Buster Call

Buster Call
Statistics
Japanese Name:	バスターコール
Romanized Name:	Basutā Kōru
Official English Name:	Buster Call
First Appearance:	Chapter 421; Episode 302

For the chapter of the same name, see Chapter 420.

The Buster Call is the ultimate form of military attack used by the Marines. It is a result of the Marine doctrine of Absolute Justice.

Nominally, it consists of a fleet of ten battleships and is lead by five Vice Admirals. Aokiji claims that the strength of a Buster Call is equal to that of an entire nation's military.

Overview

The "Buster Call" is the strongest Marine military action possible, performed only under special circumstances. The goal of a Buster Call is usually to destroy anything it is unleashed upon, be it a single criminal or a whole pirate crew. Even an entire island, one that has proven itself to be extremely dangerous to the World Government could be designated as the target. In which case, everyone and everything on the island would be completely burned down, including the island itself.

The attack is the logical extreme of the Marines' doctrine of Absolute Justice, according to which a person is branded a criminal if they oppose the World Government or could one day become a threat. The attack eliminates anyone who could potentially become dangerous and does so without taking human lives or innocence into consideration, all for the "betterment" of the world.

The reasons for the known uses of the Buster Call are:

• 20 years before the invasion of Enies Lobby, Ohara was attacked because its scholars were able to read the Poneglyphs and decipher information about the Void Century.
• Near the end of the Enies Lobby Arc, Enies Lobby was attacked in order to prevent Nico Robin from escaping. This Buster Call was originally started by mistake by CP9 director Spandam.
• During the Egghead Incident, a Buster Call was triggered to destroy Egghead due to the presence of many "inconvenient people" on the island. Specifically, Vegapunk for studying the secrets of the world, Bartholomew Kuma for possessing the blood of the Buccaneers, and the Straw Hat Pirates for awakening an "ancient god".

Authority

Since the Buster Call is an order of such destructive power, only the highest authorities are granted the power to initiate it. This authority is granted to, at most, ten people. Four of these are the three Admirals and the Fleet Admiral, the highest-ranking authorities in the Marines. The other six are their counterparts in the World Government: the Five Elders and the Commander-in-Chief.

The only way for someone of a lower rank to initiate a Buster Call is if they are legally granted permission and a Golden Den Den Mushi by one of the previously mentioned individuals who has the authority. Spandam himself said that invoking a Buster Call without this delegation is illegal. There are two known instances of this: when Admiral Sengoku gave permission to Spandine, and when Admiral Aokiji gave permission to Spandam.

Initiation

Once one has the means and the authority, the actual procedure of initiating a Buster Call is extremely simple. The admiral, world leader, or designee simply presses the button on a Golden Den Den Mushi to summon a Buster Call to their location.

This action immediately sends a signal, received by the Silver Den Den Mushi in the Marine Headquarters, where the island to be destroyed is acknowledged.

The golden snail used to transmit the order.

The silver snail used to receive the order.

Procedure

The five vice admirals who led the Buster Call on Enies Lobby. From left to right: Strawberry, Yamakaji, Doberman, Onigumo, and Momonga.

— Nico Robin on the mentality behind the Buster Call.

After the signal is received, five vice admirals and a fleet of ten ships nearest to the location of the caller are scrambled to that island. It seems that a Buster Call cannot be rescinded once the targets are announced. That being said, the Call's leading Admiral has enough authority to spare a specific target location through a prior agreement with the Buster Call's soldiers.

The initiation of the Buster Call.

Robin described it as a "nightmare version of concentrated arson". The ships used are large and have apparently grown over time. The ones used 20 years ago were roughly twice as tall as a giant. The ones apparently used currently are as tall as the Tower of Justice and are as long as the Bridge of Hesitation. They can now tower a Giant, and are capable of carrying a seemingly immeasurable number of Marines.

Once the fleet arrives, they fire an initial salvo to effectively dial in their coordinates, locking in their ordinance to triangulate their fire upon the target. Then the Vice Admirals, as well as the entire fleet, lay waste to the island, annihilating everything in sight with impunity, regardless of who is still on the island. For example, during the Ohara incident, the refugee boat containing all of the island's normal civilians was destroyed without prejudice, along with everyone inside, in case any of the historians might have slipped on board (which none of them had). The Buster Call fleet even kills government officials if they are still left stranded on the island. Even Admiral Aokiji was shocked by the ruthlessness of the attackers.

A Buster Call ship attacks another Buster Call ship; one soldier was executed for arguing.

Furthermore, if there is even one important criminal running loose on one of the Buster Call ships, other Buster Call ships will not hesitate to attack it simply to kill the criminal, even if it means the death of every Marine soldier on board.

That being said, the Marines on Enies Lobby were allowed to board a ship and escape the island after showing their identification.

So far only three islands have been known to have faced a Buster Call: Ohara, Enies Lobby and Egghead, with Aokiji present at the first two and Nico Robin being present at all three. The first two islands were utterly destroyed from the firepower. However, even though summoning the attack only three times is atrocious enough as is, knowing the brutality of the World Government and the lengths they are willing to go to, it is entirely plausible that it has been enacted on separate occasions unseen by the viewer.

The Straw Hat Pirates is the only crew known to directly survive and escape the Buster Call twice, and Nico Robin is the only person known to have survived three separate Buster Call bombardments. Other individuals known to have survived the Buster Call includes Jaguar D. Saul, Jewelry Bonney, Bartholomew Kuma, Sentomaru, Lilith and the Giant Warrior Pirates. The Buster Call doesn't take failure lightly. The Marines wanted to pursue the Straw Hat Pirates after they escaped, but Admiral Aokiji ordered them to stand down and called it an utter failure.

The general public is kept in the dark about a Buster Call, using propaganda to demonize the destroyed target and make its annihilation a great and praiseworthy feat of the World Government. Even those whom are distrustful of the World Government can be fooled into thinking it was a necessary action. For example, Iceburg was shown to have been fooled by the official information that the "Devils of Ohara" were working in order to destroy the world; only after a discussion with Robin, he was able to realize the truth of the incident. People who knew the victims personally are less likely to believe the lies told by the World Government. In short, a Buster Call is the strongest military action and no one should take it lightly.

Although standard protocol for a Buster Call is 10 battleships commandeered by 5 vice admirals, it is possible for increase quantities and additional varieties of equipment depending on circumstances, as the fleet stationed outside Egghead consisted of 100 ships in total (20 of which are battleships), 30000 soldiers, led by 9 Vice Admirals and 1 Admiral. Furthermore, government resources acquired on site can also be utilized, such as the Pacifista units during Egghead's Buster Call.

Statistics

	Ohara (Ohara Incident)	Enies Lobby	Egghead (Egghead Incident)
Reason	Reading the Poneglyph and deciphering the information about the Void Century.	Original: A mistake on Spandam's account, by accidentally pressing the Golden Den Den Mushi instead of a common one. Later: Retrieval of Nico Robin and destruction of the invading Straw Hat force.	The eradication of Vegapunk, Bartholomew Kuma and the Straw Hat Pirates for studying the secrets of the world, possessing the blood of the Buccaneers, and awakening an "ancient god", respectively. The Buster Call supplemented an ongoing siege on Egghead, which had the goal of securing York, Punk Records and the Mother Flame.
Targets/ Opposing Force	Ohara full population, Jaguar D. Saul	Nico Robin, Straw Hat Pirates, Franky Family, Galley-La Company shipwrights, Oimo and Kashii	Straw Hat Pirates, Vegapunk and his researchers, Bartholomew Kuma, Jewelry Bonney, 50 Pacifista, Giant Warrior Pirates, Emet
Success	Partially succeeded - Nico Robin and Jaguar D. Saul survived; majority of the books in Tree of Knowledge was preserved and eventually copied into Punk Records.	Failed - Nico Robin escaped with the Straw Hats.	Partially succeeded, but considered failed by Imu and Saturn - Vegapunk was assassinated and his Satellite, York, was acquired alongside the Mother Flame's Power Plant. However, Vegapunk posthumously revealed secrets of the Void Century to the public. All of Vegapunk's Satellites survived, some of whom escaped with Punk Records into the clouds. The Straw Hat Pirates, Lilith, Bonney and Kuma all escaped alongside the Giant Warrior Pirates. Imu punished Saturn's failure with death.
Source of Fleet	At Ohara's coast - the Buster Call was already pre-planned and the "inspection" by Spandine was to only find an official excuse for its triggering.	Marine Headquarters, Marineford	At Egghead's coast - Admiral Kizaru and Saint Saturn were already traveling to Egghead with a small fleet. Upon learning of the Straw Hats' presence en route, Kizaru called for reinforcements. A standard siege was fought between Egghead and the fleet before the Buster Call was ordered.
Time for arrival	None, already present.	Thirty minutes, shortness due to travel via the Tarai Current.	Around 1 day (As part of the Egghead Siege before the Buster Call was ordered by Saturn).
Requester	Admiral Sengoku, through Spandine.	Admiral Aokiji, through Spandam.	Saint Jaygarcia Saturn
In charge	Admiral Sengoku was the one who told each Vice Admiral about the mission and prepared the battleships. It is unknown if he was at headquarters where the Buster Call was received, however.	Vice Admiral John Giant received the report on the Silver Den Den Mushi. He was in charge of summoning the five vice admirals and preparing the ten battleships. In addition, Vice Admiral Onigumo apparently had enough authority to order nine battleships to fire on Ship Four, where Rob Lucci and Luffy were fighting.	Jaygarcia Saturn and Admiral Kizaru, later joined by the rest of the Five Elders. In addition, Vice Admiral Red King apparently had enough authority to rearrange the line of battle to minimize damage.
Leading Vice Admirals	Vice Admiral Sakazuki Vice Admiral Kuzan 3 unknown and unseen vice admirals Former Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul was meant to be one of the five vice admirals to led the attack, but he chose to defect, leading to a replacement.	Vice Admiral Strawberry Vice Admiral Yamakaji Vice Admiral Doberman Vice Admiral Onigumo Vice Admiral Momonga	Vice Admiral Doberman Vice Admiral Doll Vice Admiral Red King Vice Admiral Bluegrass Vice Admiral Hound Vice Admiral Pomsky Vice Admiral Urban Vice Admiral Tosa Vice Admiral Guillotine
Soldiers present	Unknown	At least 10,000 (one Buster Call ship has been reported to house 1,000 soldiers, plus those "recruited" from Enies Lobby).	30,000. Had ~50 Pacifistas (Briefly).
Government Personnel present	CP9 director Spandine, Laskey, an unknown CP9 agent, and an unknown number of Cipher Pol grunts.	CP9's full complement (excluding Nero) and the government soldiers and workers of Enies Lobby.	CP0 agents Rob Lucci and Kaku, Five Elders CP5, CP7, and CP8 (total 85) arrived prior to the call and were under custody in the basement of Labophase. Additional Cipher Pol Agents arrived with CPO, and were locked in the Fabiriophase's Factory Building B before the siege.
Civilian casualties	99% of the entire population of the island (at least 80-100 people), except Nico Robin and Jaguar D. Saul, were killed by the World Government.	0 (presumably no civilians present except the Straw Hats and their allies, all of whom escaped).	Presumably 0 - Marines failed to sink a ship supposedly carrying escaping researchers.
Soldier casualties	Any soldiers still left on the island (unknown) in addition to soldiers from two battleships and the evacuation ship.	1,201+ - an unknown number possibly killed on the main island, up to 1,000 killed during a bombardment on a fellow Buster Call ship, one shot for arguing by the Vice Admiral who ordered this, and up to two hundred officers defeated by the Straw Hats on the Bridge of Hesitation.	4003+ - 1 battleship and 30+ small and midsized ships were lost during the Buster Call. Admiral Kizaru was defeated and injured by Luffy, and 3 Vice Admirals were defeated, Tosa was struck down by Brogy, Red King was knocked out by Franky, and Pomsky was knocked out by Jewelry Bonney. Both Lucci and Kaku were gravely wounded. All remaining Marine personnel were knocked unconscious by an overwhelming burst of Haki from Emet.
Military equipment lost	5 ships destroyed by former Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul and 1 destroyed by Vice Admiral Sakazuki, although Nico Robin was blamed.	At least 3 ships - 1 destroyed by the order of Vice Admiral Onigumo, 2 crushed when the Gates of Justice were closed by Sanji. More may have been un-salvageable after being damaged by the freak currents and/or hit by friendly fire.	Unknown (TBD) - 1 battleship was lost during a failed attempt to sink an escaped ship. 31+ small and midsized ships were destroyed by combined efforts of the Giant Warrior Pirates and Pacifsta. Numerous Sea Beast Weapons and Pacifista, both considered Government property but under Egghead's control, were destroyed.

Non-Canon Statistics

	Douglas Bullet	Delta Island	Waford
Reason	To stop Douglas Bullet's rampage.​	To interrupt the Pirates Festival and capture every pirate on the island.	To destroy the Divine Breath.
Success	Partially succeeded (Bullet has been stopped and arrested but not killed).	Partially succeeded (at least all Worst Generation's pirate crews survived and escaped).	Succeeded (the Divine Breath was destroyed).
Source of Fleet	Unknown	Marine Headquarters, New Marineford	Unknown
Time for arrival	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Requester	Unknown	Fleet Admiral Sakazuki	Five Elders
In charge	Unknown	Admiral Borsalino was the one leading the fleet even if not the one requesting it.	Unknown
Leading Vice Admirals	Admiral Sengoku Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp	Vice Admiral Momonga 4 unknown and unseen vice admirals	Unknown and unseen vice admiral(s)
Soldiers present	Unknown	~24000	Unknown
Government Personnel present	Unknown	CP0 agents Rob Lucci, Kaku, Stussy, Spandam, Gismonda, Guernika, and Joseph.	Smoker (present for surveillance mission, returned to base after request).
Civilian casualties	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown (not determined if Adio perished or escaped)
Soldier casualties	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Military equipment lost	Unknown	Unknown number of ships absorbed by Douglas Bullet's abilities.	At least 5 ships (destroyed by the Divine Breath); "most" of the Marines sent.

Trivia

• In all appearance a Buster Call has been initiated in the canon One Piece storyline:
  • Nico Robin and Cipher Pol were somehow involved, with the latter two Buster Calls involving the Straw Hat Pirates and Lucci's team. Straw Hat Pirates is the only canon group to have been among the target of two Buster Calls (with Nico Robin being targeted by three Buster Calls) and managed to escape the both (with Robin escaping all three).
  • The first two Buster Calls were also activated by the head of CP9 of the respective times. In addition, Spandam, who activated the Buster Call at Enies Lobby, is the son of Spandine, who activated the Buster Call at Ohara.
  • Giants were involved in all three Buster Call in attempt to stop/escape the buster call. In the Ohara Buster Call, Jaguar D. Saul is pivotal for Nico Robin's Escape. In the Enies Lobby Buster Call, Oimo and Kashii helped Galley-La and Franky Family escape. In the Egghead Buster Call, Giant Warrior Pirates, under the command of Dorry and Brogy, broke through the Marine blockade to assist Straw Hat Pirates.
    • Additionally, Oimo and Kashii have participated in two Buster Calls, defecting to the Straw Hats' side during the Enies Lobby Buster Call and being among the Giant Warrior Pirates who came to rescue the Straw Hats during the Egghead Buster Call.
  • All three buster calls are initated to destroy things related to Void Century - Robin and Vegapunk who researched into it, Kuma for being a Buccaneer that spread the belief of Nika, and Luffy becoming the current incarnation of Nika/Joy Boy.
  • The Clan of D was involved in all three Buster Calls, Jaguar D. Saul and Clou D. Clover at first one, and Monkey D. Luffy being present at the other two.
• In one SBS, a Buster Call was jokingly directed at Eiichiro Oda himself.
• The fleet involved in Egghead Incident consisted of 100 ships (including 20 battleships), 30000 soldiers and led by 9 Vice Admirals, one Admiral and one of the Five Elders; during the siege, the fleet took over control of 50 Mark III Pacifistas that were on the island. While it was not initially a Buster Call, it was referred to be bigger than such. When Saturn ordered a Buster Call on Egghead, it is the largest amount of firepower and personnel involved in a Buster Call, both canonically and non-canonically.
• In One Piece: Stampede, the Buster Call summoned against Delta Island counted twenty-four battleships, instead of the ordinary ten.
  • During the Delta Island Buster Call, the Straw Hat Pirates are also listed as Buster Call targets. This makes them - with the exception of Brook - have been targeted by and survived two Buster Calls (as of the movie's release), while Robin was targeted by and survived three Buster Calls.
• There are several non-canon incident involving a formation similar to a Buster Call, but never confirmed to actually be one:
  • In One Piece Film: Strong World, a marine fleet of at least five ships reaches Merveille in order to attack Shiki. As he was already been defeated by Monkey D. Luffy and the island was destroyed, the whole fleet began aiming the Thousand Sunny, eventually unable to reach it. The fleet involved was lead by several vice admiral, including Onigumo, Yamakaji, and Strawberry.
  • In One Piece Film: Z, the last island of Z's plan, Piriodo, was the target of a fleet lead by Admiral Borsalino and five Vice Admirals: Comil, Momonga, Yamakaji, Doberman and Strawberry.
  • In One Piece Film: Gold a fleet of ten ships targeted Gran Tesoro in order to retrieve the Heavenly Tribute and defeat Gild Tesoro. No vice admiral is seen in charge, but the leading role was covered by CP0 agent Rob Lucci under World Noble Camael's orders. They retreat after having successfully arrested Tesoro and ensured the safety of the Celestial Dragons, as they were told Gran Tesoro was intended to self-destruct. The number of ships involved and method is very similar to that of Buster Call.
  • In the special episode 3D2Y, it is shown that a marine fleet of at least nine ships led by Sakazuki was sent to deal with Byrnndi World, with the practical target to destroy the whole island via bombing.