With the recent reveal and the true nature of Monkey D Luffy’s devil fruits, many fans now argue that Luffy is among the strongest characters within the One Piece world, so much so that we are now forced to wonder just how strong Gear 5 Luffy actually is?
So, today, we will answer the question : Can Luffy beat Whitebeard ?
Now, what better way to test the limits of Luffy’s strength than to put him up against the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard himself. To keep this fight fair, we will take a post-Wano Luffy versus a beginning Marineford Whitebeard.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard ? The categories :
Now, we have no way of knowing whether Luffy stands a chance, so we can’t reach a sure shot, yes or no answer; only Oda-Sensei can tell us that. So, what we will be doing throughout this text is, we will be squaring off a Post-Wano Luffy with a Marineford Whitebeard on several aspects and categories and coming to a conclusion as to who has the most probability of winning.
The Categories upon which we will be comparing the two characters are.
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Strength
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Speed/Agility
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Haki
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Endurance
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Feats
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Motivation
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Devil fruit powers
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on Strength ?
A battle of brute strength between these two characters would be close, despite what some people believe. Whitebeard may be the strongest man in the world, but Luffy has gone toe to toe with Kaido and is also a beast when it comes to strength.
Based on the fact that Marineford Whitebeard is old and sick and that post-Wano Luffy is in his prime,
Strength goes to Luffy.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on Speed ?
In his prime, he has seen Whitebeard match Gol D Roger in terms of speed and agility, yet by the time Marineford rolls around, Whitebeard relies primarily upon his strength.
On the other hand, Luffy’s whole attack style depends on his incredible attack speed and agility. Owing to Whitebeard’s advanced age and Luffy’s attack patterns,
The speed goes to Luffy.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on Haki ?
Whitebeard and Luffy possess all three types of Haki, which is ironic considering just how rare Conqueror’s Haki is said to be. We will look at all three types of Haki and see who comes out on top.
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Armament Haki, Luffy has come incredibly far in terms of Armament Haki, with his attacks being able to damage even the likes of Kaido, his Armament-coated attacks, like the Grizzly Magnum and the Kong gun, can damage Whitebeard significantly. But I believe that based on his experience and reputation, and the fact that he could easily injure the Logia-type Akainu, Whitebeard wins Armament.
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Observation Haki, As far as we know, Katakuri was the most powerful character in Observation Haki, and Luffy could match him. And we haven’t really seen Whitebeard use observation, so Luffy wins observation.
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Conqueror’ Haki, Whitebeard was, in his prime, a rival of the pirate king himself and fought Roger to a stalemate. Hence we can believe that he is a beast in terms of Conqueror’s Haki. But as Rayleigh has stated, old age takes a lot away from a person, and Whitebeard not using Conqueror’s Haki at Marineford could be an indication. However, Luffy readily uses his Conqueror Haki, proving it to be greater than Kaido. Hence Luffy wins Conqueror’s.
Overall, Luffy takes the win in Haki.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on Endurance ?
Both characters are monsters when it comes to taking damage and still fighting on. This is proved by Whitebeard taking hundreds of attacks at Marineford and still being able to lay Akainu out.
Luffy, too, has been able to defeat enemies stronger than himself solely because he could outlast them in terms of endurance.
Hence, I believe endurance is a tie.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on feats ?
The strongest man in the world, Whitebeard has a reputation second only to Roger himself. He was an emperor of the sea and had territories all over the New world, we may not have seen many of his achievements, but Whitebeard was Rogers’s successor in all but name.
We have witnessed Luffy, delayer open war on the World Government, break out of the greatest prison, fight four warlords, take on two yonko and shake the whole world. He definitely matches Whitebeard in terms of feats.
Feats are a tie.
Can Luffy beat whitebeard on Motivation ?
Whitebeard was driven solely for the sake of his family. His only motivation was to keep them safe, which he did throughout his life. Other than that, he had no ambition. He could have been the pirate king, but he chose not to.
On the other hand, Luffy is hell-bent on being the pirate king and has a devotion to his crew that matches Whitebeard,
Luffy wins motivation.
Luffy vs whitebeard : Devil fruit
In the world of Sengoku, Whitebeard was the man who could destroy the whole world. That destructive power comes from his Gura-Gura no mi, a fruit that can cause vibrations and tremors; Whitebeard can cause tsunamis and earthquakes.
Even though it is a paramecia type, the Gura-Gura no mi is among the most powerful fruits in the world. But, the Hito-Hito no model Nika, which we now know is the actual name of the Gum-Gum fruit, is a fruit that once belonged to Joyboy himself, a fruit pursued by the government for 800 years, a fruit that is limited only by the user’s imagination.
Devil fruit abilities are a tie.
Conclusion
After analyzing both characters and pitting them against each other, we come to the conclusion that Gear 5 Luffy can indeed beat a Marineford Whitebeard. However, it would be a hard fight, and Luffy would have to give it a lot of caution to not be hit by the Gura-Gura no mi attacks. But in the end, Luffy wins Mid to great difficulty.
