Summary
There are many pirate crews inOne Piece, and the strongest of these are those of the legendary Emperors of the Sea. Not only are these captains the most ferocious and powerful pirates in the world, but every notable fighter within their crew is also a notorious pirate themselves, cementing their place among the upper echelons of power in the series. This legendary status has put them as the greatest threat to the forces of the World Government.
However, none have reached the same level of infamy as thecrew of the Pirate King; the Roger Pirates. In the entireOne Pieceworld, there are only two crews structured like this, which is quite telling since one is the only crew to hold the Pirate King title and the others are destined to hold it in the future. So, let’s go over what makes them different from other crews and see why this is the only structure that is conducive to the Pirate King’s crew.
Current Monster Trio
Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji
Out of the thousands of pirates who have been active in theOne Pieceworld ever since the time of Joyboy, there has only been one who has ever been called the Pirate King.This was Gol D. Roger, and his crew was just as legendary as him, with his right and left hand men, Rayleigh and Scopper respectively, being almost at the same level of strength as their captain.
This is notably an interesting takeaway, since all other crews in the series typically have their captains at an entirely unattainable level of power compared to all of their subordinates, as can be seen with all the Yonko crews. However, the obvious exception here is the Straw Hats, since Zoro and Sanji are very close to Luffy, which can be seen by the strength of the opponents they go up against in each arc as well as the difficulty each of them has in taking them down.
There is a reason why the Roger Pirates and the Straw Hats have a similar leading structure, with the 3 main combatants being very relative in terms of strength. It is known thatthe concept of freedomis one of the central components of the entireOne Piecestory, and it’s also very important when it comes to how Roger and Luffy structure their crews since their members can freely oppose their captains on a decision they don’t agree with and move around however they please. In other crews, the captain tends to rule with an iron fist.
It makes a great deal of sense that the crews that allow more freedom than others are the ones closest to the One Piece treasure and the title of Pirate King, considering how freedom from oppression is one of Luffy and Roger’s greatest motivations. For the Whitebeard Pirates, everyone saw Whitebeard as their father, so everything went exactly how he said it should, which is also the same for Big Mom and Kaido.
I have nothing to fear! I am Whitebeard!
However, too much freedom from one’s subordinates can also be detrimental to the overall structure, which can be seen withthe Rocks and Blackbeard Piratesas well as the Cross Guild. The latter two crews were formed from multiple powerful characters only banding together to fulfill their individual aspirations and the Cross Guild only really has their captain, Buggy, as a figurehead to take away attention from Crocodile and Mihawk.
On the other hand, while Zoro and Sanji often contradict or go against Luffy or his orders, such as the case with him wanting to go save Vivi after Wano, they take Luffy’s word as law whenever he is completely serious about something. In fact, this goes for every Straw Hat and, presumably, the system was identical for the Roger Pirates too. The captains are known to be brash and silly, so their closest crewmates often stand in to make tough decisions for the betterment of everyone else. However, if the captain says something that they are completely serious about, then their subordinates will not question it.
The Structure Of Other Notable Crews
Other Strong Crews With Important Structures
The pirate crews of the Rocks, Blackbeard, and Red Hair Pirates are all the most different from the typical crew structure. Most interestingly out of these, the Red Hair Pirates seem to bequite close to the Monster Trio-like structure, since Oda has confirmed them to be the crew with the highest overall bounty owing to the main members being relative in strength. Even in the little that’s been shown of them, it seems that each commander in the Red Hair Pirates has a very relaxed and frank demeanor when speaking to Shanks.
However, the biggest trapping for them is the fact that Shanks is still the undisputed top dog here, and everything he says is taken without any sort of dispute. On the other hand, the Blackbeard and Rocks Pirates are the opposite end of the spectrum, where each member has far too much freedom in the overall crew structure, so no one really listens to what the captain has to say since they’re too concerned with their own goals.
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One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
