One of One Piece’s most iconic factions, let’s reexamine who the seven Warlords of the Sea are and exactly what makes them so cool.
After Gold Roger’s execution and the Great Pirate Era began, swarms of new pirates cropped up everywhere. The Marines of One Piece were responsible for driving back those pirates — no small feat, given how many there are. The world was changing, and the Marines had to change with it if they were going to maintain power. Meanwhile, the Four Emperors of the New World were just beginning to establish their power and territory; the World Government created a system consisting of the Seven Warlords of the Sea in response to the growing number of pirates.
Seven different pirate crews would have their crimes pardoned and their bounties nullified. They were free to go about their goals, as long as this didn’t directly interfere with Marine Headquarters or World Government interests. Essentially, they are the One Piece version of privateers. One Piece Warlords are expected to perform any tasks assigned to them, such as when Bartholomew Kuma was ordered to kill the Straw Hat Pirates on Thriller Bark, as well as obey summons by the Government in times of crisis, such as the execution of Portgaz D. Ace. This principle has gotten those who take the title of Warlord the moniker of “Government Dogs” by other pirates, as they throw away their pride as a swashbuckler in favor of government protection.
Update on January 17th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: This feature about the 7 Warlords of the Sea has been expanded with brand-new content for all fans of One Piece.
Who Are The Seven Warlords Of The Sea?
The first Warlord, Dracula Mihawk, was introduced in Chapter 50 — when he destroyed Don Krieg’s ship and then battled with Zoro. However, readers didn’t get a proper explanation of the Seven Warlords system until chapter 69 by Yosaku, who off-handedly mentions Jimbei — a character who doesn’t make his true appearance until Impel Down. The Warlords are essentially the One Piece version of privateers. Privateers were approved pirates employed by old European nations to plunder and attack ships, colonies, and other pirates.
There are 11 known characters in One Piece who have held the title of Warlord at one point or another. However, the seven most recognizable Warlords are Dracula “Hawk-Eye” Mihawk, “The Tyrant” Bartholomew Kuma, Boa Hancock the Pirate Empress, Sir Crocodile, Gecko Moria, “First Son of the Sea” Jimbei and “Heavenly Yaksha” Donquiotxte Doflamingo. A few other characters would later hold the title of Warlord for a period of time, including “Surgeon of Death” Trafalgar Law, Buggy the Clown, Marshall D. Teach, and Edward Weevil.
Interestingly, each Warlord has a specific reason for taking the title, noble or otherwise. For instance, Boa Hancock uses her title of Warlord to maintain her home, Amazon Lily, as a closed-off nation where the World Government or Marines can’t impose their authority on her people. Jimbei likewise took the position of Warlord as an act of good faith, believing it could strengthen relations between Fishman and Humans in the future. By contrast, the scheming Sir Crocodile used that title so he could keep the World Government off his back while hatching his plan to steal the Pluton superweapon from Alabasta back in the Alabasta saga. Captain Blackbeard similarly abused his title merely to visit the underwater prison Impel Down to recruit powerful new crewmates like Shiryu of the Rain and Sanjuan Wolf.
The Actions Of The Seven Warlords Led To Their Nullification
More villainous Warlords like Crocodile or Doflamingo use their position to go about their ambitions in their respective kingdoms without fear of government investigation. Even Buggy the Clown was able to make use of his new Warlord position; after the time skip, Buggy started Buggy’s Delivery Service — a mercenary guild conducted by Buggy and his crew that dispatches powerful pirates and warriors to any country or group willing to pay.
Despite the Warlords becoming almost a mainstay of One Piece, the system would eventually be nullified. At the most recent Revery, the topic was brought forth whether the Seven Warlords system should be dissolved due to the actions of Crocodile, Doflamingo, and Blackbeard. It was thus decided, and all remaining Warlords were stripped of their status and their bounties reinstated in Chapter 956. Following this, Marines were deployed to all former Warlords’ current locations, including Boa Hancock, Mihawk, and Weevil, to either capture or eliminate their targets. The Warlords all became prime targets of the increasingly brutal World Government and its powerful Navy, and the former Warlords reacted differently.
Bartholomew Kuma, for example, turned on the World Government, going on a rampage at Marijoa/Mary Geoise, and most likely, he will seek out his long-lost foster daughter, Jewelry Bonney. For years, Kuma was an emotionless cyborg of a Warlord, but now all bets are off, and the foster father and daughter are desperate to reunite during the Egghead Island arc as the Warlord system falls apart. That adds some much-needed drama to the Warlords, who are often just shonen-style villains or side characters in One Piece‘s story.
Meanwhile, the former Warlords Sir Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk have teamed up alongside the Emperor Buggy the Clown, forming a fearsome new organization called Cross Guild. The Cross Guild is determined to turn the tables on the Navy, creating a bounty system where Navy officers are given enormous bounties that any pirate crew or neutral bounty hunter party can seek to claim. Even upstanding Marines like the fan-favorite Koby now have bounties, and the three Admirals, of course, each command an enormous bounty. So far in the Egghead Island arc, the Cross Guild’s bounty system seems to be fairly effective, giving the Navy yet another enemy to deal with along with the mighty Revolutionary Army and pirate crews like the Straw Hat Pirates. Perhaps the Navy’s and World Government’s arrogant leaders thought they made the right call to dissolve the Warlord system, but at this rate, it may do them more harm than good. By turning on Warlords whom those leaders thought might become enemies, the World Government definitely created official enemies, a blunder they may soon come to regret.
The Warlords And Their Seraphim Replacements Represent The World Government’s Cruel Arrogance
From the very start, the Warlord system in One Piece‘s world represents the World Government’s sheer arrogance, not to mention its ruthless determination to monopolize the world’s power and resources at any cost. The more fans watched or read One Piece, the more evident it became that the World Government’s and Navy’s leaders would resort to absolutely anything to maintain their tyrannical grip on the entire world, committing atrocities of all kinds to maintain the rigid world order.
The fearsome Buster Call was an early example, as Nico Robin would know, but the World Government doesn’t just destroy things to throw its weight around. The World Government is resourceful in villainous yet intriguing ways, such as striking deals with powerhouse pirate captains to turn them into Warlord privateers. It’s impressive that notable pirates like Dracule Mihawk, Jimbei, and Gecko Moria agreed to such a system and became some of the World Government’s most fearsome minions, though the system wasn’t perfect, as shown by Sir Crocodile’s and Blackbeard’s selfish abuse of the system.
The World Government clearly believes it is entitled to any and all resources and power in the world, which includes horrific human experimentation and exploitation. Since the existing Warlords were becoming too much of a liability, the ruthless World Government didn’t just strip them of their ranks — it made replacements. The World Government’s leaders decided to make the Warlords 2.0, a small crew of mighty Seraphim modeled after the original Warlords, complete with Lunarian blood and perfect loyalty to the World Government’s leaders. The World Government maintains its power not through benevolence and good faith, but puppetmaster tactics. The World Government and its new, obedient Seraphim Warlords are the embodiment of tyranny and the exact opposite of freedom. By contrast, Monkey D. Luffy is all about freedom and self-determination as the reincarnation of Nika, the sun god and Joy Boy. That means Luffy has more than one reason to oppose any version of the Warlord system.
Fans are yet to see the full scope of the Seraphim’s impact on the world because their introduction is a recent development in One Piece‘s manga and soon, its anime as well, with the Egghead Island anime arc now underway. Once again, science in the One Piece world is being abused to harm and exploit people, this time with the World Government calling the shots. Earlier, fans saw Caesar Clown the scientist running inhumane experiments on Punk Hazard for Doflamingo’s benefit, but now the World Government is guilty of abusing science to tyrannize innocent people. The Seraphim are beings created with no free will and just one duty, which makes them similar to the cyborg Bartholomew Kuma. It was bad enough to see one Warlord of the Sea who lost their humanity to become an unfeeling puppet for the World Government, but now there’s an entire squad of such beings, a twisted tragedy by any measure.
If the World Government had led the world with benevolence and true justice, it wouldn’t have needed beings like the Seraphim to maintain order, but as fans know, the World Government was a cruel, exploitative entity from the very start, maintaining its iron grip on the world with unjust methods. The former Warlords know that better than anyone — they’re powerful pirates who were once offered a fair deal and are now being hunted by their former bosses while their lab-grown replacements are ready to fight with zero free will. It’s more evident than ever why the Revolutionary Army is needed to free the world of a system where beings like the Seven Warlords of the Sea and their Seraphim successors are deemed necessary for peace.
