World Noble

The World Nobles, also known as the Celestial Dragons (天竜人), are the aristocratic descendants of nineteen of the First Twenty who established what is now known as the World Government.

Due to their actions and role, they are among the major overarching antagonists of the series. Many of the series' antagonists, including the Five Elders, Garling, Doflamingo, and the family of three introduced in the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, are all members of the World Nobles (or were, in the case of Doflamingo).

Overview
World Nobles... Slaves... Human shops... Against the "purity" of these "upper classes", the villains of the world look positively humane in comparison. It's because the world's in the hands of scum like them that it's all screwed to hell... I mean, we're not the nicest of guys, but at least we're honest about it. Approximately 800 years before the current timeline, 20 royal families from different islands across the world formed an alliance to combat the Great Kingdom. After the 20 kingdom alliance was victorious, 19 of the 20 royal families relocated to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the city built at the top of the Red Line at the halfway point of the Grand Line, a location referred to as "the center of the world". Only the royal family of Arabasta Kingdom chose to stay in their homeland.

Over time, the royal families in Mary Geoise built up their alliance with more and more nations from across the Four Blue Seas and both halves of the Grand Line, eventually turning the alliance into the World Government known to exist today. The World Nobles are the direct descendants of these 19 families.

As descendants of the creators of the World Government, the World Nobles have the highest authority within the organization. They are free to do as they please without consequences, even commit heinous crimes, and if they are threatened in any way, they have the authority to summon a Marine Admiral to deal with the offending party. The Celestial Dragons each possess a government-issued identification chip to identify their statuses. Homing handed his family's over to the government official escort when he had their statuses rescinded.

The World Nobles constantly abuse their power and look down on the people of lower status than them, referring to them as commoners; even kings and queens are lowly peasants in their eyes and are expected to bow to the whims of the World Nobles, or their whole kingdoms could face destruction. According to Pappag, each subsequent generation of Celestial Dragons are worse than the last, becoming more and more arrogant and self righteous. Not only do they own slaves in broad daylight, a practice that is supposed to be illegal by order of the World Government, they also refuse to breathe the same air as "lesser beings", so they wear air helmets whenever they leave Mary Geoise, of course, in a place with the right kind of atmosphere, such as the Sabaody Archipelago, they wear resin bubbles over their heads, preventing them from breathing the air of the common people, while also allowing them to take advantage of the bubbles permeable nature, such as by allowing them to eat ice cream through the bubble. Furthermore, whenever they appear, people are expected to immediately bow down, or risk upsetting them, with the exception of the guards, servants, and slaves that are alongside them.

Kid considers them a perfect example of how rotten and hypocritical the world really is, even claiming that it is precisely because of their existence that the world is being destroyed. Kid notes that compared to World Nobles, Pirates are almost human by nature, for while pirates are honest about being criminals, World Nobles use the fact that they are "descendants of the creators of the world" as justification for their crimes. In fact, the World Nobles are much more hated, despised and feared by the common people than the pirates themselves.

Appearance
World Nobles wear their hair, or a part of it, combed upward with a distinct curl on top, unless they do not have enough hair to do so, as Mjosgard's father is partially bald. They all wear the same kind of white robe that resembles a spacesuit (sometimes accompanied by a cape) with a skirt, although the border designs of each Noble's clothing appear somewhat different and original and there are variations in the skirt's length. Male World Nobles seem to have a different style of collar than female World Nobles. While outside Mary Geoise, World Nobles wear an oxygen tank attached to a bubble or glass case around their head in order to not breathe the same air as the "lowly commoners". However, some are less likely to do so while in Mary Geoise, though others still feel the need to. A majority of World Nobles, such as Jalmack, Charlos, Mjosgard and his father, are notably overweight, if not outright obese. A typical Celestial Dragon also has a rather haughty, if not arrogant, look on their face, showing neither pity nor sympathy for those of lesser statuses.

When Homing's branch of the Donquixote Family abandoned their statuses, they ceased wearing their World Noble attire, and changed their hairstyles as well. Notably, even before their departure, this family alone seemed to have no members who are overweight and had rather remarkably kind facial features (except Doflamingo, who possesses the same, nigh-perpetual arrogant look as his amoral former brethren). The male members all grew up to be rather tall.

Exceptions for the typical World Noble's wardrobe are mainly for the Five Elders. None of them wear the full-body robes nor the oxygen-tank connected bubble around their heads. Instead, they wear black business suits, while Nusjuro wears a white samurai gi. Furthermore, none of them have their hairs curled upwards the same way their lower-ranked brethren do. Figarland Garling, the Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, wears a black variant of the typical full-body suit, and does not curl his hair the same way his lower-ranked brethren do.

Blood Ties
The Celestial Dragons are the Gods who created this world. To put it simply, the ones living here are the kings of the lower world. So it's only natural for a God like him to get everything he wants.

The World Nobles claim to possess "the blood of this world's creators", which is their sole justification for their actions. This single fact allows them to utterly disregard any facet of law or society that does not serve their own interests. They have no regard for Justice, at best paying it lip service if at all, and are above any retribution for their actions (to the extent that they cannot be punished by the law, anyway). Eustass Kid regards them as a prime example of how corrupt and absurd the world is. The vast majority are under the impression (or delusion) that they are gods, not humans, and seem to think that being a Celestial Dragon itself is something beyond human comprehension. Because of this, most of them are unable to fear even if they are threatened by those who would ignore the World Government's protection, as Rosward only became wrathful towards Luffy for assaulting Charlos, while Mjosgard only became furious at the fish-men for daring to defy him despite being isolated from witnesses and protection.

However, there has been one Celestial Dragon who chose to abandon his status to live among the commoners. Donquixote Homing was always considered sacrilegious by his brethren for his different view on the lower class, and upon his declaration of being the same as all humans and request to have his World Noble status annulled, he and his entire family were condemned as traitors, forever losing their privileges and diplomatic immunity. The Celestial Dragons are so detached from the rest of humanity that they immediately severed all ties with Homing's branch of the Donquixote Family once Homing left to fraternize with the lower class. They felt offended when he compared himself with the rest of humanity and felt no sympathy for him when he pleaded for them to at least rescue his wife and children from angry civilians, dejecting him for being a "mere human" who cannot regain the position he discarded. Also, by simply being connected to the "blasphemous traitor" Homing via bloodline, Donquixote Doflamingo could not return to Mary Geoise either even after he brought his father's head as an appeasement offer. Unable to return to the higher social class, Doflamingo (being the sole member of his immediate family to remain attached to his heritage) felt that he was forever condemned to the hell known as the world of humanity.

Connection to the Common People


Although commoners bow down at the presence of an approaching World Noble, they fear and despise the Nobles due to their arrogance and cruelty, yet do not dare attack due to the fear of an admiral's wrath. Certain people, however, are willing to look past the admirals and attack anyways, such as Rocks D. Xebec, Fisher Tiger, Monkey D. Luffy, and the Revolutionary Army. In fact, the Celestial Dragons are so loathed among the citizenry, especially slaves who escaped, that if given the chance, some people would eagerly try to kill them. A prime example is how Mjosgard became a prime target due to no one willing to report his potential murder to an admiral, and instead noting the death could be written off as another "shipwreck incident". Even the normally good-natured mermaids appeared to support Mjosgard's murder, so long as there was no backlash. World Nobles that give up their position, have been shown to be met with extreme prejudice from the common people. When Donquixote Homing gave up his family's status and was no longer under the government's protection, the citizens of the country he moved to burned down his mansion and hunted him and his family. Since the World Nobles refused to take him back, Homing and his family were forced into hiding in a junkyard and living in squalor until they were caught. Homing and his sons were hung against a wall and threatened with extended torture for the crimes of the World Nobles. However, while commoners and former slaves despise such people, many regular Nobles actually idolize them. The nobles of the Goa Kingdom even went to great lengths to impress just one World Noble. After having witnessed Jalmack seemingly kill Sabo the citizens were more concerned about angering the Noble over the fact he tried to kill a child, then later cheered for the noble while he was riding a slave. Doflamingo is noted for his complete lack of fear of the World Nobles, on account of himself being a former one. He went as far as to rob tributes from them to blackmail the government, an attitude that the government finds very troublesome. Kurozumi Orochi believed that with Emperor Kaidou backing him and Wano Country, not even the Celestial Dragons can threaten the powerful nation of samurai, and openly mocked the CP0 agents who tried to negotiate with him for opening the country's borders for weapons. It seems that while many members of the World Government blindly obey the Nobles even among them, there are those who hate and despise them strongly.

According to Sengoku, although he is a Vice Admiral and regarded as the "Hero of the Navy", similar to his son and grandson, Garp hates and despises the World Nobles and has no real respect or loyalty towards them, including questioning why Sterry wanted to become a World Noble and even referring to them as "slag". The only reason why Garp never agreed to be promoted to Admiral is because he doesn't want to be their direct subordinate. Another example of this is Fujitora. Although technically a direct subordinate of the World Nobles as an Admiral, he also hates, despises, and has no real loyalty or respect for them. During the Revolutionary Army's attack on Mary Geoise, Fujitora willingly allowed them to escape along with all the freed slaves without even trying to stop it.

World Nobles also appear to have little knowledge of the outside world, and therefore have little knowledge of the common folk's resentment towards them. This is exemplified by Homing's ignorance of the common people's hatred for nobles as well as a young Doflamingo's shock and anger after seeing no one bow to him, having been under the impression commoners always bow to a World Noble when one is present. They are so heavily pampered and protected that none of the Nobles seem to understand pain or hunger, as Doflamingo did not know how such concepts felt until he was forced into poverty after his father's withdrawal from their positions.

Despite their arrogance, the World Nobles can have a sense of appreciation for people with lesser status when they leave a good enough impression, as Otohime managed to retrieve support from one World Noble for Fish-Man Island's migration and her influence has led Mjosgard to become a better person. Wapol's company earned so much renown that the Celestial Dragons granted him an entire kingdom. Goa Kingdom went to great lengths (bribery, arson, murder and betrayal in the Gray Terminal) to obtain a visiting World Noble's gratitude in the prospect of elevating their own noble status. Donquixote Homing was noted to be a benevolent Celestial Dragon who considered himself human, which was seen by his arrogant compatriots as blasphemy. While believing that his family should live the modest life of normal commoners, he abandoned Mary Geoise, taking his wife and two sons with him. This had a rather adverse effect on both the family's well-being and reputation, resulting in them being labelled as traitors by the Celestial Dragons while being treated as scapegoats by the common people.

Heavenly Tribute
The World Nobles have tremendous wealth; Saint Charlos casually spends 500,000,000 to buy Camie, a price that even the nobility present at the auction could not afford, just to see her try to outrun a pack of piranhas in his fish tank. They can also easily afford the rare and highly expensive Devil Fruits to feed to their slaves simply for sick entertainment, as the Gorgon Sisters suffered.

The source of this seemingly limitless income is monetary tributes from the various nations of the world that are affiliated with the World Government, known as the Heavenly Tribute (天上金). The amount of money a nation owes to the Heavenly Tribute is determined by the size of its population, a highly exploitable policy. For example, a former King of the Sorbet Kingdom, Bekori actually split his country in half, formally recognizing that only the northern half of the island is the Sorbet Kingdom, leaving the southern half as a lawless zone, in order to reduce the Tribute tax.

Failure to deliver this money is seemingly consequentially terrible, as the government was forced to comply with Donquixote Doflamingo's demand to make him a Warlord of the Sea when he took the tribute as hostage. Each country is forced to comply with giving the tribute regardless of the cost or sacrifice needed to accomplish the quota. Many countries are left on the verge of starvation to pay this tax, with many dying from hunger solely to meet these quotas. If a country is unable to pay the tax, it will be left vulnerable against pirate attacks; the monarchs will be left out of the Levely and even ultimately evicted from its status as government-affiliated, resulting in the countries being treated with no human rights. Some countries even go as far as to pillage other countries to fill the quotas, such as the Vodka Kingdom. It is mainly for this reason that many countries choose not to ally with the World Government in the first place, or that the people of government-affiliated countries rebel against their monarchies.

As a result of the Eight-Nation Revolution, those countries that rebelled against the Government voiced their intention to cease supplying any further Heavenly Tributes.

Slavery
The Celestial Dragons have various rights and privileges not held by many other people in the world. In particular, they are able to buy people, including pirates, who have been captured and put into slavery, or openly enslave any commoners and royals they have encountered, with their actions overlooked by the World Government. They use a branding iron to mark their slaves with the Hoof of the Flying Dragon (天駆ける竜の蹄) on their backs. According to Boa Hancock, anyone who bears this mark is not seen as a human being but as an item or a possession of the World Nobles.

Their method of discipline is to inject tranquilizers into the slave to stop them from escaping, in addition to the use of explosive collars. They tend to treat their slaves poorly, working them to exhaustion then punishing them for their weakness. Each Celestial Dragon shown so far has been seen wielding a firearm, mostly for shooting people they dislike. When faced with defiance from commoners that they cannot immediately rectify through the use of their pistols, they have the power to summon an admiral to deal with the offender. Failure in dealing with the offender is considered unacceptable. However, this does not apply to a dispute between World Nobles as Mjosgard could stop Charlos from enslaving Shirahoshi.

Although they often buy people from auction houses, they can make anyone a slave that they choose to. They may also have as many spouses as they wish, being able to take anyone they wish as their spouse off the street, and can dismiss them in an instant, as demonstrated by Saint Charlos.



World Nobles have been shown to be extremely cruel and brutal towards their slaves, as many people who were their slaves were brutalized so harshly and traumatically that many committed suicide after being freed, with one slave stating his eyes were plucked out solely for sport and another was burned alive just for laughs. World Nobles offer even crueler fates such as starving their slaves to reduce them to skin and bones. Their sadism towards their victims apparently does not end with the latter's death, as some World Nobles have been known to preserve their victims corpses, such as Rosward who wanted to preserve and stuff the female members of the Straw Hat Pirates for their part in defying his family. Others have also been known to even collect the decapitated heads of those who dare go against them.

The horrors the nobles leave on the slaves have been shown to viciously traumatize them even after their release, as both Koala and Boa Hancock, through their horrid experience, were terrified of showing weakness ever again towards others. Even Fisher Tiger, who freed many slaves, commented on them representing the "madness" of humanity; his personality was forever warped from his years as a slave. During Gild Tesoro's past as a slave, it was shown that the World Nobles even forbid their slaves from smiling.

Due to their authority and arrogance, World Nobles are able to make any person they want a slave regardless of their status. As seen with the Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi, Charlos attempted to enslave her in front of her family without fear of repercussions for his actions thanks to CP0 intervening. They even have the right to enslave royalty even in the events of such importance such as Levely, as Charlos even ordered Rob Lucci to kill the King of the Ryugu Kingdom Neptune but was prevented due to Mjosgard's intervention. This also applies to associates to the World Government, as even a powerful pirate such as Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma was made a slave for rent for the World Nobles and, as a result, they horribly abuse him due to his inability to resist demands from them.

Female slaves of the World Nobles are usually slim, pretty faces with long hair, slender bodies wearing belly dancer outfits, the color of their outfits is either pink, blue or white. They also wear headpieces, face veils, coin belts, flower belts and sandals.

Male slaves are used differently, usually used as carriers by putting soft chairs on their backs and forced to walk on all fours like beasts of burden. Unlike their female counterparts, male slaves are reduced to wearing rags, or vestiges of their clothes of when they were free men.

Fear of D.
Despite the World Nobles' arrogant beliefs of political-empowered invincibility, they considered those who bear the D. in their name to be their enemies for reasons yet to be fully explained. They told their children that if they do not behave themselves, the "D." would eat them up. Doflamingo was shown trying to brush this off as superstition, but after learning that Trafalgar Law was also a D. and was working with Monkey D. Luffy to bring him down, Doflamingo became shocked.

National Treasure
The World Nobles possess a certain national treasure within Mary Geoise, which is said to be able to allow one to control the world. The community outside of the World Nobles' inner circle are prevented from knowing about this treasure, for if knowledge of it spreads, it may be detrimental to their power. The exact nature of this treasure is currently unknown.

When Doflamingo returned to Mary Geoise, the Celestial Dragons attempted to kill him for his knowledge of the national treasure, since they no longer consider him to be one of them. Doflamingo escaped alive and blackmailed his former compatriots to grant him favors that only Celestial Dragons can give, which they complied in fear of him exposing said treasure to the world.

Internal Conflicts
While World Nobles seem to get along well with one and another, it is possible for World Nobles to conflict with one and another that can result in violence and even death. This is shown in the case of Mjogard hitting Charloss to save Shirahoshi and Charloss attempt to kill Mjogard because of it.

Punishment
It is possible for the Celestial Dragons to be punished if they go against their fellow Celestial Dragons, up to and including the death penalty. This is best demonstrated when Mjosgard is executed for letting Leo and Sai go free after their attempt on Charlos's life. The only authority that can pass judgement on the Celestial Dragons is a member of the God's Knights.

Abilities and Powers
So far, typical Celestial Dragons have shown absolutely no physical combat abilities whatsoever and appear to merely be simple humans. They have great pull in the government as well as a vast amount of wealth to do with whatever they please. Through the tremendous political power, they have with the government, they can order things of such magnitude and triviality like the creation of a bridge that connects every island for no reason other than they simply wanted to, as well as make any commoner they want into a slave of theirs right off the street. They can even enslave royalty as was shown when Charlos attempted to enslave Shirahoshi, the princess of the Ryugu Kingdom. They are also completely immune to the entire legal system and justice set by the World Government, as shown where they are allowed to kill anyone that simply crosses their path. Their political authority is just second to that of the Five Elders who are the highest ranking World Nobles, as they can distribute news of a Warlord of the Sea's resignation—something that can shake the Three Great Powers' balance—and then easily tell the world it was falsified.

According to Sai, the World Nobles can order an entire country to be destroyed if they are provoked and even ordered the execution of royalty as shown when Charlos ordered CP0 to execute King Neptune for defiance.



They each seem to possess a firearm of some kind, but more often than not are quite inefficient, using it only to injure and murder people they dislike at point blank range. Usually, they simply rely on people's fear of them, but their greatest weapon is that when they are attacked in any way, they can summon an admiral to obliterate their attackers. CP0 works directly under the command of the World Nobles and is said to be the strongest of all Cipher Pol units, including the assassination specialists, CP9. It is said that nothing good can come from this group's presence. However, if there are no witnesses to report an attack against a World Noble, then the threat of an admiral is nullified, which would leave said noble weak and vulnerable. Indeed, when the Donquixote Family abandoned their statuses, they found themselves struggling for survival due to their pampered past, and helplessly facing the wrath of angry civilians who took full advantage of the family's lost protection. Although Donquixote Homing and his wife died shortly after leaving the holy land due to their lack of experience with the outside world, their sons Doflamingo and Rosinante managed to survive due to their respective circumstances: Doflamingo awoke the rare Haoshoku Haki that saved him from being tortured any further and impressed his four friends—Vergo, Trebol, Diamante and Pica—who protected him and raised him to become their king; Rosinante was saved by Sengoku and recruited into the Marines, while doing so as a necessary part of his survival. The only thing that appears to trump the authority of a single World Noble is that of another World Noble and the Holy Knights, as when Charlos tried to enslave Shirahoshi, the only one who could stop him from doing so was Donquixote Mjosgard but at the same time Mjogard was executed later on for his action by Figarland Garling, the leader of the Holy Knights.

A World Noble has tremendous amounts of influence, even more so than any of the kings and queens of the Levely. As such, they are able to affect the decisions of the meetings with their words alone. With the support of one World Noble, Otohime was able to get many signatures from Fish-Man Island for a petition promoting a cooperative relationship between humans and fish folks.

It also appears that it is their exclusive privilege to found new kingdoms (at least ones that can become affiliated with the World Government). This is evident through the fact that it was their choice to make Wapol the king of Black Drum Kingdom, which would allow him to attend Levely.

The Celestial Dragons possesses a national treasure that, if exposed to the world, could shake its foundations, and is of such importance that they were forced to comply with Donquixote Doflamingo's blackmail. If this treasure is used in combination with the Ope Ope no Mi, it would allow the person to effectively conquer the entire world.

Ships
Whenever the World Nobles travel the seas, their mode of transportation takes the form of a large ship with a grandiose design. The ship possesses four masts, with the frontal sail having the World Government insignia on it. At least the front three have a crow's nest, with the top of each also having the Government flag on top. The upper part of the ship is cobalt blue with white edges, while the bottom is wooden with a steel plating under the keel. There are numerous cannon ports on the sides of the ship. The ship's figurehead is that of a golden animal wearing a crown with a white mount, with what appears to be golden whiskers coming out from underneath the figurehead. The ship that carried the Donquixote Family to a North Blue nation and Jalmack to Dawn Island both have a golden lion head with a golden crown, suggesting it's the same ship on two different voyages. The one Mjosgard traveled on has a rat figurehead wearing a silver crown.

Past
Nine hundred years ago, twenty royal families used to rule their kingdoms until the Great Kingdom came about.

Eight hundred years ago, these twenty royal families came together and formed an alliance to overthrow the Great Kingdom. After the war was fought and won, the twenty families went on to "build" what is the current workings of the world, and, with the exception of the Nefertari Family of Arabasta, relocated to command the new world order in Mary Geoise, the city in the very center of the world map. Their descendants later went on to become the World Nobles. Two known clans of these twenty kings are Donquixote and Nefertari, though the latter refused to leave their kingdom, and thus were not World Nobles.

700 years ago, they ordered the creation of a bridge in East Blue to connect the islands together which became the country called Tequila Wolf for reasons yet to be revealed.

This is the life you have chosen-eh. The discarded cannot be regained. Do not dare to call upon us again, you filthy human-eh.



Forty-one years prior to the current storyline, Donquixote Doflamingo was born a World Noble, as he descended from the Donquixote family. Two years later, Donquixote Rosinante was born into the same family. Another six years later, their father, Donquixote Homing, chose to abandon his status as a World Noble, along with his family, and live among the common people; the other Celestial Dragons tried to dissuade him, seeing his differing views on humanity as blasphemy and an indirect insult to themselves, but to no avail. Doflamingo alone remains attached to his heritage, showcasing the spoiled nature typical of the World Nobles, in which his father intended to reform him. When World Noble hating commoners attacked the now vulnerable Donquixote Family, his wife died of illness not long after, which an 8-year-old Doflamingo would blame on the deplorable lifestyle as outcasts that his father brought upon them.

When Homing desperately contacted the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise to at least rescue his kin, they coldly turned him down and warned him to never call them again. Two years later, Homing was killed by a 10-year-old Doflamingo, who was fed up with the terrible lifestyle. The child then returned to Mary Geoise with his father's head in an attempt to appeal for his former status, but the World Nobles refused to let "a family of traitors" return. Due to Doflamingo having knowledge of Mary Geoise's national treasure, seen as a danger by the Celestial Dragons, they tried—and failed—to have him killed, making him an outlaw, and eventual pirate. He was able to use this knowledge to blackmail them into granting him rights (to a certain extent) to the ones he lost when his father dragged him away from the holy land, something he would use 33 years later against his enemies. With his four extremely loyal friends, who worshiped him as their king, Doflamingo was able to simulate the privileges of a Celestial Dragon, as they shot down anyone who offended Doflamingo, and burning down an entire town simply for having a poorly paved street that made him trip.

As a pirate, Doflamingo robbed the Celestial Dragon's heavenly tribute and used it to blackmail the government into granting him a position as a Warlord of the Sea. Doflamingo was noted for his complete lack of fear of the World Nobles.

38 years before the current timeline, a group of World Nobles were present at the islands of God Valley for a slave hunting contest called the Native Hunting Competition, after the King of God Valley protested this competition he was slain by Figarland Garling. During this time, the Rocks Pirates were also on God Valley, where they were ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of Marine Vice Admiral Garp, who had come to the aid of the World Nobles, and Gol D. Roger, the then future King of the Pirates. Garp and Roger were victorious in the battle, the Rocks Pirates disbanded, and the island vanished without a trace. This would later be known as the God Valley Incident. It is currently unknown what happened to the Celestial Dragons who were on the island at the time.

At some point, Dr. Vegapunk was invited to visit Mary Geoise, alongside his six Satellites. While Vegapunk and most of his Satellites saw the World Nobles' tyrannical culture as horrendous and looked down on them for it, York secretly desired to be elevated to a Celestial Dragon, even if it means to betray her peers.



At some point, 15 years prior the current storyline, the fish-man Fisher Tiger the Adventurer climbed the Red Line with his bare hands and caused havoc in Mary Geoise, the home of the World Nobles, in the name of all fish-men and despite his dislike for humans, Fisher Tiger freed slaves of all races as he destroyed the city and told them to "run and never get captured again". It is later revealed that Fisher Tiger was in fact, a slave himself and but chose not to reveal his past until he lay upon his deathbed. Boa Hancock, Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia were a few of the slaves freed by Tiger's rampage. The former fish-men slaves were taken in by Tiger and formed the Sun Pirates.

Fourteen years ago, the East Army commander of the Revolutionary Army Ginny was spotted by a World Noble. The World Government was then ordered to launch a surprise attack against the East Army and took Ginny to Mary Geoise to be the Noble's wife. While being enslaved, Ginny had a child and contracted the Sapphire Scales disease, being released back to the lower world two years later.

Twelve years prior to the current storyline, a World Noble by the name of Saint Jalmack came to Dawn Island. He then destroyed Sabo's ship because it had cut in front of his and was flying a jolly roger.

Ten years prior, a ship containing the World Noble Saint Mjosgard broke down near Fish-Man Island. Traveling there with the intent on getting his "Prized Fish-Man Slave Collection" back after having been pardoned by Jinbe becoming a Warlord of the Sea, his ship was attacked by sea monsters on the way. Being the sole survivor, the citizens of Fish-Man Island, especially members of the Sun Pirates, tried to kill him without fear of an admiral due to the fact that nobody on the island would report the attack, and instead could be written off as an accident. However, Queen Otohime saved Mjosgard and had his wounds tended to, though he remained highly ungrateful before departing. Despite this, Otohime followed him, and returned one week later with his support for human-fish folks relationship improvement, which will be used for the next Levely.

Sabaody Archipelago Arc
In the current storyline, they were first seen when two of them, Saint Rosward and his daughter Saint Shalria, appeared on the Sabaody Archipelago. They were seen upon the fall of the escaped slave Devil Dias. After abusing the slave for his futile efforts to escape. The third member of their family, Saint Charlos, appeared as he was walking through town. People bowed down and even the Supernovas present did not try to walk in his path. Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates, however, did not know who Charlos was and even asked if he (Charlos) needed directions. Appalled at Zoro's actions, Charlos aimed and shot his pistol, but Zoro easily dodges while drawing his sword. Another Supernova, Jewelry Bonney, managed to save herself and the rest of the pirates on Sabaody from an admiral by tricking people into thinking that Zoro was dead. Even though Charlos had a feeling that the swordsman dodged the bullets, he believed that he still managed to kill Zoro.



All three members of the family are later seen at the auction house where Camie is going to be sold. Charlos made a bid of 500,000,000 on the mermaid Camie, shutting all other bidders out including Nami, as Luffy, Zoro and the Rosy Life Riders burst through the front door. Hatchan then attempts to stop Luffy from causing an incident but was shot by Charlos. After a tearful apology from Hatchan and Charlos' constant jeering, Luffy punches Charlos in the face, sending him flying through the seats.

After witnessing his son being assaulted, Rosward drew out a gun and attempted to kill Luffy. Rosward called out for an admiral while guards entered the auction house and tried to stop the Straw Hat Pirates. He was knocked out when Usopp fell on top of him. His daughter Shalria attempted to kill the mermaid they were after, but Rayleigh knocked her out with his Haki before she could kill Camie.

After the World Nobles were all knocked out, word was put out they had been taken hostage by the Straw Hat Pirates, with help from the Heart Pirates and Kid Pirates who had been mistaken to be co-operating with them even though they had just been bystanders. During the aftermath, Saint Shalria shows her frustration towards the marines for their failure to capture the Straw Hats. She then swore revenge against the very people who defied her and her family.

Marineford Arc
During the war against the Whitebeard Pirates, Admiral Kizaru mentioned that the World Nobles have been demanding Luffy's capture, most likely because he dared to hit one of them.

Two Years Later
Two years after the war, Wapol's company has become so successful with his Wapometal toys, the World Nobles granted him a kingdom, which he named the Evil Black Drum Kingdom.

Dressrosa Arc
Doflamingo used the leverage he has against the Celestial Dragons to blackmail them into mobilizing CP0 as well as falsifying his resignation from the Warlord of the Sea title in order to deceive Trafalgar Law and the Straw Hat Pirates.

Levely Arc


During the meeting of the royals at Mary Geoise for the Levely, Saint Charlos attempted to enslave Shirahoshi. As Neptune was about to attack him and CP0 in order to save his daughter, Saint Donquixote Mjosgard struck Charlos with a club and apologized to Neptune for the incident on behalf of the World Nobles, having been reformed into a benevolent and humble man thanks to Otohime. He told Neptune he had been waiting a long time for him and his family to attend the Levely and expressed that he owed the Ryugu Kingdom a great debt for saving his life, wishing to support them with everything he has.

Wano Country Arc
The World Nobles were soon attacked by the Revolutionary Army by destroying their symbol and food storehouse as well freed many of their slaves (including Bartholomew Kuma).

After the Levely had ended, Saint Donquixote Mjosgard was executed for his support for the Fish-Man royalty, namely protecting Shirahoshi from Charlos, as well as allowing Leo and Sai to assault Charlos, by the leader of the God's Knights, Saint Figarland Garling, another high-ranking World Noble.

Egghead Arc
A day before the Egghead Incident happened, the remaining World Nobles were starving, since all their food supplies were destroyed and their supply was cut off by the Revolutionary Army. The World Nobles then grew extremely furious and impatient with the Royal Guards, calling them useless and Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's supposed incompetence and failed attempt at killing Kuma, who rampaged through Mary Geoise before mysteriously vanishing without a trace.

Translation and Dub Issues
All the World Nobles are referred by "Saint" as a prefix-honorific. In Japanese, it becomes a suffix, with the males being "-sei" (聖) and females "-gu" (宮).

The VIZ Media dub of the manga omits the typical Celestial Dragons' verbal tic of "-eh" at the end of their sentences.

Manga and Anime Influences

 * They seem to be based on the stereotype of Old Money, people who believed they were superior to those they saw as lower class and see themselves as better because of what their ancestors accomplished. This, mixed with a belief that they are somehow godlike, is reflected in how they are referred to as "Saints" (ironic, as they have shown themselves to be extremely cruel; caring little for human life) and live in the "Holy Land".
 * They may also be based on Old Stock Americans, individuals who are descended from the original settlers of the Thirteen Colonies who emigrated to America.
 * They can also be based by European nobles from the turn of the 18th century to the 19th century, mainly because there were revolutionaries wanting to overthrow them from power.
 * Among other acts of cruelty, semi-mythical tyrant and oppressor Jie of Xia rode on people's backs like a horse while drinking wine, just as Charlos and Jalmack did. In one incident, Jie was riding on the back of a top chancellor, and after a while the chancellor was exhausted to the point that he could no longer crawl or move. He asked King Jie to spare him, and Jie immediately dragged him out to be executed. Similarly, Charlos sold off his slave who was too exhausted to carry him any further.

Trivia

 * The only descendants of the kings not to be directly called as Celestial Dragons (or sporting their stereotypical behavior) are the descendants of the Nefertari bloodline, since they have chosen to stay in their kingdom instead of moving to Mary Geoise, and thus, kept away from the culture developed by the current descendants. If the World Government considers their descendants as Celestial Dragons or not, is unknown. However, they seem to lack the usual protections of the Celestial Dragons, as they were harassed by the Marines for harboring the Straw Hat Pirates and Vivi was halted when she tried to stop Charlos from enslaving Shirahoshi as well as Saint Marcus Mars of the Five Elders admitting to viewing the Nefertari as “traitors” for refusing to become World Nobles.
 * Despite being able to afford Devil Fruits, as well as just using them to feed to their slaves as a form of entertainment, the only ones who have eaten them so far are Doflamingo and Rosinante (the Ito Ito no Mi and Nagi Nagi no Mi respectively), but they did so after losing their status as World Nobles. This could be attributed to having to survive against intense hardships and prejudice from commoners.
 * Doflamingo also wanted Rosinante to eat the Ope Ope no Mi, not knowing about the Nagi Nagi no Mi.
 * Many Celestial Dragons tend to end their sentences with the word "eh", something even Doflamingo once shared; he gradually grew out of it after his ties with his former lifestyle broke down slowly.
 * Although Doflamingo claims that he detests the Celestial Dragons for denying him reinstatement, and that he wishes to destroy their world as payback, he nevertheless continues to believe that his heritage alone makes him superior to humanity, and that he remains an equal (if not superior) to the World Nobles.
 * Enel shares some similarities with the Celestial Dragons such as in his behavior and belief that he is a god. Fittingly, his natural enemy happens to be Luffy (due to his possession of the power of the Gomu Gomu no Mi) who is a D carrier (said to be "God's Natural Enemy").
 * Some believe that people of lower status can be elevated to a World Noble, as Sterry asked Garp how he could become one, while York plotted to become one at the expense of her comrades. When York negotiated with the Five Elders, Marcus Mars affirmed that they can grant her the position of Celestial Dragon.
 * It's unknown if the family names are public knowledge or secret, as Emporio Ivankov is knowledgeable of at least the Nerona name, while the world at large wasn't aware that Donquixote is a family.
 * The only reason why the general population still trusts the World Government despite being aware that they do absolutely nothing about the World Nobles, It's most likely because they need the Government to protect them from pirates and other criminals.

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