World One piece it is home to a number of elite groups, and membership in each group is not easy. For example, the Seven Sea Warriors are among the most formidable pirates in the Heavenly Half of the Great Line, and the standards for the Four Emperors are even higher. Each generation has its own great talent that could make it into these groups, such as Dracule Mihawk, who has proven himself worthy of joining the Warlords as long as the group has existed. The question now is: why didn't he go over to the emperors?
Not just anyone can be a Sea Emperor, but Mihawk is no ordinary pirate. He is the world's best swordsman, a blade master who still puts Roronoa Zoro to shame, and his fame spreads far and wide across the Great Line. Mihawk fans want to see him take the next step and reach the pinnacle of his glory as the Emperor, but at this rate it's never going to happen. Even if a gap did open up between the emperors, it seems unlikely that Mihawk would claim it, regardless of his prowess. There are several good reasons for this.
How is Mihawk worthy to become emperor in the New World?
Being Shanks' rival is the honor of a lifetime
Performance levels in One piece keep rising again and again as the story continues, but even after the story expanded into Haki and awakening the Devil Fruits, Dracule Mihawk remained relevant. For someone who was introduced so early, it's remarkable that he still holds his place among the world's most talented fighters, doubly so because Mihawk has no Devil Fruit to call his own. Mihawk's battle kit is rather “basic” by many standards, using only his oversized sword Yoru and two types of Haki in battle. His Color of Observation Haki is like One piece's Sharingan, with Mihawk able to easily track an opponent's movements and retaliate with great precision. His Weapon Color Haki is quite advanced, to the point where he permanently coated Yoru's blade in it, hence the weapon's dark color.
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Especially some One piece fans say that Mihawk is worthy to join the Emperors because he is a sworn rival of his fellow swordsman, Shanks himself. Notably, Shanks is indeed one of the Four Emperors and has held this position since Luffy's childhood. Shanks is the last of the original four Emperors to survive in the New World, while Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom met their different fates. All fans know how tremendously powerful Shanks is, even if he only demonstrates it on rare occasions, such as attacking even Whitebeard during a polite duel, or ending the Battle of Marineford with just his presence. And of course, Shanks' strength, swordsmanship and Haki are almost unmatched.
If a true emperor like Whitebeard can be a serious rival to Shanks, then if Mihawk is also Shanks' rival, then Mihawk is certainly on the level of Whitebeard and Shanks. It's a case of A = B and B = C, then A = C, where A is Whitebeard, B is Shanks, and C is Mihawk. Fighting strength is the main indicator of rank for many of them One piecethe most respected or feared groups, from the Warlords and Four Emperors to Admirals and elite pirate crews such as the Beasts Pirates. Mihawk is in this league as an ex-warrior who calls Shanks his rival, and he's definitely earned the respect of both Zoro and Sir Crocodile. All of this adds up to Mihawk being Imperial material, but there are still a few factors holding him back.
Mihawk is a solo fighter while the Emperor commands the fleets
Mihawk's ambitions are more personal than ruling pirate kingdoms
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Mihawk feels like Emperor material due to his elite fighting skills, rivalry with Shanks, and high reputation as the world's best swordsman. Critically, however, Mihawk is lacking in other areas where true emperors excel. It's true that Mihawk can stand toe to toe with emperors like Shanks and Whitebeard, but those emperors have things that Mihawk doesn't. One of the greatest strengths of any Emperor is the fleet they can command, while Mihawk has none at all.
The Emperors hold this title because they are the leaders of the vast pirate fleets that hold a firm hold on each Emperor's territory in the New World. No one can be a king or an emperor without having people to rule over him. Whitebeard, the benevolent emperor, claimed a number of islands under his protection, and Kaido ruled Wano alongside Kurozumi Orochi, while Big Mom was queen of her own cluster of islands. These emperors also commanded their own powerful fleets, from the Blackbeard Pirates and Beasts Pirates to the Whitebeard Pirates.
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In comparison, Dracule Mihawk has no fleet to call his own, not even a modest crew. He's a total loner and clearly prefers it that way, so it would be silly to call him an emperor if he's only ever in charge. Mihawk is oddly modest in this regard, to the point that his own ship has been a small piece of wood in the Baratie Arc since so long ago. Mihawk did call the Muggy Kingdom his home and felt like a king there, but that's not enough to make him proper leader such as typical emperors. Mihawk needs more than Perona's company and Zoro's rivalry to say he has his own fleet.
Additionally, Mihawk's ambitions are too different from those of the other emperors. The other Emperors tend to dream big, like Kaido and Big Mom both trying to get the One Piece treasure to rule the world, or Blackbeard aiming to overthrow the world government as his late father Rocks D. Xebec once intended. The Emperors live up to their reputation as they create grand plans to reshape the world, while Mihawk has small dreams. This lone swordsman just hopes to find a worthy opponent to surpass him and ease his boredom as an elite swordsman without equal.
It's a common “lone master” trope in anime where someone is too strong or skilled for their own good, and it's the only real motivation Mihawk has. Emperors don't mind rivals, but they also demand more from themselves and the world. Even joining the Cross Guild with Crocodile was just an attempt to stabilize his life and fend off the pesky marines and other parties that would bother him. Trying to get away from the competition, Mihawk only further distances himself from the status of emperor, and that is obviously a dream.
One piece
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imayomura, Yashiôhiro Mayuū Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
