Highlights
- Dracule Mihawk’s arrival during the Baratie Arc marked the beginning of stronger opponents for Luffy and his allies.
- Mihawk’s sword, Yoru, is a Supreme Grade Blade and is crucial to his swordsmanship.
- Yoru’s unique design and size make it stand out among other swords in the One Piece world.
During the Baratie Arc of the East Blue Saga, the world of One Piece at the time was turned on its head by the arrival of a single individual, who demonstrated the caliber of the combatants that Luffy and his allies would eventually face. The person in question was none other than Dracule Mihawk, the first of the Seven Warlords of the Sea to make his debut.
At his side was the massive Black Blade Yoru, which has since become inextricably tied to Mihawk’s character and his title as the world’s strongest swordsman. Confirmed by series creator Eiichiro Oda as one of the few Supreme Grade Blades in the world of One Piece, Yoru’s immense size and distinct design are critical to Mihawk’s swordsmanship, including his devastating flying slash attacks.
What Makes Yoru Unique?
Even in terms of appearance, Yoru stands out among the majority of swords seen in the world of One Piece, with Western influences and a cruciform profile terminating in a curved blade which leans into the religious imagery present in Mihawk’s design. Studded with cabochons and lined with rectangular grooves as well as a sprig relief that features swirl patterns, the blade’s cross-guard is unusually large even for an oversized sword of this nature.
Due to the blade’s curved profile — which widens before terminating in a pointed tip —and straight, perpendicular cross-guard, Yoru shows some similarities with the silhouette of a kriegsmesser. Its total length noticeably exceeds Mihawk’s own imposing stature when worn on his back, stretching for well over two meters. The ends of the cross-guard have a forked design, evoking even more comparisons to different types of crucifixes. At the point where the sword’s bandage-wrapped hilt terminates is a huge cabochon which fulfills the role of a pommel.
Ornate and exquisitely detailed, yet brutal and precise when deployed, Yoru has a fearsome reputation which is buoyed by its status as a Black Blade and one of the rare Supreme Grade Swords in One Piece. Fitting for a sword whose name literally translates as “night” from Japanese, Yoru’s blade is flat, colored jet black with a mirror finish, and has a strong sheen whose hue varies between its depictions in the anime and manga. Conversely, the hilt is quite long, allowing it to be used both one and two-handed without much difficulty.
Yoru’s design imbues it with a touch of refinement that perfectly echoes the true nature of its wielder — a swordsman without equal in the One Piece world, whose sheer might was enough to secure the position of a Warlord of the Sea, despite having no crew. Till date, Mihawk’s true strength has not been showcased in its entirety, which begs inquiry into how he is able to channel so much power into the blade.
Wielded By The World’s Strongest Swordsman
Befitting his status as the current best swordsman in the world of One Piece, Mihawk’s proficiency with Yoru is the main cause behind his notoriety, and Oda wasted no time outlining what the sword was capable of from the moment he made his entrance during the Baratie Arc. With Yoru, Mihawk is an extremely dangerous threat over both long and short distances, and he is able to swing the sword unimpeded despite its enormous size.
His precision with Yoru also extends to more gentle applications, such as deftly deflecting incoming bullets aimed towards him. Throughout his appearances in One Piece, Mihawk has used Yoru to perform awe-inspiring feats of swordsmanship, including slicing through entire war galleons or cutting through a massive wall of ice with a single swing of his sword.
Mihawk is able to wield Yoru with seemingly no effort, despite the incredible size and weight of the blade. He is equally comfortable using it one-handed or two-handed, to the point where the blade seems like an extension of his arm. This is a truly impressive feat, and a testament to Mihawk’s raw strength and exceptional swordsmanship.
The Power Of A Supreme Grade Sword
Regarded as one of the most powerful Black Blades in One Piece, Yoru is viewed as an ideal fit for the strongest swordsman in the world, and it has been in Mihawk’s possession for quite some time. Eventually, at some point prior to the start of One Piece, he turned it into a permanent Black Blade. For the most part, Mihawk’s arsenal includes an array of slashing attacks which are exceedingly accurate and delivered with explosive force.
While he generally does not call out the names of his attacks while executing them, a select few have been titled in some One Piece video games. Among Mihawk’s most commonly used attacks is an invisible flying slash which has enough power behind it to cleave through almost anything within a certain range. Dubbed “Kokuto Issen” (Black Blade Brandish/ One Flash), this move was first used to split Don Krieg’s galleon in half, and was later directed towards Luffy in the Battle of Marineford, until it missed and cut through a gigantic mountain of ice.
Perhaps the most iconic of Mihawk’s attacks is one that has never been formally named in any One Piece media, although an observing Marine referred to as “The World’s Strongest Slash,” in the sense that it was a powerful attack executed by the world’s foremost swordsman. Seen at the Battle of Marineford, this attack consists of Mihawk swinging Yoru down before him, to deliver a huge flying slash wave which manifests as a mass of green energy traveling at high speed.
During his first demonstration of the technique, Mihawk cut through a thick ice sheet after aiming the slash towards Whitebeard, and the attack’s progress was only halted by the intervention of “Diamond” Jozu of the Whitebeard Pirates. The sheer scale and range of this attack is formidable enough when Mihawk does not give it his all, which makes the notion of him putting all his might into it a terrifying prospect to think of.
Another attack that has only been named in One Piece games, “Chi o Hau Zangeki” (Earth-Crawling Slash Attack), is more of a precision strike, able to weave through hordes of opponents to take down a single target. Triggered by a downward swing, this flying slash move is more subtle in its articulation, moving low against the ground with a spiraling shape, resembling Zoro’s 36 Pound Cannon attack, but on a much larger scale. During the Battle of Marineford, this attack was accurate enough to pierce through an entire battlefield of combatants towards Luffy.
In Marineford, Mihawk unveiled a more close-range attack in the form of “Kokuto Arahashi” (Black Blade Savage Star), which sees him leap into the air, place his legs on the cross-guard of his sword, and plunge down to stab his target. Once again, the attack debuted against Luffy, who just managed to evade it. Similarly, “Kokuto Saku” (Black Blade First Day), is a counterattack which involves Mihawk waiting to discern an opponent’s next move, before delivering a deadly response in the form of a strong downward slash.
Lastly, “Kokuto Kogetsu” (Black Blade Arc Moon), consists of a series of mid-range cutting waves, produced when Mihawk swings Yoru in a haphazard fashion at a rapid pace, which gave Luffy a hard time when used against him in Marineford. During the Summit War, Mihawk was only a reluctant participant in the hostilities, as he was not personally invested in the ongoing battle, and it is likely that his arsenal of swordsmanship techniques with Yoru is far larger and more diverse than what has been shown in the series so far.
A Blade Like No Other In One Piece
Belonging to an elite category that stands over the other named blades in One Piece, Yoru’s design makes it unique even among western-style swords like Gol D. Roger’s Ace, and Shanks’ Gryphon. The vast majority of Meito in the series are Japanese swords or more traditional western-style blades, which makes Yoru an outlier due to its massive size and the manner in which Oda employed mixed aesthetic influences to create it, a truly memorable blade worthy of One Piece’s strongest swordsman.
Yoru’s coherence with Mihawk’s design aesthetic is virtually unheard of among the named blades in One Piece, making its identity intricately tied to Mihawk’s own. Even S-Hawk, the Seraphim clone of Mihawk, wields a sword that resembles Yoru, although his skill in wielding it is likely far below that of the one who provided his genetic template, as attested to by Mihawk’s student Zoro in the Egghead Arc.
His exploits with Yoru in the Baratie Arc and the Marineford Arc firmly cemented him as a force to be reckoned with in the New World, propelling him towards the upper echelons of One Piece’s power scaling tiers in virtually no time. In the end, Mihawk is a sword without equal, much like the peerless swordsman who wields it.
One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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