The fact that the One Piece anime is certainly full of strong and powerful characters allows us to compare these characters quite often, which we will also do in this article, as they are one of our most popular articles. As you may have guessed, another One Piece-related comparison will bring you, the readers, a comparison between Izou and Maha, respectively a member of the Alliance and an agent of CP0, who faced each other in Wano Country during the final stages of the battle. This was one of the final battles of the arc, and in this article, we will analyze both, as we will pit Izou against Maha to finally determine who is the strongest of the two.

And even though Maha managed to kill Izou during their fight, we seriously don't think he's stronger. It was an unfair fight, as Izou had to fight Guernica and Maha at the same time, but individually, the former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates was certainly strong enough to defeat them both. He has more skills and abilities than Maha and is a much more skilled fighter, but he lost simply because it was an unfair fight.

What follows is, of course, a detailed analysis of the answer we gave you above. We will describe Izou and Maha in more detail, giving you an in-depth analysis of the problem addressed and the balance of power between the two characters using our usual formula. Through several categories, you will see who is the stronger of the two and why our answer is as it is, that is, why we are quite certain that Izou is stronger than Maha, despite being killed by him in battle.

Physical powers

Izou, who oversaw many of the emperor's subordinates as the commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 16th Division, was one of the fiercest commanders in the Whitebeard Pirates. He had a bounty of 510,000,000 Berries hanging over his head to show how powerful he truly was.

The fact that Jinbe, a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, claimed that all the Whitebeard Pirates' leaders were ferocious pirates was a testament to his notoriety. Even an opponent of emperor-like stature, Kaido, as well as several of Oden's followers, were injured by him. Unfortunately, and this is a major problem for Izou, we never really discovered the true extent of his physical capabilities, as he wasn't seen in much combat.

Maha is one of the World Government's most important and powerful intelligence agents and a member of CP0. Maha is among the strongest in his organization, as he usually wears a mask over his face. This was demonstrated by the apparent ease with which Zanki, one of the Numbers, was defeated. Maha received Rokushiki training as a member of the Cipher Pol. Maha has so far been shown using the Shigan.

Now, Maha is undoubtedly powerful, but just like Guernica, we don't know the true extent of his powers, while we can assume that Izou was a truly formidable fighter as the former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Therefore, we believe that individually, Izou is stronger than Maha and would win a fight against him under fair circumstances.

Points: Izou 1, Maha 0

Devil Fruit

As One Piece fans know, Devil Fruits are an important part of the entire lore, and many powerful characters possess a Devil Fruit that grants them additional powers and abilities. But there are also many powerful characters without Devil Fruits, some of which are more prominent (like Zoro, Shanks, Garp, or Mihawk), while others aren't as popular. Izou is one of the latter—he's powerful but doesn't actually have a Devil Fruit.

The same goes for Maha. He's not one of the most important characters in the series, and while he's undoubtedly strong, his powers aren't the result of a Devil Fruit, as Maha hasn't consumed one in the series, but are the result of rigorous training. We really don't have anything to add here regarding Maha.

Since we don't really have much to go on here, this will be one of the rare occasions where we don't award any points. The result will be the same as if we were to award points to both, but the difference from our usual approach is that we won't be sharing the points, but rather not awarding them at all. Since neither of them has any Devil Fruit powers, we can't really award any points to either of them in this category, so the situation remains the same.

Points: Izou 1, Maha 0

RIGHT

Izou can use Haki, like many other powerful characters in the anime, and as far as is known, he can use two of the three Haki forms in the series. Izou has a fairly high level of mastery over Armament Haki, which he can use to imbue his bullets to give them more power. When he shot Kaidou with these imbued bullets, he even managed to pierce his incredibly thick skin using it. Izou can also use Observation Haki, but it is unknown how good he is at it.

As for Maha, it is unknown if he is capable of using any of the three types of Haki. We can almost certainly rule out Conqueror's Haki when it comes to it, but we do not know the other two types, as we have never seen him use any type of Haki, and Oda has never confirmed that he is capable of using any.

Since we have no idea if Maha can use any Haki, and we know that Izou can use two of the three types, our conclusion is quite simple, as we have to give the points to Izou, as he clearly beats Maha in this category.

Points: Izou 2, Maha 0

Weapons

Izou is known for using his trademark twin flintlocks. When he was younger in Wano Country, he was depicted using a sword to help Oden defeat Ashura Doji. He was also seen wielding a sword at crucial moments during the Battle of Marineford. Izou has received samurai training, but as far as we can tell, he isn't a very effective swordsman.

In contrast, Izou could fire a hundred consecutive successful shots with his handguns, thanks to his exceptional accuracy. Using his pistols at close range, he shot him just as he was about to strike him down, snapping a sword in two and wounding its owner.

As for weapons, we haven't really seen Maha use any in the series. As a CP0 agent, he likely has respectable weapon skills, especially since he was a master assassin and one of the most powerful members of the group. He's probably more skilled with bladed weapons than Izou, but not when it comes to marksmanship.

And while we've seen little of Maha's skills, the fact that he was able to mortally wound Izou (albeit in a foul fight) suggests he has more advanced skills than Izou. But since we assume Izou is superior with firearms, we can only split the points here.

Points: Izou 3, Maha 1

Maha killed Izou in a foul fight, but Izou still managed to injure him, which proves one thing: in a fair fight, Izou would probably win.

The points clearly suggest that Izou is significantly stronger than Maha, yet Maha manages to kill Izou. How? Well, it was an unfair fight, as Izou had to fight Guernica and Maha at the same time. If the fight had been fair, we're sure Izou would have won.