SUMMARY

Dracule Mihawk, One Piece’s finest swordsman, is one of the series’ most intriguing and mysterious characters.

However, Oda just revealed a key revelation about Dracule Mihawk that not only discloses some aspects of his background but also draws a strong parallel to Zoro.
It also explains why Mihawk was formerly referred to as the Marine Hunter.

Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the One Piece world is one of the most intriguing and mysterious characters in the series. Even after almost 30 years, there is not much information available about the character and he has never tried to talk about his past or his role in the future of the story.
Dracule Mihawk
Eiichiro Oda, the mastermind of One Piece, has introduced many such characters that have a mysterious feel to them. For example: Dragon, Imu, Shanks, etc. But Dracule Mihawk is a particular one because despite having some screen time, he is still as much a hidden character as he was at the beginning of the series.

However, Oda has recently made a major revelation about Dracule Mihawk that not only reveals some parts of his past but also draws a big comparison with Zoro who was his former student and possibly his future rival for the title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman. Not only that, it also reveals why Mihawk was called the Marine Hunter.

Eiichiro Oda Makes Major Revelation About Dracule Mihawk’s Past

In One Piece SBS Volume 108, Eiichiro Oda was asked a question by a fan about how in chapter 1058, Crocodile mentioned that Mihawk was called the ‘Marine Hunter’ in the past, and is it related to him being a Shichibukai. The answer was shared by @newworldartur on X(Formerly Twitter).

Oda stated:

“Mihawk is a person who holds a grudge against the Marines in the past (like Zoro) and has experienced a great betrayal. In the sense of solitude, he’s just like Crocodile, who doesn’t trust people and there is a part of him getting tired of life. Being a member of the Shichibukai means he won’t be chased by the Marines, that way, he will have peace, so that’s why he became a member, I think. But now, that position has vanished, so the idea now is to hide behind Buggy’s shadow.”

Dracule Mihawk and Crocodile
According to Oda, Mihawk had a past connected to the Marines and he experienced some kind of betrayal from them. Which is why he used to hunt them. However, just like Crocodile, he became tired of life and wanted to live in solitude which is why he became a member of the Shichibukai system and avoided the chase from the Marines.

Eiichiro Oda Draws Comparison Between Dracule Mihawk and Roronoa Zoro

In the answer, while talking about Dracule Mihawk being called the Marine Hunter, he mentioned Zoro making a comparison between them, as Zoro was called the Pirate Hunter in the past. Accordingly, as Zoro was called the Pirate Hunter because he used to hunt Pirates for bounties, Mihawk used to hunt Marines for a challenge.

Zoro vs Mihawk
Mihawk’s aim since the beginning was to become strong and find a worthy rival that could prove a challenge against him. This would probably have started after Shanks lost his arm as Shanks was his initial rival. However, when Mihawk couldn’t find a decent Swordsman in the Marines who could prove his worth, he dropped the idea.

This also proved that Zoro and Mihawk are destined to fight in the future as one used to hunt Marines while another used to hunt Pirates. Both are one of the strongest forces in the story and could draw a big comparison between the powers of Dracule Mihawk and Roronoa Zoro in One Piece.