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.

Their captain, Blackbeard was originally a member of Whitebeard's band of pirates (and Ace's subordinate) until he quit and killed several of his crewmates, heading out on his own and forming his own crew. Blackbeard is currently trying to become one of the Shichibukai, and is searching for high bounty heads to defeat in order to make a name for himself.

Contents 1 Part in the Story 2 Mirror Image 3 Pirate Flag/Ship 4 Crew Information 4.1 Blackbeard 4.2 Jesus Burgess 4.3 Van Auger 4.4 Doc Q 4.5 Lafitte 5 Crew Strength 6 Other Information 7 References 8 See also

[edit] Part in the Story

The first time the crew is mentioned is by Dalton. They are said to have ransacked the kingdom of Drum, and upon seeing their immense power, king Wapol, fled without even fighting back. In Alabasta, when the Straw Hats meet up with Portgas D. Ace, it is revealed that Ace is hunting him down for what he did to his crewmates.

The crew marks its first visual appearance in Jaya, where they are playing "games" of fate, such as handing out explosive apples to shooting birds to see which ones die quickly. When Luffy meets Blackbeard himself in a bar, they at first seem to have the exact opposite opinions. While Luffy hates the bar's pie, Blackbeard loves it, and while Luffy loves one of the bar's drinks, Blackbeard hates it, which leads to them challenging each other to a fight, but they decide not to go through with it when Nami points out that they are fighting for no reason. 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 the notion of the "New Age", states that people will never stop dreaming. Because of this, it is not yet known whether Blackbeard is truly evil or just misguided. When Blackbeard finds out about Luffy's high bounty, he and his crew try to capture him, but the Straw Hats are launched into the sky by Knock-Up Stream before they can make an attempt. ^[1]

Recently the entire Blackbeard crew, including Laffite, have finally encountered Ace. Ace defeats them easily, but Teach reveals his devil fruit.

According to Van Auger, they are also not too far from Enies Lobby. It is still unknown at this time if they will still continue to pursue Luffy, though it's quite possible considering Blackbeard's hidden agenda that Shanks and Whitebeard discussed. Currently, Blackbeard is attempting to become, or is, more powerful than even Whitebeard.

[edit] Mirror Image

It has been suggested that supposedly due to the fact that certain parallels can be drawn between The Strawhat Pirates and The Blackbeard Pirates that the Blackbeard Pirates might actually be a "evil" version of The Strawhat Pirates. This has yet to be confirmed or denied.

[edit] Pirate Flag/Ship

Blackbeard's flag is that of three skulls--one looking left, one looking forward, and one looking right. It may be inspired by Christopher Condent's flag.

The crew's ship is a giant raft with no extras except a number of cannons in the center of the logs.

[edit] Crew Information

[edit] Blackbeard

Captain

See Blackbeard for more.

[edit] Jesus Burgess

Helmsman

• Seiyuu:
• Voice Actor (4Kids Entertainment):

Burgess (ジーザス･バージェス, Jīzasu Bājesu), nicknamed "The Champion", claims himself a champion because he stands on top of buildings and challenges random people to fights. He appears to be based off of Mexican wrestlers, as both his name and face mask are Spanish in origin. He is extremely strong, and fought Ace by throwing a building on him. He has also shown to be quite level-minded and serious, as he berated Blackbeard for his easy-going attitude after the crew's failure to capture Luffy.

His name is perhaps based on that of real life pirate, Samuel Burgess. In the English version of One Piece: Pirates' Carnival, he has been named G. Zass Burgess. He is also akin to the strongman Albrecht from the 1988 film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, as Burgess was able to pick up a building without much diffuculty, while Albrecht was able to lift all the treasure within the rand Turk's treasury as well as hurl three ships into an army miles away.

[edit] Van Auger

Sniper

• Seiyuu:
• Voice Actor (4Kids Entertainment):

Auger (ヴァン･オーガー, Van Ōgā), nicknamed "The Supersonic", is first seen in the Jaya arc shooting down seagulls from a distance so far that the Straw Hat Pirates, who were watching, couldn't even see the island he was on. When fighting Ace, he moved and shot extremely fast. Van Auger appears calm and analytic even during battle. Auger comes from Auge, the German word for eye, and can also derive from the real life pirate, John Auger.

In the English version of One Piece: Pirates' Carnival, Van Auger has been named Van Ogre. He is similar to the gunman Adolphus from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, given the incredible distance he was able to shoot the flock of seagulls from.

[edit] Doc Q

Doctor

• Seiyuu:
• Voice Actor (4Kids Entertainment):

Doc Q (ドクQ Doku Kyū) is the crew's doctor, though ironically, he has a weak body and needs his horse, Stronger (who is just as sick) to get around. His nickname is 'Shinigami' which literally means God of Death. Most fans however refer to him as the 'Grim Reaper'. He meets Luffy, Zoro, and Nami during the Jaya arc, while in Mock Town. After the Straw Hats help him get back on his horse, he offers Luffy an apple from the basket he is carrying. Unbeknownst to Luffy, Doc Q had been offering explosive apples to other pirates in Mock Town, who would then explode once they ate it. Luckily for Luffy, he picks a dud, and Doc Q tells him he is very lucky before riding off. Strangely, he is seen rowing on Blackbeard's ship, even though his body is supposedly sick and weak. Also, in the manga, both him and Stronger are seen swiftly running away from Blackbeard's and Ace's climatic fight, with the rest of Blackbeard's crew. While he didn't fight Ace, Doc Q (and Stronger) easily shrugged off one of Ace's attacks.

[edit] Lafitte

• Seiyuu:
• Voice Actor (4Kids Entertainment):

Lafitte (ラフィット, Rafitto) first appeared when he joined, unannounced and uninvited, at the meeting of the Shichibukai and the Marines to determine the replacement for Sir Crocodile in order to recommend his captain. He used to be a policeman in West Blue, but he became a pirate after being exiled from the police force and West Blue for being excessively violent and cruel. He is incredibly pale and sickly looking, and is usually tap-dancing, even when walking or running. Despite these impediments Lafitte is shown to be very stealthy and agile, as not even "Hawkeye" Mihawk noticed him before he spoke up. His name may have been inspired by Jean Lafitte, a famous real-life pirate.

In the English version of the PS2 and Gamecube game, One Piece Pirates' Carnival, Lafitte is named Raffit. He is possibly a reference to the inhumanly fast Berthold from the 1988 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, as he was able to get to the Marine Headquarters without the crew and back to Barano Island in what may have been a short time. He may also be a reference to Alex from A Clockwork Orange, given his style of dress and stated "ultra-violent" habits.

[edit] Crew Strength

Blackbeard pirates are much stronger than normal pirates depicted so far in the story. Van Auger shot a flock of seagulls from a distance so far the Straw Hats couldn't even see the island he was on. Jesus Burgess is a wrestling champion and won every fight he was in in Mock Town. Laffite was able to sneak into the World Government headquarters of Mariejoa during a meeting between several high-ranking Navy officials and three Shichibukai members completely undetected until he spoke up, a feat made even greater by his wearing tap shoes. The crew captain, Blackbeard, has shown that he is capable of fighting Red-Haired Shanks (who is himself an equal to both Whitebeard and Mihawk, two of the world's strongest men) and living to tell of it (it was Teach who gave Shanks the scars on his left eye). He also acquired the power of the Yami Yami Fruit, and it has proven to be an uniquely powerful fruit. Lastly, their attack on Drum Island was overwhelming to the point that it forced its king Wapol to flee the country entirely.

[edit] Other Information

They believe heavily in fate and luck, using often cruel measures to see how destiny plays out. One example is Van Auger, who shot a group of seagulls just to see the ones destined to die slow and painful deaths. Another example is demonstrated by Jesus Burgess, who challenges random people to a fight to see who wins. Doc Q also handed out apples in Mock Town to see who was unlucky enough to get ones that exploded after one bite and who did not. Even when they chase after Luffy to the Knock-Up Stream, his escape was put down to fate.^[2]

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.

All members of the crew appear to be massive humans, not unlike Aokiji or Whitebeard. Initially Lafitte was thought to be roughly the size of a normal human male but his most recent appearance revealed him to be nearly as tall as Teach. In addition, all of the crewmembers (save for Doc Q) are named after real life pirates.

[edit] References

1. ^ One Piece Manga - Vol.25 - Chapter 236. The Blackbeard pirates chase after Luffy
2. ^ One Piece Manga - Vol.26 - Chapter 237. Luffy escapes from Blackbeard

[edit] See also

• Whitebeard
• Portgas D. Ace
• Wapol
• Shichibukai
• Jaya Arc