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. We are going to focus on the pirates of One Piece, but instead of Luffy, we’re going to focus on the “Two Beards” of the series – Edward Newgate, known as Whitebeard, and Marshall D. Teach, known as Blackbeard. Who would win in a fight between the two?
Blackbeard would stand no chance against Whitebeard in a direct one-on-one fight. Sure, he managed to slay him in the end, but it was only because he stole his Devil Fruit, attacked him with his whole crew at the same time, and because Whitebeard was severely exhausted. Blackbeard knew that Whitebeard would kick his ass in a direct fight, which is why he avoided it.
The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Blackbeard and Whitebeard 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 Whitebeard would ultimately able to defeat Blackbeard if they had fought one-on-one.
Physical powers
Whitebeard was known as the strongest man in the world. Even being the strongest for over twenty years and getting old, his physical powers were still far superior to a giant. This is shown during the Marineford arc when he easily parries John Giant’s punch and when he easily defeats the giant Lonz. Another of his amazing displays of strength is that he single-handedly stopped the Moby Dick with ease where Squard was going.
He also has monstrous stamina to stand up and continue fighting after being stabbed by Squard, Akainu’s impact that put a huge hole in his chest, the same one he killed Ace with and was still able to pummel the Admiral, a bolt from Kizaru, and the countless bullets, cannonballs, and sword slashes from the Marines.
In his best years, he was able to fight hand to hand against Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates, and they fought for three days and three nights in a row. Whitebeard seemed to have some health problems, possibly stemming from his old age and heavy drinking. When he was not in battle, he was always surrounded by nurses, used oxygen tubes, and was hooked up to IV tubes and life support systems; despite this, he used to drink sake excessively.
However, Marco noted that Whitebeard’s health had worsened and he no longer had the reflexes to avoid Squard’s surprise attack, which was, in the past, an easy thing for him to pull off. Despite his failing health, Whitebeard was still considered the strongest and most dangerous pirate in the world, which raises the question of how powerful he must have been in his prime.
He could move at considerable speeds, having managed to sneak up on Akainu with the latter only noticing once some soldiers warned him to look behind him. The fact that he launched a surprise attack against the Admiral who had very keen hearing also shows that Whitebeard could be impressively stealthy, despite his gigantic size.
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 fight with Ace, he was injured in the chest by two fire spears, but after dousing the flames, he was able to shake off the impact of the attack (albeit with the help of his logia powers). Another indication of his sheer stamina is that he received a furious attack from Luffy using Gear Second and was hit by Sengoku in his daibutsu form and came away with minor injuries both times.
Teach also possesses tremendous physical strength which is demonstrated when he severely injures both Luffy and Ace in a single blow, sending them both back to collide with incredible force and distance, even drawing blood, despite Ace being fire and Rubber Luffy (although both times he didn’t allow them to use their powers).
The chubby Blackbeard could take a punch and keep standing on his feet, since he has incredible stamina, but he was no match for Whitebeard’s strength, which is why the point goes to Newgate.
Points: Whitebeard 1, Blackbeard 0
Devil Fruit
Whitebeard ate a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Gura Gura no Mi which granted him the ability to slice through the air and anything in front of his attack; he could thus cause Tsunamis and Earthquakes, gripping the air with his fingers and could also cut very large portions of land and sea causing them to wobble. By combining this ability with his Bisento, he could also make slashing attacks with it.
According to Sengoku, its fruit is capable of destroying the world. We can notice that it is one of the only characters of One Piece not to give a name to his techniques. Its tremors also allow it to resist the freezing of Aokiji and were felt throughout the whole world. Moreover, Teach, who does not master the fruit, has caused Tsunamis as far as the Sabaody Archipelago.
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.
This is the only category in which Blackbeard can be considered to fight on equal terms to Whitebeard. Namely, the Yami Yami no Mi is similar in power to the Gura Gura no Mi and that is why we decided to split the points here.
Points: Whitebeard 2, Blackbeard 1
Haki
Whitebeard perfectly mastered the three types of Haki. His highly developed mastery of Observation Haki is demonstrated in flashbacks with Ace, where Whitebeard was easily able to counter him while he slept, however, during the war, this ability seems to have diminished as Squardo would go on hitting him with an attack that Marco judged avoidable for him.
It also seems that he managed to put his Armament Haki in his Bisento, with that he can destroy boats or even small villages. Whitebeard has used his Armament Haki on Admirals several times. Fossa informs everyone that Whitebeard possesses the Royal Haki during the Battle of Marineford. Newgate uses it when he crosses paths with Gol D. Roger on his journey and they clash.
Teach can use two of the three types of Haki. He can use Observation Haki, being able to measure Luffy’s strength and his latent Haki twice. Teach can use Armament Haki, but his prowess with it is unknown.
This is a clear category as well, as Whitebeard can use all three types of Haki, and is a master in all three, whereas Blackbeard can only use two, and he is not a true master in any of them. Whitebeard wins.
Points: Whitebeard 3, Blackbeard 1
Weapons
Edward Newgate’s weapon of choice is revealed to be a Bisento, a huge Japanese halberd. It is a sharp weapon, measuring its size, that is to say nearly 5 meters. By concentrating his Haki in his Bisento, Whitebeard can send dozens of opponents flying with a single blow. With Whitebeard’s tremendous powers and combat talents, the Bisento is a fearsome and quite powerful weapon.
As proof, this one allows him to measure himself against Shanks’ saber, which caused an atmospheric type tear in the sky during their exchange of blows.
Also, the Bisento is very resilient, as it managed to stop Akainu’s magma attacks without being melted, or a two-handed charge from John Giant without shaking. The Bisento can also be used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit powers to maximize the devastation done by his attacks or even be imbued with Haki to injure Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
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.
Teach is a skilled weapons user, but he cannot match Whitebeard’s Bisento in any way. Whitebeard is a weapons master and he clearly wins this point as well.
Points: Whitebeard 4, Blackbeard 1
Whitebeard vs. Blackbeard: Who would win?
Whitebeard not only defeats but completely trashes Blackbeard in a direct fight. Save for his Devil Fruit, there’s absolutely nothing that Blackbeard could use to harm Whitebeard in a direct clash. But, having said this, you’re probably wondering how Blackbeard managed to kill Whitebeard? Well, when this happened, the first thing that Blackbeard did was steal Whitebeard’s Devil Fruit power.
After that, he proceeded to attack Whitebeard with this whole crew simultaneously and we cannot forget that Whitebeard was more than exhausted when all of this happened. This is why Blackbeard managed to kill Whitebeard – not because he’s stronger, but because he did not fight fair.
Whitebeard is absolutely stronger than Blackbeard and regardless of the fact that the latter killed the former, Whitebeard would still win a direct fight between the two of them.
