One Piece’s Biggest Villain Finally Unveils His True Power

The mangaOne Piece‘s biggest villain, Blackbeard, finally shows a glimpse of his true power. Despite being one of the main antagonists in the manga, Blackbeard had not yet demonstrated the ability to use one of the main powers from the series, Haki. However, in chapter #1059 Marshall D. Teach proves that he is a master of Armament-type Haki too, as was to be expected from such a powerful character.

Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard, is a villain who embodies all the worst pirate traits, including treachery, greed, and cruelty. He has been lurking in the shadows for the majority of the series, but when he acts the consequences are felt worldwide. He caused the Summit War by capturing Fire Fist Ace, Luffy’s brother, and gave him to the Marines. He then intervened in the conflict when the Whitebeard Pirates attacked Marineford, killing his former captain Whitebeard and using an unknown method to steal the powers of his Devil Fruit. Blackbeard is, in fact, the only individual in the world who can use two Devil Fruits at the same time without dying. Whitebeard’s former earthquake powers, combined with the darkness and gravity-based Yami Yami no Mi, made Teach one of the strongest and most dangerous pirates in the world.

Oddly enough, however, Blackbeard did not seem adept in the use of Haki. His Vivre Card (a collection of official information on a character) does not mention that Blackbeard can use the most powerful form of this energy, Conqueror Haki, and he has never shown usage of even its most common form, Busoshoku, which is used to reinforce a fighter’s body with their own spiritual energy. This ends in One Piece chapter #1059 when Teach proves he can use that form of Haki with great effectiveness. Using his usual tactics, Blackbeard invades Amazon Lily while the Kuja amazons are under siege by the Marines. His plan is to capture the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock and steal her Devil Fruit powers, but he is caught in the crossfire of the new impressive weapons built by the World Government, the Seraphim Pacifistas. Seemingly modeled on the former Shichibukai’s appearance and abilities, the new Pacifistas have great destructive power and one of them attacks Blackbeard, who is forced to ward him off by using Busoshoku Haki to reinforce his arm.

The Pacifista that fights Blackbeard appears to be based on Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world. A slash from the Seraphim cuts Amazon Lily’s huge mountain in two, so the fact that Blackbeard is able to block it with one hand proves that his mastery of Armament Haki is indeed impressive. After all, Blackbeard’s real strength is still mostly a mystery. The only abilities he showcased until now were those that came from his two Devil Fruits, but the series has hinted that he was already one of the strongest members of Whitebeard’s crew before betraying them and stealing the Yami Yami no Mi. The reason why he has not shown his Armament Haki until now is probably that he has no need for its most effective use, injuring Logia users who are normally immune to physical attacks. The Yami Yami no Mi, in fact, has the power to nullify other Devil Fruit powers, as long as Teach maintains physical contact with the user.

Readers mostly focus on Blackbeard’s unexplained capacity to use two Devil Fruits and steal their power from others, however, he is absolutely hiding much more than that. Haki is usually portrayed as the strongest power in the One Piece world, one that can surpass any Devil Fruit ability and whose mastery of it is needed to become the Pirate King. So, the fact that Blackbeard can use it so effectively further proves that he is the most dangerous villain in the whole series.

One Piece Chapter #1059! is available now on Viz!