RIP Frank Strom. Not only did he give us Monkey Khan, The Iron Queen and King, and many more from the Dragon Kingdom, but he created the groundwork for the expansion of lore and world building of the regions outside those our main characters primarily reside in. Even with only the small handful of issues he wrote for, he helped shape the identity of what Archie Sonic was. The series wouldn't be the same without you Frank, so thank you for everything.
The danger of piracy has become clear to even the Five Elder Stars, leaders of the World Government. So following the execution of the Pirate King, Kintobor Julian, an act was put in place known as the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The idea was simple. The Government would freeze a reputable pirate captain and their crew’s bounties, while giving them the power to keep their territories and continue their operations. However, if they want to keep these powers, these pirates must take down other pirates and give the Government a cut of their profits, as well as helping the Government in the case of a war. Neither the Marines nor the public, nor do even pirates hold a particularly glowing review of the Warlords. The pirates call them ‘government dogs’, the public consider them tools of war and the Marines think of them as a liability. Even so, they are held up as one of the Three Great Powers of the world, along with the Marines and the Four Emperors.
‘Wandering Warrior’ Segata Sanshiro:
The world’s greatest martial artist who travels the world, searching for a worthy opponent to sate his boredom and succeed him. He was notorious for his ferocious nature back when he was young, hunting Marines for the satisfaction of an ultimate battle. He has no known Devil Fruit powers, merely a mastery of all known martial arts.
Former Bounty: 1,257,000,000
‘Master of Chaos’ Zavok:
A powerful rookie who traveled to the New World, before being defeated by one of the Four Emperors, now he sits and plots in the nation known as Knothole. He leads the Deadly Six of the Zeti Pirates, and uses a powerful Devil Fruit known as the Huge Huge Fruit allowing him to increase his size.
Former Bounty: 76,000,000
‘Black’ Dadevil Doom:
A former scientist for the World Government said to be on the level of the genius Robotnik Gerald, after the mysterious disappearance of Gerald’s granddaughter, Maria, he started a pirate group that ravaged the New World known as the Black Arms Pirates. Doom’s said to have modified his Lineage Factor, giving him multiple powers as well as having a Devil Fruit known as the Fuse Fuse Fruit, allowing him to fuse both himself and other people with other organic beings.
Former Bounty: 351,115,000
‘Star Soldier’ Gemerl:
A secret member of the Freedom Fighters, he was sent in as a mole for unknown reasons. He used to be notorious for his bloodthirsty nature and sadistic tendencies, but seems to have mellowed out in recent years. His primary fighting ability comes from his cyborg body, him being the prototype of the Emerl Project, named after him. The Emerl Project’s technology enables him to imitate any fighting style to the best of his ability, as well as mimicking the Robotnik family’s genetic research.
Former Bounty: 273,000,000
‘Iron Queen’ Ferrum Regina and ‘Iron King’ Jun Kun:
As these two are co-captains, they both serve as one Warlord. These two are the rulers of the traveling technological wonder nation known as the Iron Dominion, made using Regina’s Devil Fruit power, the Steel Steel Fruit, allowing her to create and manipulate any metal within her range, while Jun Kun serves as it’s chief enforcer using the power of the mythical Ox Ox Fruit: Model Minotaur, giving him incredible power and durability. Despite their incredible power, they both lost in their attempts in conquering the New World, being utterly devastated by the Emperor, Naugus.
Former Bounties:
Regina: 320,700,000
Jun Kun: 320,200,000
‘Setting Dawn’ Abyss:
A powerful squid fishwoman, she’s been a popular advocate for fishman supremacy. However, this is all just front. Abyss doesn’t care at all for her own race, let alone any lofty ideals like the subjugation of humankind, all she wants is treasure and cash. She fights using her species' natural electricity, and her own form of Fishman Judo.
Former Bounty: 283,000,000
‘Destruction Duo’ Usagi Cream and Cheese:
Cream is a young girl whose mother, Vanilla, was a former member of the terrifying and infamous Lyric Pirates. Her pet rabbit, Cheese, ate the Arms Arms Fruit one day, a fruit that allows the user to transform into any weapon. Her pet, not understanding the incredible amount of power given to it, went on a rampage, almost destroying the forest they lived in. Using her power, the Whisper Whisper Fruit, allowing her to talk to animals, she helped calm down her pet and stop the rampage. However, this rampage brought the attention of the World Government, forcing a deal with Vanilla. Her daughter becomes one of the Warlords, effectively their weapon, and they don’t execute the two of them for being ‘criminals.’ Not wanting her mama to die for no good reason, Cream took the Warlord offer.
Former Bounty: None
If a Warlord were to be defeated by any pirate not officially classified as an Emperor of the Sea, found to be conspiring against the World Government, or in any other way deemed unsuitable to continue their role as Warlord, their title may be revoked, and another pirate shall be scouted to fill their position. While this is a rare occurrence, it seems to be becoming more frequent as more and more powerful rookies begin sailing the seas.
‘Dr. Eggman’ Robotnik Ivo:
After Zavok’s defeat at the hands of rookie pirate Hedgehog D. Sonic and subsequent arrest for his crimes against the kingdom of Knothole, a mysterious man by the name of Sleet suddenly appeared in the Holy Land, as the Fleet Admiral of the Marines and attending Warlords opened discussion on how to move forward. He came in with a simple recommendation. A little known pirate and underworld operator by the name of Eggman. Eggman’s bounty is a mirage formed by his heritage and insiders in the Marines, purposefully underselling him and how powerful he truly is. He holds the power of the Clang Clang Fruit, allowing him to disassemble any machinery he so desires and reassemble it into whatever form he likes, with this ability being the core factor that powers his primary business, his Badniks. Cyberized corpses and slaves, made into robotic soldiers through his fruit’s ability. The Clang Clang Fruit is also the main factor to his shocking longevity, having long since transcended mankind through cybernetics.
Former Bounty: 3,660,000
Nack ‘the Weasel:’
The Paramount War would go down in history as one of the most devastating recent events in world history. The death of the Emperor Nights, and subsequent disbanding of the Nights Pirates, as the far more dastardly Davy D. Fiona and her Destructix Pirates quickly took their place. The defeat of the Marines shook the public’s trust in them, with the newly promoted Fleet Admiral Rosemary taking a far more ruthless approach on how to deal with pirates. And, most relevant to us, two new Warlord spots had been opened up, with Cream’s resignation and the supposed deaths of the Iron Queen and King on the battlefield. And almost immediately as the battle ended, a messenger bat had invited a certain low tier pirate from the South Blue whose standing in the pirate world had skyrocketed to fill that role. While Nack is a decent sharpshooter, and does have the power of the Slow Slow Fruit, allowing him to fire a beam capable of slowing down anyone, he was not chosen for the role due to his actual strength. Instead, he was chosen for his perceived power as a former member of the Kintobor Pirates and the crew he had quickly formed around him through his sheer charisma alone, made up of dozens, if not hundreds of some of the most deadly prisoners freed from Prison Island.
Former Bounty: 15,000,000
Luke Custer ‘the Altered Beast:’
As the Iron Queen and Iron King were dismissed from the Warlords for their weakness, one has to wonder if the World Government overcompensated. Custer is a monster, notorious as the Demon of Foret, a child soldier who slaughtered thousands, not for any ideals such as his country or peace, but simply out of a love for bloodshed and battle, his strength bolstered by his Devil Fruit, the Munch Munch Fruit, which allowed him to gain the capabilities of whatever he consumed, with his personal favorite meals being live animals. He became a crewmate of Kintobor Julian, the Pirate King, purely to test his strength and kill the only man that had ever beaten him, where his notoriety only grew. After his captain was executed, Custer found himself listless, empty, as he decided to go on a rampage and burn the world down in an attempt to sate his ennui. He destroyed countless towns, razed dozens of islands to the ground, until he was finally stopped by a Buster Call, beaten in battle by a rising star in the Marines, Hedgehog D. Jules, and locked away in Prison Island for 22 years, as his fire slowly died out. After a few years, the man was practically a living corpse. Never moving, never speaking, and only barely eating, all he did was sit, waiting. Until Hedgehog D. Sonic kickstarted the worst incident in Prison Island’s history, and ran into the Altered Beast himself, who sensed the same ferocity and fire in the young man as he did his former captain, and he realized that his wait was over. As the World Government scrambled to find new Warlords following the War, a certain higher-up’s synapses connected in just the right way to make the worst decision possible. Later that week, Custer left Prison Island with a demented smile on his face, a complete pardon for his crimes, and full government approval.
Former Bounty: 2,225,000,000
‘Ultimate Lifeform’ Terios Shadow:
While Hedgehog D. Sonic and his crew spent the 2 years after the Paramount War training and growing stronger, their rivals and equals in the newly christened Worst Generation began their own machinations. While the Starline Pirates and the Diamond Cutters took a far safer route, allying themselves with the Four Emperors, and Fiona quickly slaughtered her own path straight to Emperor status in her own right, Sonic’s foremost rival, Shadow, decided to completely sidestep the issue, as he took his own year off of piracy, before suddenly coming back and storming Fishman Island with a specific purpose to kick off his own plan for vengeance. Find and defeat Abyss, which he accomplished, though not without difficulty as it took all three of the Supernovas on his crew, him, Silver, and Rouge, to finish her off. Despite this, the performance was more than satisfactory for the World Government, as they responded to his request for Warlord status with resounding approval. Shadow holds the power of the Tock Tock Fruit, allowing him to control his personal flow of time, though this is in no way where the bulk of his strength comes from, being the masterpiece of the late Robotnik Gerald, having an insanely powerful body due to his Lunarian DNA.
