Fans have begun reading and enjoying One Piece chapter 1071 after early spoilers and raw images were released. Roronoa Zoro, a series favourite, had a spectacular moment in the most recent episode. Once again, the expert swordsman showed his superior ability. Zoro’s performance this time drew comparisons to the great Whitebeard.
A recap of the events in One Piece 1071
Lucci and Kaku, now elite agents of CP0, are storming Egghead Island in search of Dr Vegapunk on behalf of the World Government. Stussy, another masked agent of the most powerful Cipher Pol, is there with them. Lucci issued a challenge for a one-on-one fight with Luffy and showed his vast improvement since their fight at Enies Lobby. Even without utilising his Conqueror’s Haki, Luffy soon overwhelmed Lucci with Gear 5, proving once again that Lucci was no match for Luffy. Vegapunk was planning to flee from Egghead when the conflict ended to avoid the World Government’s attempts on his life. Lucci, Kaku, and Stussy persisted in their pursuit of the scientist despite knowing of his connections to the Strawhat Pirates. Kaku once used a very potent Rankyaku in an attempt to destroy the Thousand Sunny.
If he had succeeded in blowing up the ship, the Strawhats and Vegapunk would have been trapped on Egghead with no way to get away. But Zoro was able to dodge Kaku’s blow before it could strike the Thousand Sunny. The Strawhat Pirates’ first mate sensed the danger even though he was sound sleeping. At that moment, he sprang out of his slumber and deftly redirected the oncoming assault to harmlessly dissipate itself. The parallels between Zoro’s accomplishment and Whitebeard’s and why they matter. In One Piece Episode 1071, Zoro accomplished a remarkable achievement. Consciously recognising an assault while sleeping and successfully defending against it is a remarkable example of Observation Haki, as shown by the events of the series.
Prior to Zoro’s ability to do so in chapter 1071, only Edward Newgate could have accomplished such a feat. Newgate, often known as “Whitebeard,” was a formidable figure, on par with the notorious pirate king Gol D. Roger. Because of this, Whitebeard gained a reputation as the strongest man on the planet. Whitebeard was still one of the Four Emperors even after he had passed his prime by a few years. What’s more impressive is that he was able to detect Ace’s assault on his life while he was asleep and fight it off. The One Piece manga covered this in chapter 552. Granted, Charlotte Linlin, or “Big Mom,” another of the Four Emperors, had accomplished something similar. Big Mom, on the other hand, only responded to a fly who was moving close to her, whilst Zoro and Whitebeard saw and countered an approaching strike from a great fighter. Despite this nuance, the point remains that only the most powerful One Piece characters are capable of perceiving movements and quickly reacting to them while asleep.
Other striking similarities between Zoro and Whitebeard
It’s interesting to note that this isn’t the only similarity between Zoro and Whitebeard in terms of physical prowess. To begin, they share the ability to employ the extraordinarily potent Haki of the Advanced Conqueror. Kaido claims that this skill is what sets apart the truly powerful from everyone else. Only a few people born with Conqueror’s Haki are capable of developing it to its peak level. Only Luffy, Zoro, Whitebeard, Roger, Rayleigh, Shanks, Big Mom, Yamato, and Kaido have been revealed to use the Haki of the Advanced Conqueror. Characters with this skill are usually more advanced than those without it. As far as Kaido is concerned, a person with sufficient Haki may theoretically conquer any barrier and win the combat, regardless of the great power the adversary may have.
Author Eiichiro Oda of One Piece strongly hinted that Haki is the most potent ability in the story and that Advanced Conqueror’s Haki is the apex of Haki, through this comment.
One’s level of haki is directly proportional to their level of self-control. The Advanced Conqueror’s Haki, widely regarded as the most potent in the game, was singled out as a defining characteristic of the best heroes. It has been said that only the strongest few possess this ability. Zoro and Whitebeard’s ability to employ the Haki of an Advanced Conqueror implies that they are both exceptionally strong and possess tremendous resolve. In a sense, it’s not surprising that they both have demonstrated such remarkable resilience. Zoro bore the brunt of Luffy’s injuries and exhaustion during Thriller Bark. Despite taking significant damage from Kaido and Big Mom’s combined strike during the Wano Arc, he was still able to inflict wounds on the latter. Zoro’s doggedness earned him praise from even Trafalgar Law.
Old and ailing Whitebeard showed incredible pain tolerance despite his rapidly deteriorating condition brought on by his refusal to go to war on life support and drugs. He persisted in the face of death, despite being shot in the chest with a laser by Admiral Kizaru and burned through the middle by Admiral Akainu, who also blasted off a chunk of his skull. Whitebeard has stabbed hundreds of times and shot and struck by cannonballs, among other ways he was hurt. Despite that, he kept on fighting, even completely defeating Blackbeard when the latter challenged him to a one-on-one match. Whitebeard was already frail from old age and illness when the rest of Blackbeard’s crew attacked him, but they were ultimately fatal. Even then, he fought to the end and managed to stay on his feet, which was so remarkable that it even surprised Blackbeard. Whitebeard and Zoro are also associated with the idea of being the strongest people on Earth. While Whitebeard was known as the World’s Strongest Man, Zoro has set his sights on the opposite title.
Ryuma, the mythical figure known as “Sword God” for his unmatched swordsmanship, has a clear connection to Zoro. People back then referred to Ryuma as “King” because they considered him to be the greatest warrior ever. Ryuma is a goalpost for Zoro to attain and potentially surpass because of his greatness as a swordsman and his apparent kinship with Zoro. This adds credence to the notion that Zoro, like Whitebeard, Ryuma, and Mihawk, will gain a reputation for his formidable strength over the globe. The similarities between Luffy and Zoro, Shanks and Mihawk, and Roger and Whitebeard are also suggestive of this. The vicious battles between Mihawk and Shanks gained notoriety all throughout the Grand Line. Those battles were so famous that even Whitebeard spoke highly of them. Like Roger and Whitebeard, Shanks and Mihawk have a rivalry, and the latest issue of One Piece Magazine revealed that it is similar to that of Roger and Mihawk. In reality, the two pairs are structurally quite similar to one another.
Both Mihawk and Whitebeard were awarded the title of “world’s strongest,” albeit their equals are just as powerful but didn’t compete for the honour. Shanks and Roger became Emperor and Pirate King, respectively; their competitors might have done the same but chose not to. Despite their polar opposite characteristics, Shanks and Mihawk are amicable outside of battle. The bond between Roger and Whitebeard is somewhat similar to this one.
It’s not simply that Shanks and Mihawk are like Roger and Whitebeard. They have a similar dynamic as giants that guide and challenge Luffy and Zoro. In reality, those are the primary goals that Luffy and Zoro should strive to achieve. Thus, the story appears to hint at a relationship between Whitebeard, Mihawk, and Zoro, just like it does with Roger, Shanks, and Luffy. The fact that Zoro is an underlying rather than a captain might be seen as a drawback. But there is a flaw in this reasoning.
Zoro is his trusted right-hand man and is just as powerful as he is. This idea was developed further and referred to in the series’ official databook. Zoro has, unsurprisingly, always served as Luffy’s vice-captain, taking over for him if necessary and looking out for him when he can’t do it himself. The characters in One Piece by Eiichiro Oda sometimes ask why Zoro is not the leader of Strawhats or even his own crew. This is because Zoro regularly displays unbelievable displays of power or releases his intimidating presence. This indicates that his strength is comparable to that of Luffy. Zoro, however, stays still unless when absolutely needs to do otherwise. He trusts and respects Luffy tremendously and is completely devoted to him. Zoro and Whitebeard’s situations are similar in this regard. While it is true that Zoro serves as Luffy’s vice-captain, many fans of One Piece think that Whitebeard served in a similar capacity for Rocks D. Xebec during his tenure with the Rocks Pirates.
A teenage Whitebeard was probably the second-strongest member of the Rocks Pirates after Xebec, much as Zoro is the second-strongest member of the Strawhat Pirates immediately behind Luffy. This may have sealed the deal for Whitebeard’s promotion to vice-captain of the Rocks Pirates. One Piece made it quite obvious that the Conqueror’s Haki users don’t need to be led by anybody else. They are the pioneers, not the followers. Zoro and Whitebeard are among the extremely small number of persons that possess this extremely unusual Haki from birth, as was previously mentioned. A number of Conqueror’s Haki users, Whitebeard claims, were ultimately responsible for the demise of the Rocks Pirates. Whitebeard, who had since become the captain of his own crew, pondered why Oden, who possessed the same skill, would choose to become his subordinate all those years later. When asked to join the Baroque Works, Zoro declined, indicating that he would only do so if he was named the organization’s leader. This, looking back, looks to have a lot to do with his Conqueror complex.
It can’t be denied that there are striking behavioural similarities between Zoro and Whitebeard. They both have a cool demeanour, bordering on stoicism. They both suffer from alcohol dependency. In addition, headbands are a distinguishing feature of each of their styles. Finally, Whitebeard and the present Pirate King, Roger, fought to a draw, just as Zoro and the future Pirate King (Luffy). In Oden’s memory, we see Whitebeard and Roger fighting, whereas in Whiskey Peak, during the Alabasta Arc, we see Zoro and Luffy engaging in combat.
Final Reflections
There are several objective similarities between Zoro and Whitebeard in terms of their power. However, Silvers Rayleigh appears to be the significant story counterpart for the green-haired swordsman. As the future (Luffy) and the former (Rayleigh) Pirate King’s trusted lieutenants, Zoro and Rayleigh perform very identical duties (Roger). The titles “Dark King” and “King of Hell” bestowed upon Rayleigh and Zoro suggest that they saw themselves as Conquerors on par in terms of power with their respective leaders. Both titles have the same original Japanese spelling, evoking the same concept of “King of the Underworld.” Both Zoro and Rayleigh have dazzling appearances. In addition, they are both masters of the Haki and exceptional swordsmen, and this is reflected in their mutually comparable combat styles.
In fact, none of them needs the Devil Fruit to be a formidable fighter. The parallels between Luffy and Zoro for the Strawhats and Roger and Rayleigh for the Roger Pirates are constantly emphasised by the author throughout One Piece. Both teams have stellar examples of a captain and his first officer. Although Zoro’s ties to Rayleigh are stronger than those to Whitebeard, the comparisons drawn between Luffy’s right-hand man and Roger’s competitor are nevertheless accurate. Many viewers of One Piece 1071 compared Zoro to Whitebeard because of his incredible Observation Haki feat. We can only hope that Luffy, Zoro, and the rest of the Strawhats are up to competing with the all-time greats. It’s time for the major characters in One Piece to display their real colours as we head into the next big conflict.