From very early on in the series, fans have been convinced that Blackbeard is going to be the final villain of the One Piece franchise. Due to his incredible strength and brutal intelligence, Marshal D. Teach has cemented himself as one of, if not the single most, dangerous characters in the series.
However, one thing that many have noted is that his power is notably far below that of the other main figures going into the Final War. Despite this, fans believe that he is set to get one of the greatest power-ups in One Piece, so let's take a look at what this insane growth in strength could possibly look like.
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Blackbeard Will End Up With Imu's Legendary Devil Fruit
The Greatest Threat In History
Despite being one of the most important and powerful figures in the world, Blackbeard's strength isn't as great as the others who enjoy the same status. Of course, being the only person with the ability to use multiple Devil Fruits does have its perks, but with the importance of Haki being greater than ever, it's a wonder why Teach is still lagging in this regard.
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Of course, he does have the ability to use Haki, but he has never shown anything above basic Armament Haki, so, currently, advanced forms like Future Sight or Conqueror's Coating seem to be way out of his reach. This is quite a significant thing, since the strongest beings in the story have all shown unmatched mastery of this power, and seeing as how Haki is considered to be the best way to counter Devil Fruits, Teach seems to be outmatched.
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Only Haki transcends all!
However, there is quite a popular theory going around that could easily make Blackbeard the single most powerful being in the series, even moreso than Imu. It all has to do with what makes him unique in the first place, which is his uncanny and strange ability to use multiple Devil Fruit abilities at the same time.
Fans have long been speculating that he will get a third ability, mainly because of the fact that he already has two powers and there is a lot of symbolism around the number three with this character, such as his Jolly Roger, missing teeth, number of guns, etc. The first of his already-owned Devil Fruits is the Darkness Logia, which many believe to be the most powerful Logia in the setting.
On the other hand, he also took Whitebeard's Quake fruit at the end of the Marineford arc, whose intense strength makes it the strongest Paramecia Type in One Piece. Following this, many believe that Blackbeard is eventually going to get a third fruit, which is all set to be a Mythical Zoan Type. Even among this fabled tier, this fruit is destined to be the strongest Mythical Zoan of them all, if we go by the previous trend.
Due to this, many believe that Blackbeard is going to end the series with Imu's Mythical Zoan fruit, and that the demon depicted on the left side of the Elbaf Mural is actually Blackbeard, not Imu. If this is true, everything would change and the power-scaling landscape of One Piece could be completely different from how we know it now.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Naturally, given his position, lineage, and aspirations, it's actually impossible for Blackbeard not to have Conqueror's Haki. However, even if he doesn't, then such a power-up through Imu's Devil Fruit would more than make up for the difference alongside the strongest Paramecia and strongest Logia fruits as well.
At this point, only time will tell what Blackbeard's true endgame is, since he is a wildly unpredictable character. However, he has always cut corners to grow in power by making full use of his unique ability, so many believe that once Imu has been defeated and is too weak to fight back, Blackbeard will swoop in and take their Devil Fruit power.
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Blackbeard Could End Up With A Different Mythical Zoan
The Hellfire Serpent
Conversely, there is another theory about Blackbeard's endgame power-up that is just as likely and just as terrifying. With the reveal of Loki's Devil Fruit power in Chapter 1174 of the manga, fans have been sent on a whirlwind of theorizing about what it could mean in the Final War.
Most notably, the form Loki takes as the Great Destroyer seems to be that of the black dragon at the very top of the Elbaf mural, who is locked in a battle with the giant Hellfire Serpent on the right side of the mural. If this is to be taken literally, it seems that there is a Devil Fruit power which turns the user into the Hellfire Serpent, which is the only power that could even take on something as large and powerful as Loki's Destroyer form.
If this ends up being true, the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Hellfire Serpent could be the perfect Devil Fruit for Blackbeard to become the deadliest combatant on the level of Luffy, Loki, and Imu in the Final War. Through this power, Blackbeard's insane strength would be unparalleled.
This theory of the Hellfire Serpent has existed for quite a long time, surprisingly, since the Giants of Elbaf had always spoken about the Red Line itself being a monstrous thing that is feared throughout Elbaf, so the Red Line could have some sort of connection to it and its mere existence may prove that such a Devil Fruit exists.
One Piece can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Based On
- Manga
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.72
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
