Semifinal 2: Mihawk vs. Shanks

[Akainu]

This thread wont have a poll until one day of discussion. This is to avoid one-liners and allow a bit more of discussion on each fight, as well to allow you to change your mind while discussing it. Thanks for your understanding.

Semifinal 2​

MIHAWK VS. SHANKS​

 

[mattiaildivino]

What???Mihawk defeated dragon??? .well,it doesn't really matter,as I am sure shanks is above both of them. He is an emperor! He is no longer the one whom Mihawk could keep up with.

 

[Cyrs]

What???Mihawk defeated dragon??? .well,it doesn't really matter,as I am sure shanks is above both of them. He is an emperor! He is no longer the one whom Mihawk could keep up with.

If Mihawk couldn't keep up with Shanks anymore, he wouldn't still have the title of "The Strongest Swordsman."

 

[Smerten]

If Mihawk couldn't keep up with Shanks anymore, he wouldn't still have the title of "The Strongest Swordsman."

Implying that Shanks relies solely on swordmanship. Who knows, the sword might be supplementary, and his primary fighting style may be more akin to Luffy's freestyle.
Mihawk may be better with a sword, but Shanks is probably better in other areas/overall.

 

[Razh]

If Mihawk couldn't keep up with Shanks anymore, he wouldn't still have the title of "The Strongest Swordsman."

Well maybe he wouldn't have the title if he was willing to duel with Shanks. But who could blame him? If he fights Shanks and wins, he won against one armed man. If he loses, he lost against one armed man. That's probably a part of why he doesn't want to do it. Perhaps he feels he would have an unfair advantage. And perhaps he would have. But maybe Shanks can even it out with some other abilities. This is hard but given that we can only speculate about Shanks' abilities, strength, speed and fighting power and there's no example of how he was compared with anyone, I'd give it to Mihawk.

Here's how it might look like


EDIT: Lol, just noticed Shanks' health bar is a little shorter

 

[Josef]

I guess both are pretty good in swordsmanship, though Mihawk is better at it. Then again, Shanks has massive haki control, so he is no doubt better than Mihawk at that. I was going to go based on their positions but the Shichibukai are very complex they have very strong members like Kuma, Dofla and Mihawk, and yet weaker ones like Moria and Crocodile. But I guess we can not take the Shichi in that context, so I'll just go by instinct here and say that Shanks just overpowers Mihawk by a bit.

 

[RichardMNixon]

Lulz... this again?

I'll repeat my opinion and leave before the essays start up.

Mihawk is the World's Greatest Swordsman. I take that to mean his swordsmanship is greater than anyone else in the world's, Shanks included. In a friendly fencing match, Mihawk would win.

A real fight involves more than swordsmanship. If I'm swordfighting to the death against someone slightly better than I am, and also I have super powers, I think I'd be a favorite to win. Mihawk is the better swordsman. I don't think he's the better fighter.

 

[Mr. Arashi]

Shanks.

He has a feat that Mihawk doesn't have showed, just for that he wins to me.

 

[THM Nindo]

It would be a great fight, but it's pretty clear that Shanks win this.

IMO, Mihawk really shouldn't be that far in the tournament.
A lot of way better fighter lost in previous round.

 

[Ninja_Pirate]

Shanks at least clashed the sword with the world's strongest man ... However Mihawk was far away from reaching Whitebeared in the war ... busy with the commanders...

 

[Razh]

Shanks at least clashed the sword with the world's strongest man ... However Mihawk was far away from reaching Whitebeared in the war ... busy with the commanders...

But Mihawk didn't have a bottle of booze with him. If he had it, I'm sure WB pirates would let him have a private audicence with WB.

(Seriously man, what kind of reasoning is that? Completely different situaton. Shanks came to talk in peace.)

 

[redhairSH]

But Mihawk didn't have a bottle of booze with him. If he had it, I'm sure WB pirates would let him have a private audicence with WB.

(Seriously man, what kind of reasoning is that? Completely different situaton. Shanks came to talk in peace.)

Whitebeard's crew didn't really want to meet with shanks, but if they didn't the red hair pirates would have forced their way in, they were prepared to go to war when they met up, and whitebeards crew couldn't really stop him because most of them got knocked out when shanks came aboard. Mihawks slash couldn't injure jozu, 3rd division commander, mihawk couldn't beat vista(their fight came out about even), 5th division commander, shanks was able to match whitebeard in phyisical strength, I give it to the emperor over the warlord

 

[Cyrs]

I'm a little surprised. Usually by now, someone has started talking about what we've actually seen a character do. And we haven't seen Shanks actually fighting, so I'm shocked that the "we need to see them fighting" crowd isn't voting for Mihawk over Shanks.

So... I guess I'll argue their point for them?

Someone please describe how exactly Shanks wins against Mihawk? All their past battles were a draw. We haven't seen anything that Shanks can do, apart from using King's haki and Armament haki, neither of which affect Mihawk (Vista could use Armament haki, had no effect; Luffy and Shanks both used King's haki, had no effect). And Shanks is missing an arm. Although Whitebeard said it didn't decrease his battle power, he's still only got one arm, which could certainly make the difference in a very close fight. Also, we haven't actually seen him use Observation haki... which I would be surprised if he and Mihawk didn't both have it, but the "characters need to show things" camp hasn't pointed out.

On the other hand, we can imagine other ways for Mihawk to win: for example, since he cut that huge frozen tsunami in an instant, he could slice up the ground beneath Shanks down to the lava. (In the event they both have to climb out, Mihawk wins because he has 2 arms to climb with, lol)

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I don't particularly care about the fight, I'd just like to see people be consistent. It seems like people just pick a favorite, and try and dress up their vote with "reasoning" which they change on a whim if their favorite character lost the previous round (for example, Blackbeard vs. Enel).

*shrug* Carry on.

 

[Sachsenhesse]

I'm a little surprised. Usually by now, someone has started talking about what we've actually seen a character do. And we haven't seen Shanks actually fighting, so I'm shocked that the "we need to see them fighting" crowd isn't voting for Mihawk over Shanks.

How should i say this. You can say the same thing in every thread, bring arguments ectera and still you always get a smack in the face from the reputition.

 

[Cyrs]

How should i say this. You can say the same thing in every thread, bring arguments ectera and still you always get a smack in the face from the reputition.

Haha, but I can respect someone being consistent, even if I don't share his or her views.

---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------

Lulz... this again?

I'll repeat my opinion and leave before the essays start up.

Mihawk is the World's Greatest Swordsman. I take that to mean his swordsmanship is greater than anyone else in the world's, Shanks included. In a friendly fencing match, Mihawk would win.

A real fight involves more than swordsmanship. If I'm swordfighting to the death against someone slightly better than I am, and also I have super powers, I think I'd be a favorite to win. Mihawk is the better swordsman. I don't think he's the better fighter.

The manga itself states the two of them were always tied, and had very intense fights (not "friendly fencing matches"). That was before Shanks lost an arm. So contrary to your opinion, the *manga* itself says neither was a better fighter than the other.

About Shanks missing an arm? Whitebeard said his strength didn't decrease from it, but if Shanks and Mihawk's fights were always dead-even, then even with the same level of strength, just a slight difference of an arm could easily be the deciding factor.

(And Shanks has super powers? Since when did he eat a devil fruit, haha. Both Shanks and Mihawk have haki. Who do you think taught it to Zoro?)

---

So basically, I see people vote for Shanks, simply because they like Shanks. And that's fine. But I've yet to see clear, manga-supported reasoning of how Shanks would actually beat Mihawk... which (like I mentioned before) surprises me!

On just about every other match, there are people asking for one of the characters to "show something," but not on this one.

Shanks: (1) blocked a magma punch, and (2) convinced Sengoku and Blackbeard to stop fighting with talk-no-jutsu. Neither of which are attacks. Neither of which can defeat Mihawk.

So...............???

 

[astute_azure]

I don't think Shanks nor Mihawk shown anything that can suggest who is stronger. This is where most "characters need to show things" camp have a hole, an easy to attack loophole.

There just is not enough evidence(shown abilities in the manga for you to base on) thus you will still end up to complete the missing link. I doubt Mihawk fought at full strength already, more obvious with other characters. It is fairly unfair to judge on things when you haven't seen the entirety of it, ie. (fighting ability). Thus "characters need to show things" camp will always have that hole. Only a few characters could arguably be said to have shown what they were capable of, most of whom are defeated characters. This is the reason that I don't fully judge on what was shown rather than a complete evaluation on feel and what was mentioned, though not shown. If you're an in depth reader youd get that feel.

For that I'd say this is tied, and could go either way.

 

[HereNThere]

I'm pretty sure he and Shanks were equal in strength before Shanks lost his arm. Remember, it was said that Mihawk had stopped pursuing Shanks. Meaning Shanks was someone Mihawk felt he had to either prove his superiority to or he was the only one who he could take on while not holding back. Either way he apparently went out of his way to find Shanks whenever he wanted to fight. As for now, I'm certain they are still on the same level, as a databook stated Shanks was not weakened in anyway and when Mihawk found Shanks to tell him about Luffy, Shanks seemed pretty comfortable with the idea of fighting him, although Mihawk lost interest.

This is what I said in another topic and I still stand by it. Mihawk is a swordsman and want fair and honorable fights. What honor is there in fighting a one armed man? Shanks hasn't lost any skill or power, but Mihawk just isn't interested.

As for this fight, it might go either way, but I have a feeling that Mihawk might take it in the end. Not in a real fight, but in the amount of votes in this topic.

 

[Fixit]

Im voting for ginger-boy, simply becuase I like him more than mihawk

 

[RichardMNixon]

The manga itself states the two of them were always tied, and had very intense fights (not "friendly fencing matches").

Where? Whitebeard just fondly recalls them fighting. Where is it indicated that they were trying to kill each other?

So contrary to your opinion, the *manga* itself says neither was a better fighter than the other.

According to the "Mihawk is the Greatest Swordsman, therefore /thread" people, yes, the manga does say that. I'm moving on from there. It's my opinion that Mihawk's title refers to his skill with a sword, not his ability to kill everyone else in the world who uses one. Is that skill important? Yes. Is that skill the only thing that matters in a fight? No.

About Shanks missing an arm? Whitebeard said his strength didn't decrease from it, but if Shanks and Mihawk's fights were always dead-even, then even with the same level of strength, just a slight difference of an arm could easily be the deciding factor.

So now you're just going to ignore what the manga says and use your opinion instead? Make up your mind.

(And Shanks has super powers? Since when did he eat a devil fruit, haha. Both Shanks and Mihawk have haki. Who do you think taught it to Zoro?)

It's an example, I didn't say he ate a devil fruit. I'm saying that swordsmanship isn't the only factor in a real fight, one that counts. Yes, Mihawk has haki. No, we haven't seen the weather change or inanimate objects get damaged simply by being near him.

 

[Cyrs]

Im voting for ginger-boy, simply becuase I like him more than mihawk

Hahaha, see, I don't mind that! I just like people to own up to it.

---------- Post added at 07:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:50 PM ----------

@RichardMNixon

Hoooo boy... well, I'll bite this time.
I dislike posts that have excessive line-by-line quotes because they get super combative and usually get way off track. So I'll just itemize a few points here.

(1) The manga describes the duels between SHanks and Mihawk as "having shook the whole of the Grand Line." That sounds pretty intense to me. Did I say they were trying to kill each other? No. Who knows. The *point* I was making is that the manga says neither ever won their intense duels. So you can make up all sorts of things why you *personally* think Shanks should be "the better fighter" but reality is they were always tied.

(2) Whitebeard said Shanks didn't lose any power after losing his arm. Cool!! So he should have the same physical strength as before, the same speed, the same agility, the same stamina, etc. etc. etc. even though he only has one arm. Did I ignore the manga?? No. The *point* I made was that, given the intense duels that were always tied, then it is *conceivable* that the fight could be decided by something as simple as missing an arm, even at the same level of strength.

(3) Mihawk is the best swordsman. Shanks is obviously pretty good too, but doesn't have the title. So *necessarily* he uses other skills as well. And what is the result of using those skills in duels with Mihawk? Hmm? Well, the manga says they were always even.


So you don't have any leg to stand on here. Even if you decide to say "maybe Shanks got stronger than Mihawk since the duels" that is your speculation, and is ruled out by the tournament rules. And the non-swordman abilities we've seen Shanks employ are Armament Haki to block Akainu's punch, and Conqueror's Haki (your referenced "super-power" if you will) which has been shown more than once not to affect Mihawk. Furthermore, when Shanks used any of these other non-swordsman skills, he tied with Mihawk.

So in conclusion, you have no argument to show that Shanks wins, besides "I think he should." Which is fine. Like I've said before. I don't have a preference in this fight, but I like to see people back up their viewpoints well. If there isn't evidence to do it, then so be it, just vote for who you like.

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But I don't think there's going to be any "meeting of the minds" here, so I'll let this be my last comment on the thread.