Tag Archives: Shichibukai

True to his epithet, “Hawk Eyes”, Dracule Mihawk has exceptional eyesight, able to easily track Luffy’s high-speed Gear Second movements, and strike with extreme precision, releasing a long-range slash at him while there was a chaotic battlefront of New World pirates and Marine officers between them.

In addition, he is also a talented teacher: after training Zoro for two years, he accomplished more than the dojo had achieved in the many years Zoro had trained there (though it helped that Zoro’s skills were already greatly developed by the time he became Mihawk’s disciple). Zoro himself even admitted that even after training with Mihawk during the entirety of the (time-skip), while talking down to Pica, an elite officer of the former Donquixote Pirates, that he (Zoro) is still not anywhere near Mihawk’s level of skill with swordsmanship, further attesting to Mihawk’s combat and fighting prowess.

 

Mihawk’s strength is so great that Don Krieg accuses him of having the power of a Devil Fruit. While it has not yet been confirmed that he does not, the Databooks indicate that his abilities are from pure skill and power. This makes Mihawk the only known Shichibukai whose strength is based solely on human abilities (Jinbe being a Fishman).

His first demonstration of power was defeating all but one of Don Krieg’s fleet of 50 ships and 5,000 men by himself just before a storm struck. Perhaps the most accurate and evident demonstration of his incredible power is the fact that he has remained unharmed during the whole series thus far.

He is shown to have a strong will as he was able to resist Luffy’s Haki and be one of the few to still be able fight despite others around him falling unconscious. He also has great mental strength, shown when he is not one of the men to fall for the charms of Boa Hancock while most men easily fall for the pirate empress’ beauty and turned to stone.

Mihawk travels around in a coffin-shaped raft with two green-flamed candles, a single black sail, and a single seat. The fact that he can traverse the unforgiving oceans, as well as the Grand Line itself, in such a meager craft is yet another testament to his abilities.

The fact that Mihawk used to be a rival of one of the Yonko implies that Mihawk might be one of the strongest characters in the series.

Although he has never been seen resorting to physical combat outside of swordplay, his fortitude suggests that he naturally possesses superhuman strength and resilience, as he applied tremendous strength behind all of his swings, enough to split battleships and a mountain of ice with ease. Additionally, during his duel with Zoro, he was capable of effortlessly fending off his own superhuman strength with only one arm.

It is especially worth noting that, during the Battle of Marineford, while the Whitebeard Pirates (one of the strongest pirate crews in the world, with top members Whitebeard and Ace being killed, Marco being heavily-wounded and Jozu losing his right arm), the Marine Admirals (with Akainu taking a severe beating from Whitebeard’s attacks and Aokiji being harmed for the first time in the whole series) and the Shichibukai (with Moriah, Kuma, Teach and former members Crocodile and Jinbe being heavily-wounded) had very difficult battles, Mihawk had remained truly unscathed through the whole conflict.

Because of his status, defeating him is Roronoa Zoro’s ultimate goal. Mihawk also seems to have great strength, as he was able to stop Zoro, a formidable swordsman with great mastery and enormous strength even to launch entire buildings and destroy them with powerful slashes, with only a single dagger, and handling it with just one hand.

In terms of combat, Mihawk is the single greatest swordsman alive in the One Piece world, naturally commenting on his immense mastery of swordsmanship: back in the East Blue Saga (where Zoro, while at his weakest in the storyline, was still notorious across that entire stretch of ocean as the “Pirate Hunter” and had effectively mastered both “Santoryu” and “Nitoryu” fighting styles), he was capable of effortlessly defeating a three sword-wielding Zoro with the single “crucifix” knife, his Kogatana, hung around his neck disguised as a pendant, generally used as a dinner knife.

He has been known to have frequently fought with Shanks when they were younger. He is also skilled at teaching, as he was shown to have taught Zoro quite extensively during their two years together.

Mihawk demonstrates an immense skill in swordsmanship especially in reference to his Yoru. Having the abilities to slice and destroy entire fleets of ships or giant icebergs and yet graceful enough to deflect the course of bullets with only a slight touch. He is also able to cut through steel with ease and rapidity, as demonstrated with the steel-bodied Mr. 1, whom even Zoro struggled to beat.

This theory is based on the possibility that the character Donquixote Doflamingo was inspired by/based on the ancient Roman Emperor Commodus. This can perhaps shed some light on Doflamingo’s character in the near future, or just make for an interesting comparison (I hope ). There are parallels between Dressrossa and Ancient Rome too that can perhaps explain why Commodus may have been an inspiration for Doffy, but I placed that section at the very end. I will try my best to condense/expand it in the coming few days, any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Commodus & Doflamingo

Emperor Commodus was notorious for his behaviour and government decisions. Ancient Roman historians credit him for transforming Rome “from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust” (Cassius Dio).

Similarly Doflamingo’s rise to power in Dressrosa brought about a lot of tragedy. Commodus, unlike most of his predecessors was born into the imperial family, the son of Marcus Aurelius, he viewed the throne as his birthright and did not bother to justify his actions. Sounds familiar?

Like Doflamingo being a Celestial Dragon and not understanding why he should be deprived of his birthright. Similarly Marcus Aurelius was known for his humanity, a bit like Donquixote Homing. Commodus was unpopular with the ruling elite (Donquixote and Riku family) but was very popular with the Army and the common people (in large part thanks to his elaborate gladiatorial games).

Commodus had a twin brother who died in his youth and numerous sisters. He executed both of his brother-in-laws, cousin for conspiring against him and there are rumours that he killed his father (this rumour was adopted into the movie “The Gladiator”). Thus like Doflamingo, he committed patricide and to a certain extent, fratricide as well.

Early on in his life Commodus was supposedly led astray by his companions and “through them that he at first, out of ignorance, missed the better life and then was led on into lustful and cruel habits, which soon became second nature.” (Cassius Dio). This is similar to how Trebol gifted Doffy the gun who then used to kill his own father and of course his younger brother (not sure if the gun was the same).

Commodus suffered from megalomania, strongly believing in his own god-like status, physical strength and superiority to everyone else. He possessed immense physical strength and often participated in the gladiatorial fights and hunts he staged for the people. It was more of a sport for him. Something we see in Doflamingo who takes on hits like nobody’s business, mostly fearless, immensely strong as well. Similarly the people closest to Commodus attempted to assassinate him, most notably his sisters and his mistress. The people closest to Doflamingo attempt to do the same, Rocinante, Baby 5, Law. Other assassination plots failed too, as Commodus survives and seeks revenge. Similar to how Doflamingo survives the murder attempt(s) from Mariejois and seeks vengeance on the Celestial Dragons.
In the end, Commodus is strangled by his wrestling partner and after his death he is declared as a public enemy by the government who destroy all his statues.

What could this mean for Doflamingo?

I think Doflamingo will probably not end up in Impel Down, he will either be killed on the way there (CP0? Kaido?Blackbeard?) or somehow escapes before his arrival there and will meet his end elsewhere in the New World.
His death would cause chaos in the underground network and will end an era of the stable rule of the Yonkos. Just how Commodus’ death marked the end of an entire dynasty. I added Blackbeard as one of the potential killers because we all know how he likes to take advantage of someone’s weakened position and is on the hunt for powerful devil fruits and he String-String fruit is definitely an unusual one.

It will act as a trigger for supernovas to take action (as some of them have begun already) against the Yonkou and WG. A war between various pirate factions will be a possibility too. A point of no return of sorts for the “old powers” in the New World, the beginning of their decline. Just how Commodus’ reign and death was said to begin the end of the Roman Empire.

Dressrosa & Ancient Rome
I know most people say that Dressrosa is meant to be Spain, but to me it seemed encompass a general Mediterranean theme and Spain was part of the Roman empire and thus still has various monuments in the Greco-Roman style. The vibrant colours, climate, passion (regional stereotype) architectural elements and so on reflect that pretty well.
But the moment I saw the aerial view of Dressrosa it really reminded me of the models of ancient Rome.

Corrida Colosseum is a given of course, it even ends up mimicking the damage of the real Colosseum after Pica goes berserk. Interestingly, the real Colosseum was damaged by an earthquake (earth damage/shifts parallels Pica’s power in a way).

The underground part of Corrida Colosseum with all its corridors and cages is inspired by the underground network of its real-life counterpart and both can get filled with water.

But the Corrida Colosseum in Dressrosa is a perfect example of the classic Roman political tool: Bread and Games. A tool used by every self-respecting, ambitious Roman politician since way back when. Similarly Doflamingo, keeps the people in Dressrosa happy with grand architecture and spectacles on the arena, distracting them from the dark side of the reality. Perhaps it is not a coincidence for this arc to have so many parallels with ancient Roman history and some of its historical figures. That’s about it. Let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading it!

*Theory by laconicstrawhat

Given that all members of the Kuja tribe are named after flowers, it is possible that her first name comes from the scientific name for the snowberry, a plant known for its showy flowers, symphoricarpos chenaultii hancock. Her family name, Boa, comes from the boa, a group of constricting snakes.

Boa can also mean “good” in Portuguese and is used as an expression to refer to attractive women.

She is one of the two women who so far have claimed to be the “most beautiful”, the other being Alvida. Both of these women have grown infatuated with Luffy, though Hancock is perhaps the first character in the entire series who has shown feelings identified as romantic love, unlike Alvida, whose feelings for Luffy resemble more of an “admiring love” since Luffy was the first (and only) man to ever punch her.

She is the only known female character that possesses Haoshoku Haki.

First, here’s a little bit information about Pacifista.

The Pacifista are human weapons (人間兵器 ningen-heiki?) developed by Marine head scientist, Dr.Vegapunk. They are cyborgs built in the mold of the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma, who was the prototype for the project. As stated by Sentomaru, the funds required for the construction of just one Pacifista are roughly equal to that of a Marine-issued battleship. Sentomaru noted that after the timeskip period, PX-5 and PX-7 were outdated models from two years ago, meaning that the Pacifista project has been updated and modified. (quoted that from one piece wiki)

I think it’s save to say that Pacifista project is success because no problem caused by them (yet) till now. They existence is very useful for marine and WG as we seen in marine ford war. Even its a weapon Pacifista still bleeding, that’s interesting because that mean that Pacifista isn’t 100 percent robot. (That make another mystery about how they built)

But here’s my point:
Pacifista isn’t in their full potential yet because there’s another thing that can make them stronger like adding devil fruit or adding another devil fruit mechanism just like what they did with Kizarus laser. For devil fruit’s mechanism I think they can add wapometal so pacifista can change shape or even unite to make giant robot. Another thing is, pacifista is just an experiment and its succed. So why stop in it, I mean till now pacifista is just modeled after Kuma. So, the next step is they will make another type of Pacifista. Another human weapon that build in mold of another person beside Kuma. And who do you think will be the next human weapon? Well, take a look at this:

“Tuning humans into giants is a world government research that’s been in development since hundreds of years ago.”
That’s what I’m thinking will be happen, they will make Giants Pacifista. Just think about it, they wanna have giants soldier and now there’s chance to make it. They have everything they need to have Giants pacifista. They have Vegapunk and giant so what they have to do is turning giant into Pacifista just like what they did to Kuma and BOOM!!! They get giants soldier that not just strong but also loyal to them, what a perfect combination.

*Theory by Skybreeder