Part 3: Oden is not built to be a top tier
A lot of you are asking what the hell I mean by this. Well, let us examine all of the things Oden has at his disposal that characterize him as a fighter:
-Oden is a swordsman
…..And that’s it. So for comparison, let’s compare Oden, to, let’s just say, Katakuri:
-Katakuri is an awakened Paramecia user
-Katakuri is a future sight user
-Katakuri is a spear-weilder
-Katakuri is a hand-to-hand combatant on the level of Snake Man
Katakuri is spamming future sight of the same quality as Kaido’s own, but Katakuri spams future sight 100% of the time. Even when Katakuri is engaged in casual conversation, not even actively in a fight, he is spamming future sight. With Katakuri’s future sight, he is capable of effortlessly dodging Snake Man in the same way Kaido was, except unlike Kaido, Katakuri is using future sight constantly.
Let’s talk about King.
-King is an awakened Zoan user with quasi-awakening techniques such as the Beak-flinging shit, and ultra durable and bladed wings
-King is a Lunarian with durability, at bare minimum, comparable to Kaido and at times even exceeding Kaido such as when King successfully defended against Black Rope Dragon Twister which made Kaido spit blood
-King is a swordsman
-King has a variety of fire-based attacks including magma-like flames
Both Katakuri and King have attributes directly comparable to Kaido. Katakuri’s future sight is almost identical to Kaido’s future sight, but it is active all of the time, and Katakuri uses this in conjunction with a logia-like Paramecia for even more efficient evasions. King’s durability is like Kaido’s or even exceeding Kaido’s when he is using his wings for protection.
In the case of Katakuri and King, both of them possess attributes directly comparable to Kaido or even exceeding Kaido depending on how you want to interpret things. You could also argue Katakuri has future sight on par with Saint Shanks, and King has durability on par with the Seraphim who Yonko Luffy and Zoro could not injure. King also has magma-like flames which could indicate lethality somewhat comparable to Akainu.
Fandom conclusion: Katakuri and King are high tiers.
Now let’s look at Oden, who has nothing but swordsmanship.
Oden’s swordsmanship is not comparable to Mihawk’s. Mihawk’s blade is of superior quality to Oden’s, and Mihawk wields a black blade.
Oden’s swordsmanship is not comparable to Saint Shanks’s. Saint Shanks very likely wields a supreme blade and mimics Roger’s own style which is superior to Oden.
Fujitora’s swordsmanship is still up in the air, but the quality of Fujitora’s blade is superior to Oden’s own blades.
Ryokugyu’s swordsmanship is completely unknown, but he wields the black blade which is again a leg up he has on Oden.
Oden possesses swordsmanship that seems to be straight up inferior to the other sword-wielding top tiers, two of which are not even dedicated swordsmen.
Fandom conclusion: “ODEN IS A TOP TIER!!!”
You couldn’t make this monkey shit up if you tried bruh I swear to Sakazuki.
While Katakuri and King have attributes directly comparable to top tiers while also being balanced, versatile fighters with many options at their disposal, Oden is a one-trick pony swordsman with nothing outside of the ability to swing his swords, and yet his swordsmanship is not even comparable to Fujitora and Ryokugyu who are hybrid swordsmen, let alone more dedicated swordsmen like Mihawk and Saint Shanks.