As the title says, Oda just doesn't have a power scaling. I can go as far as to say Oda's power scaling is very vague by design as implied by how he handles titles:
WB was the World's Strongest Man yet he had an equal in Roger, and was introduced as sick and passed his prime making his full power completely unknown.
Mihawk is the World's Strongest Swordsman yet he has unfinished business with Shanks and his title alone doesn't match his on screen feats.
Kaido is the world's current #1 yet its purposely presented as just a rumor.
Hell, the closest Oda ever came to establishing actual power levels is when BM took out Queen, and even the level gap is vague and unknown.
Another time Oda came close to establishing an actual power scaling is with the Dokuri system and of course, he makes it vague.
That was a quick example of vague and contradictory portrayal so let's look some quick examples of vague and inconsistent feats.
INCONSISTENCIES(please note that the examples below don't necessarily reflect my views. Power scaling opinions are extremly diverse for a reason)
Ace and Jinbe could fight for 5 days.
Jack could fight the minks for 5 days
Akainu and Aokiji fought for 10 days
Oden and Kaido? Fight only lasts less than a day and Kaido almost gets one shotted. That's unlike anything that's ever happened in the series before.
Supernova and Kaido
Kaido no soled Boundman, emphasizing his durability
The Scabbard managed to stab Kaido with ACOA, making the latter scream in pain. Oda brought attention to this accomplishment by having fodder say this:
On the roof, Kidd and Law managed to make Kaido scream like a banshee with a slam and rocks respectively....no haki either....
Side Note: Killer could hurt him too
Kaido could one shot boundman
Zoro and Law could take the same move without losing consciousness, with Law still being able to fight
Kinemon could take multiple hits to the head and stay conscious
Big Mom without using haki could punch out Queen who is an ancient zoan.
Kidd, a regular guy, could no sell BM's punch
Zoro could one shot Killer
[Image]
But Killer can take attacks from top tiers no problem
Bonus: don't even want to talk much about Luffy going from being barely able to dodge Base Kaido and gets one shot to being able to take multiple hits from Hybrid Kaido and speed blitzing him while in Base.
Quick Note
THE POWER ESCALATION AND POWER CREEP
Power escalation is obviously where the limits of what characters are capable of increases further and further as a series continues.
°Example 1: each new DBZ villain being much stronger than the last to create a sense of threat.
°Example 2: Destroying a mountain in Dragon Ball was an insane feat of strength. Currently we have beings who can erase entire universes with the flick of a finger.
Power creep is when characters suddenly gain powers or abilities to keep up with ongoing escalation in a series.
°Example: DBZ Piccolo fusing with Kami in the Cell Saga to gain an absurd power boost.
How does Escalation and Creep affect One Piece?
During the East Blue saga, smashing rock and denting steel was seen as legendary.
And Mihawk was introduced in chapter 50 as the strongest swordsman. What was used to portray him as the strongest? HE COULD!!.....deflect bullets and cut a ship....
Quick Note
Mihawk then sweats because of East Blue Zoro's attack. By today's standards, Zoro shouldn't have gotten any such reaction.
We see Zoro get much stronger throughout preskip and fast forward to chapter 560, Mihawk goes from cutting ships to cutting an iceberg as WSS portrayal, an obvious case of power escalation
Quick Note
Lets not onto Luffy. Preskip Luffy could be a threat to "high tiers" like BB and Magellan.
The same BB who could do this:
And the same Magellan who had Jinbe and Crocodile not wanting to mess with him.
Preskip Luffy was also no match for a pacifista and needed his entire crew to barely win, aka Pacifista>Yami Teach and Magellan?
Postskip Luffy became so powerful that he can EASILY one shot a Pacifista.
Zoro and Sanji could do the same
Postskip Luffy(G23) should be solid "high tier" right? Nope...he was helpless against them instead:
Even Luffy's power up wasn't enough
So is Magellan weak by postskip standards? Is Jinbe weak? But Jinbe had an even scuffle with postskip Luffy and Jinbe ran away from Magellan. BB? Preskip Luffy sent him flying but Postskip Luffy(at the start of the timeskip) is still portrayed weaker than Ace who lost to BB....just a power creep and nothing else. Power escalation leads to power creeps.
EMPTY PORTRAYAL AND BUILD UP
The full power of the Monster Trio is completely unknown at the start of time skip and we get to Punk Hazard. We're introduced to completely new characters and reintroduced to old ones.
°Smoker, who's full power is completely unknown, is used as a hype tool for Law who's full power is also unknown.
°Luffy who's full power is unknown is used as a hype tool for Caesar and Monet who's full power is also unknown.
°Sanji who's full power is unknown is used a hype tool for Vergo who's full power is also unknown.
Speaking of Sanji, what about the Vinsmokes? Was it hard to scale them at first? Let's see why.
Sanji's full power was still unknown by the time WCI came around and he dent new character Yonji's face. We are told that its impressive but since we have no idea how strong either character is exactly, we have no idea where they stand on the power hierarchy.
New character Judge then has a circumstantial scuffle with Sanji which leaves Judge a completely unknown factor strength wise just like Yonji.
Remember new character Jack going over the new characters the dukes to show how impressive they are even though we have no clue how strong they are? It continued with Wano with new character Ashura Doji going over Jack. Once again, Jack's full power is unknown and was in base, leaving Ashura Doji as another wild card like many others.
40 image limit really nerfed what I wanted to say but there you have it. Vague portrayal+Inconsistent feats+ constantly escalation and power creeps? Its no wonder One Piece has the most divsere power scaling opinions I've ever seen. I fully expect Kaido and BM's feats to look like nothing later on due to constant escalation. More Franky vs Sasaki anyone?
WB was the World's Strongest Man yet he had an equal in Roger, and was introduced as sick and passed his prime making his full power completely unknown.
Mihawk is the World's Strongest Swordsman yet he has unfinished business with Shanks and his title alone doesn't match his on screen feats.
Kaido is the world's current #1 yet its purposely presented as just a rumor.
Hell, the closest Oda ever came to establishing actual power levels is when BM took out Queen, and even the level gap is vague and unknown.
Another time Oda came close to establishing an actual power scaling is with the Dokuri system and of course, he makes it vague.
That was a quick example of vague and contradictory portrayal so let's look some quick examples of vague and inconsistent feats.
INCONSISTENCIES(please note that the examples below don't necessarily reflect my views. Power scaling opinions are extremly diverse for a reason)
Ace and Jinbe could fight for 5 days.
Jack could fight the minks for 5 days
Akainu and Aokiji fought for 10 days
Oden and Kaido? Fight only lasts less than a day and Kaido almost gets one shotted. That's unlike anything that's ever happened in the series before.
Supernova and Kaido
Kaido no soled Boundman, emphasizing his durability
The Scabbard managed to stab Kaido with ACOA, making the latter scream in pain. Oda brought attention to this accomplishment by having fodder say this:
On the roof, Kidd and Law managed to make Kaido scream like a banshee with a slam and rocks respectively....no haki either....
Side Note: Killer could hurt him too
Kaido could one shot boundman
Zoro and Law could take the same move without losing consciousness, with Law still being able to fight
Kinemon could take multiple hits to the head and stay conscious
Big Mom without using haki could punch out Queen who is an ancient zoan.
Kidd, a regular guy, could no sell BM's punch
Zoro could one shot Killer
[Image]
But Killer can take attacks from top tiers no problem
Bonus: don't even want to talk much about Luffy going from being barely able to dodge Base Kaido and gets one shot to being able to take multiple hits from Hybrid Kaido and speed blitzing him while in Base.
Quick Note
THE POWER ESCALATION AND POWER CREEP
Power escalation is obviously where the limits of what characters are capable of increases further and further as a series continues.
°Example 1: each new DBZ villain being much stronger than the last to create a sense of threat.
°Example 2: Destroying a mountain in Dragon Ball was an insane feat of strength. Currently we have beings who can erase entire universes with the flick of a finger.
Power creep is when characters suddenly gain powers or abilities to keep up with ongoing escalation in a series.
°Example: DBZ Piccolo fusing with Kami in the Cell Saga to gain an absurd power boost.
How does Escalation and Creep affect One Piece?
During the East Blue saga, smashing rock and denting steel was seen as legendary.
And Mihawk was introduced in chapter 50 as the strongest swordsman. What was used to portray him as the strongest? HE COULD!!.....deflect bullets and cut a ship....
Quick Note
Mihawk then sweats because of East Blue Zoro's attack. By today's standards, Zoro shouldn't have gotten any such reaction.
We see Zoro get much stronger throughout preskip and fast forward to chapter 560, Mihawk goes from cutting ships to cutting an iceberg as WSS portrayal, an obvious case of power escalation
Quick Note
Lets not onto Luffy. Preskip Luffy could be a threat to "high tiers" like BB and Magellan.
The same BB who could do this:
Preskip Luffy was also no match for a pacifista and needed his entire crew to barely win, aka Pacifista>Yami Teach and Magellan?
Postskip Luffy became so powerful that he can EASILY one shot a Pacifista.
Zoro and Sanji could do the same
Postskip Luffy(G23) should be solid "high tier" right? Nope...he was helpless against them instead:
Even Luffy's power up wasn't enough
So is Magellan weak by postskip standards? Is Jinbe weak? But Jinbe had an even scuffle with postskip Luffy and Jinbe ran away from Magellan. BB? Preskip Luffy sent him flying but Postskip Luffy(at the start of the timeskip) is still portrayed weaker than Ace who lost to BB....just a power creep and nothing else. Power escalation leads to power creeps.
EMPTY PORTRAYAL AND BUILD UP
The full power of the Monster Trio is completely unknown at the start of time skip and we get to Punk Hazard. We're introduced to completely new characters and reintroduced to old ones.
°Smoker, who's full power is completely unknown, is used as a hype tool for Law who's full power is also unknown.
°Luffy who's full power is unknown is used as a hype tool for Caesar and Monet who's full power is also unknown.
°Sanji who's full power is unknown is used a hype tool for Vergo who's full power is also unknown.
Speaking of Sanji, what about the Vinsmokes? Was it hard to scale them at first? Let's see why.
Sanji's full power was still unknown by the time WCI came around and he dent new character Yonji's face. We are told that its impressive but since we have no idea how strong either character is exactly, we have no idea where they stand on the power hierarchy.
New character Judge then has a circumstantial scuffle with Sanji which leaves Judge a completely unknown factor strength wise just like Yonji.
Remember new character Jack going over the new characters the dukes to show how impressive they are even though we have no clue how strong they are? It continued with Wano with new character Ashura Doji going over Jack. Once again, Jack's full power is unknown and was in base, leaving Ashura Doji as another wild card like many others.
40 image limit really nerfed what I wanted to say but there you have it. Vague portrayal+Inconsistent feats+ constantly escalation and power creeps? Its no wonder One Piece has the most divsere power scaling opinions I've ever seen. I fully expect Kaido and BM's feats to look like nothing later on due to constant escalation. More Franky vs Sasaki anyone?
