Four Emperors

At any moment, four separate captains carry this title, and the wider world treats them as the most feared sailors alive. The current holders number Buggy alongside Monkey D. Luffy, with Teach and Shanks completing the roster; earlier bearers of the rank include Kaidou, Charlotte Linlin, and Edward Newgate. No charter or council ties the four together. Every one of them operates as a lone power, choosing on his own whether to fight or cooperate with any of the rest.

For much of the recent age, these figures have dominated the second stretch of the Grand Line, the zone known as the New World, steering huge fleets and elite followers while pulling the strings of entire kingdoms. Because of that reach, the World Government tallies them collectively among the three pillars called the Great Powers, set beside the Marines and the Warlords. It was Garp who first explained the idea during the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, after which the group came to shape the story's later chapters.

One on one, an Emperor usually stands as the strongest pirate going, armed with terrifying Devil Fruit powers, brute physical might, mastery of every Haki branch, or often all three at once. Their individual bounties crown the list, the smallest reaching three billion and the largest once passing the five-billion mark. Buggy breaks this pattern entirely, having stumbled into both his seat and his colossal price through Marine blunders rather than any real strength. Living essentially as monarchs of the sea, they do largely as they wish across their waters.

Sheer crew size feeds much of their martial weight, since each fields hundreds to thousands of veteran combatants plus pacts with fellow captains. Shanks steers the compact but well-rounded Red Hair Pirates, Teach commands the Blackbeard Pirates that ballooned after he claimed Whitebeard's old grounds, Buggy fronts the underworld syndicate Cross Guild while Crocodile and Mihawk actually direct it, and Luffy heads the reluctant Straw Hat Grand Fleet of thousands. Their premier lieutenants, from Big Mom's Sweet Commanders to Kaidou's All-Stars, can trade blows with each rival faction's finest fighters, yet none of those officers can stand against an Emperor face to face.

Turmoil struck the ranks once Teach slew Newgate at the Marineford war and grabbed the empty seat. A pair of years later Kaidou and Linlin sealed the first alliance ever forged between two Emperors, though the Onigashima assault saw both of them brought down together, defeated by the combined ninja, pirate, mink, and samurai coalition. Luffy claimed his crown for defeating Kaidou, and Buggy backed into his through the notoriety of Cross Guild. Every former holder of the old line, that is Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaidou, had once crewed the fabled Rocks Pirates. Two present members, Shanks and Buggy, served aboard Roger's ship, while the other two, Luffy and Teach, both bear the Will of D. The Marines warn that a bond joining any two of them could produce the mightiest crew in recorded history, and even CP0 may not attack one without express orders.