Mihawk vs Shanks
SPOILER WARNING FOR ONE PIECE (but not really, it's just spoiling the general concepts for a few characters that are introduced pretty early, and talks about stuff they do in a vague way. Actual spoilers will be marked with spoilertext, but that might not work on mobile)
I'm a fan of One Piece. I'm, separately, a fan of One Piece powerscaling, because powerscaling in general is really funny to me and One Piece in particular has a large community built around it. One Piece powerscalers are dumb as fuck and don't know how to read and it's fun seeing how people justify arguments based around the strength of characters that have barely appeared in a story.
One of the major debates in One Piece is Mihawk vs Shanks, two characters stated to be rivals around equal strength. This page catalogues every way I've seen people argue about these characters.
Basic Information
Shanks
"Red-Haired" Shanks is the captain of the Red Hair Pirates and an Emperor of the Sea (or Yonko, depending on translation (or YonkÅ (or Yonkou))), which means he's an incredibly powerful guy who's allied with a lot of people.
He serves as a mentor figure for the main character, Luffy, teaching him both the joys and danger of piracy in Luffy's childhood, and asking him to meet again once Luffy has "become a great pirate."
Mihawk
Dracule "Hawkeye" (or "Hawk-eyes" depending on translation) Mihawk is the World's Strongest Swordsman. He's introduced as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a group of pirates in a deal with the government to ignore the Warlords' own piracy in exchange for helping the government in various ways.
The dream of Zoro, one of the main characters, is to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, which functionally means his goal is to beat Mihawk in a fight.
Both
Both Mihawk and Shanks are incredibly powerful, some of the strongest characters outside of weird mythical magic figures, but neither have shown very much effort while fighting, and neither have had a major role in any of the story's arcs. This makes it difficult to tell exactly how strong either one is.
They're said to have clashed many times in the past, implying around equal strength, but ever since Shanks lost an arm, Mihawk has refused to challenge him for years, so it's unknown if this equality still holds up in the present.
Feat Scaling
Who beats who
Shanks has easily defeated or driven off multiple opponents who are pretty strong (what did kid expect lolllll killer got offscreened by an onscreen attack lmaooooooo greenbull was quivering from wifi haki lmfaoooooooooooo.) Mihawk hasn't, and has been blocked or stalled by characters who should theoretically be weaker than him (my boy Wista the true USS (UNIVERSE'S STRONGEST SWORDSMAN) JOZU FTW "are you going to... ...cut through a diamond next?" APPARENTLY NOT LOL.) Therefore, Shanks is stronger than Mihawk.
"You're not weak, they're just that strong."
Shanks' biggest feats of strength have all been against opponents who aren't being careful or are in vulnerable positions. Meanwhile, Mihawk's feats are against opponents who haven't had much time to shine in-story, so you could interpret them as having practically any level of strength - which means Mihawk not defeating them easily is not a sign of weakness. Additionally, Shanks has taken his fights more seriously, while Mihawk has not been shown to put real effort into fighting yet.
Title Scaling
World's Strongest Swordsman
Mihawk is the World's Strongest Swordsman. Shanks is a swordsman. Therefore, Mihawk is stronger than Shanks.
World's Strongest Man
There are multiple characters who are known as the "World's Strongest X" at the same time that Mihawk is the WSS - most notably, two who are the World's Strongest Man and the World's Strongest Creature (belonging to someone who is a man.) The existence of all these titles at once seems to imply that they can't be used to determine definitive strength, or even that the titles are completely meaningless.
Notably, Mihawk is given special privilege over these others: the narrator states that the others are known as the WSX, while Mihawk is the WSS, possibly implying a level of truth to his title that isn't shared by theirs. This might be a difference in translation though idc enough to check.
World's Skillest Swordsman
Several lines put emphasis on Mihawk's skill using a sword rather than explicitly his strength. This could imply that the WSS title just refers to how good Mihawk is at using a sword, but since an actual fight requires more than swordsmanship (special powers, literal physical strength, etc.) it can't be used to justify that Mihawk would win.
However, being skilled with a sword seems directly related to special powers and literal physical strength (Haki is directly stated to be a sword skill in Wano, Zoro's two years with Mihawk seem to teach him Haki more than anything else, and Zoro is constantly shown weight training), and being skilled with a sword but not in the ways that would actually matter in a fight sounds stupid.
Additionally, the title of WSS is passed down by beating the current WSS. If it's really a measure of skill, that wouldn't be a very good metric. Unless "beating" means specifically using no powers or physical strength and it's a perfectly fair fight and there's a judge or something there but that would also be stupid.
"You're not a swordsman."
In One Piece, there's a divide between "Swordsman" and just "person who uses a sword." It's unclear what exactly qualifies you to be a Swordsman, but the general idea is that there's some level of technique you have to use, and doing too much without your sword can disqualify you. Zoro, the character we know who knows the most about "being a swordsman" has fought multiple opponents who use swords but also wacky powers, said that they weren't swordsmen, and the opponents accept that label.
Shanks is never directly stated to be a Swordsman, opening the possibility that he might be stronger than Mihawk while bypassing arguments over the WSS title entirely. One can argue that Shanks might not qualify since he might use special powers or other fighting techniques (this is taken to its extreme when people call him a "Hakiman"), and Shanks' most major attack visually resembles a special power more than it does a sword attack (Shanks and Roger's Divine Departure has an explosion effect, similar to other massive emissions of Haki for a destructive purpose (think Garp and Koby's Galaxy/Honesty Impact.) Meanwhile, characters like Zoro, Oden, and Mihawk use obvious sword attacks along with their Haki and it causes cuts and slash marks on their opponents.)
However, although Shanks hasn't been shown in combat much, he always directly uses his sword while fighting. He's also usually depicted with his sword by his side, at a higher rate than even Mihawk. Not only that, there are characters who definitely do mostly use weird powers but are still considered Swordsmen, so like,
Another interpretation is that "Swordsman" doesn't just refer to fighting technique, but also a general way of life that includes discipline and training, in which case Shanks probably wouldn't qualify either. This is entirely speculation, but it doesn't technically contradict anything in canon.
Emperors of the Sea
Shanks is an Emperor, while Mihawk is a Warlord. The Emperors so far have all been some of the strongest (if not the strongest) characters in the story, while the Warlords have been strong, but not that strong. While the titles are meant to reflect in-universe political power and influence, they're also frequently used as shorthand for talking about how strong a character is, depending on which group a character is part of. Notably, one Emperor calls the Warlords as a whole weak.
This argument is worth less now because Buggy is now an Emperor (showing the flimsiness of the title), and Mihawk is the dominant fighting force on an Emperor's crew.
Damage Scaling
Shanks has two notable permanent injuries: a missing arm and three scars across his eye. Additionally, we know that these injuries come from a monster that Luffy beat in one punch at the start of his journey and a pre-fruit Blackbeard (two theoretically weak opponents.) This implies that Shanks is weak enough to take permanent damage from weak people. However, both of these injuries happened years before the present day, so he may have become stronger in the meantime, and there may have been reasons other than weakness for him to get hurt (A common argument is that Shanks willingly gave up his arm to prove a point to Luffy, but like, that's not true. With Blackbeard, however, it could have been that he trusted a member of the Whitebeard pirates not to hurt him.)
Mihawk has no notable injuries that we know of.
Narrative Scaling
Hype Scaling
When Shanks shows up, it's a BIG DEAL. When Mihawk shows up, it's also a big deal, but not, like, as big. Shanks very clearly has more hype built up around him both in- and out-of-universe.
Luffy's Promise
Luffy promises to meet Shanks once he's become a great pirate, implying that he'll meet Shanks once he's a pirate on the level of Shanks, implying that he'll beat Shanks in a fight[citation needed]. Luffy is almost definitely stronger than Zoro, so the fact that Luffy wants to beat Shanks[not really] and Zoro wants to beat Mihawk means that Shanks has to be stronger as well[huh???].
Huh???
The above argument is bad because there's really nothing requiring Shanks to be very strong for any of these narrative threads to end nicely.
Zoro's Dream
Zoro's main goal in the story is to become the WSS, probably by beating Mihawk, and it's pretty likely that this will happen, since Zoro has a personal connection with specifically Mihawk and not just the WSS title. It would feel really weird if Zoro were to spend the entire story trying to beat Mihawk and then he does and someone goes "Oh actually Shanks was the REAL World's Strongest Swordsman, lol."
Along those same lines, it would feel equally strange for Zoro to spend the entire story trying to beat Mihawk but then it's shown Shanks is stronger but someone goes "Oh actually it doesn't matter if Shanks is stronger cause he's not a Swordsman he's just a guy who uses a sword always, lol." Zoro's main narrative arc has one simple goal, and that goal seems to require Mihawk being the pinnacle of strength using a sword.
Alternatively, the story might just not expand on the existence of Shanks once Zoro beats Mihawk. According to some people, this would not be unsatisfying[huh???].
Shanks After Not Surviving
It's a common theory that Shanks will be killed in the future, and other than serving whatever narrative purpose this will serve, it would also conveniently sidestep the Zoro issue. Don't have to worry about him being stronger if he's dead!
Sweat Scaling
In one scene, Mihawk visibly sweats in what is either fear or annoyance. Shanks has never displayed such an obvious sign of weakness.
Willingness Scaling
Mihawk and Shanks are both fairly passive characters, but Mihawk is definitely the more passive of the two. He wants a peaceful life and most of what he does in-story is to keep this goal. He doesn't want to enter any major fights unless they might be against someone who can challenge his title - but despite this, he refuses to fight Shanks on the basis that Shanks lost an arm. You could easily characterize this as Mihawk being fearful of his defeat, or him not having a "true fighting spirit" or something, which leads to him being weaker.
On the other hand, while Shanks does actually go out and do stuff sometimes, he does wait until a bunch of powerful people are out of the picture to do anything big. It's stated that he has reasons for doing so, but those reasons are (as of now) a mystery, so you could apply the same fearful characterization to him.
Willingness where it counts
Mihawk refuses to fight Shanks, even when it would benefit the people he's working for. While it's implied that this is out of friendship and a lack of interest in what he deems to be a has-been, it could also be because Mihawk knows he's weaker. In addition, as brought up during Sweat Scaling, Mihawk is visibly scared (or annoyed) at the idea of organizing a large-scale war against a number of groups, one of which is Shanks' crew, which could imply some level of fear for a one-on-one fight.
Shanks has never displayed any strong desire to fight or not fight Mihawk.
Bounty Scaling
In One Piece, criminals are assigned bounties that reflect how dangerous they are to the government. While this technically doesn't measure fighting potential (characters can be assigned high bounties for their knowledge or actions alone), it's often used as a shorthand for strength both in- and out-of-universe. Shanks' bounty is higher than Mihawk's, therefore, Shanks is stronger.
Luxury commodity
Shanks' bounty is higher than Mihawk's, but not by very much. Shanks is also an Emperor, the leader of a major group in opposition to the government, while Mihawk has never had anywhere near that level of criminal notoriety. You could interpret this as the government giving Mihawk a similar-sized bounty despite his lesser danger and influence because he's stronger. (Although, again, Mihawk is now the dominant fighting force on an emperor's crew, and he's got a higher bounty than Buggy, so it's very possible the World Government believes Mihawk to be more important to Cross Guild in a non-fighting way than Buggy is, which would negate this point.)
Sound Effect Scaling
Mihawk is the one of the only characters to have a specific sound effect/font associated with him and only him in the manga, often used when he's introduced into a scene, while Shanks uses standard emphasis sound effects. This implies Mihawk is so powerful even the non-diegetic elements of the story must shift to reflect it.
i saw scans of the original manga so i know this is true but i can't find any info on what the sound effect represents or what it. sounds like. so maybe it actually makes him stupid
Pacifism
They're equals! Love is love <3
Bonus Content Scaling
There's a lot of bonus material that has lore and information on characters not directly stated in the main story. I've never read any of it but I've seen people use extrastory stuff to argue both sides.
Shanks is stated to be a Swordsman in one I think
Height Scaling
Often, pairs of rivals will be given canon heights that are a single cm apart, with the stronger of the two being the slightly taller one. This includes King and Queen (characters organized directly by strength in-story), Zoro and Sanji (characters where one is consistently portrayed as fighting the stronger opponents), and Shanks and Mihawk. Since Shanks is taller, he must be the stronger of the pair.
Pokemon Scaling
ok so like. mihawk beats shanks, cause in a one-on-one battle it'd be a traditional sword duel most likely and mihawk's swordsmanship would be the difference maker BUT shanks is stronger overall and he'd be able to beat more people on average, like, he's stronger, but only a little, and mihawk would beat him if they fought, cause mihawk is almost as strong and also better than shanks in the situation that they'd be in when they fight, but,
Hat Scaling
Mihawk has a sick fucking hat. Shanks on the other hand has some stupid ratty ass hat that he pawns off at the earliest opportunity. One could argue that Shanks doesn't need a cool hat, as his raw power is enough to exude hat energy by itself.
Coolness Scaling
Ultimately, all powerscaling really comes down to is how cool you think a character is. Evidence is accepted or ignored based solely off of this criteria.
Notably, Mihawk is cooler.