Edward Newgate

Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard, is a character from the One Piece anime and manga.

Edward was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and was known as "The Strongest Man in the World" and "The Man closest to One Piece" after Gol D. Roger's death. He was one of the Yonko that ruled over the New World until his death during the Battle of Marineford.

Appearance
In his younger days, he wore an open dark gray vest and a black bandanna, and his trademark mustache was nonexistent. Later in his life, he grew the prominent crescent-shaped mustache, which would spawn his epithet, "Whitebeard". When he was 52, he wore a white and yellow pirate hat with his jolly roger on it over a black bandana with black and red, both worn over long, blond flowing hair he had back then.

Whitebeard was an abnormally large man, with a height of 666 cm (21'10"). Unlike other large-sized humans, however, he was well-proportioned. He had a long face, ploughed because of the advanced age with many wrinkles around his eyes, and many scars running along his chest, and was very muscular. The muscles on his biceps seemed to grow bigger whenever he used his quake-based powers. Like all of his men, he had his own Jolly Roger tattooed on his back. In the manga, his eyes are brown, but in the anime, his eye color is seen to be yellow.

He wore a black bandanna around his head and adorned himself with a white captain's coat, which hung loosely from his broad shoulders and bore his Jolly Roger symbol. He was always seen bare-chested, and wore light, loose pants tucked inside his large black boots, and a dark pirate sash around his waist. While not in battle, Whitebeard was typically on oxygen and attached to several medical sensor machines, due to health issues concerning his age.

In the manga, after Akainu melted off a portion of his head, Whitebeard lost his left eye and the left side of his mustache (this was changed to just losing the left side of his mustache in the anime) as well as a massive hole in his torso (a second, bigger hole in the stomach was also dealt by Akainu in the anime). However, for the entire 72 years that he lived, he had never once received a wound on his back because he never ran away from his battles.

As a child, he wore a light colored sleeveless shirt with the word "Power" (Chikara) written on it. He also wore shorts and a white bandanna. He had bandaged scrapes and cuts from his fights.

Personality
Edward Newgate was a cheerful and carefree person during his younger years, prior to commanding his own ship and becoming known as Whitebeard. Due to being an orphan who grew up in poverty, Newgate has a strong desire for a family. In adulthood, unlike his comrades who loved treasure and riches, he only desired a family and saw that as the greatest treasure.

His reign on the sea, reputation and foreboding power made him seemingly overconfident and fearless. In initial appearances, he seemed unable to see any cause for alarm on any decision he made and refused all advice given to him, such as his nurse telling him not to drink heavily or Shanks warning him of Blackbeard. However, he was much more thoughtful than he initially appeared to be. Actions that initially seem to be the result of thoughtless, headstrong bravado actually had strong reasons behind them; his loud declaration that Fish-Man Island belonged to him freed the island from all pirates and slavery, and his insistence that Blackbeard be punished was merely a cover for Ace, who had set out after him against Whitebeard's wishes. Though he may have seemed to have an overgrown ego, deep down he knew that he was nothing but a single man and was fully aware of his own mortality. He knew that the youth are the keys to the future, and that their lives are far more important than his own.

He also seemed to enjoy talking about the past; the first things he talked about when Shanks visited were old memories from the past twenty-two years, and when he saw Buggy during the Paramount War, he recalled some memories from the past. People that were children at that time were still children in his eyes, even men as powerful as his fellow Yonko Shanks and Admiral Aokiji.

One way to appease him involved bringing and sharing with him a drink (preferably of high quality and very expensive) while striking up a conversation, as seen with his encounters with Shanks, Roger, and Shiki; however, this did not guarantee complete cooperation from him, judging from the nature of these conversations.

Whitebeard believed that it is fine when a man decides what to make of his life if he does not live to regret it. After being stabbed by Squard, Whitebeard remained forgiving and understanding toward his subordinate.

Whitebeard is an extremely compassionate man, having adopted countless people of different background into his crew as his foster children, such as Squard whom he took in after the latter was devastated in loneliness after Roger killed his crew. Marco stated that the main reason the Whitebeard Pirates held such strong loyalty to their captain was due to Newgate's compassion, deeply caring for them like a father. Contrary to the tyrannical Kaido and Charlotte Linlin, Whitebeard used his power and influence as a Yonko to help people such as liberating and protecting Fish-Man Island from slavery, an act which touched the hearts of the citizens of Ryugu Kingdom whom were normally distrustful of humans. The ultimate proof of his compassion came when he declared war with Marine Headquarters solely to save Ace's life.

A distinguishing feature of Whitebeard's nature was his high moral standards: he never forgave the death of a crewmate, and believed that a man cannot live without some form of moral code. Another example is taking on Blackbeard in order to avenge Thatch, despite being close to death at the time. However, he was willing to go against his moral code under certain circumstances, such as when he instructed Ace to let Blackbeard go because he had an uneasy feeling about him.

Like Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard believed that a child should not be responsible for their parents' sins, and he told Squard that Ace should not be held responsible for Roger killing his (Squard's) original crew.

Like other characters in One Piece, he has a unique laugh, which is "Gu ra ra ra ra". Like Perona, his laugh is similar to the name of his Devil Fruit, the Gura Gura no Mi. However in the anime (before the Marineford Arc) and Gigant Battle, his laugh was changed to a regular "Ha ha ha ha ha". In the American Shonen Jump, his laugh is changed to "Gu ha ha ha ha".

Abilities
Whitebeard was one of the most powerful pirates of his generation and was one of the few men in the world who could ever match the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, in a fight (with the only other man known to match him being Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp).

He was one of the Yonko, four of the most formidable pirates that rule the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin. They are considered the biggest pirate threats to the World Government. Whitebeard's reputation alone made his simple declaration of Fish-Man Island being his territory enough to keep slave traders and pirates from attacking the island further, making Whitebeard himself far more effective than the treaty signed with the World Government 200 years before his death.

Whitebeard was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, directly controlling an enormous pirate fleet of 1,600 pirates divided into 16 divisions, each one being led by an incredibly powerful division commander. A testament to his power is the fact that the Shichibukai and World Government used virtually all their power to prepare to fight him and his crew.

Whitebeard's powers were so vast that few would dare to challenge him, making Ace, Crocodile, Aokiji, Kizaru, Akainu, Blackbeard, Kaido, and Luffy, a few very brave and powerful people. In the past, Ace tried to kill Whitebeard over a hundred times, with each attempt resulting in subsequent failure and injury; Whitebeard's retaliation was so effortless that he was able to counterattack even while sleeping.

After Akainu killed Ace, Whitebeard brutally injured the Admiral, who was practically helpless in response to Whitebeard's power. He was able to defeat Akainu with a mere two attacks despite the Yonko being on the brink of death from his illness and severely injured state at the time. Another example of his power was his "fight" with Shanks. When their weapons clashed, the heavens split in two.

Physical Abilities
Whitebeard was given the title of the "strongest man in the world" for his physical power, which is far superior to even a giant. During the Marineford War, Whitebeard completely overpowered vast numbers of strong Marine officers and giants with tremendous physical might, such as Vice Admiral Ronse, with only one hand and supplemented by his Devil Fruit powers. Whitebeard blocked a two-handed downward swing from the giant Vice Admiral John Giant with only one hand on his bisento, extinguished the flames of one of Akainu's molten rocks with just a single breath, and prevented a massive paddle ship from advancing using only one hand. He could jump to great heights to attack large opponents, such as John Giant.

Despite his gigantic size, Whitebeard could move at considerable speeds, having appeared behind Akainu to attack him in a matter of seconds, with the latter (who was on his way to kill Luffy) only realizing it once his soldiers yelled at him to watch out.

Whitebeard appeared to have debilitating health problems, possibly stemming from his advanced age and excessive drinking. When not in battle, he was always surrounded by nurses, used oxygen tubes, and was hooked up to intravenous tubes and life support systems; despite this, he used to literally drink sake by the barrel. However, Marco noted that Whitebeard's health had gotten worse, and he no longer possessed the reflexes to avoid Squard's surprise attack, which was, in the past, something easy for him to achieve. Even with his health issues, Whitebeard was still considered the world's most dangerous and powerful pirate, which raises the question of how powerful he must have been in his prime.

Whitebeard's physical resistance and pain tolerance were tremendous: he was able to keep fighting despite the number of life-threatening injuries he sustained, which included part of his head being burned off. This also proves that Whitebeard possessed enormous amounts of stamina and endurance; no matter how much damage he took throughout the battle, Whitebeard continued to press forward and fight, only stopping once almost all of the Blackbeard Pirates collectively shot and brutally stabbed him to death at point-blank range. It was shown that even in his old age, in a heavily wounded state and without access to his Devil Fruit and Haki powers, he could near-effortlessly take down a Shichibukai-level opponent, as demonstrated in his fight against Blackbeard.

During the War at Marineford, Whitebeard sustained 267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds, and 46 wounds from cannonballs, and got a portion of his head blasted off, resulting in 465 injuries in total. In addition, he received one of Kizaru's laser beams and two of Akainu's magma blasts. Whitebeard also received a brutal assault from the Blackbeard Pirates. However, even after taking so much damage in his already weakened state, he died standing, an impressive feat when compared to other characters. Even Teach was shocked by Whitebeard's tenacity.

Tactical Skills
Besides his formidable power, Whitebeard was an incredibly skilled military strategist and a match for Sengokuthe Buddha. His tactical prowess was demonstrated when he scattered the pirates at Marineford so that they would not be routed by the Pacifista and when he bypassed the siege wall by having Oars who was in a near-death state to help carry the paddle ship into the Marineford plaza.

Even when he was on the brink of death, Whitebeard quickly thought of a countermeasure against Teach's Devil Fruit power's nullification abilities by using his Bisento to cut Teach down, taking him off guard for him to use his quake powers to injure him.

Devil Fruit

 * Main Article: Gura Gura no Mi

Whitebeard ate the Gura Gura no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that made him a "Quake Man" and which was considered the strongest Devil Fruit within the Paramecia class. According to Sengoku, Whitebeard had the power to destroy the world.

With the power of this Devil Fruit, Whitebeard could create powerful shockwaves by shattering the air like glass. These shock waves then would be redirected into the ground, resulting in earthquakes and, if under the seafloor, tsunamis. He could create these shockwaves in the air, rendering airborne attacks ineffective. He could also use these shockwaves to attack enemies, with either widespread or specific targets. Whitebeard's powers also allowed him to create a quake bubble around his hand or bisento to increase the power of his physical attacks, as well as manipulate the air with his hands to tilt the environment around him. He also used his bisento to slash the air, which caused a massive explosion and the collapse of a tower in Marineford.

Whitebeard could also use these shockwaves to block physical attacks as well as non-physical attacks, making his Devil Fruit powers excellent for both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Soon after Whitebeard's death, the power of the fruit was extracted by Blackbeard through unknown means.

Weapons
Whitebeard fought with a very heavy polearm called a bisento (a more massive version of the japanese naginata), and was immensely skilled with it. The weapon's size is massive, fitting that of its owner, with a striped pole (with the stripes being all plain brown in the anime, but red and yellow in the manga) ending in a spherical pommel, and a large, curved blade attached to the pole with a brass bolster, decorated with a relief of a sea snake, and langets protruding onto the blade itself. When he was a child, he had a smaller bisento.

With Whitebeard's immense power and skill, the bisento was strong enough to clash with Shanks's saber, which caused the clouds (and even the heavens) to split. Whitebeard usually employed the bisento with both hands but could also use it proficiently with just one hand. Most of the time he kept it in his right hand, though he occasionally planted its blade in the ground in order to use both of his hands for his Devil Fruit. The bisento could be used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit and Busoshoku Haki to increase the already great damage it could inflict, as well as to neutralize any potential Devil Fruit defense his opponents may possess.

The bisento is extremely durable, having stopped Akainu's magma attack without melting or receiving any visible damage, though this may have resulted from Whitebeard coating it with Busoshoku Haki. It sustained a two-handed downward swing from giant Vice Admiral John Giant as well. Two years after Whitebeard's death, the weapon still showed no signs of decay in spite of two years of weathering the elements, further demonstrating its durability.

After Whitebeard's death, it became a marking for his burial site, with his coat, a bouquet of flowers, and the crew's flag hanging from it.

Haki

 * Main Article: Haki

Whitebeard is one of the very small number of people who can use all three forms of Haki.

Haoshoku Haki
Whitebeard possessed Haoshoku Haki, though he was never seen using it. During the Marineford War, he was on the verge of using it against some of the World Government's executioners to protect Portgas D. Ace, but failed because of a sudden illness attack. He is capable of using this form of Haki in the video games One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 and 3, as well as One Piece: Burning Blood.

Busoshoku Haki
Whitebeard has immense mastery of Busoshoku Haki, which he used to negate the intangibility of Logia-based Devil Fruits. In the past, he was able to defeat Crocodile (though it is unknown if the former Shichibukai had already eaten his Devil Fruit) and to beat Ace more than one hundred times. During the Marineford War, Whitebeard successfully inflicted significant damage on Akainu where Marco, Vista, and Jinbe, who were highly skilled Busoshoku Haki users, failed to do so.

Kenbunshoku Haki
In the bay of Marineford, he predicted Crocodile's sudden attack but did not move, knowing that Monkey D. Luffy would block it. However, due to his age and worsening health, he failed to predict Squard's betrayal and thus got injured, something which, according to Marco, was totally unexpected from the Yonko.

Trivia

 * Universal Studios of Japan built a replica of Ace's and Whitebeard's tombs. Whitebeard's epitaph says: "Edward Newgate, captain of the Whitebeard pirates, here lies a great captain and father, liberated from the exhausting role and labor, who captained the Moby Dick in the spectacular Era of Pirates".
 * Whitebeard is widely regarded as the "strongest man" in the world. In comparison, Kaido is said to be the "strongest creature" in the world, though the extent of his powers remains unknown.
 * He is one of three characters whose name comes from the real life Blackbeard, otherwise known as Edward Teach; the others being Marshall D. Teach and Thatch.
 * The Newgate Prison was a notorious prison in London, active during the Golden Age of Piracy, and where many infamous pirates (and other criminals) were incarcerated; including William Kidd and members of the "King of the Pirates" Henry Every's crew.
 * In the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, Whitebeard ranked 28th.
 * At 72 years old, he is the oldest known Yonko in the series.
 * A pirate with a similar crescent-shaped mustache, Galley, can be seen in Oda's early "Romance Dawn" one shots.
 * Oda explained in an extra pamphlet (that came with initial copies of Databook Yellow) titled "One Piece Paradise Vol. 2", that Whitebeard was directly modeled after the barkeep of the pub he used to frequent with his previous manager. This barkeeper passed away in 2007.
 * In a SBS, Oda jokingly stated that Whitebeard once had a dog, Stefan, with a mustache similar to his own.
 * Whitebeard shares several characteristics with the legendary warrior monk, Musashibo Benkei. A popular figure in Japanese folklore, Benkei was said to have been five times the size of a normal man, possessed inhuman strength, and wielded a naginata as his weapon of choice. He famously died in a standing position, with his body riddled with arrows and spears.