Dracule Mihawk

The subject of this article is sometimes called "Juraquille Mihawk" or "Juracule Mihawk".

Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk[3] is a member of the Shichibukai and the current holder of the title, "Greatest Swordsman in the World". Mihawk serves as Roronoa Zoro's swordsmanship teacher during the two-year timeskip.

Statistics

Japanese Name:     ジュラキュール・ミホーク Romanized Name:       Jurakyūru Mihōku
English Name:     Dracule Mihawk
First Appearance:     Chapter 49; Episode 23
Affiliations:     Shichibukai
Occupations:     Pirate; Shichibukai
Epithet:     "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk (鷹の目のミホーク Taka no Me no Mihōku?, "Hawk-Eye" (English versions))
Japanese VA:     Takeshi Aono;
Hirohiko Kakegawa (Episode 461+)
4kids English VA:     Andrew Paull
Funi English VA:     John Gremillion
Age:     41 (debut)[1]
43 (after timeskip)[2]
Height:     198cm (6'6")[1]

Appearance

Mihawk is a tall and lean man with a short beard and sideburns that point upwards. His nickname comes from his strangely colored yellow eyes, which resemble a hawk's eyes.

His attire consists of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume; an open shirt with a red-violet collar and sleeves decorated with flower patterns, leaving his neck and chest bare; a black vest and cape, colored red-violet on the inside; and white (light purple in the anime) pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside large boots. He wears a kogatana around his neck, appearing as a golden cross-shaped necklace, and carries Kokuto Yoru on his back.

At his home in Kuraigana Island's castle, he sports different pants and an open white shirt with a ruffled neck. When he met up with Zoro outside, he had a plain dark cloak draped over his shoulders.

In Volume 63 SBS, Oda drew the Shichibukai as children. Mihawk is shown with many scratches and bruises from training. He used a bokken as his weapon. He dressed in a dark-colored open jacket, short pants, shoes and a light-colored belt.

Personality

Like many other characters he has a unique laugh, or uniquely to himself bearing two: "Wahhahhahha" and/or "Kukukukuku".


Dracule Mihawk is possibly one of the most serious characters in One Piece; very little seems to surprise him, he rarely smiles, and he has only been seen laughing once in the series so far. He takes the revelation about Luffy being Dragon's son in stride, despite the surprise of those around him. He displays a sense of honor which other Shichibukai seem to lack, with the exception of Bartholomew Kuma (before his final modification into PX-0) and Jinbe.

Mihawk is selective when it comes to fulfilling his duties as a Shichibukai, as evidenced by his history of poor attendance at Shichibukai summons, as well as his decision to hunt and harass some pirates over others.[4] Zeff speculated that the reason Mihawk attacked Don Krieg and his men might have simply been because they disturbed his nap.[5] Mihawk admitted that the only reason he followed them all the way back to East Blue from the Grand Line was to kill time.

Though he is the swordsman above all the world's swordsmen, Mihawk remains grounded. While he has obviously become jaded regarding the abilities of other swordsmen, he's able to recognize talent. In fact, he has a desire to see Roronoa Zoro surpass him after having witnessed Zoro's incredible will and determination after their battle. When he speaks to Zoro, he states he will wait for Zoro, no matter how long it takes and notes that he will continue to be the world's greatest swordsman, showing great confidence in his own skills and abilities.[6]

Mihawk also shows some curiosity for the people he decides to attack. He attempted to strike Whitebeard just to see what the power distance between himself and Whitebeard was and he attacked Luffy just to see if fate is on Luffy's side or not.

He also appears to have a sense of hospitality, having tolerated (somewhat) Perona and Zoro's presence upon his return to Kuraigana Island right after the Whitebeard War; he even went as far as relay to Zoro the events that occurred concerning his captain, Monkey D. Luffy. In addition, he offered a boat to help the Straw Hat swordsman leave the island.

Relationships

FriendsAlthough it seems as if he has no friends whatsoever, Mihawk appears to build a level of respect for those he finds interesting enough to battle with, and those who survive. Such an example is when Zoro challenged him to fight at Baratie, and even though he lost, Mihawk was impressed enough to spare him and declare his respect (although indirectly). Despite that, however, he doesn't seem to have anyone who he is particularly fond of.

Shanks
In the past, Mihawk was a rival to one of the most powerful pirates in One Piece, Shanks. However, Mihawk lost interest in him after Shanks lost his left arm. He retains a neutral, though somewhat friendly relationship with Shanks, and is able to track him down if the need arises. He and Shanks do manage to get along, regardless of the fact that the two are opposites in personalities. Shanks is also able to get Mihawk to join in when he threw a party to celebrate Luffy's coming, even when moments beforehand Mihawk had scorned how laid-back Shanks was. Mihawk even mused out an apology to Shanks during the battle at Marineford, where he declares that he won't be holding anything back against Luffy right before going after him. When Shanks showed up during the Whitebeard War, Mihawk left the battle, stating that fighting Shanks was beyond the scope of the World Government's agreement.

Foes

Roronoa ZoroHaving lost one rival in Shanks, he now shares a rivalry with Zoro, and is prepared to wait as long as it takes for Zoro to become strong enough to beat him. To this end, Mihawk watches Zoro's progression and is delighted when Zoro gains his first bounty. Even though they are enemies, Mihawk is willing to train Zoro because he is laying down his pride for the sake of someone else.

Don KriegMihawk also made an enemy of Don Krieg, destroying Krieg's entire fleet when he attempted to conquer the Grand Line. Mihawk, for his part, does not even consider Krieg a threat. Upon sighting Mihawk, Krieg's anger led him to attack Mihawk, despite having witnessed Zoro's defeat and his own ship having been sliced apart. Mihawk did not even bother to retaliate, instead merely slashing Krieg's ship again and departing during the distraction.

Abilities and Powers

True to his epithet, "Hawk Eyes," Dracule Mihawk has exceptional eyesight, able to easily track Luffy's high speed Gear Second movements, and strike with extreme precision, releasing a long-range slash at him while there was a chaotic battlefront of New World pirates and Marine officers between them.[7]

Mihawk travels around in a coffin-shaped raft with two green-flamed candles, a single black sail, and a single seat. The fact that he can traverse the unforgiving oceans, as well as the Grand Line itself, in such a meager craft is yet another testament to his abilities.

He is considered to be the strongest swordsman in the world; a monster superior to monsters, as one character calls him. He has been known to have frequently fought with Shanks when they were younger. The fact that Mihawk used to be a rival of one of the Yonko implies that Mihawk might be one of the strongest characters in the series. Because of his status, defeating him is Roronoa Zoro's ultimate goal.

Mihawk's strength is so great that Don Krieg accuses him of having the power of a Devil Fruit; however, in the Databooks, his abilities appear to be simply brute power and skill, which makes him unique among the Shichibukai. Mihawk also seems to have great strength, as he was able to stop Zoro, a formidable swordsman with great mastery and enormous strength even to launch entire buildings and destroy them with powerful slashes, with only a single dagger, and handling it with just one hand. His first demonstration of power was defeating all but one of Don Krieg's fleet of 50 ships and 5,000 men by himself just before a storm struck.

Weapons

Further information: Kogatana
Mihawk has a pendant cross knife worn on his neck. He is shown using it as a tool to eat with, but in his hands it is also a deadly weapon capable of defeating any minor or moderately skilled swordsman.

Further information: Kokuto Yoru
He wields the Black Sword Kokuto Yoru, the strongest sword in the One Piece world. When Mihawk accepts challenges for his title, this blade is only drawn for those with enough spirit to earn Mihawk's respect, or enough power to present a threat.

Kokuto Yoru an ornately-decorated, man-sized (about 7 feet) sword shaped like a crucifix with a shiny black blade, which is curved at the end. He has the ability to expand his slashes to large distances as seen when he split Don Krieg's ship in half or when he split in half a giant iceberg in Marineford; and it also seems to generate otherworldly purple (later blue-green) streaks as it slices, as seen when he cut down Zoro.[8] He is also able to cut through steel with ease and rapidity, as demonstrated with the steel-bodied Daz Bones, whom Zoro struggled to beat.[9]

Yet as well as having the ability to use it to slice up entire fleets of ships or giant masses of ice just by swinging his blade, making a powerful, long-range slice, he is also graceful with the blade enough to knock bullets and change their course with little effort and at great speed.[10]