The Blackbeard Pirates are the central antagonist
of One Piece, and yet there’s probably a lot of details you don’t know or don’t
remember about them, such as their backstories, their official bounties, their ages, all of
their devil fruits, and a lot of other details, so I’ve created this comprehensive guide
to tell you everything you need to know about this infamous pirate crew, as well as all
the information you need to know on SWORD, Garp, and the Rocky Port Incident! So the Blackbeard Pirates are commanded by,
of course, Blackbeard, who rules under the title of “Teitoku”, or “Admiral”,
leading as Captain of the crew’s main ship, known as the “Saber of Xebec”, which no
doubt has some connection to the legendary pirate of the same name who once made base
on Hachinosu. The crew then has ten another ships which
are commanded by the Ten Titanic Captains, the commanders that form his fleet, on top
of several subordinate crews much like other Yonko. Teach himself grew up somewhere in the Grand
Line where he allegedly had a painful and lonely childhood according to the Vivre Cards,
and has been biding his time lurking in the shadows and not showing his true strength
to enact his plans into motion. He originally had a 0 belly bounty before
becoming a Shichibukai, and this isn’t metaphorical, it was literally 0 since the Government was
unable to assess his strength. Which has since then risen to his current
3,996,000,000 belly bounty. Japanese fans have noted how his current bounty
can be read in Japanese as “San Kokoro”, which can mean “three souls”, which could
tie into a lot of the theories that the three skulls on his flag represent the three souls
that let Blackbeard not sleep and eat multiple fruits, but of course that’s all still speculation. Then, the Blackbeard Pirates are subdivided
into what the crew calls the “Ten Titanic Captains”, being the ten commanders/officers
that form the crew, each being the captain of the ten ships in Blackbeard’s fleet. The Captain of the First Ship is “Champion”
Jesus Burgess, who serves as the helmsman of the crew. He is from the Grand Line and currently 29
years old, and has eaten the Riki Riki no Mi, or Strength Strength Fruit, which appears
to give him incredible physical strength. He originally had a 20,000,000 belly bounty
during his first appearance, but it has since increased to an unknown amount post-timeskip. The Captain of the Second Ship is Shiryu of
the Rain, former Head Jailer of Impel Down. He is from the Grand Line and currently 44
years old, and has eaten the Suke Suke no Mi, or Clear Clear Fruit, after the crew killed
Absalom and stole his fruit when he infiltrated Hachinosu. Just like Absalom, this fruit allows Shiryu
to turn himself and any items he wants to invisible. He also wields a sword called “Raiu”,
or “Thunderstorm”, hence his epithet “of the Rain”. This sword is a graded Meito blade of yet
unknown rank, just like Zoro’s swords. The Captain of the Third Ship is “Supersonic”
Van Augur, who serves as the Sniper of the crew, being so incredibly skilled he was able
to shoot birds from islands away as early as Jaya. He wields a long-distance precision rifle
called the “Senriku”, or “Thousand Lands”. He is from the East Blue and currently 27
years old, the youngest in the crew, and has eaten the Wapu Wapu no Mi, or Warp Warp Fruit,
which allows him to teleport around pretty freely. He had a 64,000,000 belly bounty as of his
introduction, but his current post-timeskip amount is unknown. The Captain of the Fourth Ship is “Corrupt
King” Avalo Pizarro, who was formerly a king of a country in North Blue but was overthrown
by his people for his despotic nature. He tends to add “Nyah”, or “meow”
to the end of his sentence, likely because of his large cat-like whiskers. He is currently 42 years old, and has eaten
the Shima Shima no Mi, or Island Island Fruit, making him an Island Human and seemingly allowing
him to fuse together with an island and control it at will. This fruit seems very similar to Pica’s
Ishi Ishi no Mi, or Stone Stone Fruit, but while at the cost of not being able to manipulate
stone, he appears to have easier control over any island. The Captain of the Fifth Ship is “Oni Sheriff”
Laffitte, who serves as both the Navigator and Chief of Staff of the Blackbeard Pirates. He was originally a sheriff from West Blue
who was exiled due to his horrible accounts of police brutality, hence his epithet, for
which he earned a 42,000,000 belly bounty, though his current bounty is unknown. He is currently 41 years old and appears to
have a fruit that allows him to sprout large white wings in place of his arms. However, he’s only been seen like this once
and we don’t yet have confirmation of what his fruit really is, whether it’s a mythical
angel or some sort of bird, so we’ll have to wait to know for sure. The Captain of the Sixth Ship is “Crescent
Moon Hunter” Catarina Devon, who was referred to by Ivankov as being known as the “most
evil woman in pirate history”, hunting down beautiful women to take their heads as trophies
for her personal collection, which she claims is a pursuit of beauty. She is currently 36 years old and from the
South Blue, and has eaten the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kyubi no Kitsune, a Mythological Zoan
that lets her transform into the legendary nine-tailed fox of Japanese folklore, said
to be capable of taking the appearance of anyone, thus allowing her to change her appearance
to that of other people. This fruit seems to be a better version of
Mr. 2’s Mane Mane no Mi, or Copy Copy Fruit, as Devon can even instantly change her clothes
with this power. She is also said to fight with a whip. The Captain of the Seventh Ship is “Colossal
Battleship” Sanjuan Wolf. He is currently 99 years old, as he is a member
of the giant race, which live triple as long as humans, which would put him somewhere around
33 human years. This was already explained previously in the
Vivre Card Databook, but Sanjuan Wolf is a normal giant from a giant village in West
Blue who has eaten a devil fruit that allows him to become gigantic. This fruit would already make a normal person
massive, but it makes Wolf even more colossal being a giant. In this chapter we finally get the name, being
the Deka Deka no Mi, or quite literally Big Big Fruit, which allows the user to become
bigger, reaching heights of up to 180 meters. The Captain of the Eight Ship is “Heavy
Drinker” Vasco Shot”, who was stated to be one of the most vicious members of the
crew, having been imprisoned for the sheer brutality of his crimes. He is currently 38 years old and was revealed
in this chapter to have eaten the Gabu Gabu no Mi, or Glug Glug Fruit, which as described
makes him a Sake Human, or more literally Alcohol Human. It’s not clear to which extent this fruit
works, and whether it’s a Logia or a Paramecia, but Vasco Shot hinted at burning down the
city, which he likely would do by spreading his alcohol and setting it on fire. The Captain of the Ninth Ship is “Shinigami”
Doc Q, also translated as the “Grim Reaper”, who is the Doctor of the crew. Having had a frail body and health since his
childhood in North Blue, you may be surprised to hear that he’s actually only 28 years
old. He has eaten the Shiku Shiku no Mi, or Sick
Sick Fruit, which allows him to inflict diseases of several types onto his opponents, like
the Feminization Disease. As of his appearance, he had a 72,000,000
belly, the highest of his crew at the time, though his current increase after the timeskip
is unknown. He is always joined by his horse Stronger,
who is as sickly as him. Stronger has also eaten a fruit, the Mythical
Zoan Uma Uma no Mi, Model: Pegasus, allowing him to become a winged pegasus and thus letting
those who ride him fly through the skies. As for the Captain of the Tenth Ship, it hasn’t
been officially confirmed yet who this mysterious person is. However, by the way we see them acting in
this chapter, I think it’s fair to say this position is actually currently held by Kuzan,
who has joined the Blackbeard Pirates to become one of Teach’s close confidants. It is obvious that Kuzan has some deeper motives,
as he told Smoker that he’s still himself, and likely has some larger master plan for
joining the Blackbeard Pirates. Teach is likely aware of this too, as he told
Burgess he doesn’t quite fully trust him either, but feels he can get some use out
of him, so he’s willing to let him act on his crew for the moment. Now knowing about all Ten Titanic Captains,
we can actually locate where each of them is currently, which will allow us to find
out just who exactly are the ones going to Egghead. As we see in this chapter, currently at Hachinosu
appear to be Shiryu, Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, and Sanjuan Wolf. Meanwhile at Winner Island fighting the Heart
Pirates are Teach, Burgess, Augur, and Doc Q. Which means the only ones left are Laffitte,
Catarina Devon, and Kuzan. Thus it’s only the three of them who could
be going to Egghead, though it’s also possible that it’s only some of them while the others
are busy elsewhere. Going back to Kuzan though, many people have
speculated that perhaps Kuzan himself is part of SWORD, still being a Marine but just unaffiliated
with them in a deep complicated covert mission. In this chapter Kuzan better introduces us
to the concept of SWORD, being the Marines’ Secret Special Forces, a special secret force
within the Marines who act without holding the Government in political responsibility. As Kuzan puts an example, to avoid large-scale
conflicts, Marines are not allowed to engage against a Yonko without permission, but SWORD
members are allowed to because the Government doesn’t hold them responsible. Which is why we see them being able to attack
the island later in the chapter, being able to rescue Koby without orders from above. So let’s go quickly over all the current
SWORD members as well: First of all we have Koby, being a Captain
within the Marines, though he has already achieved far more fame and accomplishment
than any other Captain in the series, as we clearly see in his Cross Guild Bounty being
five stars, which would put him at around 500,000,000 belly. This is because Koby saved countless lives
during the famous Rocky Port Incident that took place during the timeskip, which earned
him the epithet of “Koby the Hero”, a nickname very similar to that of Garp as we’ll
see further compared later. Koby has become famous for his incredible
tactical prowess and leadership skills, as well as his kindness in always trying to protect
the people, which we see in this chapter as he tries to free the slaves that Blackbeard
has captured. It’s interesting to note that many of the
slaves on Hachinosu appear to be from different races, likely due to their high value in the
slave market, but it shows that Blackbeard is just as corrupt and discriminatory against
oppressed minorities as many in the World Government. Koby managed to break out thanks to the help
of Perona of all people! This is because Perona wanted to rescue Moria
after hearing of him in the newspaper, since Moria is like a father to her, and has raised
her since she was young. Though Moria may be a ruthless pirate, he
was shown to be legitimately loving and caring towards his crew, as when Blackbeard killed
Absalom he was devastated, and seemingly refused his invitation to join his crew, which resulted
in him being locked up on the island. Thus Perona came here to rescue him, being
able to easily infiltrate the island thanks to her ghost powers, and seemingly may have
succeeded in doing so as Koby worked with her to get himself and Moria freed, meaning
we should keep an eye as to what Moria and Perona will get up to. Beyond Koby, Helmeppo is also a confirmed
member of SWORD, as is X Drake, who held the special position of Captain of the SWORD Unit,
though it is currently unknown whether Drake is still alive or not, as Prince Grus mentioned
being unable to get in contact with him. Continuing with other members of SWORD, we
have Rear Admiral Prince Grus, who first appeared in Chapter 966’s cover story, and later
at the start of Egghead. He has eaten the Gunyo Gunyo no Mi, which
stands for the sound effect clay makes, making him a Clay Human. It’s not clear if he’s a Logia or Paramecia,
but this fruit allows him to create living golems made of clay, which can then fight
in his stead, but can also not be defeated, having logia-like properties. We see this in action with the large Marine
member we also saw in Chapter 966’s cover, though this makes me wonder if this is just
a copy of that Marine or if that Marine was a golem all along. Next is Rear Admiral Kujaku, which is the
Japanese word for “Peacock”. Much like Grus, she first appeared in Chapter
866, which gives us a good idea of her color scheme. She is actually revealed to be Tsuru’s granddaughter,
which gets me interested into Tsuru’s own personal life outside the Marines. Kujaku ate the Muchi Muchi no Mi, or Whip
Whip Fruit, which makes her a Dominating Human, who appears to be able to subdue things with
her powers, such as forcing buildings to follow her orders. This might all play into the joke of the “M”
on her hat, which obviously stands for Marines, but is also a slang term in Japanese for those
who want to be subdued by someone dominating. And finally we have Commander Hibari, which
refers to the lark bird. In case you haven’t noticed already, several
(though not all) of the female Marines are named after birds. Tsuru stands for “crane”, Isuka stands
for “crossbill”, Tashigi stands for “snipe”, Kujaku stands for “peacock”, and Hibari
stands for “lark”. Hibari is particular as a character as she
seems to talk in a Japanese Hiroshima dialect. This is interesting as the only other character
in the story to talk in this dialect is Sakazuki, which has led a lot of Japanese fans to speculate
that much like Kujaku, Hibari could perhaps be the daughter of Akainu, which would make
her thunder relation with Koby quite an ironic twist of fate. She doesn’t appear to have a fruit, but
she seems to be a talented sniper, using Vegapunk’s GP Flower, the solution that turns gunpowder
into flowers, that was introduced in his cover story. And last but most certainly not even remotely
least, we have Monkey D. Garp, the legendary Hero of the Marines. After defeating the Rocks Pirates at God Valley,
though of course the world doesn’t know this was with the help of Gol D. Roger, Garp
became consecrated as a Hero, which many would consider to be the strongest Marine to have
ever lived, having fought many times against the Pirate King himself. His strength is apparent in this very chapter,
seemingly being able to send his ship flying by simply punching the water, a trick he no
doubt picked up after seeing the Sunny fly with Coup de Burst, and then delivering one
of the most impressive attacks we’ve seen yet, being “Galaxy Impact”, with the kanji
reading being “Fist Impact”. In this case, Garp’s fist is compared to
a whole galaxy, which makes me wonder if it ties into the whole cosmology of Garp being
a D. and being able to stand against the Celestial Gods. Regardless, this title of “Hero” has been
inherited now by Koby as well, having come to be known as the “Hero” of Rocky Port
and Garp referring to him as his protégé, literally the “future of the Marines”,
making his parallel as Luffy’s own Garp all the more evident. But the interesting here is how Koby attained
his epithet as the Hero of Rocky Port, because this chapter actually gives us a tiny yet
crucial detail in understanding what happened during this famous Rocky Port Incident. The Rocky Port Incident was a certain event
where three key figures clashed. The first was Law, who was credited as the
mastermind of the Rocky Port Incident. The second was Koby, who saved many lives
during this event, coming to be known as the “Hero” for his exploits. And the third is Blackbeard, who thanks to
Koby’s efforts, was able to take advantage of the situation to defeat former Rocks Pirates
member O-Choku and take control of Hachinosu Island. But as Pizarro explains, he says they better
not damage the town much since they just finished repairing the Rocky Port. Which would indicate that Rocky Port is actually
the name of the port on Hachinosu Island. And suddenly a lot of things start to make
sense, because it explains how Blackbeard was able to take control of the island during
this incident, because the incident took place at Hachinosu. And even the name finally makes sense, because
of course Hachinosu was originally the homebase of Rocks D. Xebec, hence the name of Rocky
Port. Could this infamous incident perhaps give
us more light into the secrets of Rocks D. Xebec and what connections does Blackbeard
have with him…? I suppose only time will tell…
