[Curse his weakness for kids. He actually kind of appreciates how brilliant she is, and completely unabashed about asking all these questions. This is why kids are awesome. All right, where to begin?]
I hope you like history, because this requires a bit.
Portgas is Ace, yes. Full name Fire-Fist Portgas D. Ace. I don't call him Ace. [Obviously.] His father was Whitebeard, the pirate emperor and strongest man in the world. His little brother is Straw Hat Luffy, and his big brother is Marco the Phoenix. They also have one other brother here, but he's not someone with a bounty.
The Pirate King didn't rule over anything, but he was called that because he was, in a sense, the "ultimate pirate." He had everything a pirate seeks; freedom, money, fame, power or strength. One Piece was the treasure he left behind. At his execution he told everyone to search for it if they wanted to take his place. So the next person to find One Piece, will become the Pirate King. As such, the World Government and all the marines are supposed to do stop that. I know that of every in the world, Straw Hat has the best shot of it, so I'm going to catch him and stop him first.
The islands the pirate emperors rule over are in the New World, which is the second half of the Grand Line. The Pirate King, Gold Roger, became so famous because was the first person to ever make it all the way to the end of the New Word, the second half of the Grand Line and back. After Roger's death, millions of pirates started flooding the Grand Line trying to get to Raftel where they believe One Piece must be located, and that is what gave rise to the pirate emperors. They're four impossibly strong pirates who took up where the marines and world government were at their weakest and carved a special niche into the world's political power for themselves. Shanks, the captain of the Akagami pirates, is actually one of the four pirate emperors. Kaidou and Big Mam are the other two.
Crocodile was defeated in the New World while trying to become Pirate King, probably by Whitebeard as he holds a huge grudge against him. The shichibukai are pirates that the World Government has removed the bounty from in exchange for being able to call on them in times of need to fight other pirates. Likewise, they are allowed to continue piracy and generally "illegal" things but only to other pirates. Crocodile tried to take over Princess Vivi's Kingdom using Nico Robin's help, and a secret organization he created called "Baroque Works." I ran afoul of a few of the members while chasing Straw Hat from Loguetown where I was based.
In Alabasta, Crocodile laid a trap for Straw hat and that's where we got caught. It's how I "met" Princess Vivi, though we never spoke one-on-one until Luceti. If you know her best, she could probably explain that situation better than me. I'm still unclear how Nico Robin came to be one of Straw Hat's crew members, but he has a knack for that, seeing as Crocodile himself, whom Straw Hat defeated in order to save Alabasta, then showed up at Marineford to fight the marines on Whitebeard's side. Even though Crocodile holds a grudge on Whitebeard, and has no reason to be an ally of Straw Hat's either. Seeing as he tried to kill im. More than once.
I don't know the Straw Hat's side of what happened in Enies Lobby, and I wasn't there personally. Long story short, Nico Robin was taken by the World Government for her own crimes of privacy and some things from before she even met Crocodile, but Straw Hat and his crew declared war on the World Government to get her back. And the entirety of Enies Lobby, an island where it's always sunny and judgement is based, was destroyed in the process. Though, I've heard from people there that this was more due to something incredibly stupid than Straw Hat individually running a rampage on the island.
This was a feat that was nearly repeated when Straw Hat showed up in the war on Marineford between Whitebeard and the marines. As previously mentioned, he had Crocodile on his side, though not the rest of the Straw Hat crew.
In the most basic of terms, pirates are criminals on the sea. What crimes they break and how they do it is different. However, they all have to have a pirate flag. Crocodile, for instance, had his secret organization; Baroque Works, and while they were certainly international criminals, they can't really be called pirates, though they do have their own flag and emblem. This is because despite being international, they started off as bounty hunters catching pirates in order to raise money to try to fund a rebellion in Alabasta. Most pirates are not at war with any one particular country, just as Dragon's Rebellion are not considered pirates, despite having declared war on the World Government as well.
Pirates generally do not seek specific goals like overthrowing a crowned royal, but instead, they have a general unwillingness to abide by any laws. Someone who declares themselves a pirate is laying down the stance that they would rather be an outlaw and hunted for their bounty, than be someone who will accept the laws and authorities of the various different governments. Pirates are a really big problem in my world. Most of them are murderers and thieves, and Straw Hat's crew is not the norm. Most of them fall closer on the spectrum to Crocodile, truth be told. There are some pirates who focus their attentions on other pirates, but then there are also pirates who specifically hunt and kill marines in order to make their bounty higher. For the reputation.
Trafalgar Law of the Heart Pirates is known as the Death Surgeon. He helped rescue Straw Hat at Marineford, and was last seen -- the last time I was in my world -- on an island no one's supposed to be on. [... Including Smoker, but justice calls. Aka he was chasing pirates there. You know. Exactly like the situation with Crocodile. Right down to getting trapped in a cell. Yeah sure "he learned a lot." Uh-huh.] He's incredibly dangerous and well-known for his violence, thus the nickname. [Oh yeah, and he steals hearts. Nah, Smoker won't mention that. Law's not updated, and frankly Smoker thinks it might just give him ideas.]
We also have Hawk-Eyes Mihawk of the shichibukai here. He's the world's strongest swordsman and fought the Whitebeard pirates at Marineford, but refused to fight Shanks when the Akagami pirates arrived to help the Whitebeards. He's best known as completely neutral because of that, seeing as he's not a fan of most of the pirates, nor is he on the marines' side completely either. Neutral. Most of the shichibukai have a record of turning on marines however. Boa Hancock fought me at Marineford to protect Straw Hat, Jinbei's always been more on Whitebeard's side than not so he refused to fight the Whitebeard pirates at Marineford when ordered. Crocodile was just using his shichibukai position to try to take over Alabasta and then the world, and Blackbeard was hired to replace Crocodile and just used his position to break into Impel Down and break out even worse criminals than the ones Straw Hat broke out. Then he showed up at Marineford to fight... everyone, and took out giant chunks of the island. Garp the Fist, and Sengoku the Buddha -- the two strongest marines in the world at the time, had try to hold him back. And he only stopped because, like Mihawk, he didn't wish to face Shanks either.
Suffice to say, I don't trust any of the shichibukai. They're pirates. They started off pirates and they haven't changed from that. They exist to keep the pirate emperors in check, in case a situation like Marineford ever happened, but more headaches have been caused than stopped by it.
[You know what? The only good thing about just straight out explaining all that? He doubts most of the pirates will have the patience to listen through it. But yeah, Smoker knows things. Lots of things. So many things. He is like the Harriet the Spy of One Piece. That said, if you ask him intelligent questions, you will get answers. Long ones when it all adds up. Also someone should admire how skilled he was at avoiding specifically mentioning that Ace was the catalyst for Marineford. Skills.Even if it took extra paragraphs to do it.]
voice; Nooooope still have to apologize for this. One Piece Politics 101 as viewed by Smoker: ahoy!
I hope you like history, because this requires a bit.
Portgas is Ace, yes. Full name Fire-Fist Portgas D. Ace. I don't call him Ace. [Obviously.] His father was Whitebeard, the pirate emperor and strongest man in the world. His little brother is Straw Hat Luffy, and his big brother is Marco the Phoenix. They also have one other brother here, but he's not someone with a bounty.
The Pirate King didn't rule over anything, but he was called that because he was, in a sense, the "ultimate pirate." He had everything a pirate seeks; freedom, money, fame, power or strength. One Piece was the treasure he left behind. At his execution he told everyone to search for it if they wanted to take his place. So the next person to find One Piece, will become the Pirate King. As such, the World Government and all the marines are supposed to do stop that. I know that of every in the world, Straw Hat has the best shot of it, so I'm going to catch him and stop him first.
The islands the pirate emperors rule over are in the New World, which is the second half of the Grand Line. The Pirate King, Gold Roger, became so famous because was the first person to ever make it all the way to the end of the New Word, the second half of the Grand Line and back. After Roger's death, millions of pirates started flooding the Grand Line trying to get to Raftel where they believe One Piece must be located, and that is what gave rise to the pirate emperors. They're four impossibly strong pirates who took up where the marines and world government were at their weakest and carved a special niche into the world's political power for themselves. Shanks, the captain of the Akagami pirates, is actually one of the four pirate emperors. Kaidou and Big Mam are the other two.
Crocodile was defeated in the New World while trying to become Pirate King, probably by Whitebeard as he holds a huge grudge against him. The shichibukai are pirates that the World Government has removed the bounty from in exchange for being able to call on them in times of need to fight other pirates. Likewise, they are allowed to continue piracy and generally "illegal" things but only to other pirates. Crocodile tried to take over Princess Vivi's Kingdom using Nico Robin's help, and a secret organization he created called "Baroque Works." I ran afoul of a few of the members while chasing Straw Hat from Loguetown where I was based.
In Alabasta, Crocodile laid a trap for Straw hat and that's where we got caught. It's how I "met" Princess Vivi, though we never spoke one-on-one until Luceti. If you know her best, she could probably explain that situation better than me. I'm still unclear how Nico Robin came to be one of Straw Hat's crew members, but he has a knack for that, seeing as Crocodile himself, whom Straw Hat defeated in order to save Alabasta, then showed up at Marineford to fight the marines on Whitebeard's side. Even though Crocodile holds a grudge on Whitebeard, and has no reason to be an ally of Straw Hat's either. Seeing as he tried to kill im. More than once.
I don't know the Straw Hat's side of what happened in Enies Lobby, and I wasn't there personally. Long story short, Nico Robin was taken by the World Government for her own crimes of privacy and some things from before she even met Crocodile, but Straw Hat and his crew declared war on the World Government to get her back. And the entirety of Enies Lobby, an island where it's always sunny and judgement is based, was destroyed in the process. Though, I've heard from people there that this was more due to something incredibly stupid than Straw Hat individually running a rampage on the island.
This was a feat that was nearly repeated when Straw Hat showed up in the war on Marineford between Whitebeard and the marines. As previously mentioned, he had Crocodile on his side, though not the rest of the Straw Hat crew.
In the most basic of terms, pirates are criminals on the sea. What crimes they break and how they do it is different. However, they all have to have a pirate flag. Crocodile, for instance, had his secret organization; Baroque Works, and while they were certainly international criminals, they can't really be called pirates, though they do have their own flag and emblem. This is because despite being international, they started off as bounty hunters catching pirates in order to raise money to try to fund a rebellion in Alabasta. Most pirates are not at war with any one particular country, just as Dragon's Rebellion are not considered pirates, despite having declared war on the World Government as well.
Pirates generally do not seek specific goals like overthrowing a crowned royal, but instead, they have a general unwillingness to abide by any laws. Someone who declares themselves a pirate is laying down the stance that they would rather be an outlaw and hunted for their bounty, than be someone who will accept the laws and authorities of the various different governments. Pirates are a really big problem in my world. Most of them are murderers and thieves, and Straw Hat's crew is not the norm. Most of them fall closer on the spectrum to Crocodile, truth be told. There are some pirates who focus their attentions on other pirates, but then there are also pirates who specifically hunt and kill marines in order to make their bounty higher. For the reputation.
Trafalgar Law of the Heart Pirates is known as the Death Surgeon. He helped rescue Straw Hat at Marineford, and was last seen -- the last time I was in my world -- on an island no one's supposed to be on. [... Including Smoker, but justice calls.
Aka he was chasing pirates there. You know. Exactly like the situation with Crocodile. Right down to getting trapped in a cell. Yeah sure "he learned a lot." Uh-huh.] He's incredibly dangerous and well-known for his violence, thus the nickname. [Oh yeah, and he steals hearts. Nah, Smoker won't mention that. Law's not updated, and frankly Smoker thinks it might just give him ideas.]We also have Hawk-Eyes Mihawk of the shichibukai here. He's the world's strongest swordsman and fought the Whitebeard pirates at Marineford, but refused to fight Shanks when the Akagami pirates arrived to help the Whitebeards. He's best known as completely neutral because of that, seeing as he's not a fan of most of the pirates, nor is he on the marines' side completely either. Neutral. Most of the shichibukai have a record of turning on marines however. Boa Hancock fought me at Marineford to protect Straw Hat, Jinbei's always been more on Whitebeard's side than not so he refused to fight the Whitebeard pirates at Marineford when ordered. Crocodile was just using his shichibukai position to try to take over Alabasta and then the world, and Blackbeard was hired to replace Crocodile and just used his position to break into Impel Down and break out even worse criminals than the ones Straw Hat broke out. Then he showed up at Marineford to fight... everyone, and took out giant chunks of the island. Garp the Fist, and Sengoku the Buddha -- the two strongest marines in the world at the time, had try to hold him back. And he only stopped because, like Mihawk, he didn't wish to face Shanks either.
Suffice to say, I don't trust any of the shichibukai. They're pirates. They started off pirates and they haven't changed from that. They exist to keep the pirate emperors in check, in case a situation like Marineford ever happened, but more headaches have been caused than stopped by it.
[You know what? The only good thing about just straight out explaining all that? He doubts most of the pirates will have the patience to listen through it. But yeah, Smoker knows things. Lots of things. So many things. He is like the Harriet the Spy of One Piece. That said, if you ask him intelligent questions, you will get answers. Long ones when it all adds up. Also someone should admire how skilled he was at avoiding specifically mentioning that Ace was the catalyst for Marineford. Skills.
Even if it took extra paragraphs to do it.]