“FEATURE: Gecko Moria, Whitebeard, And One Piece's Wonderful Approach To Lost Strength”

One frequently assumed thing in battle anime is that when the heroes meet a new bad guy or powerful character, that character is at the height of their strength. It makes whatever power system the creator is working with much easier to follow. If the hero beats them, that means that they're conclusively stronger. And if they struggled against them but beat the last guy, this new villain is conclusively stronger than the ones that came before. Simple power progression.

In One Piece, which is so interested in having a sense of history that ties its world together, things often occur a little differently. On a grand scale, we can assume someone like Rob Lucci is stronger than someone like Arlong. And Doflamingo was stronger than him and Kaido stronger than Doflamingo and so on. However, they'll introduce characters and major players in the universe that are obviously not at the height of their power. As such, the threats become more intricate than "Well, I guess I'll just have to become stronger to beat this new guy."

Take Whitebeard, for example, showing up in Marineford as the greatest force on the battlefield. He is immensity incarnate, dubbed the man "who could destroy the world." Eventually, after tussling with many of the enemy combatants in the arc, he succumbs to his copious wounds. But was he stronger than Shanks? Was he in his prime? Is he definitively stronger than Kaido? Did being betrayed and stabbed by his underling bring him down to size or was he destined to perish in the fight anyway?

The same thing goes for Garp, Luffy's grandfather. We assume he isn't in his prime, but we're never quite sure how he ranks with the other heads of the Navy. Anime is full of buff old men ready to often comically throw down, but when we see Garp throwing cannonballs or threatening to kill Akainu to avenge the death of Ace, we wonder how able he was when his hair wasn't grey or if he's lost a step at all, really. It keeps any arguments about the "power level" of characters a constantly evolving thing. 

My favorite example might be Gecko Moria, who in his younger years, feuded with Kaido. His whole crew was slaughtered, leaving Gecko to limp out of the New World and back to Paradise, resolving to create a new crew out of undying zombies. Not only does it add some pathos to Moria — his desperate search for the late Absalom on Blackbeard's island turns him into a lonely relic, left behind in this Golden Age of Pirates — but it also calls into question whether Moria's new approach and giant Oars have increased his might or if it's the last gasp of his capabilities on the Grand Line. 

He's often referred to as lazy — even fellow Warlord Kuma thinks Moria could at least try a little harder. At the climax of the battle, he uses Shadows Asgard to absorb shadows and turns himself into an immovable mass. But is he any more powerful here than Lucci was in Enies Lobby? Would he be able to provide a bigger obstacle for the Straw Hats if he did act more proactively to becoming a stronger pirate rather than dwelling on his past defeats, haunted by Kaido and the terror of the New World? 

After Marineford, Doflamingo prepares to assassinate Moria, hinting that his orders came from "higher" aka the Five Elder Stars. Moria is able to escape, but it increasingly calls into question his hierarchy in the world. Has he been deemed not strong enough to continue in his role as a Warlord? Why Moria specifically? 

In the end, all we can do is assume, which makes fan conversations about One Piece's characters and how they stack up against one another continuously interesting. Not limited by bounty numbers or placement, the story leads to infinite theorizing. And it goes beyond age and effort. Would Luffy have been able to beat Eneru if he didn't resist electricity? What would Eneru do if he was sailing around instead of playing false god on the moon? Maybe I'll dive into that one next. See? It never stops.

Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

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