History Characters / OnePieceFourEmperors

* AlwaysSecondBest: Discussed. When Ace is running from Marineford, Akainu purposefully mocks Whitebeard to provoke Ace, saying Whitebeard will always be remembered as the number 2 compared to Roger. Whitebeard never denies that, but he personally doesn't care about the title Pirate King, while his rivalry with Roger was on mostly friendly terms.

* BloodKnight: This is a man who loves a great fight. When Roger enters the fray, Whitebeard charges ahead with a huge grin and brings the Haki down on his rival. While his final battle is borne of necessity and rage rather than enjoyment, Whitebeard at his fittest loved engaging with a worthy opponent.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Whitebeard acts arrogant to outsiders, but to his crew and allies he's a patient and warm man who's willing to listen to subordinates. To those under his flag, he demnds nothing and allows them to live free and happy under his protection. Makes sense, as he loves his crew like his own children.

* BrokenAce: For all their power and influence, the Emperors are also some of the most screwed up individuals in the series. Big Mom is a psychotically insane glutton with a BigScrewedUpFamily, Kaido is an alcoholic, chronically suicidal nihilist who wants to start a world-destroying war just to see if someone can finally kill him, and Blackbeard is a conniving, backstabbing DirtyCoward. Even Shanks has his flaws (like Kaido, he's an alcoholic, and also a massive party animal). Luffy has gone through the TraumaCongaLine, and without his crew's support may well have [[DeathByDespair died of grief for Ace]]. The only one that seems to subvert this is Whitebeard; despite his tendency to disregard medical advice and his unshakable pride, he's one of the most well-adjusted individuals in all of ''One Piece''. Physically, while he is still the WorldsStrongestMan, he is terminally ill and a shadow of what he [[WalkingWasteland once was]].

* BrokenAce: For all their power and influence, the Emperors are also some of the most screwed up individuals in the series. Big Mom is a psychotically insane glutton with a BigScrewedUpFamily, Kaido is an alcoholic, chronically suicidal nihilist who wants to start a world-destroying war just to see if someone can finally kill him, and Blackbeard is a conniving, backstabbing DirtyCoward. Even Shanks has his flaws (like Kaido, he's an alcoholic, and also a massive party animal). Luffy has gone through the TraumaCongaLine and without his crew's support may well have DiedOfDespair. The only one that seems to subvert this is Whitebeard; despite his tendency to disregard medical advice and his unshakable pride, he's one of the most well-adjusted individuals in all of ''One Piece''. Physically, while he is still the WorldsStrongestMan, he is terminally ill and a shadow of what he [[WalkingWasteland once was]].

* BrokenAce: For all their power and influence, the Emperors are also some of the most screwed up individuals in the series. Big Mom is a psychotically insane glutton with a BigScrewedUpFamily, Kaido is an alcoholic, chronically suicidal nihilist who wants to start a world-destroying war just to see if someone can finally kill him, and Blackbeard is a conniving, backstabbing DirtyCoward. Even Shanks has his flaws (like Kaido, he's an alcoholic, and also a massive party animal). The only one that seems to subvert this is Whitebeard; despite his tendency to disregard medical advice and his unshakable pride, he's one of the most well-adjusted individuals in all of ''One Piece''. Physically, while he is still the WorldsStrongestMan, he is terminally ill and a shadow of what he [[WalkingWasteland once was]].

** When the Marines declare that they were going to execute the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, they unleashed 5 Warlords, 3 Admirals, dozens of Vice Admirals, [[OldMaster the man who once cornered the Pirate King]], a platoon of Giants, the Fleet Admiral himself, at least a dozen Pacifistas, and all available rank and file Marines. This is considered just enough to ''possibly survive'' against Whitebeard, only one of them, and his crew. Odds are they never would've even attempted it without [[MechaMooks a trump card]]. [[spoiler:On top of that, at the climax of the war, when [[KnightTemplar Akainu]] wants the Marines to continue to kill the pirates at all costs, all it takes is for Shanks to show up and ''threaten to get involved'' for everyone, including [[BigBad Blackbeard]], to walk away. Although it's also stated that Sengoku did it out of respect for [[WorthyOpponent Whitebeard]].]]

* BigBadEnsemble: Blackbeard, Kaido and Big Mom compete with Sakazuki [[spoiler:and Imu]] for the series overall spot. [[spoiler: Subverted for Kaido and Big Mom, whose defeats signals the start of the Final Saga.]]

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Shanks got his scars across his eye from [[BigBad Blackbeard]] when they were still apprentices under Roger and Whitebeard respectively.

[[center: [- [[Characters/OnePiece Main Character Index]] > '''Four Emperors''' > [[Characters/OnePieceWhitebeardPirates Whitebeard Pirates]] | [[Characters/OnePieceAnimalKingdomPirates Animal Kingdom Pirates]] ([[Characters/OnePieceKaido Kaido]] | [[Characters/OnePieceLeadPerformers Lead Performers]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceBigMomPirates Big Mom Pirates]] ([[Characters/OnePieceBigMom Big Mom]] | [[Characters/OnePieceSweet3Generals Sweet 3 Generals]] | [[Characters/OnePieceCharlotteKatakuri Charlotte Katakuri]] | [[Characters/OnePieceCharlottePudding Charlotte Pudding]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeardPirates Blackbeard Pirates]] ([[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeard Blackbeard]]) -]]]

* StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor: Zigzagged. He's leader of one of the most powerful crew in the world who controls and protects a lot of territory, but we first see him hooked up to various life support equipment while being attended by nurses. During the Paramount War, he insists on taking all that stuff off so as to not engender pity and derision from the enemy and his subordinates note that this man is but a pale shadow of his former self. On the other hand, he's still a towering bulk of muscle and even at death's door he still deals more damage than his entire crew combined.

* StoryBreakerPower: The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is the strongest Paramecia on record and it shows. Newgate uses it to smash Marineford over and over again during the war and no one seemed to be able to counter it aside from the Admirals. [[spoiler: In Kozuki Oden's flashback, it's made abundantly clear just how powerful they really are when Whitebeard uses his shockwaves to ''blast Oden'' miles away into the distance. Keep in mind that Oden is a superhuman MasterSwordsman and not some BoisterousWeakling.]]
* StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor: Zigzagged to hell and back. He's leader of one of the most powerful crew in the world who controls and protects a lot of territory, but we first see him hooked up to various life support equipment while being attended by nurses. During the Paramount War, he insists on taking all that stuff off so as to not engender pity and derision from the enemy and his subordinates note that this man is but a pale shadow of his former self. On the other hand, he's still a towering bulk of muscle and even at death's door he still deals more damage than his entire crew combined.

* WorldsStrongestMan: Literally referred to as such, and he more than lives up to it. Even without his Devil Fruit, he's strong beyond even the most superhuman beings in the setting and can give even the World Government's strongest fighters a run for their money. Back when Roger was alive, the two were contenders for the title. Though it's noted that being the "Strongest Pirate" isn't exactly the same thing as being literally the most physically powerful.

* DragonAscendant: Though he'd resent anyone for calling him Rocks' second-in-command, Whitebeard nonetheless skyrocketed to prominence after his captain's death, eventually earning everything Xebec had including his rivalry with Shanks, while genuinely having the respect of his crew and even many of his enemies.

* DidntSeeThatComing: Shanks travels to Wano at the end of the eponymous arc to [[spoiler:ward off Blackbeard's expected attack on the weakened victors. While he correctly guessed at his enemy's motives and overall strategy, he ''didn't'' anticipate that Blackbeard would instead wait in ambush for one of the victorious captains, giving him a perfect chance to seize Law's poneglyphs without any outside interference.]]

* BigGood: While there isn't an alliance of "good" directly opposing the World Government (aside of the Revolutionary Army, which plays a minimal role in the first half of the story), Whitebeard, known as "The World's Strongest Man" for being the only one that fought on par with the Pirate King Roger, is the biggest threat to the World government aside of Dragon. Unlike the latter, he doesn't directly antagonize it, but his moral foundation, which is wholly on the side of good and altruism, counters and conflicts with the World Government's ruthless control. Even Shanks, the other contender for the title, and the ClosestThingWeGot after Whitebeard's death, [[spoiler:is shown to have dealings with the Five Elders of the World Government, implied to be for beneficial ends, but ultimately still presented in a shady context]]. Whitebeard is the only emperor ever shown who is firmly against all aspects of the World government, even though he never needlessly antagonised them, and when he did so, [[PapaWolf he had a damn good reason]].

* DiedStandingUp: After enduring for the entire Summit War and facing off against some of the strongest fighters of the world, Edward Newgate is assaulted by the Blackbeard Pirates, who attack him until his death. However, his body remains still and prideful, refusing to falling back.

After the conclusion of the Raid of Onigashima, the news of Big Mom and Kaido's defeat spread like wildfire, marking the end of their reign as Pirate Emperors. Consequently, the supposed mastermind of the Cross Guild organization, Buggy, and Kaido's Conqueror, Luffy, replaced them at the top of the Pirate hierarchy.

The Four Emperors (四皇, ''Yonkou'') are the most notorious and feared pirate leaders in the ''Manga/{{One Piece}}'' world, who, alongside their powerful crews and numerous allies, each rule over large territories of the New World like overlords. They are widely considered to be the strongest pirates in the world, as well as the candidates closest to becoming the Pirate King. As a testament to their strength, a single Emperor's crew (plus allies) is strong enough to challenge the World Government's forces. Thankfully for the world at large, the Four Emperors operate independently from each other, sometimes fighting each other in power struggles mainly contained within the New World half of the Grand Line. However, while this balance of power is carefully maintained by the World Government, it is not set in stone, as most of the Emperors seek to expand their power, influence, and territory at all times. The smallest possibility of war ''or'' an alliance among the Emperors is considered a terrifying crisis for the Marines.

Among the original four, only Shanks and Whitebeard are benevolent, while Big Mom and Kaido are far more immoral and nefarious. Each member has an absolutely massive bounty, all of which clock in at ten figures -- a level of bounty reserved for people whom the government and onlookers consider to be near-unstoppable monsters.

During the days when Roger still reigned as Pirate King, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom were already big name pirates and filled in his shoes once he was executed. For the next twenty years they crushed all those seeking to dethrone them, with Roger's former cabin boy Shanks being the only one who could overcome them and become an Emperor himself. However, the Golden Age of Piracy is now reaching its twilight and the dreaded power of the Emperors is challenged by newer, bolder generations of pirates: Whitebeard loses his life in a WarArc with the Marines, and his killer, Blackbeard, officially replaces him over the course of the following year after he took over the former's territories and defeated the remnants of his crew; Linlin loses two of her ally ships to Kid (another Supernova), who forms an alliance with Hawkins and Apoo (two more Supernovas) to bring down Red-Haired Shanks (only for their alliance to be attacked by Kaido, who inducted Apoo and Hawkins as allies and captured and brutalized Kid); Monkey D. Luffy (one more Supernova) challenges Big Mom for authority over Fish-Man Island; and Trafalgar Law (both a Supernova ''and'' a former Warlord of the Sea), works with Luffy to take down Kaido.

[[labelnote:Click here to see spoilers]]After the conclusion of the Onigashima War, the news of Big Mom and Kaido's defeat spread like wildfire, marking the end of their reign as Pirate Emperors. Consequently, Cross Guild organization's supposed mastermind, Buggy, and Kaido's Conqueror, Luffy, replaced them at the top of the Pirate hierarchy.[[/labelnote]]

During the days when Roger still reigned as Pirate King, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom were already big name pirates and filled in his shoes once he was executed. For the next twenty years they crushed all those seeking to dethrone them, with Roger's former cabin boy Shanks being only one who could overcome them and become an Emperor himself. However, the Golden Age of Piracy is now reaching its twilight and the dreaded power of the Emperors is challenged by newer, bolder generations of pirates: Whitebeard loses his life in a WarArc with the Marines, and his killer, Blackbeard, officially replaces him over the course of the following year after he took over the former's territories and defeated the remnants of his crew; Linlin loses two of her ally ships to Kid (another Supernova), who forms an alliance with Hawkins and Apoo (two more Supernovas) to bring down Red-Haired Shanks (only for their alliance to be attacked by Kaido, who inducted Apoo and Hawkins as allies and captured and brutalized Kid); Monkey D. Luffy (one more Supernova) challenges Big Mom for authority over Fish-Man Island; and Trafalgar Law (both a Supernova ''and'' a former Warlord of the Sea), works with Luffy to take down Kaido.

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: All Emperors [[spoiler:besides Buggy]] have the strength to compete with [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], possessing island-shattering amounts of badassery. [[spoiler:Luffy is declared the 'Fifth Emperor' simply because the act of 'raiding' Big Mom's turf, doing significant damage to her operation, achieving his goal, and ''surviving'' is considered such a massive feat of badassery only an Emperor is capable of achieving it, even if he wasn't nearly strong enough to actually beat her yet. Luffy is later officially declared an Emperor after he defeated Kaido.]]

* IOwnThisTown: When an Emperor flies their Jolly Roger over a kingdom and claims it as their territory, no one, not even the World Government dares touch the kingdom or even question the claim for fear of upsetting the Emperor. Fishman Island is officially a member state of the World Government but everyone knows that they really answer to Whitebeard, then Big Mom after he dies and she claims it for herself. This applies only if the Emperor claims a kingdom on their own. If the kingdom openly seeks to join an Emperor like Germa 66 did, the World Government will strip them of their membership and all privileges.

During the days when Roger still reigned as Pirate King, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom were already big name pirates and filled in his shoes once he was executed. For the next twenty years they crushed all those who seeking to dethrone them, with Roger's former cabin boy Shanks being only one who could overcome them and become an Emperor himself. However, the Golden Age of Piracy is now reaching its twilight and the dreaded power of the Emperors is challenged by newer, bolder generations of pirates: Whitebeard loses his life in a WarArc with the Marines, and his killer, Blackbeard, officially replaces him over the course of the following year after he took over the former's territories and defeated the remnants of his crew; Linlin loses two of her ally ships to Kid (another Supernova), who forms an alliance with Hawkins and Apoo (two more Supernovas) to bring down Red-Haired Shanks (only for their alliance to be attacked by Kaido, who inducted Apoo and Hawkins as allies and captured and brutalized Kid); Monkey D. Luffy (one more Supernova) challenges Big Mom for authority over Fish-Man Island; and Trafalgar Law (both a Supernova ''and'' a former Warlord of the Sea), works with Luffy to take down Kaido.

* EnemyCivilWar: The natural state of their relationships, which is required to maintain the balance of power in the world, is hostile but never in direct conflict. The Marines start ''freaking out'' at the news that two Emperors are going to have a face-to-face talk.[[spoiler:In the Reverie arc, it's hinted that Big Mom and Kaido once had their own form of pirate alliance in their younger days (later revealed as their being part of the same crew), and the mere fact that they're even talking about relaxing hostilities on an ''unsecured'' line terrifies the Marine HQ and Five Elders.]]

[[header:Four Emperors at the Start of the Story]]

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: All Emperors [[spoiler:besides Buggy]] have the strength to compete with [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], possessing island-shattering amounts of badassery. [[spoiler:Luffy is declared the 'Fifth Emperor' simply because the act of 'raiding' Big Mom's turf, doing significant damage to her operation, achieving his goal, and ''surviving'' is considered such a massive feat of badassery only an Emperor is capable of achieving it, even if he wasn't nearly strong enough to actually beat her yet.]]

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: He looks like a normal human, and is fairly handsome. The other Emperors ([[spoiler: save for Luffy]]) are various degrees of inhuman-looking, from Whitebeard and Kaido's exaggerated physique to Big Mom and Blackbeard's {{Gonk}} and [[spoiler:Buggy's clown nose and the motif that resulted from it]]. Unsurprisingly, he's also the nicest of the group (Whitebeard is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, and the others are outright villains).