Eiichiro Oda has introduced some extremely underrated characters in One Piece, and Marco is one of them. Fans often forget just how powerful the former 1st Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates actually is. The focus on the Straw Hats often diverts fans from understanding how powerful other characters can be.
During the Wano arc, Marco had a bout with King and Queen, two of the highest-ranking members of Kaido’s Beast Pirates. He had quite a few feats during the arc, including his fight with the All-Stars. But his clash with King has caused fans to question if he is really that powerful or if it was a mistake by Oda.
Marco is one of the most powerful combatants of One Piece
One Piece fans often forget Marco’s relevance to the plot. Just because Zoro could not hurt King initially does not mean Marco should have been nerfed. He used to be Whitebeard’s right-hand man and even led the crew against the Blackbeard Pirates in the Payback War.
Firstly, Marco’s bounty is 1.374 billion berries, far more than Zoro’s bounty of 1.11 billion berries post-Wano arc. Post-Marinford battle, the Five Elders mentioned Marco as one of the few people who could defeat Blackbeard. Other Emperors also respect Marco’s capabilities. In fact, Shanks even tried to make Marco join his crew around three times. Even Big Mom, an enemy, acknowledged his strength when she stated that his allegiance was unbecoming of his caliber.
During the Marineford battle, Marco held his own against three Marine admirals and even had a direct clash with Big Mom during the Raid on Onigashima. Big Mom even stated that she did not want to or even have enough souls to spend on the man. While both King and Queen had counties of over 1.3 billion, it should not come as a surprise that Marco was able to fight them while sustaining minor injuries.
The only reason Marco could not defeat King before Zoro was because of his exhaustion
After fighting with King and Queen, Marco succumbed to exhaustion, which might give fans the impression that Zoro is stronger than him. But the reality is far from it. Even before Marco faced King, he had already been under constant stress due to endless fights. Prior to the encounter with King, Marco clashed with Big Mom, which in itself should be a huge drain on stamina.
He then promptly reached the Live Floor and spread his flames to all the infected people in the hall to slow the freezing effects of the virus. Helping so many people with carefully controlled flames should also be draining. Immediately afterwards, he began carrying Zoro to the roof when he was attacked by King and Queen. He continued to engage with them and even sent King flying with his Bluebird attack. He also followed up with an unnamed knee strike while King was in his invincible form. But all of these battles began taking their toll on him.
Thus, when Sanji and Zoro took over the responsibility, Marco finally let his body rest. But by this time, it should be clear that Marco is definitely superior to Zoro and even Sanji. While he held back the two All-Stars all by himself, though briefly, Sanji and Zoro had to divide up the responsibilities. Marco’s bludgeoning of King wasn’t a mistake by Oda but an admission of the character’s strength.
One Piece manga is available to read on Viz Media, and the anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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