If Big Mom’s territory alone in terms of size and military-power is a blueprint we can use to understand the threat of the Emperors, how many people is she commandeering?
- 34 Islands/Countries in her Kingdom alone – That’s 34 Ministers.
- These ministers have their own crews too – We don’t know how many in each crew.
- Outside of ministers, how many allies does she have?
- She had 10k+ soldiers at her disposal.
- Then you have to consider the range of DF powers on disposal which can heavily changed the dynamics of a battle; just 1 DF alone depending on its capabilities can change everything.
We don’t know how many soldiers she has in total, but we can assume a hell of a lot besides this; if this is a format that is consistent with all Emperors, then the implications become quite clear.
It’s stated that the World Government (WG) requires the 3 Admirals + Shichibukai to simply take on the Emperors; some of us read this and are rather dumbfounded because we tend to reduce it to simplistic ratio – 1 Admiral: 1 Emperor. While on paper this may be true, we need to take into consideration other details that might factor into this in order to come to a better understanding and a reasonable conclusion.
Should we reduce the statement regarding how the WG deal with the Emperors as a 1:1 ratio, then we should test out the hypothesis. Fujitora is an Admiral and let’s match him up with Big Mom, how many people does he have under him?
- Do they have as many subordinates as one Emperor? Even Fujitora didn’t have an entourage of this calibre or number as see in Dressrosa.
Individually, Emperors & Admirals are equal, but in terms of man power? It’s heavily implied that the Admirals are lacking in that department.
It took the entirety of the Marines with 100,000 soldiers just to take on 1 Emperor (Whitebeard Pirate Fleet + Allies).
I doubt Fujitora had 30-40,000 navy soldiers fighting by his side.
This establishes something, it’s not as simple as just Admiral vs. Emperor; the dynamic is far more complex. The more intimidating thing is the fact that this is not to take on all 4 Emperors, but 1 of the 4. The saving grace lies in the fact the Emperors hate each other and therefore would never ally, thus the reason they’d never band together to take on the World Government.
With this, we can somewhat appreciate why the WG rely on the Shichibukai, they need that extra boost of power and influence in the event an Emperor challenges them. To gain an idea of how terrified they are of the Emperors, we need to look into the Shichibukai and how they’re treated.
The Shichibukai
The significance of the Shichibukai is somewhat misunderstood or just not given it’s due. You compare the Shichibukai to ‘mere‘ Pirates and in reality, they’re far more important than that.
The Shichibukai are Pirates officially recruited by the WG to take on the Yonko and deter Piracy.
Due to their importance, the WG would go to any length to maintain this system.
- Don’t you find it odd that whenever a Shichibukai has been exposed, they recruit another Pirate as if they didn’t learn that Pirates are corrupt and simply cannot be trusted?
Given the importance the WG have accredited to the Shichibukai, they purposely turn a blind eye to their misdeeds and let them do as they please. When the WG found out that Caesar, a wanted criminal who was responsible for the atrocity at Punk Hazard, what do the WG say? Nothing, they turned a blind eye like it doesn’t matter because he was with Joker, a Shichibukai.
Time and time again, even after:
- Crocodile was exposed.
- Blackbeard turned on them.
What do the Gorosei do? They are somewhat foolishly looking to fill positions again.
Go back to what Garp says, he says they’re the counter to the Yonko. The WG are willing to look past anything they do as long as they hve the power to take on the Yonko. The Gorosei here are actually waiting to see who will show themselves to be formidable and offer a position to be a Shichibukai.
After Moriah was defeated by Luffy which the WG kept a secret as we see here through dialogue between Garp & Sengoku, the higher-ups still decided to have Joker eliminate Moriah so they could make the excuse he died during Marineford.
They needed him killed because he looked weak for being defeated and most likely to make sure they could dismiss rumours of his defeat.
While it’s odd that they are eliminating a Shichibukai whose misdeeds were not exposed, they aim to replace him, it shows how dedicated they are to this alliance.
- Note that Luffy’s bounty was 300m at Enies Lobby, yet, after defeating Moriah, no increase in bounty. Luffy’s bounty was increased 2 days after Joker was defeated. If it takes 2 days to increase a bounty, why is Luffy’s bounty still 300m?
Blind Eye
The Marines were trying to take down the Shichibukai whom the recruited… that defeats the purpose of recruiting them in the first place. The Navy cannot interfere with Shichibukai unless their illegal actives are publicised, in which case, the Navy will throw said Shichibukai under the bus and take credit as their image is paramount.
Crocodile
During Alabasta, Smoker couldn’t go against Crocodile because he was a Shichibukai. The best he could do was get reinforcement under the pretence of actually aiming to take down the SHs, thus the reason his subordinate asks why the need for such back up to catch insignificant Pirates?
Whilst this fiasco transpired, Smoker’s plan was to try to get evidence of Crocodile’s misdeeds and therefore expose Crocodile. Luckily, the SHs were able to do so and this was the only reason Crocodile was arrested.
Going back to Smoker’s pretence to capture the SHs, Hina’s fleet was summoned. Hina however understands that Smoker was being smart and his real intention wasn’t to capture the SHs, but Crocodile.
Smoker took credit under orders from the Navy, so Luffy’s bounty increase after taking down Crocodile was never truly reflected. He got a 30m bounty increase for being involved in Alabasta whom Hina came to capture. Joker understanding this knew full well that this was a false flag and that someone else was responsible for this. He knows the Shichibukai are far too important in the eyes of the WG for them to have taken such action.
Joker
Dressrosa was a similar case, albeit more complex. The Navy were unable to do anything to Joker because he was protected as a Shichibukai. They couldn’t investigate. It is not until the SHs had exposed Joker’s activities and crimes that they could rid him of his status.
Balance of the 3 Powers
Even when Fujitora and Joker clashed, we’re reminded again of the balance. The WG would do anything to protect that. End of the Dressrosa arc, we see Fujitora tell Akainu why he broadcasted the Navy’s negligence, and it’s because he didn’t want a repeat of Alabasta where the Navy get credit for something they didn’t do and fool the world, plus… he wants to take out the Shichibukai system.
It’s well known that the Navy would fabricate things given the opportunity.
Had Crocodile and Joker not been exposed, they’d still be Shichibukai and the WG would ignore everything they did as long as they could use them when the tiime was necessary. That is the importance of the Shichibukai.
If we look at difference in bounty given between Joker and Crocodile, there’s a reason Luffy and co. only got a 30m bounty increase and that’s because the WG hid the fact they were responsible while in Dressrosa, it was well known, therefore, Luffy was given a 100m bounty increase. Not so much for defeating Joker, but more so for shaming the Shichibukai system.
The Shichibukai system is so important and they’re so invested in it, the crime isn’t for defeating Pirates, the real crime is for putting a blemish on their reputation and costing them the confidence & trust of peoples and allies.
The Marines will not touch the Shichibukai unless forced to by external intervention and public knowledge. Moriah’s defeat unknown. If the WG give bounties simply for defeating strong opponents, Luffy’s bounty at Sabaody would really have been updated and raised to 400m potentially. No one knew of this, not even Shakki who has ears in many places. The latest of crimes she could recall regarding the SHs was Enies Lobby.
Reverie
With the likes of Admiral Fujitora who intends to sully the image of the Shichibukai system and the likes of King Riku, Elizabello and Cobra who have been direct victims of the Shichibukai, can the WG really maintain the Shichibuaki system or defend it anymore?
Conclusion
Given the World Government’s leniency and willingness and dilligence in upholding this system, it indicates 1 thing, they are scared of the unknown, they simply have no clue how things will play out without their aid, and in my opinion it shows how fearful and insecure they are of the Emperor’s strength.
It ultimately leaves us with a question, and that is do the WG really need to depend on the Shichibukai? What are your opinions.
Hope this was worth the read, thanks.
*Theory by HPsyche
