Key Takeaways
- The One Piece Emperor is a powerful pirate captain who is virtually undefeatable in one-on-one combat.
- They control vast territories and resources, and pursue ambitious goals such as becoming pirate kings.
- Emperors such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, and Shanks have unique backgrounds and motivations and have achieved varying degrees of success in achieving their goals.
The Emperor is a pirate who serves as captain of the crew of the top four whom the world government deems most threatening. They themselves are also generally very strong, and most of them are nearly impossible to win in one-on-one combat.
However, this does not stop them from surrounding themselves with the highest power when it comes to pirates. Most emperors now control multiple territories, have abundant resources, and generally have a high quality of life, at least as far as pirates are concerned. Nonetheless, no pirate can achieve such great scales without great ambition, and the Emperors all have fairly ambitious goals.
7 Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate
Whitebeard Pirates Captain
- debut: Episode 159 (cartoon), Episode 95 (animation)
- situation: Death, no longer emperor
- devil fruit: Gura Guranomi (Gura Guranomi)
The late Edward Newgate was an orphan on Sphinx Island. The island was too poor a territory to pay for protection from the world government, and crime and corruption in the area increased. As a result, Newgate had a disadvantaged childhood, which may have been why he turned to piracy. Whitebeard served as a member of the Rocks Pirates, a notorious crew of powerful individuals who were the type to refuse orders. Some time after his crew disbanded, he formed his own large-scale organization known as the Whitebeard Pirates.
These crews were reputed to be incredibly large, requiring 16 divisions, each with its own commander. In addition, there were several separate crew members who joined Whitebeard and acted as subordinates. Newgate also gave numerous territories his own flag, “claiming” them and essentially acting as their protector. Much of his loot was passed on to the Sphinx, possibly as a form of humanitarian aid.
Unlike other emperors, Whitebeard was not interested in the One Piece, and even refused to tell him the location of the One Piece. Instead, he seemed to focus on the sailors he considered his family. Whitebeard lacked any relatives growing up, so providing for his family seemed to be his greatest ambition. He also seemed interested in protecting territories that seemed to have no access to government support even outside the Sphinx. Both of these ambitions seem aligned with the larger goal of helping marginalized people, whether people on devastated islands or simply teenagers drawn to piracy. But his love had limits, as he drove out his longtime colleague, Marshall D. Teach, for murdering and betraying Thatch, one of his former division commanders.
6 Charlotte “Big Mom” Linlin
Big Mom Pirates Captain
- debut: Episode 651 (cartoon), Episode 571 (animation)
- situation: unclear, no longer emperor
- devil fruit: Sorusorunomi
Charlotte Linlin was an orphan whose parents were unable to protect her. She grew up in an orphanage in Elbaf, where secret human trafficker Mother Carmel hoped to sell her to world governments. She was large, almost invincible, and had a voracious appetite from a young age. According to Elbaf tradition, she may have been unable to fast and accidentally ate Carmel and her fellow orphans.
One of Linlin's main goals was to secure all the races of Totto Land and the surrounding islands that served as her territory. She taxes her islanders with one month of their lives (she steals their souls with devil fruits) in exchange for six months of residence on the island. Two of her daughters also claimed that she did not allow people to voluntarily leave her territory.
Linlin also wanted to become the pirate king and his goal was to obtain the One Piece. Linlin appears to have been largely successful in her goal of uniting the various races, the majority of whom were seen in her realm or collected by her by other means. However, there were several races that she had not yet been able to unite. The most notorious stumbling blocks are the giants who despise Linlin as a race after their actions in Elbaf. She tried to solve the problem with an arranged marriage, but her daughter Lola left her husband-to-be, Rocky, at the altar. After failing to pass off Lola's twin, Chiffon, as her sister, the giants hated Linlin even more for her trickery. Another race not seen on her island are the Moon people, who are thought to be largely extinct. Linlin asked King, the only survivor of his race, to accompany him, but King refused. Linlin also had 85 children as a result of her multiple marriages to husbands of different races.
Linlin's goal of finding the One Piece has so far proven somewhat less successful than the others. She hopes to gain the upper hand by utilizing her daughter Pudding's three-eye powers, but Pudding herself is unsure if this will work. Due to Linlin's defeat and his presumed (unconfirmed) death on Onigashima, her crew is much less powerful than before.
5 Kaido
Captain of the Beast Pirates
- debut: Episode 795 (cartoon), Episode 736 (animation)
- situation: unclear, no longer emperor
- devil fruit: Uo-Uonomi, Model: Seiryu
Kaido has consistently been highly regarded for his physical strength, but little else. The numerous betrayals he experienced in the past and the experiments he experienced at Punk Hazard gave him a burning anger toward the world. He founded a crew with fellow test subject Alber (later known as “King”) that would become known as the Beasts Pirates.
Kaido's goals included taking over the world government and creating an all-Zoan pirate crew, as well as eventually becoming the Pirate King. Kaido also seemed to regularly attempt suicide due to his distress over the lack of a capable challenger. Kaido has not achieved all his goals so far. He has been held hostage by the World Government but has failed to definitively defeat them, and it is unclear how he will stand up to the combination of their most powerful forces. His efforts in all Zoan crews were augmented by the SMILE initiative, which provided many of his members with imperfect artificial Zoans, but after production ceased, his lower-ranking members and those who consumed the failed Smiles are without Zoan rights.
Although he was further removed from his goal of becoming King of the Pirates, it was clearly a goal he had, as his subordinate King made a promise not to lose until then (which he eventually broke after Zoro defeated him). Kaido's numerous suicide attempts also failed, leaving people unsure whether he ultimately died on Onigashima Volcano.
4 Shanks
red hair pirate captain
- debut: Chapter 1 (comic), Episode 4 (animation)
- situation: alive, current emperor
- devil fruit: Currently none
Shanks is something of an enigma in terms of his ultimate ambitions. Like most of his fellow emperors, he seems to want to find the One Piece. Beyond that, little is known about his ultimate plans. His relationship with the Five Elders and his supposed influence over the world government (presumably due to his world noble heritage) makes his potential goals somewhat cloudy.
He is especially fond of Luffy, protecting him on several occasions and hoping he would become a great pirate, but admits that the two are now technically enemies. It didn't help that Yasopp shot and killed one of Luffy's subordinate crew members.
Like Whitebeard, he also seems to be interested in humanitarian aid, protecting Elbaf and other territories, and dealing with weak subordinate crews with these presumed intentions. However, his exact ambitions are currently unknown and his limited presence is a source of speculation.
3 Marshall D. Teach “Blackbeard”
Blackbeard Pirates Captain
- debut: Episode 223 (cartoon), Episode 146 (animation)
- situation: alive, current emperor
- devil fruit: Yami Yaminomi, Gura Guranomi
Blackbeard is dedicated to his goal and will spend years achieving it. His first goal, finding Yami Yaminomi, was one he spent years with the Whitebeard Pirates to achieve. He seemed to make no bones about betraying them after the fact. He also became a warlord, pretending to seek out the most ruthless criminals to finish off his crew, despite having no bounty on them. He is now Emperor with most of Whitebeard's territory in his hands, and there are few successful efforts against him at this point. He also stole Devil Fruit powers for the highest ranked members, most of whom he killed and stole Devil Fruit powers from previous users.
With all of these goals achieved, Blackbeard's current goals are somewhat shrouded in mystery. He seems to like the idea of a pirate nation, and flirts with the idea of a nation sanctioned by a world government. He too is interested in One Piece, but like everyone else, it seems a bit unclear how far he is from achieving it. He has now kidnapped Pudding and is trying to use Pudding for this purpose.
2 Monkey D. Luffy
Straw Hat Pirates Captain
- debut: Chapter 1 (comic), Episode 1 (animation)
- situation: alive, current emperor
- devil fruit: Gomu Komunomi (Hito Hitonomi, model: Nika)
Luffy is primarily focused on becoming the king of pirates, with his other goals being less clear. He also seems to want the greatest freedom possible at this point, with his many altruistic and selfish goals intersecting. Some speculate that his ultimate goal is actually to grant “freedom” to everyone.
Unlike most other captains, he seems to have a clear advantage in finding the One Piece, with his comrade Nico Robin being one of the few who can read the Poneglyphs. Luffy also has Voice Of All Things, which could potentially help him achieve this goal. But there are still many challenges ahead on his path to becoming the Pirate King, including finding the Poneglyph, Raftel, and most importantly, defeating those who try to stop him.
1 buggy
Cross Guild's Player of the Year
- debut: Chapter 9 (comic), episode 4 (animation)
- situation: alive, current emperor
- devil fruit: barabaranomy
Buggy is the latest contender in the race to find the one-piece. Like his former colleague and fellow Emperor Shanks, Buggy was Roger Pirate. However, he missed discovering One Piece with his comrades for the first time due to an illness that forced Shanks to stay behind to help him recover. Unlike other emperors, Buggy is actually quite weak as a pirate. That said, his ability to find powerful allies and his overly exaggerated reputation led him to continually engage in higher levels of piracy.
Buggy was forcibly integrated into Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk's new ocean-hunting mercenary organization, the Cross Guild. This was due to an unpaid debt that Crocodile was trying to collect. However, in attempting to repay him through exposure, Buggy unintentionally becomes the leader, a mistake the two co-leaders execute to make him the scapegoat.
However, at a recent meeting, he drove the cross guild to find the One Piece. Of course, they were energized by their goals. That said, Mihawk and Crocodile were less enthusiastic. Mihawk seemed to think that his goal was much more difficult than becoming the world's greatest swordsman, and Crocodile's dream of becoming the Pirate King disappeared long ago when Whitebeard cruelly defeated him. Regardless, the two will make an effort to keep up appearances.
