MIHAWK’S ORIGINS, PAST AND ABILITIES! THE BLACK BLADE SECRET!! THE FUTURE OF SWORDSMAN!

To be unmatched, means to never find a worthy challenger
To be the strongest, means the weak will cower at your feet
To be the greatest, means to have ants try to take your head
To be the best, means to stand on a lonely pedestal

Hello everybody and welcome back to another theory for your entertainment. This time we shall dive into the origins of the mysterious “Hawk-Eye” Mihawk so lets straight to it. Apologies in advance if this topic seems sloppy or poorly put together as it was very tricky to organize and my CPU was very slow which make me rush through this a little bit. I’m also speculating quite a bit so take some things I say with a grain of salt.

Lets start with Mihawk’s birth. I’m sure plenty of you have heard the theory of Mihawk being the son of Rayleigh and Shakki. Reason many people believe that is because:
-Mihawk is 43 years old and Shakki quit being a pirate over 40 years ago

-Mihawk is based off Dracula and Silver is the only substance that can kill him
-Dracule means “Son of Dracula” and Rayleigh’s epithet is “Dark King.”
-Both are swordsman
-Both have/had similar coats

Shakki nonchalantly says Rayleigh “has a good time” with other women as if she doesn’t care. Not to mention that they never refer to each other as “dear, honey etc.” It seems that they like simple friends with benefits *wink wink* However, that could just be their pirate attitudes and lifestyle and Mihawk is Rayleigh’s son after all.

Either way, Rayleigh DID have a an impact on Mihawk’s childhood. Rayleigh was the one who gave Mihawk that coat he wears today and Mihawk and Rayleigh’s sword styles are kind of similar(judging from Rayleigh vs Kizaru and Mihawk vs Vista). Both are “power type” swordsmen who uses two handed blades. Also, Rayleigh sword is slightly curved and looks like a saber.

I later realized that someone else’s style is similar to Rayleigh’s

“Red Hair” Shanks who also wields a saber. Both Shanks and Mihawk were trained by Rayleigh(separately). Shanks is a speed type and Mihawk is a power type. They are opposite in both style and personality. I’ll get more into their rivalry later.
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I think the most prominent feature of Mihawk are his infamous “hawk eyes.”

In fantasy, gold/yellow eyes are used to depict characters of supernatural and/or extraordinary origin. So in the world of One Piece, what kind of origin would be depicted as “extraordinary.” Being the son of Rayleigh isn’t so extraordinary since Ace was the son of the pirate king(but it is obviously a crazy birth and lineage). As a child, Mihawk was taken in by this man…..

Gorosei Gandhi.

Before anyone stabs me again, look at this:

Mihawk has that same mark on his arm like Doflamingo and Blueno. What does that mark mean? Doflamingo is a tenryubitto and Blueno was a CP9 WG agent. The only way Mihawk can fit in with all this is if that mark represents those with special privileges granted by the Gorosei, despite not being apart of the marines/WG. Doflamingo being a tenryubitto and a pirate and Blueno being away on secret missions that probably has him pose as a criminal. Mihawk is a “tenryubitto” by technicality but is a shichibukai.
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Lets put all the pieces together in order to make everything clear.

Shakki has been retired for over 40 years and we can assume that she’s been living in Sabody Archipelago for many years. She also said that Garp has chased her before. We know that Saboy is a pirate haven and right next to marine headquarters, so it isn’t too unbelievable that Mihawk may have gained attention of the marines for attacking them and pirates as a child. One way or another, Mihawk was taken in by the marines and brought to the Gorosei, where Gorosei Gandhi took a liking to him and put Mihawk in their swordsman training program(ever wondered by almost every VA is a skilled swordsman?).

Mihawk was an unmatched prodigy. No student could beat and that was because of his “hawk eyes” that could see through anything.


No matter the style, speed or tactic, Mihawk could see through it and counter accordingly. His talent was a double edged sword however, as he craved a good challenged but always took victory quickly and swiftly.

Since Mihawk was in Marijoies, he could visit Shakki whenever he pleased in Sabody. One day however, Mihawk meet Slivers Rayleigh in Sabody after the Roger pirates disbanded. For an entire year before Roger’s execution, Mihawk trained with Rayleigh.

Soon enough, it was time for Roger’s execution and Mihawk was in attendance. He was 19 years old and here is where he first meet Shanks.

Notice anything about Mihawk? For one thing, he has that pocket knife around his neck. Mihawk was so gifted in swordsmanship that he handicapped himself by using that little blade so that his fights would last longer. It is shaped like a cross because he kills his opponents in duels.

Second is that he doesn’t have his black sword(or his sexy hat). Where did he get the sword from? Wano-Kuni. Wano is a country of swordsmen. It is an obvious destination for someone like Mihawk who seeks a challenge. Mihawk arrived in Wano and he was once again unmatched. However, Mihawk was impressed by the samurai’s willpower and conviction and the samurais felt the same. Mihawk became an honored guest and the blacksmiths of Wano had a special sword for Mihawk: the black blade Yoru.

Trivia: Yoru literally means “Black Blade Violent Star.” It also means night, to visit, to come from and to depend on.

I’ve made also a theory explaining how cursed swords work and another one about divine/blessed swords.

This got me thinking about Mihawk. Is his sword cursed or blessed?

I think its both.

We know Mihawk’s Yoru is shaped like a cross which is a holy symbol/relic but it is a black blade which symbolizes something demonic or impure. Mihawk doesn’t have ties with angels or demons. In a way, Mihawk is a fallen angel or an arch demon which roams the human realm.

Mihawk lives in an abandoned, moody castle surrounded by death. It is a pretty unholy environment but it is balanced out with a cross for safe passage and rest for the dead.

There are baboons roaming the area who attacks any trespassers. In Japan, monkey statues are used to ward off evil spirits and demons(Zoro).

Once again, Mihawk doesn’t take a clear stance on good or evil. In the link above, I said that all cursed/blessed swords has a soul trapped inside. A good spirit makes a divine weapon and a bad spirit makes a cursed weapon.

The soul of Mihawk’s Yoru is a neutral spirit.

Unlike Zoro’s Sandai Kitetsu which gradually makes its wielder more bloodthirsty, the Yoru makes its wielder crave a certain desire and for Mihawk, it was a good challenge. However, Mihawk quickly claimed dominance over his blade when his desire was realized when he meet Shanks.

Lastly, Dracule is inspired by the vampire Dracula who was inspired by real life tyrant Vlad the Impaler, who was a holy knight. Mihawk is a holy knight purging angels and demons while seeking for a worthy challenger/successor.

With his new sword, Mihawk of course wanted to test it. Since he wasn’t too familiar with the New World, he went on a dojo hunt(or elephant hunt) for strong swordsman in the Grand Line. Mihawk kept searching for elephants to fight but all he got were ants.

When he finally meet an elephant, his convinction and dedication to the way of the swordsman was pathetic. Eventually, Mihawk once again ran into Shanks. Of course, the goofy Shanks asked Mihawk to join his crew and Mihawk agreed on one condition: Shanks must first defeat him in a duel. It was the start of the infamous rivalry that shook the Grand Line. As years went by, Mihawk became the Worlds Strongest Swordsman and ants constantly came after his head. It didn’t bother him though as he had an elephant in Red Hair Shanks, who’s duels with him has constantly ended in draws. The duels didn’t last too long however, as Mihawk was devastated to learn that Shanks had lost his arm.

Mihawk is very proud and there is no honor in fighting a handicapped person. Mihawk lost interest in fighting Shanks and was in quite a dilemma as he no longer had a strong swordsman to fight.

His days were consumed with random ants challenging him and the lack of real swordsmen made him weary. Mihawk accepted to WG’s shichibukai invitation in order to increase his chances of locating elephants or potential elephants and keep track of them.

To be the best, means to stand on a lonely pedestal

Mihawk travels around in a coffin because it symbolizes his desire to be defeated in battle; his desire to be put to rest by one of great conviction; his desire to be killed by a real swordsman(remember that duels typically ends in death). Mihawk is in a way, trying to dig his own grave. Even though Mihawk wants to be bested, he has a lot of pride and he truly loves and cares about swordsmanship and won’t give the title of WSS to any random insect that challenges him. The utter lack of quality swordsman once again, makes him weary.

Mihawk’s weariness is made clear in his first fight with Zoro

But as you know, Mihawk was very impressed by Zoro’s conviction. For the first time, at least in a long while, Mihawk has encountered a real swordsman. Zoro is the last great swordsman of his generation and will be the last one standing and laughing when he becomes the WSS.

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As you know, Zoro begged Mihawk for training and Mihawk agreed. What intrigues me the most are the results of Zoro training. For starters, it seems like Zoro learned a lot more than sword techniques.

Also, have any of you noticed that the black blade Shuusui has become Zoro’s favorite blade for one-sword style attacks?

And lets not forget Mihawk’s teachings about black CoA blades

With all this emphasis on black blades, I decided to do some research and discovered that Zoro’s Shuusui and Mihawk’s Yoru may also be based on the popular black blades stormbringer and mournblade respectively.

The strombringer and mournblade are chaotic blades made by demons and are “brother” swords. Zoro’s sword being based of stormbringer is symbolic as he is traveling with Luffy and ‘D’ will forever bring forth a storm and he stormbringer is known to fill the weilders head with bloodlust. Mihawk’s blade is shaped like a cross which is like he is mourning the souls of the dead.

*Theory by Vandenreich