‘Nami vs. Kalifa’ by Boichi: Who Won the Fight & Who Is Really Stronger?

The fights in One Piece are often quite interesting and entertaining, which is why we have often written about them here on Fiction Horizon. This article is going to be about two bitter rivals, Nami and Kalifa, but not only that, we are going to focus on the special “Nami vs. Kalifa” chapter that was created by Mangaka Boichi in 2022, which is not part of the canon, but is nevertheless quite interesting, as it is an original reinterpretation of the Enies Lobby fight that the two of them had.

Objectively, the difference in power between Nami and Kalifa is very difficult to describe precisely, but since Nami won their fight in Enies Lobby and did it in a very elegant fashion, it can be deduced that Nami is, indeed, stronger than Kalifa. Despite the fact that Kalifa possesses a Devil fruit and is a member of CP0, Nami has gained significant experience while fighting with Luffy and his crew, and that experience was obviously enough to defeat Kalifa when the two of them faced each other during the Enies Lobby Arc.

What follows, of course, is a detailed analysis of the answer we have given you above. Using our usual formula, we will portray Nami and Kalifa 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 Nami defeated Kalifa. On top of that, we are going to explain their fight in Enies Lobby.

Physical powers

Nami is known for her physical strength and tolerance to injuries. After becoming a wax statue, she was engulfed in a blast of fire generated by Usopp to free her, emerging with minor burns, and then defeated Miss Valentine of the Baroque Works in a single combined move with Bibi.

At Sandy, she stopped the charge of Miss Doublefinger, covered in thorns, despite the aforementioned technique being strong enough to break through a wall and Nami having an injured leg.

Nami also has good stamina: in the past, she robbed many pirates and managed to escape from them, once surviving a bullet at just ten years old. She got up after repeated lethal blows from CP9 member Kalifa and avoided breaking her arm after using an Impact Dial on Hotori. She also possesses excellent agility, as in Water 7, she leaps from roof to roof of various buildings during a run. After two years of training, Nami grew stronger and more agile, having immobilized Wanda, a Mink Musketeer, in an acrobatic move, even though the latter had been poisoned.

Kalifa has a Doriki level of 630. Despite being the weakest member of the CP9, this number is much higher than that of an ordinary person and is higher than 500, the threshold beyond which one is considered superhuman. She proved her strength several times, knocking out Mozu and Kiwi of the Franky Family with one kick each and blocking three carriages of the Puffing Tom with her whips while she was on a train in full swing.

She did the same thing with Franky, a cyborg with amazing strength. She also has tremendous stamina; in fact, she endured a swarm of Thunder Balls from Nami while standing and survived after a powerful bolt from her hit her directly in the chest. Since the time skip, Kalifa’s abilities have improved overall, as evidenced by her promotion to a member of CP0, the strongest organization among the Cipher Pols.

Based on the fact that the two of them have shown a similar set of skills and abilities, we cannot really tell the difference here, which is why we are going to split the points.

Points: Nami 1, Kalifa 1

Devil Fruit

Nami is among the many powerful characters in One Piece who have never eaten a Devil Fruit. Sure, she is not as strong as Zoro, Mihawk, or Shanks, but she is nevertheless a tricky and dangerous opponent despite her lack of any special powers in this category.

As a reward for the success of her mission in Water 7, Kalifa received, from Spandam, the Paramecia-type Awa Awa no Mi, which gives the ability to generate soap bubbles and foam with which to steal the strength of opponents and to remove the friction from what it touches, thus preventing those affected from moving. Furthermore, she can cushion the attacks received by covering her with soap.

It is quite clear that this point has to go to Kalifa, as Nami doesn’t have a Devil Fruit, while Kalifa does.

Points: Nami 1, Kalifa 2

Haki

Nami cannot use any type of Haki, as far as we know. This makes sense, seeing how she was never really perceived as a powerful fighter, which means that she had to resort to other skills to survive.

Kalifa is able to use Armament and Observation Haki, which is a relatively common combination, but it is assumed that her proficiency with them is not that high, which means that it can be easily countered.

As per our usual practice, we also have to award this point to Kalifa, since Nami cannot use any Haki.

Points: Nami 1, Kalifa 3

Weapons

Initially, Nami used a simple stick that could be divided into three parts, which she wore hidden under her shirt. Before the events of the Alabasta kingdom, aware that her weapon can only help her fight low-level pirates, she asks Usopp to build her a more powerful one. The sniper designs her Clima-Tact for her, focusing on her extraordinary talent as a navigator and her ability to predict climate change.

During the fight with Miss Doublefinger, Nami initially misinterprets the instruction manual and fails to use her weapon, but then learns to achieve maximum effect. She later learns to use Clima-Tact so well that the opponent doesn’t even know what’s happening, thus catching them by surprise.

Later, Usopp upgrades the weapon with some Dials obtained in Skypiea, resulting in the Perfect Clima-Tact. With this power-up, Nami can stun a large number of marines in Enies Lobby, as well as defeat CP9’s Kalifa. After two years, her abilities have increased even more, and she managed to destroy a bar with a single powerful bolt. During her confrontation with Usopp and Brook with the Neptune Army, she sports her new Sorcery Clima-Tact. This is the third version of her original weapon, which she is currently using.

Kalifa’s signature weapon are her thorned whips, and as we’ve seen, she is quite proficient with them. It is unknown whether she has any other weapons-related skills and abilities.

Since Nami’s weapons proved to be better than Kalifa’s in the series, we can clearly deduce that Nami takes this final point.

Points: Nami 2, Kalifa 3

Nami defeated Kalifa in Enies Lobby, and that fight was a pretty objective assessment of their powers

Before we explain why, despite the points, we think that Nami is stronger, allow us to recap the battle for you as it happened.

Kalifa initially watches from above Nami, who, after finding her Sanji, whom Kalifa had defeated earlier, decides to face her, but once she enters her room, she falls into one of her soap traps that take away her strength. Kalifa wastes time playing with Nami, who quickly understands the nature of her powers, irritating her. After a series of blows, Kalifa wraps her arms around Nami and covers her in soap. However, before he can deliver the coup de grace, Chopper bursts in and ruins her plans. Kalifa mistakes the animal for her opponent.

Nami, however, realizes that the water washes away her soap, restoring her strength. Kalifa returns to the counterattack, but Nami has now devised a strategy and takes full advantage of her Clima Tact to definitively defeat the agent of the World Government. Nami later rips off her clothes until she finds her number two key in her possession.

As you can see, Kalifa initially had the upper hand, but with Chopper’s help, she realized how Kalifa could be defeated. Namely, once you understand the weakness of her Devil Fruit powers, she is a relatively easy opponent, even for Nami, who is not known for being a great fighter.

This is why Nami’s tactical intelligence, as well as her weapons skills, were enough to overpower the nominally stronger CP agent, and that is why we think that, despite what the numbers have revealed to us, Nami’s fight against Kalifa was an objective description of their skills and abilities, and that Nami would, indeed, triumph over her in another fight.