Seven Warlords of the Sea

The Shichibukai, the full title being Oka Shichibukai (王下七武海), were a group consisting of seven powerful and notorious pirates who had once allied themselves with the World Government.

As a group, they were one of the Three Great Powers that kept the world in balance. However, after the most recent Levely, the World Government's member nations voted to disband the organization, resulting in the five remaining members at the time becoming wanted pirates and enemies to the World Government once again.

Overview


The Shichibukai was an alliance of seven pirates turned privateers in the service of the World Government. Although they worked for the World Government, the Shichibukai themselves typically did not care about nor respect the Government (excluding Bartholomew Kuma, who was later modified into their puppet) or even other Shichibukai, and were often considered by the Marines to be no different from any other pirate. On the other hand, they were known 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 Shichibukai.

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

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.

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 put only at Level 5.

The terms that the Shichibukai are 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai: 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.

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 Shichibukai are familiar with each other or even have personally met all the other members. Despite this, all of the Shichibukai (including former) introduced prior to the timeskip fought at the war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines.

Most of the Shichibukai have a jaded attitude of the world, as their vast amounts of experience have disillusioned them. Crocodile and Moria both scorn Luffy's arrogant behavior, saying that he is too inexperienced to know what the world is truly like; Mihawk behaved in a similar fashion in his duel with Zoro, though he hopes that he will be successful. Doflamingo, spoiled by his former Celestial Dragon heritage and twisted by being repeatedly tortured afterwards, believes that there is no true justice in the world, and that both the Marines and Pirates are foolish if they think that they are upholding it. Hancock, through her horrid experience as a slave, considers all men of the world to be scum, outside of Luffy, with whom she is in love (and anyone whom Luffy is on good terms with); Rayleigh, who is her "benefactor"; and Fisher Tiger, who was responsible for liberating her from slavery. Due to having witnessed his people's oppression, suffering, and enslavement by the human race, Jinbe once held contempt for them. Despite advocating the cause of interspecies cooperation and equality, Jinbe honestly admits he is ambivalent about whether his decision was correct. Blackbeard believes there is no such thing as justice in the world. Law believes the weak have no right to choose how they die or should be abandoned if considered a liability. Weevil believed that his alleged blood heritage is what makes a true family, not by bonds of friendship. Buggy believes that only gold, silver, and jewels are the only things that can be considered as "treasure".

Relationships
Most Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai, threatening not just the man but the balance of the seven once again.

Becoming a Shichibukai
A pirate could choose to join the Shichibukai if a space became vacant (which means that at least one Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai) 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 Shichibukai


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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai provided assistance to maintain the balance of The Three Great Powers.

Technically speaking, the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai to still be pirates. Several high-ranking Marines expressed surprise that even two of the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai'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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai in the first place, knowing he could abuse the system so easily.

Though a majority of the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai and attempts to protect them if possible (or at least maintain their fame).

That is not to say they would not dismiss a Shichibukai for such actions. There are several Shichibukai who have been dismissed from their positions for several reasons. Crocodile's actions in Alabasta 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 Shichibukai, and decided to annul his pact and eliminate him, under the pretense of Moria dying in the war to preserve the Shichibukai's reputation of strength.

Jinbe forfeited his position as a Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai title.

Dismissal from the Shichibukai held not only the individual's loss of title, but in cases also the breakdown of possible politics affiliated to the Shichibukai. 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Kaido's wrath, Doflamingo was left with no choice but to resign his Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai, 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 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 Shichibukai two years ago.

When Law's alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates was in the news, his seat as a Shichibukai fell into jeopardy. Eventually Fujitora revoked his status as a Shichibukai. 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 Shichibukai 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, making them wanted criminals again.

Strength
The Shichibukai were a group of seven of the strongest pirates in the world and one of the Three Great Powers, the others being the Yonko and the Marines.

In terms of power, the exact relationship between the Shichibukai, Marine Headquarters and the Yonko is unknown. However, considering that these factions were stated to be in balance and the fact that the loss of Crocodile threatened said balance, the most reasonable conclusion is that each organization is approximately equivalent in strength. At least two of the Shichibukai (Gecko Moria and Dracule Mihawk) are said to have been rivals of Yonko members Kaido and Shanks, respectively. Bartholomew Kuma has also allowed himself to become part of the Pacifista project. The strength of at least one Shichibukai, Boa Hancock, has been acknowledged by former-Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself. This, in addition to the fact that losing a single member of the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Yonko 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 Shichibukai were considered "Government Dogs" by other pirates. At the same time, they were also feared by them because all of the Shichibukai 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 wee 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.

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 Shichibukai'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 Shichibukai 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 Battle 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 Shichibukai. As a result, Doflamingo was ordered to exterminate Moria along with a group of several Pacifista.

Past
After Gecko Moria was inducted into the ranks of the Shichibukai, 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.

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 Shichibukai 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.

Crocodile ascended to the rank of Shichibukai in his mid-twenties, he suffered a humilating defeat upon challenging the Yonko Whitebeard, at age 30, Crocodile relocated to Alabasta and became renowned as a pirate-hunting hero. some time after set up his Baroque Works organization. For the next several years, Crocodile would work to make the kingdom of Alabasta perceive him as a hero while he secretly gained power to dethrone the royal family of Alabasta and obtain control of a weapon known as Pluton.

Sometime after escaping slavery, 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 Shichibukai.

Four years ago, when Portgas D. Ace was gaining acclaim as the captain of the Spade Pirates, he was invited to join the Shichibukai, 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 Yonko Kaido 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 Shichibukai member 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.

Alabasta Arc
Crocodile, having established an image of himself as a hero to the citizens of Alabasta, 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 Alabasta, 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai, 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai.

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 Shichibukai. 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 send the Straw hats to various islands across the world.

Amazon Lily Arc
The Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai, 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Yonko's Devil Fruit power. Revealing that he only joined to execute this plan, Blackbeard resigned from the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai.

After having escaped from Marineford, Buggy received an invitation from the World Government to join the Shichibukai, 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 Shichibukai were sent to deal with Byrnndi World and his crew by the World Government in fear of his actions. Boa Hancock and Buggy faced the members of the World Pirates.

During the Timeskip
A pirate who killed Z's group of Marine trainees and took Z's arm became a Shichibukai. It is unknown what happened afterwards with him.

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

The Supernova Trafalgar Law was accepted as a Shichibukai 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.

Return to Sabaody Arc
After two years, Kuma was relieved of his task to guard the Sunny by Franky. The heavily injured Shichibukai 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 Kaido of the Yonko. Doing so would require them to take out Doflamingo's SMILE production that served Kaido 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai, 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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, he was arrested and put on a ship going to Impel Down. Law's bounty was raised, confirming his removal from the Shichibukai.

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.

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 Shichibukai system. The remaining five Shichibukai had their statuses revoked. With the exception of Kuma who is under the custody of the World Nobles, the Marines deployed fleets to attack the fugitive Shichibukai.

Manga Influences
They are loosely based on the privateers of the old European naval superpowers. The privateers were approved pirates, considered heroes in their homeland and pillagers in others. Their main goal was to plunder ships and towns of rivals and enemies of their allied nation. Historically, Sir Francis Drake and Don Miguel Enríquez were among the most successful, with their earnings surpassing the equivalent of a hundred million dollars by modern standards and their political influence reaching the royalty of their time.

Translation and Dub Issues
The title of Shichibukai is a Japanese term created by Oda which literally means "Seven Military Seas" when translated directly into English. Due to its meaning being lost when literally translated into English, various translations used slightly modified titles in order to convey the term in English. Early scanlations used "Seven Gods of Pirates" while the Viz, 4Kids, and FUNimation adaptations call them the "Seven Warlords of the Sea".

Meanwhile, the One Piece Green: Secret Pieces databook which was released in Japan in November 2010, includes, in the original Japanese version, several romanizations and English names for just about every character and group in the series. The Shichibukai are listed as "Seven Worlds of the Sea". The word "Worlds" appearing in there is not a translation at all from the Japanese version and is unexplained in the book.

Merchandise


As popular characters, they have made many appearances in the fan merchandise such as the Portrait of Pirates series. The Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 non-canon anime special, 3D2Y: Overcome Ace's Death! Luffy's Vow to his Friends, it was said that the Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai.
 * Although several Shichibukai have names based on real life pirates, none of them were privateers, the real life equivalent of the Shichibukai.
 * Both Jinbe and Buggy had their offers to become Shichibukai delivered by black bats.
 * Buggy and Teach are the only Shichibukai that do not have an animal theme.
 * Teach was the only Shichibukai that did not have any formal or official bounty when joining the Shichibukai.
 * 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 Shichibukai.
 * Marshall D. Teach and Trafalgar D. Water Law are the only members of the Shichibukai that have the initial D. in their names.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * In the SBS of Volume 63, Oda drew all the known Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai who has not currently been shown as a child
 * In the SBS of Volume 76, Oda drew all the known Shichibukai 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 Shichibukai that are yet to be drawn in the opposite gender.

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