “Fist of Love”.

He claimed to have crushed eight mountains during his training to face Chinjao. In addition to his legendary strength, Garp has extreme stamina and an absurd tolerance for pain, as shown when he was attacked by Captain Morgan and was able to withstand the cut from Morgan’s ax without issue or pain, however. this can be attributed to him being asleep during the incident (he also did not wake up).

He also fell from the execution platform and despite this, he managed to get up with few injuries despite receiving a blow before the fall that would also damage him to the joy and surprise of other marines who were glad that he was still alive after that fall and still had enough strength to prevent to Jesus Burgess attacking Sengoku when he was fighting with Blackbeard and managing to knock out and surprise his strength.

Garp has shown to possess incredible speed (possibly greater than that of CP9’s Soru), as he was able to dodge all of the Straw Hats and reach Luffy to knock him awake. It is evident that Whitebeard respects Garp’s strength as he mentioned during his talk with Shanks. It should also be noted that Garp is not seen carrying any weapons, aside from the cannonballs he throws, implying that he is more likely a hand-to-hand fighter like his grandson.

He is a great teacher as he was able to make Koby and Helmeppo into capable fighters in a short amount of time and was also selected to be an instructor. He was also the one who trained Luffy and Ace, making them strong enough to set sail on their own. Gol D. Roger said that he and Garp nearly killed each other on many occasions. The fact that Garp could fight Gol D. Roger implies that he is one of the strongest characters in the series.

Teach has incredible stamina, as shown when he took an earthquake blow from Whitebeard squarely to the face and neck, without losing consciousness especially since his Devil Fruit allows him to take even more damage. He also withstood a direct hit from the Murakumogiri without taking any lasting damage and was able to withstand a kick to the head from the supernova Jewelry Bonney.

During his combat with Ace, he was struck in the chest by two fire spears but was able to recover after extinguishing the flames (albeit with the help of his logia powers). His ability to withstand two powerful attacks—one from Sengoku in his daibutsu form and the other from Luffy using Gear Second—while only receiving minor injuries each time is another illustration of his amazing endurance.

Teach also possesses incredible physical strength, which is demonstrated when he severely hurts both Ace and Luffy in a single blow, sending them both back to collide with incredible force and distance and even drawing blood (although both times he didn’t allow them to use their powers). Ace is fire, and Luffy is Rubber, but Teach still managed to hurt them both.

This is actually a category where Garp is far superior. We’re not implying that Teach is physically weak, but Garp has so much power that he could blast even the extremely durable Teach into nothingness with his fists. That is why Garp wins the first point.

Points: Garp 1, Blackbeard 0

Devil Fruit

Monkey D. Garp is one of the rare characters that are on such a high level of power but don’t have any Devil Fruit powers. Monkey D. Garp never ate a Devil Fruit in his life, which is why, ultimately, we don’t have anything additional to say as far as this category is concerned; at least when Monkey D. Garp is in question.

Blackbeard ate the Yami Yami no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit. This fruit allows becoming, mastering darkness, and absorbing anything the user wishes. It is a very powerful fruit that allows you to cancel the power of another Devil Fruit, a bit like Sea Granite. He can lure any Devil Fruit possessor with a vortex, allowing him to hit them even if the enemy fruit is a Logia type.

We, therefore, understand why Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, came to see Whitebeard to tell him that Ace should not go looking for Blackbeard. After the events of Impel Down, Blackbeard goes to Marine Ford and finishes off Whitebeard, already badly injured. After killing Whitebeard, he hides himself and Whitebeard’s body under a sheet.

He emerges with the power of tremor, making him the holder of two Devil Fruit powers, a fact that was considered to be impossible. How he went about stealing it is still unknown, nor do we know how Teach can handle these two powers. According to Marco, this is due to a particular and abnormal structure of his body.

Since Garp has no Devil Fruit, whereas Blackbeard has two in total, we have to give this point to Blackbeard. But, even if Garp had one Devil Fruit, he still would have lost in this category because Blackbeard is the only known possessor of two Devil Fruits.

Points: Garp 1, Blackbeard 1

Haki

Garp is able to use Haki because he is a Vice Admiral. Garp has the ability to use Observation Haki. Dr. Fishbonen advised Koby to ask Garp for help in mastering Observation Haki when he awakens it, saying that he has sufficient knowledge of it to help others. Garp has proven to be a very skilled user of Armament Haki, as evidenced by his multiple injuries to Luffy despite the latter’s rubber body.

Thirty years ago, he was able to cover his fist with haki, which allowed him to defeat and even crush Chinjao’s haki-enhanced drill-like head, demonstrating his superior superiority over an Armament Haki user who was already quite strong. He struck and hurt Marco during the Battle of Marineford, despite the fact that Marco was in his regenerating Phoenix Form. Garp hits Luffy in the head with a technique known as Ai Aru Kobushi, which is a straightforward yet effective strike laced with Armament Haki to harm him. It has been established that he also applied it to Ace when he was a young boy.

Teach can use two of the three types of Haki. He can use Observation Haki, as was seen when he was able to measure Luffy’s strength and his latent Haki on two occasions. Teach can also use Armament Haki, but his prowess with it is unknown.

There is no doubt that Garp’s Haki techniques are far superior to those of Blackbeard. Blackbeard relies mostly on his Devil Fruit powers, so he is lacking in most other categories, including this one. This is why Garp wins this one.

Points: Garp 2, Blackbeard 1

Weapons

Until now, Garp has been seen throwing cannonballs (including a gigantic one). His fists could also be considered a weapon.

When he was younger Teach used claws on his right hand, seen with larger ones, and now on his left hand as well when the Whitebeard Pirates started protecting Fish-Man Island. He was seen wearing a flintlock when he gave Whitebeard the killing blow along with the rest of his gang, and he also has three pistols strapped to his sash.

His accuracy with them is not fully shown, as he was only seen emptying his ammunition into a heavily wounded Whitebeard at point-blank range, an attack the Emperor withstood for a short time.

As far as this category goes, the lack of information related to Garp’s prowess with weapons forced our hand here, so we had to give the last point to Teach. But, knowing how clumsy Luffy is with weapons, it could easily be a family trait of theirs.

Points: Garp 2, Blackbeard 2

Monkey D. Garp vs. Marshall D. Teach (Blackbeard): Who would win?

And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

If you remember our comparison of Kaido and Blackbeard, you’ll know that we had a very similar situation back then. The difference was that we had to declare Blackbeard the winner, although Kaido had almost all of the points on his side. Here, we’re dealing with a tie, but regardless of that, the victor would still be Blackbeard and because of the same reasons as then.

Namely, Blackbeard was never much as a character without his Devil Fruits. Sure, he had exceptional endurance (and with so much fat, it’s not even surprising), but he wasn’t really skilled with weapons, nor was he a great Haki user. Sure, Teach was more powerful than most of the characters in One Piece, but he was not the in the top tier if you removed the Devil Fruits. His initial Devil Fruit, the Yami Yami no Mi, was powerful enough to put him in the top tier, but when he stole Whitebeard’s Devil Fruit as well, he automatically became one of the series’ most powerful characters, despite the fact that he is still a coward who avoids any fight he is not sure he can win easily.

If you removed his Devil Fruits, Blackbeard would be an easy target for Garp. The guy is a true powerhouse and he would kick Blackbeard’s ass in no time, without much trouble. But, since we know that Blackbeard would not fight fair and that he would use his Devil Fruits, we simply have to declare him the winner of this duel.