Edward Newgate

Edward Newgate, best commonly known as Whitebeard, is a major character in the One Piece franchise. 
He is the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and is known as "The Strongest Man in the World" after Gol D. Roger's death. He was a member of the Four Emperors that ruled over the New World until his death during the Battle of Marineford.
44 years ago, Whitebeard was part of the Rocks Pirates along with Kaido and Big Mom. It is also revealed Whitebeard was the second rival of Roger after his captain Rocks D. Xebec.
He is voiced by by the late Kinryū Arimoto and currently by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo in the Japanese version of the anime, and by R. Bruce Elliott in the English version of the anime. 
==Appearance==
Whitebeard is a 72-year-old gigantic man, 21'10" with a muscular body build. He has scars on his chest from the fights with Gol D. Roger and he doesn't have any scars on his back that prove that he never runs from battles. His back has the symbol of his pirate crew.
He wears yellow pants with black boots, a black bandana, a coat that he wears like a cape which dons the symbol of his pirate crew, and a grim white beard which has become his nickname. When he was young, Edward had a fairly average height.
==Personality==
Edward Newgate seemed to be a cheerful and carefree man during his younger years (before he commanded his own ship and became known as Whitebeard). Unlike his comrades who loved treasure and riches, Newgate only desired a family and saw that as the greatest treasure.
His reign on the sea, reputation and foreboding power made him seemingly overconfident and fearless (to the point of making it seem that he considered admirals, Shichibukai and other Yonko to be annoyances more than legitimate threats). In initial appearances, he seemed unable to see any cause for alarm on any decision he made and refused all advice given to him (from his nurse telling him not to drink heavily or Shanks warning him of Blackbeard). 
However, later revelations showed that he was much more thoughtful than he appeared to be. Actions that initially seem to be the result of thoughtless, headstrong bravado actually had strong reasons behind them (his loud declaration that Fishman Island belonged to him freed the island from all pirates and slavery, and his insistence that Blackbeard be punished was merely a cover for Ace, who had set out after him against Whitebeard's wishes). Although from what other people saw of him, he may have seemed to have an overgrown ego, deep down he knew that he was nothing but a single man, and was fully aware of his own mortality. He knew that the youth are the keys to the future, and that their lives are far more important than his own.
He also seemed to enjoy talking about the past. The first things he talked about when Shanks visited were old memories from the past twenty-two years, and when he saw Buggy during the war, he recalled some memories from the past. People that were children at that time were still children in his eyes, even men as powerful as his fellow Yonko Shanks and Admiral Aokiji.
One way to appease him mainly involved bringing and sharing with him a drink (preferably of high quality and very expensive) while striking up a conversation, as seen with his encounters with Shanks, Roger and Shiki. Still, this did not guarantee complete cooperation from the Pirate, judging from the nature of these said conversations.
Among his philosophies in life was that it is fine when a man decides what to make of his life, as long as he does not live to regret it. He had also been shown to be forgiving even after being stabbed in the abdomen by his ally Squard when he realized that Akainu had deceived Squard.
A distinguishing feature of Whitebeard's nature was his high moral standards. Whitebeard never forgave the death of a crewmate. His stance, that a man cannot live without some form of moral code. The ultimate proof of his unwavering sense of right and wrong came when he declared war with the World Government solely to save Ace's life. Another example is taking on Blackbeard and his crew despite being close to death to avenge Thatch. However, he was willing to go against his moral code under certain circumstances, such as when he instructed Ace to let Blackbeard go because he had an uneasy feeling about him.
Like Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard also believed that a child should not be responsible for their parents' sins, and he told Squard that Ace should not be held responsible for Roger killing his (Squard's) original crew.
==History==
===Past===
“	
You're a pirate and you're not interested in treasure? What exactly are you looking for... eh, Newgate!?	
”
Edward Newgate was born in the New World in the country of Sphinx . He grew up as an orphan and lived his childhood in poverty, at a young age he became a pirate in order to support his village with the resources he had gained. Long before he created the "Whitebeard Pirates" he was just another crewmember in another crew going by his real name "Newgate" and had stated that he was not interested in treasure, but wanted a family.
At some point Whitebeard left that crew and became a member of the Rocks pirates under the Captain Rocks D. Xebec along with Kaido,Big Mom,Buckingham Stussy, and Shiki as his crewmates. The earliest known period where Whitebeard clashed with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp was at God valley where Rocks would ultimately meet his end and the crew would disband. Years later Whitebeard eventually formed his own crew the Whitebeard Pirates and began a rivalry between Roger's crew. 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 Buggy, during this period of time Whitebeard and Roger befriended a samurai named Kozuki Oden. Somewhere along the Grand Line, Roger pulled away from Whitebeard and made it to Raftel. At some point, the two grew to respect each other, and Whitebeard was one of those Roger met shortly before his death to say goodbye. During the meeting, Roger explained The Will of D.
After the execution of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, one of his closest pirate rivals is seen on the Moby Dick. Shiki attempts to create an alliance between him and Whitebeard, knowing that their combined power would be incredible, Whitebeard's response is to threaten to have Shiki thrown overboard. Shiki proceeds to comment on Whitebeard not changing and calling it "Whitebeard's time". Lastly, he informs Whitebeard about his plan, Whitebeard comments "Plotting something again are you...?" 
Whitbeard would go on to expand his crew eventually recruiting notable figures like Marshall D. Teach (who would eventually become Blackbeard years later) and Roger's son Portgas D. Ace
===Sky Island Saga===
===Water 7 Saga===
===Summit War Saga===
Whitebeard had tried to convince Ace not to pursue Blackbeard, after it was reported that Blackbeard had killed fellow Whitebeard Pirate commander Thatch for his Devil Fruit powers, but Ace did not listen, leading to Blackbeard capturing him and turning him over to the World Government in return for being made a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Shichibukai. Learning of Ace now in the World Government and Marines' custody and is pending public execution in Marineford, Whitebeard leads his crew and allies to rescue him, despite knowing they would be going up against members of not just the Marine Admiralty, but also members of the Shichibukai as well, having formed a temporary alliance with the World Government upon realizing Whitebeard was coming for Ace due to the Whitebeard Pirates' fierce loyalty to each other and their captain in Whitebeard. When they arrive at Marineford, Newgate gets things started using his Devil Fruit powers to launch the first strike, which is easily subdued by Admiral Aokiji's ice-based Devil Fruit powers. Soon enough, the battle begins in earnest, but things tip in Whitebeard's favor when Monkey D. Luffy arrives with other escapees from Impel Down, such as Crocodile, Ivankov, and Jinbe to aid in rescuing Ace, forcing the entire Marine Admiralty, including Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Luffy's grandfather, Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, to join the fight personally. However, when it was publicly revealed that Ace was the legitimate blood son of Gol D. Roger, one of Whitebeard's commanders, Squard, was duped by Sengoku to turn on Whitebeard and attack him, but even then, Whitebeard showed no anger towards Squard and then provided an escape route for Squard and the other pirates to escape, renewing their faith and loyalty in Newgate.
Whitebeard ends up taking a hit from Admiral Akainu and his magma-based Devil Fruit powers, but remains standing, despite his body reaching its limits and age catching up to him from all the injuries he's sustained over the years, even after Akainu also took out the Moby Dick and several other ships on the pirates' side. Soon, Luffy is able to free Ace with help from Mr. 3, one of Crocodile's former Baroque Works members, and Whitebeard orders his men to withdraw with Luffy and Ace while he stays behind to sacrifice himself due to his deteriorating condition. Unfortunately, the plan falls apart when Akainu insults Whitebeard right to Ace and Luffy's faces, calling him a loser and his crew cowards, infuriating Ace into retaliating, and leading to where Ace takes a fatal strike from Akainu meant for Luffy, destroying his vital organs, leaving him to pass away in Luffy's arms. Horrified and heartbroken over losing Ace, Whitebeard becomes so enraged, he destroys Marine Headquarters and personally tries to beat Akainu to death to avenge Ace. However, Blackbeard and his crew soon arrive, and with his body finally having reached its limit after being blasted point-blank by Teach and his crew, Whitebeard, with his dying breaths, announces to all gathered there at Marineford and watching or listening around the world via the Den Den Mushi snails used as cameras and communicators that the One Piece, Gol D. Roger's hidden treasure, is real, ruining Sengoku's plans, before Whitebeard passes away still standing, his coat falling away to reveal that his back has no injuries or scars on it that would've resulted from injuries Whitebeard would've taken while retreating, showing he stood his ground right to the bitter end. Blackbeard then performs a ritual that allows him to gain possession of Whitebeard's Devil Fruit powers, allowing him to wield them alongside his own Devil Fruit powers, which was considered impossible because of the dangers of trying to use multiple Devil Fruit abilities on one person. Thankfully, with the arrival of Shanks and his Red-Hair Pirates, Sengoku and Blackbeard agree to stand down and end the war, and both Whitebeard and Ace's bodies are taken away to be given a proper burial by his heartbroken crew and Shanks, leaving Sengoku to have his Marines regroup, collect their dead, and treat their wounded, while Blackbeard escapes with his crew, including a few escapees from Impel Down, and having gotten what he came for in acquiring Newgate's Devil Fruit powers.
===Postmortem===
After his death during the Summit War at Marineford, Whitebeard and Ace were laid to rest together close to his home island, with Ace's hat, dagger, and other effects placed atop his grave, while Whitebeard's bisento and coat were placed on his, with his Jolly Roger flying proudly from where it was tied to his weapon, and a wreath of flowers adorning the bisento as well. Many of Whitebeard's crew and those of Shanks' left flowers, weapons, and other memorials to their fallen captain and crewmate at the tomb, and with Whitebeard's death, all the islands and other locations that had been under his protection as an Emperor were now vulnerable to conquest by the other Emperors, the World Government, or the Shichibukai.
==Abilities and Powers==
Whitebeard was given the title of the "strongest man in the world" for his unmatched physical strength, and was the only man in the world who could match the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, in a fight (the only one to come close was Marine Vice Admiral  Monkey D. Garp , said to have cornered Gol D. Roger numerous times).
He was one of the Yonko, four of the most formidable pirates that rule the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin. They are considered the biggest pirate threats to the World Government. Newgate's reputation was so great, his simple declaration of Fishman Island being his territory was enough to keep slave traders and pirates from attacking the place further, making Edward Newgate himself far more effective than the treaty signed with the World Government 200 years before his death.
Edward Newgate was the captain of the "Whitebeard Pirates", directly controlling an enormous pirate fleet of 1,600 pirates, divided into 16 divisions, each one being led by an incredibly powerful division commander. A testament to his power is the fact that the Shichibukai and World Government used virtually all their power to prepare to fight him.
Whitebeard's powers were so vast that few would dare challenge him or any of his crew, making Ace, Crocodile, Aokiji, Akainu, Blackbeard, Kaido and Luffy a few very brave and powerful people. In the past, Ace tried to attack Whitebeard over a hundred times, with each attempt resulting in subsequent failure and injury. Whitebeard's retaliation was so effortless that he was able to do so even when he was sleeping. After Akainu killed Ace, Whitebeard brutally injured the Admiral in retaliation, with the Admiral being practically helpless in response to Whitebeard's power, temporarily defeating him in a relatively short battle with a mere two hits. While Akainu was able to burn off a portion of Whitebeard's face, this was only due to the latter's control of magma with his Devil Fruit powers.
Another example of his power is his "fight" with Shanks as when their weapons clashed the heavens split in two. Based just on his brute strength alone, Newgate blocked a two-handed downward swing from the giant Vice Admiral John Giant with only one hand on his bisento, and extinguished the flames of one of Akainu's molten rocks with just a single breath. Whitebeard also prevented a massive paddle ship (captained by Squard) from further advancing using only one hand. He was able to jump to extreme heights to land shots on otherwise untouchable enemies, such as John Giant. All these feats surely confirmed his title.
Besides his formidable power, Whitebeard was an incredibly skilled military strategist, and a match for Sengoku the Buddha, Fleet Admiral for the Marines. His tactical prowess was demonstrated when he scattered the pirates so that they would not be routed by Pacifista, or when he bypassed the siege wall.
===Physical Abilities===
During the Marineford war, he completely overpowered vast numbers of Marine officers and giants, such as Vice Admiral Ronse with only his single hand and his Devil Fruit powers. (It should be noted that he held back until Ace's death at Akainu's hands) He has also been shown to be able to move at a considerable speed, having snuck up on Akainu, with the latter only realizing it once his soldiers yelled at him to watch out. The very fact that he launched a surprise-attack on the admiral, one with very acute hearing, also demonstrates that Newgate had impressive stealth attributes, despite his gigantic size.
Whitebeard appeared to have some health problems, possibly stemming from his advanced age and severe drinking. He was always surrounded by nurses, when not in battle he used oxygen tubes, and was hooked up to intravenous tubes and life support systems. Despite this, he used to literally drink sake by the barrel. However, Marco noted that Whitebeard's health had gotten worse, and he no longer possessed the reflexes to avoid Squard's surprise attack, which was, in the past, something easy for him to achieve. Even with his health issues, Newgate was still considered the world's most dangerous and powerful pirate, which raises the question of how powerful he must have been in his prime.
His physical resistance and pain tolerance were amazing: he was able to keep fighting despite the number of life threatening injuries which included part of his head being literally burned off. This also proves that Newgate possessed incredible amounts of stamina and endurance; no matter how much damage he took throughout the battle, Whitebeard continued to press forward and fight, only stopping (and finally dying) once the near entirety of the Blackbeard Pirates collectively shot and stabbed him to death at point-blank range. It was shown that even in his old age, in a heavily wounded state, and without his Devil Fruit powers, he could take down a Shichibukai-level opponent without a problem as demonstrated in his fight against Blackbeard.
===Devil Fruit===
Whitebeard ate the Gura Gura no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit that made him a "Quake Man", and was considered the strongest Devil Fruit within the Paramecia class. According to Sengoku, Whitebeard had the power to destroy the world.
With the power of this Devil Fruit, Whitebeard was able to create powerful shock waves by shattering the air like glass. These shock waves then would be redirected into the ground, resulting in earthquakes and, if under the seafloor, tsunamis. He has been shown to create such quakes even in the air, rendering airborne attacks ineffective. He could also use these shock waves to attack enemies, with either widespread or specific targets. Whitebeard's powers also allowed him to create a 'quake bubble' around his hand or bisento to increase the power of an attack and manipulate the air with his hands to tilt the environment around him. He has also been seen to use his bisento to slash the air, which caused a massive explosion and the collapse of a tower in Marineford.
Whitebeard was also able to create these shock waves to block physical attacks as well as non-physical attacks making his Devil Fruit powers excellent for both offensive and defensive capabilities. After his death, the power of the fruit was later extracted through some unknown method by Blackbeard.
===Weapon===
Whitebeard fought with a very heavy polearm called a bisento (a more massive version of the Japanese naginata), and was immensely skilled with it. The weapon's size is massive, fitting that of its owner, with a striped pole (with the stripes being all plain brown in the anime, but red and yellow in the manga) ending in a spherical edge, and a curved, large blade attached to the pole via a golden part, decorated by what looks like a sea snake, with a thin part of it protruding on the blade itself. 
With Whitebeard's immense skills and powers, the bisento was strong enough to clash with Shanks' saber, which caused the clouds (and even the heavens) to split. Whitebeard usually employed the bisento using both hands, but was also seen capable of using it proficiently with just one hand. Most of the time he kept it in his right hand, and sometimes he was seen planting its blade in the ground, in order to use both of his hands freely for his Devil Fruit. The bisento could be used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit and Busoshoku Haki, to increase the already great damage he can inflict, as well as to neutralize any potential Devil Fruit defense his opponents may offer.
Also, the bisento is extremely durable, as it stopped Akainu's magma attack without melting or any visible damage, though it may be Whitebeard coating it with Busoshoku Haki. It sustained a two-handed downward swing from giant Vice Admiral John Giant as well.
After its owner's death, it became a marking for Newgate's burial site, with his coat, a bouquet of flowers, and the crew's flag hanging from it.
===Haki===
Whitebeard was one of the few people to have mastered all three kinds of Haki.
==== Kenbunshoku Haki ====
Whitebeard was also masterful in using Kenbunshoku Haki. It was first shown 30 years prior after both he and the Whitebeard Pirates shipwrecked in Wano, as he could sense Oden coming from a vast distance towards them. He was even able to sense and counter Ace (when he was still new on the ship and was attempting to kill Newgate) while sleeping. In the bay of Marineford, he predicted Crocodile's sudden attack but did not move, knowing that Luffy would block it. However, due to both his age and worsening health, he failed to predict Squard's betrayal and thus got injured, something which, according to Marco, was totally unexpected from the Emperor. 
==== Busoshoku Haki ====
Whitebeard possessed a tremendous mastery of Busoshoku Haki, which he could imbue his weapon Murakumogiri with. Two decades ago in his prime, he was shown clashing evenly with the samurai Kozuki Oden who was a powerful Busoshoku Haki user in his own right. Whitebeard could also utilize the advanced technique of projecting Haki out from his blade; this was shown during his fight with Roger where the duo's weapons met in a powerful clash without even making contact.
Due to his age and worsening health, it was not as powerful compared to his prime, but he could still negate the intangibility of Logia-based Devil Fruits. In the past, he was able to defeat Crocodile (though it is unknown if the former Warlord of the Sea had eaten his Devil Fruit by that point) and was able to defeat Ace more than one hundred times. During the Summit War, Whitebeard successfully inflicted significant damage on Akainu, whereas Marco, Vista, and Jinbe—highly skilled Busoshoku Haki users themselves—failed to do so.
====Haoshoku Haki====
Whitebeard possessed a high level of Haoshoku Haki. During his initial encounter with Kozuki Oden 30 years ago, their sudden clash created a notable effect similar to lightning and released a large burst. His Haoshoku Haki was displayed to a far greater extent against his longtime rival, Gol D. Roger, as their clashing Haoshoku Haki cracked the air, creating an effect akin to lightning and generating a shock wave that blew back everything and everyone on and near the island. Most notably, he was one of a select few people powerful enough to use the advanced technique to "infuse" his weapon in Haoshoku Haki, which exponentially increased his attack power further. He was shown using Haoshoku infusement during his clash with Roger, with it being signified by a stream of dark energy rising up from Murakumogiri's blade.
During the Summit War, he was on the verge of using Haoshoku Haki against some of the World Government's executioners to protect Portgas D. Ace but failed because of a sudden illness attack.
===Weakness===
*Old Age: Whitebeard suffers effects of his old age and illness, causing him to cough blood and suffer heart attacks.
*Body torn: Whitebeard suffered significant damage when Akainu punched a hole into his chest and in the manga burned off a part of his face, while in the anime punched another hole into his stomach.
*Impaled and shot: Whitebeard suffered heavy damage from multiple gunshots, impalements, and cannon fire. He sustained 267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds and 46 cannonball fire wounds. In total, 465 wounds led to his death.
*Inability to swim: Whitebeard is unable to swim due to his Devil Fruit causing him to drown if he were to be in seawater.
*Seastone: Whitebeard is vulnerable to Seastone that drains his Devil Fruit abilities.
==Trivia==
*Universal Studios of Japan built a replica of Ace's and Whitebeard's tombs. Whitebeard's epitaph says: "Edward Newgate, captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, here lies a great captain and father, liberated from the exhausting role and labor, who captained the Moby Dick in the spectacular Era of Pirates".
*Whitebeard is widely regarded as the "strongest man" in the world. In comparison, Kaido is said to be the "strongest creature" in the world, though the extent of his powers remains unknown.
*He is one of three characters whose name comes from the real life Blackbeard, otherwise known as Edward Teach; the others being Marshall D. Teach and Thatch.
*He shares his name with the Newgate Prison, which was a notorious prison in London, active during the Golden Age of Piracy, and where many infamous pirates (and other criminals) were incarcerated; including William Kidd and members of the "King of the Pirates" Henry Every's crew.
*In the 6th Japanese fan poll, Whitebeard ranked 28th.
*At 72 years old, he was the oldest known Four Emperors member in the series.
*Whitebeard held the highest bounty among the Four Emperors (both past and present), and the second highest recorded bounty among all pirates, surpassed only by Roger.
**In his bounty of 5,046,000,000, the 4-6 can be read as shi-ro. 白 (shiro) means "white", which could refer to his epithet, "Whitebeard" (白ひげ Shirohige?, Viz: Whitebeard).
*A pirate with a similar crescent-shaped mustache, Gally, can be seen in Oda's early Romance Dawn one shots.
*Oda explained in an extra pamphlet (that came with initial copies of Databook Yellow) titled "One Piece Paradise Vol. 2", that Whitebeard was directly modeled after the barkeep of the pub he used to frequent with his previous manager. This barkeeper passed away in 2007.[200][201]
*In a SBS, Oda jokingly stated that Whitebeard once had a dog, Stefan, with a mustache similar to his own.[202]
*Whitebeard shares several characteristics with the legendary warrior monk, Musashibo Benkei. A popular figure in Japanese folklore, Benkei was said to have been five times the size of a normal man, possessed inhuman strength, and wielded a naginata as his weapon of choice. He famously died in a standing position, with his body riddled with arrows and spears.
*Whitebeard's favorite foods are alcoholic beverages and cheap food.[11]
*Whitebeard's birthday of April 6th was requested because 4/6 can be read as "shi ro", meaning "white".
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