Whitebeard was quite capable of becoming the Pirate King but he decided not to go after the One Piece treasure because of a good reason.

SUMMARY

Aside from Gol D. Roger, the only other pirate who was capable to find the One Piece treasure was Whitebeard.
However, he never had any desire to become the Pirate King and he had a very good reason behind it.
This reason is connected to his race which motivated him to build a family rather than finding the One Piece.

The race to find the One Piece treasure is currently at full throttle. Not only does the treasure hold the secret to the One Piece world, but it also comes with the title of Pirate King, which will be granted to whoever finds it first. The first character to earn this title was Gol D. Roger, but the second character who was the closest after Roger was Whitebeard.

Whitebeard in One Piece | Credit: Toei Animation

After Roger died, Whitebeard was considered to be the strongest pirate in the One Piece world, and if he had gone on the mission to find the mysterious treasure, he could have easily found it. However, Whitebeard himself claimed that he had no interest in the treasure that led to the beginning of the greatest pirate era. In fact, the only thing he cared about was having a family.

While this reason seems viable enough, no one actually knows why Whitebeard was so hellbent on having a family rather than earning the biggest title in the One Piece world. The explanation behind it might be related to his race, which Eiichiro Oda never confirmed.

Whitebeard’s Race in One Piece

Whitebeard was one of the strongest characters in One Piece, and his strength was quite evident during the Marineford arc. While fans know quite a few things about him, the one mystery about him that still eludes fans is his race. No one knows what race Whitebeard belongs to, but by the looks of it, he seems to be a Buccaneer, a nearly-extinct special race of humanoids.

This was proved by Reddit user u/wuzziecrunch, who pointed out that Whitebeard’s traits shared a lot of similarities with those of Bartholomeo Kuma. The first one is the similar physical stature that both Whitebeard and Kuma share. They even resemble one another in Oda’s early drawings of them in the One Piece manga.

Whitebeard as a Kid | Credit: Toei Animation

Aside from that, the most important aspect that claims Whitebeard and Kuma belonged to the same race was their durability and their high level of endurance. As seen during the Marineford arc and during the Egghead Island arc, both Kuma and Whitebeard have insane levels of endurance, which confirms that both of them are Buccaneers.

Whitebeard’s Race Had A Lot To Do With Him Not Becoming The Pirate King

As mentioned above, Whitebeard never wanted to become the Pirate King, as his only desire was to have a family of his own. This desire most likely erupted from the fact that he was a Buccaneer just like Kuma. It was revealed in the story that Buccaneers were a race that was evidently hunted, killed, and enslaved because they committed a great crime against the world in the past.

Bartholomew Kuma was a Buccaneer | Credit: Toei Animation

Thus, just like Kuma, Whitebeard also lost his family early on, and the reason behind this could be his being a Buccaneer. This justifies his need to avoid going after the biggest treasure in the One Piece world and only focus on building a family, as it was his biggest treasure.

While it has not been confirmed by Eiichiro Oda, it seems like the only plausible explanation. Hopefully, fans will get to find out more about the Buccaneers as Bartholomeo Kuma is still alive and will likely hold some kind of importance in the Elbaph arc in One Piece.