Big Mom Pirates

The Big Mom Pirates are a powerful pirate crew captained by Charlotte Linlin, one of the Yonko, and they are in control of the powerful nation of Totto Land, with their base of operations being Whole Cake Island. Along with the Vinsmoke Family, they serve as one of the main antagonist groups of the Totto Land Arc, and of the Yonko Saga overall.

Jolly Roger
The Big Mom Pirates' Jolly Roger is a skull with thick lips and wearing a pirate tricorne based on their captain's appearance, on a fluffy background (which could represent Linlin's hair in some fashion) with several candy canes crossed behind it (one on the right, three stacked together on the left), in place of normal crossbones. A tree is seen coming out of the cane on the bottom right.

Like the Whitebeard Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates have a simpler Jolly Roger, consisting of the normal skull-and-crossbones, but retaining the large lips of the original. In addition to these, though it has yet to be shown clearly, Charlotte herself also has a unique personal Jolly Roger on her tricorne hat more akin to a traditional skull and crossbones that appears to have swirling patterns resembling flames to the sides of the design. Her living hat had a different Jolly Roger when her appearance was fully shown later. This one had swords instead of crossbones with a curl design under each. The skull had pupils in its eyes and an open mouth. It's unknown if this was a redesign or just a different hat.

Recruitment and Alliance Brokerage
To either sail under Big Mom, or to broker a new alliance with her, new enlistees and allies must have their bloodlines tied to her family (which  consists of Linlin herself, 43 husbands, 39 daughters and 46 sons) ; this requires a political wedding. The foundation and infrastructure of the Big Mom Pirates is therefore built around her bloodline. The crew's recruitment process is that Linlin would marry off her children, mostly without taking their considerations in the choice, to bolster her pirate group, thus serving to expand her family as well. Her children have thus long since given up hope of finding a spouse of their choice, knowing that they cannot defy their mother's exploitation of their marriages.

In the event that a bride or groom from an outside family has multiple existing affiliations, they must sever those that are external to the political agreement with Big Mom. This was the case with Sanji, whose membership of the Straw Hat Pirates was a loyalty outside the alliance agreed between the Vinsmoke patriarch and the Charlotte matriarch, and which was therefore required to be forfeited.

Organization
As mentioned, the Big Mom Pirates are built around the bloodline of their captain; however, it is unknown whether (and if so, which) of her children are direct members of her crew. Crew members, like their captain's children, call Big Mom "Mama", although most fear her as she frequently throws violent rages when she is displeased (especially when she does not receive the candy she expects). She even cannibalizes her subordinates on a whim. Bobbin and a three-eyed girl are seemingly the only known exceptions in fearing her.

Like most Yonko crews, the Big Mom Pirates are organized around a central group of pirates that sail directly under Big Mom, and various subordinate crews that work directly on her orders. Those that have high authority within the crew are the Three Sweet Commanders (スイート３将星). The crew also has ally groups, which do not work for Big Mom, but which bolster her crew's strength by permitting the crew access to their resources.

Subordinates
The Big Mom Pirates have various subordinate crews, some of which were already famed pirate groups in their own right. These include the Sun Pirates, captained by a former Shichibukai, and the Firetank Pirates, captained by one of the Worst Generation. Per Big Mom's requirements, the vice-captain of the Sun Pirates married her 29th daughter, while the captain of the Firetank Pirates himself married her 22nd daughter.

Allies
In addition to recruiting subordinate crews, Big Mom also forms alliances with other powerful groups. Allies differ from subordinates, in that allies do not join her crew, but instead agree to some form of exchange. Nonetheless, Big Mom's terms apply equally to new allies, who must still tie their bloodlines with her own to seal the alliance.

As of yet, the only known ally group with the Big Mom Pirates is the Underworld army of the notorious royal family, the Vinsmoke Family. As part of this alliance, Big Mom seeks access to the army's combat technology, while the Vinsmokes seek the use of her forces to retake the family's former sovereign dominion over North Blue. This alliance is to be sealed with a (pending) marriage between the Vinsmoke Family's third son, and Big Mom's 35th daughter.

Crew Strength
Even the demons of hell will come when called to Mama's tea parties!

Captained by one of the Yonko, it can be presumed that the Big Mom Pirates are incredibly strong. One of their members, Bobbin, was powerful enough to pillage an entire country with only a handful of men, and Pekoms, a member with a bounty of 330,000,000, single-handedly defeated Caribou, a Logia user and Super Rookie, on his own and with a single attack. It was said that if an island does not pay its tribute she will destroy it using her army of "monsters". Indeed her crew so far has been quite varied, consisting of a long-legged person, a talking lion capable of turning into a tortoise, a wide-faced mask-wearing man, an anthropomorphic rabbit, and a three-eyed girl, making her crew one of the most diverse since the Straw Hat Pirates themselves.

Furthermore, Linlin has several islands under her control, and the citizens of Fishman Island, fearing her wrath, agreed to produce the ten tons of candy she orders every month. It is common knowledge to everyone in the New World that Big Mom's "invitation" to her tea parties is in name only, and that it is a absolute summon order that, if declined, would result the invitee to be choked with regret. It is said that even demons from hell will attend the party when invited by Big Mom. Refusal would result in the invitee being sent a box containing the head of someone they personally know, even if that person is someone of notable strength or in another part of the sea beyond the Calm Belts and Red Line; this demonstrates how far reaching the crew's power is.

They also have multiple ships and allies, some of which were sunk by Eustass Kid. After Whitebeard died, the Sun Pirates apparently joined with them so Fishman Island would be under her protection, which increased the Big Mom Pirates' power. Jinbe, however, is not really loyal to her and is thinking of leaving her. Also Capone Bege, a rookie pirate captain from The Worst Generation has aligned with the crew. A single Road Poneglyph is currently within the possession of Big Mom and her crew.

The crew is also connected with the activities of the Underworld, especially through its involvement in brokering, as Pekoms and Tamago were seen paying attention to Caesar Clown's broadcast of an illegal chemical weapon of mass destruction. Big Mom has also recently boosted her crew's strength in the Underworld by aligning herself and her family with the notorious Vinsmoke Family; through them, she has access to Germa 66, who are renowned throughout the world as an evil mythical army.

Singing Ship


One of the Big Mom Pirates' ships is referred to as "Singing Ship" by Nami. It is enormous, easily over twenty times the size of the Thousand Sunny; putting it in perspective with the Thousand Sunny, Big Mom's ship could tower over 500 meters. It has a prevalent confectionery theme, having frosting over its railings, ice cream cones at the top of its masts, candy canes and wafers on the sides of the main deck, and a large candle-lit, double-layered cake directly behind its figurehead. The clown-shaped figurehead, wearing a tricorne hat and a crown, seems to be alive, continuously singing about itself being a ship. Other parts of the ship likewise appear to be alive, such as the door to Sanji's quarters. The ship has numerous cannons mounted on its side. Several returned cannonballs damaged the starboard side.

List of Protected Territories
The Big Mom Pirates are known to have the following territories under their protection:


 * Totto Land (an archipelago composed of 35 islands under the rule of Big Mom and her crew)
 * Whole Cake Island (the base of operations) in the center
 * Cacao Island
 * Jam Island
 * Nuts Island
 * Cheese Island
 * Biscuits Island
 * Candy Island
 * 28 other unnamed islands
 * Fishman Island (protectorate)
 * Unknown country (former protectorate, burned down)

In Totto Land's sea, territorial sea slugs send out automatic Den Den Mushi warning signals for nearby ships to warn them about the danger of having entered Big Mom's immediate territory. Unauthorized entry is not tolerated, and intruders would be shot down.

Past
At some point, Big Mom commissioned the rogue scientist Caesar Clown to research artificial gigantification, that she may satisfy her long-held dream to have a tea party with her children at eye-level. Caesar's efforts were able to accelerate and extend the growth of children, but without long-term health issues. Knowing that permanent artificial growth was impossible, Caesar took the money anyway to finance a lifestyle of excess.

During the Timeskip
Sometime after the Whitebeard War, Big Mom's crew agreed to protect Fishman Island in exchange for ten tons of sweets a month. However, Linlin rarely enforced her protection on the island, as she did nothing to prevent the civil war between the Ryugu Kingdom and the New Fishman Pirates, as her pirates even stated that a civil war was not their problem. Around this time would also be when the remnants of the Sun Pirates, including Jinbe, would come to work under Big Mom, although she primarily let them do as they pleased. Also during the time-skip, Firetank Pirates allied themselves with the crew.

Some time before the Straw Hat Pirates arrived to Fishman Island, Eustass Kid sank two of Big Mom's allies' ships.

Fishman Island Arc
After Fishman Island was nearly destroyed by the New Fishman Pirates' coup d'état, Tamago and Pekoms arrived to collect the candy payment while disregarding the civil war. Meanwhile, Bobbin had finished attacking another of their territories due to the failure of delivering Charlotte Linlin her candy payment. Back at Fishman Island, when Tamago and Pekoms found out about the situation, they reported it to Bobbin, who told Big Mom, who in turn phoned Fishman Island. Luffy answered and took responsibility for the lost candy right before declaring war against Big Mom, stating that it was dangerous to leave the island under the control of someone who would destroy it just for candy. Pekoms later defeated Caribou with a single punch after he tried to retrieve the treasure Luffy had given them as compensation for the candy.

Punk Hazard Arc
Pekoms and Tamago are later seen watching Caesar Clown's Den Den Mushi broadcast on his chemical weapon of mass destruction. After seeing Caesar's defeat by Luffy, Tamago suggested they call Big Mom, in part so that they could collect Caesar and inquire into his dud research.

Dressrosa Arc


The crew approached Dressrosa on their ship, with the intent of capturing Caesar and sinking the Straw Hats. However, the Sunny protection team launched a successful counterattack, creating a large explosion and escaping through fog.

Later, some time between their encounter with the Straw Hats and their arrival in Zou, Big Mom and the patriarch of the Vinsmoke Family arranged a political alliance between the Charlotte and Vinsmoke families. Per Big Mom's policy, the alliance was to be sealed with a wedding between the third Vinsmoke son, Sanji, and the 35th Charlotte daughter, Purin, during an upcoming tea party. Sometime during their pursuit of Caesar, the Big Mom Pirates received additional orders to retrieve Sanji unharmed, in order to bring him to the tea party.

Zou Arc
After the Curly Hat Pirates arrived on Zou, the Big Mom Pirates managed to follow their trail due to overhearing their destination. They were able to locate and reach Zou due to having a native on board, and they arrived seven days later, with Pekoms and Bege going ashore.



Bege and Pekoms reached Zou, and Pekoms became enraged when he saw his homeland destroyed. He reunited with his tribesmen, and Sanji made contact with Bege in order to settle their dispute over Caesar's captivity. Pekoms thanked Sanji for saving the minks and offered to fail a second, undisclosed mission (later revealed to be the retrieval of Sanji) if Sanji handed over Caesar. Angered that Pekoms was disregarding their complete orders, Bege shot him in the back. The Firetank Pirates then came out of his body and surrounded Sanji and Brook, with Nami and Chopper being captured by Vito. Bege took the Straw Hats inside his castle body, where he revealed to Sanji that he had been arranged to marry Purin at Big Mom's tea party.

Sanji refused, but Bege did not give him a choice as Vito revealed a secret about him that they knew. Sanji agreed to come along if he could write a note to his crew. As Sanji talked with his captured crewmates, he suddenly threw them out of Bege's body and held Caesar at gunpoint in order to keep the Firetank Pirates from harming his friends. Bege was then confronted by Nekomamushi, who wanted to know what happened to Pekoms. In a bad situation, Bege escaped from Zou with Sanji and Caesar inside him, leaving Pekoms behind.

Two days later, a recovering Pekoms met the Straw Hats that had just arrived and told them more about the Vinsmoke Family and the arranged marriage. He intended to return once his injuries had healed, and Luffy ordered him to take him to Big Mom's tea party.

Totto Land Arc
En route to Whole Cake Island, Tamago attempted to persuade Sanji to join Big Mom's crew, by informing him that Big Mom was impressed by his skill set and would likely offer him a good position in the crew. Sanji refused, countering that he will not cook for people with no respect for their own crew members.

Pekoms guided the Sanji retrieval team through Totto Land, claiming to guards that he had hijacked the Thousand Sunny. However, he went missing on Cacao Island.

A few days later, Big Mom prepared for the wedding to be held in three days' time. She had some of her subordinates gather ingredients for the wedding cake on faraway islands by killing the people guarding them

Days later, Big Mom developed a craving for croquembouche and went on a rampage in Sweet City, causing her crewmates and the citizens to panic. She ate everything and killed everyone in her path, including her son Charlotte Moscato. However, Jinbe arrived and gave her croquembouche, then asked the clear-minded Big Mom if he could leave her crew. Big Mom seemingly agreed, but said Jinbe would have to lose something in return as she pulled out a roulette wheel with pictures of body parts on it.

Later that day, Caesar Clown was brought before Big Mom and questioned about his gigantification research. Caesar lied and claimed he was on the cusp of a breakthrough, but the actions of the Straw Hat/Heart Pirate allegiance thwarted his efforts and destroyed his lab. He petitioned Big Mom for more money, that he may find or build a new laboratory and continue his research. However, Big Mom had intercepted blueprint for the now-destroyed facility at Punk Hazard, and had her eldest son, Charlotte Perospero, reconstruct a facility identical in function, WCI 1, on Whole Cake Island. Big Mom and Perospero proceed to force Caesar into research at the lab, threatening to turn him into candy if he lacks results within 2 weeks.

Trivia

 * While Big Mom is known for sending gruesome presents to those who refuse to go to her tea parties, she has ironically been sent one of her own, courtesy of Luffy: the Tamatebako box, which the Minister of the Right has rigged to explode if anyone tries opening it, though Luffy was not made aware of this until after he had given away the box to Pekoms and Tamago, thinking it would appease Big Mom.
 * The theme of this crew is that of the works of fairy tales and fantasy fiction.
 * Additionally, associated groups and locations share the crew theme:
 * Some of the crew captain's family.
 * Parts of the crew main territory in the New World.
 * The references are mostly from Lewis Carroll's most famous series of novels, "Alice" and its adaptations.
 * Soldiers with cards and chess pieces motifs.
 * An oversized sleepy talking door that leads to a large room with many doors.

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