Whitebeard Pirates

The Whitebeard Pirates (白ひげ海賊団, Shirohige Kaizokudan) were the strongest pirate crew in the world, as their captain (Whitebeard) was the only person to have ever tied with Gol D. Roger in a fight. Whitebeard's crew is segmented into divisions as shown below. Following the deaths of Whitebeard, Ace, and Thatch, they are currently under the authority of Marco with their current whereabouts and goals being unknown.

History
The first member seen was Portgas D. Ace during the Arabasta Arc, who decided to see how his brother Monkey D. Luffy was doing. After easily destroying a fleet of Baroque Works ships, Ace handed Luffy what appeared to be a blank piece of paper, which was later sewn to the inside of his hat's ribbon. This "paper" was eventually revealed to be a Vivre Card, which was a product made in the New World from a person's fingernail to keep track of his or her location and well-being. Whitebeard himself appeared when he rejected a letter from Red-Haired Shanks, stating that if Shanks wished to speak with him he should do it in person. The World Government feared what would happen if their two crews were to meet due to the possibility of them joining together, but chose to just observe their actions.

After Ace chased down the traitor Marshall D. Teach and was defeated, he was sentenced to death at Marineford. As Ace's execution closed in, the entire Whitebeard Pirates, along with their 43 allied crews, came to Marineford and waged war against the 100,000 Marines and the five Shichibukai that were present. Partway in, the prisoners of Impel Down arrived to give additional assistance, including people such as Ace's brother, Monkey D. Luffy.



As the war waged on, the Moby Dick was sunk by Admiral Akainu's Meteor Volcano, and another of Whitebeard's ships was sunk by Akainu's Great Eruption. Many allies and crew members were killed or injured, and several of the commanders were severely incapacitated, including Marco being pierced repeatedly by Admiral Kizaru's lasers, Jozu being frozen solid by Admiral Aokiji, and Curiel being burned and defeated by Admiral Akainu. Whitebeard himself had been severely injured by a deceived Squardo before he even jumped into battle, where he was then further wounded by Akainu and several Vice Admirals and Marine Officers. Their first notable casualty in the war was confirmed with the death of Portgas D. Ace by Akainu's hand (literally). A near-dead and isolated Whitebeard was then killed by the collective Blackbeard Pirates. The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates then prepared to fight against Akainu, who was pursuing a heartbroken Luffy.



Upon the Red-Haired Pirates' arrival, Shanks ceased the war, stating that the Marines had completed their objective, and anymore fighting would have resulted in needless bloodshed. Ace and Whitebeard's bodies were taken by their friends for a proper burial, while their own hearts were hurt at their losses. With the help of Shank's crew, the Whitebeard Pirates buried their two deceased comrades on an unknown island in the New World; Whitebeard and Ace's graves towered over the place, and there were swords and flowers all around the tombs as a tribute. Ace's grave has his signature hat, knife, and beads (the first two retrieved somehow despite him losing them in his battle with Blackbeard), while Whitebeard's is marked with his bisento with his coat hanging from it, and his flag tied to the top. The rest of the crew stood on either side of the island en mass, paying their last respects as Shanks left.

As Blackbeard made his move through the New World with his thorough knowledge of Whitebeard's territories, the Gorousei remarked that the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates, notably Marco the Phoenix, are one of the notable forces capable of stopping him.

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 extraordinarily 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.



The Whitebeard Pirates also seem to have another Jolly Roger symbol, or a simplified version of their original version, which is a cross with a crescent shaped curve jutting out from the bottom, representing Whitebeard's signature beard. This symbol is not used on the flags, but many members have it either tattooed on their bodies (such as Marco on his chest, Curiel on his chin, and Atmos on his shoulders) or clothing (Blamenco has it on his tricorn); the significance this symbol makes is as of yet unknown.

Crew Strength


Whitebeard was one of the Yonkou of the second half of the Grand Line, along with Shanks, Kaidou and Big Mom. This made the Whitebeard Pirates one of the four strongest pirate crews in the Grand Line. There were 16 division commanders in Whitebeard's crew, each commanding 100 men. There was 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 were considered the strongest known pirates in the world of One Piece. Even the normally overconfident Buggy refused to attack Ace when he was asleep, fearing Whitebeard's wrath. However, whether they were actually stronger than the three other Yonkou, or at the same strength, is unknown. What is known is that the World Government was prepared to use practically all of the Marine forces and the Shichibukai to fight the crew, after they announced Ace's execution. Even the 23 Marine ships that were supposed to be watching over the Moby Dick (Whitebeard's ship) were instantly wiped out as it started to move. Also the fact that the capture of Portgas D. Ace, a member of Whitebeard's crew, was considered such an amazing feat that it earned a place as a Shichibukai for Marshall D. Teach (though Ace's capture meant a lot more than just being a Whitebeard's subordinate, as he was also the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger's son).

Furthermore, according to Blackbeard, a general rule on-board Whitebeard's ship is that any crewmate who happens to find a Devil Fruit is free to consume it (which is why he killed Thatch in order to obtain the Yami Yami no Mi in the first place). From this, it is fair to assume that a certain number of the Whitebeard Pirates possess Devil Fruit powers. Indeed, the top three division commanders (Marco, Ace, Jozu) all have Devil Fruit powers, as does Whitebeard himself. These Devil Fruit powers made the commanders strong enough to stand against the Marine Admirals and Shichibukai. Just the same, some of the commanders who didn't seem to have any Devil Fruit powers were still capable of fighting on par with individual Shichibukai members (Vista, Curiel). Many of them seem to possess one or more forms of Haki, a technique their captain had mastered in all three forms. The fact that their names are well known by the Shichibukai and Admirals also gives an indication of their strength. As a matter of fact, even a Supernova-class pirate such as Monkey D. Luffy was considered to be "all talk" by Whitebeard (although this was prior to him releasing his Haoushoku Haki). Sengoku stated that, with his Devil Fruit, Whitebeard would have been able to destroy the world.

However, even taking their impressive displays of power into account, the Whitebeard Pirates are not, by any means, invulnerable, and have suffered enormous losses: Prior to the Whitebeard War, 4th division commander Thatch was murdered by Marshall D. Teach, who desired the Devil Fruit that Thatch found, known as the Yami Yami no Mi. During the Battle of Marineford, several of their flagships (including the Moby Dick) were destroyed either by cannon fire or in separate attacks from Akainu, numerous unnamed crewmembers lost their lives amidst the fierce fighting against the Marines, and several of the commanders were severely crippled in their attempt to save Ace. In the final stages of the battle, Admiral Akainu successfully executed 2nd division commander Portgas D. Ace. Soon afterward, a grievously injured Whitebeard was ambushed by the collective Blackbeard Pirates and perished as a result, leaving the overall fate of the Whitebeard Pirates uncertain. However, even with their losses, the Whitebeard Pirates are still to be considered to be one of the strongest crews, as the Gorousei maintain that they, along with the remaining Yonkou crews, are among the few that may be able to stop the Blackbeard Pirates.

Allies


Aside from their own 1600 member crew, the Whitebeard Pirates have many allies from the New World. Each one of the pirate captains was an infamous pirate who had made a name for him or herself in the New World. There seemed to be at least 43 crews allied with Whitebeard. Whitebeard treated all of his longtime allies just like his own crew, as though they were his sons.

They all seemed to know Ace, at least, and were willing to help Whitebeard's cause when Ace was about to be executed at Marineford. However they were not aware that Ace was Roger's son.

Aside from that, Jinbe of the Shichibukai greatly respected Whitebeard for protecting Fishman Island, and maintained a friendship with Ace, and was willing to lay his life down for either of them.

Furthermore, with Jinbe having been allied with the Straw Hat Pirates captain, Monkey D. Luffy, the Whitebeard Pirates can also be said to have been allied with the Straw Hat Pirates by extension, even though Luffy didn't trust Whitebeard enough to just step aside and allow Whitebeard alone to save Ace. However, when Luffy and Whitebeard finally met face to face, Whitebeard seemed to be amused with Luffy's attitude. After Luffy saved Ace from his execution, Whitebeard came to value Luffy as an important ally after seeing his true potential and was willing to go as far as to put his faith in Luffy.

Alongside Luffy were many Impel Down convicts who escaped from prison, including Emporio Ivankov, a Revolutionary commander, and Buggy, a former member of the Roger Pirates. All of these convicts were powerful people, and a majority of them fought against Whitebeard's opposition, which made them valuable assets to Whitebeard's cause. Whitebeard also proposed an alliance with Buggy, as he recognized the threat his new crew imposes.

Akainu managed to deceive Squardo, an otherwise loyal ally of Whitebeard, into stabbing Whitebeard with a lie that Whitebeard made a deal with the Marines in which his allies would be the only ones targeted by the Pacifista; this lie also spread amongst the other allies, leading to some doubt in their trust of Whitebeard. The plan, despite having successfully weakened Whitebeard, also backfired somewhat, as it gave Whitebeard the opportunity to prove to his allies who the real enemy was and spur the pirates onwards in their quest to rescue Ace.

An unknown number of these allies was hit in the aftermath of Akainu's attack during the war. Others had also been taken down since the fighting began, including one of their most powerful allies, the giant, Oars Jr.. After the war, the surviving allies accompanied the remaining Whitebeard Pirates in their burial of Ace and Whitebeard at an unknown New World island. Their current whereabouts and goals are unknown.

An apparent trait of Whitebeard allies is the usage of costumes that follow a theme. Also, the majority of them, similar to the Shichibukai members and CP9 agents, are animal-themed.

Other Information
The front part of Whitebeard's flag-ship, the Moby Dick, resembled a white-colored whale; the ship was ultimately destroyed by Akainu. The crew also possessed three other paddle-ships of the same design, but that were blue and smaller in size. All four ships had been coated in Yarukiman resin, which allowed them to dive underwater to great depths.

The Whitebeard Pirates are famous for taking the concept of camaraderie to exaggerated levels. Whitebeard saw his crew as his sons, and would avenge their deaths — a reason why most pirates would not attack them. This rule is especially true if the one that attacked them was a fellow crewmember. The crew also has close bonds with each other, as seen by the fact that everybody targeted Akainu after he successfully executed Ace. In fact, Whitebeard himself claimed that this was the only iron-clad rule on his ship.

Shichibukai Jinbe was heard remarking on the sheer power the name "Whitebeard" had when he stated that, after Whitebeard declared Fishman island his territory, the violence on Fishman island stopped. Whitebeard proved to be more effective than a peace treaty that Fishman Island signed with the World Government 200 years ago.

List of Commanders


Though the commanders all made their appearance in the series, only half of them were named by then. The rest were named in the SBS of Volume 58.


 * Division Commander #01: "Phoenix" Marco
 * Division Commander #02: "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace (deceased)
 * Division Commander #03: "Diamond" Jozu
 * Division Commander #04: Thatch (deceased)
 * Division Commander #05: "Flower Sword" Vista
 * Division Commander #06: Blamenco
 * Division Commander #07: Rakuyou
 * Division Commander #08: Namur
 * Division Commander #09: Blenheim
 * Division Commander #10: Curiel
 * Division Commander #11: Kingdew
 * Division Commander #12: Haruta
 * Division Commander #13: "Water Buffalo" Atmos
 * Division Commander #14: Speed Jiru
 * Division Commander #15: Fossa
 * Division Commander #16: Izou