As far as the WSS title goes, there are more parallels between Mihawk and Rayleigh. Like Rayleigh wearing the same clothing in his prime and there even being a debate about Rayleigh being Mihawk's father.
Technically, everyone is a swordsman who uses a sword in battle. But I think as for the WSS, it is primarily between those, whose strongest asset is swordsmanship.
King for example would fall under that. He has a DF, but it's a zoan which boosts his physical stats and swordsmanship. As for Fujitora and Kizaru, I don't think Mihawk would be interested in that kind of battle, because their strongest asset is not swordsmanship related. For Fujitora, swordsmanship is like a side power, with him mainly using gravity for combat. Same with Kizaru. A sword is just a side power, he mainly uses laser bombardment, let alone what his awakening might be.
It wouldn't make sense for Mihawk to lose his title after being buried under gravity, just because the opponent happens to have a blade, which is an inferior power to his gravity power. If Fujitora had Kinemon's DF, he would very well fall under the WSS narrative, because swordsmanship is his strongest asset.
I think it makes no sense to just assume everyone is under Mihawk who happens to use a blade. It would make the WSS title too important in the story, since virtually every top tier from this and the past eras use swords. But Oda made clear that the WSS path stands beneath the pirate king path.
That's why we only heard of Shanks being Mihawk's rival at some point in time. But we don't hear of Kizaru, Fujitora (who wasn't a marine up until recently), Big Mom & co. being affiliated with Mihawk in any sort. We have never heard their name in the same context. In the novel, when marines debated about who the strongest swordsman might be, they also compared Mihawk, Shanks, Zoro and Vista based on their techniques. But you haven't heard of Kizaru, Fujitora or Big Mom being compared to them.
Technically, everyone is a swordsman who uses a sword in battle. But I think as for the WSS, it is primarily between those, whose strongest asset is swordsmanship.
King for example would fall under that. He has a DF, but it's a zoan which boosts his physical stats and swordsmanship. As for Fujitora and Kizaru, I don't think Mihawk would be interested in that kind of battle, because their strongest asset is not swordsmanship related. For Fujitora, swordsmanship is like a side power, with him mainly using gravity for combat. Same with Kizaru. A sword is just a side power, he mainly uses laser bombardment, let alone what his awakening might be.
It wouldn't make sense for Mihawk to lose his title after being buried under gravity, just because the opponent happens to have a blade, which is an inferior power to his gravity power. If Fujitora had Kinemon's DF, he would very well fall under the WSS narrative, because swordsmanship is his strongest asset.
I think it makes no sense to just assume everyone is under Mihawk who happens to use a blade. It would make the WSS title too important in the story, since virtually every top tier from this and the past eras use swords. But Oda made clear that the WSS path stands beneath the pirate king path.
That's why we only heard of Shanks being Mihawk's rival at some point in time. But we don't hear of Kizaru, Fujitora (who wasn't a marine up until recently), Big Mom & co. being affiliated with Mihawk in any sort. We have never heard their name in the same context. In the novel, when marines debated about who the strongest swordsman might be, they also compared Mihawk, Shanks, Zoro and Vista based on their techniques. But you haven't heard of Kizaru, Fujitora or Big Mom being compared to them.
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