One Piece: Is Marco admiral-level? Can he defeat an admiral?

The amount of debate over this topic is insane.

Anime-viewers recently saw what Marco is all about in episode 1022. He is able to hold off King and Queen together during the Onigashima Raid, proving that Marco is stronger than both of them – individually, for sure, if not 2v1.

So, obviously people began asking the question: if Marco can fight against 2 Yonko commanders at the same time – Kaido’s Lead Performers no less – then can he take down an admiral?

Marco the Phoenix, former first commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, can go toe-to-toe with an admiral, can even take on simultaneous attacks from all 3, but cannot defeat an admiral on a 1v1. His attack output is low, and his regeneration power has a limit.

While Marco has proven himself to be an incredible fighter during battle and has displayed powerful feats, an admiral can defeat Marco high to mid diff – depending on which admiral it is.

This is also why Marco cannot defeat a Yonko, while he may be able to hold one off. Let me break it down.

Why Marco is “Admiral Level” but Cannot Defeat One:

The fact is, I totally agree with people saying Marco is “admiral level”. Anyone who can fight admirals on a 3v1 is definitely admiral level. But being on par with someone doesn’t mean they are stronger or greater than them.

Marco’s major strength lies in his Devil Fruit power. His Blue Flames of Resurrection give him the power of regeneration, no matter how severe the damage. Guy can come back from almost any attack if he activates his healing at the right time.

So, yes, there are very few characters who can compare to him when it comes so defense. This ability gets Marco easily above other Yonko first commanders, as we see in his fight against Kaido’s Calamities. However, defense isn’t everything. It can only get him so far.

This is elucidated in the way that Oda has created his power structure, which considers not just Devil Fruit abilities, but Haki, mainly Conqueror’s Haki, which isn’t something we’ve seen Marco use.

Marco relies almost entirely on his Devil Fruit abilities, and although he has great skill and experience in combat due to the time he spent overseas as part of Whitebeard’s crew, he cannot defeat the 4 Emperors or the 3 Admirals – even if he might be on par with the weakest of them.

Powerscaling

Let’s talk about powerscaling in One Piece for a second.

There are many debates about it, but we can probably make the following deduction:

Pirate King > Yonko > Admirals > Yonko First Commanders

There are exceptions to ranks in general, Garp being the biggest example of this.

Garp is vice admiral but Prime Garp could defeat Prime Akainu, the current fleet admiral. Similarly, Marco and Rayleigh, who are former Yonko first commanders, are more powerful than not just others of their rank, but equal in power to admirals – or some of them.

We can’t consider the admirals as a single unit – fleet admirals are as a rule the most powerful of the admirals – Akainu and Sengoku are more powerful than Ryokugyu, Aokji, and Kizaru.

So, we can say that fleet admirals are as strong as Yonkos, and strongest first commanders are equal to but not greater than the admirals.

There are scenes in the series that show that strongest first commanders can keep up with fleet admirals and Yonkos. Marco goes up against the Yonko Big Mom herself, and the 3 OG admirals, including fleet admiral Akainu.

But does that make him more powerful than them? Nope.

1. Marco vs. Yonko

Think back to Marco vs. Big Mom.

Marco was able to go up against Big Mom on a 1v1 and deal pain and even defeat Big Mom’s right-hand homie, Prometheus. Marco is pretty confident that he can keep BM occupied, and in turn BM wonders whether Marco is invincible and states that she doesn’t have enough souls to defeat him.

He matches up to her strength, albeit briefly, and she eventually overpowers him. This proves that Marco is equal to but not greater than BM.

Similarly, when the Gorosei find out that Blackbeard has 2 Devil Fruits, they say that apart from the 3 other Emperors, Marco and the remaining Whitebeard crew are the only ones capable of defeating Blackbeard.

Let’s be real, though, obviously Marco can’t defeat BB on a 1v1, just like he can’t defeat BM.

2. Marco vs. Admiral

Just like how Marco isn’t capable of all-out beating a Yonko, he sure isn’t capable of defeating an admiral. But he sure does come close.

Like I mentioned, admirals aren’t a single unit, and neither are first commanders.

If – according to what we’ve seen from the manga – we consider Kizaru to be the weakest current admiral, and Marco (along with Benn Beckman) to be the strongest first commander, then, Strongest First Commander = Weakest Admiral.

During the Summit War in the Marineford arc, Marco and Kizaru fought a 1v1 which ended in a stalemate. Technically, Kizaru would have beaten Marco, but Marco’s Mythical Zoan Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix is too OP.

Marco has the regenerative advantage, but even though Marco kicks Kizaru with full-strength, Kizaru emerges unscathed. Still, Marco overpowers Kizaru temporarily.

Similarly, Marco’s Haki sends Aokji/Kuzan flying when he is saving Luffy. He also stops Akainu/Sakazuki multiple times, even surviving his Magma Punch – until Akainu overpowered him of course.

This is not surprising, since pre-timeskip, Akainu was the strongest admiral, which is why he became fleet admiral later. Further, Marco and Vista both attack Akainu with Haki, and Akainu just found their punches irritating.

Kizaru then manages to shoot Marco with 2 laser beams when he is distracted by an injured Whitebeard. Enduring this with his phoenix flames, he remains standing, but his healing ability is negated when Kizaru, with the help of Onigumu, place the Seastone handcuffs on him. 2 more attacks from Kizaru, and Marco is defeated.

Some might say that without the intervention of Onigumu and the Seastone cuffs, Marco would have remained active. I mean, yes, I agree, but he would still only be equal to Kizaru, and not be able to defeat him.

This shows that Marco can be considered admiral level but cannot defeat them.

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.