Summary
Emperors are the pirates who serve as captains for the top four crews the World Government finds the most threatening. They themselves are typically quite strong as well, with most of them being near impossible to beat in one-on-one combat.
But this fact doesn’t stop them from surrounding themselves with the top brass in terms of pirates. Most emperors currently control several territories, have an abundance of resources, and generally have a high quality of life, at least as far as pirates go. Even so, no pirate gets that big without some greater ambition driving them, and the emperors all have fairly ambitious goals.
7Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate
Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates
The late Edward Newgate was an orphan on the island of Sphinx. This island was a territory that was too poor to pay for the World Government’s protection, increasing the crime and corruption in the area. As a result, Newgate had a rough childhood, which likely was a reason he turned to piracy. Whitebeard had a stint as a member of the Rocks Pirates, an infamous crew of powerful individuals who he claimed were the type to refuse to take orders. Sometime after the crew disbanded, he formed his own, the massive organization known asthe Whitebeard Pirates.
This crew was known for being incredibly large, necessitating 16 divisions, each with its own commander. Additionally, there were a number of separate crews that affiliated themselves with Whitebeard, acting as subordinates. Newgate also gave his flag to numerous territories to “claim” them, essentially acting as their protector. The majority of his spoils went to Sphinx, presumably as a form of humanitarian aid.
Whitebeard did not care for the One Piece, unlike other emperors, and even refused to be told of its location. Instead, he seemed to focus on his crew, whom he considered his family. Due to Whitebeard’s lack of relatives growing up, maintaining his family seemed to be his largest ambition. He also seemed concerned with protecting territories that seemingly couldn’t afford government aid, even outside Sphinx. Both of these ambitions seem to coincide with a greater goal of helping the disadvantaged, whether they were people on ravaged islands, or merely youths who turned to piracy. His love did have limits, however, as he cast out his longtime crewmate, Marshall D. Teach, for murdering and betraying Thatch, one of his former division commanders.
6Charlotte “Big Mom” Linlin
Captain of the Big Mom Pirates
Charlotte Linlin was an orphan whose parents were incapable of protecting her. She was raised in an orphanage in Elbaf, where Mother Carmel, a covert human trafficker, hoped to sell her to the World Government. She was large, near invulnerable, and had a voracious appetite, even as a child. She may have accidentally eaten Carmel and her fellow orphans, as a result of being unable to fast, per Elbaf tradition.
One of Linlin’s main goals was to secure every race in Totto Land and its surrounding islands, which served as her territory. She taxes the residents on her islands with one month of their life (which she steals from their souls with her Devil Fruit) in exchange for six months on the islands. Two of her daughters have also claimed that she does not allow people to voluntarily exit her territory.
Linlin also wished to become King of the Pirates and had a goal of obtaining the One Piece. Linlin seemed largely successful in her goal ofintegrating various races, with the majority being seen in her territory, or otherwise collected by her. However, there were a few races, she had yet to integrate. The most infamous stumbling block is the giants, who despised Linlin as a race after her actions in Elbaf. She attempted to smooth things over with an arranged marriage, but her daughter, Lola, left her husband-to-be, Loki, at the altar. After failing to pass Lola’s twin, Chiffon, off as her sister, the giants hated Linlin even more for her deception. Another race that is unseen on her islands is the Lunarians, who are thought to be largely extinct. Linlin asked the sole survivor of the race, King, to accompany her, but he refused. Linlin also has 85 children, the result of several marriages to husbands of a variety of races.
Linlin’s goal of finding the One Piece has proven thus far to be somewhat less successful than her other ones. She hopes to leverage her daughter, Pudding’s three-eye powers, to secure an edge, but Pudding herself is unsure of if this will work. Due to Linlin’s defeat and presumed (albeit unconfirmed) death at Onigashima, her crew is far less powerful than it was before.
5Kaido
Captain of the Beasts Pirates
Kaido was continually valued for his physical strength, but little else. The numerous betrayals he suffered in the past as well as the experiments he endured on Punk Hazard gave him a burning anger at the world. He founded his crew with fellow test subject, Alber (who would later be known as “King”), which would come to be known asthe Beasts Pirates.
Kaido’s goals included taking on 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, likely out of anguish for lack of a capable challenger. Kaido has thus far failed every single goal. Although he has been held hostage by the World Government, he has failed to defeat them definitively, and it is unclear how he would stand up to a combination of their strongest forces. His efforts at an all-Zoan crew were bolstered by the SMILE initiative, which gave many of his members imperfect artificial Zoans, but after their production was halted, many of his lower-ranked members, as well as those who consumed failed smiles, were without Zoan powers.
He is even further removed from his goal of being King of the Pirates, although it is apparently one he had, seeing as his subordinate, King, promised not to lose until that time (which he eventually broke after Zoro managed to defeat him.) Kaido’s numerous suicide attempts have also failed, which makes people unsure if he did ultimately die in the volcano at Onigashima.
4Shanks
Captain of the Red Hair Pirates
Shanks is something of an enigma in terms of his ultimate ambitions. Like most of his fellow emperors, he apparently wishes to find the One Piece. Other than that, little is known of his ultimate agenda. His ties to the Five Elders and presumed sway over the World Government (speculated to be due to World Noble heritage) muddies his potential goals somewhat.
He is notably fond of Luffy, protecting him multiple times and wishing for him to become a great pirate, but he acknowledges that the two are now technically enemies, a fact not helped by Yasopp gunning down one of Luffy’s subordinate crews.
Like Whitebeard, he seems to have an interest in humanitarian aid, protecting Elbaf, as well as other territories, and taking on weak subordinate crews with this presumed intention. However, his exact ambitions are currently unknown, with his limited presence being the source of speculation.
3Marshall D. Teach “Blackbeard”
Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates
Blackbeard is committed to his goals and will spend several years achieving them. His first goal, finding the Yami Yami no Mi, was one he spent several years with the Whitebeard Pirates in order to accomplish. He seemed to make no bones about betraying them after the fact. He also became a warlord despite having no bounty, as a pretense to find the most ruthless criminals to round out his crew. He is now an Emperor, who has most of Whitebeard’s territories under his thumb, and there are few successful efforts against him at this point. He also managed to steal Devil Fruit powers for his top-ranking members, with most of them killing and stealing them from previous users.
With all these goals fulfilled, Blackbeard’s current ones are somewhatshrouded in mystery. He seems to like the idea of a nation of pirates and has flirted with the idea of one even endorsed by the World Government. He also has an interest in the One Piece, but like others, how far along he is towards achieving it seems somewhat unclear. Having currently kidnapped Pudding, he is also attempting to use her for this goal.
2Monkey D. Luffy
Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates
Luffy is primarily focused on becoming the King of the Pirates, with other goals less clear. He also seems to wish for the maximum amount of freedom possible, with a lot of his altruistic and selfish goals intersecting at this point. Some speculate his ultimate goal is to, in fact, grant everyone “freedom.”
Unlike most other captains, he seems to have a definitive edge in terms of finding the One Piece, with his crewmate, Nico Robin, being one ofa rare few who can read poneglyphs. Luffy also has the Voice Of All Things, which could potentially help him towards this goal. That said, there are still many difficulties in his path to becoming the Pirate King, namely poneglyphs, finding Raftel, and most importantly defeating those who would stop him.
1Buggy
Buggy is a recent contender in the race to find the One Piece. Like his former crewmate and fellow emperor, Shanks, Buggy was a Roger Pirate. However, he missed discovering the One Piece with his crew the first time, due to a sickness he had that Shanks stayed behind to help him recover from. Unlike other emperors, Buggy is actually quite weak as a pirate. That said, an ability to find strong allies, and a greatly exaggerated reputation, have led him to continually fall up into higher echelons of piracy.
Buggy was forcibly integrated into Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk’s new marine-huntingmercenary organization, Cross Guild. This was due to an unpaid debt Crocodile wanted to collect. However, in attempting to repay him through exposure, Buggy was inadvertently made the leader, a mistake the two co-leaders ran with to make him a scapegoat.
However, at a recent meeting, he drove Cross Guild to find the One Piece. They were, of course, energized by the goal. That said, Mihawk and Crocodile were less enthused. Mihawk seemed to think the goal was much more difficult than becoming the World’s Strongest Swordsman, and Crocodile’s dream of becoming the Pirate King died long ago when Whitebeard harshly defeated him. Even so, the two will likely work towards it to keep up appearances, if nothing else.
