General & Others Mihawk never said he was inferior to Whitebeard...

[Santoryu D Bazooka]

I always thought Mihawk was talking in metaphors and was saying something was up with Whitebeard, that he was weaker than he should be. It was foreshadowing that Whitebeard wasn't healthy and Mihawk was the first one to notice this. He swings a testing slash at Whitebeard to see what happens and behold, it isn't even Whitebeard that deals with it. Jozu steps in. Almost like Jozu is concerned about his captain's failing health.

It being purely about distance is would be pretty lame. In an arena of numerous cunning characters, Mihawk's sharp eyes picking up on Whitebeard's condition is cooler in my opinion. It gives him a nice extra bit of characterisation.

I also think its this.. i mean the idea was supported in his Vivre card too.. Why mention Mihawk "having the ability to gauge" one Strength from a glance if its not relevant to his character.

It should also be obvious why he didn't try again.. He would never fight someone with an unfair disadvantage.

- Shanks losing an arm.
- WB being sickly weak.
- Vista because the battleground will not let them go all out.

So no i disagree on nik's POV here.

 

[PuckTheGreat]

All you need is proof of Mihawk wanting to see how he compares to him.
Hint - there’s none

Bruda the proof is literally Mihawk’s statement.
If you cannot see it then there’s nothing I can tell you. Y’all are way too obsessed with PLs and head canons of how you think character A compares to Character B that you’re missing the forest for the trees. Regardless of whether WB was in decline or not. It doesn’t really change his pedigree and what he represents in the verse. Mihawk wanting to see how he compares to a legendary figure of the ilk of WB is not rocket science.

 

[park_min young]

Mihawk said - the true distance between us and that man. This means he wasnt only talking about himself - he called Whitebeard stronger than everyone else, including Kaido, Shanks, etc.

Finally bro, somebody who can interpret a simple sentence

 

[trav]

No, he didn't "jump" Oden. Oden

Excuse me, Roger, not Oden.

 

[Malio]

It is not about Mihawk wanting to test out if Whitebeard was still the man.
All that Mihawk wanted to test in that scene is if Whitebeard is really served on a silver platter as it seemed due to being very close to the enemy troops and seemingly with nothing to protect him. Kizaru tries the same thing right after Mihawk.

I get what you're saying but I have to disagree [our first disagreement...this is exciting]. I just saw it as the current strongest wanting to test his might at the OG strongest, and he got his answer. I agree with the kizaru bit though. It did seem like everyone wanted to test themselves against Whitebeard

 

[Cozy Sofa]

He would never fight someone with an unfair disadvantage.

- Shanks losing an arm.
- WB being sickly weak.
- Vista because the battleground will not let them go all out.

I don't think that is it. Mihawk had NO beef with mere commanders, veterans or scrubs of the WB pirates. He only had 2 purposes for participation in the war

- Fight WB himself, intrigued by the legend of WSM.
- Keep his position as a Shichibukai.

What good would it do for him to kill off Vista, Jozu, Marco or someone else? He gains zero prestige and zero extra benefit from the marines. He only risks injury and revenge later on.

 

[CbShadow]

Before MF
• Mihawk doesn't hunt rabbits with cannons
• Mihawk knew his own level was ≈> Yonko Shanks
• As WSS only Yonko, PK, FA could measure up
• Mihawk admitted PK > WSS, Yonko, FA
• WBs reputation was PK-level

During MF
• Mihawk decided to test WB to gauge the gap
• Mihawk realized the gap was insignificant
• Mihawk decided to test the next PK Luffy
• Luffy passed the test
• Mihawk refused to fight Shanks with handicap

Headcannon.

The only thing that's correct is he doesn't use overwhelming power against weaker people and consider Shanks a has been that can no longer provide him a challenge.

Post automatically merged: Today at 11:23 AM

Mihawk said - the true distance between us and that man. This means he wasnt only talking about himself - he called Whitebeard stronger than everyone else, including Kaido, Shanks, etc.

He wasn't talking about strength.

He faced WB and didn't even use a name technique or haki. If he really believed WB was stronger he would have known nothing less than haki and/or name technique was needed to test his strength.

 

[nik87]

Bruda the proof is literally Mihawk’s statement.
If you cannot see it then there’s nothing I can tell you. Y’all are way too obsessed with PLs and head canons of how you think character A compares to Character B that you’re missing the forest for the trees. Regardless of whether WB was in decline or not. It doesn’t really change his pedigree and what he represents in the verse. Mihawk wanting to see how he compares to a legendary figure of the ilk of WB is not rocket science.

Ironic considering yall think Mihawk has the mentality of OP fandom power scalers, wanting to test himself...
Mihawk wanted to see the same thing Kizaru wanted to see - if they can take the king out right away.
And thus Marco's response, which debunks this nonsense.

I get what you're saying but I have to disagree [our first disagreement...this is exciting]. I just saw it as the current strongest wanting to test his might at the OG strongest, and he got his answer. I agree with the kizaru bit though. It did seem like everyone wanted to test themselves against Whitebeard

I disagree with the whole testing thing.
Mihawk and Kizaru are established characters, they are not Zoro who are eager for a fight or looking to prove themselves.
These are veterans, especially Mihawk who is bored beyond measurement.
If anyone wanted to test themselves, they would be invading Wano due to Kaido.

 

[Chiji_]

I always interpreted that line as Mihawk highlighting that the commanders will stand in the way of the warlords getting to Whitebeard so their mission wouldn’t be so simple. Especially considering WB had essentially a diamond shield, not saying that Mihawk cannot cut through diamond but clearly it’s one of the toughest substances to cut and this is a living being with haki for reinforcement.

 

[Blazing Lion]

Imagine the height of disrespect Mihawk would be showing to WB if to test him Mihawk sends an unnamed slash.

Compare it to Rogers LHM/equal who tests a Yonko by launching a named attack with destructive power far less than Mihawks unnamed slash on Luffy in MF.

 

[grey matter]

What is the basis for this?

It's the interpretation of "true distance" between "us" (i.e WG fighters) and him (Whitebeard)

Distance refers to what stands between them and Whtiebeard:
- Whitebeard's individual strength
- Whitebeard's crew

Only if you can surpass both Whitebeard and his crew in power, can you defeat Whitebeard.

Mihawk also wanted to see if Whitebeard was indeed WSM, hence the emphasis on "true" distance. The test is because he had a feeling that Whitebeard might have declined, and is longer not who he was hyped to be - the WSM.

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:25 PM

It could also just be referring to Whitebeard's crew itself, without any implication on Whitebeard's individual power
Since in both cases a top tier attacked WB, a commander came and stopped it.

Either way, it is not referring to physical distance for sure lol

 

[nik87]

Distance refers to what stands between them and Whtiebeard:
- Whitebeard's individual strength
- Whitebeard's crew

Nope.
What stands between them is nothing.
And that's exactly what Mihawk checks out and sees that actually there are things that prevent the king from being taken so early.
There is literally nothing about Whitebeard's individual strength, this is pure nonsense that is a result of decade-long repeat of >Mihawk admitting inferiority. It simply never happened.

Only if you can surpass both Whitebeard and his crew in power, can you defeat Whitebeard.

Is that what happened in Marineford? lol

Mihawk also wanted to see if Whitebeard was indeed WSM, hence the emphasis on "true" distance. The test is because he had a feeling that Whitebeard might have declined, and is longer not who he was hyped to be - the WSM.

He didnt have any feeling about WB decline, another made up argument over all the years.
Zenzu explained it - You see Trump on the street, several meters away from you and you be like - there is nothing between us, nothing stops me from throwing a rock at his face and the moment you do it, bodyguards dressed up as civilians intercept it and show you that true distance between you and Trump is bigger than what it seemed.

There is no test of strength whatsoever, Mihawk isnt an insecure toddler wanting to prove himself. It is others who want to prove themselves against him if nothing else and even that doesnt happen.

 

[JoNdule]

Sick WB >> Mihawk
Sick WB + Jozu >= Mihawk

According to mihawk fans since Mihawk claimed the gap is quite smaller than he imagined

 

[Shisui]

Prime WB > Mihawk > Old healthy WB > Sick MF WB.

Prime WB > Old WB > Sick WB > Hawkeye.. get that shit right
At no point in the manga was Hawkeye said to be stronger than WB. Hawkeye was introduced as the WSS, while old, sick WB was introduced as the WSM. But I’m guessing you read his title as “Formerly the WSM”

 

[ArturCantSpeakJapanese]

It is a matter of reading comprehension and if you didnt understand it after detailed explanation, I can be of no further help.

you can't read so you can't help. maybe one day you'll realize that mihawk isn't the World's Longest Measuring Tape

Post automatically merged: Today at 4:37 PM

I see the comment as Mihawk wanting to test how much WB is stronger than him but finding out that WB is a shell of his prime self who’s weaker than him and hence needs his subordinates blocking his slashes hence knows he’s weaker and stops attacking since he doesn’t wanna pick on people not in their prime out of respect.

None of that actual physical distance bullshit headcanon garbage

yes, this is exactly what happened. congratulations on having reading comprehension @GalaxyLevelShanks

Post automatically merged: Today at 4:40 PM

As I said, include context instead of analyzing the meaning of a single word.

thats what hes doing and you aren't doing. you used to be better at trolling lol

 

[haxxor]

Oh he meant power level alright , one of the few instances where we got a clear portrayal of top tiers being compared with power levels

that measuring the distance with a ruler statement is funny as fuck

 

[Sentry22]

The sentence is pretty straight forward. Mihawk knew he wasn’t PK tier. He knew Roger and WB stood above everyone else, which is why he said that. After all Mihawk has only ever been interested in strength. If your looking for other meanings then your in denial.

 

[MonsterKaido]

Prime WB > Old WB > Sick WB > Hawkeye.. get that shit right
At no point in the manga was Hawkeye said to be stronger than WB. Hawkeye was introduced as the WSS, while old, sick WB was introduced as the WSM. But I’m guessing you read his title as “Formerly the WSM”

Nah. Sick MF WB has shit reaction, no use of any adv Haki even akainu endured his strongest AP attack and dealt lethal damage to him. Sick MF WB is losing to Kaido , BM etc. Mihawk is on Kaido's level.

Old WB most likely maintained his title from prime self. Personally I think shanks , Kaido , Mihawk etc are stronger.

 

[Franosuke]

20+ years of being gaslit will have you believe the word “distance” can only be interpreted to mean strength and nothing else

 

[sanjikun]

People misunderstand this whole thing. Mihawk over the entire war was making a lot of observations, and finally ended up in this:

The Whitebeard thing was simply the lead up to this. The "true distance" was a double entrendre. It meant physical distance but also distance in strength. However, that's when Mihawk, who was focused on individual strength his entire life, learned that the "great men" are not simply great because of individual prowess, but they also a crew and allies around them to support them. Jozu jumping in showed Mihawk just that.

Jozu interrupting that slash with his diamond, was Oda's way of saying a great pirate is not just individual strength, but also the support of those around you. That was the start of Mihawk's realization towards Luffy being great.