The Straw Hat Pirates are an example of a group of pirates.

 

 

A Pirate (海賊 Kaizoku^?) in the world of One Piece is anyone, who raises a Jolly Roger, whether they commit an act of piracy or not. This is not, however, usually enough to give anyone a bounty, but is enough to be arrested by the Marines. Mountain Bandits are said to be the opposite of Pirates and have not been known to get along with each other too well.

There are two types of Pirates in One Piece, but the terms were only in the original Romance Dawn chapter, and have not yet been mentioned in the current version of One Piece and it's doubtful they still apply to it.

Types of PiratesEdit

First mentioned in Romance Dawn V.1 the two main types of pirate are Peace Main (ピースメイン Pīsu Mein^?) and Morganeer (モーガニア Mōgania^?). These terms were once again mentioned in Romance Dawn V.2, and in Wanted! chapter 5, however they are not mentioned in One Piece itself. This is largely due to the fact most pirates are a combination of both Peace Main and Morganeer ideals. Even the final version certain amount of pirates display these original concepts, though the actual terms are no longer used. There is also another kind of pirates, known as "rookie" pirates, which the Straw Hats seem to fall under. All of the Eleven Supernovas and the Bellamy pirates from two years ago, along with the Caribou pirates of the current time line are considered to be rookies. It is unknown what qualifies a person or crew to be a rookie, though it might be the fact that they may have only been active for a year or less.

Peace MainEdit

Described in Romance Dawn Version 1, a Peace Main is a Pirate who goes on adventures, and doesn't really care about personal treasures or going around fighting other Pirates. Luffy, Brook, Shanks and Whitebeard are all good examples of pirates based on the old Peace Mains (along with their respective crews) from Romance Dawn. That is not to say that they will not steal treasure from others if it is there and the chance is open, but their primary goal is usually not to own it and greed is generally not their motivation. More often than not, a Peace Main pirate sees his or her own crew as their most valuable treasure, and to them, not even the legendary treasure of One Piece can match the value of each crewmate.

Some pirates start out as Peace Main but may have a life changing experience, possibly a great loss or general corruption over time, and become more like a Morganeer. The best example of this is Crocodile, who is said to have been very much like Luffy in his youth. Gekko Moriah, stating that he was exactly like Luffy until he lost his crew in the New World. Peace Mains have been described in Wanted! Chapter 5 as a pirate that goes on adventures funding themselves off the spoils of battles with Morganeer's.

MorganeerEdit

The Morganeer fight for treasure and personal gain. They are greedy and love to fight just to cause other people pain and misery. Most of the other pirates Luffy and his crew meet are Morganeer. Luffy dislikes them and only wants to recruit Peace Main pirates. Even in the beginning storyline, most One Piece villains are based on the concept of Morganeer pirates, such as Buggy, Don Krieg and Kuro. The Peace Main pirates however, only steal from them, so it is safe to say that the relations between the two aren't the best.

Morganeer pirates don't see their crew as a valuable asset to them and will easily kill them for 'opposing' them as demonstrated by Don Krieg. Kuro also didn't think twice about slaughtering his own men, and the only sympathy he showed towards his crew was that because Luffy stopped him that they would have to suffer. Luffy was shocked to see Kuro slashing his own men half to death. Also, many of the Morganeer type pirates shown in One Piece don't dream at all, and if they do, it's about achieving world domination or something along the lines of that. There are only a few Morganeer pirate captains who have a good relationship with their crew like Vander Decken IX, Arlong, Buggy, and even Blackbeard.

Hierarchy of the SeasEdit

The Four BluesEdit

Generally outside of the Grand Line, most pirates are considerably weaker than those inside. Often, they are left untouched by the Marines because their attention is drawn towards the Grand Line rather then the East, West, North, or South Blue oceans.

That is not to say that they do not have their share of villainous pirates, as even in the weakest of the blues, the East Blue, powerful men like Don Krieg and Arlong were found. Generally, few people in the Four Blues have access to Devil Fruits or general knowledge of them. Most pirates seen before the Straw Hat Pirates entered the Grand Line fight by using of some form of weapon, the only exception being Buggy (whose Devil Fruit was found by the Roger Pirates, in the Grand Line).

The Grand LineEdit

While there are individual pirate crews roaming the Grand Line, the more powerful pirates reside in this sea. These are namely the Shichibukai and the Yonko.

Generally, the weaker pirates are often weeded out by the Marines or Shichibukai before they can get any further. The unfortunate ones don't even make it to their first island due to a lack of understanding on how the weather works on the Grand Line. The Grand Line is where you're most likely to see Devil Fruit users, both in and out of pirate crews.

In the second half of the Grand Line the most powerful pirates are the Yonko. The second half of the Grand Line is their playground and it forms a rather dangerously balanced part of the One Piece world.

Due to the Red Line, the Grand Line is seperated into two segments. The first half is known as Paradise where the second half is called New World.

The Pirate KingEdit

 

Gol D. Roger, known to most as "Gold Roger", the former "Pirate King".

 

The Pirate King (海賊王 Kaizoku-Ō^?, called King of the Pirates in the English versions) is the strongest pirate alive and owner of the legendary treasure that was later dubbed as "One Piece".^[3]

The term "Pirate King" was originally a simple nickname for Gol D. Roger to distinguish himself among swashbucklers. Upon Roger's execution, the name was romanticized by the people of the One Piece world into an actual title, much in the same way One Piece itself was simply "Roger's treasure" until the Pirate King's death. In the English manga and anime, "Pirate King" clearly marks this distinguishment; although Gol D. Roger was Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy seeks to become the new Pirate King 22 years later.

Before his death, Pirate King Gol D. Roger hid One Piece. It was rumored to be located at Raftel, the island at the end of the Grand Line. The frenzy over discovering and owning such a massive treasure sparked the "Great Age of Pirates". Until One Piece has been claimed, there will be no current Pirate King.

Until his death, the closest person to becoming the Pirate King was Whitebeard (Edward Newgate). Many people who had met Luffy, such as Coby and Helmeppo, believe that he will be the Pirate King ; Kokoro also addressed Luffy as the Pirate King^[4] and Shakuyaku has stated that both she and Silvers Rayleigh were rooting for Luffy to achieve this goal.^[5]

The reasons for a person wanting to be the Pirate King vary, people like Blackbeard and Gekko Moriah wish to have it for the power and influence the title would come with, while others like the Yonko are considered candidates for it because they're extremely powerful and very close to it, but the two shown so far appear to not have any interest in it. And still others like Luffy and Crocodile (prior to the event that caused him to let go of it) wish to become the Pirate King because it is a dream of theirs. Luffy (and Crocodile in his youth) seem to want it for the adventures that are involved with becoming the Pirate King. The Pirate King is said to be the ruler of the sea (Enel asks Luffy about the country the Pirate King rules [after Luffy says that he will be one], Luffy answers this by saying that the Pirate King is the king of the sea, Enel then says that it would be a very interesting title). When talking to Silvers Rayleigh, Luffy said that the Pirate King is the person with the most freedom on the sea.

History of PiratingEdit

Before the Golden AgeEdit

Pirates have long been a part of the way of life in the One Piece world. The oldest known group of pirates mentioned were the ones under Dorry and Brogy from more than 100 years ago. However, despite pirates existing back then, none of them were known to be noteworthy enough to shake the world.

Then all that changed with the arrival of the great pirate Gol D. Roger (and others like Edward Newgate and Shiki). Roger set about to do what no one had done before - conquer the Grand Line. He succeeded and in doing so made his way to Raftel and left behind something somewhere in the world, his most prized possession, One Piece. Roger brought about an air of romance about being a pirate and upon his death his final words sent others to sea to become a pirate. Things would never be the same again.

The Golden Age of PiracyEdit

The death of Roger sent many pirates to the Grand Line, hoping to find his treasure and become the Pirate King. However with the new wave of pirates came a new change that even Whitebeard noted.

Over the next few decades the old figures of the pre-pirate age began to disappear due to the span of time. This left fewer and fewer people aware of the days of piracy before Roger's death. Many old values shared by the pirates of the pre-pirate age slowly began to die. Even once commonly sung songs like Binks' sake have begun to fade out of memory, save from the minds of all but those who still remember the olden days of piracy (such as those Brook and Shanks). Although newer pirates still adopt these values some completely go in a different direction, the most prominent is Doflamingo who speaks of a New Age where pirates should stop dreaming.

With the Great Age of Piracy spiraling out of control, the World Government became deeply concerned. In response, they created the Shichibukai and sent them out to kill other pirates.

The New AgeEdit

At the start of the storyline, the New Age was fast approaching. This New Age of Piracy was brought upon by changes in the world. Various characters who have mentioned it either spoke of a world on the verge of chaos, or a great age where pirates no longer chase their dreams.

Related to this oncoming age in particular was the capture of Whitebeard's 2nd division commander Fire Fist Ace by the Marines. This significant action resulted in the Shichibukai and Marines assembling together in preparation for a war against Whitebeard himself. During the war, Ace was killed and Whitebeard attempted to take down Marineford. Finally Whitebeard, who held the Age of Pirates together, died, leaving his vast terroritories up for grabs by other pirates in the New World. It may also be noted that after Blackbeard took Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi powers, he said that this age will be "his age" shouting aloud for everyone in Marineford and Sabaody Archipelago (viewing via visual Den Den Mushi) to hear. The "New Age" is a phrase used to emphasize the fact that the world is changing, and different pirates obviously have different ideas about what the coming age will be like. Bellamy believed the coming age would be an age without dreams, while Blackbeard believes just the opposite.

With the start of the New Age, a new wave of pirates went to sea looking for One Piece, having heard Whitebeard confirm its existence. A number of pirates from the previous era escaped Level 6, and it was noted by X Drake that a new age also means that the Marines themselves now must change with this. However the exact direction this new era will take is still as of yet unknown.

It has been hinted in the series, though, that it is going farther and farther out of the government's hands, with pirates everywhere, all of which appear to be less and less mindful of the government. The people of Luffy's hometown note that "for the past few days we've been seeing pirate ships on the coast, we can't even sleep".

 

SOURCE:
http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Pirate