The Yonko are known all over the world ofOne Pieceas the strongest pirates to set sail in the New World. They are powerful individuals whose abilities are incomparable to that of even established pirates. Red-Haired Shanks and Whitebeard are legendary figures who have more than earned this title; however, there remains some uncertainty surrounding which of the two is stronger than the other.
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Coincidentally, Whitebeard’s first show of strength was during his clash with Shanks, after which he went on to Marineford and staged an assault so great that it further cemented his name in history. On the other hand, not much has been seen of Shanks' battle prowess, though a lot can be implied fromthe limited appearances he has madeso far. Here are some significant details inOne Piecethat make these fabled pirates so great, along with attributes that could give them an edge against one another.
10Shanks: Immense Speed
Not many characters inOne Pieceare famed for tremendous speed. Though the Light Human, Admiral Kizaru, is undoubtedly the fastest in the series, Shanks himself possesses a great deal of quickness.
The most noteworthy showing of his impressive speed occurred towards the end of theParamount War Saga. There, in order to save the young Koby, Shanks appeared out of nowhere and blocked Akainu’s strike, surprising every fighter present as they never even saw him coming. Though Whitebeard has been shown to have quick reflexes, his overall speed is not likely to match that of the red hair, especially considering their difference in stature.
9Whitebeard: Unmatched Physical Durability
Whitebeard is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in the series, and with that strength comes an outstanding level of physical resilience. In his younger years, he wascapable of fighting the Pirate KingGol D. Roger for three consecutive days, a battle in which he sustained no significant injuries. Even in death, Whitebeard maintained a magnificent figure, standing tall even though his body had been ravaged by a significant number of fatal injuries.
Shanks is also impressively durable. Early in the series, he is seen with a smile on his face despite having his arm chopped off, and went on to earn the title of Yonko with just one arm. However, though Shanks’ displays might have been impressive, Whitebeard remains the better of the two in this category.
8Shanks: Intelligence
Pirates inOne Pieceare not usually renowned for their smarts, yet even with the little that has been seen of Shanks so far, it is clear that he is an extremely insightful individual. It is for this reason that Shanks is usually featured at either the beginning or the end of important events. He is not afraid to act on his premonitions either, taking action whenever he deems necessary.
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Compared to Shanks, Whitebeard never shows such a high level of anticipation. Instead, he has been shown to be a rather capable tactician, effectively commanding his multiple fleets during the Paramount War. However, the scale at which Shanks employs his intellect is much larger.
7Whitebeard: Higher Bounty
Issuing bounties is a great way to turn the public against certain figures you want taken care of. However, in the world ofOne Piece, they mainly serve as numbers indicative of a character’s strength. These numbers take multiple factors into consideration, some of which are; the scale of a person’s exploits, the gravity of their crimes, and the raw strength they possess.
Shanks' bounty is currentlyone of the highest in the series at 4,048,900,000 berries. At the time of his death, however, Whitebeard’s bounty had already surpassed that of Shanks, boasting one of a massive 5,046,000,000 berries, second in history only to the great Gol D. Roger.
6Shanks: Mihawk’s Greatest Rival
Dracule Mihawk is a recurring character in the series and is known as the world’s greatest swordsman. He is responsible for Zoro’s exponential growth over the two-year time skip and was previously able to overpower the latter using a simple little cutlery knife.
During the time before the series began, however, Mihawk was revealed to have constantly dueled with Shanks. He considered Shankshis strongest rivalbut was no longer motivated to fight him after the Red-Hair lost his arm. As a result, the two have not dueled for a long time now, but Shanks has unquestionably grown stronger since their last clash, attesting to his massive strength
5Whitebeard: Equal To Roger In His Prime
On the pirate ship of Gol D. Roger, Shanks was merely an apprentice. He shared that positionwith his comrade Buggyand even engaged in fights with the Whitebeard Pirates from time to time. This relationship to Roger somewhat indicates how strong he was at the time, especially when compared to Whitebeard.
While Roger was still alive, Whitebeard was already capable of fighting him on equal terms with him. He could face the Pirate King, head on, at the peak of his powers. Regardless of whether it was in terms of individual combat strength, or the collective strength of their respective crews, Whitebeard was known to be able to match him.
4Shanks: Formerly The Youngest Emperor Of The Sea
Prior to Luffy’s victory against Kaido, Shanks was the youngest Yonko—considered one of the world’s greatest powers—at just the age of 39. This was an incredible feat compared to the original Yonko, who were mostly left over from the previous generation of pirates.
At this time, Whitebeard was shown to be old and sickly. However, he still possessed a great deal of strength. Though it is not expressly stated when Whitebeard became a Yonko, as he died at the age of 72 and was a member ofa different pirate crew40 years ago, making it is safe to assume that even the legendary pirate could not boast of such a feat.
3Whitebeard: Strongest Devil Fruit
Whitebeard’s devil fruit, the Gura Gura no Mi, is well known as the strongest devil fruit in the paramecia class and has been stated by many as a devil fruit with the power to destroy the world. Using its power, Whitebeard caused great earthquakes and tsunamis, shaking the fortress that was Marineford to its very core.
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In this category, there is not even a comparison, as Shanks does not possess any devil fruit powers. He is plenty strong without them, but he is far from possessing the power to destroy the world.
2Shanks: Conqueror’s Haki
To make up for his lack of devil fruit powers,Shanks possesses highly potent hakiand has been seen using Conqueror’s Haki to an extreme degree. While on Whitebeard’s ship, his haki was so strong that it knocked out some of the crewmembers on board and cracked the ship’s wooden structre, before stating that the outcome was simply a result of his nervousness from being in enemy territory.
More recently in the series, Shanks was able to scare off a navy admiral using his haki alone, further emphasizing just how strong it is. Whitebeard’s Conqueror’s Haki is displayed during his clash with Gol D. Roger, where he augmented his weapon with enough of it to challenge the pirate king. However, in battle, the use of Conqueror’s Haki may be supported by a variety of other factors, making Shanks' feats all the more impressive.
1Whitebeard: The Strongest Man In The World
After the death of Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard was undisputedly considered the “Strongest Man in the World,” even right before his own demise. Putting this into context, Whitebeard was considered stronger than all the original Yonko and even the extremely powerful marine Admirals.
He had the strongest devil fruit,led a massive crewwith multiple commanders, and was highly rated by former Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha. Though Shanks is capable of great things himself, this is a profile he has yet to and probably never will match.
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