Admiral

Admiral (大将, Taishō) is a title of a signified senior command rank in the Marines. Admirals, also known generally as flag officers, were typically responsible for a high level military command at battle group or fleet level, and/or for administrative and political duties relating to Marine operations. An Admiral is senior to a Vice Admiral and junior to the Fleet Admiral.

Marine Admirals in One Piece
In the series, Admirals are shown as being the second highest rank in the Marines behind the Fleet Admiral. There are only three Marines with the title of Admiral. The three current ones are known by their aliases: "Aokiji" (Blue Pheasant), "Akainu" (Red Dog), and "Kizaru" (Yellow Monkey). They are also possibly, besides the Yonkou, the three most powerful characters in the world of One Piece.

Abilities
The Admirals are crowned the World Government's "Greatest Powers" (最高戦力), and are the strongest individual fighters within the World Government and the Marines. These three admirals are respected and feared amongst the entire world.

As seen in Sabaody Archipelago, the mere presence of just one Admiral was enough to cause a panic on the island and make the entire population flee from the island, including the Eleven Supernovas. Another example of the Admiral's reputation is Nico Robin from the Straw Hat Pirates, related to her childhood trauma, she constantly loses her grip and starts panicking whenever an Admiral is around, this being significant as she rarely panics even in most of the dangerous situations.

All three of the current Admirals are very high-level users of Haki, shown when using Busōshoku Haki together to block Whitebeard's shock wave. All three of them are also able to survive a strike imbued from the said Haki from an opponent, despite it nullifying their intangibility, though Aokiji did bleed from the mouth despite a stab made no injuries, and Akainu noted the discomfort the strikes made; how they do so is not yet explained.

The difference in physical prowess between Admirals and Vice Admirals also seems to be dramatically high, as one of Whitebeard's quake-imbued punches was enough to incapacitate a Vice Admiral Giant, yet Akainu took two (which were also imbued with Haki, further increasing damage) and still had more than enough to keep fighting. Also, while Whitebeard was able to overpower the strength of a Giant with ease, Kizaru and Akainu both managed to hold down his polearm with only one stomp.

However, what makes the three Admirals truly fearsome is that they all have Logia-type Devil Fruit powers, each representing their respective color. All of their powers are very destructive, even when comparing to an average Logia user. They are all strong enough to combat against Whitebeard alone, as well as to fight on par with the top three Whitebeard Pirates commander each (although Kizaru and Aokiji's opponents were distracted and Akainu's magma has a natural superiority to Ace's fire). Admiral Aokiji and Kizaru are seen to be proficient swordsmen when creating blades from their own element and wielding them. It is unknown if Akainu also shares this ability, though, as he has only been seen using molten fists for close combat.

Duties
Aside from having control over the thousands of soldiers who rank underneath them, the Admirals are the only Marines, along with the Fleet Admiral, within the World Government who have the authority and ability to issue a Buster Call. They are also the only ones who can grant World Government agents the permission to use the Buster Call. The Admirals' only superior, aside from the Fleet Admiral, are the Gorousei and the World Government Commander-in-Chief.

Should a World Noble be opposed or injured, an Admiral will be summoned to take down the assailants who did the damage. Failure is not acceptable.

Merchandise


The Admirals have been featured sparingly in the fan merchandise. All three are set to be featured in the One Piece Super Deformed Figures, One Piece Super Effect Devil Fruit User, and One Piece Figuarts Zero figure series.

Trivia

 * All three Admirals are based upon Japanese actors and are drawn to resemble them, and their birthdays are the same as the said actors.
 * The appearance of the three also resembles stereotypical look of the different life-styles a man can have: Aokiji being the party single man, Kizaru being the family guy and Akainu being the business/serious man.
 * Their aliases are taken from Momotarō legends, they are a pheasant, a dog and a monkey assisted the boy hero, Momotarō, on his adventures. Coincidentally, each personality fits the aliases (Aokiji, the pheasant, is somewhat lazy; Kizaru, the monkey, is quite absent-minded and irresponsible; and Akainu, the dog, is very loyal).
 * Each of their Logia-class Devil Fruits correspond to specific features of land (molten rock), sea (frozen water), and sky (sunlight). They each also wear different suits that correspond to their Devil Fruit color. Coincidently, their color-schemes (yellow, blue, and red) are the three primary colors. The color of the cuffs on their coats also correspond to their respective colors.
 * They all possess some kind of accessory on their heads in which they often bring down to cover their eyes: Aokiji wears a sleep mask, Kizaru has orange sunglasses, and Akainu uses a Marines cap.
 * The three of them have black-colored hair and are the same height. However, in Gigant Battle, it seems that Aokiji is the tallest, then Kizaru, with Akainu being the shortest.
 * Former Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp has, on more than one occasion, turned down the promotion to become Admiral. He has stated that he doesn't need a higher position to do what he wants. While being officially ranked as a Vice Admiral, his power was once or still is enough to qualify him for the rank of Admiral or even Fleet Admiral before he retired.
 * During the Battle of Marineford, each Admiral fought and defeated the Whitebeard Pirates' first three division commanders, with Akainu being the only one to kill his opponent. In addition, they also fought at different times during the battle against Whitebeard, with both Kizaru and Akainu being able to harm him.

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Admiral (Marine der Weltregierung) 三大上將