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aka: One Piece The Four Emperors

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All spoilers regarding the Super Rookies era are unmarked. New World spoilers are unmarked in character descriptions, and examples relating to the New World era can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.


Main Character Index > Four Emperors > Whitebeard Pirates | Animal Kingdom Pirates (Kaido | Lead Performers) | Big Mom Pirates (Big Mom | Sweet 3 Generals | Charlotte Pudding) | Blackbeard Pirates

Four Emperors

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_fouremperors.png
Clockwise from bottom left: Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, Marshall D. Teach, Shanks
Click here to see the Four Emperors after the Wano Arc 
"When a person with overwhelming power threatens you, the future is set in stone... Who can resist it? That is the meaning of the Four Emperors! There is simply no other option!!"
Pekoms, Chapter 815

The Four Emperors (四皇, Yonkou) are the most notorious and feared pirate leaders in the 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 the strongest pirates in the world and 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.

Qualifying as an Emperor isn't just a matter of personal strength, but of political and military might as well. Thus, the Four Emperors are not only powerful individuals themselves, but also hold territories under their banner and have armies of pirates at their command, both in their personal crews and in subordinate crews that pay fealty to them.

Only Shanks and Whitebeard are benevolent among the original four, 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 War Arc 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.


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    In General 
  • The Ace: All the Emperors are rulers of their own section of the New World and are pretty much immune from the law, since it takes the entirety of the World Government's military forces plus the Seven Warlords to match the battle strength of just one Emperor's crew. The Emperors alone are among the strongest people in the One Piece world, and their crews number in the thousands, and that's not counting their allied members like Doflamingo, one of the Warlords, who worked under Kaido before his downfall.
  • Artifact Name: When Luffy gets counted among their ranks for his actions in Whole Cake Island, there are actually five Emperors, and the original Japanese term Yonkou (literally meaning "four emperors" in Japanese) is no longer applicable. It's unclear how much the other four actually agree with Luffy's status, but Big Mom at the very least is furious. It is subverted after Kaido and Big Mom's defeats, whereupon they're replaced by Luffy and Buggy, once again leaving the number of Emperors at four.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: All Emperors besides Buggy have the strength to compete with Whitebeard, possessing island-shattering amounts of badassery. 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 defeats Kaido.
  • Awakening the Sleeping Giant:
    • Although the Four Emperors are just one of the three great superpowers of the world, the other two exist solely to oppose them. To put that another way, the Warlords and the Marines together balance the power of the Emperors, who are all still independent of one another. This is why when an Emperor declares that a country is their territory, the World Government and even other pirates keep out, hence their titles.
    • 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, 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 a trump card. On top of that, at the climax of the war, when 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 Blackbeard, to walk away. Although it's also stated that Sengoku did it out of respect for Whitebeard.
  • Awesomeness Is a Force: With the exception of Blackbeard and Buggy, every Emperor in the series is a confirmed user of Conqueror's Haki, including Luffy. More than that, all of them are capable of imbuing their attacks with Conqueror's Haki, which is what sets them apart from everyone else. It makes sense, as those who possess Conqueror's Haki are said to have the qualities of a king, and the Four Emperors rule the New World as kings. Big Mom in particular is an actual queen.
  • Beef Gate: The Emperors are known as insurmountable walls blocking off Laugh Tale from all who would seek to claim the One Piece, and for very good reason. It's not enough to simply sneak through the Emperor's territories; to actually reach Laugh Tale, one must collect all four Road Poneglyphs to reveal Laugh Tale's location, and two of those are in Kaido and Big Mom's possession. This means one must directly challenge the Emperors themselves in battle, which will almost certainly result in crushing defeat as many rookie pirates found out the hard way.
    Big Mom: The time for dreaming is over! Listen up, you brats! We've sunk hundreds of people just like you into the sea! We've been reigning as Emperors for decades! Since the days before you were weaned off your mothers' milk!
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: Kaido and Big Mom form their own pirate alliance in Wano, reasoning that they can always kill each other after they Take Over the World together. Also, this is not an entirely new arrangement, as both Big Mom and Kaido were members of the same pirate crew 40 years in the past, before both became Emperors.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: Blackbeard, Kaido and Big Mom compete with Imu and each other for the series overall spot. Subverted for Kaido and Big Mom, whose defeats signals the start of the Final Saga.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: The Emperors have a preference of beating down rookie pirates and then leaving them to wallow in despair rather than killing them outright. This is the biggest factor that leads to Big Mom and Kaido getting dethroned by Luffy, Law, and Kid in the battle of Onigashima. Despite having the three Supernovas dead to rights several times, the two Emperors opt to just leave them for dead and attend to other matters instead of following though and making sure they stayed down, giving the new generation the opportunity to recover and turn the tables. Shanks defies this entirely however, as he takes threats very seriously and will rout all problems with extreme prejudice.
  • Broken Ace: 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 Big, Screwed-Up Family, 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 Dirty Coward. 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 World's Strongest Man, he is terminally ill and a shadow of what he once was.
  • Connected All Along: The Wano Arc reveals that all of the Emperors are personally connected to each other. Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom served together in the Rocks Pirates and fought against Gol D. Roger and Garp 38 years ago. Shanks and Buggy would later serve under Roger while fighting against Whitebeard, while Blackbeard served under Whitebeard and personally scarred Shanks during this time, until he made his move. Of course, and many years later, Shanks personally influenced Luffy to pick up the path of piracy.
  • Defeating the Undefeatable: Defeating one of them is considered to be unthinkable. Even Warlords can take losses and keep their positions if those defeats are at the hands of an Emperor or someone of similar power. Emperors cannot afford losses to anyone, because part of what makes them Emperors is the veneer of invincibility they put on. One of the first signs that the era of the Emperors is over is when they start losing battles, beginning with Whitebeard's death and continuing with Big Mom's defeat at the hands of Law and Kid. Luffy defeating Kaido, the "strongest creature in the world", cements it, as it means that (not counting Luffy) only two Emperors since the beginning of the Timeskip are still in power.
  • The Dreaded: They're the four most powerful pirates of the world, each of them alone capable of challenging the might of the World Government. It's kind of a given that everyone fears them. And as Pekoms illustrates, their demands become "inevitable fate" because of their sheer power, whether in person or in influence.
    • This trope directly plays into Luffy's own ascension to Emperor status. The Emperors are so feared that the mere idea of defying any one of them is unthinkable; all those who've tried have been brutally swatted down, with few lucky to escape with their lives. The Straw Hats getting away with as much they did during the Whole Cake Island arc is so unprecedented and outrageous that it only takes some extra information and a bit of twisting the truth for the media to declare Luffy the fifth member of their number. Him properly becoming an Emperor results in the World Government instantly deciding to stop messing with him without serious prep, with even Akainu trying to stop Lucci from picking a fight with him.
    • Buggy's own promotion to Emperor status follows similar logic. Buggy himself is a hilariously pathetic fighter, but the vast majority of the world believes him to be far stronger than he actually is and a legitimate threat. When he's mistaken as the leader of the Cross Guild and the boss of Dracule Mihawk and Sir Crocodile (the actual masterminds), both of whom have clashed with Emperors before note , it's enough to boost him to Emperor status even though the rest of the Emperors outclass him in strength by a significant margin.
  • Elite Four: They're the top four pirates of the One Piece world and are on a completely different level compared to almost anyone.
  • End of an Age: As the pirates who reigned over the Golden Age of Piracy for over two decades, the Four Emperors are symbolically tied to that era. Their downfalls, beginning with the death of Whitebeard during the Paramount War, symbolizes the end of their era, and the start of the next one. Trafalgar Law declares as much when Eustass Kid and him defeat Big Mom, the second Emperor after Whitebeard to fall, and it's only reinforced when Luffy defeats Kaido not long after
  • Enemy Civil War: 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. 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.
  • I Own This Town: 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 angering 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.
  • Klingon Promotion: The obvious way to become an Emperor is to challenge and kill one. This is the route Blackbeard takes, although he still isn't thought of as an Emperor until he has crushed the remainder of Whitebeard's crew who came looking for revenge during the two years time-skip. Turns out, causing a big enough ruckus in their territory and escaping (relatively) unscathed does the trick as well — and having numerous affiliated pirate crews and several thousand subordinates doesn't hurt your chances.
  • Large and in Charge: With the exception of Shanks, they're titanic. Even the shortest after Shanks, Blackbeard, is over 11 feet tall, and Shanks himself would be hardly considered short either at 6'6.5" feet tall. Also downplayed by the should-be tall but constantly overshadowed 6’3” Buggy, and averted with the shorter-than-not 5’9” Luffy. Invoked by Buggy using his powers and large cloaks to present himself as similarly massive. Likewise, Luffy can make himself gigantic with his devil fruit awakening.
  • Lensman Arms Race: The Four Emperors minus Shanks have spent the last two years after Whitebeard's death building up their forces just like the Marines have. Big Mom is making alliances with powerful pirates and factions with Altar Diplomacy, Blackbeard is hunting down Devil Fruit users to steal powers, and Kaido is creating artificial Zoan Devil Fruits for his crew.
  • Make Way for the New Villains: Big Mom, Kaido, and Blackbeard replace the Seven Warlords as the New World's all-powerful pirate antagonists. Just to drive the point home, the Straw Hat weakling's reaction when Luffy challenges Big Mom when he first arrives to the New World is virtually identical to when he challenges Crocodile when they first enter the Grand Line. After the Wano Arc, with the defeat of Kaido and Big Mom, however, the resulting power vacuum elevates an alliance of three former Warlords: Mihawk, Buggy, and Crocodile, to prominence, one of which, the purported leader, is declared an Emperor.
  • N.G.O. Superpower: Each of the Four Emperors alone could challenge the entire military might of the World Government — in fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say they could probably rule the world if they hadn't isolated themselves to just the New World. It even applies to their interactions; as the Whole Cake Island arc shows, the games the Emperors play (both with each other and with the Marines) are about politics as much as they are about power. They rely on both reputation (see Slave to PR below) and money, and essentially act just like the World Government by taking countries under their banner for protection. The only difference is that the World Government is concerned with maintaining order (and catering to the World Nobles), while the Emperors are solely concerned with their own personal desires.
  • Nigh-Invulnerable: Kaido, Big Mom, and (before age and disease claimed him) Whitebeard have been known to be ridiculously durable. At the Paramount War, Whitebeard takes everything from stabbings to magma bursts, and it's as much the damage from the war that claims him, as it's the fact he's already terminally ill. It's implied that the World Government wouldn't have dreamed of clashing with a healthy Whitebeard — let alone one in his prime. Big Mom has been described as an "iron balloon", and can tunnel through the earth easily — yet a bout of severe grief can strip this away, and she becomes vulnerable enough to scrape her knee. Kaido is described as nearly unkillable, and even a 10,000 metre drop can give him little more than a headache, with the ground apparently more injured than him; however, he can be injured: he still has an old scar on his body from his bout with Oden, who might have outright killed him if not for a distraction; then again, it is his only scar until Zoro managed to give him a similar wound that Kaido confirmed would leave another scar.
  • The Notable Numeral: They are collectively called "Four Emperors", or "Yonkou" in Japanese. In Japanese, the term "Yonkou" puts an emphasis that the emperor isn't the only one to be called like that, and that there are three other people who share the same title.
  • Not Hyperbole: Whitebeard, Blackbeard, and Red Hair all have the corresponding appearance. Large and in Charge Big Mom has 85 children and Kaido "The King of the Beasts" has an army of 500+ beastmen (alternatively, Kaido "the king of beasts" is a dragon.)
  • Not So Invincible After All: Whitebeard's death, while tragic, shows that the Four Emperors can be defeated despite their seemingly insurmountable armies and personal abilities — albeit, with immense effort. This is later lampshaded by Eustass Kid in the Onigashima War during his and Trafalgar Law's battle with Big Mom. True to his words, Big Mom is severely injured and knocked off of Onigashima not long after, losing the battle.
    Kid: Even water droplets can carve stone, given enough time. There ain't a single thing in this world that's totally impervious to damage!
  • One-Man Army: The response of the Marines to any of the four making a move is to rally everyone to the area they're expected to show up. Each of them is capable of razing an entire kingdom to the ground single-handedly.
  • Person of Mass Destruction:
    • Whitebeard and then Blackbeard has the power to destroy the world if he wants to, Kaido has been known to sink entire prison ships specifically meant to hold him and can level whole cities with a single fireball in his dragon form, and Big Mom goes on Kaiju-like rampages when in one of her 'urges' and has the power to rip out people's souls. Shanks's Conqueror's Haki is so strong that his very presence threatens the structural integrity of Whitebeard's ship and knocks out everyone short of the most powerful members of Whitebeard's crew.
    • A reoccurring theme is that whenever two Emperors (or Emperor-class characters, such as Roger) clash, the heavens split, parting the clouds away and revealing a clear sky. The first time this happens is when Shanks and Whitebeard clash, and it happens again when Big Mom and Kaido clash at Onigashima, and in a flashback, between Roger and Whitebeard. The first sign that Luffy is truly at the same level as the Emperors is when a clash between Kaido and himself does the same.
  • Scars are Forever: Shanks, Kaido, and Whitebeard all have scars on their body as reminders of past battles, indicating that they've earned their title of strongest pirates of the world.
  • Slave to PR: Being an Emperor is just as much about projecting an image of invincibility as it is about actually being invincible, and anything that would threaten that image must be dealt with immediately. It's mentioned in the Marineford Arc that Whitebeard will try to save Ace as much out of love for one of his "sons" as out of wanting to send a clear message that he and his crew are untouchable, and it is the main reason the Big Mom Pirates are so desperate to capture and kill the Straw Hats after their attempt on Big Mom's life. Luffy and his allies not only publicly screwed up their plan to murder the Vinsmokes, but also got closer to killing Big Mom than anyone had been in decades. If they were to escape on top of that, it would be an irreversible and unmistakable sign of weakness that would open them up to possible attacks from the other Emperors, the Marines, or anyone else with a bit of power. The only reason the Big Mom Pirates don't take a massive hit to their reputation is because the incident was so outrageous (and the Emperor's reputation had been so carefully maintained up to that point) that the media thought only another Emperor-level crew could have pulled it off, massively boosting the Straw Hat Pirates' own reputation and declaring Luffy the Fifth Emperor in the process.
  • Superpower Lottery: All of them, besides Shanks, have incredibly powerful Devil Fruits. Whitebeard can create earthquakes and tsunamis, Big Mom rips out people's souls and eats them, and Kaido can transform into a freaking giant dragon. Blackbeard specifically gunned for one of these in his search for Devil Fruit powers, and it was only after acquiring the power of Darkness that he made his move. Even Luffy's Devil Fruit qualifies, as it's actually a Mythical Zoan that allows him to weaponize Toon Physics to Reality Warper-levels. All of them are also incredibly strong and tough, which Big Mom at least has had since early childhood.
  • Super-Toughness: They're extremely tough by One Piece standards. Things like impalement or losing an arm are minor inconveniences to them. And that's if you actually hurt them, which is in and of itself a huge task. The exception is Blackbeard, who actually takes more damage than a Logia would be expected to take, but he's still very tough regardless and has probably grown even tougher during the time-skip to compensate.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The biggest advantage the Navy and World Government have against the Emperors isn't so much the Seven Warlords or even the Admirals, but rather the fact that the Four Emperors don't trust each other enough to unite against them. Even Shanks and Whitebeard, two relatively non-confrontational pirates with notable moral integrity, show tension during a talk with each other and eventually clash. And neither shows particular trust or affection for Big Mom or Kaido, and those two are said to despise one another. That said, the prospect of just two Emperors joining forces is enough to make the higher-ups wary. The Marines get very tense when they hear about Kaido and Big Mom's alliance.
  • We Have Become Complacent: These individuals exemplify how succumbing to the arrogance of being the strongest pirates in the world can lead to their ultimate downfall.
    • The Emperors have ruled the seas for decades, having defeated countless upstart pirates. As a result, they tend to underestimate threats to their rule. Although their confidence is not unfounded, given both their personal and military power, the Emperors have a habit of dismissing any challenge against them as insignificant (unless posed by another Emperor or the full force of the World Government). Even during the Raid on Onigashima, Kaido and Big Mom remain assured of victory to the end despite the forces arrayed against them. This attitude directly results in Big Mom's defeat, as she underestimates Kid and Law until it's too late.
    • This attitude extends to their crews as well, with the Big Mom Pirates dismissing the Straw Hats as mere annoyances. Unsurprisingly, this ends with the Straw Hats escaping from Big Mom's territory (with Luffy himself having defeated two of their three strongest crewmates), a humiliating defeat in the eyes of the world. Kaido's forces have the same attitude, even under a full on assault from the Samurai-Pirate Alliance, and similarly find each of their top fighters defeated one by one as the Onigashima War continues.
    • The lack of challenges limits the full potential of their Devil Fruit abilities. Devil fruits can become 'awakened' if the user is repeatedly pushed to a limit and overcomes that, with it being implied that thanks to their natural strengths and advantages, the majority of the Emperors like Newgate, Kaido and Big Mom never awakened their fruits because they are simply too naturally strong to ever get pushed to that point, limiting the full strength they could have theoretically unleashed. Given that Kaido and Linlin are defeated by users who have just awakened their fruits, this means that the odds of defeating them in a fight are nigh-impossible, but not as completely as if they'd unlocked the Next Tier Power-Up with their fruits.
    • This is averted by Shanks, despite his generally easy-going nature. When challenged by Eustass Kid, Shanks unleashes his full strength immediately and demolishes his opponent. Shanks recognizes the Supernovas as a real threat and does not mess around with one, unlike Kaido and Big Mom, who lost their positions for that very mistake. The result is a quick and easy victory.
  • With Us or Against Us: Essentially how the New World works, as shown by the Eleven Supernovas after the time skip. The Emperors are so freaking powerful and territorial that your only shot at surviving is to a) fly under their radar (unlikely if you're a pirate), b) become subordinate to an existing Emperor (and thus set yourself against the others, since they for the most part hate each other), or c) overthrow them and become an Emperor yourself (as most Supernova alliances are trying to do). Scratchman Apoo and X. Drake chose B and joined Kaido's crew, while Blackbeard went for option C by killing Whitebeard. Luffy also goes for the third option accidentally by being declared the 'Fifth Emperor' after managing to survive Big Mom, and then becomes a proper Emperor after defeating Kaido.
  • World's Strongest Man: Being an Emperor is essentially saying you're one of these. The novels discuss this, noting that it means something different depending on the person. Whitebeard is the "Strongest Pirate", Big Mom has the "Strongest Family", and Kaido is the "Strongest Creature." Shanks, the youngest Emperor, is hinted to have the strongest Haki in all of One Piece. In addition, each of the Emperors has a special ability which goes beyond ordinary strength and cements their status. While the Emperors seem to all be able to clash relatively evenly, as seen with Whitebeard and Shanks, and Kaido and Big Mom, others can also fight competently with them, such as the Admirals and Kozuki Oden. Whitebeard has the Tremor-Tremor Fruit which allows him to destroy the world, Kaido has his nightmarish invincibility and his seeming inability to die, Big Mom has connections and political might extraordinaire to gain unparalleled intelligence about other factions, and Shanks is somehow able to get an audience with the Five Elders themselves, with them explicitly making time for him during the Reverie.

The First Four Emperors

Red Hair Pirates

    In General 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_hair_pirates_jolly_roger.png

The mighty pirate crew led by Luffy's childhood hero Shanks, and the first pirates to be seen in the series. Among their ranks are Ben Beckman, Lucky Roux, Usopp's father Yasopp and several other high-ranking members seen at Dawn Island and again at the finale of Marineford including Bonk Punch (and his monkey Monster), Hongo, Building Snake, Limejuice, and Howling Gab, as well as Rockstar, a rookie who just recently joined.

Although they must be exceptionally powerful as an Emperor Crew and do have islands claimed as their territories, the Red Hair Pirates have been mostly seen partying and are exceptionally friendly, even leaving unrelated civilians at peace and being willing to be humiliated by a bunch of no-name mountain bandits to keep the peace going. Despite appearing to be the less dangerous Emperor Crew, they are feared around the world, especially by the World Government. Their antics and talk of freedom on the seas are what inspired Luffy to be a pirate. Other than that, very little is known about them, except they are a powerful crew that is to be respected.


  • All There in the Manual: Despite appearing hundreds of chapters before, the names of Bonk Punch, Hongo, Building Snake, Limejuice, and Howling Gab aren't revealed until SBS 101. Additional details about them and the other crew members, including their positions, were given in the Film RED supplementary booklet:
    • Bonk Punch and his monkey Monster are a team who fight together in battle, and act as the crew's musicians.
    • Limejuice fights with electricity infused weaponry, and can use Geppo in much the same way as Sanji's Sky Walk technique.
    • Hongo is the crew's doctor, and also skilled at disassembling machinery.
    • Building Snake is the crew's navigator, and fights with the "Two Swords Juggling Style".
    • Howling Gab has the ability to fire a shock wave out his mouth by screaming. Despite his frightening appearance, he is actually extremely kind-hearted and friendly, and is terrified of ghosts and insects.
  • Ambiguously Related: One of the allied crews under Shanks is the Bourgeois Pirates, captained by Pururu the Brr-rave. Cavendish of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet is the former prince of Bourgeois Kingdom and, just like Pururu, has blonde hair. It's unknown if the two of them are related.
  • Badass Cape: The most prominent members of the crew wear capes to show off how badass they are as one of the strongest crews in the world.
  • Badass Crew: Despite their party-loving personality and smaller numbers compared to the massive crews of the other Four Emperors, they are one of the strongest crews in the world and when the Marines discuss the Four Emperors, they specifically note the high average bounty of Shanks's crew.
  • Badass Normal: Because of their philosophy that a pirate must be able to swim (one Shanks inherited from Roger), none of the Red Hair Pirates have Devil Fruits, and therefore anyone's strength comes from his own abilities. Despite this, their crew is one of the most feared in a world where nearly everyone important has eaten a Devil Fruit that gives them a special ability.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: They initially appear as a bunch of party-loving people who don't attack any civilians but, when Luffy is threatened by the Mountain Bandits, Lucky Roux immediately kills one of them while Benn Beckman knocks out everyone else save for Higuma. At the end of the Summit War, all of the Red Hair Pirates are ready to fight and warn the Marines they would join the war if it doesn't stop.
  • Big Damn Heroes: In the first chapter, they quickly dispatch the Mountain Bandits to save a kidnapped Luffy. More importantly, they arrive at the end of the Summit War, after the Marines have won and are decimating the pirates, and threaten to join the fight if the war doesn't stop. This is enough to convince Sengoku to declare the war over.
  • The Bus Came Back: After the first chapter, in which they inspire Luffy to become a pirate, Shanks and the crew make few sporadic appearances, often commenting on Luffy's new bounties and how his career has proceeded, until they become important to the plot at the end of the Summit War, putting an end to it.
  • The Dreaded: Despite being the least malicious of the Four Emperors' crews, the Red Hair Pirates are just as feared by the World Government as the other three. Any unexpected action causes panic among the Marines and any threat of theirs is taken very seriously.
  • Friendly Pirate: Like their captain, the crew is laid back and prefers to party around instead of some of the more stereotypical pirate acts.
  • Jack of All Stats: According to a Marine debriefing, the Red Hair Pirates are well balanced and have no particular weaknesses.
  • Mythical Motifs: The crew uses a red dragon as tattoos and the figurehead of their ship.
  • Paper Tiger: Although loyal to Shanks and willing to fight for him, most of the allied crews are weak in the New World. This is the result of Shanks apparently accepting crews under his banner for the purpose of protecting them, rather than out of a desire to actually bolster his military strength.
  • Pintsized Powerhouse: Crew-size wise, his core team only consists of a single ship's worth of crew, with the rest of his 'fleet' being his protectorates instead of combatants. This is in contrast with other Emperors and pirates, with the exception of Roger Pirates. But that single ship (or really, Shanks alone) is enough to take on an entire fleet.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Despite being one of the most stereotypically looking pirate crews in the series, it's also one of the nicest ones and none are ever shown doing anything evil typically associated with pirates. Despite this, they are one of the most feared crews in the world because of their monstrous strength.

Leadership

    "Red-Haired" Shanks 

"Red-Haired" Shanks

Voiced by: Shūichi Ikeda, Nobunaga Shimazaki (young) (JP), Christian J. Lee (EN, Odex), Tom Souhrada (EN, 4Kids), Brandon Potter, Aaron Dismuke (young) (EN, Funi), Raúl Anaya (Latin American Spanish)

Age: 37 (Pre-Timeskip), 39 (Post-Timeskip)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shanks_anime.png

"Listen up... You can pour drinks on me, you can throw food at me, you can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off. But, good reason or not, nobody hurts a friend of mine!!!!"
Chapter 1

Shanks is Luffy's idol who inspired him to partake in a life of piracy, captain of the Red Hair Pirates, and one of the Four Emperors that rule over the New World. Unlike the other Emperors, he doesn't lord this status over everyone else, preferring to travel to different stops and party, with a special fondness for drinking. When Shanks was younger, he and Buggy were both apprentices in the Roger Pirates, the crew of the late Pirate King, "Gold" Roger, and clashed with Whitebeard's crew several times. They were subordinate to Silvers Rayleigh, the first-mate of the crew, and spent their time fighting each other. Both of them attended their captain's public execution, where they parted ways to form their own crews. Sometime afterward, he became the rival of Dracule Mihawk, and their duels are now considered legendary throughout the Grand Line, remembered even by Whitebeard.

During Luffy's youth, The Red Hair Pirates stopped at his town and usually went to the town bar. Luffy always used to plead with Shanks to let him join the crew. Shanks not only refused, but teased Luffy about not being able to swim and that he was just a kid. Shanks saved his life when a bandit tried to drown him, which cost him his dominant arm, but Shanks said that it didn't matter as long as Luffy was safe. Shanks then gave Luffy his favorite hat, telling him to return it once he surpasses him, and set sail, later becoming an Emperor 4 years before the start of the story.

Shanks holds a bounty of 4,048,900,000 Berries. His bounty is the third highest known active in the series prior to the end of the Wano Arc.


  • Accent Adaptation: He has an Australian accent in the 4Kids dub (or at least what sounds like one).
  • The Ace: With no Devil Fruit, the loss of his sword arm, and a single ship at his command, Shanks is still considered to be one of the most powerful and dangerous people in the entire world. As one of the Four Emperors, he's considered the equal of Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido, who each have monstrously powerful Devil Fruit abilities and armies of thousands at their command. He's one of the world's best swordsmen, and the threat of his intervention alone led the entirety of Marine HQ to stand down during the Paramount War, preventing the deaths of Whitebeard's allies. Subtle hints earlier in the series display his immense Haki, going toe to toe with Whitebeard and later on fighting to a draw with Kaido. Towards the end of the Wano arc, the mere presence of his Haki terrifies Ryokugyu enough to give up his pursuit of Luffy, and in the Egghead Arc, Shanks has mastered Observation Haki to such an extent he is immediately able to predict what Kid and his men are going to do before Kid even powered up Damned Punk. It gives credit to Kaido’s statement that Haki is the true power behind the big names in the New World.
  • Achey Scars: Shanks says that the three scars across his left eye, made years ago by Blackbeard, have started to ache at the same time that Ace is dueling with Blackbeard on Banaro Island.
  • All-Loving Hero: Downplayed. Shanks is well aware of how killing and death are a part of a pirate's life and is not afraid of committing said action in defense of his friends, but he is a major Nice Guy who is also against needless bloodshed and most of his allied crews are weaklings (by New World standards) that he gathered under his wings to protect.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Loses his right arm after saving Luffy from The Lord of the Coast.
  • Art Evolution: The Straw Hats' changing designs can be chalked up to the fact they're still at a young enough age to physically grow, but it's bizarre to see Shanks become so hunky if you're more familiar with his earlier look; however, it can be justified by the fact seven years have passed In-Universe since his first appearance.
  • Author Avatar: In one of the SBS questions, Oda answered that Shanks is the character who resembles him the most.
    "Shanks is the one character that resembles himself the most out of all the One Piece characters, because of his fun-loving partying nature and cheerful personality".
  • Awesomeness Is a Force: Shanks' Conqueror's Haki is likely the strongest known in the series, to the point that, when he meets up with Whitebeard on the Moby Dick, the lowest member of the crew faints and the ship literally starts to crumble in his presence. For comparison, when Luffy knocks out 50,000 Fish-men in one burst, Oda says that Shanks could do twice that. It's implied that Shanks has his Conqueror's Haki on full blast at nearly all times because weaker people faint in his presence.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Not in the main story, but some video games and promotional material give him a badass black suit, complete with Cool Shades, inspired by Strong World.
  • Badass Normal: Something that Shanks picked up from his former Captain Roger is not relying on Devil Fruit powers and instead focused solely on developing his combat skills and Haki, skills that allowed him to become one of the most powerful and fearsome pirates in the world.
  • Badass Cape: Shanks wears a large brown cape that covers his missing arm and gives him a simple but more badass appearance.
  • Beauty Equals Goodness: He looks like a normal human, and is fairly handsome. The other Emperors (save for Luffy) are various degrees of inhuman-looking, from Whitebeard and Kaido's exaggerated physique to Big Mom and Blackbeard's Gonk and Buggy's clown nose and the motif that resulted from it. Unsurprisingly, he's also the nicest of the group (Whitebeard is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and the others are outright villains).
  • Benevolent Boss: He seems to generally get along with his crew, and they look up to him with respect as their captain. Shanks looks out for the well-being of the entire crew, from refusing to take a child (Luffy) on board his ship to denying permission to take on Whitebeard's men who had insulted Rockstar's honor.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Shanks is normally one of the most carefree and kind characters in the series, but he's an Emperor and, when the needs call for it, he can be very dangerous. In the first chapter, Higuma mocks and mistreats him while Shanks doesn't reply to his violence but, when Luffy is threatened, Shanks and his crew defeat the mountain bandits in an instant. When Kid shows up in Elbaf to challenge Shanks, Shanks offers Kid a chance to surrender. But when Kid refuses and threatens to massacre the Red Hair allied ships, Shanks instantly takes him down and has Dorry and Brogy sink their ship.
  • Big Damn Heroes:
    • Shanks saves Luffy from the Lord of the Coast in the first Chapter, scaring it away with just his glare and losing an arm in the process.
    • Shanks arrives out of nowhere at the end of the Paramount War to end the war then and there, rescuing both Koby and Luffy (the latter indirectly) in the process.
    • In Wano, he blasts Ryogukyu with Conqueror's Haki so that he'd leave Wano alone when Luffy has just saved it.
  • Big Good: Shanks is able to temper the machinations of the malevolent Emperors (especially Teach) and keep them from gaining too much influence in an already bleak world. It's later implied that he welcomes many weaker pirate crews under his banner just for the sake of protecting them, a far cry from the actions of Emperors like Kaido, Big Mom, and Blackbeard.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Shanks is usually jovial, doesn't take things all that seriously, and would prefer to make friends than enemies if he can help it. He even tends to be goofy enough to get Mihawk in on the fun and likes to drag others into his antics when it's time to celebrate or drink. If you're a friend or even on his good side, he's probably one of the nicest pirates around. You wouldn't think that he's one of the strongest pirates in the entire world and a contender for the World's Strongest Man, with absolutely no one but hard drinkers having the guts to even consider dethroning him.
  • Color Motifs: His famous epithet, "Red-Haired Shanks", comes from his hair color. In the first chapter, he wears the same hat that belonged to Gol D. Roger and then leaves to Luffy, both of whom are also associated with the color red.
  • Cool Sword: Shanks is one of the most skilled swordsmen of the world and wields a saber named Gryphon.
  • Combat Clairvoyance: Shanks has sharpened his Observation Haki to an even more advanced level than Charlotte Katakuri or Luffy. He's able to see into the future and intercept a hostile engagement before the attackers even have a chance to determine what to do. This is one of the reasons he's so feared, as Shanks can predict the outcome of a fight or detect an imminent attack with enough time in advance to act, interrupt it, and be there absurdly early. The times when he's on the scene of an incident in the making and doesn't attack are to give an implicit warning that he's already prepared himself through foresight to demolish his foes if they dare make a move.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Shanks sees the possible damage that could be inflicted by Blackbeard, and encourages Whitebeard not to poke him... but Whitebeard refuses to do so. It later turns out that Whitebeard did tell Ace not to go after Blackbeard, with his protests falling on deaf ears, but he wasn't about to concede to Shanks (who is somewhat of a rival) that he's right.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: Chapter 1079, in the Egghead Arc, sees Shanks engage in battle for the first time in 25 years, but the battle that ensues can hardly be called such. When Eustass Kid shows up in Elbaf and challenges Shanks, the latter takes both him and Killer out with a single Divine Departure, knocking both of them out of the fight before they even have a chance to react. Adding insult to injury, Shanks then has Dorry and Brogy sink their ship.
  • Death Glare: After saving Luffy from the Lord of the Coast, Shanks scares away the sea monster with a single, angry glare, which is later revealed to be the first use of Conqueror's Haki in the series.
  • Didn't See That Coming: Shanks travels to Wano at the end of the eponymous arc to 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. Shanks still wards off Ryokugyu who did try to do what Blackbeard was expected to do.
  • Disappeared Dad: In One Piece Film: Red, it's revealed that Uta is Shanks' adopted daughter he had abandoned years ago after taking the fall for a catastrophe she accidentally caused in the hopes she wouldn't be hunted for her powers.
  • Doorstop Baby: Film RED and its supplementary material reveal Shanks was the baby whom Roger mentioned to have held a long time ago when he first met Momonosuke and Hiyori. He was found inside a treasure chest taken from God Valley. In the film, Shanks finds an infant Uta the same way and happily adopts her after noticing the coincidence.
  • The Dreaded: If Shanks wants to stop someone in their tracks, all he has to do is show up or make a token display of force, and they get the message and immediately back off and abandon their mission. Those who don't get pulverised by the man himself, as Kid and his crew finds out.
    • His appearance at Marineford is enough to make everyone react with a mixture of shock and alarm, and his threat to fight anyone who wants to keep the battle going is enough to instantly end the violence. When even Akainu accepts to end the war rather than even attempt to deal with you after having previously demonstrated that he had no interest in stopping the battle, you have earned this title.
    • At the end of the Wano Arc, when Ryokugyu is demanding that the Straw Hats be brought before him so he can kill them all in one place, Shanks sends a warning shot of Conqueror's Haki from an extreme distance, and this alone is enough to make him immediately abandon his plans and run once he realizes whose Haki it is.
  • Establishing Character Moment: His introduction in the very first chapter shows him as a fun-loving, genuinely Nice Guy who loves to party and is willing to humble himself. That said, don't threaten his friends or it will end very badly for you and your crew.
  • Excellent Judge of Character: Shanks recognizes how much of a threat Marshal D. Teach truly is relatively early on, imploring Whitebeard to stop Ace in his mission to capture him. Shanks' request goes unheeded, with very nasty consequences.
  • A Father to His Men: He knows how weak some members of his fleet are and even jokes about it with them, but he cares greatly about them all the same. When Kid arrives to challenge Shanks, many of the latter's allied captains reach Shanks to ask for his protection, like a child would with his father. The moment Kid starts aiming for the weaker ships first, Shanks takes no chances and takes him out immediately.
  • Friendly Pirate: Shanks and his crew have always been friendly and easygoing, seeing piracy as a means to go on adventures, explore the world, and party until you drop. It was Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates that set Luffy's standard for piracy.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Shanks was merely a cabin boy just before the Great Age of Pirates (for the Roger Pirates, mind you, but still a lowly position). However, four years before Luffy begins his journey, Shanks became an Emperor of the Sea, after he already lost an arm. Even around the time he meets Luffy, his crew is no joke: his Number Two Benn Beckman boasts to some bandits dumb enough to pick a fight with them, that they should've brought nothing less than a warship to take them on. By contrast, the other three Emperors are all pirates of the same generation as Roger's and were part of the same crew, making them established and feared pirates long before anyone started calling them Emperors.
  • The Gadfly: In the first chapter, Shanks playfully mocks a young Luffy and laughs when he gets angry.
  • Generation Xerox: Luffy becomes more and more like Shanks, rather than Roger, although Shanks notices the similarities in the two's personalities. Shanks himself subverts this by refusing to take a child onto his ship despite his and Buggy's own young start on Roger's crew, though his fighting style seems to be extremely similar to Roger's, as is his attitude towards those who try to harm his men (though if Garp's recollection of Roger is anything to go by, Roger was far more vindictive).
  • The Gloves Come Off: When Kid raids Elbaf Shanks is rather mellow about it, reading about Kid's data and wondering about Blackbeard's whereabouts before setting sail to engage. He drops everything the moment he gets a vision of just how many members of his fleet will die if Kid is not stopped, and rushes in to strike the captain down with his full force.
  • Good Is Not Soft:
    • In a series where permanent death is exceedingly rare, his Establishing Character Moment includes him not batting an eye when one of his crew outright murders a bandit. Mistaking his general happy-go-lucky and live-and-let-live attitude for softness is a bad idea.
    • When Eustass Kid and his crew challenge Shanks, the latter clearly does not want to fight him and gives him plenty of chances to back off at first, but the minute that this enemy threatens the lives of his men, Shanks instantly takes the "fuck around and find out" approach, proceeds to pulverize Eustass Kid with a single Divine Departure, also taking out Killer as collateral damage, refuses the rest of Kid's crew members' desperate last-ditch attempt to talk him down and has their ship sunk by Dorry and Brogy's Hakoku technique.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Shanks got his scars across his eye from Blackbeard when they were still apprentices under Roger and Whitebeard respectively.
  • Handicapped Badass: Even with only his right arm, he's strong enough to stand up to the most powerful pirates in the world. Because of this, he doesn't interest Mihawk in sword fights anymore, though Mihawk at least visits him from time to time when there's news that may interest him. According to Oda, he's still as strong as he was before he lost his arm.
  • The Hero's Idol: Luffy has a deep admiration for Shanks who saved his life as a child and gave him his iconic straw hat. He emulates a lot of Shanks' traits like his fierce loyalty to his friends and unmatched Nerves of Steel. Even his goal of becoming King of the Pirates was a promise he made to Shanks to impress the pirate. Whenever the story shifts to Shanks's perspective, he'll often remark on Luffy's progress and look forward to where the young pirate goes next.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • Despite his laid-back personality, Shanks has a more complex view on life than he lets on; he ends up separating from Buggy, his closest friend at the time, because he believes that if two people share very different views on the same subject, it's better for them to just go their separate ways instead of reconciling and staying together because of the conflicts this could lead to.
    • Despite being one of the four Pirate Emperors and one of the most notorious pirates in the world, he's apparently on speaking terms with the Five Elders.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers:
    • Shanks is known to have dueled with Mihawk in the past, and said duel is said to have shaken the Grand Line.
    • At the Paramount War, Shanks blocks Akainu's fist full of lava with his sword.
  • Idiot Ball:
    • Shanks carelessly leaves the chest containing the Gum-Gum Fruit out in the open while hanging out at a bar, allowing Luffy to eat it and become a rubberman.
    • Despite being one of the strongest pirates of the world, Shanks falls for a simple smoke bomb trick, allowing a simple bandit like Higuma to flee with Luffy. Shanks himself points out how careless he got in that moment.
  • It Will Never Catch On: Right after Roger's execution, Shanks offers to start a pirate crew with his fellow cabin boy Buggy. Buggy refuses on the grounds that he doesn't believe Shanks has what it takes to become a successful pirate with his Nice Guy personality. Fast forward twenty-two years to the start of the series, and Shanks is one of the four most powerful pirates in the world while Buggy is raiding small towns in the East Blue, the weakest sea. In truth, Buggy wholeheartedly believes that Shanks has everything he needs to become the Pirate King, even giving up his own dreams of doing so due to feeling completely outclassed by Shanks. The real reason Buggy refused to join Shanks' crew was that he took offense to Shanks' unwillingness to find the One Piece, believing that Shanks wasn't respecting Roger's last wishes.
  • Ki Manipulation: He's the series first-seen Haki user and is strongly implied to be one of the best.
  • Kid Hero All Grown-Up: Along with Buggy, Shanks was a cabin boy on Gold Roger's ship but in the present he is one of the strongest pirates of the world.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: When Kid prepares a Damned Punk to devastate Shanks' allied fleet, Shanks, who initially planned to solve it with a talk, unleashes all his strength to take him down immediately and prevent any damage.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Roger was effectively Shanks's father, and like Roger Shanks will slaughter anyone who threatens his friends and crewmates.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: Shanks takes losing his arm very well because he considers the loss a bet on Luffy, the new generation.
  • Martial Pacifist: Shanks is one of the four strongest pirates in the world, but he, along with Whitebeard, doesn't intend to start any conflict, and Shanks even tries to prevent them, acting as some sort of mediator between the world's biggest powers. When some bandits mock him, Shanks shrugs off the insults and doesn't reply. Lastly, pulling a Big Damn Heroes is an established character trait of his - if Shanks wants a battle to end or someone to stop what they're doing and leave, he either just shows up or sends them a warning shot, and makes it clear that while he'd rather end things peacefully, anyone who wants trouble will find it from him and his men.
  • Master Swordsman: In the past, Shanks was strong enough to have challenged Mihawk, the world's strongest swordsman, in a duel. In the present, while is not as able with a blade since he lost his dominant hand, Shanks is still one of the strongest characters of the series and mainly fights with his sword.
  • Mellow Fellow: Shanks is one of the most laid back characters in the world of One Piece, preferring to take his time as he and his crew travels around the world rather than rushing from one place to another.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Really handsome. More so when we see him after his introduction.
  • Mysterious Past: Despite being one of the first characters introduced, Shanks's rise to power is one of the most mysterious aspects of One Piece's mythology, with only mystifying tidbits to draw on. What's known is that he rose incredibly fastnote  without a Story-Breaker Power. Yet he's well connected to the point that he can walk into Mariejois, talk to the Five Elders, and walk out unharmed.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shanks. Subverted in that his first appearance establishes him as a genuinely nice guy, and then Double Subverted when you learn that he's one of the Four Emperors, one that neither Marines, Warlords, or other Emperors want to directly antagonize. When he shows up late in the Paramount War and threatens to join the brawl if they don't stop fighting, both sides decide to run away from him really fast.
  • Nice Guy: Shanks is not cruel like many other pirate captains, nor does he rule over his crew with fear to gain respect. His friendly nature means he will not purposely seek to harm others, and he is able to make serious characters like Dracule Mihawk join in with his fun. That said, he can't be taken lightly.
  • No Badass to His Valet: Despite being widely feared across the seas, there's one active pirate who is absolutely not afraid of him. It's Buggy. Despite the huge gap between their abilities, it's just like the old times on the Oro Jackson as far as he's concerned.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: As easygoing as Shanks is, when it's time to fight, he does not mess around. In Chapter 1079, after receiving a vision from his Observation Haki showing how much damage Kid's Damned Punk attack would do to his fleet, Shanks wastes no time and takes Kid out with a single Divine Departure.
  • Noodle Incident: Shanks received the scars on his face during a clash with Blackbeard but said clash is never shown. It's implied that, through it, Shanks learned that his opponent was much tougher than he appeared to be and tried to warn Whitebeard about it.
  • One-Armed Warrior: Even after losing his left arm (heavily implied to be his dominant hand) saving Luffy, he is still recognized as one of the greatest swordsmen in the world, and able to cross blades with Whitebeard with the impact of their clash splitting the sky.
  • Only Sane Man: Following the death of Whitebeard and prior to Big Mom and Kaido losing their titles in the aftermath of the Onigashima Raid, Shanks is the only Pirate Emperor that isn't crazy, ruthless, power-hungry, nor bloodthirsty, but he has proven to be quite the diplomat as shown when he talked to Whitebeard about Ace going after Blackbeard, as well as at the Battle of Marineford when he single-handedly stopped the war.
  • Papa Wolf: Shanks is very nice and wouldn't fall to provocations, but doesn't hesitate to attack someone who's threatening his friends or his allies.
    Shanks: (To Higuma) Listen up... You can pour drinks on me, you can throw food at me... You can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off. But... Good reason or not... Nobody hurts a friend of mine.
    • While they only interact during Film RED, and not for very long, especially don't threaten Uta. When the Marines tried to do just that, the blast of Haki Shanks let out had two of the Admirals visibly unbalanced and was knocking out several Vice-Admirals.
    • When Eustass Kid starts trouble with him, Shanks seems to be uninterested in fighting him, and keeps his cordial and laissez-faire attitude. Once Kid begins aiming a Damned Punk at one of his ships and Shanks sees what would happen to the men onboard through Observation Haki, his attitude instantly becomes serious and he personally wrecks Kid.
  • Parental Substitute: In the first chapter, Shanks is the closest Luffy has to a real father in his youth, seeing as his actual father is out being a revolutionary and his grandfather is a well-intentioned yet terrible parental figure.
  • Passing the Torch: Shanks saves Luffy's life because he believes that he carries Gol D. Roger's will, which is symbolized when he hands him his hat (which previously belonged to Roger). When Whitebeard asks how he lost his arm, Shanks replies that he "bet it on a new generation".
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: It's hard to blame Shanks for instantly defeating Kid (despite him being Luffy's ally and warning Aramaki not to hurt them) when he saw the effects of Damned Punk and stopped Kid from killing his crewmates and Elbaf civilians.
  • Poke in the Third Eye: A supplementary guide released for One Piece Film: Red says that Shanks can use his Conqueror's Haki to interfere with the predictive abilities of Observation Haki, nullifying them completely.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Even his enemies like the officers of Whitebeard's crew and the Five Elders will speak to how Shanks is not the sort to start fights or cause trouble. He's allowed aboard Whitebeard's ship and into Mariejois because people trust him not to abuse that kind of access.
  • Red Is Heroic: He is known as "Red-Haired" Shanks because of his hair and he's the most moral among the Emperors, as well as the mentor of the protagonist.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni:
    • He's the red to Mihawk's blue. Shanks being the warm-hearted, party-loving one, and Mihawk being the cold, serious one (though he can enjoy parties, just not to the same extent as Shanks).
    • He's the blue to Buggy's red. Buggy being the easily angered and more emotional one while Shanks is more laid-back and composed.
  • The Rival: Shanks was Mihawk's rival in swordfight before he lost his arm, though the two are on relatively good terms. He was also a rival to Buggy as kids in Roger's crew, but not so much in the present.
  • Signature Laugh: "Dahahahahaha!"
  • Situational Hand Switch: Shanks wears his sword on his right hip, indicating that he was left-handed before he lost his left arm. Since then, naturally, he's been using his right arm, but it's been said his sword skills aren't as strong as before.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: His appearances are infrequent and usually brief, but always important.
    • In the first chapter, Shanks inspires Luffy to become a pirate, then saves him and gives him his hat as a keepsake for the promise to become a good pirate, starting off the entire plot of the series.
    • Arrives at the Summit War just in time to save Koby, and then ends the entire war by threatening to join the fight, along with his crew, if anyone wants to continue fighting.
    • His arrival in Wano saves it from getting ravaged again by Ryokugyou after they just dethroned Big Mom and Kaido, while accidentally leaving the field open for Blackbeard to camp at one of the adjacent islands to take Law's poneglyphs, destroy his ship and nearly kill him.
    • In his first proper fight in the present of the series, which doesn't last long, he devastates Kid and his crew.
  • Staring Down Cthulhu: In the first chapter, after saving Luffy from the Lord of the Coast, Shanks scares the sea monster with a simple glare. Subverted when it's shown that the Lord of the Coast isn't very strong and Shanks is one of the strongest pirates of the world.
  • Straight for the Commander: Justified. Due to getting a premonition that Kid will kill a lot of his people, Shanks doesn't waste a second trying to fend off his crewmates and guns for him personally - knocking him and Killer out and stopping the attack.
  • Sword and Gun: While he can't wield them both at the same time for obvious reasons, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 depicts him as being skilled in the usage of some large fire arm resembling a rifle or a shotgun.
  • Sword Beam: Chapter 1079 shows that he can use former captain Gol D. Roger's Signature Move Divine Departure, firing a burst of Haki from his sword.
  • Threatening Mediator: If Shanks wants someone to stop what they're doing and leave, he threatens to, alongside his crew, deal with them as a means of achieving it.
    • While Whitebeard was heading to Marineford, Kaido was on his way to intercept him. It's unknown exactly what went down when Shanks intercepted Kaido, but the end result is that Kaido chooses to back down and leave Whitebeard alone.
    • At the end of Marineford, Akainu has zero intention of stopping and is prepared to fight to the bitter end and kill as many pirates as he can. As soon as the Red Hair Pirates show up and tell everyone to end this war or they would join the fight, Sengoku declares the war over and Sakazuki reluctantly follows him.
    • At the end of the Wano Country arc, Ryokugyu arrives to kill Luffy but Shanks wastes no time in sending a blast of Conqueror's Haki and, as soon as Ryokugyu figures out whose Haki it is, he immediately backs off and leaves.
  • Token Good Teammate: The Four Emperors don't work together, but with the death of Whitebeard, Shanks is the only Emperor who's not a villain. At least until Luffy replaces Kaido.
  • Tranquil Fury: Whenever he gets angry, he maintains a stoic composure. Even after annihilating the Kid Pirates for attempting to kill his men, he didn't even raise his voice - the most he did was to remark that anyone who endangers the lives of his men should expect to face the same level of force.
  • Universally Beloved Leader: The citizens of Elbaf basically worship the ground he walks on and are willing to donate to their cause even though he offers protection free of charge. His fleet is actually mostly composed of elderly and weakling goofball pirates (by New World standards) who he's very serious about protecting.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Shanks and Buggy bickered a lot when they were on Roger's crew, but were still close friends deep down. They still have this dynamic as adults, no matter how much time has passed and no matter how much Buggy continues to deny it.
  • We Help the Helpless: An interesting example. A lot of the pirate crews who work for him are fiercely loyal to Shanks, because they're generally weak (for the New World, at least), and probably would have died swiftly at the hands of other pirates or the Navy if he hadn't taken them under his wing. Also, Shanks doesn't ask for tribute from the islands in his territory, to the point that when a few Elbaf citizens offer him some, he turns them down.
  • Wild Card: To the world at large, Shanks stands out as being an utter enigma. While Whitebeard lives the life of a classic pirate and keeps much of the more brutal aspects of the world in check, Kaido is a vicious warmonger, and Big Mom wants to unite the world through conquest, no one is quite sure of what Shanks wants or even does. The fact that he is apparently allowed to enter Mariejois to speak with the Five Elders only raises further questions.
  • World's Strongest Man: Following Kaido and Linlin's defeat, Shanks holds a better claim to the title of Strongest Man Alive than anyone. Mihawk, Buggy, and Kid are the only people who don't display any trepidation around him, and in Buggy's case, it's due to their history together, rather than any actual ability to match him. Whenever Shanks shows up to send a warning shot to someone, even a complete fanatic, they heed it. On the few occasions when he fights, his Conqueror's Haki is comparable to Roger's own, as a casual clash with Whitebeard that neither of them take all that seriously split the sky, and it has been confirmed on multiple occasions that he has the strongest Conqueror's Haki of anyone alive in the series. In Chapter 1079, Eustass Kid learned the hard way that picking a fight with Shanks is more or less a death sentence.
  • You Remind Me of X: When asked by Rayleigh about his missing hat and arm, Shanks replied he met this boy who talked just like their captain Roger — "the very same words". Shanks also thinks Ace's strong pride and recklessness that resulted in his death were the same as Roger's and wishes Luffy to be different and let himself run away and cry without shame, for he can always overcome his hardships later.

    Ben Beckman 

Ben Beckman

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Sogabe (JP, Episode 4), Aruno Tahara (JP, Episodes 151+), Joseph Murray (EN, Odex), Andrew Paull (EN, 4Kids), Sean Hennigan (EN, Funi); Unknown (4Kids), Rafael Pacheco (Netflix) (Latin American Spanish)

Age: 48 (Pre-Timeskip), 50 (Post-Timeskip)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ben_beckman_anime.png

"If you want to fight us you better get a fleet of marines to back you up"
Chapter 1

Shanks' second-in-command and the First Mate of the Red Hair Pirates. His fighting skills were displayed in the very first chapter of the story, wherein he defeats a gang of mountain bandits using only a cigarette and a rifle (used as a club). In his following appearance he looks older and has more scars, but he hasn't lost the edge.


  • Alliterative Name: Ben Beckman.
  • Badass Boast: While confronting the Mountain Bandits at Foosha, Beckman tells Higuma that they cannot win without an entire fleet of marines.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He's a chill guy, but he's also a pirate who's not afraid of playing dirty to a fight. Case in point: Ben's opening move when dealing with Higuma's lackeys is putting out his cigarette against one bandit's forehead.
    Beckman: Stop whining, landlubbers! You're not dealing with saints here.
  • Cool Old Guy: His hair is already gray but he's also the Number Two of one of the Four Emperors and stops Kizaru, who is able to move at lightspeed, by simply threatening him with an ordinary gun.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Beckman isn't as wild a party animal as most of his crewmates, and he has a dry wit befitting his demeanor. When the Red Hair Pirates give Marco a ride back to Sphinx, Shanks tries to recruit him again, but Marco refuses, noting he's retired from babysitting knuckleheads like him. Beckman agrees immediately that his captain's a handful.
  • Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: His appearance in Film RED demonstrates for the first time that, yes, Armament Haki can be infused through a firearm into its rounds. Which makes him being able to hold up Kizaru at gunpoint suddenly have much more credence.
  • Foreshadowing: His Badass Boast gives a hint to the fact that their crew is not to be messed with, specifically the part where he says nothing less than a Marine fleet would be the minimum requirement for fighting their crew. It is revealed later on that their crew is one of the strongest in the world.
  • Genius Bruiser: According to Oda, he's the smartest guy in the East Blue Saga, even more than Nami and Kuro, and is one of the strongest pirates of the world. In his first chapter, he quickly dispatches a gang of bandits using a rifle as a blunt object.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: In the ten years between meeting Luffy and his next reappearance, Ben Beckman has obtained a scar.
  • The Lancer: Among the crewmembers, he's the closest one to Shanks and a direct contrast in personality. While Shanks is normally, fun-loving, cheerful and ditzy, Ben Beckman is calm and collected and his smiles are rare and subtle.
  • Number Two: Beckman is the most prominent crewmember after Shanks himself and his high intelligence makes him the most important besides the captain.
  • Older Sidekick: Beckman is Shank's first mate and a good eleven years his senior.
  • One-Man Army: In the very fist chapter, Beckman alone manages to annihilate the mountain bandits by using a cigarette and a rifle, without even shooting but by using said rifle as a blunt weapon.
  • Only Sane Man: Beckman is much more reserved when compared to his outlandish crewmates, although he likes partying just like them.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: SBS 107 reveals Ben is the one who cost Kid his left arm during the timeskip. However, given Kid's violent and amoral behavior makes it hard to feel sorry for him.
  • Pistol-Whipping: Ben carries a rifle rather than a pistol, but the principle is much the same when he confronts the mountain bandits: he clubs them all to the ground with his rifle's barrel, only holding it the regular way towards Higuma.
  • Really Gets Around: The Film RED booklet describes him as a playboy type with a love of women.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to his captain's Red. Ben Beckman is very calm and collected, while Shanks is more relaxed and fun-loving.
  • Smoking Is Cool: Ben Beckman is often seen with a cigarette in his mouth, to go with his cool and collected look, and in the first chapter he uses it to defeat a bandit.

Officers

    Lucky Roux 

Lucky Roux

Voiced by: Jin Domon (JP), Jaime Meldrum (EN, Odex), J. David Brimmer (EN, 4Kids), John Burgmeier (EN, Funi); Alan Prieto (4Kids), Mauricio Pérez (Netflix) (Latin Spanish Dub)

Age: 33 (Pre-Timeskip), 35 (Post-Timeskip)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lucky_roux_anime.png

One of the most prominent members of the Red Hair Pirates. An obese man who is always seen with a carefree grin and eating a piece of meat.

Despite his fat and seemingly harmless appearance, Lucky Roux is a very fast at using his gun.


  • Acrofatic: Despite having a round constitution, Lucky Roux is fast enough to sneak behind a bandit and shoot at him in a split second.
  • Badasses Wear Bandanas: Lucky Roux wears a green bandana that gives him a classic pirate look.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: He is a fat, jovial guy who's constantly smiling and eating, as well as the first person to score a kill in the entire series.
  • Big Eater: Lucky Roux is always seen eating a piece of meat in all of his appearances across the story.
  • Big Fun: Lucky Roux has a fat, round, unoffensive appearance and constantly sports a jovial smile, which makes him instandly appealing.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Lucky Roux's main color is green, his shirt and his bandana are both green with white stripes. This, along with his size, makes him easy to spot among the pirate crew.
  • Combat Pragmatist: When a bandit pulles a gun on Shanks, Lucky Roux shoots the bandit in the head while he's distracted.
  • Cool Shades: Everything in Lucky Roux's design is round, and that includes the red-lens glasses he always wears.
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: While his round appearance and green-coded bandana and shirt have remained consistent, at the beginning of the story Lucky Roux is much shorter and doesn't wear a cape.
  • Hidden Depths: Despite looking like just a happy-go-lucky Big Fun, Film RED reveals he's an excellent cook, and is very insecure around women.
  • Noiseless Walker: Despite his portly physique, while a bandit threatens Shanks at gunpoint, Lucky Roux sneaks behind the bandit without anyone noticing him and shoots him.
  • Perpetual Smiler: Lucky Roux appears to be the most jovial member of the crew and sports a big smile most of the time.
  • Rolling Attack: In his portion of Film RED's showcasing of the Red Hairs' combat prowess, Lucky Roux is shown to make use of his rotund physique and rapidly spin to careen himself straight into opposition.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Spelled as Lucky Roo in fan translations.
  • Team Chef: Supplementary material for Film RED reveals he's officially the Red Hair Pirates' cook.

    "Chaser" Yasopp 

Yasopp

Voiced by: Michitaka Kobayashi (JP), Brain Zimmerman (EN, Odex), Jason Griffith (EN, 4Kids), Scott Freeman (EN, Funi, 2007-2014), Jeff Johnson (EN, Funi, 2020-); Aldo Lugo (4Kids), Carlos Hernández (Netflix) (Latin Spanish Dub)

Age: 45 (Pre-Timeskip), 47 (Post-Timeskip)

Debut: Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 4 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yasopp_anime.png

Usopp's father and another prominent member of the Red Hair Pirates, being a renowned marksman just like his son would be. He left behind his young son and wife to become a pirate and sail the seas, having been recruited by Shanks. Both of them supported his endeavors.


  • Action Dad: Yasopp is a skilled marksman just like his son, Usopp. However, Yasopp has preferred the "action" part, and travels around the world with the Red Hair Pirates after having left his son and his wife behind.
  • Combat Clairvoyance: Film RED has Yasopp showcase his prowess in Observation Haki. He's able to continuously predict the future and can perceive what's happening within Uta's dream world from the outside.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: He left his family to go explore the seas as a pirate and never returned in fear they may be endangered, especially since, as a member of an Emperor Crew, the World Government could've easily threatened anyone related to them.
  • Disappeared Dad: Yasopp left his wife and his son, Usopp, to continue his adventures as a pirate.
  • Dreadlock Warrior: In the past, Yasopp's hair was curly and loose, not unlike his son's, while in the present his hair is tied into blonde dreadlocks like a stereotypical pirate.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: After shooting an apple placed on a table in the distance, Yasopp claims he can shoot the whiskers off an ant. Considering his son's skills and the fact he's a prominent member of an emperor's crew, his claims are very likely true.
  • Lamarck Was Right: Yasopp has excellent sharpshooting skills. Naturally, his son, Usopp, inherited them. However, Yasopp uses a rifle while Usopp uses a slingshot.
  • Like Father, Like Son: Usopp becomes a pirate and unrivaled sharpshooter, just like his father. Justified since Usopp has always admired his father and wants to become like him.
  • Parental Abandonment: Yasopp may have left his family for a really good reason, but despite that, he absoutely does not sugarcoat the fact that he left his wife and son behind to be a pirate and considers himself a deadbeat parent despite Usopp idolizing him and the fact that his wife never stopped loving him, even on her deathbed.
  • Parents as People: It is obvious that he does love Usopp with every fiber of his being, but he still chose to follow his dream of being a pirate over raising his son and he feels terrible about it, to the point that he admits to feeling nervous about seeing Usopp again once the Red Hairs get the news about Luffy's defeat of Kaido and the reshuffling of the Emperors. Although, neither his wife nor his son hold it against him and it is heavily implied that his wife told him to go, part of it probably dealing with the fact that his position could easily put giant crosshairs on their backs.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: A lot of Usopp's traits can be traced back to him. However, the famous Gag Nose came from his mother.
  • Tattooed Crook: Has his name tattooed on his upper right arm.

Other Members

    Rockstar 

Rockstar

Voiced by: Daisuke Gōri (JP, Episode 151), Andrew Chandler (EN, Funi), Carlos Torres (Netflix Dub LatAm)

Debut: Chapter 234 (Manga), Episode 151 (Anime)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rockstar_anime.png

A newcomer to the Red Hair Pirates.


  • Honor Before Reason: Subverted. When Rockstar feels insulted by the Whitebeard Pirates, he's told by Shanks to ignore honor and come back alive instead.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: He's former solitary pirate with a bounty of 94 Million but is considered a Rookie among the crew.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: When Rockstar arrives on Whitebeard ship as a messenger, he boasts about his days as a lone wolf. Marco quickly tells him that they never ever heard of him.

Whitebeard Pirates

    Edward Newgate — "Whitebeard" 

Edward Newgate — "Whitebeard"

Voiced by: Kinryū Arimoto (JP), Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (JP, Episode 962+), R. Bruce Elliott (EN), Juan Carlos Tinoco (Netflix Dub LatAm)

Age: 72

Debut: Chapter 234 (Manga), Episode 151 (Anime)

Devil Fruit: Tremor-Tremor Fruit

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edward_newgate_anime.png

"I'm just one man with one heart. They call me a fiend and a monster, but I can't remain the strongest forever! If I can help one young pirate achieve his destiny, my life will be complete. Isn't that enough?!"
Chapter 563

Edward Newgate, better known as Whitebeard, was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and considered to be the most powerful of the Four Emperors ruling over the New World (the second half of the Grand Line), and the only person to have ever battled the Pirate King to a draw. With Roger's death he became the "Strongest Man in the World", and this reputation made him the most feared and respected person in the world. However, 22 years had passed since the Pirate King's death and, although Whitebeard was still greatly feared, he was getting old and the world was slowly changing and new and ambitious individuals were looking to rise to the top and take his place. He has eaten the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Gura Gura no Mi), which allows to generate massive, destructive vibrations and trigger tsunamis and earthquakes.

Despite his stubborn and prideful attitude and fearsome reputation, Whitebeard has a strong sense of morality and honor and believes that all pirates should follow a moral code. He regards every member of his crew and of his 43 allied crews as a son or daughter; in turn, he is regarded as a father figure by all of them as well. As such, there is a strong sense of camaraderie and kinship amongst his crew, and Whitebeard is willing to go to great lengths to protect his "sons".

Prior to his passing, Newgate held the second highest bounty in recorded history at 5,046,000,000 Berries.


  • Affectionate Nickname: Since he literally adopts his mates, Whitebeard is called "Pops" or "Old Man" (Oyaji, an informal variation of "father") by his crew.
  • All for Nothing: Whitebeard mobilizes his crew and all his allies together to rescue Ace from the Marines and all their forces and is prepared to die to save Ace. In the end, he loses all his ships, thousands of his allies and crew members die in the process and Ace himself stops running and confronts Akainu, ending up killed, leading everything Whitebeard did to save him in utter vain. Whitebeard doesn't land a killing blow on Akainu to avenge Ace. Worse is that Blackbeard, the man who's responsible for the war in the first place, shows up afterwards and kills Whitebeard and steals his powers for himself. Whitebeard himself even acknowledges this in his final moments apologizing to his sons for being responsible for Blackbeard's current position.
  • Always Second Best: 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.
  • Anime Hair: In spite of all his badassery, under his bandana his hair is half moon shaped just like his moustache.
  • Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: In his first few appearances in the series, Whitebeard comes off as seeming to think that any decision he makes is the correct one regardless of potential consequences, even brushing off warnings from fellow Emperor Shanks. However, this later turns out to be a facade, as Whitebeard demonstrates that he isn't nearly as full of himself as he would like you to believe. Most likely he wanted to make sure he had a reputation for being fearsome and unreasonable to help keep the islands under his protection safe.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: While it is true that the Tremor-Tremor Fruit has incredibly fearsome power, it only adds to Whitebeard's awesomeness that he could use its power so effectively. To say it simply, this fruit transforms you into a walking natural disaster. Were it in anyone else's hands, the fruit's overall effectiveness diminishes greatly as you basically become the epicenter of a disaster so you would need great strength and competence just to make sure that the fruit won't end up killing yourself in its own shockwaves.
  • Badass Boast: "I. AM. WHITEBEARD!" Let's face it, it's all he needs.
  • Benevolent Boss: Whitebeard considers every single member of his crew, as well as his allies, his "sons". His strong love for his crew and allies traced all the way back to before he even had a crew, when he stated that the one thing he wanted more than anything was a family.
  • Big Good: 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 Closest Thing We Got after Whitebeard's death, 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, he had a damn good reason.
  • Brought Down to Badass: Blackbeard attacks Newgate with his darkness power, gloating about how it will nullify his earthquake ability... quite forgetting that he is facing the 18 foot tall World's Strongest Man with an even longer bisento. Even with all his injuries and advanced age, Whitebeard still kicks his ass handily and Blackbeard is ultimately forced to have his crew attack his almost-dead opponent all together to finish him off before Whitebeard ends him in turn. Before Blackbeard and his crew decides to gun him down, just before Whitebeard attempts to lay a blow, his skin went reddish and steamy, in a very similar way to Luffy's Gear Second.
    • Whitebeard himself is this, compared to when he was in his prime. In his clash with Roger, their Haki clash alone was enough to shake an entire island, something not seen before or since in One Piece.
  • Call-Back: A Devil Fruit with the power to make tsunamis was first mentioned by Morgan in the very first explanation of Devil Fruits we ever got in-series, that is, in the earliest anime episodes.
  • Captain Colorbeard: Edward Newgate is known as Whitebeard. Ironically, he has no beard but has a white moon-shaped moustache. This is because in the original Japanese he's known as shirohige and "hige" means any kind of facial hair, in this case referring to his moustache.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: He blocked a two-handed downward swing from John Giant with only one hand on his bisento. He threw Vice Admiral Ronse, another Giant, into the air like he weighted nothing. He extinguished the flames of one of Akainu's molten rocks with just a single breath. He prevented a massive paddle ship (captained by Squard) from further advancing using only one hand. When they say strongest man, this is what they mean. Note that he does most of this after being stabbed right through the chest. Probably the only reason Blackbeard didn't get cut in two when Whitebeard slashed his shoulder with his Bisento was due to Whitebeard's fading strength from his accumulated injuries and Teach's own abnormally high resilience.
  • Coat Cape: Whitebeard wears nothing on the upper side of his body except the coat on his shoulders, which, with his golden and red colors (similar to a king's cape), indicates his authority and status as one of the most influencial pirates of the world. It falls off when he dies, revealing his scarless back, a symbol of how he never turned and ran from a fight.
  • Cooldown Hug: After his ally, Squard, stabbed him and accused him of selling out his allies thanks to the Marines leaking false information to him, Whitebeard reassures him with an an hug and tells him he would never abandon a single one of them, then charges into the fray to kick major ass.
  • Covered with Scars: Whitebeard is covered with scars on every part of his body. Except his back: He never showed it to an enemy once. Indeed the only wounds present on it upon his death were from the recent battle...where he'd had several swords stabbed into him from the front and sticking out his back. He didn't even react to them.
  • Death by Irony: All he wanted was a family, and one of his "sons" kills him. Admittedly he had already basically disowned the guy, but the point still stands.
  • Declaration of Protection: Fish-Man Island used to be a Crapsack World, preyed on by pirates left and right, and the populace living in constant fear. All it takes is for him to declare the Island as his territory, and all the preying stopped there and then. This gets Deconstructed upon his passing: since the only defences several islands had from pirate raiders was the universal fear of his retribution if he or those under his protection were crossed, when he died said protection was nullified and several peaceful communities were almost immediately attacked by pirates looking to prosper in 'free' territories to claim.
  • Dented Iron: Even being the World's Strongest Man doesn't stop Newgate from getting his fair share of injuries— in fact, he takes several attacks in the battle of Marineford that he would have otherwise avoided simply because he's too old and suffering from old wounds to adequately evade them. He makes up for this by powering through them with almost sheer force of willpower at times— noticeably, losing half his head, which was almost guaranteed to kill him in the end, but he went down to further injuries sustained after that because at that point he was almost literally too pissed off to die. His years of pirating shows on his chest, which is almost literally more scar-tissue than skin. But not his back.
  • Determinator: Here's the best example. Half his face burned off? Doesn't matter. Akainu must die.
  • Died Standing Up: 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, whose continuous attacks on his person finally kill him. However, his body remains standing, as a symbol of his unshakable pride.
  • Dragon Ascendant: 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 Roger, while genuinely having the respect of his crew and even many of his enemies.
  • The Dreaded: Pretty much a given. Whitebeard, until his death, truly is the World's Strongest Man — all while being an old, half-dead, sickly shadow of his former self. Angering him is something that no one, not even the World Government, wants to do. However, Blackbeard forces their hand, and they have to pool in all their resources, including the Admirals and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, just to ensure that they would compete in a war against him.
  • Dying Moment of Awesome: His final action, after spending the previous several chapters being stabbed, shot, bombarded, and having half his face melted off by lava, is to fight Blackbeard one-on-one and own him so thoroughly that the entire Blackbeard Pirates crew has to jump in before he stomps their captain like a bug. And even though all of that finally kills him... it still isn't enough to make him fall. He even gets one last moment of awesome in his last moments. Even though he cannot move and is seconds from death, the very last thing he says, broadcast to the entire Sabaody Archipelago, is that the One Piece is real. This one phrase has the exact opposite effect that killing him was supposed to have.
    "THE ONE PIECE!!!!
    (...)
    THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!!!!!!"
  • End of an Age: As the pirate who stood at the top of the Golden Age of Piracy, Whitebeard himself states that there is no ship to carry him to the next era. His death specifically marks the end of the Golden Age of Pirates.
  • Enhanced Punch: His powers allow Whitebeard to give literal earthquake punches. He can even crack the air when he hits it.
  • Evil Power Vacuum: While he isn't evil at all, his death disrupted the Balance of Power in the world, causing a newer and much more vicious generation of pirates to hoist their jolly rogers. The man who benefited the most out of the vacuum? Blackbeard.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Double Subverted. Before going to Marineford, Whitebeard has gotten rid of all of his medical equipment, because he was aware that he wouldn't survive the Summit War. After Ace is rescued, Whitebeard remains behind to allow his men to flee, without any regret. Then Ace falls for Akainu's taunts and is killed, but Whitebeard uses his remaining forces to get revenge on the Admiral and is finally killed by the coordinated efforts of the Blackbeard Pirates, against which he dies without flinching, while his body refuses to fall.
  • Facepalm Of Doom: A variety. Whitebeard can grab his opponent's face with his hand and unleash his Face Quake Attack, hitting the opponent with an earthquake directly to the face. He uses this move on multiple characters, including strong ones like Blackbeard and Akainu, but no-one comes even close to fully enduring it.
  • Facial Horror: The left side of his face is destroyed by one of Admiral Akainu's magma attacks, but the details are never shown and always kept in shadow.
  • Family of Choice: With him as the "father" and his crew as the "children." Oden's flashback arc shows that Whitebeard regarded him as a younger brother, despite again there being no blood relation at all. As a dying Whitebeard's life flashed right before his very eyes, he expresses that in the end, this is all he ever wanted.
  • The Farmer and the Viper: Whitebeard took in a young Teach when he was an orphan and gave him a home like the rest of his crew. However, Teach was just using him to gain knowledge and power while hiding under Whitebeards name and once he got his hands on the Dark-Dark Fruit, he kills Thatch and runs away forming the Blackbeard Pirates, defeats Ace and during the Paramount War takes Whitebeard's life at the climax of the war, steals his Devil Fruit power and takes his place as one of the Four Emperors.
  • A Father to His Men: Every pirate in his crew is considered his son, and they consider each other brothers. And since this habit extends to his allies as well, there are definitely "daughters" like White Bay.
  • Feeling Their Age: Whitebeard was renowned as the World's Strongest Man prior to his death. He is an extremely powerful man with ridiculously powerful earthquake based Devil Fruit powers who has proved more than enough that he is worthy of his title in the Marineford arc. However, the moment he starts coughing up blood in the middle of battle, it's made clear that the man is no longer in his prime and that old age hasn't been kind to him. Based on his remaining strength though, it's less that he's significantly weaker, and more like that the monstrously strong old man was even more of a monster in the past. He even once stated "I may be a monster... but I'm not gonna be the strongest forever!" His first appearance on-panel showcases both his monstrous strength (he's a huge muscular giant of a man) and his declining health (he's hooked up to life support while being monitored by nurses).
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: The Marines learn the hard way that Zerg Rushing him doesn't work, as he wades through anyone not on the level of admirals.
  • Foil: To fellow Emperor Big Mom:
    • Whereas Whitebeard was an orphan who became a pirate to bring together money he would send back to his poor home, Big Mom was cast out by her birth parents and took to piracy solely for her own interests.
    • Whitebeard was considered the strongest of the original emperors, inducting men into his crew by adopting them as his sons. He is the first known pirate to claim Fish-Man Island as his territory. Big Mom struggled to compete with the other Emperors by arranging marriages to pump out children to serve as her army. She only laid claim to Fish-Man Island after Whitebeard had died.
    • Whitebeard and his crew aren't biologically related, but consider themselves a family and would lay down their lives for each other. Big Mom's crew is itself a heavily dysfunctional biological family, with half-brothers and half-sisters that have little love for each other, and fear Big Mom more than they love her.
    • Whitebeard's Devil Fruit gives him the physical might of an earthquake, which he only uses in combat. Big Mom's Devil Fruit gives her the power to manipulate souls, and she uses this to her advantage for the ruling of her domain.
    • Whitebeard's physique stays incredible even as his health appears to deteriorate with his age. After her physique improved when she reached adulthood, Big Mom seems to have let herself go as she approached her golden years while she appears to be in good health, chronic eating frenzies notwithstanding.
  • Formerly Fat: An SBS reveals that he was chubby — but muscular — as a child. As an adult, however, he was nothing but pure muscle.
  • Friendly Pirate: Despite his infamy and scary reputation, he’s actually a nice man who loves his crewmates like a family. He’s also very honorable, unlike most of the other Emperors.
  • Friendly Rivalry: With Roger. Plenty of dialogue throughout the series implies they had plenty of encounters in the past, and Ace was worried that Whitebeard would be angry once he discovered he was Roger's son. Yet we discover that Whitebeard not only shared a drink with Roger at least once, Roger actually offered to tell him how to find Laugh Tale (Whitebeard rejected it) and told him the meaning of "Will of D." In the flashback to Oden's past, Whitebeard and Roger's last battle was basically a friendly (if very intense and highly destructive) spar; the only time he actually got angry was when Roger wanted to take Oden along for his final voyage.
  • From Bad to Worse: For the Marines. This line after Ace's death from one of his crew should be a clue: "Oh man, Pops is pissed! EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!"
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: A benevolent version in-story. He was once an abandoned orphan child who lived in a nation too poor to even be a member nation of the World Government and grew up to be one of the most powerful pirates in history and one of the only men who could combat the late Pirate King and live to tell about it.
  • Genius Bruiser: Turns out Whitebeard's no slouch on chess playing. He sees half of Sengoku's moves during the Marineford Arc coming; had he not, the Whitebeard Pirates and allies would have been finished far earlier than expected. It could also be said that both Sengoku and Whitebeard consider the other their Worthy Opponent in strategy.
  • Good Is Not Soft: Whitebeard may be a pirate with one of the strongest codes of honor, but he can be stern when the situation calls for it. Oden constantly pestered him to take him along for the voyage, but Whitebeard refused because he was unsure Oden would be willing to show subservience to anyone (and Wano might misinterpret his leaving with pirates as a kidnapping). He had his crew quietly slip away while the retainers kept their master distracted, and when Oden still went after them by hooking a chain around the Moby Dick's mast, Whitebeard forbade anyone from pulling the future daimyo up, saying they would solve this like pirates now: If Oden could hold onto the chain in the water for three days, then he could be a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. If not, tough luck. To be fair, though, he helped and welcomed Oden in the crew despite him letting go prematurely to aid Toki.
  • Greater-Scope Paragon: We don't fully appreciate how massive his influence was until after he dies, but it quickly becomes clear that he was the only thing preventing the dominance of either the World Government or much, much worse pirates.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Whitebeard's final command is to order his allies to fall back, while he buys time fighting the entire Marine force by himself.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: More of a "tough man facade", but he put this up after Ace went to search Blackbeard by himself. Whitebeard actually didn't want Ace to, but as he's already gone, he had to cover it by claiming that his family code reinforced what Ace did.
  • Homage: His moustache, which is near-identical to the one sported by the ∀ Gundam. The fact that they're both the strongest in their respective categories is probably another one.
  • Honor Before Reason:
    • Goes to great lengths to avenge murdered crew members that would be downright insane were it not for the fact that he's, you know, Whitebeard.
    • Before going to Marineford, he refused to continue wearing his heart support because he believed everyone there would pity him. His heart problems become an impediment on several occasions during the war.
  • Humble Goal: Despite having the strength to take anything he wanted from the world, all Whitebeard ever wanted was his own family. He was once offered by Roger to become the next Pirate King but he declined since he already had everything he wanted in the Whitebeard Pirates.
  • I Have No Son!: When Blackbeard shows up at Marineford, Newgate makes it abundantly clear that Blackbeard is no longer a part of his "family" for his treachery.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: As he put it himself in his younger days, he didn't care too much for treasure; instead, he wanted a family.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: Due to his advanced age, and presumably from all of the injures he's taken over the course of a particularly long lifetime of piracy.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Whitebeard can be very brusque to people outside of his main crew and/or his close allies. Despite this, he's a very good man with good intentions (that is, having a family and generally staying out of trouble), and he is fiercely (if not murderously) protective of his crew and allies.
  • The Juggernaut: Even as a dying old man, he shrugs off everything the Marines throw at him, including a god-damn hole in his chest, and can still strike with enough force to level all of Marineford.
  • Ki Manipulation: A confirmed user of all three types of Haki.
    • With his Observation Haki, he was able to predict Ace's attacks in his sleep. And, he was able to sneak up on and strike Akainu, who himself was able to avoid Armament Haki-infused strikes by Marco and Vista, something replicated only by Katakuri against Luffy and Aokiji against Whitebeard. This shows that he probably had Future Sight not unlike Katakuri.
    • In his prime, Whitebeard's Armament Haki was so powerful that coupled with his Conqueror's Haki, a clash of blades (though technically the weapons weren't even touching each other) with his arch-rival, Roger, could unleash island-wide shockwaves. And Whitebeard didn't use his Devil Fruit ability.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Although a pirate, he's a good person and has a really prominent and manly chin.
  • Large and in Charge: Whitebeard is literally three times larger than the average man, and unlike the other over-sized characters in One Piece he's properly proportioned. This means his crew look like children next to him.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Whitebeard spends most of his screentime up until Marineford in his bedside receiving medical care. When he finally stands up, you know the shit has hit the fan. When he starts walking towards you... RUN.
  • Light Is Good: Edward Newgate is known as "Whitebeard" and is, along with Shanks, the most honorable of the Four Emperors. Additionally, his Devil Fruit powers manifest in his hands as light energy, contrasting with Blackbeard's darkness-based Yomi Yomi powers.
  • Like a Son to Me: One of his defining character traits: any pirate under him or allied to him becomes his son or daughter, and he will outright kill thousands to save one of them. Even those who don't officially join him aren't immune, as he quickly takes a paternal shine to Luffy as well.
  • Manly Tears: Whitebeard gets especially saddened when he realizes that Ace is really going to die.
  • Meaningful Name: His death was the gate to a new era. Newgate is also the name of a pair of (both long defunct) prisons in the London and the US (the first state prison in the country). Real life pirate William "Captain" Kidd spent some time in the London one.
  • Mighty Glacier: Due to his age and illness, he's rather slow on foot, and occasionally has to catch his breath after running. Marco implied that he was once a Lightning Bruiser in his youth, and the current Whitebeard can at least still sneak behind Akainu to attack him. Let's not forget him intercepting a man who can move at the speed of light as said man was charging straight at Luffy.
  • Mook Horror Show: Causes one of these while he rampaged across Marineford. You can see it here, in which we get to look from a soldier's point of view while he flies in the atmosphere after being tossed by Whitebeard.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The only way to describe what he does to Akainu after he killed Ace in the anime. It's almost enough to make you feel sorry for the poor bastard.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Or nickname, in this case. Despite being named "Whitebeard", he has no beard. This is averted in the original language since, in Japanese, "beard" and "moustache" are spelled with the same word, so his name fits his moustache.
  • No Place for Me There: Once Luffy has freed Ace and the brothers are moving to escape, Whitebeard orders his crew to follow suit. But he stays behind, both to singlehandedly cover their retreat, and because he believes the world is ready to move past him.
    Whitebeard: I'm a relic of a bygone era!! No ship can carry me into the New Age!!
  • Not Afraid to Die: In an SBS, it is revealed that, before Marineford's war, he ripped off all the medical devices that had been keeping his health stable and left his medical team in a safe place, not allowing them to fight because, by this point, he's ready to die.
  • Number of the Beast: It is revealed in an artbook that he stands at 666 cm tall.
  • One-Man Army: True to his title, during the battle in Marineford, Newgate does more damage to the Marines than his entire crew and allies combined.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Refers to his stab wound by Squard, after the latter tries to pull a Redemption Equals Death, as "a little scratch", and having nearly half of his head burnt clean off by Akainu merely gets him to speak one sentence in Tranquil Fury mode: "I'm just getting started".
  • Only Sane Man: During his time as a Rocks Pirate, Newgate was the only one to not constantly argue with his crewmates, and judging from what he said to Oden, it was not a position he enjoyed. When the crew first appeared at God Valley, Whitebeard's first concern (aside from grumbling about Rocks ordering him around) was to verify the presence of the prize Devil Fruits for the Celestial Dragons' hunting game.
  • Papa Wolf: Never kill or threaten to kill a member of his crew; his wrath over hurting his men is infamous in-universe. Doing so will get you a war you have a high probability of losing... if you have the entire planet's military force backing you up. With anything less it's a guarantee.
    • Usually when a rival asks one of his crewmembers to join the rival's crew, he'll let it slide — as shown when Shanks asked Marco to join him. Probably because he knows it's a joke, and of the sheer devotion of his men. However, when Roger decided to recruit Kozuki Oden in the past, Whitebeard was so outraged he caused an island to shake!... but grudgingly allowed to loan him for a year once Oden himself begged him.
  • Parental Abandonment: Implied. Even though even as kid he was still amazingly strong, and could take anything he wanted, he eventually decided the greatest treasure he could own is a family, which could imply that he never had one.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: The Tremor-Tremor Fruit grants him the power to create shockwaves powerful enough to "break the Earth apart". That means earthquakes on land, tsunamis at sea, and god help you if he wants to give your face a taste of that power.
  • Plot-Triggering Death: His demise causes the birth of a new era of piracy.
  • Rasputinian Death: Half his face melted off, he's slashed and stabbed 267 times, hit by more than 152 bullets and 46 cannon shots, and takes a fist of magma through his chest, all in one battle... but when the jacket comes off, there is not a single scar on his back, as he never showed it to the enemy.
  • Red Baron: He's always referred as "Whitebeard", never as "Edward Newgate".
  • Refusal of the Call: Whitebeard can easily be the next Pirate King if he really wants but is not interested in the title and is content with having a family. Before Gold Roger set off to get captured by the Marines, he offered Whitebeard the information on how to get to Laugh Tale, but Whitebeard refused, bluntly telling Roger that he's not interested in going there.
  • Required Secondary Powers: The reason he's able to make such good use of the Tremor-Tremor fruit is because he was already strong and tough enough to survive being on ground zero for an earthquake every time he uses his abilities.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Ace's death, Whitebeard beats the every loving crap out of Akainu and nearly sinks Marineford into the sea. He then nearly splits Blackbeard in half for having betrayed him, killed Thatch, and indirectly killing Ace by turning him in to the Marines.
  • Sacrificial Lion: One of the few characters to die in One Piece outside of a flashback, and his death was a turning point in the pirate world.
  • Shockwave Clap: Thanks to his Devil Fruit power, he can even create quakes in the air. He creates shockwaves by punching the air, causing it to crack. As Oden's flashback shows, Whitebeard could make these shockwaves with Haki alone while battling Gol D. Roger.
  • Shout-Out: Whitebeard dies remaining on his feet, while his body has been wounded by multiple weapon, very smilarly to Musashibo Benkei's iconic one. To add more similarities, Whitebeard wields a bisento just like Benkei.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: Teach tries to run his mouth when they meet at Marineford. Whitebeard responds with a spear to the shoulder.
  • Signature Laugh: "Gurararara!"
  • Sphere of Power: He can create a "Quake Bubble" around his fist or the blade of his bisento. It's like being punched by the force of an earthquake.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: When Oda was asked in an SBS why there were no female members of the Whitebeard Pirates who fought at Marineford, he explained that the crew's only females were nurses because Whitebeard's set of morals led him not to allow women on his ship as fighters. However, in the past Whitey Bay appears as a member of the Moby Dick's crew before becoming the captain of her own crew. In essence, it's more likely that Whitebeard and crew didn't want women near the sheer damage they unleash on their enemies.
  • Story-Breaker Power: The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is one of the strongest Paramecias 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. In Kozuki Oden's flashback, it's made abundantly clear just how powerful they really are when Whitebeard uses his shockwaves to blast Oden, Wano's strongest samurai, miles away into the distance. Indeed Blackbeard steals Whitebeard's Devil Fruit precisely because of its broken power.
  • Strong Empire, Shriveled Emperor: Zigzagged. He's the captain of one of the most powerful crews 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.
  • Super Drowning Skills: As with all Devil Fruit users he would sink like a stone in water, but he's not stupid enough to allow himself to be put in such a situation.
  • Superpower Lottery: The Tremor-Tremor Fruit is, put simply, the power to break things, and there is no meaningful upper limit on what it can break; the sky, the earth, the sea, a person's body... There's a reason it's got a reputation as one the world's most powerful and sought-after fruits — whoever can harness its might is quite literally destruction incarnate and, according to Sengoku, Whitebeard could destroy the world with this Devil Fruit. Blackbeard takes the first opportunity to kill Whitebeard for the specific reason to steal the Tremor Tremor Fruit power.
  • Super-Toughness: Despite being old and sick, Whitebeard is still tough enough to shake off cannonballs and slashes like they were nothing. During the war, he takes a lot of hits, including a magma punch that destroys half of his face, but rarely flinches. One of the few times Whitebeard genuinely feels pain, is when Akainu punches him with a magma punch in his chest right after Whitebeard has been struck by his sickness.
  • Sword Beam: He can infuse his bisento with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's powers to send a massive shockwave towards anything he swings it at. You do not want to be in the way.
  • Token Good Teammate: The Four Emperors don't work together, but Whitebeard is the most outwardly benevolent of the Four besides Shanks due to his philanthropic care of his homeland, his selfless protection of territories against malicious pirates like Fish-Man Island using his influence, and his overall considerate familial camaraderie among his crew members. He is also the only known former crewman of the Rocks pirates to not be a villain, and judging from flashbacks around that time, Whitebeard wasn't particularly malicious even then.
  • Torso with a View: He gets two gaping holes put through him during the Paramount War but still manages to push through these injuries for a bit longer.
  • Tranquil Fury: Goes into this state after Ace is killed by Akainu and then proceeds to return the favor.
  • True Companions: For the World's Strongest Man, who could have had anything this world had to offer... this is all he ever wanted. He succeeded.
  • Unstoppable Rage: When the twenty-three Marine ships watching him are instantly annihilated after the news that Ace is about to be executed, you know the World Government fucked up, right? And after Ace is killed, he proceeds to beat the shit out of Akainu and cut the entire damn island in half!
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His decision to adopt a young Teach would cause him to rise as Blackbeard many years later and become one of the Big Bad of the series and take Whitebeard's life later.
  • Unwitting Pawn:
    • Akainu tries to make him one by turning his beloved sons against him. It backfires magnificently.
    • Played Straight with Blackbeard since him giving Ace to the Marines lured Whitebeard out and weakened him to the point that Blackbeard could kill him and take his power.
  • Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Oda has said in an interview that Whitebeard's design draws inspiration from an elderly barkeep at a place he used to visit with his former editor. Said barkeep sadly passed away in 2007.
  • Vibration Manipulation: Whitebeard's Devil Fruit power allows him to manipulate vibrations in a multitude of ways. Examples include causing a "hypocentrum" inside John Giant's body with a punch and imbuing his bisento with his power to increase its offensive capabilities tremendously, such that with one swing of it he can mow down dozens of Marine mooks at once.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: The unbuttoned-top kind.
  • Worf Had the Flu:
    • Since the beginning of the war, Whitebeard was already a foot-and-a-half in the grave thanks to his illness. Reasons why he took his time to join the fight: his movements were extremely slow and measured, his dodging abilities non-existent as put by Marco; it should have been impossible for Squard to stab Whitebeard, and in several instances he had to stop to catch his breath, his heart barely working right. That rampage was done by a half-blind, half-deaf, arthritic 72-year-old shadow of its former self. World's Strongest Man, indeed. You may now shit yourself as you imagine what this guy would have looked like in his prime at full strength and pissed off, and it is all but stated that in his prime, the World Government wouldn't have even dreamed of looking at him funny.
    • It's stated that the only reason he didn't end Blackbeard then and there was because his body just couldn't go any further, forcing him to pause instead of landing the finishing blow before his target could recover. Had he been in a little better shape, Blackbeard would be dead.
  • World's Strongest Man: 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. That being said, Whitebeard in the prime of his youth was nothing less than a force of nature and only Roger seemed to be able to match him.
  • Worthy Opponent: To Sengoku. Also, the commander-in-chief of the Marines says he was the best of the pirates.
    • There was also definitely mutual respect between him and Roger. As for his fellow Emperors, Shanks shared his former captain's respect for Newgate (and Whitebeard in turn called him a "brat," but was aware of his strength), Big Mom at least implies that she wouldn't have considered fighting him without an alliance with the Giants, and Kaido sounds at least impressed with how he died.

    Whitebeard Pirates 
See their page.

Animal Kingdom Pirates

    Kaido, "The King of the Beasts" 
See his page.

    Animal Kingdom Pirates 
See their page.

Big Mom Pirates

    Charlotte Linlin — "Big Mom" 
See her page.

    Big Mom Pirates 
See their page.

New Emperors

Blackbeard Pirates

    Marshall D. Teach — "Blackbeard" 
See his page.

    Blackbeard Pirates 
See their page.

New Emperor #2's Crew

    New Emperor #2 

"Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy

See his page.

    New Emperor #2's Crew 
See their page.

    New Emperor #2's Fleet 
See their page.

New Emperor #3's Crew

    New Emperor #3 

"Genius Jester" Buggy the Clown

See his page.

    New Emperor #3's Crew 
See their entries here.


Alternative Title(s): One Piece The Four Emperors, One Piece Red Hair Pirates

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