Edward Newgate

Whitebeard(白ひげ, Shirohige, Real name Edward Newgate), is a fictional character in the anime and manga, One Piece. He is known as the "closest pirate to One Piece" and is one of the Yonkou that rule over the New World.

Appearance
Whitebeard appears to have some health problems, possibly stemming from his advanced age. He is always surrounded by nurses and is hooked up to intravenous tubes. But despite this, he still drinks rum by the barrel. Even with his health issues, he is still considered the world's most dangerous and powerful pirate, which raises the question of how powerful he must have been in his prime during the days of Gol D Roger.

Whitebeard appears to be a normal human afflicted with "giantism" (he is not to be confused with actual giants, some of whom inhabit an island called Elbaf).

Personality
His reign on the sea, reputation and foreboding power has made him overconfident and he seems unable to see any cause for alarm on any decision he makes. He refuses all advice given to him (from his nurse telling him not to drink heavy to Shanks warning him of Blackbeard). He also seems to enjoy talking about the past, the first things he talks about when Shanks visits is old memories from the past 22 years.

Crew
He believes any nakama who kills another must be punished by another from his crew, they are to be hunted down by the commander of that former crewmembers division. Whitebeard's strong stand with crewmate killing is based on him regarding every crewmember who joins his crew as his son. However Whitebeard has grown to expect much from his own crewmembers and even with the possibility that Ace's own life may be on the line, he refuses to back off from Ace's duty to him.

Enemies
Since none of the Yonkou are united together, any other Yonkou is a threat to him and his crew. When he first appears, he receives a letter from Red-Haired Shanks on behalf of Shanks' newest crewmate Rockstar. However, before even reading the letter, Whitebeard throws it away, claiming that if Shanks wants to talk, then he should visit in person. He even asks Rockstar to tell Shanks to prepare an expensive bottle of sake when Shanks comes to visit. Most of all, he refuses to accept Shanks as anything more than the snot-nosed kid he was 22 years ago, believing he is 100 years too young to tell him what to do.

Abilities and Powers
He is the captain of the "Whitebeard Pirates". As the only man in the world who was able to match the late Pirate King, Gold Roger, in a fight, Whitebeard has been given the title of the "strongest man in the world". Whitebeard allegedly controls an enormous pirate fleet (much like Don Krieg's) which is divided into numerous corps under the command of a Whitebeard subordinate.

Whitebeard is one of the Yonkou, four of the most formidable pirates that rule the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaidou and another unknown pirate. They are considered the strongest pirates in the world.

Weapons
Whitebeard fights with a heavy spear-type weapon called a bisento.

Clashing of the Crews
It is unknown how events happened that led to the rivalry between Whitebeard's crew and Roger's. They competed often, leading to much bloodshed. Whitebeard came to know certain members of Roger's crew and came to know certain familiarities amongst the crew such as seeing Shanks with a funny big nose. Somewhere along the Grand Line, Roger pulled away from Whitebeard and made it to Raftel.

The End of an Era
Soon afterwards, Roger surrendered himself to be executed. Whitebeard became the undisputed power of the sea for being the only one to equalise in battle with the Pirate King. Whitebeard was always fully aware of events in the Grand Line playing out around him such as the fighting going on between Mihawk and Shanks. In time the World Government came to dub him and three other pirates the 4 strongest pirates in the New World, the Yonkou.

More than 10 years ago, Blackbeard joined his crew. In an incident involving Shanks, Blackbeard was able to scar the Red-Haired Pirate across his left eye.

Expectations and Murder
At some point in the last 3 years, Whitebeard drafted Portgas D. Ace into his crew, allowing him to become commander of his 2nd Division despite his young age. Blackbeard, a member of his division decides to kill Thatch (the 4th division commander) to gain access to a Devil Fruit he had found. After the death of Thatch, Ace was sent to kill Blackbeard by Whitebeard, even though he knew it would attract the attention of Shanks.

Shanks Calls
Sometime later, Rockstar arrives carrying a letter to Whitebeard from his captain Shanks. Unimpressed Shanks sent him a letter instead of coming to see him in person, Whitebeard tears it up in front of Rockstar telling him Shanks should see him in person and bring some rum.

Shanks finally arrived to talk with Whitebeard over Ace and Blackbeard after barging his way through a blockage set up to prevent them meeting. After talking about the years gone by, Shanks demands Whitebeard pull Ace back believing him to be not ready for Blackbeard. Whitebeard ignores the request and the talks between the two break down into a fight which leaves both captains crews uneasy and splits the clouds above them.

Ace's Execution
Whitebeard and his pirate crew are going to prevent Ace's execution. Doflamingo states that the Shichibukai are getting ready to battle Whitebeard and his crew.

Major Battles

 * Vs. Gold Roger (has yet to actually been shown)
 * Vs. Red-Haired Shanks
 * Vs. Shichibukai (a future fight)

Translation and Dub Issues
The name Whitebeard is actually a mistranslation. In Japanese, his nickname is Shiro Hige. The word 'Shiro' meaning white, and 'Hige' meaning 'facial hair' (Japanese do not have words for the individual style of facial hair).

Anime and Manga Influences
Whitebeard's character design is based on the owner of the pub Oda liked going to. The owner often sat down in the store with medical equipment hooked up to his nose and drank calling sake "medicine" while telling war stories. Whitebeard's own line in his first appearance, "I'm not talking to any snot-nosed airheads." was in fact an exact phrase the owner often said to customers. Unfortunately the pub owner passed away by the time Oda revealed this fact.

Trivia

 * In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Whitebeard is currently ranked the 43rd most popular character in One Piece.
 * On one of Whitebeard's medical support equiptment is an upside down "Smilie", like those use instead of the tradional Jolly Roger].