This is legit genuine question I would love if anyone would take time and answer me for this cause i usually don't roam around forums and don't know the perspection of some characters but i recently compared Marco to prime Rayleigh and someone thought they were no where near ?
So here's my understanding on Marco :
- He has been the 2nd mate of a guy that could'v been PK (and that's a fact) so pretty much same position as Rayleigh
- He's probably one of the most experienced people we know of in the story so far he has been since 15 years old (maybe even more) on WB's ship and has seen countless battles and some we know of are the "Summit War" against the marine and the "Payback War" against Blackbear ... (and Haki blooms in battle so experience is huge)
- If everyone believes that Roger vs Whitebeard was a true rivalry which everyone admits to it then how tf ppl treat Marco so far below Rayleigh ? how could the WBP in general matchup to the Roger pirates especially knowing 26 years ago they fought in 3 day and 3 night battle , what is it 1 man show Whitebeard vs Roger Pirates ?
- After the Payback war , the goresei legit said that if Marco won the war he could'v been yonko
And finally my understanding of most characters power level there's an age hierarchy where from 20-40 you're devlepping and could get stronger 40-60 you're at your peak and 60+ you're past your prime and starting to get weaker ... And Marco rn is at 45 so pretty much at his absolute peak
For me Marco rn is exactly Rayleigh at his peak to make a parallel and for me he's a clear cut above the 1st mates of yonko crews (King/Katakuri/Beckman... etc) but a bit weaker than the yonkos and the admirals kinda like Mihawk
So again this is a genuine question maybe i missed something in the story or there's a better explanation for this in the forums but why Marco doesn't get enough credit ?
So here's my understanding on Marco :
- He has been the 2nd mate of a guy that could'v been PK (and that's a fact) so pretty much same position as Rayleigh
- He's probably one of the most experienced people we know of in the story so far he has been since 15 years old (maybe even more) on WB's ship and has seen countless battles and some we know of are the "Summit War" against the marine and the "Payback War" against Blackbear ... (and Haki blooms in battle so experience is huge)
- If everyone believes that Roger vs Whitebeard was a true rivalry which everyone admits to it then how tf ppl treat Marco so far below Rayleigh ? how could the WBP in general matchup to the Roger pirates especially knowing 26 years ago they fought in 3 day and 3 night battle , what is it 1 man show Whitebeard vs Roger Pirates ?
- After the Payback war , the goresei legit said that if Marco won the war he could'v been yonko
And finally my understanding of most characters power level there's an age hierarchy where from 20-40 you're devlepping and could get stronger 40-60 you're at your peak and 60+ you're past your prime and starting to get weaker ... And Marco rn is at 45 so pretty much at his absolute peak
For me Marco rn is exactly Rayleigh at his peak to make a parallel and for me he's a clear cut above the 1st mates of yonko crews (King/Katakuri/Beckman... etc) but a bit weaker than the yonkos and the admirals kinda like Mihawk
So again this is a genuine question maybe i missed something in the story or there's a better explanation for this in the forums but why Marco doesn't get enough credit ?
To your specific points:
- Does not mean that the crews are completely equal in each position. Oda makes a pretty obvious distinction between commanders and Vice Captain, which Rayleigh was. Rayleigh was at least hyped up to be somewhat close to Whitebeard by someone in authority, Garp, and at least fought equally with a top tier for a while (even if he was getting tired and would ultimately lose) while stating it would be different in his prime. Plus he made the trolling Kizaru serious, none of the WB Pirates accomplished that.
- Experience does not equal strength. Once again failure to understand a simple statement: "Haki only blooms in extreme situations", it does not mean Haki blooms in every situation. It means if you push yourself in every facet to your most extreme.
Getting crushed by Blackbeard and hurt a bit in Marineford does not equal that.
- We saw what that meant. They were basically fighting mock-up battles and drinking together afterwards.
- The Gorosei never said that, as others mentioned here already, and others and i have done since that chapter came out.
The Gorosei talk about all the forces in the entire world and state that only Yonkou and maybe the WB Pirates led by Marco could stop him in the New World. Put into context, he is talking about the pirate world, the Marines could obviously stop him, but they, at least in that moment, did not meddle too much in the New World. The Revos could stop him, but they had no reason to, only those who either do not want him in power (Yonkou) or those that have a direct vendetta against him (WB Pirates) could do it.
It just means there is no other pirate group in the world who could do it, which, from what we know of the world, holds truth. The Shichibukai do not work together, and invidually, they do not stand a chance (maybe Mihawk but i would not argue for it).
And the Gorosei still make a distinction by stating the Yonkou could definitely and the WB Pirates, a force of 1600 WB Pirates + 43 allied crews, could maybe do it. Yeah it´s not Yonkou hype.