Whitebeard Pirates

The Whitebeard Pirates crew (白ひげ海賊団, Shirohige Kaizokudan) seems to be one of the strongest (if not the strongest) pirate crews in the One Piece universe as their captain (Whitebeard) was the only one to have ever tied with Gol D. Roger in a fight. Whitebeard's crew is segmented into divisions as shown below.

Part in the Story
The crew has done very little in the story so far, but seem to play a large part in the world.

The first member seen is Portgas D. Ace, who decides to see how his brother Monkey D. Luffy is doing during the Alabasta Arc. After easily destroying a fleet of Baroque Works ships, Ace hands Luffy what appears to be a blank piece of paper, which is later sewn to the inside of his hat's ribbon, and leaves. Whitebeard himself appears when he rejects a letter from Red-Haired Shanks, stating that if Shanks wishes to speak with him he should do it in person. The World Government fears what would happen if their two crews were to join together, but has currently chosen to just observe their actions.

Pirate Flag


Whitebeard's flag is that of a standard Jolly Roger with a large mustache and a cross behind it. Many high-ranked crew members bare the whitebeard flag symbol on them including Ace who is seen having it tattooed on his back and being really proud of it.

Originally in the manga, a manji was behind it instead of a cross, while the current version is originally only used in the anime in order to avoid confusion with a swastika, like the ones used for nazi flags. The swastika symbol used by the nazis is not to be confused with the symbol Oda chose to use, though, as the nazi one has the arms of the cross bent at right angles while the Whitebeard one has them bent at left. However, in Shonen Jump #50, Oda commented that from Chapter 434 onwards he would have to use the cross version of the flag in the manga as well, being told to do so by the higher-ups at Shueisha.

Strength
Whitebeard is one of the Yonkou of the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaidou and another unknown pirate. This makes the Whitebeard Pirates one of the four strongest pirate groups in the Grand Line. There are 16 division commanders of Whitebeard's crew each commanding a crew of 100. There is a grand total of 1,600 men in Whitebeard's crew. Since their captain had managed to fight with Gol D. Roger one-on-one, the Whitebeard Pirates are considered the strongest known pirates in the world of One Piece. Even the normally overconfident Buggy the Clown refused to attack Ace when he was asleep, fearing Whitebeard's wrath. However, whether they are stronger than the three other Emperors, or at the same strength, is unknown.

Other Information
The Whitebeard Pirates are divided into numerous divisions that are then led by a high ranking Whitebeard subordinate. This pirate crew includes Portgas D. Ace commander of the Whitebeard 2nd Division. Blackbeard was formerly a member of this crew in the 2nd Division but left to form his own crew after killing some of his former crewmates. The front part of the ship where Whitebeard resides resembles a whale.

The Whitebeard pirates are famous for taking the concept of comradery to a very high level. Whitebeard sees his crew as his sons, and will avenge their deaths—a reason why most pirates would not attack them. This rule is especially true when the one that attacked them is a fellow crewmate. Lastly, Whitebeard believed that even as a pirate, there must be some kind of morality.