Whitebeard Pirates

The Whitebeard Pirates (白ひげ海賊団, Shirohige Kaizoku-dan) are the strongest pirate crew in the world, as their captain (Whitebeard) was the only one of three to have ever tied with Gol D. Roger in a fight, the other two being Vice admiral Monkey D. Garp and Shiki the Golden Lion. Whitebeard's crew is segmented into divisions as shown below.

Part in the Story
The first member seen is Portgas D. Ace, who decides to see how his brother Monkey D. Luffy is doing during the Arabasta 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. This card is eventually revealed to be a Vivre Card, which is a product made in the New World from a person's fingernail to keep track of their location/well-being. 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.

After Ace chased down the traitor Marshall D. Teach and was defeated, he was sentenced to death at Marineford. As Ace's execution closes in, the entire Whitebeard Pirates, along with their 43 allied crews, came to Marineford and waged war against the entire Marines and Shichibukai. Partway, the prisoners of Impel Down arrived to give additional assistance, including 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, including Marco being shot by Admiral Kizaru's lasers, and Jozu being frozen by Admiral Aokiji. Whitebeard himself had been injured by a deceived Squardo, and then by Akainu and several Vice Admirals. Their first notable casualty in the war was confirmed with the death of Portgas D. Ace by the hands of Akainu. Whitebeard was then killed by the Blackbeard Pirates. It is unknown what will happen to the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates or what will become of them since their captain died.

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 red 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 and Atmos on his shoulders) or clothing (one of the commanders has it on his tricorn); the significance this symbol makes is as of yet unknown.

Strength
Whitebeard was 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 in Whitebeard's crew each commanding 100 men. In addition, each of the commanders themselves are at least as strong as 100 men. 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. What is known is that the World Government is 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 Portgas D. Ace a member of Whitebeard's crew, his capture was good enough to have a spot in the Shichibukai (though Ace's capture meant a lot more than just being a Whitebeard's subordinate, as he is 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 3 division commanders 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. Not surprisingly, some of the commanders are capable of fighting on par with individual Shichibukai members even without revealed fruit powers. The fact that their names are known by the Shichibukai 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 states that, with his Devil Fruit, Whitebeard was able to destroy the world.

Currently, their main ship and one of their fleet ships were taken down in the war, both in separate attacks from Akainu. Thanks to Akainu's lies to Squad, Whitebeard himself is also wounded, revealing how weakened he had become over the last twenty years. Prior to the Whitebeard War, Commander Thatch was killed by Marshall D. Teach, once the Yami Yami no Mi devil fruit was uncovered. During the final stages of the Battle of Marineford, Admiral Sakazuki and the Blackbeard Pirates had respectively killed off both Portgas D. Ace and Whitebeard himself, leaving the overall fate of the Whitebeard Pirates uncertain.

Allies
Aside from their own 1600 members crew, the Whitebeard Pirates have many allies from the New World. They all seem to know Ace, at least, and were willing to help when he was about to be executed at Marineford. Each one of them are infamous pirates who made themselves a name at the New World. There seems to be at least 43 crews allied with Whitebeard. Whitebeard treats all his longtime allies just like his own crew, as though they were his sons.

Aside from that, Jinbei of the Shichibukai gives his respect to Whitebeard for protecting Fishman Island, along with his friendship with Ace, and was willing to lay his life down for either of them. Furthermore, with Jinbei being currently allied with the Straw Hat Pirates Captain Monkey D. Luffy, the Whitebeard Pirates can also be said to be allied with the Straw Hat Pirates by extension, even though Luffy doesn't trust Whitebeard enough to just step aside and allow Whitebeard alone to save Ace. However, when Luffy and Whitebeard finally meet face to face, Whitebeard seemed to be amused with Luffy's attitude. After saving Ace from nearly getting executed, Whitebeard comes to value Luffy as an important ally after seeing his true potential and is willing to go as far as putting his faith in Luffy. Alongside Luffy are many Impel Down convicts who escaped from prison, including Emporio Ivankov, a Revolutionary commander, and Buggy, a former member of the Jolly Roger Pirates. All of these convicts are powerful people, making them valuable assets to Whitebeard's cause.

An unknown amount of these allies were hit in the aftermath of Akainu's attack during the war. Others have also been taken down since the fighting began including one of their most powerful allies Oars Jr.. Akainu also managed to turn Squad, an otherwise loyal ally of Whitebeard into a foe by lying to him, the lie also spread amongst the other allies, leading to some doubt. However the plan, although weakened Whitebeard successfully, also backfired, leaving Whitebeard a chance to prove to all his allies who the real enemy was and spur the pirates on.

Other Information
The Whitebeard Pirates are divided into sixteen 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 Thatch, the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. The front part of Whitebeard's flag-ship, the Moby Dick, resembles a whale.

The Whitebeard pirates are famous for taking the concept of camaraderie to exaggerated levels. 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 & everybody targeted Admiral Akainu after executing Ace. Lastly, Whitebeard believed that even as a pirate, there must be some kind of morality.

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

List of Commanders
Despite the fact that all of the division commanders have been seen, only a handful have had their names, epithets, and/or division revealed. Blenheim is the name of one of the division commanders; however, it is unknown which division he leads.
 * 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: Unknown
 * Division Commander #07: Unknown
 * Division Commander #08: Unknown
 * Division Commander #09: Unknown
 * Division Commander #10: Curiel
 * Division Commander #11: Unknown
 * Division Commander #12: Unknown
 * Division Commander #13: "Water Buffalo" Atmos
 * Division Commander #14: Unknown
 * Division Commander #15: Unknown
 * Division Commander #16: Unknown