One Piece: Why Mihawk’s Title Is Outdated & What It Means for Zoro’s Dream

Because of the several dozens of characters in One Piece and the two different types of power systems, it’s often difficult to scale characters above one another. The manga often waits for years before actually showing even a glimpse of a character’s strength. Dracule Mihawk, a former Warlord and someone with the title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman, is one such character. He was introduced in Chapter 46 of the East Blue Saga. Not only was Mihawk one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but he had a title that spoke volumes of his strength.

Before the events of the story, Rorona Zoro, a talented swordsman in his own right, sets out to the sea in search of Mihawk. Zoro wanted to defeat Mihawk and claim the title for himself to fulfill his childhood dream and the promise he made to his late friend Kuina. However, during their fight in the Baratie Arc, Zoro realized the difference in their skills was unparalleled. After losing horribly against Mihawk, Zoro promises Luffy to get stronger and never lose a fight again because that’s what the future King of the Pirates deserves. In over two decades, the story has come a long way and introduced several powerful characters, making Mihawk’s title somewhat outdated.

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One Piece Doesn’t Even Give a Glimpse of Mihawk’s Powers

Aside from his Black Blade, One Piece hasn’t shown many of Mihawk’s feats so far, save for carving through a massive iceberg, an admittedly impressive moment. The only thing we know is that he crossed swords with Shanks when they were younger, and the match ended in a tie. Not only that, but Mihawk fought Vista, a member of the Blackbeard Pirates, during the Marineford Arc. The two of them were at a stalemate, raising questions about the legitimacy of Mihawk’s title. It’s clear that Mihawk was only stalling Vista and wasn’t interested in the war at all. Hence, he didn’t show all his powers.

Furthermore, even Mihawk having Conqueror’s Haki hasn’t been confirmed in the story. Most of the top-tier characters possess this ability and have even trained themselves to use Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. Despite all his strength, Mihawk is a really laid-back person who doesn’t have any great ambitions. Even after losing the title of a Warlord, he is willing to keep a low profile and make Buggy a figurehead leader of the Cross Guild.

Mihawk’s Only Role in One Piece Is Being Zoro’s Final Goal

Mihawk’s only goal in life is to find a swordsman capable of surpassing him. During his duel with Zoro, he notices the latter’s determination. Despite not having enough strength, Zoro had a fire in his eyes that moved Mihawk. Ever since then, Mihawk has been waiting for Zoro to surpass him. Before the time skip, Kuma sent Zoro to Mihawk’s place, and it paid off. For two years, Mihawk taught Zoro how to utilize Haki, particularly Armament Haki. He also helped the young pirate with swordsmanship techniques and pushed him to his limits to become stronger.

Even though the manga is in the Final Saga, One Piece hasn’t explored anything about Mihawk other than him being a stepping stone for Zoro’s dream. As Luffy’s First Mate and one of the most popular characters in One Piece, Mihawk’s relevancy is merely limited to this. In that sense, if Mihawk’s title lost meaning, then it could be bad for Zoro’s dream. If Zoro’s dream since the beginning has been to defeat Mihawk, it wouldn’t make sense for any other swordsman to be stronger than Mihawk. However, there’s one major issue.

One Piece May Have Stronger Swordsmen Than Mihawk

There’s no such thing as an official title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman. Morgans, the president of the World Economy News Paper and one of the emperors of the Underworld, started calling Mihawk WSS, but the details are unknown. The story hasn’t revealed how Mihawk gained the title. Not only that, but titles aren’t everything in the world of One Piece. Buggy is called a Yonko, and the world now fears him, but it’s clear as day he’s nowhere near as powerful as the other Yonkos. Hence, a title isn’t a foolproof argument.

Mihawk was introduced really early in the story, and now One Piece has introduced members of the Figarland family. Shanks, also being a member of that bloodline, is Mihawk’s tough contender. Since the fight between those two was never settled, it’s fair to say they are relative in strength. Additionally, Garling and Shamrock are clearly some of the top-tier characters according to their ranks and not titles.

It begs the question of whether Morgans was including those two as well when giving Mihawk that title. Or if Morgans has seen the power of every top-ranking individual to make a statement like that. The only thing going for Mihawk is his black blade, which is said to be the most powerful weapon. However, pirates like Roger and Whitebeard ruled the seas without ever creating black blades. Hence, considering that the story is in its Final Saga, Mihawk has yet to show some feats to place him over powerful characters in the story’s universe.