Bounties

A Bounty is a set amount of money placed on a persons head for their capture/death.

Becoming Wanted
Normally a bounty is issued by a government official or by the police. The idea is to tempt others to aid with the capture of the said criminal so he can be brought to justice quickly, and the amount increase with the threat. The money often leads people, known as bounty hunters to make careers out of trying to find these wanted people. In the Whiskey Peak arc, the Baroque Works agents state that up to 30% of the bounty money may be lost by bringing in someone dead as opposed to bringing them in alive and promoting a public execution.

In the eye of a pirate, a high bounty may actually be a source of pride for them, as seen in Luffy's enthusiasm on his first bounty, or Sanji's constant complaining of his lack of bounty or bad picture. For others, such as a Kuro, it can be an annoyance.

Bounty Issuing
The average bounty in the East Blue is 3,000,000 Beli, and the big one's are 10,000,000 Beli. The big one's in the Grand Line are greater than 100,000,000, but a common price in the New World.

The full extent of the greatest bounties in the world hadn't yet been shown. Three of the five know bounties of the current Shichibukai members are around 300,000,000 Beli. The greatest amount seen in the series is the former 340,000,000 Beli bounty of the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo, and it is known (due to a SBS ) that a bounty can achieve 500,000,000 Beli. While there never was a bounty that high shown in the series, the actual top bounties in the world are expected of being to characters such as Silvers Rayleigh (which is known to have a active bounty ). So far Dragon is the most wanted criminal in the world.

A bounty reflects both the threat and power of a criminal. Doing criminal activities, associating yourself with certain groups or participating in forbidden practices (especially researching the Poneglyphs) can make you gain or increase a bounty. Even performing outrageous acts dedicated to self-preservation can cause people to be assigned with bounties if it goes against the law.

In the case of the power, a bounty can increase for several reasons:
 * The threat the combat abilites of someone pose (as said by Aokiji );
 * Recruiting more experienced bounty hunters;
 * A criminal that grantee a high power can inspire criminal acts (for example Whitebeard);

The power of a criminal is very limited to the knowledge of Marines. For example: Tony Tony Chopper had been mistaken as the crew pet; Luffy's Grand Line bounty does not include his victory over Enel because Skypiea is a relatively unknown area to the Blue Seas; Arlong paid the corrupt Nezumi to not report his activities.

Retracting Bounties
A bounty is usually given to a criminal for life, so no matter which lifestyle they may follow after its issue, the bounty remains unchanged. The bounty is usually only written off when the criminal dies. The notion that death brings freedom from the bounty was the sole reason for Kuro's plan to escape a pirates life. A bounty can last for over a hundred years if the criminal is not proven to be dead.

With exceptions of death and capture, another method of losing a bounty is to become an asset to either the Marines or World Government.

A bounty may also be removed by a court of law, as Jango's was, during his mini-series after he hypnotised the entire courtroom to dance. Jango's case was further aided by the help and plea of the Marine Fullbody during the case. This later allowed him to join the Marines under the command of Hina.

Every member of the Shichibukai is considered an ally of the Marines and World Government so the members bounties were all removed. This allows them to continue being a criminal on a conditional basis.

Identification
A criminal is, most often than not, known by his poster. Without the issuing of a wanted poster, no criminal can be made known. These posters are distributed across the world in newspapers and establishments. Marines also keep copies of each criminal at their bases and on board their ships so the Marines always have them handy. Bounty Hunters may also carry a list.

The Poster Picture
The most important part of a poster is the picture of the criminal. It allows swift identification upon sighting and informs everyone in the world to be wary of the named criminal. The picture normally takes the form of a photograph, in failing to retrieve a suitable photograph, a drawing may be used instead as in the case of Sanji. To some (such as Sanji), a decent photograph is as important as the bounty itself as the entire world will see copies of it, though some (such as Bellamy) believe some bounties are fake due to an unintimidating picture or a higher than expected bounty.

One of the most mysterious things about wanted posters in One Piece is how the Marines are able to get hold of photos of almost every criminal. Oda later in one of his SBS later reveals that the photos are taken by the Marine Photography Branch Captain "Flaming Attachan". Flaming Attachan apparently gets his name because before he closes the shutter he yells "Fire!". The only exception to this rule seems to be from Mr. 13 and Miss Friday who were used by the marines recently to help draw bounty posters of remaining Baroque Works agents. A new picture is sometimes issued as the person's appearance may have changed (such as Robin).

Nicknames
Marines give pirates a nickname with a bounty that either describes their appearance (such as "Cyborg Franky"), what their powers/abilities are (such as "Black Leg Sanji" or "King of Snipers Sogeking"), or what they do (such as "Burglar Cat Nami" or "Pirate Hunter Zoro"). Sometimes it is just the most common nickname a person has (Luffy was called "Straw Hat" before his first bounty was issued).

List of bounties
In the series many bounties are revealed, being by the author in a reference box, said by a character or a bounty poster being seen, although the value may not always be fully accurate or fully shown. For example, the value in Nico Olvia's poster was not shown, and Gecko Moria was first introduced by Robin as merely holding a bounty higher than Luffy's.

Many characters are expected to have bounties even though they were never actually shown, such as Gol D. Roger and Yonkou members. Shichibukai members, with the exception of Blackbeard all have former bounties, since the first requirement to join the group is being recognized world-wide. There are also minor characters whose bounties can be speculated, for example "Red-Leg" Zeff and Jean Bart.

A wanted poster of Portgas D. Ace is seen during the Arabasta arc. It should also be noted that this is seen during a filler episode of One Piece and is not actually in the storyline of the manga. In a filler arc Nami mentions that Ace's bounty is so high that bounty hunters all over the world drool at the sight of it.

The Straw Hat pirate crew
Total bounty: 700,000,050

East Blue Bounties
Note: The average bounty for the East Blue is rated at only 3,000,000, making it the weakest sea in the One Piece world.

Shichibukai ex-bounties
Because they are frozen bounties, the Shichibukai bounties do not reflect their true threat anymore.

Trivia

 * Oda confirmed that if Eneru were actually a wanted pirate, he would have had a bounty that could reach up to [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]500,000,000.
 * Bounties are often the centre of several myths within the fandom.
 * Record bounties:
 * Currently, Doflamingo's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]340,000,000 is the highest known bounty seen, however it is not an active bounty. The highest active bounty known is Eustass Kid's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]315,000,000.
 * The lowest bounty known is Chopper's mere [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]50. Previously, Alvida held that position with her [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]5,000,000 bounty.
 * The highest bounty known to be a starting bounty is Boa Hancock's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]80,000,000.
 * Robin holds the record for the youngest seen receiver of a bounty in the series being eight when she is given the bounty. Chopper is the second youngest being 15 years old.
 * Luffy's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]30,000,000 bounty broke the record for the active East blue bounties, as well as the highest new bounty for an East Blue pirate.
 * The oldest known bounties are joint held by Dorry and Broggy who have held theirs for over a hundred years.
 * The newest known bounties are Sogeking, Chopper, Sanji, Franky and Nami whose bounties were all released at the same time.
 * The lowest known Shichibukai bounty is Hancock's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]80,000,000, being lower than Crocodile's by only [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]1,000,000, excluding Blackbeard who holds no former bounty at all.
 * Doflamingo's [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]340,000,000 is the highest known Shichibukai.
 * The highest combined bounties seen in one crew is the Straw Hats [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]700,000,050.
 * The known Shichibukai ex-bounties total up to over [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]1,036,000,000, including the former Shichibukai Crocodile it would have been [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]1,117,000,000
 * The Eleven Supernovas bounties total up to [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]2,152,000,000.
 * The highest organisation (non-Pirate) was Baroque Works, whose bounties totaled up [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]192,000,000.
 * Wild Joe who appeared in Oda's oneshot Wanted! was given a bounty of [[Image:Bsymbol.gif]]2,000,000.