Shanks vs. Blackbeard: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win in a Fight?

The fact that the One Piece anime certainly has an abundance of strong and powerful characters allows us to compare these characters quite often, which is what we will do in this article as well, as these are one of our most popular articles. This article will actually be dedicated to two exceptionally powerful characters, two of the Emperors, Shanks, and Blackbeard. In this article, we will analyze the two, as we will pit Shanks against Blackbeard to finally determine the stronger two are.

Shanks is stronger than Blackbeard and would win a fight against him. The only aspect in which Shanks clearly surpasses Blackbeard is his Devil Fruit-related powers, but Shanks has proven himself more than capable of fending off powerful Devil Fruit users with his amazing skills, which means that Blackbeard doesn’t really have such a great advantage as one might think. In all other aspects of battle, Shanks definitely surpasses Blackbeard, and the latter is aware of that, which is why he has avoided fighting Shanks in the past. This is why Shanks is, at this moment, probably the stronger of the two.

What follows, of course, is a detailed analysis of the answer we have given you above. We will portray Shanks and Blackbeard in more detail, giving you a thorough analysis of the issue at hand and the balance of power between the two characters using our usual formula. 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 certain that Shanks is stronger than Blackbeard at this point of the story.

Physical powers

Shanks hasn’t taken part in any significant combat; therefore, his skills are still unclear in the general sense of the word. He is regarded as one of the four strongest characters in the universe, and since he is one of the Four Emperors, his raw physical power is thought to be vast; in fact, Shanks may be currently the strongest among the Four Emperors.

While several pirate commanders quavered at the mere mention of Whitebeard, Shanks had enough strength to stand up to the world’s toughest pirate and did not fear him.

Teach has amazing stamina, as seen by the fact that he could withstand a direct earthquake blow to the face and neck from Whitebeard without losing consciousness, especially given that his Devil Fruit allows him to withstand even more damage. He also avoided permanent injury from a direct strike from the Murakumogiri and could resist a kick to the head from the supernova Jewelry Bonney. He was struck in the chest by two fire spears while fighting Ace, but he was able to heal after putting out the flames (although with the aid of his Logia skills).

Another example of his incredible endurance is his ability to endure two strong attacks—one from Sengoku in his daibutsu form and the other from Luffy utilizing Gear Second—while only suffering minor injuries each time.

Teach’s extraordinary physical strength is further seen when he badly wounds Ace and Luffy with a single hit, sending them both flying backward with great force and distance and even drawing blood (although he both times forbade them from using their abilities). Even though Ace is fire and Luffy is rubber, Teach can still harm both of them.

Now, Blackbeard’s durability is well known in the world of One Piece, and that cannot be denied, but the fact that we have Shanks on the other side remains, undoubtedly, an important fact for this analysis. Shanks is a powerhouse that could stand up even to Whitebeard, and since Blackbeard obviously avoided him for a reason, this point goes to Shanks.

Points: Shanks 1, Blackbeard 0

Devil Fruit

Devil Fruits are often a character’s best power and represent a character’s trademark power. But, a lot of powerful characters in the series never ate a Devil Fruit, and Shanks is the most notable example among them, especially since he was able to become an Emperor of the Sea without a Devil Fruit, being the only one among the Emperors without a Devil Fruit.

Blackbeard consumed the Yami Yami no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit. This fruit enables the user to become or control darkness and absorb anything they desire. It is an extremely potent fruit, similar to the Seastone, that you can use to negate the effects of other devil fruits. He can use a vortex to entice any Devil Fruit owner, enabling him to attack them even if the foe fruit is a Logia type.

Following the events of Impel Down, Blackbeard travels to Marineford and kills Whitebeard, who had already been seriously injured in the fighting. He kills Whitebeard and tucks his body and himself under a blanket. It was thought impossible for anyone to possess two Devil Fruit abilities, but after emerging, Blackbeard could now use Whitebeard’s powers as well. We still don’t know how he managed to do it or how Teach will handle these two powers. Marco claims that this is because of his body’s peculiar and aberrant nature.

This is a pretty easy one, as we have to award the points to Blackbeard, seeing how he possesses two Devil Fruits, while Shanks has zero. Whether Blackbeard would have an advantage because of that remains doubtful, but he still gets this point.

Points: Shanks 1, Blackbeard 1

Haki

Shanks is able to use all three types of Haki, which is a rarity. Whitebeard himself praised him for his Haki when he utilized it during his “visit.” The enormous power of Armament Haki that both Emperors had instilled in their weapons was demonstrated during the battle between Shanks and Whitebeard when the “heavens” above them ripped apart. During the Battle of Marineford, he imbued Armament Haki onto his blade to fend off an Akainu attack in the form of a Logia.

Shanks’ level of Observation of Haki is quite high since he detects a strange presence among the Wano County population. Shanks also has access to Conqueror’s Haki’s one-in-a-million power, which he uses to scare away the Sea King, that attacks Luffy and knocks out Whitebeard’s whole crew.

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. As far as it is known, he cannot use Conqueror’s Haki.

Like in the previous category, we have a clear winner, as Shanks is able to use all three types of Haki, while Blackbeard is able to use only one. With this, the situation is clear.

Points: Shanks 2, Blackbeard 1

Weapons

Typically, Shanks is portrayed as a master swordsman. Given that Mihawk is the best swordsman in the world and also his former adversary, one might assume that Shanks has a very high level of swordsmanship proficiency.

It is assumed that the redhead preferred his left arm before losing it because he is always shown holding his sword in his left hand during flashbacks, even though it is rumored that the redhead once used dual swords, which would explain Mihawk’s lack of interest in fighting him after losing his arm and would match the double swords of the Red Hair’s Jolly Roger. Even without an arm, he was still able to parry Whitebeard in a weapons fight.

When the Whitebeard Pirates began guarding Fish-Man Island, Teach began using claws on his left hand as well as his right hand, which he had previously only utilized for larger claws. Along with the rest of his gang, he was spotted carrying a flintlock when he struck Whitebeard, and he also had three pistols strapped to his sash. He was only seen firing at a critically wounded Whitebeard at point-blank range, an attack the Emperor only barely survived. As a result, his precision with them is not completely demonstrated.

There is absolutely no doubt that Shanks is a more skilled weapons user than Blackbeard. Shanks was able to fight with both Whitebeard and Mihawk, whereas Blackbard’s proficiency with weapons is questionable at best. This is why Shanks wins this final point.

Points: Shanks 3, Blackbeard 1

As things stand at the moment, Shanks is still superior to Blackbeard

If you were wondering as to the winner of this clash, we can confirm that we agree with the points. As per our own analysis, Shanks is currently still the strongest among the Emperors, and while Blackbeard wouldn’t go down without a fight, he would probably lose, based on what we know now. Blackbeard avoided Shanks on more than one occasion, and Blackbeard does that only when he knows that he cannot defeat an opponent, so we think that this action of his speaks for itself.