You guessed it: Edward frickin‘ Newgate. Even the mere mention of his name is synonymous with feats that would make anyone in the One Piece universe quake, either in fear or awe. After all, he wasn’t deemed as “The Strongest Man in the World” for nothing. But on that note, which anime characters do have a chance against this absolute badass of an old man? Here’s some of our picks for contenders who might come out victorious.
15. Gol D. Roger
Anime: One Piece This one should be a given. After all, Gol D. Roger was known to be one of the very few people who can rival Whitebeard in terms of strength and power. By that comparison, it’s fair to assume that The King of Pirates had a chance of beating Whitebeard had they fought in their primes. Then again, it also goes vice versa. Although we might not know much about the full extent of Roger’s capabilities, I’d say the power of his remaining crew (like Rayleigh for example) alone is a testament to it.
14. All Might
Anime: My Hero Academia It’s pretty obvious that All Might (in his “hero form” at least) and Edward are both massive units with muscles on top of their muscles. And personally, I think it would be interesting to see a straight-up slugfest between these two. Who would come out on top? In All Might’s case, I believe that his overall strength, durability, and more notably his speed, are enough for him to tango with Whitebeard and win – even in his prime. Of course, his chances also drastically increase if he’s in his uninjured state. All in all, if the battle between these two is in their primes, then I would give 6 out of 10 matches in favor of All Might. If not, then it’s basically a 50/50 toss-up.
13. Netero
Anime: Hunter X Hunter Who says Whitebeard is the only oldie who can be badass & kickass at the same time? Well, Netero might have something to say about that. He’s the former chairman of the Hunter Association, and the man who has technically slain the strongest creature on earth. Furthermore, he’s also retained and improved his abilities even in old age, unlike Whitebeard who has gotten significantly weaker since his glory days. While Netero’s durability might not be as good as Edward’s, his steady improvement throughout his many years of training in a mountain made his fists as fast as light. This overpowered ability gives him a much-needed speed advantage. And in a fight where the one who strikes first will usually win, speed might be all he needs.
12. Juvia Lockser
Anime: Fairy Tail Onto the first magic-user on this list, we have Juvia Lockser, who can exploit one of Whitebeard’s very few weaknesses. As much of a powerhouse Edward is on land, he just can’t swim, because he’s a Devil Fruit user. Therefore, he’s actually a bad matchup against characters who can control water. As one of the best water wizards in her series, Juvia is quite adept at controlling large bodies of water — sometimes even out of nothing at all. If she’s serious right off the bat, it would most probably take her only a few seconds to fully subdue Whitebeard by bombarding him with a torrent of water.
11. Dio
Anime: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Dio is yet another muscle-bound character that could go toe-to-toe with Whitebeard, although he probably shouldn’t. Despite his quick regeneration and reasonable durability, I still think Dio’s best move here is to just stop time before approaching the enemy himself. After that, well, let’s just say that we should be hearing a lot of punching sound effects and a lot more “Muda Muda!” from Dio. Provided that he doesn’t waste any time to run his mouth before actually making a move (seriously he does that a lot), I think Dio and his stand have got this in the bag.
10. Kisame Hoshigaki
Anime: Naruto Kisame is one spiky-haired shinobi that I would definitely count on when it comes to water-based ninjutsu. The guy straight-up looks like a shark. And I still haven’t found a “canon” explanation for that, by the way. In addition to knowing some fire, wind, and earth techniques, he can be considered a master when it comes to the Water Prison Jutsu. This is basically his go-to water-type technique for containing threats – and is something that would work well against Whitebeard, who’d lose his powers while inside the prison. If Kisame manages to use this first (or any other large-scale water techniques), then it only comes down to whether he can power through Whitebeard’s emperor’s haki or not. If so, then he gets the win for sure.
9. Baraggan Louisenbairn
Anime: Bleach Another one of Whitebeard’s weaknesses, as I’m sure most of you already know, is that he’s not immune to aging – just like the rest of us. Father Time, even in anime, is mostly undefeated. And in a sense, I guess you can say that Baraggan is Father Time itself. Not only is he strong, fast, and virtually untouchable, but he can also neutralize enemies fairly easily by accelerating the physical deterioration of their bodies. And in Whitebeard’s case, I don’t think Barragan needs to accelerate his aging that much further if he’s doing battle in his old, usual self.
8. Accelerator
Anime: A Certain Magical Index One full-powered world-breaking punch from Whitebeard might just be the deciding factor here. And by that, I mean he’d punch himself into a bloody and brutal loss if he does do it. While I don’t doubt Whitebeard’s durability one bit under normal circumstances, a fight with Accelerator is anything but a normal circumstance. After all, there’s not much anyone can do if your opponent can just stand there and send whatever you’re giving to him back to you without even lifting a finger. Against most physical juggernauts like Whitebeard, a similarly overpowered damage reflector like Accelerator is just a really bad matchup at the end of the day.
7. Tier Harribel
Anime: Bleach Tier Harribel is our second Bleach character, and yet another opponent that Whitebeard would find hard to beat because of his weakness against water. Despite being an Arrancar, Tier is notably the most reasonable of the Espadas besides Nel Tu. Oh, and she has also become Hueco Mundo’s queen (Jon Snow sends his regards) after surviving the battle with the Soul Reapers. She’s every bit as strong as Barragan. But she’s more intelligent and calculating. That’s why she survived, unlike him. In addition to that, I don’t doubt she’d fare better against Whitebeard, as she doesn’t need to fight in close quarters. The reason for this is because most of her sword techniques — most notably her Cascada — can be used at a distance.
6. Koro-Sensei
Anime: Assassination Classroom When it comes to raw durability, there are very few anime characters who can measure up to our favorite tentacled teacher here. Now, I know Whitebeard tanked a total of 465 injuries before going down in Marineford. But I have to say Koro-Sensei would have fared much better in that situation. Simply put, Koro-Sensei is just damn near impossible to kill – in addition to being super fast and highly reactive. This is a very difficult matchup for Whitebeard. Koro-Sensei can also morph into slime to avoid his attacks — basically negating much if not all of the blunt force trauma that Whitebeard could inflict.
5. Tatsumaki
Anime: One Punch Man Even though Whitebeard does have some ranged attack options, they’re very limited, and are highly situational (like the tidal wave on Marineford). And one character who can exploit Whitebeard’s lack of versatility and range is Tatsumaki, one of the most powerful telekinetics in anime. As long as she keeps her distance, I highly doubt that Whitebeard will be able to do anything against her. From throwing Whitebeard into the ocean to blasting him off to space — there’s just no shortage of scenarios where Tatsumaki wins this battle.
4. Julius Novachrono
Anime: Black Clover Julius is one of the best time-manipulators in anime. He can stop, slow down, turn back, and even hasten the flow of time. All these abilities just show you just how broken his character is, really. Heck, he can even steal time from people and use it for whatever he wishes. Though as the Wizard King, I don’t think he’ll be using this particular ability of his that often. This takes us back to Whitebeard’s vulnerability against aging, as he has barely enough time left as it is. Although Julius might not need to exploit this particular “weakness” to win the battle. He’s already overpowered as it is.
3. Momonga
Anime: Overlord Being the second skeleton guy on this list, Momonga is an undead creature that’s even more of a threat to Whitebeard than Barragan. For example, he’s been shown to have the same capability as Whitebeard when it comes to clearing out massive amounts of opponents (fodder more like it) in a short period of time. And of course, his specialty not only lies in his catastrophic AOE attacks. As seen in his duel with Shalltear, he can also dominate enemies much physically stronger than himself in a one-on-one battle. And unlike Shalltear, I doubt Whitebeard knows any resurrection spells that can save him from Momonga’s sure-death hax skills.
2. Sailor Mercury
Anime: Sailor Moon Her name loosely translates to “Water Star” in Japanese. And by that, I think we can all see where this matchup is headed. In her series, Sailor Mercury is amongst the strongest warriors in the multiverse. And while she’s not necessarily the strongest, her control over water is more than enough to overwhelm Whitebeard. So much so that I actually don’t see any version of this matchup where Whitebeard comes out on top. Magical girls, folks. You never underestimate ’em or else.
1. Master Roshi
Anime: Dragon Ball I know this might be a bit of a controversial pick, but let’s be honest… Is it really? It’s very easy to overlook human characters like Roshi when you’ve got Saiyans and gods busting up the entire planet whenever they fight. But Roshi is powerful nonetheless. Roshi, especially for his age, is incredibly fast and strong. Surprisingly more than the majority of the characters in this list, even. For reference, Whitebeard might’ve been rumored to have enough power to destroy the earth, but Roshi actually went ahead and destroyed the moon with a Kamehameha. While Krillin is in fact the “Strongest Human” in Dragon Ball, I believe this old-timer is already an overwhelming opponent for Whitebeard.
