The of the Sea are four fictional powerful pirates considered great powers in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece series. In the second half of the Grand Line known as the New World, the Four Emperors rule over separate empires consisting of several islands. An alliance between two or more of the Four Emperors is feared by the World Government, which maintains hegemony over most of the world. The geopolitical struggle between the World Government and the Four Emperors is the main conflict through the story.
Initially the Four Emperors consists of Shanks, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom, forming a precarious balance of power with the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines that keeps the world at peace; they are allowed to do as they please without interference from or to the World Government. Blackbeard's capture of Ace leads to a war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government, which results in Whitebeard's death. Two years later, Blackbeard is considered to have assumed Whitebeard's position. Following the events of the Onigashima war, where Big Mom and Kaido were defeated, Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy were considered the new members to replace them.
Evolution of the Emperors
There have been seven different Emperors of the Sea during the story of One Piece. Big Mom was the first to form a pirate empire, followed by Whitebeard and Kaido. Shanks was the most recent Emperor of the Sea at the start of the story, and is now the longest-ruling Emperor at the present part of the story. +Four Emperors Initial Emperor of the Sea Current Emperor Transition "Red-Haired" Shanks Became an Emperor of the Sea after the Roger Pirates were disbanded, six years after giving his straw hat to Luffy, and six years before the current story. Active pirate. "Red-Haired" Shanks "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate Became an Emperor of the Sea after the Rocks Pirates were disbanded. Defeated during the Paramount War by the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates. Deceased. The Blackbeard Pirates defeated the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates in the Grudge War a year later, and Blackbeard became a new Emperor of the Sea. "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach Kaido, "King of the Beasts" Became an Emperor of the Sea after the Rocks Pirates were disbanded. Defeated during the Raid on Onigashima by Monkey D. Luffy. Presumably deceased. Monkey D. Luffy replaced Kaido as the Emperor allied with the Wano Country and became a new Emperor of the Sea. "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin Became an Emperor of the Sea after the Rocks Pirates were disbanded. Defeated during the Raid on Onigashima by Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid. Presumably deceased. Around the same time, Buggy the Clown, Dracule Mihawk, and Sir Crocodile allied to form the Cross Guild. After news of both Big Mom's defeat and the formation of the Cross Guild spread, Buggy was declared an Emperor of the Sea. Buggy, "the Genius Jester"
Whitebeard Pirates +Whitebeard Pirates Edward NewgateLeader(Quake-Quake) Marco "The Phoenix" Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace "Diamond" Jozu Thatch Div.1 (Bird-Bird: Phoenix) Div.2 (Flame-Flame) Div.3 (Twinkle-Twinkle) Div.4 Chef Vista "The Flower Swords" Blamenco Rakuyo Namur Div.5 Swordsman Div.6 (Pocket-Pocket) Div.7 Div.8 Blenheim Curiel Kingdew Haruta Div.9 Div.10 Div.11 Div.12 "Water Buffalo" Atmos Speed Jiru Fossa Izo Div.13 Div.14 Div.15 Div.16 The are a crew led by Whitebeard and sixteen division commanders, each in charge of one hundred men.
Following Whitebeard's death at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates, some of its remnants went into hiding after failing to avenge his death.
Edward Newgate , better known as , is the 21 ft. captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and one of the Four Emperors who comes from the island of Sphinx. He is an unnaturally large and burly old man who fights with a naginata as his weapon and uses the ability of the Paramecia-type to create shock waves powerful enough to cause earthquakes and tsunamis. Whitebeard was capable of utilizing all three types of Haki and was capable of using the advanced application for both and Haoshoku and Busoshoku Haki. Whitebeard is regarded as the world's strongest man and the only one to have matched the King of the Pirates Gold Roger in combat when Whitebeard was a member of the Rocks Pirates.
After his crew member Portgas D. Ace is sentenced to death, Whitebeard declares war on the Marines and attacks their stronghold with his fleet. Eventually after being badly wounded in the war and revealing that he saw the One Piece while not claiming it, Whitebeard is killed by the Blackbeard Pirates just before he proclaims that the One Piece is real. After Whitebeard's death, Blackbeard uses an unknown method to steal his Devil Fruit power. At the time of his death, Whitebeard held a bounty of 5,046,000,000, the second-highest bounty ever for a pirate after Roger.
When asked, Whitebeard reveals his ultimate ambition is to have a family. Later in life, when he forms his own pirate crew, he calls all the crewmembers his "sons" and they address him as "Father" or "pops".
In the original Japanese series, he was originally voiced by Kinryu Arimoto, until his death on February 1, 2019, and was replaced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo. In the Funimation English adaptation, his voice is supplied by R Bruce Elliott.
The character is named after the real life pirate Edward Teach.
Division Commanders Portgas D. Ace
, also called , is the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, captain of the Spade Pirates, and Luffy's older sworn brother. He is the son of Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rouge. Having eaten the Logia-type , Ace is capable of manipulating, creating, and transforming into fire. Ace was capable of using utilizing all three types of Haki. Eventually, after being saved from execution, he shields Luffy from Akainu's magma attack at the cost of his own life. He is buried on an unnamed island in the New World alongside his captain Whitebeard.
He is voiced by Toshio Furukawa, while he is voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi as a child. In the 4Kids English adaptation, his names are changed to Portgaz D. Trace and "Heat Fist" Trace, and he is voiced by Jesse Hooker. In the Funimation English adaptation, his name is spelled Portgas D. Ace, and his voice is supplied by Travis Willingham. In the live-action series, Ace is portrayed by Xolo Maridueña.
Marco is Whitebeard's 1st division commander who can transform into a phoenix or a phoenix-human hybrid using the Bird-Bird Fruit: Model Phoenix. He is a skilled user of Haki. Like the rest of the crew, he participated in the war at Marineford to rescue Ace. After the crew disbanded, he settled in Sphinx, his captain's home island, working as a doctor for the citizens. Later, he accompanied Cat Viper to Wano Country to help the Straw Hats defeat the Animal Kingdom Pirates.
Marco is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the original Japanese version. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Bill Jenkins in Episode 151 and by Kyle Phillips starting in Episode 316.
Izo was the 16th division commander, who was one of Kozuki Oden's retainers in Wano as well as Kikunojo's older brother. He was later killed in the battle of Onigashima fighting Guernic and Maha of CP0. Izo is voiced by Yūsei Oda in the original Japanese version while Masamu Ono voiced him in his youth. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Colton Jones in earlier episodes and by Jessie James Grelle starting in Episode 963 while Kelsey Maher voiced him in his youth.
Other Commanders Kozuki Oden was the 2nd division commander during his time sailing with the Whitebeard Pirates. : The 3rd division commander who can turn parts of his body into diamond via the Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit. Jozu is voiced by Takashi Nagasako in the original Japanese version and by Matt Thurston in the Funimation dub. : The late 4th division commander. He was killed by Blackbeard during his secession from the Whitebeard Pirates. Thatch is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono in the original Japanese version and by Parker Fitzgerald in the Funimation dub. : The 5th division commander. Vista is voiced by Masaya Takatsuka in the original Japanese version and by Hunter Barnett in the Funimation dub. : A short rotund man with gray skin who is the 6th division commander. He ate the Pocket-Pocket Fruit, which enables him to create pockets in his body. Blamenco is voiced by Keiji Hirai in the original Japanese version and by Jessie James Grelle in the Funimation dub. : The 7th division commander. Rakuyo is voiced by Takahiro Fujimoto in the original Japanese version and by James Chandler in the Funimation dub. : A shark-type fish-man who is the 8th division commander. Namur is voiced by Daisuke Matsubara in the original Japanese version. : The 9th division commander. Blenheim is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in the original Japanese version and by Mark Rios in the Funimation dub. : The 10th division commander who wields two bazookas that he carries on his back. Curiel is voiced by Kōhei Fukuhara in the original Japanese version and by Ricco Fajardo in the Funimation dub. : The 11th division commander. Kingdew is voiced by Hiromi Miyazuki in the original Japanese version and by Patric Carroll in the Funimation dub. : The 12th division commander. Haruta is voiced by Junko Noda in the original Japanese version and by Clifford Chapin in the Funimation dub. : The 13th division commander who sports a horned helmet. Atmos is voiced by Kōhei Fukuhara in the earlier parts of the original Japanese anime and by Kenji Hamada starting in Episode 485 of the English dub. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Paul Giovanni Ramirez. : The 14th division commander. Speed Jiru is voiced by Yūsuke Numata in the original Japanese version and by Jeff Johnson in the Funimation dub. : The 15th division commander. Fossa is voiced by Kōichi Nagano in the original Japanese version and by Kent Williams in the Funimation dub.
Other Whitebeard Pirates members : A nurse who, along with the other nurses of the crew's medical division, was in charge of Whitebeard's health care. She is voiced by Yuka Shioyama in the original Japanese version of the anime. Marshall D. Teach was part of the crew until he leaves and starts his own crew after murdering Thatch. Dogstorm and Cat Viper were apprentices of the crew while accompanying Kozuki Oden. Kozuki Hiyori traveled with the crew while accompanying Oden.
Subordinate Captains There are subordinate captains with their own pirate crews who are loyal to Whitebeard:
: A subordinate captain and former member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Epoida is voiced by Hiromi Miyazuki in the original Japanese version and by Larry Brantley in the Funimation dub. : A subordinate captain and former member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Whitey Bay is voiced by Yuka Shioyama in the original Japanese version and by Jennifer Green in the Funimation dub. : A subordinate captain and former member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Andre is the twin brother of Marines officer Candre. Andre is voiced by Yasunori Matsutani in the original Japanese version and by Tyler Walker in the Funimation dub. : A subordinate captain and former member of the Whitebeard Pirates. : A subordinate captain and former member of the Whitebeard Pirates who has a walrus-like face. Islewan is voiced by Takehiro Fujiwara in the original Japanese version and by Neil Rogers in the Funimation dub. : A subordinate captain who is accompanied by an unnamed monkey. Doma is voiced by Kōji Haramaki in the Japanese version and by Nick Landis in the Funimation dub. : A subordinate captain. McGuy is voiced by Yasunori Matsutani in the original Japanese version and by Ian Ferguson in the Funimation dub.