Admiral

Admiral is the second highest rank in the hierarchy of the Marines, senior to a vice admiral and junior to the fleet admiral. There are only three admirals serving at a given time, and in light of their status as the strongest Marine officers, they count among the most powerful people in the World Government's service.

Abilities
The three admirals are crowned the World Government's "Greatest Military Powers" (最高戦力): held to be not only the strongest active Marine officers (not counting the fleet admiral) but the strongest individual fighters that the government at large can bring to bear. As such, they are respected and feared throughout the entire world. So far, the only individuals shown capable of defeating them in single combat are fellow admirals (plus those considered for the rank in the past) as well as the Four Emperors, the strongest pirates in the world.

As seen on the Sabaody Archipelago, the mere presence of just a single admiral was enough to induce a mass panic on the island and make its entire pirate population flee, including Supernovas; the fact that Monkey D. Luffy, a Super Rookie at the time, challenged all three admirals at Marineford brought great shock to witnesses. Another notable example of the admirals' reputation involves Nico Robin from the Straw Hats. Related to her childhood trauma, she tends to lose her grip and start panicking whenever an admiral is around, this being significant as she rarely panics even in most of the dangerous situations. Yet another strong example would be that Akainu's presence alone was enough to deter the Blackbeard Pirates from engaging the Marines to steal a Battleship, effectively scaring the Blackbeard Pirates off the island they were briefly on despite the crew's recent gains in power (Blackbeard becoming the first person in history to wield two Devil Fruit powers — both incredibly powerful ones at that — and the crew's ranks being bolstered by some of the most dangerous criminals from from the lowest level of Impel Down). Additionally, Aokiji's resignation was said to have left a very detrimental impact on the Marines' military strength.

After the Cross Guild placed bounties on Marines, each admirals is worth 3,000,000,000.

Three Admirals of the Golden Age of Piracy


Living up to their statuses as the strongest individual fighters of the World Government, all three of the admirals that were active before the end of the Summit War of Marineford possess tremendous levels of power in various fields of combat. The best example of their immense power is when Akainu and Aokiji had their legendary duel over the position of Fleet Admiral, they battled for 10 days straight with Punk Hazard being permanently changed by their clash.

Being admirals, the three are capable of using Haki and showed themselves to be extremely proficient when using advanced Busoshoku Haki together to block Whitebeard's powerful shock wave. All three of them are also able to survive a strike imbued with Haki, despite it nullifying their intangibility, though Aokiji did bleed from the mouth after a sneak attack by Jozu, imbued with Haki, though it made no further injuries; Akainu survived two Haki-enforced slashes in the neck, though he noted the discomfort the strikes made.



The difference in physical prowess between admirals and vice admirals is drastically high (with the exception of Garp), each one displaying immense strength, speed, durability and stamina. While one of Whitebeard's quake-imbued punches was enough to incapacitate a vice admiral giant, Akainu took two (both of which were also imbued with Haki, further increasing damage) and still had more than enough stamina left to keep fighting. Also, while Whitebeard was able to overpower the strength of a giant with ease, Kizaru and Akainu both managed to hold down his polearm by standing on it with a single foot. Another feat seen was when Whitebeard launched an attack from his bisento at the plaza. While most of the lower ranked marines were taken aback and the vice admirals even had to brace themselves, Akainu and Kizaru merely stood casually during the shockwave as if nothing happened.

However, what makes the three admirals quite formidable is that they all had Logia-type Devil Fruit powers. All of their powers are very destructive, even when compared to an average Logia user. They are all strong enough to combat Whitebeard alone, with Kizaru and Akainu causing him severe harm (albeit that Jozu interfered in Aokiji's fight), as well fighting on par with the top three Whitebeard Pirates commanders, eventually overpowering the said commanders. with Akainu even killing one (although Kizaru and Aokiji's opponents were distracted and Akainu's magma has a natural superiority to Ace's fire).

All three Admirals are shown to be proficient swordsmen, as Aokiji and Kizaru formed blades from their respective elements and wielded them with great prowess, while Akainu (prior to becoming an admiral) was seen carrying a katana during his younger years. They are also very proficient in hand-to-hand combat, combining it with their Devil Fruit powers or demonstrating it through raw strength.

Admirals after the Summit War of Marineford
After the Summit War of Marineford, due to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's resignation, both Kuzan and Sakazuki were nominated to be his immediate successor. The two of them expended their Devil Fruit abilities in a ten-day long duel, turning the two halves of Punk Hazard into a frozen and fiery wasteland. With Sakazuki's victory and Kuzan's resignation afterwards, the Marines lost a great asset in their military power, and the battle was considered to be world-famous like none other.

Sometime within the two years, two new admirals were appointed to bolster the Marines' fighting force: Issho, who goes under the alias Fujitora and Aramaki, who goes under the alias Ryokugyu. Fujitora received a special appointment to the rank through a World Military Draft (世界徴兵), and both are considered to be "beasts" by Donquixote Doflamingo. Along with these two, Borsalino (Kizaru) is the sole remaining admiral of the previous generation.

Issho possesses Haki, as do all admirals. He also possesses the Zushi Zushi no Mi, which he can channel through his sword (though it remains unknown whether or not use of his sword is required), allowing him to manipulate gravity at an intense magnitude, capable of crushing his foes into the ground and creating a giant crater as aftermath. The force is strong enough to drag down meteors from space, which caused even two Warlords of the Sea to express fear towards his power.

Aramaki, like the previous trio of admirals, possesses a Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Mori Mori no Mi, which allows him to create enormous vegetation even in the most toxic places. An example of his strength is that he was able to easily overpower all the Beasts Pirates and guards, including a weakened King and Queen, that were in Udon. At the same time, he stated that if he lost to "simple" commanders he'd lose face, speaking to the power he's expected to have. He was estimated by Luffy and Yamato to be singlehandedly capable of taking over Wano Country after Kaidou's defeat, and was able to easily arrest Edward Weevil, who Kizaru compared to a younger Whitebeard in strength.

Duties
Aside from having control over the tens of thousands of soldiers who rank underneath them, the admirals are the only Marines, along with the fleet admiral, within the World Government who have the authority and ability to issue a Buster Call on any island they deem a threat. They are also the only ones who can grant other World Government agents' permission to use the Buster Call. The admirals' only superiors, aside from the fleet admiral, are the Five Elders and the World Government Commander-in-Chief.

The admirals are the direct subordinates of the World Nobles. Should one be opposed or injured, an admiral can be summoned to take down the opposing party in question and/or the assailants who did the damage with failure not being acceptable. However, one disadvantage the Admirals are at is that their actions should not pose a risk to the World Nobles' safety. Otherwise, they may be punished by the World Nobles, especially if their actions harm them. Because of this drawback, Fujitora and Ryokugyu were not able to take down the Revolutionaries that invaded Mary Geoise.

With sufficient evidence and reason, an admiral can revoke a Warlord of the Sea of their title, while pardoning criminals for working under a Warlord. Although, in all fairness, this authority is also granted to lower ranking personnel with sufficient evidence.

The admirals remain at Marine Headquarters for most of their time until they are called upon for an important mission, such as punishing those who would attack a World Noble. However, it would appear that they have the right to go wherever they please so long as they are not on active duty, as shown with Aokiji casually traveling around on his bicycle. However, even if they chose to go wherever they want, they are still obliged to follow the rules the Marines set and could face serious consequences should they chose to ignore them. When Ryokugyu went on a rogue mission to Wano to kill Luffy for causing too much trouble, he was warned by his superior, Akainu, not to engage in any hostile actions and not make the situation any worse, implying Admirals still have to justify for their actions outside of their duties should they hurt them. They can also disregard the presence of criminals if they should choose to.

Additionally, the Admirals are often deployed to deal with pirates or criminals deemed dangerous by the World Government or the Marines and will be called as backup should already deployed Marine Squads call for their backup. This was seen when Fujitora was sent to Dressrosa to investigate if Monkey D. Luffy and Trafalgar D. Water Law had formed an alliance and Donquixote Doflamingo resigned from his Position as a Warlord or when Ryokugyu was called to Sphinx by a Marine Squad when Edward Weevil defended the island against the Marine troops to defeat and capture Weevil. Interestingly, the Admirals often find themselves confronted with notorious pirates like the former Warlords or even the Emperors of the Sea, as was seen when Kizaru made his way towards Egghead and found out that a new Emperor, Luffy, was on the island, deciding to eliminate him.

Sometimes, they can even be employed as protection for high-ranking and important figures like World Nobles or even the Five Elders, as Kizaru was personally deployed to serve as Jaygarcia Saturn's, one of the Five Elders, personal bodyguard when the latter made his way towards Egghead, indicating their status as being the third-highest authority as well as being highly capable fighters qualify them to serve as escorts for high-ranking individuals.

Merchandise


The admirals have been featured sparingly in the fan merchandise. All three are set to be featured in the One Piece Super Deformed Figures, One Piece Super Effect Devil Fruit User, and One Piece Figuarts Zero figure series.

Early Concepts


In One Piece Green: Secret Pieces was revealed an early concept of the admirals.

Trivia

 * Sakazuki, Kuzan, Kizaru, and Fujitora were drawn as women in Volume 87's SBS.
 * All the admirals (and some candidates) shown so far are based upon famous Japanese actors and are drawn to resemble them.
 * Aokiji is based on Yusaku Matsuda.
 * Kizaru is based on Kunie Tanaka.
 * Akainu is based on Bunta Sugawara.
 * Fujitora is based on Shintaro Katsu.
 * Ryokugyu is based on Yoshio Harada.
 * Momousagi is based on Michiyo Kogure.
 * Chaton is based on Kiyoshi Atsumi.
 * Each admiral shown so far wears a different uniform and has eaten a Devil Fruit that corresponds to the color in their aliases:
 * Aokiji wore a blue shirt and can control ice.
 * Kizaru wears a yellow suit and can control light.
 * Akainu wore a red suit and can control magma.
 * Fujitora wears a purple yukata and can control gravity.
 * Ryokugyu wears green pants and can control plants.
 * Most of the canonical Admirals (excluding Fujitora & Sengoku) all have a Logia Devil Fruit, the rarest of the 3 types
 * The cuffs on each Admiral's justice cloak correspond to the color in their codename. Aokiji's cuffs are blue, Kizaru's cuffs are yellow, Akainu's cuffs are red, etc.
 * The three pre-timeskip admirals share many similarities:
 * Their aliases are taken from Momotarō legends, they are a pheasant, a dog and a monkey assisted the boy hero, Momotarō, on his adventures. Coincidentally, each personality fits the aliases (Aokiji, the pheasant, is somewhat lazy; Kizaru, the monkey, is quite absent-minded and irresponsible; and Akainu, the dog, is very loyal).
 * Each of their Logia-class Devil Fruits correspond to specific features of land (molten rock), sea (frozen water), and sky (sunlight).
 * Their color-schemes (yellow, blue, and red) are the three primary colors in the subtractive color system.
 * Former Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp has, on more than one occasion, turned down the promotion to become admiral. He has stated that he does not need a higher position to do what he wants. Another major reason Garp has turned down the promotion is because he does not want to directly obey the World Nobles. While being officially ranked as a vice admiral, his abilities once were enough to qualify him for the rank of admiral before he retired.
 * During the interlude of the time-skip, Vice Admirals Momousagi and Chaton were considered prime candidates to take over the two vacant spots for Admiral, but neither made the cut.
 * Of all those known to have had the rank of admiral, Sengoku and Zephyr are the only two to not have known codenames.
 * The codenames that some of the admirals and candidates have seem to be based of the 12 Chinese zodiac schemes, i.e., pheasant (rooster), monkey, dog, rabbit, pig, tiger, and bull.
 * Tensei, Director of Marine Criminal Investigative Service, also has an alias that fits the theme (horse). Whether he was a candidate to become an admiral, like Vice Admirals Momousagi and Chaton, or not is uncertain.

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