Admiral

Admiral is the second highest rank in the Marines organization, senior to a vice admiral and junior to the fleet admiral. There are only three admirals serving at a given time, and as the strongest Marine officers, they count among the most powerful characters in the series.

Abilities
The admirals are crowned the World Government's "Greatest Military Powers" (最高戦力), being considered not only the strongest active Marine officers (aside from the fleet admiral) but the strongest individual fighters within the entire governmental structure. As such, the three men are respected and feared by the entire world.

As seen in Sabaody Archipelago, the mere presence of just a single admiral was enough to cause a panic on the island and make the entire population flee from the island, including the Eleven Supernovas; the fact that Monkey D. Luffy challenged all three of them brought great shock to witnesses. Other notable examples of the admirals' 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. Another example would be that Akainu's presence alone was enough to deter the Blackbeard Pirates from making a trade with the Marines for a Marine Battleship, and effectively scared the Blackbeard Pirates off the island they were briefly inhabiting. Additionally, Aokiji's resignation has left a very detrimental impact on the Marines' military strength.

Three Admirals of the Golden Age of Piracy


Living up to their statuses as the strongest individual fighters of the World Government, all three of the admirals that were active before the end of the Battle of Marineford possess tremendous levels of power in various fields of combat.

Being admirals, the three are capable of using Haki, and showed themselves to be extremely proficient when using advanced Busoshoku Haki together to block Whitebeard's powerful shock wave. All three of them are also able to survive a strike imbued with Haki, despite it nullifying their intangibility, though Aokiji did bleed from the mouth after a sneak attack by Jozu, imbued with Haki, though it made no further injuries; Akainu survived two Haki-enforced slashes in the neck, though he noted the discomfort the strikes made.

The difference in physical prowess between admirals and vice admirals also seems to be drastically high (with the exception of Garp), as one of Whitebeard's quake-imbued punches was enough to incapacitate a vice admiral giant, yet Akainu took two (both of which were also imbued with Haki, further increasing damage) and still had more than enough stamina left 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 pole-arm by standing on it with a single foot. Another feat seen was when Whitebeard launched an attack from his bisento at the plaza. While most of the lower ranked marines were taken aback and the vice admirals even had to brace themselves, Akainu and Kizaru merely stood casually during the shockwave as if nothing happened.

However, what makes the three admirals quite formidable is that they all had Logia-type Devil Fruit powers. All of their powers are very destructive, even when compared to an average Logia user. They are all strong enough to combat Whitebeard alone, with Kizaru and Akainu causing him severe harm (albeit that Jozu interfered in Aokiji's fight), as well fighting on par with the top three Whitebeard Pirates commanders, eventually overpowering the said commanders with relative ease, with Akainu even killing one (although Kizaru and Aokiji's opponents were distracted and Akainu's magma has a natural superiority to Ace's fire).

All three Admirals are shown to be proficient swordsmen, as Aokiji and Kizaru formed blades from their respective elements and wielded them with great prowess, while Akainu (prior to becoming an admiral) was seen carrying a katana during his younger years. They are also very proficient in hand-to-hand combat, combining it with their Devil Fruit powers or demonstrating it through raw strength.

Admirals after the Battle of Marineford
After the Battle of Marineford, due to fleet admiral Sengoku's resignation, both Kuzan and Sakazuki were nominated to be his immediate successor. The two of them expended their Devil Fruit abilities in a ten-day long duel, turning the two halves of Punk Hazard into a frozen and fiery wasteland. With Sakazuki's victory and Kuzan's resignation afterwards, the Marines lost a great asset in their military power, and the battle was considered to be world-famous like none other.

Sometime within the two years, two new admirals were appointed to bolster the Marines' fighting force: Issho, who goes under the alias Fujitora and Ryokugyu. Fujitora received a special appointment to the rank through a World Military Draft (世界徴兵), and both are considered to be "beasts" by Donquixote Doflamingo. Along with these two, Borsalino (Kizaru) is the sole remaining admiral of the previous generation.

Issho possesses Haki, as do all admirals. He also possesses the Zushi Zushi no Mi, which he can channel through his sword (though it remains unknown whether or not use of his sword is required), allowing him to manipulate gravity at an intense magnitude, capable of crushing his foes into the ground and creating a giant crater as aftermath. The force is strong enough to drag down meteors from space, which caused even two Warlords of the Sea to express fear towards his power. The best and most recent example of their power and strength is that former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Issho, and Vice Admiral Tsuru are able to defeat Jack of the Beasts Pirates, one of the right-hand men of Emperor Kaido, who has a bounty of 1,000,000,000.

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 on any island they deem a threat. They are also the only ones who can grant other World Government agents permission to use the Buster Call. The admirals' only superiors, aside from the fleet admiral, are the Five Elders and the World Government Commander-in-Chief.

The admirals are the direct subordinates of the World Nobles. Should one be opposed or injured, an admiral can be summoned to take down the opposing party in question and/or the assailants who did the damage. Failure is not acceptable.

With sufficient evidence and reason, an admiral can revoke a Warlord of the Sea of his/her title, while pardoning criminals for working under a Warlord. Although, in all fairness, this authority is also granted to lower ranking personnel with sufficient evidence.

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.

Early One Piece


In One Piece Green: Secret Pieces was revealed an early concept of the admirals.

Trivia

 * Sakazuki, Kuzan, Kizaru, and Fujitora were drawn as women in Volume 87's SBS.
 * All the admirals (and some candidates) shown so far are based upon famous Japanese actors and are drawn to resemble them. The three pre-timeskip admirals share their birthdays with the actors they are based on while Fujitora does not:
 * Aokiji is based on Yusaku Matsuda.
 * Kizaru is based on Kunie Tanaka.
 * Akainu is based on Bunta Sugawara.
 * Fujitora is based on Shintaro Katsu.
 * Momousagi is based on Michiyo Kogure.
 * Chaton is based on Kiyoshi Atsumi.
 * Each admiral shown so far wears a different uniform and has eaten a Devil Fruit that corresponds to the color in their aliases:
 * Aokiji wore a blue shirt and can control ice.
 * Kizaru wears a yellow suit and can control light.
 * Akainu wore a red suit and can control magma.
 * Fujitora wears a purple yukata and can control gravity.
 * The three pre-timeskip admirals share many similarities:
 * 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).
 * Their color-schemes (yellow, blue, and red) are the three primary colors in the subtractive color system.
 * Former Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp has, on more than one occasion, turned down the promotion to become admiral. He has stated that he does not need a higher position to do what he wants. Another major reason Garp has turned down the promotion is because he does not want to directly obey the World Nobles. While being officially ranked as a vice admiral, his abilities once were enough to qualify him for the rank of admiral before he retired.
 * During the interlude of the time-skip, Vice Admirals Momousagi and Chaton were considered prime candidates to take over the two vacant spots for Admiral, but neither made the cut.
 * Of all the admirals, Sengoku and Zephyr are the only two to not have known codenames.

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