Garp vs. Akainu: Let’s Settle the Debate Once and for All

We’re looking at 2 undisputed powerhouses of the Marines today: current fleet admiral Akainu/Sakazuki, and current vice admiral, Monkey D. Garp.

The One Piece fandom is full of Akainu supporters that refuse to believe Akainu could be taken down by anyone other than a Yonko, while fans of Garp harp on about how he is virtually unbeatable, even by the Pirate King.

What happens when we pit these two together? Who is stronger and why?

Garp vs. Akainu: Who would win in a 1v1?

We can’t look at who would win between Garp vs. Akainu on the whole because they are from 2 different generations. I’m going to consider 3 states or forms for their 1v1: Garp and Akainu in their prime, Garp and Akainu during the Marineford arc, and Garp and Akainu in their current state.

1. Prime Garp vs. Prime Akainu

In a 1v1 between Garp and Akainu in their prime, Garp would win. Garp is of the same era as Roger, the Pirate King. He is one of the strongest characters in the series because he was a rival to Gol D. Roger himself, and has cornered him multiple times in his youth.

He was offered a promotion to the rank of admiral but declined it on several occasions because he did not want to serve the nobles of the World Government directly.

Even before Roger’s era, Garp’s actions and feats gained him the title of Hero of the Marines. This was especially due to his efforts against Rocks D. Xebec and the other Rocks Pirates during the infamous God Valley Incident.

In the battle, Garp formed a temporary Pirate-Marine alliance with the captain of the Roger Pirates to save the world nobles against the Rocks Pirates. Garp, along with Roger, ended up defeating the Rocks Pirates, which included 3 of the future Yonkos: Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido.

Garp in his prime had one of the most powerful Haki techniques in the world. His Armament Haki was so refined that he could defeat Don Chinjao with just one Haki-juiced-up punch.

My favorite thing about Garp is that he could’ve easily climbed the ranks and become fleet admiral but he chose to stick around as vice admiral and help instruct the new recruits.

Kuzan/Aokiji was Garp’s subordinate at the time, and he was eventually promoted to admiral, as part of the “greatest military powers” of the world government. To be fair, Aokiji fought against Akainu later for the title of marine general and lost. But by that time, Garp had already crossed his prime.

There’s just no point at all comparing Akainu to Garp in their prime. Someone who was at the level of the Pirate King, is above Yonko-level.

Roger, Garp, prime Whitebeard, and Xebec, existed on more-or-less the same level as each other – which is a level above the rest. Akainu in his prime comes one tier below Garp in his prime.

2. Marineford Garp vs Marineford Akainu

In a 1v1 between Garp and Akainu during Marineford, Garp would win. Although Garp was physically weaker than Akainu, it was Garp’s will – something that plays a huge role in One Piece – that made him stronger than Akainu.

If Sengoku hadn’t stopped him, Marineford Garp would 100% have killed Akainu.  

Marineford Akainu was extremely badass, don’t get me wrong. The fight that he has with Whitebeard is hella impressive – he’s able to hold off against Whitebeard’s attacks, and even manages to blitz him twice with his Magma-Magma Devil Fruit ability.

Whitebeard was almost on the same tier as Roger, and the fact that Akainu could face him is a feat in itself. Of course, we have to consider that Whitebeard was old, sick, and injured, but still.

Akainu deals a lot of damage on Luffy too, who had already become pretty strong at the time, and also burns Jinbe. He is the one that kills Ace (though the attack was meant for Luffy).

This is the incident that actually incites Garp, since Ace, who was Gol D. Roger’s biological son, was adopted by Garp after his death. Garp, who is Monkey D. Dragon’s dad and Luffy’s grandfather, has emotional ties that lead to his resilience and resolve.  

Akainu, on the other hand, is a fanatic, blinded by his philosophy of “absolute justice”. He has no one to fight for, no one to avenge; it is his ideologies that get him as far as they do.

When Garp sees his adoptive son executed before his eyes, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have murdered Akainu right there if Sengoku hadn’t physically held him back.

Additionally, even though Garp was already pretty old during the Summit War of Marineford, he was able to easily strike Marco down, who was in his Phoenix Devil Fruit state at the time. The thing to be noted here is that Garp didn’t – and still doesn’t – have Devil Fruit abilities.

He was able to take down Whitebeard’s Marco with just Haki, something that Kizaru and Akainu both were unable to do at the time. This proves that Garp holds up as well as expected, even against the New World pirates.

Coming to Punk Hazard. Again, Akainu was impressive here. But Akainu fans don’t realize that what happened at the island was 50% due to Aokiji.

Half the island was frozen and the other half left burning, which suggests that Aokiji and Akainu are equals in battle. Akainu does end up somehow beating Aokiji though, so he is slightly stronger than him.

Despite this, Marineford Garp would still trump Marineford Akainu, primarily because what happened with Ace fueled his resolve, making Garp stronger than he would otherwise be.

3. Current Garp vs Current Akainu 

In a 1v1 between Garp and Akainu with their current strengths, Akainu would win. Even though old age has never been disadvantageous in One Piece, Akainu and the other admirals have gotten stronger after the time-skip, while Garp has remained the same.

Akainu is the current fleet admiral, which means that he is the strongest entity in the marines. This immediately puts him on par with the strongest Yonko – Blackbeard/Shanks, and the leader of the Revolutionaries – Dragon.

He has honed deadly long and short ranged combat abilities, has the explosive power of his Logia-type Devil Fruit, and has Observation and advanced Armament Haki.

Akainu went toe-to-toe with the strongest man in the world – Whitebeard, someone considered to be the closest to the One Piece. He takes hits from Marco and Vista together without being scratched, and deals a fatal blow to Ace that would have otherwise killed Luffy.

He battled for 10 days straight with the previous strongest admiral of the marines, Aokiji, and won.

Akainu has only grown in strength and power during the time-skip. Garp is almost retired. If Akainu vs. Garp were to happen today, Garp would have no long-range attacks and Akainu would beat him because of his Devil Fruit advantage.

Further, Akainu is only 55 after the time-skip, which means he still has time to grow stronger and learn more skills. Garp has crossed 78, and although he is still not to be reckoned with, he does not have room to grow any stronger – physically or in terms of Haki, nor does he have any Devil Fruit abilities.

Still, if Garp and Akainu have a showdown, it would be a very high difficulty fight. Ultimately, though, Akainu would win.

About One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.

The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!

Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.