Blackbeard pirates

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The Blackbeard pirates (黒ひげ海賊団, Kurohige Kaizokudan) are fictional pirates from the anime and manga One Piece, led by Blackbeard.

Contents

[edit] Part in the Story

While not making an actual appearance in the story until later, the Blackbeard pirates are first referenced when the Straw Hat Pirates land on Drum Island. The king of Drum, Wapol, has fled the country as a result of the Blackbeard crew attacking.

The crew make their first appearance in Jaya, where they are playing "games" of fate, such as handing out explosive apples or shooting birds to see which ones die quickly and testing strength. When Luffy meets Blackbeard himself in a bar, they immediately form a rivalry. Blackbeard loves the bar's pie, and Luffy hates it, while Luffy loves one of the bar's drinks, Blackbeard hates it, which leads to them challenging each other to a fight. Later on, after the Bellamy Pirates taunt them for believing in Sky Island, Blackbeard assures the Straw Hats that it does exist and in response to Bellamy's notion of a "New Age", states that people will never stop dreaming. Once Blackbeard discovers Luffy's high bounty, he and his crew decide to capture him, and pursue the Straw Hats to the Knock-Up Stream. Their ship is destroyed by the stream, and Luffy escapes to Skypeia.[1]

The Blackbeard Pirate crew is seen again after the events of Enies Lobby. After reading of Luffy's exploits, Blackbeard understands that his bounty will increase a great deal. He once again commits to pursuing Luffy, but is stopped by Portgas D. Ace. During a short battle, Blackbeard reveals his Devil Fruit abilities, and defeats Ace, turning him in to the World Government to attain Shichibukai status.

[edit] Crew Information

[edit] Marshall D. Teach

Captain

Marshall D. Teach
Marshall D. Teach

Marshall D. Teach (マーシャル・D・ティーチ, Māsharu D. Tīchi, Marshall D. Teech in edited English dub) also known as Blackbeard (黒ひげ, Kurohige), is a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates, who left after killing the commander of Whitebeard's fourth division. His ultimate goal is to become pirate king[2], like many other pirates in the Grand Line, and conquer the world. Teach spent decades with Whitebeard's crew for the express purpose of finding the Yami Yami no Mi[3]. When Fourth Division Commander Thatch found the Devil Fruit he desired, Teach killed him without hesitation, claiming the fruits powers for his own.[4] The Yami Yami no Mi grants Teach the ability to create and control gravity fields, represented as a flowing "darkness". Teach can use the gravity to absorb matter and energy, to draw in opponents from a distance and can also eject absorbed matter in a violent explosion. The most terrifying aspect of the powers granted by the Yami Yami no Mi is the ability to nullify other Devil Fruit powers through physical contact with the user. Even users of the Logia Devil Fruit type, normally invulnerable to attacks, can be harmed in this manner. Although the Yami Yami no Mi is a Logia type, Teach does not have the ability to transform into his element like other Logia type users. Likewise, he can not avoid damage like other Logia users, and in fact takes more damage due to the nature of his power[5]. Teach's physical abilities are substantial even without the aid of his Devil Fruit; he is responsible for the three scars that cross Red-Haired Shanks' eye.

Blackbeard is modeled after the infamous pirate Edward Teach, whom he shares his surname with[6]. Series creator Eiichiro Oda has described the historical Blackbeard as his favorite pirate.

Blackbeard is also one of the 7 people in One Piece to have the middle initial D.

He was recently revealed to be the replacement for Sir Crocodile as a Shichibukai.

[edit] Jesus Burgess

Jesus Burgess
Jesus Burgess

Helmsman

Jesus Burgess (ジーザス･バージェス, Jīzasu Bājesu, G. Zass Burgess in edited English Dub) wears a mask similar to a Luchador. He is extremely strong, lifting an entire building during a battle with Portgas D. Ace. He is portrayed as being quite level-minded and serious, as he berates Blackbeard for his easy-going attitude after the crew's failure to capture Monkey D. Luffy.

Jesus shares his surname with real pirate Samuel Burgess.

[edit] Van Auger

Van Auger
Van Auger

Sniper

Van Auger (ヴァン･オーガー, Van Ōgā , Van Ogre in edited English Dub), nicknamed "The Supersonic", is first seen in Jaya, shooting down seagulls from a distance so far that the Straw Hat Pirates, who were watching near the area where the seagulls fell, couldn't even see the island he was on. Van Auger appears calm and analytic even during battle.

Van Auger shares a name with real pirate John Auger.

Auger's name may also have something to do with the Latin word "auger", which is term for a fortune teller who studies the flights of birds to determine the future. This could be symbolic because we first see Auger shooting down birds and explaining that it was "fate" for the bird to be killed.

"Auge", means eye in german. This might be another reason for his name.

[edit] Doc Q

Doc Q
Doc Q

Doctor

Doc Q (ドクQ Doku Kyū) is the crew's doctor. His nickname is 'Shinigami' which literally means God of Death. He first appears when the Straw Hat Pirates disembark at Mock Town, offering explosive apples to pirates. Doc Q and his horse, Stronger, are portrayed as very sickly and weak, although they have little problem fighting Ace during his battle with the Blackbeard crew.

[edit] Lafitte

Lafitte
Lafitte

Navigator

Lafitte (ラフィット, Rafitto, Raffit in edited English Dub) is first shown when he joins the meeting of the Shichibukai and the Navy to determine the replacement for Sir Crocodile in order to recommend his captain. He is described by Tsuru as once being a well respected policeman in West Blue who became a pirate after being exiled from the police force for excessive violence. He is incredibly pale, though this appears to be makeup, and is usually tap-dancing, even when walking or running.

He shares his name with Jean Lafitte, a famous real-life pirate.

[edit] Other Information

[edit] Pirate Flag and Ship

Blackbeard's flag is that of three skulls--one looking left, one looking forward, and one looking right. In Dante's Inferno [7], the devil has three heads in a similar manner.

While it has never been stated by Oda where the influence of their flag comes from, the image of the or 3 heads appears as a classic depiction of Cerberus. The three heads of Cerberus are suppose to see the past, the present and the future and Cerberus was also the guardian of the gates of Hades. This happens to tie in with the crews views of fate and destiny as well as their often deadly methods for seeing how fate plays out and may be the reason behind the three skulls. It may also be a depiction of the Moirae, the three goddesses of Fate.

The crew's ship is a giant log raft with a number of cannons in the center of the outermost logs. It is destroyed by the Knock-Up Stream during their pursuit of the Straw Hats.

[edit] References

  1. ^ One Piece Manga - Vol.25 - Chapter 236. The Blackbeard pirates chase after Luffy
  2. ^ One Piece' Manga
  3. ^ One Piece Manga
  4. ^ One Piece Manga
  5. ^ One Piece Manga
  6. ^ SBS questions: One Piece manga chapter 474, fan question: "Question! 'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate, 'Blackbeard' Marshall D. Teach, 4th Squad Commander Thatch. These three all appear to be based on the real-life 18th century Caribbean pirate, Edward Teach (or sometimes Edward Thatch), aka 'Blackbeard'. Can you tell us more about this figure?"
  7. ^ Inferno

[edit] See also

v • d • e
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
Franchise
Characters
Straw Hat crew
Main antagonists
Other characters
Organizations
Pirate crews
Other organizations
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