Edward Newgate better known as Whitebeard was one of the first Yonkou (Four Emperors) of One Piece and the greatest rival of Goal D. Roger, the Pirate King. Even before the great age of pirates, he was already known as a legendary and feared figure in the world of One Piece.

Even the World Government, the Shichibukai, and other Yonko recognize Whitebeard as the “Strongest Man in the World”, as no one was able to defeat him in direct combat, besides Roger. Despite having the strength to conquer the world, Edward just wanted to have a family.

Edward was born in the Sphinx country in the New World, he was an orphan who had to deal with poverty from an early age. His home island suffered greatly from being unable to pay the Heavenly Tribute to the World Government. Before he was the great Whitebeard, he was a dreamy pirate who wanted to start a family on the high seas.

When he became known as a powerful pirate, Rocks D. Xebec recruited him into his band along with other temperamental and dangerous individuals. After Rocks was defeated at God Valley, Whitebeard formed his own crew, the Whitebeard Pirates.

During his travels, Whitebeard welcomed several orphans and helpless pirates into his crew and formed a huge family with them all. His entire crew saw him as a father, as he loved and cared for them all as if they were his children.

A few years later, his crew crash-landed in the country of Wano, where they met Kozuki Oden, the excitable samurai who insisted on sailing with the band. Unlike the other crew members, Whitebeard respected Oden as a brother and friend rather than a son, so he ended up becoming the commander of the fleet’s 2nd division while he was a pirate.

Little Marshall D. Teach also joined the crew when he was a child, saying he was an orphan. Whitebeard accepted him, but she had no idea that this boy was plotting behind his back. As the crew grew, the band became a large pirate fleet, and its captain realized his dream of having a family.

Before the titles of Pirate King and Yonko existed, Roger and Edward stood side by side in the hierarchy of power and fame. The two grew up at the same time as strong pirates like Big Mom, Kaido, Shiki and other fearsome names, but they always lagged behind their big rivals.

According to the stories, the only ones who could match Roger and Whitebeard in strength in the past were Monkey D. Garp and Sengoku. Rocks hasn’t been seen in action yet, but he was probably comparable or even stronger than all these names since he was the captain of the future Yonkou.

Therefore, Whitebeard was at the height of piracy since his time, he was only surpassed by Roger in terms of fame when his rival became the Pirate King. Furthermore, everyone said that Whitebeard was the one most likely to become the next king, but he had no interest in fame or riches.

A few years after Roger’s death, Whitebeard followed the rise of

Portgas D. Ace, the son of his rival. Ace was remorseful about carrying the same blood as Roger, so he wanted to prove his worth by defeating the only pirate who rivaled the late king.

Even though he knew that the enemy was much stronger, Ace challenged the Yonko several times, obviously he was always defeated, but he didn’t give up. Whitebeard recognized Ace’s value and decided to invite him to his crew, but the boy always refused because he was too proud.

After fighting so many duels, Ace aroused great admiration for Whitebeard and began to see him as a father figure. So he accepted the invitation and became the new commander of the 2nd division. However, things got complicated when Teach murdered Thatch, the commander of the 4th division, and fled the boat.

As Teach’s commander, Ace felt responsible for this incident and decided to hunt down his former comrade, who now goes by the name Blackbeard. The situation only got worse when Ace lost the battle and was handed over to the World Government, who decided to execute him.

Knowing that his son was in danger, Whitebeard went to execution to save Ace, but the Navy prepared to face the Yonko and start a war that was marked in history.

Whitebeard ate the Gura Gura no Mi (Earthquake Fruit), a Paramecia with the power to create devastating earthquakes. Sengoku claims that this fruit has the power to destroy the world, which is why Edward is considered the strongest man of all.

The Gura Gura no Mi can create shockwaves that cause the earth, air, and even the sea to crack with large-scale tremors. By adding this power to his fists, Whitebeard can take down an entire army with a single blow.

Furthermore, he also excels as a Haki master. In Oden’s flashback, we saw Whitebeard’s Haki collide with Roger’s and make an entire island shake. His mastery includes the three types of Haki and even reaches the advanced level of the rarest and most powerful, King’s Haki. He can apply King’s Haki in his blows to hit the target without physically touching them, an ability so rare that only the strongest awaken.

In the Marineford saga, Sengoku summoned all Marine forces, including the

Admirals and Shichibukai, to face Whitebeard. Still, the Fleet Admiral admits that he was not sure of victory since his opponent was the Strongest Man in the World.

After so many years, Edward had already aged a lot and suffered from serious health problems, but his strength and endurance were still colossal. To save Ace, he faced several opponents along the way, and even the Admirals tried to stop him.

His situation became critical when Admiral Akainu hit him squarely with his magma power and the damage accumulated. To make matters worse, Ace decided to face the same Admiral instead of running away, a recklessness that ended up costing him his own life.

Seeing his son lying dead on the ground, Whitebeard became furious and hit Akainu with all his fury, but he ended up suffering the same fate at the hands of Blackbeard. Teach appeared in the war to face his former captain just when he was weakened and suffering mortal injuries.

To Teach’s surprise, Whitebeard still had the strength to fight and even made the traitor of his gang cry for mercy, but the Yonko was immobilized by a single gunshot. In the meantime, his body had already reached its limit and was unable to move, giving Blackbeard’s crew the chance to attack without mercy.

However, Blackbeard and everyone else at the scene were stunned to see that Whitebeard died standing up and did not kneel. The narrator took advantage of the hook to say that, during the battle, Edward received 267 sword cuts, 152 bullet shots, 46 cannon shots, in addition to the wounds inflicted by the Admirals.

Even with all this, the mark on his back remained unharmed as a symbol of his strength and pride as a pirate. His death portrayed a worthy end for the world’s strongest pirate, who refused to flee and fall literally until the end of his life.