The Seven Warlords Of One Piece: Who Are These Mighty Pirates?
Part of the joy of new fans jumping into the live-action One Piece on Netflix is that they have so much of this long-running franchise to learn more about. For example, the live-action show mentions a couple of the Seven Warlords, and this was enough to whet the appetite of fans who wanted to learn more about this mysterious group. If that sounds like you, then you don’t need any Devil Fruit to sate your hunger…we’ve got everything you need to know about One Piece’s mysterious Seven Warlords.
The Three Major Powers Of One Piece
To understand who these characters are, you need to first understand a bit about how the world of One Piece actually works. While our own world is split into many different nations and their respective militaries, the world of One Piece only has three major military forces (the Three Great Powers) that help to preserve order throughout the world. Two of those powers are the Marine Headquarters and the Four Emperors, and the third power is (or was, in the anime) the Seven Warlords.
In One Piece, the Seven Warlords was a group of pirates so powerful that they ended up working for the World Government in order to help facilitate relations with other pirates. After all, this was the so-called “golden age of piracy,” and it was useful for the World Government to have their own pirates who were strong enough and influential enough to keep the other pirates in line. In exchange for their services, each of the Seven Warlords had the substantial bounty on their heads suspended, allowing them to operate more freely on the high seas.
Who Are One Piece’s Seven Warlords?
What do we know, though, about One Piece’s Seven Warlords and what makes each of these pirates unique? One of the pirates mentioned in the live-action show is Dracule Mihawk, known throughout the land as the “Strongest Swordsman in the World.” Zoro sees this pirate as an obstacle to his own goal of claiming that “Strongest Swordsman” title for himself.
The One Piece live-action show also mentions another of the Seven Warlords: Jinbe. He is a Fish-Man and master of Fish-Man Karate, but he is very different from most of his race. That’s because he is dedicated to peace between humanity and the Fish-Men, and the anime portrays him as having a close friendship and eventually working relationship with Luffy.
One of One Piece’s scuzzier Seven Warlords is Crocodile, a former crime syndicate president who hands Luffy his first major defeat. Another member is Donquixote Doflamingo, the King of King of Dressrosa and another major nemesis of Luffy. In the One Piece anime, both of these members of the Seven Warlords eventually have their titles revoked due to their many blatant crimes, and this eventually results in a major vote that abolishes the previous Seven Warlords system and leads to the world only having two Great Powers left.
Who are the rest of One Piece’s Seven (which ends up being more like nine) Warlords? One is Bartholomew Kuma, a former king and warlord turned creepy cyborg. Another is Marshall D. Teach (better known as Blackbeard), an admiral of his own group of pirates who briefly serves as a member of the Seven Warlords.
One Piece also eventually introduces Gecko Moria, a member of the Seven Warlords who has used everything from an undead army to stealing powers in order to remain a major player. Another Warlord is the beautiful Boa Hancock, Amazon Lily’s empress and the only female Warlord of the Sea in the franchise. Yet another member is Trafalgar D. Water Law, who notably wants the titular One Piece so bad that he joins forces with Luffy and the gang, causing him to get kicked out of the Seven Warlords.
So far, the live-action One Piece has only made mention of two of these Seven Warlords.
One of the more memorable of the Warlords is Buggy the Star Clown, who bounces back from the dissolution of the Seven Warlords by becoming leader of the Cross Guild and one of the Four Emperors. The final member is Edward Weevil, whose main claim to fame is that he is allegedly the son of the dead Emperor Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate.
So far, the live-action One Piece has only made mention of two of these Seven Warlords. However, the show already seems much more successful than the live-action Cowboy Bebop, and it seems we are much likelier to get further seasons. In that case, it will only be a matter of time before these warlords decide to meddle in the affairs of our favorite Straw Hats.
