Part 3: Overall Strength
Now that we’ve proved 2 things – That Shanks is a swordsman, and Mihawk is a more skilled swordsman than Shanks, let’s go over why Mihawk is stronger than Shanks.
The main argument used against Mihawk’s strength is that it’s just a title, but this is wrong as the title has been CONFIRMED as shown here:
The important part to take from this statement is “Even now he reigns supreme as the strongest in the world in both name and reality” as this proves that Mihawk is the World’s Strongest Swordsman in both name and actuality
The meaning of “Actuality” is “truth” “intended“, etc. meaning Mihawk’s position as the World’s Strongest Swordsman is an absolute, undisputed fact until Zoro inevitably surpasses him.
Furthermore, it is said that Shanks once rivaled or once had the ability to compete with Mihawk depending on what translation you use. Since I’ve already shown the evidence that Shanks is a swordsman and Mihawk is the strongest swordsman in actuality, this would mean that Mihawk and Shanks were once equals in strength/skill, and Mihawk eventually surpassed him.
Raw Kanji- “シャンクスはかって、世界一の剣豪と肩を並べたほどの実力を持つ” Google Translate- Shanks once had the ability to compete with the best swordsman in the world. DeepL- Shanks once rivaled the best swordsmen in the world
A common counter-argument is that these statements come from the Vivre Cards which have been proven to have mistakes in the past, but even if we went with that and said the Vivre Cards were incorrect, even the manga supports this claim as shown here:
Both of these statements plainly state that Mihawk is the most strongest/powerful swordsman. It does not state “He holds the title of the Strongest Swordsman” or anything similar, it simply states that he is the strongest swordsman, which is a direct confirmation wthout any room for debate.
PART 4: NOTORIETY
In SBS 73, Oda calls Mihawk a legend among men alongside Shanks and Whitebeard. While this isn’t a direct confirmation he’s on their level, it does prove that Oda sees Mihawk in the same light he’d see Whitebeard or Shanks, as a legend.
FINAL CONCLUSION
While very close, Mihawk is both stronger than Shanks and more skilled than Shanks, and is just overall superior in pretty much every aspect. Shanks is also indisputably a swordsman, contrary to public belief. All major sources of information heavily support Mihawk > Shanks, a swordsman. The manga supports Mihawk > Shanks, the vivre cards support Mihawk > Shanks, and the databooks supports Mihawk > Shanks. There is virtually nothing from any official sources that go in Shanks favor.
*by Aptohhhh
