The huge cast of powerful characters of One Piece provides fans with numerous possible match-ups. Some of these match-ups come to become canon at some point in the story while some remain as hypothetical battles.
Our today’s match-up is as of yet just a conjecture, but the potential for it to become canon very soon is too high to ignore. Here’s our vision of Garp vs Blackbeard.
Even with the hundreds of characters, some of them very powerful, both Garp and Blackbeard make their marks prominently in fans’ minds. One is the legendary Marine who rivaled the King of Pirates Gol D. Roger. Another is a pirate who finds his way from a measly crew member to one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.
They are from the opposite sides of the law, and a fight between them is very possible. Now more so than ever, as Garp comes to Hachinosu to rescue Koby. Hachinosu or the Pirate Island is currently the territory of Blackbeard Pirates who kidnapped Koby in order to use him as a bargaining chip against the World Government.
Garp’s presence on Hachinosu makes a Garp vs Blackbeard fight entirely possible and imminent. Though Blackbeard is currently not on the island and Garp is busy fighting his former protege Kuzan, this match-up is worth discussing.
To determine who will win in a Garp vs Blackbeard fight, we’ll have to look at their individual strengths and abilities before comparing them. On that note, let’s begin the discussion of the Garp vs Blackbeard fight.
Table of Contents
Monkey D. Garp: Power & Abilities
The first contender in Garp vs Blackbeard is Monkey D. Garp, a Vice-Admiral of the Marines under the World Government. He’s famous and respected by everyone as the Hero of Marines who not only was a rival of Gol D. Roger, but also joined him in defeating the infamous pirate, Rocks D. Xebec.
Garp is a fearsome Marine who gave pirates all over the world a run for their money. From Whitebeard to Don Chinjao, every past enemy of the Marine can’t help but respect his strength.
Over his long career, he’s been offered the position of an Admiral multiple times, but he always refused because he didn’t want to work under the Celestial Dragons directly.
Not only a famous Marine, Garp is also the father of Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army and the most wanted man in the world.
He’s the grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy, one of the current Emperors of the Sea, and the adoptive grandfather of Portgas D. Ace whom Roger entrusted to him before his execution.
A man of conviction and tough love, Garp is currently mentoring Koby and Helmeppo, and has high hopes for the former.
Abilities
It has been implied and even outright stated numerous times in the story that Garp in his prime was one of the strongest people in the world. Even in his old age, he hasn’t lost all his strength and remains a powerful character.
Just his name is enough to bring fear to the minds of pirates. His power is respected by not only Marine officers and captains but also the likes of Admirals and even his friend and the former Fleet Admiral, Sengoku.
Though most of the strong characters in One Piece are Devil Fruit users, a lot of them, for example, Roger, Rayleigh, and Shanks, do not use Devil Fruit powers and rely on their strong Haki instead. Garp is one of them. A proficient Haki user, he’s one of the few characters in the series who can use all three types of Haki and their advanced forms.
During the Marineford War, after witnessing Luffy awakening his Haoshoku Haki, Garp comments that Luffy’s Haoshoku is hereditary, implying that he and Dragon are also able to use it. But it’s only during the current arc in the story that we see Garp unleashing his terrifying advanced Haoshoku through his attacks.
- Galaxy Impact: Upon arriving at Hachinosu, Garp uses his advanced Haoshoku through Galaxy Impact, a punching attack that splits open the lands and demolishes everything within a broad radius of it.Â
- Blue Hole: In this technique, Garp mixes his Haoshoku with Busoshoku (Armament) Haki. He smashes the head of his opponent with the combined Haki and creates a huge hole in the ground as an impact. Garp uses this technique against Kuzan.
Marshall D. Teach (Blackbeard): Power & Abilities
Blackbeard was introduced to the viewers during the Jaya Arc, where he met Luffy and talked about dreams. At first, his true significance wasn’t clear. But as the story goes on, it becomes very apparent that Blackbeard is going to be one of the biggest players in the game and Luffy’s toughest competition of becoming the King of Pirates.
He was once a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. But unlike the rest of the crew members for whom loyalty and solidarity were everything, Teach’s mind was filled with treacherous ambition and greed.
He killed his fellow member Thatch and stole the Yami Yami no Mi from him. Later, he defeated Ace, who had been pursuing him, and sold him to the Marines in exchange for becoming one of the Shichibukai.Â
But unlike other Shichibukai, he didn’t fight for the Marines in the Marineford War. His intention was something else: he came to kill a heavily wounded Whitebeard and steal his Devil Fruit.
It was during Marineford Arc where Teach committed the impossible and became the possessor of two Devil Fruits, which causes death for everyone.
After the timeskip, Teach has elevated himself to the position of one of the Yonko, and is conspiring to steal the last Road Poneglyph to reach Laugh Tale.
Abilities
Blackbeard is the only character in the series who holds not one, but two separate Devil Fruits. One of them is the Logia type Yami Yami no Mi or the Darkness-Darkness Fruit.
And the other is the Paramecia type Gura Gura no Mi or the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which once belonged to Whitebeard and is said to be the strongest Paramecia fruit in the world.
Teach is also able to use Haki, though as of yet, he’s only been seen using Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku Haki. Though judging by his disposition and his lust to become the King of Pirates, it’s very much possible that he can also use Haoshoku Haki.
- Yami Yami no Mi: this Logia type fruit gives him the power of darkness that can reduce everything to nothing. With this fruit, Blackbeard’s body is made of this darkness that acts like a blackhole, attracting everything into it.
- Gura Gura no Mi: this Paramecia fruit allows the user to create earthquakes and very powerful shockwaves. With it, the user can cause a heavy impact on the atmosphere and as a result, create strong tremors that cause earthquakes.
Current Garp vs. Blackbeard
Based on Strength
Garp’s physical strength has always been his signature move. He’s able to carry large boulders, rip trees off their roots and break land with his punches. Even Luffy, Ace and Sabo, all of whom were way too strong for normal kids, feared Garp for his strength.
However, Blackbeard isn’t someone who prefers hand-to-hand fighting. He’d rather plot and conspire, and use his two immensely powerful Devil Fruits to gain upper hand in a fight. So, when it comes to strength, Garp is the clear winner here.
Based on Abilities
As we mentioned before, there is a huge difference between the abilities of Garp and Blackbeard. Garp doesn’t have a Devil Fruit power and relies entirely on his physical strength and his Haki.
Blackbeard, on the other hand, has not one, but two Devil Fruit powers, both of which are among the strongest in the world. He’s also able to use Haki, but it’s nothing compared to the brute force of Garp’s Haki.
In One Piece, Devil Fruits are introduced as the primary power system where most strong and important characters are Devil Fruit users. But after the introduction of Haki, it’s revealed that some of the greatest people in the series are actually not Devil Fruit users, but rather Haki users.
Both Garp and Roger, who were once the strongest people in the world, did not possess any Devil Fruit powers. However, with time, it’s entirely believable that Garp doesn’t possess the same power as he did in his prime.
So, going against two Devil Fruits like the strongest Paramecia Goro Goro no Mi and the mysterious Logia Yami Yami no Mi would not be an easy task for the Vice-Admiral. So, we have to give this round of Garp vs Blackbeard to Teach.
Based on Durability
We judge the durability of a character based on how much damage they can endure and still remain in a state where they are able to fight. If we consider Garp and Blackbeard, they will find both of them pretty durable in battle.
But Garp’s durability has very understandably reduced in his old age. But Blackbeard is still in his prime and has proved his durability in the Marineford War by going against Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world. So again, Blackbeard wins another round of Garp vs Blackbeard.
Based on Speed
Neither Garp or Blackbeard relies on speed during their fights. They are both strong enough not to take that into account and their speed has never been something significant in the story. So, this round of Garp vs Blackbeard ends with a tie since they are both likely to be of moderate speed in battles.
Based on Attacks
If we look into their separate attacks, we find more variety in Blackbeard’s attacks with his two Devil Fruits.
Garp’s attacks are so incredibly strong, both Galaxy Impact and Blue Hole packed with huge destructive force, but those two are the only we’ve seen from him as of it. It’ll certainly change as his fight against Kuzan progresses.
On the other hand, Blackbeard can employ numerous attacks with both Gura Gura no Mi and Yami Yami no Mi, as he displayed during the Marineford War.
He also defeated Trafalgar Law and destroyed his whole ship and crew, which indicates the potential in his attacks. So, based on attacks, Blackbeard takes the cake in this final round of Garp vs Blackbeard.
Overall Comparison
After looking deep into each aspect of their individual strengths and scrutinizing their match-up, it’s safe to say that if a Garp vs Blackbeard fight happens, Blackbeard would likely win it.
We’ve already discussed how we came to this inference. Garp has the upper hand in strength and Haki, but there’s no denying the power of two Devil Fruits at the same time.
Is Garp Still More Powerful Than Teach?
It is of no doubt that during his prime, Garp could’ve defeated Blackbeard. The likes of which he rivaled in his prime: Roger, Whitebeard, Xebec, supports this theory.
But as we’ve discussed before, Garp is not as strong as he once was, and Blackbeard is holding too many surprises to take him lightly. So, in our opinion, Teach is more powerful than the current Garp.
Another point that indicates that Blackbeard is stronger than current Garp is the fact that Blackbeard is the final villain of the series, and will inevitably fight against Luffy.
But before that happens, Luffy will have to get a lot stronger. At Luffy’s current power level which is astonishingly high, he still has a lot of adversaries to cross before he fights his final villain.
With that, we conclude the whole current Garp vs Blackbeard debate. For more articles like this, check out Otakus’ Notes.
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Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.
