Luffy never tried to actually face Mihawk, he was just trying to get closer to Ace and Mihawk was just throwing slashes at him. Not that I think Luffy could stand against him, but he still survived just fine. However, Kuma in the Shambody Archipielago pretty much soloed the Strawhats and the difference seemed bigger.
Either way, as Blackbeard said when he faced Luffy at Impel Down, he would've killed Luffy if not for Ace. In Impel Down Luffy just cheapshotted him with second gear and BB proceeded to smash him into the ground. Shanks says literally "I wasn't being careless" and he fought Blackbeard before losing his hand and before BB had the power of the devil fruit. That is to say, BB packs some nasty punch.
Oda himself has stated that shanks losing his arm didn't compromise his fighting ability IIRC. Plus, Kuma didn't really solo the crew, so much as separate an already badly beaten and disorganised crew. Hell, when he and Zoro went at it, it played out a lot like Luffy VS Mihawk, Except Zoro was far more injured and it went for longer.
All this is moot IMO though, simply because Flamingo is the king shit mugwump of the schibukai.
Still, Blackbeard went toe to toe with Shanks and managed to injure him without the Devil Fruit, that make him about Mihawk level at least.
And about the last chapter: Whitebeard is uber. I wonder what will happen with his pirates afterwards. Did they mentioned before if Jimbei was a WB pirate? I don't recall but this time he called him father.
Seems a bit too ABC logic for my taste, I mean if Shanks and Blackbeard were out to seriously harm one another, then they were probably fighting at a higher level then Mihawk and Shanks used to, as (IIRC) They were dueling, but not to the death.
Though I think the Whitebeard pirates will probably make Ace their new captain, while Buggy will become the new Yonkou.
Originally posted by Martian_mind
Seems a bit too ABC logic for my taste, I mean if Shanks and Blackbeard were out to seriously harm one another, then they were probably fighting at a higher level then Mihawk and Shanks used to, as (IIRC) They were dueling, but not to the death.Though I think the Whitebeard pirates will probably make Ace their new captain, while Buggy will become the new Yonkou.
I don't know why but I do like the idea of Buggy becoming Yonkou...
Yeah, Buggy becoming Yonkou is genius.
Shanks certainly implies that Blackbeard is more dangerous than Mihawk, as he goes on to tell Whitebeard he'll go for the top and Whitebeard's seat -such warning coming from someone who has faced WB before indicates Shanks wasn't particularly weak when he got hurted. Maybe it is because of his plotting, but still, the power he knew was BEFORE getting Logia power. My line of reasoning comes from Shanks who has fought Mihawk, BB and WB so he should know who is who the best.
Of course I may be wrong because its not hard proof of power level. From what we've seen until now, Blackbeard would be of the end-bosses when it comes to pirates among those we've met. Further showings may stray from that, but until now its my opinion.
Well, Blackbeard would be more of a threat to Whitebeard then Mihawk, simply because Mihawk has no ambition or desire to seek out or harm Whitebeard, bar being ordered to by the Navy.
Plus, as i said, I highly doubt the battles between Mihawk and Shanks were all-out fights, especially as they were sword duels, and Mihawks role as the greatest swordsmen has never been disputed.Had Shanks proven his outright equal, or bested him, Mihawk wouldn't have the title.
One thing though. Does any one else find it odd that Blackbeard would be such a powerful pirate, yet not a master of haki? I mean he made such a big deal of his ability to cancel out devil fruit powers, but surely he should have been able to before hand if he weilded haki.
About the Shanks/Mihawk duels I agree that they weren't serious, but if you ask me that's partly the reason Mihawk remains as the strongest swordsman, Shanks is likely to be his superior, but he doesn't have the ambition to be hunted by swordsmen around the world. Still, I agree its uncertain how Mihawk stands against the others since we've not seen his full potential.
I have some theories about why Blackbeard could make a big deal about his devil fruit's abilities when he faced Ace. First: Not everyone can use haki and Blackbeard can't use it, this one is unlikely since it seems pretty much everyone in Amazon Lily knew about Haki. A most likely theory would be that haki cannot downright negate DF's abilities, it may be dependent of other factors (as Aokiji may have been cut by Whitebeard using haki but didn't actually died) one of which could be if the opponent himself is a haki user they may be able to defend themselves somehow. The third is much simpler and likely to be partially true: Blackbeard is a superstitious bastard and he actually thinks his Devil Fruit is the power of the devil and that's why he holds such ability in high esteem.
Originally posted by Bentley
About the Shanks/Mihawk duels I agree that they weren't serious, but if you ask me that's partly the reason Mihawk remains as the strongest swordsman, Shanks is likely to be his superior, but he doesn't have the ambition to be hunted by swordsmen around the world. Still, I agree its uncertain how Mihawk stands against the others since we've not seen his full potential.I have some theories about why Blackbeard could make a big deal about his devil fruit's abilities when he faced Ace. First: Not everyone can use haki and Blackbeard can't use it, this one is unlikely since it seems pretty much everyone in Amazon Lily knew about Haki. A most likely theory would be that haki cannot downright negate DF's abilities, it may be dependent of other factors (as Aokiji may have been cut by Whitebeard using haki but didn't actually died) one of which could be if the opponent himself is a haki user they may be able to defend themselves somehow. The third is much simpler and likely to be partially true: Blackbeard is a superstitious bastard and he actually thinks his Devil Fruit is the power of the devil and that's why he holds such ability in high esteem.
Or, Far more likely then any of that, he just doesn't know what Haki is. Remember, the bulk of Whitebeards crew was unaware of Haki when Shanks rocked up. Also, I thought it was unknown whether Whitebeard had stabbed aokiji with Haki? Not to mention that Haki can be transferred to your weapon and grants pre-cog. Seems to me if Blackbeard knew it existed, he would have mastered it, being such an ambitious bastard.
Speaking of, it's up in the air if Shanks is Mihawks superior but obvious they never fought at full potential, so there's no way those fights can be used to justify Blackbeard as Mihawks better.
But to what really interests me today.....
Spoiler:
ACE GOT ****ED UP!!! WHITEBEARD OWNED THAT SHIZZ!! MAGMA>ALL!!!