General & Others Why do people pretend like the story doesn’t matter?

[BlackLegFring]

It seems some people pretend like the outcome of a fight isn’t superseded by the story. The topic in question is a contentious one, but is anyone going to pretend that Akainu wasn’t already destined by the story to lose to Whitebeard temporarily at Marineford?
I know Akainu is not the most popular character so some people will hate him just to hate him, but is that reasonable to try and use that downplay him?
I don’t see how the alternative could feasibly work. If Akainu just killed Whitebeard, how would the story continue? Do you think Oda would introduce Whitebeard and not give him any notable victory against someone important?
I see that argument a lot so I wanted to give the people who use it a chance to explain why they think it makes sense. Do you think it’s reasonable to judge Akainu’s strength based on him losing in that situation?
One follow up question: Considering the context, do you think it would be different if it were any one else besides Akainu in that position? Would they not have been subject to the story and have “won” against Whitebeard?

For a direct example, how different do you think it would be if it were Big Mom in Akainu's shoes? How would things have turned out? Would she have fallen into the sea?

 

[Tejas]

Kaido and Big Mom get up no problem, Shanks may get a little damage and all of them can defeat a dying WB but all of them won't stay hidden like Akainu until the coast is clear.

 

[bhacha2000]

Only one person so far who choose to stay underground not standing up and confront WB back. If it Luffy he will charge straight back at WB, BB beg for mercy and calling calling out for help, I choose Luffy type fighting style

 

[Celestial D. Dragon]

Here's the thing with One Piece. People all have individual stats. Some are tanks but easier to hit, while others are harder to get hit, but take less damage to put down. This is to balance things out. Logia's fall into the latter aspect of that spectrum. If Akainu had Big Mom or Kaido's durability, he'd be unstoppable. Or imagine Big Mom or Kaido with Katakuri's logia like ability and Future sight. They'd also be absolutely unbeatable.

Combat stats in One Piece is not as one dimensional as people seem to think. Certain characters in that exact situation would fare better than others. But as someone who doesn't fall on the tanky side of the spectrum, of course Akainu is going to get rocked by an off guard full force Gura punch to the dome, immediately followed by one to the ribs that splits an island in half. It doesn't make him any less of a character, because he's going to excel in other aspects of combat that offset his shortcomings, which is what makes him a Top Tier.

 

[Master OF Haki]

Any fight is a subject of storytelling, and the storytelling indicates power level. If character needs to be strong (for story purposes) then he will. What characters can do or cannot do is indicated by their power level and their power level is indicated by the story, all of that is intertwined.

Akainu being defeated by Whitbeard is not just story because again, "story indicates power level" is also power level too. Akainu is as strong as he needs to be for he's character purposes, and if necessary, that character can get power boost for other purposes.

Some times characters can be dirty, have bad personalities, those characters can achieve things whiteout purely power level based reasons. Those characters can cheat, gang up, blackmail etc. In order to achieve their goals. In one piece we have a lot of characters that will do those things "including Akainu". Also the fact that character can cheat doesn't mean he's weak or should be weak.

Akainu losing to Whitbeard simply means Whitbeard>Akainu, considering all conveniences that Akainu had on Whitbeard makes the gap even more. By no means what I said makes Akainu weak, Akainu is undeniably strong, but the story doesn't need him to be as strong as Whitbeard hence Whitbeard>Akainu.

 

[Dickie D. Dick]

Akainu didn't lose
But I get what you try to say

 

[BlackLegFring]

Any fight is a subject of storytelling, and the storytelling indicates power level. If character needs to be strong (for story purposes) then he will. What characters can do or cannot do is indicated by their power level and their power level is indicated by the story, all of that is intertwined.

Akainu being defeated by Whitbeard is not just story because again, "story indicates power level" is also power level too. Akainu is as strong as he needs to be for he's character purposes, and if necessary, that character can get power boost for other purposes.

Some times characters can be dirty, have bad personalities, those characters can achieve things whiteout purely power level based reasons. Those characters can cheat, gang up, blackmail etc. In order to achieve their goals. In one piece we have a lot of characters that will do those things "including Akainu". Also the fact that character can cheat doesn't mean he's weak or should be weak.

Akainu losing to Whitbeard simply means Whitbeard>Akainu, considering all conveniences that Akainu had on Whitbeard makes the gap even more. By no means what I said makes Akainu weak, Akainu is undeniably strong, but the story doesn't need him to be as strong as Whitbeard hence Whitbeard>Akainu.

That's part of my point though. The story needs certain things to turn out a certain way, but if you remove the restraints of the story wouldn't things change?

For instance, in Whitebeard and Akainu's first fight when WB has the heart attack, Akainu hits him in the torso instead of the head and then disappears afterwards so that fodder can attack WB instead. Without the story needing WB to survive, wouldn't that have resulted in a victory for Akainu?

As for the other part of the question, many people do use that instance to arguer that Akainu is weaker than other characters. Part of my point is that such reasoning doesn't hold up because other characters would have suffered the same fate.