Five Elders

The Five Elders are a council of the five highest-ranking Celestial Dragons who act as the public heads of the World Government. They essentially hold the greatest authority over the world at large as far as public knowledge is concerned, although they secretly act as figureheads for the government's shadow leader Imu, who occupies the Empty Throne.

The Five Elders' political sway over the World Government, its subsidiary organizations, agencies, and military branches is paramount and near-illimitable, including holding absolute command over Cipher Pol, the Marines, and (prior to their disbandment) the Seven Warlords of the Sea, thus controlling two of the Three Great Powers. As of now, it is unknown how the Elders acquired their positions and how long they have been in power, but they are almost always found residing in the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle.

Due to their status, indirect actions and longstanding, profound plot involvement, the Five Elders are among the primary antagonists of the One Piece series, especially its Final Saga. They first appear during the Jaya Arc and are officially named during the Egghead Arc.

Overview
Despite being Celestial Dragons, none of the Five Elders wore the full-body white suit that their lower-ranking brethren wear. Also, none of them have been seen wearing the bubble or glass case over their heads to separate their air supply from other people, even when seen outside of Mary Geoise. They are all rather tall, comparable in height to the over 10 feet tall Sakazuki. It would appear that none of them has physically changed in appearance over the course of twenty-two years (from the destruction of Ohara to current times).

Their primary concerns are protecting an unstable world from the influence of piracy and maintaining the public image of the World Government, going to great lengths to keep their oppressive reputation a secret from the public. They have ordered the killing of an entire island of people to hide the discovery of the Void Century through the decipherment of Poneglyphs, they have hidden the fact that Gecko Moria was beaten by Monkey D. Luffy and later ordered his silent assassination to make it look like he died in the war for a better image, and they have kept the escape of Level 6 inmates of Impel Down a secret, a decision that even angered Sengoku, the then-fleet admiral of the Marines. They are extremists who will sacrifice a countless number of innocent people for the sake of maintaining the World Government's political power and authority and even turn a blind eye to political corruption such as the atrocities of Warlords of the Sea Sir Crocodile and Donquixote Doflamingo, and when it should ever be exposed, they will simply give the Marines credit through falsified propaganda.

Each of the Five Elders is in charge of particular area of politics, and hold the title Warrior God (武神) akin to a minister. These positions are as follows:

They each personally take note of Luffy not only for his heritage as Dragon's son, but also for all the trouble he and his crew has caused by rebelling against them such as invading Enies Lobby and defeating CP9 to save Nico Robin, causing the first mass breakout of Impel Down and later intruded on the Summit War of Marineford to save Portgas D. Ace, and most of all defeating multiple Warlords such as Crocodile, Moria and Doflamingo.

Though not to the same extent as the other World Nobles, they take great pride in their heritage, as at least one of them considered the Nefertari Family to be traitors for not joining their ranks 800 years ago. Unlike their fellow World Nobles, they are capable of showing respect to other people, like Shanks, as well as reverence in the case of Imu. They do not wear the same full-body suits and bubbles that separate their air supply from the people of the lesser classes when in their presence. Also, unlike their lower ranking brethren, who mainly enjoy abusing their own powers for hedonistic pleasures, the Five Elders show themselves to be more responsible and concerned about the world's activities and even demonstrate being regretful and upset at times such as when they ordered the death of all of Ohara's scholars being a measure they reluctantly took when the scholar Clover, was going to reveal the name of a Great Kingdom. This shows that despite being willing to take extreme and questionable measures, the Five Elders, unlike most World Nobles, are not without remorse. While typical Celestial Dragons would attack anyone of lower social statuses who tried to argue or protest with them, the Five Elders are more tolerant in that they are willing to at least give the benefit of counterarguments, as when Sakazuki openly insulted them, they bickered with him instead of threatening him with death.

Each one has a different criterion, such as when they question each other's decisions, such as sending a CP0 agent as a scapegoat to cause Luffy's defeat, something that one of them considered contrary to their objectives but another justified it given the gravity of the situation.

Imu
Despite being reputed as the greatest authority in the World Government, the Five Elders all answer to Imu, the current sovereign of the Empty Throne that the Elders revere in high regard. As such, they immediately turn to Imu's guidance regarding whichever "light" deserves permanent erasure from history, indicating their role in the Government's oppressive tyranny for centuries.

Sakazuki
After the World Government played a role in falsifying the news of Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sakazuki was outraged by how the Five Elders would go out of their way to protect him, even not caring if it would tarnish the Marine's reputation. During a heated argument, Sakazuki even insulted, provoked, and mocked them because CP0 acted over their heads, testing his limits and showing that he does not agree with everything the Five Elders do.

Nefertari Family
Despite descending from one of the First Twenty that founded the World Government, the Five Elders consider the Nefertari Family to be traitors, since their ancestors preferred to stay in Arabasta instead of joining the other kings who moved to Mary Geoise. It appears that they keep that opinion to themselves, and they try to avoid conflict with the family. When they are willing to have an audience with Cobra, this event became hostile as Imu showed themself to him and revealed that his family have the Will of D. After which, the Five Elders and Imu kill Cobra, and they plan to deal with Vivi next.

Monkey D. Luffy
The Five Elders hold tremendous hatred towards Monkey D. Luffy not only for his heritage as the Revolutionary Dragon's son, but also for all the trouble he and his crew had caused. These included invading Enies Lobby and defeating CP9 to save Nico Robin, causing the first mass breakout of Impel Down, intruding on the Summit War of Marineford to save Ace, and most of all for defeating multiple Warlords of the Sea such as Crocodile, Moria, and Doflamingo.

They are shown to acknowledge Luffy's strength and see that he is truly Garp's grandson, as well as a deadly element. They feared of what he would be capable of should he defeat the Emperor, Kaidou, and so they ordered CP0 to eliminate him before that could happen. They were deeply concerned about Luffy's survival and were even fine with losing an agent and angering Kaidou as long as Luffy was killed, as they feared what he was going to do once his Devil Fruit's true potential was awakened, calling it the most ridiculous power in the world. Their decision, however, backfired as not only did Luffy awaken his Devil Fruit, but he used his newfound power to defeat Kaidou.

Clover and Ohara Scholars
The council recognized the merits of the scholar in his search for truth but that his vision was "distorted". The Five Elders were strongly against the research that was conducted by the Ohara Scholars and had them killed for uncovering too much information about the Void Century, the citizens showed their outrage when they decided to kill Clover for knowing too much. Despite ordering their deaths, the Five Elders expressed some regret for their decision, and one of them looked distraught when the order was given.

Shanks
Though Shanks would be considered an enemy given his status as a pirate, the Five Elders showed respect towards him and even allowed him to speak with them inside Mary Geoise coming to make room in their political agendas for being him.

Known Information
Ju Peter spoke with Professor Clover and ordered Spandine to kill him before the archaeologist could speak the Great Kingdom's name. They have shown to have at least basic knowledge of the occurrences of the Void Century, according to their shocked reactions to Professor Clover's statements.

They have shown a paranoid fear of someone learning the history of the Void Century, masking it as fear of the discovery of ancient weapons. They forbid its research and order the utter destruction of the entire country of Ohara, though given what is known of the Void Century, they may simply be using that as an excuse in order to prevent information they do not want leaked to the public from getting out.

The Elders are well aware of the true nature of Devil Fruits, particularly Zoan Fruits and namely the Gomu Gomu no Mi, acknowledging it as the most ridiculous power in the world, and feared that should it reach awakening, it could become a major threat to them. They acknowledged the Gomu Gomu no Mi's awakening should not be seen by the world, as they demanded Luffy's bounty poster be reprinted when they saw it.

When providing them foods, it must be thoroughly examined by agents to confirm that the food has not been poisoned given the risk of their high political status.

Political Authority
Known as the Highest Authority of the World Government (世界政府最高権力), the Five Elders are the rulers of the entire world with tremendous political power superior to their fellow World Nobles, second only to Imu. They have complete control over all government affiliated organizations such as the police, the ten Cipher Pol units, and even the Marines as they are all completely subservient to their commands. Even the orders of the fleet admiral of the Marines can be vetoed by their decisions. They can declare a Buster Call attack on any island that they deem a threat and can pass that authority onto lower World Government ranking agents. They can revoke a Warlord of the Sea title, if they decide that he/she is not living up to their duties as a Warlord. As with any standard Celestial Dragons, the Five Elders can summon a Marine Admiral if they are under attack. They can command the Seraphim, the Marines' latest invention by Vegapunk, and their authority even surpasses the one given by Vegapunk.

Their primary concerns are protecting an unstable world from the influence of piracy and maintaining the public image of the World Government. They have near total control of what is published (unless the presses defy them, as Morgans did), requesting authorization for what they deem convenient, even reclassifying and renaming the Zoan fruit, "Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika" as the Paramecia fruit, "Gomu Gomu no Mi". They will go to great lengths to keep the public's view of them in a good light. They have ordered the killing of an entire island of people to hide the discovery of the Void Century; they have hidden the fact that Gecko Moria was beaten by Luffy and later ordered his silent assassination to make it look like he died in the war for a better image, and they have even kept the escape of Level 6 inmates of Impel Down a secret. When blackmailed by Doflamingo, they agreed to deliver false news that he resigned from the Warlord of the Seas, and then retract it accordingly yet ordering the citizens to remain calm and peaceful despite the tremendous scandal this caused. Some of these decisions have even angered the Marines fleet admiral Sakazuki, and his predecessor Sengoku.

Combat Strength
Political powers aside, it is currently unknown how strong each one of the Five Elders is. However, due to their clear muscles and scars, and that one of them is wielding a sword, it would appear that they have some battle experience and fighting capabilities. Also in Robin's flashback, it appears that their appearances haven't been altered in the least, despite it been taking place twenty-two years ago. They were shown to be able to easily withstand Sabo's "Hiken" technique. They also had great sensory abilities, as they noticed Wapol was eavesdropping on them behind a stone wall.

Weapons
Four of the Elders possess flintlock pistols, while one has a sword.

Transformation


All Five Elders seemingly possess abilities which allow them to transform into animalistic or humanoid creatures, which Sabo has described as "demonic looking". It is unknown if this is the result of a Devil Fruit power or something else entirely.

Past
Nothing is known of their early lives, and how they became the leaders of the World Government is also unknown, aside that they are the highest ranked Celestial Dragons.



During his time with MADS, Dr. Vegapunk was recognized for his genius inventions and received an audience with the Five Elders in Mary Geoise.

Ohara Incident
Commencing Buster Call. All ships begin the attack. Target everything on the island of archaeology, Ohara. The research done by Ohara's scholars has exceeded our expectations. That knowledge could be passed on. We must not let the exposure be anywhere else but on this island. Completely obliterate the demons living in Ohara! In the name of justice!

Their membership (and appearances) has not altered at least in the last twenty-two years, when they ordered the Buster Call against Ohara since the archaeologists broke a capital law of the Government and that they were not going to allow it. After Clover confronted the Five Elders, one of the elders who communicated through Den Den Mushi recognized the archaeologist and praised him for his great contribution to universal culture, lamenting that he strayed from the "good path", Clover claimed the right of humanity to knowing the story and that no one had the right to deny them the "untold story", the old counter-argument that if they read the Poneglyphs they would resurrect the Ancient Weapons leading the world to its doom.



Clover stated again that was the history of humanity and that everyone has a duty to live with it. Clover began to question the Poneglyphs' existence, coming to the conclusion that they had an enemy and that the people of the past did not want their message to be eradicated. As Clover began to talk about his theory about the end of the "Hundred Years of the Void" and the creation of the World Government, the elder asked him what he was implying. Clover concluded about the existence of a great and powerful kingdom whose information was eliminated and that when this kingdom was going to be defeated by the future World Government they carved this knowledge in stone rune. Unaware of the threat it represented to the World Government he theorized that the key was in the name, he began to attempt reveal the name of the kingdom removed from history, so one of the Elders ordered Spandine to shoot the scholar. They then ordered the destruction of the island and extermination of its citizens.

Investigation of Pluton
Less than fourteen years ago, Spandam manipulated them to give him the authority to seek out the blueprints for Pluton.

Jaya Arc
The Five Elders discussed the situation around Shanks and Whitebeard. They were determined to keep Whitebeard and Shanks from making direct contact. They were also distressed with Crocodile due to his actions in Arabasta and his subsequent dismissal from the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Long Ring Long Land Arc
Later, they heard of Aokiji sneaking out of Marine Headquarters and became disappointed with him. They remarked that he should be careful with his rank.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
Later, after the Enies Lobby raid, they were shocked to hear that Shanks had successfully met with Whitebeard.

Post-War Arc
After the Summit War of Marineford, they gathered to discuss the state the world was in. They talked about how Monkey D. Luffy had become a huge threat, as well as his relations to Garp and Dragon. Topman Warcury commented on how their power structure had almost completely collapsed and asked how they would fill the three vacant Warlords of the Sea positions. They decided to observe world events for now until they could find influential enough people to become new Warlords.

They then discussed Blackbeard and his activities in the New World, mentioning that he had defeated one of the Supernovas and that he was in the lead for replacing Whitebeard as one of the Four Emperors. They believed that the only people who could stop his rise to power were the three remaining Emperors and the Whitebeard Pirates, who were currently under Marco's command. They also expressed concern about the Will of D. and that it had reached the public too much as of late.

Dressrosa Arc


Following the discovered falsehood behind the story about Donquixote Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea and abdication of his throne, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki confronted the Five Elders about this, where they engaged in a heated argument. Sakazuki angrily asked the elders why the whole world had to be misled for Doflamingo's sake, noting that if an incident like this were to occur again, he as fleet admiral would be disgraced. The elders ignored him, saying that they were not concerned with his reputation as the Marines were only the public face of the World Government, and that the case had been left to the Cipher Pol.

Sakazuki retorted that even the elders had been walked over and called them Celestial Dragons' puppets. They responded in anger, blaming Sakazuki for Kuzan joining Blackbeard. Sakazuki replied that Kuzan's actions after he resigned from the Marines were not the concern of the government or the Marines. Suddenly, a Marine interrupted the meeting and reported about what transpired on Dressrosa. Much to their shock and displeasure, they learned of Doflamingo's defeat at Luffy's hands.

Admiral Fujitora publicly announced Doflamingo's defeat to the world along the exposure of the crimes he committed by abusing his Warlord of the Sea position. Since the announcement was given before the elders were informed of it, this prevented them from covering up the debacle, allowing the Straw Hat Pirates to take credit for exposing the Heavenly Yaksha's criminal enterprises.

Levely Arc
The Five Elders questioned Shanks on why he felt it was necessary to speak with them despite the Levely being so important and his criminal status not being appropriate for global diplomacy. They stated the only reason Shanks was granted a private audience with them was because he is one of the Four Emperors. Shanks expressed his gratitude, and the Elders ordered their guards to leave their chambers. Shanks conveyed his desire to discuss a certain pirate with the Five Elders.



Sometime after the Levely had formally begun, the Five Elders headed towards the chamber containing the Empty Throne as they discussed Nefertari Cobra's request to have an audience with them even though they saw the Nefertari Family as nothing more than traitors to the World Nobles for choosing to stay in the "world below". On their way to the chamber, one of them mentioned that things are getting out of their control, and they can't maintain the balance anymore and will have to carry out a global cleansing soon. Upon arriving at the chamber of the Empty Throne, the Five Elders quickly knelt down as they were greeted by Imu, who then proceeded to sit upon the Empty Throne itself. They asked Imu which "light" should disappear from history.

Wano Country Arc
During the Levely, they had a private audience with Nefertari Cobra. During the audience, Cobra recounted the history of the World Government and how it came to be, the purpose of the Empty Throne and vow the founding members took upon it who questioned them about his ancestor and one of the founding members, the First Twenty, of the World Government, Nefertari Lili. Cobra then revealed that her name, though she was a member of the First Twenty, was not found in any historical document Cobra possessed, asking the Five Elders if they knew what happened to her after she refused to become a World Noble. However, Jaygarcia Saturn only replied they had no knowledge of what became of her, and anything related to her had been lost to history at this point. Dissatisfied with this answer, Cobra instead asked them about the meaning of the D., which left them shocked upon his inquiry. They were later even more shocked and uneasy when Imu made their appearance during the audience by sitting in front of both the Five Elders and Cobra. They were then drawing their weapons, ready to execute Cobra for having seen Imu when he shouldn't have. However, their attempt failed due to Sabo, who overheard the entire audience and Imu's speech, jumping in to incinerate them with Hiken. However, the Five Elders and Imu transformed into beasts and pursued after Sabo and Cobra. They were able to effectively kill off Cobra, who decided to sacrifice Sabo and after having killed him, noticed someone witnessed what had happened, but were unable to locate them.



Later, after the Levely had ended, the Five Elders discussed how Sabo's fate intertwined with persons who carried the Will of D. before they received a call from Imu. Imu then told them they wanted to test out Vegapunk's invention, the Mother Flame, on Lulusia Kingdom due to its proximity to the Mother Flame. The Elders agreed, preparing the necessary steps to deploy the Mother Flame, mentioning that Lulusia grew suspicious of them anyways due to the people there revolting earlier, stating its power could serve as an example to others and were hoping that if they were able to use its power more freely, they could end an ancient battle with it. They also received their order from Imu to retrieve Vivi, stating they would see to it to be done. Following this, they also discussed the battle in Wano Country and how they could use the Raid on Onigashima to capture Nico Robin and eliminate any other inconveniences. After they received word that Zunesha had arrived at Wano, the Five Elders also became concerned that the Gomu Gomu no Mi could be awakened, which had not happened in centuries and had been covered up by the World Government. They then ordered CP0 to eliminate Luffy at once due to the potential danger he possessed should he defeat Kaidou. After Guernica interfered in Kaidou and Luffy's fight, the Five Elders concluded that the attempt on Luffy's life was worth losing the agent and angering Kaidou. They then discussed the Gomu Gomu no Mi's true nature along with its special abilities and uniqueness.



After the end of the Raid on Onigashima, the Five Elders discussed the defeat of Kaidou and Big Mom and the effect such big news will have on the world. They also noted that with Zunesha gone, Wano Country would remain closed, and they would not be able to militarily occupy the country. They then inquired about CP0's capture of Robin, which the agent confirmed, albeit nervously. Seven days later, when new bounty posters were issued, the Elders contacted a Marine and angrily questioned him about a picture on one of the posters, as well as a "D." not being removed as they had previously requested. The Marine stated that he had not heard that request and clarified that the photograph was sent by the CP0 agent Guernica. In response, Warcury demanded that the posters be reprinted, but the Marine replied that they are unable to contact the printers, so he ordered all distribution to cease immediately, but it was all in vain thanks to "Big News" Morgans.

One Piece Film: Red
The Five Elders watched Uta's concert in Elegia from the Den Den Mushi. They discussed Uta being the daughter of Shanks, a serious threat that was opposed to the Great Pirate Era, and how to stop her rebellion, though there was some hesitation among them to carry out her elimination as they worried, she may have been related to the Figarland Family. Also, they were very concerned about Uta's connection with Tot Musica and they could not afford to be cautious if she summoned that as a threat. The Five Elders did not fall asleep to Uta's powers as they already muted her songs. They were later informed by Lucci about an estimate being 70% of the world's population would be pulled into the Uta World.

The Five Elders, horrified, witnessed Uta turning everyone including Saint Charlos into inanimate objects. As they couldn't afford more casualties, they needed to make a decision even if a Celestial Dragon would get caught in the crossfire. They witnessed Tot Musica, finally summoned by Uta, attacking the Marine ships. Lucci tried to turn off the Den Den Mushi to cut the sounds, but Ju Peter stated there was no point to mute it as the reality and the song of Tot Musica had already been linked. After Tot Musica was defeated by Luffy and Shanks, the Five Elders witnessed Uta releasing everyone from the Uta World through singing.

Egghead Arc
Three months before the Egghead Incident, they got an anonymous call from York, who leaked information to them about Vegapunk doing and continuing the research on the Void Century. This led to them to deploy a CP0 squad of Rob Lucci, Kaku, Stussy and S-Bear to assassinate Vegapunk and all his satellites.

During Sabo's attack on the Levely, he managed to catch sight of Imu on the Empty Throne, before escaping. When he tried to contact Dragon to report his findings, in which his call was intercepted by the Marines, the Five Elders ordered the surveillance division to stop the broadcast before Sabo could say any further. They then ordered the Marines to forget that any information was intercepted at all, and that the place where Sabo was hiding, Lulusia Kingdom, never existed as Imu destroyed the entire island using a mysterious weapon.

Having anticipated Vegapunk resisting their assassination order, Jaygarcia Saturn personally made his way towards Egghead, being escorted under the protection of Admiral Kizaru and a large force of troops and battleships from a multitude of Marine bases.

Major Battles

 * Five Elders & Imu vs. Sabo

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Grand Battle! 3
 * One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!
 * One Piece Odyssey

Translation and Dub Issues
The Japanese word for the Five Elders, "Gorōsei", translates more closely to "Five Elder Stars", which is the name used formerly in the Funimation adaptation. When Oda translated the word in Chapter 907, he left out "stars" from the title. In later episodes dubbed by Funimation, their original name is used as well. The kanji 星 can also refer to a planet or a celestial object in general. Their namesakes, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have been known about since antiquity as a set of objects in the night sky, possibly providing an origin of the "star" segment of their name.

Their titles as "Warrior Gods" (武神) may also be pun on the identical-sounding bushin (武臣), a historical term for a government official serving a military and war. This may be the reason VIZ Media translated their titles as "Godhead".

Trivia

 * From their first appearance to their official introduction, they have been unnamed the longest at 853 chapters as individuals of a group.
 * They are the only group of unnamed individuals before the timeskip.
 * The Five Elders resemble the concept of the real world five permanent members of the UN Security Council: France, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and the United States of America.
 * Each of the Elders are named after planets: Saturn, Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter.

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