Blackbeard Pirates

The Blackbeard Pirates (黒ひげ海賊団) are a significantly powerful pirate crew and a primary antagonist group, led by Marshall D. Teach, better known as "Blackbeard".

Their captain was originally a member of Whitebeard's band of pirates (and Portgas D. Ace's subordinate), until he killed one of his crewmates over a Devil Fruit and defected, heading out on his own and forming his own crew. Blackbeard was Crocodile's replacement among the Shichibukai, having turned in Ace to gain this position, but resigned after abusing the privilege to recruit more members from Impel Down.

Pirate Flag
The Blackbeard Pirates' flag is that of three skulls: one looking left, one looking forward, and one looking right. Behind them there are cross intersected set of bones, in addition of the classic two.

While it has never been stated by Oda where the influence of their flag comes from, the image of the 3 heads appears as a classic depiction of Cerberus. The three heads of Cerberus are suppose to see the past, the present and the future and Cerberus was also the guardian of the gates of Hades. It may also be a depiction of the Moirae, the three goddesses of Fate. They also happen to tie in with the crews views of fate and destiny as well as their often deadly methods for seeing how fate plays out and may be the reason behind the three skulls. The four crossbones on the flag resemble the popular eight-pointed Symbol of Chaos, which suits their theme of chaotic destiny.

Crew Strength


The Blackbeard Pirates are much stronger than any normal pirate crew that have been shown so far. Their attack on Drum Island was overwhelming to the point that the island's selfish king, Wapol, fled without even attempting to fight back. Also, the fact they took a direct attack from Ace and managed to get up afterward is a good measure of their unusual strength. They were also able to break into Impel Down and made it to Level 4 without much difficulty (though Impel Down was, at the time, admittedly strained). Aside from their great endurance and strength, each member has a special profession in the crew (discounting the new recruits - it is unknown what positions they hold), though it is unknown how well they perform at these jobs. In a way, they are a dark version of the Straw Hat Pirates - both crews are abnormally strong despite their respective sizes, and recruit only highly specialized members. The Blackbeard Pirates, minus Wolf, dealt the final killing blows to the legendary pirate Whitebeard, albeit taking advantage of Whitebeard'e near-death injuries and a nine-against-one attack. An additional revelation to their power is the fact that Jewelry Bonney, one of the Eleven Supernovas, was deemed too weak to join their crew and was instead offered by Blackbeard to become "his woman" (although she declined the offer by kicking his head).

Van Augur, the sniper, has incredible eyesight and speed, being able to shoot a flock of seagulls from a distance so far the Straw Hats couldn't even see the island he was on. He is able to predict where a bullet is going to hit, and can run at an amazing speed to avoid it.

Jesus Burgess, the helmsman, is a wrestling champion who possess incredible strength and won every fight while he was in Mock Town. He is also able to throw buildings with much ease and at impressive distances.

Laffitte, the navigator and a former policeman, is very stealthy, and was able to sneak undetected into the World Government headquarters of Mariejois during a meeting between several high-ranking Marine officials and three Shichibukai members (despite having tap-dance shoes on). He also seems to possess a Devil Fruit ability that allows him to transform his arms into wings for flight, as well as possessing the power of hypnosis.

Doc Q, the doctor, and his horse Stronger have yet to show any notable abilities, and for that matter appears to be weak with sickness. However, Blackbeard himself stated that he doesn't desire weaklings into his crew. Indeed, despite their illness, Doc Q was still able to help row their raft and wield a double-bladed scythe in combat, and Stronger was still able to carry Doc Q.

The former chief warden of Impel Down, "Shiliew of the Rain" is a powerful swordsman, said to be equal to the extremely powerful Warden Magellan, who was strong enough to take care of Monkey D. Luffy, hundreds of prisoners, and the Blackbeard Pirates alone (though Shiliew noted that the crew had been careless against Magellan's poisonous powers).

After their break-in of Impel Down, excluding with Shiliew, the crew recruited four other pirates, their crimes so terrible that their existence was actually erased from history, who had been locked in the Level 6: Eternal Hell of the prison. The ones seen are Sanjuan Wolf the "Colossal Battleship", Vasco Shot the "Mighty Drinker", the worst female criminal in history, Catarina Devon, the "Crescent Moon Hunter", and Avalo Pizarro the "Corrupt King". Though they have yet to show their full powers, they are some of the most feared legendary criminals in the world. The Marines even said that even just one of the prisoners walking free again is unthinkable. In fact, during the riot at Impel Down, Blackbeard selected them in a "survival fight" among the Level 6 prisoners, stating thus that they are the most powerful prisoners of the entire Impel Down at that time.

However, the true strength of the Blackbeard Pirates lies in their fearsome captain, Marshall D. Teach, better known as "Blackbeard". Initially a relatively unknown name, Blackbeard has performed the incredible feat of landing a permanent scar on Red Haired Shanks, who is famed as one of the Yonko, reputed as the four strongest pirates in the world, prior to eating a Devil Fruit, as well as defeating two of the top four Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace and Thatch. He also ate one of the most powerful known Devil Fruits, the Yami Yami no Mi, and held the position of a Shichibukai, until he forfeited the title after he used it to reach Impel Down and recruit the prisoners mentioned above. With the assistance of his crew, Blackbeard ganged up on Whitebeard with a barrage of gunshots and killed him in a rather cowardly fashion. He somehow acquires the power of the Gura Gura no Mi from Whitebeard's corpse, the most powerful Paramecia Devil Fruit, allowing him to be the only person to wield two Devil Fruit powers at the same time. Along with his utter knowledge of Whitebeard's territories, the Gorosei has deemed him the closest pirate to fill in Whitebeard's place in the Yonko.

Ship
The Blackbeard Pirates possess a giant raft (丸太舟) for a ship. It was first shown in chapter 235 and episode 152.



A model of the Blackbeard Pirates' raft is presented in One Piece Super Ship Collection.

The raft is made up of gigantic trees possibly wound together. Around the sides of the raft are gunports. A large mast is posted in the middle, bearing the flag of the Blackbeard Pirates and three sails. Another sail is placed at the stern of the raft, behind the main sails. The other means of propulsion, other than the wind, seems to be that the crew uses paddles or oars to move the raft along. Jesus Burgess and surprisingly Doc Q were seen paddling.

The raft was first seen in the Jaya Arc, when the Blackbeard Pirates were chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates. It was broken up by the Knock Up Stream. The raft was eventually repaired by either them or someone else, but they used a stolen Marine ship to sail to Impel Down, as opposed to their own ship.

After the war, the ship was nearly broke down, due to the extremely large giant, Sanjuan Wolf, and the Blackbeard Pirates were trying to exchange the prisoner Jewelry Bonney for a Marine battleship to accommodate Wolf's size; Shiliew commented that it was foolishly impractical for the crew to travel through the New World with the raft alone. They were, however, surprised by Admiral Akainu's arrival and fled. Since the exchange didn't take place, it can be assumed that they used the raft to flee from the Marines.

Other Information
They believe heavily in fate and luck, using often cruel measures to see how destiny plays out. One example is Van Augur, who shot a group of seagulls just to see the ones destined to die slow and painful deaths. Doc Q handed out explosive apples in Mock Town to see who was unlucky enough to eat ones that exploded and ones that didn't. Even after Luffy escapes from them, via the Knock Up Stream, they believe their capture was not fated.

All members of the crew appear to be massive humans, like Aokiji, Kizaru or Whitebeard. Teach, Burgess, Pizarro and Shot are big characters, while Augur, Laffite, Doc Q, Shiliew and Devon are quite tall as well. Finally, Wolf is a giant of such size that even Oars and Little Oars Jr. stack combined pale in comparison.

An interesting aspect of this crew is that, although the initial members display some loyalty to Teach, the ex-prisoners from Impel Down do not hesitate to manifest their opinion when things do not go as they expect or so desire, Avalo Pizarro even asking once to replace Blackbeard as the captain; the only teamwork they have shown so far is their combination attack of killing Whitebeard, though its impressiveness is downplayed by them taking advantage of Whitebeard being severely weakened and a rather cowardly nine-against-one. By contrast, the Straw Hat Pirates exhibit intense loyalty towards one another, despite occasional irritation, further enhancing the "darker counterparts" aspect of the Blackbeard crew.

Trivia

 * All of the crew members (except for Doc Q and Stronger) share their names with real world pirates, sailors, or piracy related places.

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