Not all of the groups listed here necessarily wield power on a world scale, and some of them either no longer exist or are not even one coherent group.
Pirates
Straw Hat Pirates (麦わらの海賊団)
Straw Hat Pirates is Monkey D. Luffy's pirate crew, named after Luffy's trademark straw hat. While it's a small group numbering only seven, the Straw Hat Pirates are formidable in battle. The crew is captained by Luffy, and Roronoa Zoro serves as the first mate. Although these are their official titles, the Straw Hat's are far from having a clear hierarchical structure. The members generally have equal rights and sometimes even team up to outrank the captain himself when there is strong disagreement.
The tightly knit group exhibits qualities of friendship and brotherhood missing from many other groups that were formed by alliances of people seeking to pillage. Their family-like makeup is a result of the care the captain has for each of his crew members.
Although the fighting skill of each member of the crew varies greatly, the crew members can all handle themselves in the fight. So far the crew has a captain, a first mate/swordsman, a navigator/second mate ( Nami), a sharpshooter ( Usopp), a cook ( Sanji), a doctor ( Chopper) and an archeologist ( Nico Robin). They are currently ( 419+, enies lobby) on the look out for a shipwright, and it is popular belief that one of either Cutty Flam / Franky or Paulie will join after the arcs completion.
The Straw hat's ship is a little caravel named Going Merry and is treated as another crew member and important friend.
Crewmembers:
Red Hair Pirates
This is the crew of Red Haired Shanks. It is one of the great pirate crews that even the highest authoroty of the World Government considers as very dangerous. They were an inspiration to Luffy who met them ten years ago in his hometown Fuusha Village. Their current location seems to be very deep within the Grand Line.
Crewmembers:
Alvida Pirates
This was Alvida´s pirate crew before she met Luffy. What happened to the crew after it got seperated from Alvida and Coby has never been explained.
Crewmembers:
- Alvida
- Coby (Ex-Member)
Heppoko, Peppoko & Poppoko
Buggy Pirates
The Crew of Buggy the Clown Pirate, that invaded Orange Village and devasted large parts of it. The entire crew appears as if it is made of circus artists. Buggy himself looks like a clown, and the seconds in command are an acrobat and a wild animal tamer. Even the minors of the crew seem to be circus performors such as knife throwers and rope walkers.
After being blown away by Luffy and having half of his body parts tied up by Nami, Buggy and his crew get separated. His crew hapless without him (and thinking him dead), Buggy goes on a quest to find his parts and joins up with Alvida to plot revenge on Luffy. They catch up with him at Loguetown only for him to slip away into the grand line.
Crewmembers:
Usopp Pirates
This isn´t a real pirate crew but actually a group of kids that plays around. They were founded by Usopp and went through their own childish adventures. Before the crew got disbanded because Usopp joined the Straw Hat Pirates the final and most important task of the Usopp Pirates was to protect Kaya from the Black Cat Pirates.
Crewmembers:
- Piiman
- Ninjin
- Tamanegi
Black Cat (Kuroneko) Pirates
This crew was and is originally Captain Kuro´s pirate crew. When he left the crew three years ago to live undercover his first mate Jango became the new captain. But even then it was still Kuro´s crew, which was proven by their reunion before the coast of the village Syrop.
Crewmembers:
- Kuro
Jango
- Buchie
- Sham
Don Krieg Pirate Fleet
This is the largest and most dangerous pirate fleet of the entire East Blue. It consists of 50 ships that all sail under the flag of Don Krieg.
Crewmembers:
- Don Krieg
- Gin
- Pearl
Mermen Pirates
As the name indicates this a crew of mermen pirates. They are a pirate crew from the Grand Line lead by Jinbei. Not much is known about them except for the fact that the Arlong Pirates once were part of Mermen Pirates. So far nothing is known about the reasons why Mermen Pirates split up.
Crewmembers:
- Jinbei
- Arlong (Ex-Member)
- Kuroobi (Ex-Member)
- Chew (Ex-Member)
- Hacchi (Ex-Memeber)
Arlong Pirates
The Arlong Pirates are a mermen pirate crew that came to East Blue from the Grand Line 8 years ago. They invaded Nami's hometown Cocoyashi village in the Conomi Islands and collected taxes from the villagers, essentially holding them hostage. The captain of the Arlong Pirates is Arlong, who is ruthless and bloodthirsty, but also loyal to his comrades.
It is unclear whether the Arlong Pirates are the entire crew that remained of the Mermen Pirates after Jinbei became a Shichibukai, or if they are just a small faction of it that split off from a larger abandoned crew. It is believed that this will be explained when the Strawhats reach Mermen island.
Crewmembers:
- Kuroobi
- Chew
- Hacchi
- Mohmoo
Giant Warrior Pirates
As the name indicates, this is a crew of giant pirates. This is the crew of Brogy the Red Ogre and Dorry the Blue Ogre. 100 years ago the two leaders left the pirate crew to take out a duel but judging from Karsee and Oimo´s decision to search for their bosses 50 years ago, it could be possible that the crew still exists today and awaits the return of one of their bosses.
Crewmembers:
- Dorry
- Brogy
- Karsee
- Oimo
Bliking Pirates
This group isn´t actually a real pirate crew. It is actually just a runaway group of the former Drum Government. When the Blackbeard Pirates rampaged the country Wapol the king and his royal staff escaped to the sea. They became pirates for a short period of time and longed to return to their home country after the rampage was over.
Crewmembers
- Chess
- Marimo
- Robson
- Isshi-20
- Chessimo
Tulip Pirates
The pirate crew that invaded the Mirrorball Island during the time Jango and Fullbody had a dance contest there. Just like their captain Yurika, the entire crew has a tulip "nesting" on the top of their heads.
Crewmembers
- Yurika
Roshio Pirates
Crew of Roshio the Executioner. They harbored at MockTown at the same time the Strawhats stopped by there. Unfortunally of what we saw they didn´t spend any quality time there. The captain was finished by Bellamy the Hyena and one random crewmember got beaten up pretty badly by Jesus Burgess. The further fate of the crew remains unknown.
Crewmembers
- Roshio
Bellamy Pirates
The Pirates that was enjoying themselves in MockTown. Lead by Bellamy the Hyena. Their ideals are to create a New Pirate Era without dreams. It appears that they are only one branch that belongs to Donquixote Doflamingo who´s one of the Shichibukai.
Crewmembers
- Bellamy
- Sarquiss
- Lily
- Ross
- Eddie
- Hewitt
- Rivers
- Mani
- Mure
Allied Saruyama Forces
The primate forces that investigate the ocean floor and salvages sunken ships around Jaya.
Crewmembers:
- Montblanc Cricket
- Masira
- Shojo
- Utan Divers
Blackbeard Pirates
One very dangerous pirate crew. Lead by their captain Marshall D. Teach who calls himself Blackbeard, this crew rampages innocent countries and beats up other pirates. The crew itself doesn´t fear strong competition though. At the moment they´re trying to take down pirates with a bounty of 100.000.000 Berries or higher in order to prove that the captain is worthy to become a Shichibukai.
Crewmembers:
- Marshall D. Teach
- Van Auger
- Jesus Burgess
- Doc Q
- Lafitte
Whitebeard Pirates
The strongest pirate crew in the world, lead by the world´s strongest man Edwart Newgate. Besides that not much is known about them, except that they seem to be a large crew since they have a second devision that is lead by Ace.
Blackbeard was also once a member of that crew, but eversince he killed one of his crewmates he is on the run from the crew.
Crewmembers:
- Edwart Newgate
- Portgas D. Ace
- Marshall D. Teach (Ex-Member)
Foxy Pirates
The Pirate crew that challenged the Strawhats in the Davey Back Fight. Lead by Foxy the Silver Fox.
Crewmembers:
- Foxy
- Hamburg
- Porche
- Tubifex
- Tweetums
- Capote
- Monda
- Pickles
- Big-Pan
Big Helm Pirates
The pirates that didn´t want to pay for the repairs of their ship that Galley-La did.
Crewmembers:
- Mikazuki
Marines
The Marine is the World Government's military sea force. It enforces the rule of the World Government from facilities that exist around the world. The World Government maintains a slight military presence in the four Blues by establishing Branch Offices, but focuses the bulk of its assets on the far more dangerous Grand Line.
Marines seem to fall into a few categories:
* Branch Office Marines, who operate from a set base that they identify themselves with. Example: Nezumi of the 16th Branch. * Field Marines, who patrol large areas of the sea. They often operate out of the main Headquarters itself, but may operate far away from it. Example: Hina.
These designations are not official, but are being used here simply for the sake of convenience.
Nomenclature
The Marines in One Piece are the military arm of the World Government; it's possible that an Army exists, but it has not been shown and would be redundant anyway. In the real world, the English word "Marine" is used to describe an army unit who is deployable on land or at sea, while a strictly seafaring force is called a Navy. The Marines of One Piece function more like a Navy than a Marine Corps.
Although the literal roman characters "Marine" are displayed prominently throughout the manga on the hats and uniforms of officers and at military installations, the Japanese word that is used is "海軍" (かいぐん) "kaigun", which translates most closely to "Navy". Interestingly enough, the actual Headquarters itself consistently displays the slogan of 海軍 on a sign rather than the ubiquitous "MARINE". One of the reasons that Navy is the traditional English translation of the word "kaigun" is the close association that the Imperial Japanese Navy had with the British to the extent that bridge commands in the INS were even issued in English until shortly before WWII. As a result, Viz as well as 4kids decided to translate it as "Navy". Viz alters the various "kaigun" kanji to read Navy in English while leaving the word Marine alone on various equipment and personnel. 4Kids, on the other hand, has opted to erase kanji and to change all instances where the word "Marine" appears in the artwork to read "Navy".
However, Arlong Park has chosen to use Marine as our official translation of "海軍" for a number of reasons:
- "Marine" is displayed throughout the manga and anime.
- "Marine" and its variants are much more common to foreign languages.
- "Marine" is not an incorrect description of what the kaigun are.
- "Marine" is not simply a case of Engrish, as its repetition demonstrates.
In Oda's world of One Piece, the "海軍" are called "Marines", so that is what we've chosen to call them as well.
Marines Roster
Below is a list of all the various named Marines that have appeared in the manga so far. Please note that the names of the various Admirals seem to be ceremonial in nature, which might also apply to Sengoku as well. As of yet, we are unaware as to what level this practice begins on; it's possible that even the Vice Admirals might use a pseudonym instead of their real names. The list follows a hierachical order starting at the top and working downwards:
Chief Admiral
Admirals
Vice Admirals
Commodores
Captains
Commanders
Lieutentant Commanders
Lieutenants
Chief Petty Officers
Seamen
Recruit
Odd Jobs
Photography Branch Captain
Unknown Ranks
World Government
The World Government consists of 170 countries from across the world. The Highest Authority and the leaders of the World Government are the Gorousei, who reside in the Holy Land of Maryjoa, which the World Government seems to be centered around. There still isn´t much known about the political ideals of the World Government nor about the complete political structure of the organization. So far it is only clear that there are people like the revolutionist Dragon, who don´t seem to share the same ideals.
While the structure of the World Government is as yet unknown, we do know that it relies on Three Powers to maintain control over the world. The Gorousei express their fear that the whole world might unravel at the seams if the balance of the Three Powers is disrupted. Any further specifics about the World Government are yet to be revealed.
WG Sections:
The Highest Authority of the World Government
Above all the politic leaders within the World Government, be it kings of countries or mayors of cities there´s the Gorousei, which translated means Five Elder Stars. As the name indicates, it is a group of five older man, that lead the large government. Not much is known about their politic ideals, except for two things.
The one thing is that Great Pirate Age is a huge thorn in their eyes. The Gorousei consider it such a big problem that they even consider obtaining Ancient Weapons in order to stop the Pirate Age. This attitude can be considered radical since the Gorousei themselves fears these weapons because of their destructive power.
The other thing we know is that they made a law that forbids anyone to research on info on the blank 100 years of the worlds history. The motives of this are unclear but what is clear is that anybody who breaks this law gets the death penalty.
Besides that, there hasn't been much revealed about the Gorousei so far.
During the series we have seen many actions of the World Government. They don't seem to care about how the world is going into since they have only been seen caring about themselves. They worry about losing power and would do anything to protect their jobs.
Let's look at the certain points of the story:
20 Years ago, they ordered the burning of the island of Ohara for researching history. Nico Robin was the sole survivor, and due to her escape, she was given a very high bounty because of her ability to read Poneglyphs. They blame her for the possibility of reviving the ancient weapons when truthfully, Robin never cared about them. It was thought that the ancient weapon was what the WG was afraid of, but in reality they were afraid of the ancient kingdom and its ideals. Robin was hated by the world due to the WG.
12 years ago, a man name Spandam came before the Gorosei and convinced them to change their mind in preventing the revival of the ancient weapeon. They easily fell for his deceptions by ordering him to seize the blueprints.
Marine Captain Morgan brutely ruled Shelltown, and the Gorosei did nothing about it.
- Orange Town was overridden by pirates, and the Gorosei did nothing about it.
Cocoyashi island was ruled by Arlong. He bribed a corrupted marine captain named Nezumi; the Gorosei did nothing about it.
- There was a Coup de Etete in Villa, and the Gorosei did not care about it.
- East Blue was mostly overrun by pirates, and the Gorosei did nothing about it. There weren't many marines patrolling the East Blue.
- Drum was suffering because of its selfish king, and the Gorosei did nothing about it.
- Arabasta was in war, and the Gorosei paid no attention to it until Smoker reported that Crocodile was behind it.
- Spandam, the CP9 chief was planning to overthrow the World Government, and the Gorosei was unaware of this.
The Three Great Powers
As of chapter 432, the long-standing question as to the identity of The Three Great Powers has been answered. The Powers are, as identified by a Vice Admiral, the Marine Headquarters, the Shichibukai, and the Yonko or Four Emperors, which is the third and last of the Powers to be named.
These three institutions exist in a delicate balance, not much is known about how this functions. It is however known that only the other two organizations are equivalent to the Yonko. Considering that these organizations are stated to be a balance and the fact that the loss of Crocodile threatened said balance, the most reasonable conclusion is that each organization is roughly equivalent in strength.
The Gorousei fear that if this balance gets disrupted, the world itself could collapse around them. It has not yet been fully explained so far as to why one of the Three Powers being weakened could pose such a dangerous threat. One possible reason is that this stems from the fact that only the Marines are fully under the control of the World Government. The Shichibukai appear to follow orders on a whim if at all and the Yonko are entirely outside of the World Government's control. A damage in the balance could swing the scales toward the Yonko and might lead to the Shichibukai reverting to their old ways in support.
The only other thing known about the Three Powers is that they are collectively the reason why the Grand Line is called the Pirates' Grave.
Security Forces
A large government wouldn´t function without some forces that establish law and order. The Security Forces consist of the following groups:
Member Governments
All over the world there´s over 170 countries that are all members of the World Government World Government. Within their own territory all these members have their own sovereign government that rules over it´s people. However in the large World Government itself those leaders are treated as equals and have a seat within it.
Among these member countries, not all are of the same kind. Some are really large countries with kings as their leaders others are simply big cities that are governed by mayors.