Edward Newgate

Edward Newgate (エドワード・二ューゲート, Edowādo Nyūgēto), better known as Whitebeard (白ひげ, Shirohige), the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, was known as the "Man closest to One Piece" (ワンピースに最も近い男, Wan Pīsu ni mottomo chikai otoko) or "The Strongest Man in the World" (世界最強の男, Sekai Saikyo no Otoko) and was one of the Four Emperors that ruled over the New World.

Appearance

 * Voice Actor: Not Known (English), Kinryū Arimoto (Japanese)

In his younger days, he was not as large in stature and was comparable to other crewmates on his ship. He also had no scars on his chest, donned an open vest, and his trademark mustache was nonexistent. Later in his life, he grew the prominent crescent-shaped mustache, which would spawn his epithet, "Whitebeard". When he was 52, he used a pirate hat with his Jolly Roger on it over a bandanna with brighter colors, both worn over long, platinum blonde flowing hair he sported back then.

Whitebeard was an abnormally large human, roughly five times the size of a normal human. Unlike other large-sized humans, however, he was well-proportioned. He had a long face, ploughed because of the advanced age with many wrinkles around his eyes, and was very muscular. The muscles on his biceps in particular seemed to grow bigger whenever he used his quake-based powers. He had many scars running on his chest; one, in particular, he got from Roger. Like all of his men, he had his own Jolly Roger tattooed on his back. His birthday was April 6.

He wore a black bandanna around his head and adorned himself with a white captain's coat which hung loosely from his broad shoulders and bore his Jolly Roger symbol. He was always seen bare-chested, and wore light, loose pants tucked inside his large boots, and a dark pirate sash around his waist. While not in battle, Whitebeard was typically on oxygen and attached to several medical sensor machines, due to health issues concerning his age.

However, for the entire 72 years that he lived, he had never once received a wound on his back because he never ran away from his battles.

Friends/Allies

 * Whitebeard Pirates
 * Portgas D. Ace
 * Jimbei
 * Monkey D. Luffy

Neutral

 * Crocodile

Enemies

 * Marines
 * Sakazuki

Abilities and Powers
Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate 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 King of the Pirates, 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 Four Emperors, four of the most formidable pirates that rule the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaido, and Big Mom. 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 him far more effective than the treaty signed with the World Government 200 years ago.

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 Seven Warlords of the Sea and World Government used virtually all their power to prepare to fight him.

Whitebeard's powers were so great that few would dare challenge him or any of his crew, making Ace, Crocodile, Akainu and Blackbeard a few very brave and powerful people. In the past, Ace tried to attack Whitebeard over a hundred times, with each attempt resulting in failure and with Ace ending up injured every time. Whitebeard's retaliation was so effortless, that he was able to do so even when he was sleeping.

Another example of his power is his "fight" with Shanks as when their weapons clashed "the heavens" split in two. Based just on his physical strength alone, blocked a two-handed downward swing from the giant Vice-Admiral John Giant with only one hand on his bisento. He extinguished the flames of one of Akainu's molten rocks with just a puff. Whitebeard also prevented a massive paddle ship (captained by Squardo) from further advancing using only one extended arm. All these feats surely confirmed his title.

During the Marineford war, he completely overpowered vast numbers of Marine officers and giants. He has also been shown to be able to move at 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 during the days of Gol D. Roger.

His physical resistance was amazing: he was also able to keep fighting despite the number of life threatening injuries which included part of his head being 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 once the near-entirety of the Blackbeard crew collectively attacking 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 Warlord-level opponent without a problem as demonstrated in his fight with Blackbeard.

Besides his formidable power, Whitebeard was an incredibly skilled military strategist, and a match for Sengoku the Buddha. His tactical prowess was demonstrated when he scattered the pirates so that they wouldn't be routed by Pacifista, or when he bypassed the siege wall.

Devil Fruit
Whitebeard ate the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit that made him a "Quake Man". According to Sengoku, Whitebeard had the power to destroy the world. This is considered to be the strongest Devil Fruit within the Paramecia class.

With the power of this fruit, Whitebeard was able to create 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 manipulate the air with his hands to tilt the environment around him.

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 stolen through some unknown means by Blackbeard.

Whitebeard's Bisento
Whitebeard fights with a very heavy polearm called a bisento, and was immensely skilled with it. The weapon's size is massive fitting that of its owner. It had a stripped pole whose stripes being red and yellow as depicted in the manga. In the anime, the stripes were all plain brown initially but later changed to red and black. The pole ended in a spherical edge which was initially purple in the anime but later colored white. The blade of the bisento is 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.

The bisento could be used in conjunction with his Devil Fruit and Armament Haki. He 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.

With Whitebeard's immense skills and powers, the bisento was strong enough to clash with Shanks' saber, which caused the "heavens" to split. Also, the bisento is extremely durable, as it stopped Akainu's magma attack without melting or any visible damage. It sustained a two-handed downward swing from giant Vice Admiral John Giant with no visible damage.

After its owner's death, the bisento 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 is one of the few people to have mastered all three kinds of Haki.

Observation Haki
With his Observation Haki, Whitebeard was able to foresee all of Portgas D. Ace's attempts to kill him, even while asleep, retaliating to each assault and launching the young pirate away great distances. In the bay of Marineford, he managed to predict Crocodile's sudden attack but did not move, knowing that Monkey D. Luffy would block it. However, he failed to predict one of his allies's betrayal and thus got severely injured, something which, according to Marco, was totally unexpected from the Four Emperors.

Armament Haki
His control over Armament Haki was such that he could, in most cases, negate the intangibility of Logia-based Devil Fruits. In the past, he was able to defeat Crocodile - even though it's unknown if the former Warlord had already eaten his Devil Fruit - and to beat Ace more than one hundred times. The split in the heavens provoked by his clash with Shanks during the meeting of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates was the result of the amazing Armament Haki imbued in their weapons. At the former Marine Headquarters, Whitebeard successfully landed blows on Admiral Akainu.

King Conqueror's Haki
He possessed King Conqueror's Haki even though he was never seen using it. During the Battle of Marineford, he was on the verge of using it against some World Government's executioners (and Mr. 3 who was disguised) to protect his 2nd Division Commander, but failed because of a sudden illness attack.

Young Days
Little is known about Whitebeard's past before he created the Whitebeard Pirates; however, some facts are known, including the fact that he was just another crewmember in another crew going by his real name "Newgate" and that he was not interested in treasure, but wanted a family.