Izou vs. Guernica: Who Won & Is He Really Stronger?

Everyone knows that One Piece is an anime that certainly has an abundance of strong and powerful characters. This, of course, allows us to compare these characters, which is what we will do in this article as well, as we have done many times before. This One Piece-related comparison, a one in a series of many on Fiction Horizon (as we have said), will focus on Izou and Guernica, a member of the Alliance and a CP0 agent, respectively, who actually clashed in Wano Country in the final phases of the battle. This was one of the final battles in the arc, and in this article, we will analyze the two, as we will pit Izou against Guernica to finally determine the stronger of the two.

And while Izou perished during his fight against Guernica and Maha, he is stronger than Guernica individually; he lost because it was not a fair fight. As a former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Izou is strong and skilled, and he has more skills and abilities than Guernica. As a CP0 agent, Guernica is definitely not weak but is not strong enough to defeat Izou.

As usual, the rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer as we will compare Izou and Guernica in more detail, giving you a thorough analysis of the issue at hand and the balance of power between the two characters. Through several categories, you will see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why we’re quite certain that Izou is stronger than Guernica.

Physical powers

Izou was one of the toughest commanders in Whitebeard’s crew, having direct leadership over many of the Emperor’s subordinates as commander of the Whitebeard Pirates’ 16th Division. A bounty of 510,000,000 Berrys hung over his head, demonstrating the extent of his genuine authority. The fact that a person of the quality of Jinbe, a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, said that all the leaders of the Whitebeard Pirates were extremely strong pirates was also evidence of his strength.

He has even been successful in wounding an opponent with the stature of Kaido, an emperor, and several Oden followers. Sadly, and that is a major issue when Izou is concerned, we never really found out the true extent of his physical abilities, as he was not seen fighting that much.

Guernica has demonstrated incredible fortitude, withstanding Kazenbo’s flames without issue, withstanding a sonic blast from Scratchmen Apoo (which may briefly render Luffy unconscious), and even continuing to battle after facing Izou and being pierced by X Drake’s sword.

But, just like in Izou’s case, we haven’t seen him fight that much, which is why we cannot give a proper, objective evaluation of his powers and abilities now. But he was certainly strong. We do know, though, that he is a master assassin and is able to use Rokushiki, which was enough for him to stop Luffy at one point, which is quite impressive.

Now, the issue with these two is that we don’t really have an objective evaluation of their physical abilities, which is why we can only guess, and our guess is that Izou, due to the versatility of his skills and the fact that he was a respected member of Whitebeard’s crew, is the stronger one, which is why we are awarding the first point to him.

Points: Izou 1, Guernica 0

Devil Fruit

As fans of One Piece know, Devil Fruits are an important element of the whole lore, and many powerful characters have a Devil Fruit that gives them additional powers and abilities. But, there are also many powerful characters without Devil Fruits, some of which are more prominent (like Zoro, Shanks, Garp, or Mihawk), while others are not as popular. Izou is one of the latter – he is powerful but doesn’t really have a Devil Fruit.

The same applies to Guernica as well. He is a lesser-known character from the series, and while he is quite powerful, these powers are not a result of any Devil Fruit, as Guernica has not consumed one in the series. We don’t really have anything to add here as far as Guernica is concerned.

This will be one of those rare occasions when we do not award a point to anyone. The result will be the same, but the difference from our usual approach is that we’re not going to share the points but rather not award them at all. Since neither of the two has any Devil Fruit powers, we cannot really assign points to any of them in this category, which is why the situation remains the same.

Points: Izou 1, Guernica 0

Haki

Like many powerful characters in the series, Izou can use Haki, and as far as it is known, he can use two out of the three types of Haki in the series. Izou possesses a pretty advanced level of Armament Haki, which he can use to imbue the bullets he fires and, thus, add additional power to them. Using this, he even penetrated Kaidou’s extremely hard skin when he shot at him. Izou also possesses the ability to use Observation Haki, but his skill is unknown.

As for Guernica, it is unknown if he is able to use any of the three types of Haki. We can almost certainly exclude Conqueror’s Haki, but we don’t know about the two other types, as we have never seen him use any type of Haki, and Oda has never confirmed that he can use any.

Since we have no clue whether Guernica can use Haki, while we know that Izou can use two of the three types, this conclusion is simple, as we have to give Izou the points, as he clearly surpasses Guernica in this category.

Points: Izou 2, Guernica 0

Weapons

Izou uses two flintlocks. He was shown using a sword when he was younger in Wano Country to aid Oden in defeating Ashura Doji. He was also spotted with a sword during the climactic stages of the Battle of Marineford. Izou has had samurai instruction, although his swordplay is not particularly good. Izou also possessed a high level of accuracy with his handguns, making it possible for him to fire a hundred consecutive successful shots.

He could snap a sword in half and injure its owner with a single shot while using his pistols in close quarters by firing at her just before he cut it down.

As far as weapons are concerned, we haven’t seen Guernica use any. As a CP0 agent, he probably has some skill with weapons, especially because he was a master assassin. He is probably more skilled with bladed weapons than Izou, but not when marksmanship is concerned.

Since we can assume that Guernica is more skilled with bladed weapons than Izou, while Izou is more skilled with firearms than Guernica, we have decided to split the points in this final category.

Points: Izou 3, Guernica 1

Izou wasn’t able to stop Guernica, but it was an unfair fight – in any other scenario, Izou would probably win

Ultimately, we never really doubted that Izou could defeat Guernica in a direct fight, and the points confirm it. As a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was certainly strong, and he obviously possessed more skills and abilities than Guernica. Guernica was not weak, but compared to a former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was not as strong. Izou failed to defeat him simply because it was not a fair fight, as he had to fight one-against-two; had it been a fair fight, he would have won.