seven warlords
The Seven Warlords of the Sea are a group of up to seven powerful pirates sanctioned by the World Government. They hand over a fraction of their loot to the Government. Other pirates consider the Warlords to be "government dogs". For their allegiance, the World Government pardons these pirates for their crimes and removes the bounties from their heads. The Seven Warlords are loosely based on the privateers of Europe, government endorsed pirates considered heroes in their homeland and pillagers in others. Initially, the group's members are Dracule Mihawk, Crocodile, Gecko Moriah, Jimbei, Boa Hancock, Donquixote Doflamingo, and Bartholomew Kuma. During the course of the story, Crocodile is replaced by Marshall D. Teach, who leaves the group again shortly thereafter, along with Jimbei and Moriah. Two of the open spots are eventually filled by Trafalgar Law and Buggy the Clown.
Dracule "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the strongest swordsman in the world. He is a pale skinned man who travels in a small boat shaped like a coffin. His primary weapon resembles a zweihänder, but with a black, curved, single-edged blade.
Marshall D. Teach, later known as Blackbeard, is the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. As a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, he kills one of his crew mates, Thatch, to get hold of the Devil Fruit he has sought for several decades, the Dark-Dark Fruit. It grants him the ability to create and control gravity fields, which are represented as flowing darkness, as well as the ability to disable the Devil Fruit powers of others, as long as he is touching the person. For betraying Whitebeard's crew and the murder of his crewmate, he is pursued by Ace who eventually confronts him. After defeating Ace and turning him in to the World Government, he is appointed the replacement for Crocodile as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a position he promptly abuses to expand his crew with prisoners from Impel Down and resigns once he's finished. After killing Whitebeard with the help of his crew, Blackbeard somehow adds his former captain's Devil Fruit ability to his own and manages to take Whitebeard's place as one of the Four Emperors.
"Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law is a doctor and the captain of the Heart Pirates. Having eaten the Op-Op Fruit, Law became a modification man where he can, within a spherical area around himself, cut and teleport objects as well as perform body swaps like how he replaced the legs of those on Caesar Clown's side with animal parts. Originally an underling of Joker, Law makes a name for himself as a pirate and, following the Battle of Marineford, joins the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Buggy the Clown is a pirate and captain of the Buggy Pirates. Years before the series' present, while a member of the "Roger Pirates", he brings a Devil Fruit and a treasure map into his possession. Buggy intends to sell the fruit and to search for the treasure, but Shanks accidentally causes him to swallow the fruit and drop the map into the sea. Buggy holds a resentment against Shanks ever since. The fruit he swallowed was a Paramecia type Chop-Chop Fruit. Having eaten it, it allows him to separate his body into parts and to control these parts independently of each other as long as they remain in his proximity; and, as long as at least one of his feet is on the ground, he can levitate the other parts. This ability also makes him immune to cutting attacks; any such attack will only separate him into parts. Later in the series, he is captured and put into Impel Down. He liberates many prisoners and is considered one of the leaders of the Impel Down breakout. Two years after the Paramount War, he is inducted as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea after creating and commandeering over the Pirate Dispatch Organization most likely composed of the inmates he "rescued". He is now known as the "Thousand Piece Clown."
Boa Hancock is a member of the all-female Kuja Tribe from the island of Amazon Lily. Sold to the Celestial Dragons during her childhood, she and her two sisters are fed Devil Fruits and branded as slaves. Eventually freed by Fisher Tiger, the three return to their people, where Hancock becomes ruler and is referred to by her subjects as "Snake Princess". Leading the Kuja Pirates, Hancock quickly gains infamy as the "Pirate Empress" and is offered membership to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Despite her resentment towards the World Government for her past enslavement, which she keeps a secret even from her kinswomen, Hancock accepts the position to protect her people, but when called upon to participate in the Government's war against the Whitebeard Pirates, she initially refuses and only reconsiders after falling in love with Luffy, who enlists her help to infiltrate Impel Down. She is capable of utilizing Haki, including the Color of the Supreme King, and the ability of the Love-Love Fruit allows her to turn anyone charmed by her into stone.
Donquixote Doflamingo is the captain of the Donquixote Pirates, the king of the island Dressrosa, and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The String-String Fruit grants him the ability to control others using movements with his fingers similar to that of a puppeteer. He believes that the "Great Pirate Era" is nearing its end and a new age is about to begin. He is a broker and goes under the alias of "Joker". He owns a large auction house at the Sabaody Archipelago, where humans and other species are sold as slaves.
Bartholomew Kuma "The Tyrant" is one of The Seven Warlords of the Sea. He has a reputation of being the only Warlord truly obedient to the World Government, when in fact he is an officer in the Revolutionary Army.The Paramecia type Paw-Paw Fruit grants him the ability to repel anything he touches with his palms, including physical objects such as people or air, as well as abstract things such as pain and fatigue. He can use this ability to transport himself or others long distances. Kuma is the model for the Pacifista, a class of experimental cyborgs created by Dr. Vegapunk. Their bodies are made of a substance harder than steel and from their mouths they can shoot blasts so powerful that they melt metal. The other Pacifista look just like Kuma, sharing his abnormally large stature, but lack the Paw-Paw Fruit's ability. Instead, they poses the ability to shoot laser beams from the palms of their hands and mouths, possibly modeled after Kizaru's own powers. Being the comrade of Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father, he saves the Straw Hats by separating them, and protects their ship until their return two years later.