Dracule Mihawk

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.

Appearance
Mihawk is a tall, lean, and muscular man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that point upwards. His nickname comes from his strangely colored red eyes (yellow in the anime), which resemble a hawk's eyes.

Mihawk wears black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hides a little dagger, which gives him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consists of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with a red velvet inside with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar. He wears white (light purple in the anime) pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.

Mihawk wears a kogatana around his neck, appearing as a golden cross-shaped necklace which is a dagger which looks identical to its larger counterpart Yoru, and carries his sword Yoru on his back when he is not using it.

At his home in Kuraigana Island's castle, Mihawk 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.

After the timeskip, Mihawk shows some more wrinkles near the eyes. While reading about the Straw Hats' actions on Dressrosa and resulting new bounties, he was seen in his casual outfit along with a dark scarf draped over his shoulders and a wide brimmed straw hat.

Twenty-four years ago, during Gol D. Roger's execution, Mihawk did not have his beard, nor did he wear his hat, and his hair was scruffier and shorter. He already had his crucifix pendant and sported what looked like a flower-patterned jacket.

In SBS Volume 63, Oda drew the Seven Warlords 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


Mihawk is mostly very serious. He rarely smiles, and he has only been seen laughing twice so far. He took the revelation about Luffy being Dragon's son in stride, despite the surprise of those around him. He never unnecessarily reveals emotions on the battlefield, even when something unexpected happens (such as Jozu intercepting his flying slash aimed at Whitebeard, or Luffy surviving his onslaught). As an infamous pirate, he is not someone ambitious or cruel and his only goal in life is to be outmatched by another swordsman.

He displays a sense of honor as he recognizes and respects the swordsman's code and he even reluctantly permitted Roronoa Zoro the luxury of training at his hand for his dedication and selflessness. He is also unafraid to reference his title of "Strongest Swordsman in the World" in relation to himself, indicating a high level of confidence in his own abilities. He takes pride in his swordsmanship, believing that a nick on his sword is a blemish to his pride.

Though he is confident in his strength, Mihawk remains grounded. While he has become jaded regarding the abilities of other swordsmen, due to facing numerous weaker opponents, he is able to recognize talent. In fact, he has a desire to see 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 strongest swordsman, showing great confidence in his own skills and abilities. Despite having grown bored with being challenged by inferior foes, Mihawk showed excitement at being chased as a pirate once more due to the dissolution of the Seven Warlords system. However, he was eventually became annoyed by the Marines' nuisances, causing Mihawk to relocate and became Crocodile's business partner.

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

Although Mihawk is normally passive when dealing with others, he can come off as rather blunt and cold at times. When Perona was crying over Moria's presumed death, Mihawk coldly told her to leave, saying her crying was annoying him. This was also shown again when he did not tell her that he found out about Moria being alive while stating he had no reason to do so.

Although Mihawk spends most of his time alone, he is fine with making company with people, such as Shanks and Perona. He also appears to have a sense of hospitality, having (somewhat) tolerated 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, Luffy. In addition, he offered a boat to help the Straw Hat's swordsman leave the island. He also told Perona to be safe when she decided to leave the castle.

In spite of his apathetic behavior, Mihawk is capable of showing care and compassion to others. When Perona learned that Moria was alive, she immediately went to reunite with him and Mihawk wished for her to be safe, causing Perona to tearfully thank him for letting her stay with him for the last two years. It is later shown that he personally let her go out of concern for her well-being due to him anticipating the Seven Warlords system being abolished so she would not be in harms way when the Marines would be sent after him.

Mihawk also shows 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. He also attacked Luffy just to see if fate is on Luffy's side or not. As a result, Mihawk is very analytical about others' abilities, and can recognize strengths that others may not, such as when he understood that Luffy's natural charisma and quick amassing of comrades is his most dangerous attribute.

Mihawk has an interest in agriculture, having started farming and tilling the war-torn land of Kuraigana Island, influencing even the Humandrills who were normally fearful of Mihawk to join him.

While Mihawk is generally compose and level-headed, he is capable of becoming violent when angered. Alongside Crocodile, he brutally punished Buggy after the latter became publicly recognized as the president of Cross Guild and their "boss". He would usually punish Buggy when his overzealous followers further enforced this image, despite how Buggy never actually tried to do this.

Like many other characters he has a unique laugh, unusually bearing two: "Wahhahhahha/Kukukuku".

Friends
Although he spends most of his time alone, 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 does not seem to have anyone whom he is particularly fond of.

Shanks
In the past, Mihawk was a rival to one of the most powerful pirates in the world, 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 was also able to get Mihawk to join in when he threw a party to celebrate Luffy's upcoming pirate status, 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 will not 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 battling Shanks was beyond the scope of the World Government's agreement.

Two years later, Mihawk had expressed that he does not want to fight Shanks along with the other Emperors, on the orders of Buggy.

Perona
Perona stayed on Kuraigana Island with Mihawk and Zoro during the latter's two yearlong training. After accompanying Zoro to the Sabaody Archipelago and going back to Thriller Bark to pick up Kumashi's body, she went back to Kuraigana and is now living with Mihawk, suggesting a good status between them. When she learned of her old master's survival, she was upset that Mihawk did not tell her while he paid her no mind and only told her to be safe as she tearfully thanked him for letting her stay with him. It also appears Mihawk was aware of the impending dissolution of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and had Perona leave for her own safety.

Humandrills
Mihawk has a neutral relationship with the Humandrills who are native to Kuraigana Island. Despite their violent nature from the influence of the brutal war that occurred in Kuraigana Island, Mihawk was powerful enough to intimidate them to the point they would avoid him when possible. After Mihawk started farming, the Humandrills became easily influenced and started helping Mihawk in agriculture.

Cross Guild
Alongside Crocodile, Mihawk founded the bounty hunting organization Cross Guild, using Buggy as a figurehead to attract all unwanted attention away from themselves. Both men are widely respected by Buggy's subordinates due to their impressive showings at Karai Bari Island, where they sank the entire Marine fleet that was sent after Buggy.

Crocodile
Mihawk and Crocodile briefly clashed during the Summit War of Marineford, after the swordsman struck down Daz Bones for protecting Luffy on Crocodile's orders. Despite this brief confrontation, Crocodile respects Mihawk enough to propose joining forces with him after the dissolution of the Seven Warlords of the Sea two years later. Crocodile noted that, in spite of their differences, they both had the common thread of being overall distrustful of others. Mihawk himself was apparently convinced and accepted his invitation to establish the Cross Guild, showing he did not object to becoming Crocodile's business partner despite said trust issues. Crocodile also agreed to Mihawk's suggestions that they can always dispose of Buggy at any time if he became a hassle.

Buggy
Like with Crocodile, Mihawk and Buggy briefly clashed during the Summit War of Marineford. While flying around, Buggy was pulled down by Luffy to intercept Mihawk's sword strikes with his body. Buggy got angry at Mihawk for slicing him up and threw a Muggy Ball at him, only for Mihawk to deflect it back at Buggy and cause it to detonate on him.

Much like Crocodile, Mihawk has no respect whatsoever for Buggy, who he considers to be pathetic, weak, worthless and cowardly, and threatened him with death when Buggy accidentally usurped the role of president of Cross Guild due to his overzealous followers, all while his "superior" begged for mercy. However, Mihawk and Crocodile eventually decided to allow Buggy to live and remain as the figurehead of the company, out of convenience to divert unwanted attention from themselves and run things from the shadows since Mihawk only wants to have a peaceful life when holding no interest to become an Emperor, though they agreed that if Buggy became a hassle, they could always dispose of him at any time. Despite letting him live just to benefit him and Crocodile, Mihawk and Crocodile still brutalized Buggy out of their disgust for the new ship's tasteless design as well as Mihawk calling Buggy a "cockroach" for believing his and Crocodile's plans are wrong. Like Crocodile, Mihawk finds Buggy to be very delusional and lowly for thinking that he and Crocodile would take him to the top and go pick fights with Shanks, Blackbeard and Luffy, as Mihawk has no interest in engaging in battles with any of them.

Enemies
Mihawk seems to have made lots of enemies in the past. Especially most of the swordsmen of the world want to have a chance to challenge him, like the 5th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Flower Sword Vista, who was thrilled to see Mihawk in the battle. He challenged him to battle with pleasure. Also, two okamas from Impel Down attacked him saying that they dueled him in the past. However, Mihawk replied that he doesn’t remember the name of every insect that he crushes. Vista expressed a desire to fight Mihawk and was happy that he got to cross blades with him, calling him the strongest swordsman in the world. In return, Mihawk showed him respect by being aware of his reputation.

Roronoa Zoro
My name is Dracule Mihawk!! It's too soon for you to die. Discover yourself. See the world!! And grow strong, Zoro! However long it may take... I shall await you at the top. Strive with your whole heart and mind to best this blade, fierce one!!! Strive to surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!!!

Having 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. After the war at Marineford, Zoro bowed before Mihawk, requesting training from the Warlord. Mihawk initially dismissed this request as Zoro reacting to an inability to defeat the Humandrills and escape the island. He chided Zoro and expressed regret for "over-estimating" the swordsman. When Zoro explained that he had defeated the Humandrills and required training from Mihawk to defeat him, Mihawk commented that Zoro must have found something more valuable than his ambition in order to make the request. He agreed to the request and ordered Perona to patch up Zoro so that the training can begin. Mihawk was a strict teacher when he was Zoro's swordmaster during the two-year timeskip. When teaching Zoro how to use Haki, he forbade Zoro from drinking alcohol until he fully mastered infusing his swords with Busoshoku Haki.

When hearing about Cross Guild, Zoro tells Luffy that Mihawk is not the type of person who would work for Buggy.

Monkey D. Luffy
It's not some sort of special power, but he has the ability to make allies of everyone he meets. And that is the most fearsome ability on the high seas...

Mihawk sees and recognizes Luffy's potential. During the battle at Marineford, he expresses to himself that Luffy has the most dangerous ability on the seas, which is turning anyone around him into his allies, including former enemies. He was one of the few people not to be surprised that Luffy is the son of the world's most dangerous criminal and even challenges Luffy to a duel. Even though he easily gains the upper hand, he compliments on how Luffy is clear headed in battle and not as reckless as he thought. The two continued their fight until Luffy escapes after having been saved by the Whitebeard Pirates Fifth Division Commander, Vista. However, Mihawk seems amused when he hears about his progress throughout the series and acknowledges him as a true warrior rather than a foolish boy. He even accepted Zoro's request for training when he surmised that he wanted to become stronger for Luffy's sake.

Unlike Buggy, Mihawk recognizes Luffy's status as one of the Four Emperors to be generally well earned after defeating Kaidou. But he has no interest to pick a fight with Luffy.

Krieg
Mihawk also made an enemy of Don Krieg, destroying Krieg's entire fleet when he attempted to conquer the Grand Line. Mihawk, for his part, did 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.

World Government
Being a Warlord of the Sea, Mihawk was an ally of the World Government. However, he does not care about their goals. From his discussion with Sengoku, it is stated that Mihawk rarely attended the meetings at Mary Geoise. Despite those facts, the marines display a strong amount of respect and fear towards him, most likely due to his notorious past as a dangerous pirate who gained widespread infamy for slaying multiple formidable marines. Even Fleet Admiral Sakazuki (being an Admiral at that time) referred to Mihawk’s strength by focusing on his eyes. Despite Mihawk's antipathy towards the Marines and the World Government, he also answered the call of the Marines to arrive for the upcoming war at Marineford. The only occasion that Mihawk is shown to be obedient to the World Government is when he went to Marineford to fight against Whitebeard (although he left when Shanks arrived stating that he only agreed to battle Whitebeard's forces).

Due to the Seven Warlords system being obsolete, he is now once again an enemy to the government as the Marines waste no time trying to arrest him. Mihawk, however, is eager to fight against them. Mihawk easily defeated the Marines' fleet but grown annoyed immensely by their nuisances and persistence when it caused him to leave his home and relocate to another island, thus accepting Crocodile's offer to start a company in hunting Marines for bounties.

Abilities and Powers
As the “Strongest Swordsman in the World” in both name and reality, Mihawk is one of the strongest pirates in the world. Even before the Great Age of Pirates he gained fame by defeating stronger and stronger foes until he had no worthy challengers left, and now he reigns at the top as the strongest swordmaster in the world.

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 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 skill in Kenbunshoku Haki is extraordinary. True to his epithet, "Hawk Eyes", he has incredible 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 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.

Past


Mihawk became famous even before the start of the Great Age of Pirates. Going by his original epithet, "Marine Hunter", Mihawk likely defeated several Marines in his past as a wanted pirate. He challenged increasingly powerful opponents until no one could challenge him, thus earning the title of "World's Strongest Swordsman". 24 years ago at age nineteen he attended Gol D. Roger's execution, and sometime after Roger's death, he joined the ranks of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Mihawk once saw a strong rival in Shanks. Mihawk often sought Shanks out for duels. After Shanks lost his arm twelve years ago, Mihawk ceased seeking him out for duels. However, they remained on good terms, with Shanks telling Mihawk about a unique boy he met.

Mihawk had been responsible for single-handedly destroying Don Krieg's entire fleet, excluding Krieg's flagship, during Krieg's failed attempt at entering and conquering the Grand Line. The destruction of Krieg's fleet drove the pirate from the Grand Line. He then followed Don Krieg to East Blue and the Baratie out of boredom.

Baratie Arc
When the Krieg Pirates docked their flagship at the Baratie, Mihawk shortly caught up to them and cut their flagship in three places. One of the Krieg Pirates shot at him with two flintlocks, but Mihawk deflected the bullets with Yoru. He was then confronted by Roronoa Zoro, who challenged him to a duel. Mihawk did not think much of Zoro and said he could display the difference in strength between them without crossing blades. Zoro did not back down, and Mihawk pulled out his Kogatana to duel the East Blue swordsman, noting he did not have a smaller sword. Zoro charged, and Mihawk easily blocked all three of his swords with Kogatana. He fended off Zoro's wild sword slashes and wondered what Zoro's purpose was as he repelled the pirate. Zoro then unleashed an attack, but Mihawk stabbed him in the chest before Zoro's swords could reach him.



Mihawk asked why Zoro did not step back, and Zoro replied that he wished to fulfill an oath he made and wished to die otherwise. Out of respect for Zoro's passion, Mihawk decided to end the battle with Yoru. Zoro charged toward Mihawk and performed his strongest attack, and Mihawk responded by shattering two of his swords and cutting him in the chest. Zoro turned around to face Mihawk's next blow, impressing Mihawk by stating that a wound on the back is a swordsman's shame, and Mihawk finished the duel by cutting him diagonally across the chest, holding back just enough to allow Zoro to live.

Zoro's captain Monkey D. Luffy pulled himself toward the Krieg Pirates' ship to attack Mihawk in anger, but Mihawk dodged his punch. He then said that he allowed Zoro to live and called out to his defeated opponent to drive on and meet him at the top so that he might one day surpass him. Mihawk listened to Luffy share his dream to become the Pirate King and smiled as a barely conscious Zoro promised to Luffy to never lose again. He told the two he would look forward to meeting them again but was then confronted by a vengeful Don Krieg. Mihawk no longer had any interest in pursuing Krieg's crew anymore, and as Krieg attacked him, Mihawk unleashed a final blow on the ship and departed before the chaos could settle.

Loguetown Arc


After Luffy received his first bounty, Mihawk came to Shanks' island to tell him about it. When he reached the island, he encountered some members of the Red Hair Pirates and asked them about their superior's whereabouts. He found Shanks and showed him Luffy’s first wanted poster. Shanks responds by throwing another party, while inviting Mihawk to join in despite recovering from drinking too much alcohol shortly before.

Jaya Arc
Mihawk answered a summons to attend a meeting on Mary Geoise to discuss replacing Crocodile's Warlord position. Shortly after he arrived, Laffitte came into the room to nominate his captain, Marshall D. Teach, as Crocodile's replacement.

Amazon Lily Arc
Mihawk answered the call to the Seven Warlords to aid in the oncoming war against the Whitebeard Pirates, and dined with the other Warlords of the Sea, except for Jinbe and Boa Hancock, on Mary Geoise.

Marineford Arc
When the execution of Portgas D. Ace began, Mihawk stood alongside Bartholomew Kuma, Donquixote Doflamingo, Gecko Moria and Boa Hancock, ready for the battle ahead.



When Aokiji froze the two tsunamis that Whitebeard caused, Mihawk was one of the first Warlords to attack, wishing to measure his strength against Whitebeard. He unleashed what was referred to as "the strongest slash in the world," but his attack was stopped by Jozu. When Luffy arrived at Marineford with Impel Down prisoners, Mihawk was amused and remarked that the Straw Hat never failed to make things interesting. When Sengoku revealed the fact that Dragon is Luffy's father, Mihawk only commented that such a revelation is not really surprising.

When Luffy managed to break through the horde of fighting men, Mihawk met him head on, not intending to hold back despite Luffy's connection to Shanks. Luffy tried dodging Mihawk with extreme speed, but Mihawk spotted him and hit him from far off, since Luffy was still within his sword's range. After attacking Luffy again, Mihawk was confronted by two Impel Down escapees who had fought him before. Not caring to remember them, Mihawk took them out in a single blow before turning his attention back to Luffy. He unleashed a massive slash that cut through the frozen tsunami a great distance away, but Luffy managed to duck the attack. Mihawk then attacked Luffy with whirlwind slashes, driving him further from Ace. However, his blade suddenly sliced the body of the pirate Buggy after Luffy pulled him down to act as a shield. Buggy was thrown at Mihawk, who cut him into tiny pieces. Thanks to his Devil Fruit, Buggy was alive and attacked Mihawk with an explosive Muggy Ball, but Mihawk deflected it back at him. Luffy had managed to run far away from Mihawk, but the swordsman could continue the fight; however, he was suddenly met by Vista of the Whitebeard Pirates, and as he looked at Luffy, he reflected that the Straw Hat's ability to gain allies was his most dangerous strength.



After the army of Pacifista appeared, Mihawk commented to Vista that it was time to finish their battle while the latter stated they both had a point in their favor. After Whitebeard got stabbed by Squard, Mihawk was the only one to ignore the event and did not even gaze at him. He later fought in the Oriz Plaza after the pirates managed to get through the siege wall.



When Luffy and Ivankov tried to reach Ace, Mihawk again arrived to stop them, but he was stopped by Daz Bonez. He easily defeated Daz Bonez, but Crocodile intervened and engaged in combat with Mihawk. After this clash, Mihawk witnessed Whitebeard die standing up alongside Gecko Moria. When Shanks arrived to end the war, Mihawk immediately departed, saying he had agreed to help fight Whitebeard but not Shanks.

Post-War Arc


Mihawk returned to his home on Kuraigana Island, where he encountered Zoro and Perona, who had come to the island in his absence. After telling Zoro about what happened to Luffy on Marineford, he gave Zoro a boat to depart from the island. Inside his castle, he was exasperated about Perona weeping over the newspaper's report of Moria's death but told her he was unsure if the report was true. He went outside, where he saw Zoro struggling against several Humandrills, with his boat being destroyed. Mihawk explained how the Humandrills were violent because of a war that raged on the island in the past and offered to let Zoro come back to his castle, but Zoro refused.

Later, Zoro came to the castle and begged Mihawk to teach him the way of the sword. Mihawk was initially disdainful, believing that Zoro had retreated after failing to beat the Humandrills and get off the island. However, Zoro revealed that he had beaten the Humandrills. Mihawk was amused that Zoro wanted to train under him in order to eventually take his head and laughed. He agreed to Zoro's request, though not before Perona helped heal the pirate's wounds.

During the Timeskip
While training Zoro, Mihawk taught him how to imbue his swords with Haki, forbidding him from having any alcohol until he had mastered doing so, much to Zoro's chagrin. After two years, Zoro's training finished, and the young swordsman left for the Sabaody Archipelago.

From the Decks of the World: The 500,000,000 Man Arc
After the events at Dressrosa, Mihawk and Perona read the news of the Straw Hats' new bounties while tilling the land of Kuraigana Island with the Humandrills.

One Piece: Stampede
He is one of the attendees at the Pirates Festival. He later slices Wapol's pirate ship as he was trying to escape and destroys the rest of the meteor that Fujitora had summoned and that Zoro had started slicing.

Wano Country Arc
Mihawk was sitting in his castle as Perona learned from a newspaper that Moria was alive. As Perona was leaving, Mihawk mentioned an interesting topic that was brought up at the Levely. After the World Government voted to dissolve the Seven Warlords, Mihawk found himself under siege by a Marine fleet, and he grew excited at becoming a wanted criminal again.

Sometime later, he was contacted by Crocodile. Mihawk wished to relocate due to the marines keep swarming Kuraigana Island, during which Crocodile offered to team up with him and stated that the marines would not take an organization formed by the two of them lightly, partly due to Mihawk's past reputation as a "Marine Hunter". He lastly concluded that they were both the same; they don't trust anyone. Mihawk agreed to his offer and together they formed the Cross Guild, an organization that places bounties on and hunts Marines.

Egghead Arc


He was later seen together with Crocodile on Karai Bari Island with a beat up Buggy, due to the latter not only being recognized in the world as an Emperor but also as the leader of their new organization. Although feeling greatly insulted, he suggested that Buggy taking all the heat as a figurehead may not be the worst idea. He further added that he was not interested in the title of Emperor, preferring to live peacefully and that they could always get rid of Buggy when the need arises, to which Crocodile agreed. He was then, together with Crocodile, introduced by Buggy to his followers.

When Buggy promised Crocodile and Mihawk a ship for the Cross Guild would be shown, both were displeased by the obvious resemblance of the ship with Buggy, deciding to beat him up again as a punishment and have his head hang up from a hook. Crocodile was then discussing the positive reception of the Cross Guild with Mihawk, referring to his Operation Utopia still ongoing, but that they were still lacking strength. Both he and Mihawk then got annoyed by Buggy when they were questioned by Buggy as pirates for just settling for small goals instead of the big treasures. Both got even more angrier when Buggy announced to them his intention to become the Pirate King and go claim the One Piece alongside the other three Emperors. Mihawk, however, just replied there was no chance Buggy could convince them and asked Buggy if he'd expect them to fight against the other Emperors just to get the One Piece. When Buggy started to announce to his crew his plans of going for the One Piece, Crocodile tried to silence him by stepping on his head, but was unable to stop him and then got extremely angry when Buggy announced they would go for the One Piece.

Major Battles

 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Shanks (numerous times, unseen)
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Krieg Pirates
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Roronoa Zoro
 * Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines vs. Whitebeard Pirates and their allies
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Vista
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Daz Bonez
 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Crocodile (unseen)

Filler Battles

 * Dracule Mihawk vs. Jinbe

Loguetown Arc
After showing Shanks the poster for Luffy's first bounty, scenes of the Red Hair Pirates celebrating with Mihawk are shown, with Shanks urging Mihawk to drink.

Jaya Arc
After Mont Blanc Cricket's decision to help the Straw Hat Pirates reach sky island, Mihawk is seen carrying Luffy's second bounty poster as well as Zoro's first poster on his small ship traveling towards Mary Geoise. Mihawk is seen again after Luffy defeated Bellamy. He is surprised to discover their new bounty since he does not anticipate on Luffy and Zoro's accomplishment under such a short time.

Marineford Arc
During the war at Marineford, Jinbe comes to Luffy's aid and challenges the swordsman. He uses his Fish-Man Karate to slow the oncoming cannon balls shot at him that Mihawk then cuts. The two then engage in a short clash, sending Jinbe flying back as he continues to pursue Luffy.

When Sengoku revealed Luffy's relationship with Dragon in the manga, Mihawk commented that he was not surprised. In the anime, Mihawk remained silent.

Post-War Arc
After Luffy's message is revealed, Mihawk and Zoro went outside the castle and Mihawk tells Zoro that the Humandrills are divided in ranks and that there is a leader among them, who has imitated his (Mihawk) swordsmanship style.

Live-Action Differences
In the live-action series, Mihawk is shown completely slaughtering the Krieg Pirates. Because of this, instead of reaching the Baratie because he was chasing them, he went there because Monkey D. Garp contacted him to capture Luffy. Upon arriving, he ran into Luffy's crew while they were drinking, and remained at the restaurant until the following morning to fulfill Zoro's request for a duel.

After his fight against Zoro, Mihawk informs Garp, in the latter's cabin on his Marine ship, that he did not comply with his order, and that Luffy seemed like someone interesting that he hopes to meet again on the Grand Line, telling Garp that it might be his grandson who ends up finding the One Piece and angering the vice admiral.

Early Concepts
In One Piece Green: Secret Pieces, an early concept of Mihawk was revealed.

According to concept art included in the Vivre Card databook, an early idea for Mihawk's epithet was "Clairvoyant" (千里眼) rather than "Hawk Eyes".

Censorship


In the 4Kids dub, the bloody slash he gave Zoro was erased to him just ripping his shirt, plus the drinking scene with Shanks was edited out, too. He was also given a French-Caribbean accent, possibly linked to "Dracule" being a variation on "Dracula", though this is a mismatch against a Transylvanian accent used in popular fiction for vampires.

All of the crosses on Mihawk are edited out in the 4Kids English dub, changing his necklace to an "I," and shortening the "arms" of his sword. This is mainly due to their religious references. In One Piece Grand Battle!, amongst the unlockable art content are unedited artworks from the anime showing pictures of Mihawk without these edits. In the Funimation dub, his sword and necklace remain unedited. However, in the English version of the game Unlimited Adventure, these previous edits were continued even though the right had already passed to Funimation, who had decided not to continue this edit.

Etymology
There was some dispute as to Mihawk's name. Many fans argue that his name was "Dracule" or "Juraquille". VIZ, 4Kids, and Funimation chose to use "Dracule" for his name.

His name seems to be formed from "Dracula" (ド ラキュ ラ).

It can be speculated that it is because of Dracula's name being partly in Mihawk's family name and partly because his Japanese Voice Actor does not pronounce the "u". "U" is often silent in Japanese and Japanese voice actors will often not speak the "u" in words even when required to do so. There is currently no explanation as to why "Dracule" exists in the English version although a theory by fans is that it is because of the noted similarity to the name "Dracula" in the first place and a generally acceptance amongst fans is that it is what Oda is aiming for. However, for the name to be "Dracule" correctly, the beginning in Japanese would be "ド" instead of "ジュ". One note is that "ジュ" can be read as "Du" as well as "Ju", which can give the variations "Duracule" and Duracure. Other arguments included that the name "Dracule" stems from a Latin text to Japanese error on Oda's part (also seen with Rob Lucci's name and the word "Luce"), or that it is intended to be an unusual translation in the first place.

On merchandise, it had been reported that "Dracule" existed before; however, there are many problems with relying on merchandise as there have been many mistakes made in the past when a mangaka does not supply a name for a character (such as with Chew and Mr. 2 being referred to as "Chu" and "Bon Clay" until Oda provided the corrected names). "Juraquille", the other popular fan name, did not transfer back into Japanese well. Its romanization in itself is "Jurakuyrure", which is a mismatch against the romanization of Mihawk's name ("Jurakyūru").

Fans often avoided the argument over his name by using just "Mihawk" and miss out his surname completely as without confirmation from Oda, it was considered the most neutral take on his name. To this end, with the question on Mihawk's Latin name open for debate, he was subject to many variable degrees of false etymology.

The One Piece Green: Secret Pieces databook confirmed his name to be "Dracule" finally ending this dispute after years of fan debate.

Songs

 * "Umi wo Mitsumeru Me"

Enemy Appearances

 * One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
 * Birth of Luffy's Dream Pirate Crew!
 * One Piece: Round the Land
 * One Piece: Dragon Dream!
 * One Piece: Treasure Wars 2 Welcome to Buggyland
 * One Piece Romance Dawn: The Dawn of the Adventure
 * One Piece: Pirate Warriors
 * One Piece: Unlimited World Red

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Pirates Carnival
 * One Piece: Dance Battle
 * One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Grand Battle! 3
 * One Piece

Other Media

 * In One Piece Premier Show 2014, Mihawk appears while the Straw Hat Pirates are fighting the DX Marines to cut Caesar Clown's Shinokuni in half. In One Piece Premier Show 2016, Pokke created a clone of Mihawk under Wilder's order to attack the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * In the first version of One Piece Live Attraction: Phantom, Buggy forces Ann to create a mirage of Mihawk to capture the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * An image of Mihawk appears in the first One Piece Water Spectacle show.
 * Mihawk appears in the brass entertainment show One Piece Oto Utage during the retelling of the Baratie Arc. He is played by the same actor as Higuma.
 * Mihawk is the main antagonist of the Zoro version of the Hungry Days commercial. He also appears in the Nami and Marineford versions.
 * Ryodai Ishibashi, a member of 4,000 Hands and one of the guests on the fourth episode of One Piece Variety: I Will be the Pirate King TV, dresses up as Mihawk for the show.

Trivia

 * Mihawk is the only Warlord of the Sea whose original frozen bounty has not been revealed yet.
 * Mihawk currently has the highest bounty of anyone who is not a member of the Four Emperors.
 * In fact, his bounty exceeds two of them; namely Luffy and Buggy.
 * Additionally, Mihawk is the first and currently only character whose bounty surpasses that of a superior within a pirate organization. In this case, President Buggy of the Cross Guild, whose current bounty value is 401,000,000 lower.
 * Mihawk is the only Warlord to never be featured on the cover of a volume so far.
 * While it was stated Mihawk clashed against Shanks several times, their only duel that was actually seen so far in any media is in the game One Piece: Unlimited Cruise 2. It was used as an intro for both of them as bosses.
 * On Mihawk's character poster for Grand Battle! that appears when he is unlocked, his name is spelled "Mihark".
 * In all the fan polls of most popular characters from the 1st to the 7th, Mihawk was ranked 14th, 13th, 8th, 12th, 23rd, 22nd, and 30th, respectively.
 * In the first four fan polls he is ranked as the most popular Warlord.
 * In the 6th fan poll results announcement, he was mistakenly omitted from his 22nd place, making every character that followed him (23rd onward) rank one place higher.
 * In the Funimation dub, when he makes his speech to Zoro, he uses his epithet instead of his real surname.
 * Mihawk, Caribou and Imu are the only characters shown to have double-layered irides.
 * Mihawk's original epithet as "Marine Hunter" mirrors that of Zoro's, the "Pirate Hunter". Ironically, Zoro would go on to become a pirate himself after earning his title, while Mihawk, as a Warlord, became an agent of the World Government, much like the Marines.
 * Mihawk's favorite food is red wine.

Links

 * Hawk – Wikipedia article about the animal reference in Mihawk's name

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