Seven Warlords of the Sea

The Seven Warlords of the Sea, or simply the Seven Warlords, were a group of seven powerful and notorious pirates allied to the World Government. As a group, they were one of the Three Great Powers that kept the world in balance.

However, after two members had each attempted to perform a coup on a World Government country (with the latter member succeeding) as well as commit genocide, they were stripped of their titles and Marine Admiral Fujitora led a campaign to remove the Seven Warlords system. He achieved this goal during the most recent Levely, as the council of rulers voted to abolish the system; the five remaining Warlords at the time immediately had their bounties unfrozen and became enemies of the World Government once again.

Overview


The Seven Warlords of the Sea were seven extremely powerful Pirate Captains who entered into the service of the World Government. The purpose of the Seven Warlords was to have the pirates deal with other pirates. They were also a great symbol of the government’s strength. In return for their alliance with the World Government, every member's bounty was frozen and they had significantly more leeway to commit crimes.

Although they worked for the World Government, the Seven Warlords themselves typically did not care about nor respect the Government (excluding Bartholomew Kuma, who was later modified into their puppet) or even the other Warlords, and were often considered by the Marines to be no different from any other pirate. On the other hand, they were known at large as "government dogs" and despised by other pirates, but were still feared and respected for their infamous reputation and strength which they gained before, and even after they became Warlords.

The Seven Warlords seemed to be a balance between the chaotic Four Emperors and the orderly Marines. The majority of the Warlords were composed of New World veterans, those who have met the Emperors or even fought against them.

Contribution
The Seven Warlords were a significant and crucial part of the government’s strength. In the days before the Summit War of Marineford, the then Fleet Admiral Sengoku gravely dreaded the idea of entering into battle against Whitebeard with only one less Warlord after Jinbe was imprisoned.

The government made it a point to only select exceptionally strong pirates to be offered the Warlord position. Some of the Warlords had bounties well over 100,000,000. However, there was an enormous range in the bounties between the members due to differences in circumstances under which they were recruited, with Edward Weevil, who had a bounty of 480,000,000, and Blackbeard, who had no bounty at all at the time.

It should be noted that these are their former bounties, and do not represent the current threat they could achieve as active pirates. Jinbe's bounty, for example, jumped from 250,000,000 to 438,000,000 after his resignation. Another example is Crocodile, who, with a bounty of 81,000,000, was imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down, while Luffy with a bounty of 300,000,000 at the time was only imprisoned on Level 5.

Some of the Warlords possessed extremely powerful Devil Fruit powers. Some had powers that were borderline impossible to win against, such as Hancock’s ability to turn people to stone. Others had powers that could cause massive levels of destruction, even to the point of destroying an entire country, such as Kuma’s power to create a powerful air bomb, or Doflamingo’s power to create a massive constricting cage of strings that slash through anything in their path.

Other Warlords were exceptionally powerful combatants, even without Devil Fruits. Mihawk is known as the worlds greatest swordsman and wields on of the 12 Supreme swords, Yoru. Jinbe is the world's foremost master of the fish-man fighting style.

Relations Between Warlords
The terms that the Warlords were on with each other is best described as very unstable. They have very little (if any) respect for each other and will for the most part not accept help from one another, apparently due to a firm sense of pride. During the meeting of the Seven Warlords where only two members are absent (Hancock and Jinbe), it was stated that the very notion of them working together as a team is entirely unthinkable. However, Kuma and Doflamingo do not disregard the notion of allying with another Warlord of the Sea: Kuma offered Moria assistance in defeating the Straw Hats and Doflamingo offered Crocodile an opportunity for a partnership. Both offers were refused due to pride. Nonetheless, there are occasions that will compel the Warlords to temporarily cooperate such as Boa Hancock offering Jinbe sanctuary on Amazon Lily from the Marines' pursuit in the aftermath of the Summit War of Marineford.

During Boa Hancock's visit at Impel Down's Level 6, Jinbe stated that he did not know much about her, possibly suggesting that only some of the Seven Warlords are familiar with each other or even have personally met all the other members. Despite this, all of the Warlords of the Sea (including former) introduced prior to the timeskip fought at the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines.

Relationships
Most Warlords seemed to have only limited knowledge of each other, such as Jinbe never meeting Hancock before her visit to Impel Down. However, some others, such as Doflamingo and Crocodile, converse as though they are familiar with each other. In fact, Doflamingo is knowledgeable of Kuma's participation in the Pacifista program, yet does not know of his past relationship with the Revolutionaries. During these interactions, most of them are hostile, such as Jinbe and Crocodile snarling at each other over matters with Whitebeard.

At times, however, they might be courteous, such as Kuma offering to help Moria in fighting against the Straw Hat Pirates, though the latter angrily refused. Law used to be Doflamingo's subordinate, but eventually, after joining, Law openly betrayed and blackmailed his former superior to resign from the Seven Warlords, threatening not just the man but the balance of the seven once again.

Becoming a Warlord of the Sea
A pirate could choose to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea if a space became vacant (which means that at least one Warlord must resign or be expelled from the group, the former being Jinbe's case and the latter being Crocodile's case). However, in order for one to have become a Warlord once this position opened up, one must have been able to exhibit their strength against other pirates while choosing to pledge loyalty to the World Government (this ironically encourages pirates to gain infamy to become a Warlord) by making a pact with the Five Elders. If the pirate in question could be used as intimidation, the position may be offered to them, if no other pirate has accepted the position or proven to be more of an asset to the World Government.

As expected, most members were already notorious pirates with high bounties, but even relatively unknown pirates could have been admitted if they accomplish a feat to prove their strength. Blackbeard's victory over Portgas D. Ace and Trafalgar Law obtaining and sending the hearts of 100 pirates to Marine Headquarters are examples. The World Government can also be extorted by pirates into offering the prestigious status. This was demonstrated by Donquixote Doflamingo, when he ransomed the heavenly tribute meant for the World Nobles to be appointed to a vacant position.

Some cases also happened such as Jinbe, Buggy, and Ace, who were offered a position in the organization when the World Government's Carrier Bat sent a letter to their location and the pirates reply by coming to Marine Headquarters as a sign of accepting the invitation or declining the offer. According to Chew, refusing to accept the invitation would cause the chosen pirate's bounty to rise even higher.

Duties of the Seven Warlords


They did not express open defiance to the authority of the World Government, but were not obligated to follow its orders either. They were technically only allowed to attack other pirates, and must also compensate the Government with a portion of their plunder, although this regulation is not followed most of the time. Each member of the Seven Warlords must also have had strong intimidation skills and a fearsome image to put off others becoming a pirate and make them fear them. In addition, given the discussion between Bartholomew Kuma and the Five Elders, it could be assumed that once someone becomes appointed to the Seven Warlords of the Sea they must be undefeated to maintain their position, or at least are not allowed to have a widely known debacle or scandal that affects their reputation.

Some of the members did various tasks for the government, such as conquering new islands for the World Government (described as "liberating") and protecting nations, but their ultimate purpose was to keep other pirates in check. Most importantly, the Seven Warlords provided assistance to maintain the balance of The Three Great Powers.

Technically speaking, the Seven Warlords of the Sea were considered allies of the government, and in times of war were obligated to collaborate with the Marines. Still, many Marine officers (for example Vice Admiral Smoker, Admiral Kizaru and former Fleet Admiral Sengoku) despised them and consider the Seven Warlords to still be pirates. Several high-ranking Marines expressed surprise that even two of the Seven Warlords actually bothered to show up when summoned for the meeting about Crocodile's removal, and they were very shocked when a third arrived; tellingly, of the others besides Kuma that showed up, Doflamingo came out of sheer boredom (passing the time before the meeting by nearly forcing two marines to duel each other), and Mihawk came only to hear about the pirates being discussed in the meeting. When they were not under orders of the World Government, they had no commitment to assist the efforts of the Marines.

Most of the Warlords appeared to show general apathy towards the World Government and in some cases even hostility. During the battle with the Whitebeard Pirates, Moria stated he does not care who wins and Boa Hancock openly attacked both Marines and pirates.

Benefits and Concessions
In exchange for these services, the Seven Warlords were pardoned for their former actions and any existing bounties were rescinded.

The Enemy Ship Capture Warrant (敵船拿捕許可状) allowed Warlords to legally plunder other pirates and uncivilized lands (most likely referring to countries not affiliated with the World Government), so long as they gave a portion of their loot to the Government.

As the Seven Warlords were no longer outlaws, they could have made money through legitimate business, as well as bounty hunting. Some, however, were content to simply float around the sea on their ships. The government did not seem to mind, and the Seven Warlords were granted a great deal of autonomy in how they operated. Other benefits included access to resources normally out of bounds to normal citizens and pirates, such as the use of Seastone equipment.

Boa Hancock, in particular, had a treaty that acts as a restraining order for all ships that come near Amazon Lily. Jinbe and his entire crew were given a pardon for their captain, Fisher Tiger's attack against the World Nobles, and their status as slaves nullified. Donquixote Doflamingo also managed to operate the Human Auctioning House with the government fully ignoring it before passing it to Disco. Buggy also utilizes the perks of his position to run Buggy's Delivery, an organization that rents mercenaries.

Crocodile abused the privilege of being no longer monitored so closely to build himself a large and powerful covert organization, while Boa Hancock, Blackbeard and Trafalgar Law exploited the benefits their statuses granted them in order to enter facilities that would otherwise have been unreachable to a pirate.

The privilege of protection and pardon extended to any of the Warlord's subordinates, as Jinbe was able to have Arlong released from Impel Down and the rest of the Sun Pirates to return to Fish-Man Island freely, while Caesar Clown, guilty of destroying Punk Hazard via illegal chemical experiments, was given a pardon simply for working directly under Donquixote Doflamingo. Prior to joining the Straw Hat Pirates, Nico Robin sought to be Crocodile's partner mainly for protection. Admiral Fujitora notes if Law said the Straw Hat Pirates were his subordinates instead of allies, the notorious crew would have been amnestied.

However, due to having the benefits of being a Warlord as well as the government choosing to ignore their actions, many members tended to abuse their privileges for their own personal gain. Crocodile, Moria, and Blackbeard used their privileges solely to increase their own respective crews, knowing the government would overlook such actions. Hancock used her status to assist Luffy in infiltrating Impel Down (unbeknownst to the government) to rescue his brother Ace, making her indirectly responsible for the mass breakout of prisoners prior to the war. Kuma used his status to help the Straw Hats escape twice despite being ordered by the government to eliminate them.

Doflamingo also used his privileges to profit off of selling weapons to other countries and promoting war throughout the world while using his title to rule Dressrosa despite being a pirate. Buggy uses his benefits to profit off of Doflamingo's downfall and provide weapons and plunder under his name. Weevil hunts the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates while causing a large degree of destruction and death in his hunt, leaving the Marines unable to act. Teach himself acknowledged that was the only reason he wanted the title of Warlord in the first place, knowing he could abuse the system so easily.

Though a majority of the Warlords abused the system for their own personal gain, there have been a few that joined for more benevolent reasons. Hancock joined solely to protect her people on her home island. Jinbe used his title to promote peace between fish-men and humans as well as protecting the Sun Pirates from being hunted by the Marines due to a majority of them being former slaves. Kuma used his status to help save the Straw Hats at least on two separate occasions as well as acting as a double agent for the Revolutionary Army.

Law joined as part of a plan to take down Doflamingo and avenging the death of his benefactor Donquixote Rosinante.

Dismissal or Resignation
Even if they violate the law, the World Government and Marines may choose not to take any notice. Doflamingo used to own the Human Auctioning House before giving it to Disco. Crocodile seemed to have gone unsupervised for an extremely long period of time, as he had created a large, malevolent organization that the World Government was completely unaware of, while Moria was abducting civilians and Marines alike to create an army of zombies without the Government raising any complaints. Because of the risk involved with maintaining the Three Great Powers, the Government tolerated the illegal activities of any Warlords and attempts to protect them if possible (or at least maintain their fame).

That is not to say they would not dismiss a Warlord for such actions. There are several Warlords who have been dismissed from their positions for several reasons. Crocodile's actions in Arabasta left the World Government with few options other than his dismissal, although, in fact, Luffy dealt with him (and his bounty was raised for that).

Moria's defeat was met with horror by the World Government as they had only just replaced Crocodile's loss. Fearing what would happen if another fell, the World Government attempted to cover up his defeat by killing all of the survivors of Thriller Bark before word got out. Even though Kuma (the one sent to deal with the problem) chose to disregard the order of the Five Elders, Moria was able to retain his status for a time, later answering the call to arms against the Whitebeard Pirates. However, after the war, the government finally deemed Moria to be too weak to continue as a Warlord of the Sea, and decided to annul his pact and eliminate him, under the pretense of Moria dying in the war to preserve the Warlord's reputation of strength.

Jinbe forfeited his position as a Warlord of the Sea for his refusal to assist in the war against the Whitebeard Pirates and was incarcerated in Level 6 of Impel Down. After Monkey D. Luffy helped him escape, he assisted the young pirate in breaking free from Impel Down and traveling to Marineford and cooperated with the Whitebeard Pirates during the battle choosing to abdicate his position permanently and again became a willing enemy of both the Marines and the World Government.

Blackbeard only wanted to be a Warlord so as to be able to reach Impel Down in order to release several Level 6 prisoners and create a stronger crew. As soon as he achieved this goal, he was no longer interested, and resigned from his Warlord title.

Dismissal from the Seven Warlords held not only the individual's loss of title, but in cases also the breakdown of possible politics affiliated to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. As Boa Hancock was warned, while she obeyed the World Government, her nation's treaty with the World Government would be respected. However, if she did not heed the call of the World Government, then the treaty with her home island of Amazon Lily would be made void. Smoker has implied that Hancock and her people will suffer repercussions for helping Luffy during the war; however, throughout the war, events related to her were often interpreted incorrectly by the Marines and others, thus her status as a Warlord seemed to not had been brought into question.

Doflamingo has participated in several illegal activities such as the Human Auctioning House for the slave trade, but having disowned it did not seem to affect him. He also stated he would quit the Seven Warlords should they bore him with menial assignments. He also placed a deep cover agent in the Marines, Vergo, and has the rogue Marine scientist Caesar Clown to produce weapons for him in the underworld in the New World.

These crimes could easily have revoked his status, but he had managed to keep this from being discovered. However, after Law blackmailed Doflamingo into forcing him to renounce his title to retrieve Caesar lest he face Kaidou's wrath, Doflamingo was left with no choice but to resign his Warlord status. This provoked international uproar (though it was later revealed to be a deception). By designating Caesar as his subordinate instead of associate, Doflamingo was able to maintain his position while releasing Caesar from his status as a wanted criminal. Doflamingo's ability to make the world falsely believe that he resigned is a privilege beyond any Warlord, and Law suggested it was something that only a World Noble can accomplish. However, Doflamingo's status was eventually revoked when he was taken into custody of the Marines, arrested by Admiral Fujitora and imprisoned in Level 6 of Impel Down after he tried to destroy the entire Kingdom of Dressrosa to conceal his vast crimes and his subsequent defeat by Luffy. In a way, Doflamingo was parallel to Crocodile's downfall from the Seven Warlords two years ago.

When Law's alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates was in the news, his seat as a Warlord fell into jeopardy. Eventually Fujitora revoked his status as a Warlord of the Sea. As a result his bounty was reinstated and raised to 500,000,000.

Due to the vote of majority from the Levely's royalty, the Seven Warlords system has been completely abolished. The remaining members were immediately dismissed from their connections with the World Government and all associating privileges and authority annulled, reinstating their bounties and making them wanted criminals again. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki immediately dispatched fleets to arrest them.

Strength
Don't panic. You seem to have forgotten something. The reason they chose us to be the Seven Warlords was for our strength!! The Seven Warlords of the Sea were a group of one of the strongest pirates in the world and one of the Three Great Powers, the others being the Four Emperors and the Marines.

In terms of power, the Seven Warlords of the Sea and Marine Headquarters make a balance with the Four Emperors. Therefore, the Seven Warlords are one part of what makes the balance with the Four Emperors. At least two of the Seven Warlords (Gecko Moria and Dracule Mihawk) are said to have been rivals of Emperors Kaidou and Shanks, respectively. Bartholomew Kuma has also allowed himself to become part of the Pacifista project. The strength of at least one Warlord, Boa Hancock, has been acknowledged by former-Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself. This, in addition to the fact that losing a single member of the Seven Warlords can disrupt the balance of the world powers and cause distress to the World Government, indicates the extreme power each individual has. The strength of a Warlord is so great, that should they be imprisoned for any reason, they would be sentenced to Level 6 of Impel Down, the lowest and most secure level of the prison (as both Crocodile and Jinbe were imprisoned there). The only exception to this may be Buggy, who appears to have gained the position through his reputation and influence, being on casual talking terms with the Emperor Shanks and commanding a large number of Impel Down escapees, rather than actual fighting strength, although it remains to be seen if Buggy's fighting abilities have changed at all during the 2 year time-skip.

Because of their pact with the World Government, the Seven Warlords were considered "Government Dogs" by other pirates. At the same time, they were also feared by them because all of the Warlords are insanely strong, each capable of destroying an average pirate crew on their own with no effort, as seen with Mihawk and Crocodile. They had such a fierce reputation that even other powerful and famous pirates were unnerved by them, as seen when the captain of the Kid Pirates, Eustass Kid, actually seemed heavily disturbed when he witnessed the arrival of a Pacifista cyborg (mistaking it for the real Kuma) on the Sabaody Archipelago, close to where his crew were, despite the fact that his bounty was higher than Kuma's former bounty, demonstrating how their strength is even greater than that implied by their frozen bounties in the eyes of others. A testament to their great power would be shortly after the Shichibukai system was voided; few of them were actually bothered by this development, even when Marines gathered closed in on them in a bid to arrest these former Warlords. With some of them even maintaining confidence that they will prevail, eager to make an example of these enforcers as to why these pirates became Warlords in the first place.

Each member had some ability or power, the majority of which are Devil Fruits, with Jinbe and Mihawk having been the only exceptions. These abilities can oftentimes vary depending on the Warlord's theme. Some of their abilities appear to conflict with each other: for example, Blackbeard's power involves drawing people to him, while Kuma's involves rejecting people away from him; and Doflamingo's power allows him to control the motions of other people to his will, while Hancock immobilizes them by turning them into stone; also, Buggy has the ability of splitting apart his own body, while Law can split apart the bodies of other people. In the case of Crocodile and Jinbe, this opposition also extends to the environment where their abilities reach their full zenith (i.e. being a Fish-Man, Jinbe's fighting abilities are at their peak in the deep and open sea, while Crocodile, having consumed the Suna Suna no Mi, favors the desert sand). It should be noted that Mihawk and Jinbe are the only two known Warlords to have relied on their own abilities, as they are not Devil Fruit users.

In relationship to each other, it is not entirely known how they compared in strength. However, during the Summit War of Marineford several members and former members battle each other and none manage to defeat or significantly injure each other in any fight. Although while most appeared evenly matched, after Moria was defeated by Luffy, he was deemed a liability and it was decided that he could no longer continue as a Warlord of the Sea. As a result, Doflamingo was ordered to exterminate Moria along with a group of several Pacifista.

Past
At some point after the beginning of the Great Pirate Era, in response to the growing power of the Four Emperors, the World Government established the Seven Warlords of the Sea as a means of creating a balance of power between the Emperors and Marine Headquarters, thus giving rise to the Three Great Powers.

Crocodile ascended to the title of Warlord in his mid-twenties; around the same time, he suffered a humiliating defeat upon challenging the Emperor Whitebeard. At age 30, Crocodile relocated to Arabasta and became renowned as a pirate-hunting hero. Some time after setting up his Baroque Works organization, for the next several years, Crocodile would work to make the Arabasta Kingdom perceive him as a hero while he secretly gained power to dethrone the royal family of Arabasta and obtain control of a weapon known as Pluton.

After Gecko Moria was inducted into the ranks of the Seven Warlords, he established the Thriller Bark Pirates twelve years ago, recruiting Dr. Hogback into his ranks. While Thriller Bark sailed around in the Florian Triangle, they began to amass an army of zombies using Moria's Devil Fruit abilities.

13 years ago at the young age of 18, Boa Hancock embarked on a single pirating campaign so great that when combined with the existing fearsome reputation of the Kuja Pirates, she was visited by the World Government with an offer. Hancock made a treaty with the World Government that protected her people from them in exchange for becoming a Warlord of the Sea.

After acquiring his bounty of 250,000,000, Jinbe was recruited eleven years ago, following the death of Fisher Tiger and the breaking up of the Sun Pirates into two smaller groups. Jinbe's recruitment was an attempt to strengthen the bonds between the species, and it allowed the members of the Sun Pirates who did not want to become pirates in the first place to return to Fish-Man Island, and given a blanket pardon for Tiger's attack on Mary Geoise.

Around the same time as Jinbe, Doflamingo also joined the Seven Warlords at age 31 by hijacking ships holding Heavenly Tribute and blackmailing the World Government for the position. He then built his reputation in both as a world-famous World Government pirate and an influential Underworld broker for the next ten years to come. He then dethroned Riku Doldo III, king of Dressrosa by manipulating him, and his soldiers, using his ability, thus tricking the citizens of the country into making him their king. He then set up a dictatorship, transforming some people into toys, manipulating the memories of others, and condemning the most unruly to fights to the death in the Corrida Colosseum.

Four years ago, when Portgas D. Ace was gaining acclaim as the captain of the Spade Pirates, he was invited to join the Seven Warlords of the Sea, meaning there was an opening for him, but he refused the offer. Around this time, Doflamingo would enter a three way alliance with the rogue scientist Caesar Clown and the Emperor Kaidou in producing SMILEs for the latter. However, not trusting Caesar, Doflamingo placed Monet to watch him.

Baratie Arc
The Krieg Pirates encountered Mihawk at the start of the Grand Line, and the Warlord decimated them. He chased them all the way back to the East Blue, but decided to leave them alone after defeating Roronoa Zoro in a challenge that impressed him.

Arabasta Arc
Crocodile, having established an image of himself as a hero to the citizens of Arabasta, unleashed his plan to take over the country known as Operation Utopia. Having stoked the flames of civil war and prepared a bomb to destroy the capital Alubarna, Crocodile encountered resistance in the form of the Straw Hat Pirates, who had teamed up with princess Nefertari Vivi of Arabasta, and a Marine force led by Smoker and Tashigi also became involved. Crocodile managed to imprison most of them, but they escaped and led the revolt against him as they foiled his plans and defeated his subordinates. Finally, after three hard-fought battles, Crocodile was taken down by Monkey D. Luffy and arrested by Smoker, leading to him being stripped of his Warlord title and taken to Impel Down.

Jaya Arc
After Crocodile's arrest, the Five Elders called a meeting in Mary Geoise to discuss appointing a successor. Three Warlords of the Sea, Mihawk, Doflamingo, and Bartholomew Kuma, attended. There, they were approached by Laffitte, who proposed his captain Marshall D. Teach, also known as "Blackbeard", taking the role. His proposition was rejected due to Blackbeard not having any infamy. Blackbeard, who was on Jaya at the time, tried to hunt down Luffy in order to earn the Warlord position, but failed to catch him. However, he continued his quest.

Long Ring Long Land Arc
On Jaya, Doflamingo came to punish the Bellamy Pirates, who sailed under his flag, for disgracing him after losing to Luffy on the island.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
Ace found Blackbeard after hunting him down due to the pirate killing one of their crewmates and hunting for Luffy. The two fought, with Blackbeard emerging victorious. Blackbeard turned Ace in to the government, allowing him to take Crocodile's spot in the Seven Warlords.

Thriller Bark Arc
The Straw Hat Pirates encountered Moria's ship Thriller Bark within the Florian Triangle, and Moria had his henchmen capture them so he could steal their shadows and put them into his zombies. When he captured Luffy's shadow, he placed it into the corpse of a legendary giant named Oars, who would be his top weapon when he returned to the New World.

Moria was later visited by Kuma, who told him of Blackbeard's addition to the Seven Warlords. Echoing the government's worries that the Straw Hats may take down another in their ranks, Kuma offered to help Moria fight them, but Moria angrily declined.

Moria then took control of Oars and took on the Straw Hats. After a long and hard battle, the Straw Hats took down Oars, and Moria consumed all the shadows on the island to power himself. However, the shadows were beaten out of him by Luffy, and he was defeated. Kuma then arrived to capture the passed out Luffy, and knocked most of the Straw Hats out. However, Zoro offered to sacrifice himself in Luffy's stead, and Kuma transferred Luffy's injuries to Zoro before leaving.

Sabaody Archipelago Arc
As the Straw Hats fought against Borsalino, Sentomaru, and PX-1, Kuma showed up and sent the Straw hats to various islands across the world. This act flouted the Marines' attempt at bringing down the Straw Hats, with the intended purpose of making the crew stronger.

Amazon Lily Arc
The Seven Warlords of the Sea all received summons to report to Marineford to participate in the upcoming war against the Whitebeard Pirates as the World Government attempted to execute Ace. Hancock refused her summons, despite the fact that her title would be revoked if she did so. As this happened, she discovered Luffy on her island Amazon Lily after he was sent there by Kuma. She was initially hostile towards him and tried to kill him, but had a change of heart after he covered up her sister's slave mark. When Luffy wanted to break into Impel Down in order to save Ace, Hancock decided to accept the summons to Marineford in order to take him to Impel Down.

Soon afterwards, the Seven Warlords, with the exceptions of Hancock and Jinbe, were all gathered at Mary Geoise soon before the execution and war was to start.

Impel Down Arc
Due to his past relationship with Whitebeard and Ace, Jinbe rejected the World Government's summons and was subsequently imprisoned in Impel Down. Hancock took Luffy to the giant prison, and managed to sneak him inside while she took a tour of it. Luffy eventually managed to make it to Level 6, and although he did not make it before Ace was taken away, he gained the assistance of Jinbe as well as former Warlord Crocodile.

While this happened, Blackbeard and his crew broke into Impel Down. They were able to go to Level 6, where they hosted a fight to the death between the prisoners in order to recruit them to their crew, and then defeated the warden Magellan as they escaped.

Marineford Arc
All of the Seven Warlords except for Jinbe and Blackbeard gathered with the Marines in Marineford as Ace was set to be executed. The Whitebeard Pirates then arrived, and war broke out. Kuma, Mihawk, Moria and Doflamingo aided the Marines, with Kuma now lacking free will as part of the Pacifista project. When Luffy's Impel Down escapee group arrived at Marineford, Hancock turned against the Marines and aided Luffy. Moria, who had been stealing some Marines' shadows, was dealt a heavy blow by Jinbe, and with Jinbe openly rebelling against the Marines, he resigned from his Warlord position. Doflamingo fought against Crocodile, Kuma fought against Ivankov and Inazuma, who he was once affiliated with, and Mihawk tried to stop Luffy.

Shortly after Ace's death, the Blackbeard Pirates arrived with new crewmates from Level 6 of Impel Down. They finished off Whitebeard, and Blackbeard stole the Emperor's Devil Fruit power. Revealing that he only joined to execute this plan, Blackbeard resigned from the Seven Warlords and unleashed chaos, although the Marines promptly retaliated. After Shanks ended the war, Hancock promptly left Marineford to catch up to Luffy, who had escaped thanks to Jinbe.

Post-War Arc
Eventually, Hancock caught up to the Heart Pirates, and offered them the safety of Amazon Lily for Luffy's and Jinbe's recovery period. She later let Luffy train on the nearby island Rusukaina for two years.

In the aftermath of the battle on Marineford, Doflamingo received orders to eliminate Moria due to his weakness. Moria managed to escape before Doflamingo could finish him off, but he was officially removed from the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

After having escaped from Marineford, Buggy received an invitation from the World Government to join the Seven Warlords, which he accepted.

Kuma returned to the Sabaody Archipelago, having come to guard the Straw Hats' ship the Thousand Sunny. He remained at his post for two years, helping protect it from attackers.

3D2Y
The World Government requested the Seven Warlords' intervention on Byrnndi World and his crew. Boa Hancock, Buggy and Dracule Mihawk positively answered, facing the members and the captain of the World Pirates.

During the Timeskip
A pirate who took Zephyr's arm and killed his group of Marine cadets was invited to become a Warlord. It is unknown if he actually accepted it or not, but the action caused Zephyr and his two followers, Ain and Binz to leave the Marines and form their own pirate hunting organization.

Within the next two years, the World Government filled its three open Warlord positions.

The Supernova Trafalgar Law was accepted as a Warlord of the Sea after he sent the hearts of 100 pirates. The other vacant position was occupied by Edward Weevil, a man who claimed to be the biological son of Whitebeard, due to his immense strength and heavy grudge against the Whitebeard Pirates.

Return to Sabaody Arc
After two years, Kuma was relieved of his task to guard the Sunny by Franky. The heavily injured Warlord departed, now a mindless servant like the rest of the Pacifistas with no more free will left.

Hancock and her crew later picked Luffy up from his training and brought him back to Sabaody Archipelago. As the Straw Hats departed for Fish-Man Island, Hancock and her crew held back the Marines.

Punk Hazard Arc
Law took refuge in the island of Punk Hazard illegally, forming an alliance with Doflamingo's subordinates Caesar Clown and Monet. When the Straw Hat Pirates arrived on the island, Law asked to form an alliance with them in order to take down Kaidou of the Four Emperors. Doing so would require them to take out Doflamingo's SMILE production that served Kaidou by destroying the SAD Factory on Punk Hazard. Despite being discovered by Caesar and his subordinates, and having to deal with one of Doflamingo's top officers Vergo, Law, the Straw Hats, and a the G-5 platoon led by Smoker and Tashigi successfully destroyed the SAD production and captured Caesar.

With Caesar as a hostage, Law gave Doflamingo the ultimatum to step down from the Seven Warlords if he wanted Caesar back. Doflamingo used his connections in the highest echelon of the World Government to manipulate the news to claim that he had left the Seven Warlords, despite not actually having done so.

Dressrosa Arc
With Doflamingo seemingly going along with their deal, Law and the Straw Hats went to Dressrosa not only to return Caesar, but to permanently cripple SMILE production by destroying the SMILE Factory on the island. However, Doflamingo revealed his deception, and Admiral Fujitora, who had been sent to assist him, revoked Law's Warlord title for working on equal terms with the Straw Hats. However, Law revealed that he had only allied with the Straw Hats to take down Doflamingo to avenge his deceased mentor Corazon.

After Law was defeated by Doflamingo, the Straw Hats joined with a dwarf militia to depose Doflamingo and destroy his SMILE Factory. They succeeded in liberating Dressrosa from Doflamingo's control by freeing all the people he had transformed into toys, forcing Doflamingo to trap everyone on the island and start a "game" to eliminate all of his enemies. Due to his Warlord position, Fujitora was left unable to go against him despite his illegal activities, but the Straw Hats and Law gained enough support from the people on Dressrosa to battle and take down Doflamingo and his crew. When Doflamingo was finally defeated, Fujitora stripped him from his position in the Seven Warlords and had him arrested; he was subsequently imprisoned at Impel Down. Law's bounty was raised, confirming his removal from the Seven Warlords.

Zou Arc
Weevil was engaging in warfare against pirate crews formerly allied with Whitebeard, due to his mother's claim that Whitebeard had left him inheritance in treasure. He then set his sights on finding Luffy in order to find out where Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates was.

Meanwhile, Buggy had set up a pirate dispatch company, and partied after Doflamingo, his rival in business, was taken down. However, he lost his five giant employees when they left to serve under the Straw Hats.

Levely Arc
After Kuma finished his mission to protect the Thousand Sunny, he became a slave to the World Nobles.

Cidre Guild Arc
On the way to the Pirates Festival, Boa Hancock stopped at an island to have a bath, where she encountered Luffy. Together, they fought of a gang of Bounty Hunters called the Cidre Guild.

One Piece: Stampede
The World Government requested the Seven Warlords's intervention on the raid on the Pirates Festival. While Buggy was already on Delta Island as security for the event, both Boa Hancock and Dracule Mihawk positively answered. Former Warlords Crocodile and Law also attended the festival. Boa Hancock, Buggy, Crocodile and Law fought Douglas Bullet, while Mihawk only dealt with a meteor summoned by Admiral Issho's power.

Wano Country Arc
Mihawk was sitting in his castle as Perona learned from a newspaper that Moria was alive. As Perona was leaving, Mihawk mentioned an interesting topic that was brought up at the Levely.

During the Levely, due to the actions of Crocodile and Doflamingo having brought tragedy to two government-allied kingdoms, the representatives of the World Government's member nations voted to officially dissolve the Seven Warlords system; the remaining five Warlords were stripped from their status and their bounties were reinstated. Fleet Admiral Sakazuki lamented the dissolution of the Seven Warlord in a private discussion with Admiral Fujitora, calling it a naive act; despite that, he immediately dispatched the Marines, ordering them to locate and arrest the former privateers.

Inspirations and Influences
They are loosely modeled on the privateers employed by various European superpowers during the Age of Sail. The privateers were essentially "legal" pirates, commissioned by high-ranking officials (up to and including royal sovereigns) to attack and plunder ships from opposing nations during war. Consequently, they were feared and despised by their targets, but could be greatly respected and honored in their homelands—Great Britain's Sir Francis Drake and Spain's Don Miguel Enríquez were arguably the most successful, securing not only millions in wealth but enough political favor with their respective sponsors to attain titles of nobility.

Of course, even the most successful privateers held a precarious status, totally dependent on their sponsor nation's politics. Any political change could revert them to "common" pirates open to arrest and prosecution—as eventually befell Enríquez, William Kidd, and countless others.

(Ironically, while several of the Warlords' names were inspired by real-life pirates, none of these were known to be privateers.)

Translation and Dub Issues
The group's original Japanese name, Shichibukai (七武海), is a compound invented by Eiichiro Oda. It combines three unrelated terms:
 * Shichi (七), meaning seven
 * Bu (武), meaning war or martial
 * Kai (海), meaning sea

This compound appears to liken each individual member('s strength) to an entire sea—a metaphor unwieldy, if not outright infeasible, for literal English translation. As a result, most fan translations leave it as Shichibukai (notwithstanding some earlier attempts at "Seven Gods of Pirates"), while all official English translations from Viz, 4Kids, and FUNimation adapt it as Seven Warlords of the Sea. The latter form has been recognized by a few Japanese sources—including databook Green and at least one episode of the anime—though it remains unknown in manga canon.

(Relatedly, the original Japanese treats the seven component as part of the overall name, not merely a counter, and so uses Shichibukai to describe the group as a whole and individual members alike. Official English translations tend to adapt this to conventional grammar, using "Seven Warlords" for the group and modifiers (e.g. "one of") for individuals.)

The original Japanese also occasionally prefixes Shichibukai with the term Ōka (王下), indicating both high status and ostensible obedience to Mary Geoise. This prefix is occasionally adapted as "Royal" by English translations, but more frequently ignored (possibly due to the term "Warlord" already holding similar connotations).

Merchandise


As popular characters, they have made many appearances in the fan merchandise such as the Portrait of Pirates series. The Seven Warlords have been featured in the series of One Piece Shichibukai Cellphone Strap, One Piece Super Deformed Figures, and One Piece World Collectable Figure series.

Trivia

 * While Yosaku was accurate in describing their immense powers and alliance with the World Government, the shadowy silhouettes he imagined in his head bore no resemblance to the actual members, aside from Mihawk.
 * Their appearance on the cover of Chapter 532 was parodied in episode 240 of Gintama, where six of them made a silhouetted cameo, with Gintoki replacing Teach eating a cherry pie but holding his wooden sword instead of a gun.
 * The status of Warlord was offered to Portgas D. Ace, but he refused the offer. This is the only known time an invitation into the organization had been rejected.
 * In the anime special 3D2Y: Overcome Ace's Death! Luffy's Vow to his Friends, it was said that the Seven Warlords were only established within the last 30 years prior to the current timeline.
 * In the game One Piece - Big Secret Treasure of the Seven Phantom Islands, Simon is said to be on the waitlist for the Warlords.
 * Both Jinbe and Buggy had their offers to become Warlords delivered by black bats.
 * Teach was the only Warlord that did not have any formal or official bounty when joining the Seven Warlords.
 * Doflamingo and Hancock are the only known members who can use Haoshoku Haki.
 * In One Piece Color Walk 7 Tyrannosaurus, Oda revealed that he originally wanted to have Basil Hawkins join the Seven Warlords.
 * Marshall D. Teach and Trafalgar D. Water Law are the only members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea that have the initial D. in their names.
 * Law, Teach and Buggy were given official animal resemblances in the SBS or Vivre Card Databook, with Law resembling a spotted seal and snow leopard, Teach resembling a hippopotamus,  and Buggy a panda. The other Warlords of the Sea have not received official animal themes, but all seem to have animal connections in their names and appearances: Mihawk with hawks, Crocodile with crocodiles, Doflamingo with flamingoes, Kuma with bears, Moria with geckos and bats, Hancock with snakes, Jinbe with whale sharks, and Weevil with weevils.
 * Jinbe was later given an animal theme as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates: Bear.
 * With the exception of Weevil, all others who have been members of the Seven Warlords were present during the Summit War of Marineford.
 * In The 23rd Log, Oda affirmed that the Seven Warlords were the biggest responsible for One Piece's extended serialization. The series was originally supposed to have the Four Emperors as the main antagonistic force, but Oda felt the Seven Warlords were too cool to not add.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * In the SBS of Volume 63, Oda drew all the known Warlords at the time (including former members) as children (being Hancock the only one shown previously as such in Chapter 0). Trafalgar Law was not a Warlord then, but he was drawn as a child along with the rest of the Eleven Supernovas in the next SBS and his past was revealed. Buggy was not shown as a kid until Chapter 964. Weevil is the only Warlord who has not currently been shown as a child
 * In the SBS of Volume 76, Oda drew all the known Warlords at the time (including former members) as their opposite gender. Trafalgar Law was already drawn as a female along with the rest of the Eleven Supernovas in the SBS of Volume 72. Buggy and Weevil are the only Warlords that are yet to be drawn in the opposite gender.

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