The Four Emperors (四皇, Yonkō) of the Sea are four fictional powerful pirates considered great powers in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece series. In the second half of the Grand Line known as the New World, the Four Emperors rule over separate empires consisting of several islands. An alliance between two or more of the Four Emperors is feared by the World Government, which maintains hegemony over most of the world. The geopolitical struggle between the World Government and the Four Emperors is the main conflict through the story. Initially the Four Emperors consists of Shanks, Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom, forming a precarious balance of power with the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Marines that keeps the world at peace; they are allowed to do as they please without interference from or to the World Government. Blackbeard's capture of Ace leads to a war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government, which results in Whitebeard's death.[ch. 432, 483, 576, 581] Two years later, Blackbeard is considered to have assumed Whitebeard's position.[ch. 650] Following the events of the Onigashima war, where Big Mom and Kaido were defeated, Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy were considered the new members to replace them.
Evolution of the Emperors There have been seven different Emperors of the Sea during the story of One Piece. Big Mom was the first to form a pirate empire, followed by Whitebeard and Kaido.[ch. 853][ch. 963][ch. 1049] Shanks was the most recent Emperor of the Sea at the start of the story, and is now the longest-ruling Emperor at the present part of the story.[ch. 957][ch. 1053]
Whitebeard Pirates
The Whitebeard Pirates (白ひげ海賊団, Shirohige Kaizokudan) are a crew led by Whitebeard and sixteen division commanders, each in charge of one hundred men. Following Whitebeard's death at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates, some of its remnants went into hiding after failing to avenge his death.
Edward Newgate Edward Newgate (エドワード・ニューゲート, Edowādo Nyūgēto), better known as Whitebeard (白ひげ, Shirohige), is the 21 ft. captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and one of the Four Emperors who comes from the island of Sphinx.[ch. 432, 474] He is an unnaturally large and burly old man who fights with a naginata as his weapon and uses the ability of the Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit (グラグラの実, Gura Gura no Mi) to create shock waves powerful enough to cause earthquakes and tsunamis.[ch. 434, 552] Whitebeard was capable of utilizing all three types of Haki and was capable of using the advanced application for both and Haoshoku and Busoshoku Haki. Whitebeard is regarded as the world's strongest man and the only one to have matched the King of the Pirates Gold Roger in combat when Whitebeard was a member of the Rocks Pirates.[ch. 233f.] After his crew member Portgas D. Ace is sentenced to death, Whitebeard declares war on the Marines and attacks their stronghold with his fleet. Eventually after being badly wounded in the war and revealing that he saw the One Piece while not claiming it, Whitebeard is killed by the Blackbeard Pirates just before he proclaims that the One Piece is real. After Whitebeard's death, Blackbeard uses an unknown method to steal his Devil Fruit power.[ch. 576] At the time of his death, Whitebeard held a bounty of 5,046,000,000, the second-highest bounty ever for a pirate after Roger. When asked, Whitebeard reveals his ultimate ambition is to have a family. Later in life, when he forms his own pirate crew, he calls all the crewmembers his "sons" and they address him as "Father" or "pops". In the original Japanese series, he was originally voiced by Kinryu Arimoto, until his death on February 1, 2019, and was replaced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo. In the Funimation English adaptation, his voice is supplied by R Bruce Elliott. The character is named after the real life pirate Edward Teach.
Division Commanders
Portgas D. Ace Portgas D. Ace (ポートガス・D・エース, Pōtogasu Dī Ēsu), also called "Fire Fist" Ace (火拳のエース, Hiken no Ēsu), is the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, captain of the Spade Pirates, and Luffy's older sworn brother.[ch. 157, 159] He is the son of Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rouge.[ch. 525, 550] Having eaten the Logia-type Flare-Flare Fruit/Flame-Flame Fruit (メラメラの実, Mera Mera no Mi), Ace is capable of manipulating, creating, and transforming into fire.[ch. 159] Ace was capable of using utilizing all three types of Haki.[ch. 587] Eventually, after being saved from execution, he shields Luffy from Akainu's magma attack at the cost of his own life.[ch. 574] He is buried on an unnamed island in the New World alongside his captain Whitebeard.[ch. 590] He is voiced by Toshio Furukawa, while he is voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi as a child. In the 4Kids English adaptation, his names are changed to Portgaz D. Trace and "Heat Fist" Trace, and he is voiced by Jesse Hooker. In the Funimation English adaptation, his name is spelled Portgas D. Ace, and his voice is supplied by Travis Willingham. In the live-action series, Ace is portrayed by Xolo Maridueña.
Marco Marco "The Phoenix" (不死鳥のマルコ, Fushichō no Maruko) is Whitebeard's 1st division commander who can transform into a phoenix or a phoenix-human hybrid using the Bird-Bird Fruit: Model Phoenix. He is a skilled user of Haki.[ch. 434, 554] Like the rest of the crew, he participated in the war at Marineford to rescue Ace. After the crew disbanded, he settled in Sphinx, his captain's home island, working as a doctor for the citizens.[ch. 909] Later, he accompanied Cat Viper to Wano Country to help the Straw Hats defeat the Animal Kingdom Pirates. Marco is voiced by Masakazu Morita in the original Japanese version. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Bill Jenkins in Episode 151 and by Kyle Phillips starting in Episode 316.
Izo Izo (イゾウ, Izō) was the 16th division commander, who was one of Kozuki Oden's retainers in Wano as well as Kikunojo's older brother. He was later killed in the battle of Onigashima fighting Guernic and Maha of CP0. Izo is voiced by Yūsei Oda in the original Japanese version while Masamu Ono voiced him in his youth. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Colton Jones in earlier episodes and by Jessie James Grelle starting in Episode 963 while Kelsey Maher voiced him in his youth.
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