Since the One Piece story started, Eiichiro Oda has introduced some powerful characters in the series who are in a league of their own. Dracule Mihawk is one of them. He holds the title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman and has given a glimpse of his powers. However, he has never fully shown what he is capable of.
Mihawk is stated to be Shanks’s rival, which gives a hint about his strength and what he can do as a swordsman. However, this may become a problem for Oda as the story progresses. Mihawk’s title of the Strongest Swordsman makes him a serious issue in the One Piece storyline as it makes the introduction of new characters difficult.
This problem has become more serious since Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, one of the Five Elders, has revealed his powers in One Piece. This creates a big problem for Oda in terms of character placement and power rankings.
Eiichiro Oda’s Mihawk Problem
Since the introduction of Dracule Mihawk in the story, he has been titled as the Strongest Swordsman in the One Piece world. This automatically puts him at the top of the list of all the swordsmen that are currently present in the ongoing story and the ones who will be introduced in future arcs of One Piece.
However, Mihawk has never fully shown his powers and revealed how strong he is. Though he is placed in the ranks with characters like Shanks, it is only because of his swordsmanship and not because of his overall fighting skills. One Piece fans don’t even know what kind of Haki powers he possesses or if he is still growing in terms of his skills or not.
This has become a problem for Eiichiro Oda because from now on, every swordsman introduced in the story will be placed below him by One Piece fans irrespective of their title or importance in the story. Characters like Saint Figarland Garling and V. Nusjuro, who are ideally more essential to the storyline in the future, will still be considered below Mihawk in terms of Swordsmanship.
Nusjuro’s Powers Revelation Makes Eiichiro Oda’s Mihawk Problem More Serious
In the recent One Piece manga chapter 1110, when Saturn summoned the rest of the Five Elders, they all entered the battlefield in their Yokai forms. Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, who is the only Swordsman among the Five Elders, also revealed his Yokai form, which is a bakotsu: a kind of horse. He also revealed that his blades have the power to freeze his opponents just like Brook.
Ideally, he should be stronger than Mihawk because of his position in the World Government. However, Mihawk’s title has still not changed, and this automatically puts him above V. Nusjuro, which is not a fair power scaling. Thus, this has become a big problem for Oda, and it is only going to get bigger. Another explanation of this could be that the Five Elders consider themselves Gods in One Piece. Thus, it can be said that they do not fit in the category.
Until Oda brings Mihawk back into the central storyline, there is no other way of solving this problem. Bringing him back would help fans understand his full potential as the Strongest Swordsman in the world and whether or not he is worthy of this title.
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