© Joe Piece (Formerly known as Low Budget Nika)
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The Legend of Whitestache
The man, the myth, the legend; Edward Newgate, more commonly known by his epithet “Whitebeard”, was a man of many sons.
Having battled the pirate king himself on many occasions and being a former member of a certain crew that shall not be named, it’s safe to say that Newgate has accomplished a lot in his 72 years of life.
But throughout the decades of One Piece’s existence, there has been an age-old question. Why is he called “Whitebeard” if he only sports a mustache?
Answer
This answer is much simpler than you may think.
In Japanese, his name is Shirohige. “Shiro” means white, but “Hige” is just a generic term for facial hair, not specifically beard or mustache. They do not have a word for “mustache” specifically in Japanese.
白 = White
ひげ = Facial Hair
So why not refer to him as “Whitestache” in English? Well, as you may have figured out already, the [color]+beard theme in One Piece was inspired by the real-world pirate of the Caribbean, Edward Thatch; more commonly known as Blackbeard, and in Japanese, he is referred to as Kurohige, “Kuro” meaning black. A literal translation of that would be “Black facial hair”. That doesn’t really have a nice ring to it; does it?
So there you have it folks; mystery solved!
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