Vinsmoke Family

The Vinsmoke Family is a powerful and infamous family of Underworld killers, and the family from which Sanji hails. They are also the reigning royal family of the Germa Kingdom, as well as the former dynastic conquerors and rulers of North Blue. As an adjunct to their rule over the Germa Kingdom, they are the commanders of the Kingdom's Underworld army, Germa 66.

Alongside their organization, Big Mom and her crew, the Vinsmoke Family is one of the main antagonist groups of the Totto Land Arc.

Overview
In the past, the Vinsmoke Family managed to conquer the entire North Blue with their military might. They continue to rule over the ocean-going Germa Kingdom, and still possess the authority and privileges of royalty, including the right to attend Reverie. Furthermore, their patriarch is powerful enough to directly influence the bounty system, by both increasing bounties and changing their conditions of capture.

Activities and Abilities
The Family currently conducts its primary operations within the Underworld, including leading Germa 66 in mercenary activities against other military forces. Among known royal families, the Vinsmokes are unusual in that they command their kingdom's military forces directly in combat (a responsibility that only the Gorgon Sisters share); they are also unique in engaging in constant warfare with other nations, in order to reestablish their former dominion over North Blue. This has led them to develop a prominent and infamous reputation throughout the Underworld; however, their notoriety seems to extend beyond these boundaries, with Brook and Robin both recognizing the Vinsmoke name.

The Vinsmokes are also known to possess advanced combat technology, which they use adeptly in battle, and which is so advanced that even the Yonko Big Mom is interested in them. They have also developed cloning technology, which they have used to create a virtually inexhaustible army, as well as other genetic modification technologies which have endowed the children of the family with superhuman abilities.

The Vinsmokes' many subjects behave with absolute loyalty and obedience. They will always be willing to sacrifice their lives for their sovereigns without aforethought. When called upon to do so through the command of "Wall" (壁), they will shield the royal in "danger" from any attack by merely positioning themselves in front of the Vinsmoke.

Sora, Warrior of the Sea
In their capacity as the commanders of Germa 66, the Vinsmoke Family are also the villains of the World Economic Journal comic strip, Sora, Warrior of the Sea. As Marine propaganda, the comic's premise centers on fictionalized accounts of their conflict with the equally fictional Marine hero, Sora; it is later explained that they were chosen as the model for the comic's villain group because the Vinsmoke name was once considered synonymous with evil.

Furthermore, in Vito's brief thoughts on the comic, there are several featured Germa 66 agents that resemble members of the family. Specifically, the two figures wearing cloaks that bear the numbers "1" and "2" are likely references to Ichiji and Niji, while the helmeted figure towering above them is a likely reference to Judge.

Members
The family is currently known to consist of a father (the family patriarch), one daughter, and four sons; furthermore, the sons of the family were all born on the same day. The patriarch is infamous throughout the Underworld. The family matriarch, who was in contrast a kindhearted soul, is deceased. She was fraught with a chronic illness, which eventually claimed her life. The children of the Vinsmoke Family were genetically enhanced by Judge, specifically for the purpose of creating elite military commanders who would lead Germa 66 to achieve Judge's ambitions. However, Sanji was labelled a 'failure' early in his childhood, after exhibiting behaviors undesirable to Judge, and consistently being outperformed by his siblings in physical tests.

The family's most distinct physical feature is the curly eyebrows common to all the children.

Past
Sometime in the past, the Vinsmoke Family ruled all of North Blue with their military might. Presently, while they no longer rule over any land, they remain the reigning royals of the Germa Kingdom. However, their patriarch retains the ambition to reestablish the family's dominion over North Blue; to realize that ambition, the family participated in the infamous event known as the Conquest of Four Nations, during which they assassinated the kings of four North Blue nations all at once.

Prior to the birth of his children, Judge worked in conjunction with Vegapunk as a member of a lawless scientific research team. After the team discovered the Lineage Factor, the World Government arrested Vegapunk and forced the team to disband. Judge returned to the Germa Kingdom and resumed his research in secret, eventually developing the family's current cloning and genetic modification technologies. At some point, he met an attractive woman and married her, making her the queen of the Germa Kingdom.

Twenty-one years ago, Sanji and his three brothers were born in the Germa Kingdom, while it was in North Blue. However, when the siblings were still young, the Vinsmoke queen was stricken with a severe illness that left her bedridden in the kingdom's hospital and barely able to hold down any food she was given to eat. Sanji tried to learn how to cook in order to help her get better by feeding her meals that he delivered to her himself, and she affectionately ate them even if they were poorly prepared. Sadly, the queen's illness proved to be her undoing and she was buried at an ornate grave memorializing her. Without the presence of a loving mother figure to impart kindness into the family's offspring, Judge steered them toward a cold-blooded future of ambition and conquest.

As children, Judge informed them that their bodies had been enhanced with his genetic modification technologies, and that through training, they would develop the power and abilities to lead Germa 66 to new glories. During their training regime, however, it soon became apparent that Sanji had not developed the same superhuman abilities as his siblings, leading Judge to conclude that he was a failure. This, combined with Sanji's predisposition towards acting kindly to the family's servants, led his siblings to subject him to cruel bullying, and eventually to Judge renouncing him as his son. Judge staged a state wake for Sanji, during which he informed the kingdom that Sanji had died in an accident; at the same time, he had other soldiers place an iron mask on Sanji and lock him in the castle dungeon.

At the age of eight, Sanji renounced his family ties and, through as-yet unknown means, migrated across the Red Line from North Blue to East Blue. When he was ten years old, the cruise ship he was working on was attacked by the Cook Pirates and then sunk in a storm. Sanji and the pirate captain, Zeff, were marooned on an island, where they almost starved to death. After their rescue, Sanji worked under Zeff as they built the Baratie, with Sanji becoming the sous chef. Ever since Sanji left the family, Judge has been searching for him.

Ten years later, Sanji left Baratie to join the Straw Hat Pirates, taking part in their pirate activities and earning the attention of the World Government. When he received his first bounty, there was no photograph of Sanji's face, so a crude drawing was substituted; as a result of the misleading image, the Marines that Judge sent after Sanji went after Duval instead. However, when Sanji received his second bounty two years later, it contained a picture of his real face, leading Judge to order both an increase in the bounty amount and a change of bounty condition (from "Dead or Alive" to "Only Alive").

Zou Arc
Some time between the Curly Hat Pirates' encounter with the Big Mom Pirates off the coast of Dressrosa, and the Big Mom Pirates' arrival on Zou, the Vinsmoke and Charlotte Families entered into a political alliance that was to be sealed with an arranged wedding between the third Vinsmoke son, Sanji, and the 35th Charlotte daughter, Purin. Sanji, shocked that his past had been brought up again, deduced that his father was also responsible for the changes to his bounty. Intent on tying up all loose ends from his past, Sanji reluctantly left Zou to confront his family at Whole Cake Island.

Totto Land Arc
Luffy and the Sanji retrieval team first encountered Germa 66's ship as they entered Big Mom's territory. Upon seeing him aboard the ship, the team initially mistook Vinsmoke Yonji for Sanji, due to the similarities in their appearance, but Yonji introduced himself while claiming that his relationship to Sanji was a secret (although the Straw Hats immediately deduced his identity). When Yonji refused to hand over an antidote for the dying Luffy's poisoning, Vinsmoke Reiju intervened and saved Luffy by absorbing the toxin. After a brief discussion of the Vinsmoke Family's history with Brook, she and Yonji returned to their ship and agreed not to report the team's presence, out of concern that it might jeopardize the wedding.

Three days before the wedding, Germa 66, led by Vinsmoke Ichiji and Vinsmoke Niji, ended a two-year civil war on Broc Coli Island on behalf of one of the sides. After confirming receipt of their payment, they were informed that Sanji had arrived on Whole Cake Island and promised an unseen individual, via Den Den Mushi, that they would arrive on the island the day before the wedding.

As the Germa Kingdom began to assemble at Whole Cake Island, Sanji reunited with his younger brother, sister, and father, Vinsmoke Judge, for the first time in thirteen years. The meeting proved to be hostile on Sanji's part, as he rejected Reiju's efforts to convince him to accept the marriage, overpowered his brother, and argued with his father, who then told him to settle things with a fight.

While Yonji received treatment for the wounds he received from Sanji, Sanji and Judge began their duel in a courtyard outside the Germa castle. They exchanged blows, until Judge eventually gained the upper hand and surprised Sanji with the "Wall" move, in which his lightning spear pierced one of the Germa 66 agents and shocked Sanji. After returning to the Germa castle, Judge explained to Sanji that the purpose of the Vinsmokes' alliance with the "deranged" Big Mom: to secure the forces necessary to retake North Blue. The only reason Judge had sought Sanji out after all their time apart was to meet Big Mom's condition for an alliance: to have one of the Vinsmoke sons marry one of the Charlotte daughters. Judge continued by stating that, since he did not want to give over one of his other "valuable" sons to Big Mom's demands, Sanji was his logical choice. Judge concluded by telling Sanji that he never truly considered Sanji one of his sons, and, while Sanji was distracted by their conversation, he had Reiju strap two exploding bracelets on his wrists (the keys to which are in Big Mom's possession), in order to ensure his cooperation with the wedding.

On the day before the wedding, Ichiji and Niji received a hero's reception from Germa 66's soldiers upon their return to the Germa Kingdom. Judge expressed joy at his beloved sons' arrival and Reiju smiled at the news, while Yonji voiced his anticipation at their imminent reunion with Sanji. Sanji, however, trembled as he observed Ichiji and Niji's arrival from the castle balcony.

Later, the newly reunited family dined in the throne room of their castle. As they ate, they discussed the Broc Coli Island war, as well as the likely imminent revocation of their right to attend Reverie. Niji proceeded to provoke Sanji, stating that the siblings had often laughed over the possible ways and places in which Sanji might have died since leaving them as a child. Sanji's only response was to tell Niji to finish his food, triggering an argument between them which culminated in Niji attacking the head chef, Cosette; Sanji defended her, before eating the food that had spilled onto the ground and complimenting her on her cooking. The rest of his family, excluding Reiju, expressed disgust at his actions and Niji prepared to kick Sanji, but Judge warned Niji not to do anything to Sanji so close to the wedding. As Sanji and his family traded insults, Judge pulled out a photograph of Zeff; Judge revealed that, through Big Mom's connections, the Vinsmokes had learnt of Sanji's presence in the Baratie 2 years ago, and of the restaurant's exact present location. Judge threatened to have Zeff killed if Sanji did not cooperate with the wedding, leading Sanji to recall periods of his childhood under Zeff's tutelage.

After the meal, Sanji discovered a bloodied Cosette in the castle, likely attacked by Niji. Yonji appeared and goaded Sanji into seeking out Niji, offering to take Sanji to Niji. Sanji agreed, but Yonji instead led Sanji to a sequestered laboratory within the Vinsmoke castle, inside of which Sanji discovered (much to his shock) a multitude of Germa 66 clones, each within a liquid-filled compartment. Yonji began to explain the extent of the family's cloning and genetic modification capacities, before being stopped by Sanji. At that moment, they were interrupted by Ichiji and Niji, with the latter's arrival causing Sanji to jump up and attack Niji. A brief fight ensued before Niji overpowered Sanji, using the threat against Zeff as a reminder to Sanji to stay in line; Ichiji then "welcomed" Sanji home before reminding his younger brother of his inferior status within the family.

Trivia

 * The children of the Vinsmoke family all share similarities in their names, epithets, and appearances. Sanji, however, has a variant in two of those three categories (epithet and appearance):
 * The names of the children of the Vinsmoke Family follow the pattern "(number) + ji" for males, and "(number) + ju" for females: Rei(0)ju, Ichi(1)ji, Ni(2)ji, San(3)ji, and Yon(4)ji.
 * All the children of the Family share the characteristic curled eyebrows:
 * Sanji's eyebrows are the only ones known to curl in a clockwise direction (i.e. to the right side of his face), as opposed to his siblings', whose eyebrows curl anti-clockwise (i.e. to the left side).
 * In Chapter 832, the edge of Reiju's right eye is shown. It appears that her right eyebrow doesn't curl towards the left, like that of most of her siblings.
 * All the children also have a color-themed epithet: Reiju's is "Poison Pink" (ポイズンピンク), Ichiji's is "Sparking Red" (スパーキングレッド), Niji's is "Electric Blue" (デンゲキブルー), Yonji's is "Winch Green" (ウインチグリーン), and Sanji's is "Black Leg" (黒脚).
 * Sanji's epithet differs fundamentally from the others because it is written in kanji, not katakana. Additionally, the color in his epithet is the first, rather than second, word.

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