Seven Warlords of the Sea

The Shichibukai (七武海 Shichibukai, literally Seven Military Seas, The Seven Warlords of the Sea in the English versions) are a set of fictional characters in the anime and manga series One Piece.

About the Shichibukai
The Shichibukai are seven of the most powerful pirates in the series. They made a deal with the World Government for the Navy to drop the bounties on their heads, provided that they work in association with the government. They are only allowed to attack other pirates and must also pay the Government a tenth of their loot. The first of them to be introduced is Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, who defeated and severely wounded Roronoa Zoro at the Oceangoing Restaurant, Baratie.

The other known members of the Shichibukai are Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma and Jimbei, so far there are two members that are yet to be introduced, plus Jimbei, who hasn't made a physical appearance. Sir Crocodile was initially a member of the Shichibukai, but he was defeated by Monkey D. Luffy at the end of the Alabasta arc, arrested for his crimes, and stripped of his rank. His replacement has not yet been decided, but the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, Marshall D. Teach, appears to be interested in the position. Sir Crocodile's replacement and the other two as-yet unnamed members have not yet been shown in the manga.

All current and former known members of the Shichibukai have animal-themed names.

Current Shichibukai
Donquixote Doflamingo

Bartholomew Kuma

Dracule "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk

Jimbei

Former Shichibukai

 * Sir Crocodile (Crocodile) - Stripped of his title and arrested for his attempted coup d'état of the Kingdom of Alabasta and involvement with Baroque Works.

Candidates to replace members
Sir Crocodile:
 * Blackbeard

Manga/anime influences
The Shichibukai are loosely based on the privateers of old Europe. The privateers were approved pirates, considered heroes in their homeland and pillagers in others. Their main goal was to plunder the villages and towns of the then mighty country of Spain.

The concept is also based on the movie The Seven Samurai which is one of Eiichiro Oda's favorite movies.