ジュラキュール・ミホーク

Overview

Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk is a world-famous pirate who holds the title of "Strongest Swordsman in the World".He is one of the founders of Cross Guild, and was formerly one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea (being the first revealed and formally introduced) until the group's dissolution.

In the past, Mihawk was known as the "Marine Hunter" and had a reputation for being the rival of Shanks, one of the Four Emperors. His place of residence was Kuraigana Island, on which he served during the two-year timeskip as Roronoa Zoro's master in his swordsmanship training. Alongside his former Warlord colleague, Crocodile, Mihawk created an organization known as the Cross Guild, with Buggy of the Four Emperors acting as the organization's figurehead leader. Vegapunk also cloned Mihawk as one of the Seraphim, S-Hawk, to replace the Warlords.

Due to his status and title, Mihawk is viewed by Zoro as the ultimate obstacle to achieve his dream of becoming the world's strongest swordsman himself. Mihawk can be considered a supporting antagonist of the Baratie Arc and one of the major antagonists in the Marineford Arc, where he took part in the Summit War of Marineford on the side of the Marines, along with most of the other Warlords of the Sea.

Due to his strength and swordsmanship, Mihawk was a rival to Shanks, a future Emperor and great swordsman in his own right. They competed fiercely in legendary duels on a daily basis until Shanks lost his left arm to the Lord of the Coast. His immense skill in battle allowed him to easily destroy Don Krieg's entire fleet of 50 ships and 5,000 men by himself, with only the main ship surviving because a bad storm pushed them away. He easily wiped out the Marines' fleet (who are invading Kuraigana Island in their persistently attempts to arrest him). This monstrous display of strength caused Don Krieg to assume that Mihawk had Devil Fruit powers. Additionally, he easily defeated Roronoa Zoro two years prior, using only his cross-shaped knife that he wears as a pendant around his neck. During the Summit War of Marineford he did not receive as much as a scratch, despite having fought against Vista and Crocodile.

A true testament to Mihawk's extraordinary strength is that after the Seven Warlords of the Sea were abolished, his bounty was raised to 3,590,000,000, one of the highest bounties in the world that even surpasses two of the current Four Emperors: Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy. His fellow ex-warlord Crocodile stated that an organization headed by himself and Mihawk would not go unnoticed by the Marines, which was proven true when Buggy was named one of the Four Emperors solely due to the Marine Headquarters belief that Mihawk and Crocodile work under him when in reality, they are the founders of the organization. In the past, he was known as the "Marine Hunter".

Aside from his combat prowess, Mihawk is also an excellent cook, having cooked meals for both himself and Perona for two years. In the anime, he is shown applying his swordsmanship to his cooking, using kitchen knives to cut vegetables with incredible speed and precision.

Physical Abilities

Mihawk possesses immense physical strength which he supplements with his swordsmanship. He was able to stop Zoro, a formidable swordsman with monstrous physical strength, with only a single knife that he held with one hand.

Mihawk is extremely fast and agile, as shown by his ability to jump and leap enormous heights and distances. He also has extraordinary reflexes, able to counter Luffy's Gear Second enhanced speed with ease.

Swordsmanship

Mihawk is known as the "Strongest Swordsman in the World" because of his unparalleled skill with a sword. His vast mastery in swordsmanship even surpasses the skill level of his former rival Shanks, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. He was also able to effortlessly defeat Zoro, a swordsman who is renowned all over the East Blue, two years prior with a single knife.

Mihawk's swordsmanship is extremely versatile; he can create immensely powerful compressed air slashes that are able to destroy gigantic ships and enormous icebergs from great distances by using the "Strong Blade" swordsmanship, and can deflect the course of bullets with masterful and graceful precision using the "Gentle Blade" swordsmanship. He is also able to cut through steel with extreme ease and precision, as demonstrated with the steel-bodied Mr. 1, whom even Zoro struggled to defeat.

Mihawk is also a talented teacher, as shown by Zoro's significant improvement in training under him for two years, which is more than the dojo had taught him in the many years he had trained there. Zoro himself admitted that even after training with Mihawk, he is still not anywhere near his level of skill as a swordsman, further attesting to Mihawk's combat and fighting prowess. Although Zoro skills were already developed dues to said years in the dojo and the adventures he went through with the Straw Hats.

Haki

Mihawk is extremely proficient in Haki. He is also a capable teacher, as he taught Zoro.

Kenbunshoku Haki

Mihawk's incredible eyesight tracks Luffy's Gear 2 movements through the commotion.

Mihawk possesses the ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki. True to his epithet, "Hawk Eyes", he has extraordinary eyesight, able to easily track Luffy's high-speed Gear 2 movements and strike with extreme precision. which neither Boa Sandersonia nor Boa Marigold could do.

Busoshoku Haki

Mihawk possesses the ability to use Busoshoku Haki. He has incredible mastery in this form of Haki by being able to turn his sword, Yoru, into a permanent Black Blade. He also taught Zoro how to use this type of Haki to protect his swords from any damage.

Weapons

Mihawk wields one of the 12 Supreme Grade Blades, the "Black Blade" Yoru, as his main weapon. Yoru is a curved, single-edged black blade in the shape of a latin cross, with a golden crossguard decorated by red cabochons (which are blue and green in the anime), and a hilt wrapped in bandages, with a particularly big cabochon at its extremity. When he accepts challenges for his title, he only draws this blade for those with enough spirit to earn Mihawk's respect, or enough power to present a threat; otherwise, his Kogatana is sufficient.

Mihawk also has a cross-shaped knife that he wears as a pendant around his neck named Kogatana. He is shown using it as a tool to eat with, but combined with his supreme sword skills, it is also a deadly weapon capable of defeating any minor or moderately skilled swordsmen, even Zoro, a swordsman who wielded three blades during their duel. According to Mihawk, it is the smallest blade in his possession.