Edward Newgate, more commonly known as "Whitebeard" was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and was known as "The Strongest Man in the World" after Gol D. Roger's death. He was a member of the Yonko that ruled over the New World until his death during the Battle of Marineford. Whitebeard was given the title of the "strongest man in the world" for his unmatched physical strength, and was one of the only men in the world who could match the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, in a fight (the only other known to match him 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, Kizaru, 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 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.
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. 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.
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.
He took about 267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds, 46 wounds from cannonballs, and got half of his face blasted off, resulting in 465 injuries in total. In addition, Whitebeard was on the receiving end of Kizaru's laser beams and Akainu's two magma blasts. And even after taking so much damage in his already weakened state, he died standing, an impressive feat when compared to other characters.
