Blackbeard Pirates

The Blackbeard Pirates (in Japanese: 黒ひげ海賊団, Kurohige Kaizokudan) are an infamous, incredibly powerful crew of pirates and a main antagonist group in One Piece led by Marshall D. Teach aka Blackbeard. It had originally five members, Teach himself, Jesus Burgess, Van Augur, Doc Q, and Laffite. They gained five more members during the Impel Down Arc; one of them being a former jailer named Shiliew and other four being prisoners of Level-6.

After Blackbeard and his crew killed Whitebeard, he became one of the Four Emperors, the crew's numbers and power have grown and expanded into fleets, and are seeking out Devil Fruits for their use. They even taken over Whitebeard's crew's former territories. As a result of all this, the Blackbeard Pirates have become one of the most legendary, notorious, and powerful pirate crews in the world.

Crew Members



 * Marshall D. "Blackbeard" Teach (Captain/Admiral)
 * "Champion" Jesus Burgess (Helmsman and captain of the 1st ship)
 * "The Supersonic" Van Augur (Sniper)
 * "Death God" Doc Q (Doctor)
 * "Demon Sheriff" Laffite (Navigator and captain of the 5th ship)
 * Shiliew "of the Rain" (Captain of the 2nd ship)
 * "Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro
 * "Heavy Drinker" Vasco Shot
 * "Crescent Moon Hunter" Catarina Devon
 * "Colossal Battleship" Sanjuan Wolf

Strength
The crew are one of the most powerful pirate crews in the world. In their first mention, their attack on Drum island was so overwhelming it caused Wapol, the selfish king to flee in a cowardly fashion. They later broke into Impel Down and launched an attack, though the prison was admittedly in crisis so their journey was easier. Their goal was to strengthen their numbers with more crewmates who were some of the most infamous and deadliest prisoners.

The true strength of the crew lies within their fearsome captain "Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach, who was originally an unknown pirate who was responsible for scarring Red Haired Shanks of the Yonko in a duel before eating a devil fruit. He was also defeated two Whitebeard commanders Thatch and Portgas D. Ace. His strength was worthy of being commander on his crew but he turned it down as he lacked the ambition (it was likely to avoid becoming infamous). Blackbeard later ate the Yami Yami no mi, a powerful devil fruit and briefly held the title of Shichibukai before throwing it away after breaking into Impel Down to recruit the inmates above. He fought Whitebeard and with the help of his crew killed him in a cowardly fashion. He somehow steals Whitebeard's Gura Gura no mi powers through an unknown method becoming the first person in history to use two devil fruits.

A year after the Battle of Marineford, the crew fought against the remainder of the Whitebeard Pirates (led by Marco) and defeated them. With nobody else standing in their way, the crew used their captain's knowledge of the Whitebeard Pirates' territory and took it over.]

After the timeskip, Blackbeard took his former captain's position as one of the Yonko. It was said by Gatz that Blackbeard is protected by the Ten Titanic Captains, who serve as personal guards.

They are said to be stealing Devil fruits from users after death most likely in the same manner as Whitebeard. Indeed, Jesus Burgess seems to know a way to steal a devil fruit as he attempted to kill Luffy before Sabo interfered and tried to do the same to the latter as well.

Recently, they attacked the headquarters of the Revolutionary Army and dealt a critical blow to them but leaving the revolutionaries status as unknown.

It was later mentioned they have become allies with former marine admiral Kuzan.

Past
Blackbeard was once a member of the Whitebeard pirates but he betrayed his crew by killing a crewmate to steal his devil fruit. He then assembled his own crew to further his goal of becoming the Pirate King.

Drum Island
The Blackbeard Pirates then invaded Drum Kingdom, Chopper's home town. This caused the kingdoms tyrant ruler Wapol to cowardly run away.

Jaya Arc
The crew were mostly seen doing various activities in Mock Town as they encountered the Straw Hats. Luffy personally met Blackbeard but was unaware of the latter's identity.

Near the end, the Straw Hat Pirates deduce that the people they met all came together and this was later confirmed.

After learning of how high Luffy and Zoro's bounties were raised, the crew planned to capture them.

The Blackbeard Pirates confronted the Straw Hat Pirates and showed Zoro and Luffy their new bounties. Before Blackbeard could capture them, his ship was destroyed by the Straw hats knock-up steam.

Incident on Banaro Island
Upon finding about Luffy's bounty increase, the crew made plans to go to Water 7 and kill Luffy. However, Ace caught up with them and Blackbeard told them of his plans as he offered Ace a spot on his crew. Ace refused and told the latter Luffy was his younger brother before the crew attacked Ace but their attacks didn't faze the latter and he retaliated.

Seeing this disadvantage, Teach ordered his crew to stay back as he fought Ace himself. He confessed that he killed the commander that Ace sought to avenge but because the latter had a fruit that he searched decades for. Teach revealed his powers by creating giant blackholes and destroys the city they're fighting in. Ace then shot an explosion attack at Blackbeard which caught him on fire on rolling in pain. Blackbeard got up and Ace's flames were absorbed by the darkness. Blackbeard then sucked in Ace with his gravitation attack and punched Ace in the stomach which sent him flying. Blackbeard and Ace then began to battle while the townsfolk watch in horror. Ace fell onto the ground where Blackbeard offered him one more chance to join his crew. Ace denied and attacked Blackbeard once more. Blackbeard ended up countering this attack and defeating Ace.

Teach the turns Ace over to the marines instead of Luffy as he needed an infamous pirate to get the Shichibukai position.

Amazon Lily Arc
Before the war, Blackbeard was seen among his fellow Shichibukai eating a lavish meal.

Impel Down Arc
Five hours before the execution, the Blackbeard pirates put their plan into action with Lafitte hypnotizing one of the marines who opened the gates of justice as they stole a marine ship.

They set off for Impel Down where they planned to break in and recruit several inmates into their crew. They easily dispatched several guards and encountered former chief guard Shiliew who they mistook for Magellan until realizing otherwise. After an off-screen meeting with the latter, they made their way to Lv.4 where Blackbeard easily takes down Hannyabal and his guards before they met the breakout army led by Luffy.

Blackbeard and Luffy briefly fought before Jinbe broke it up. Since time was running out for Ace, they simply run past them as the crew allow it and continue with their trip through the area.

They soon come face to face with the real Magellan who douses them in poison using his Hydra attack, leaving them in agony.

The crew is saved by Shiliew who presented them with an antidote to the poison. Shiliew who had been temporarily released from his cell since the guards required him to help quell the chaos of the prison, cites he had been waiting for someone like Blackbeard and agrees to join his crew to avoid being imprisoned again.

With Shiliew on their side, they made their way to Lv. 6, where Blackbeard had the inmates fight each other to the death with the survivors becoming part of his crew. It is unknown how many inmates were slaughtered but the Blackbeard pirates recruited for new members before they fled the prison either not knowing or caring that other prisoners survived and escaped as well.

Marineford Arc
Once the Battle of Marineford reached its pinnacle point, the Blackbeard Pirates returned to the area with their new members which consisted of the most legendary and feared prisoners of Impel Down. Teach told Sengoku he only wanted his Shichibukai position to have access to Impel Down and to strengthen his crew. He states he no longer needs the title now that he's obtained his goal before he is assaulted by an enraged Whitebeard.

Blackbeard fought his former captain but was soon overpowered by the latter until he shot him with a gun. With this, he ordered his crew to attack Whitebeard and they proceeded to attack the wounded pirates with bullets and blade attack greatly wounding him before he succumbs to his injuries and dies standing.

With Whitebeard dead, the crew proceed to cover his body with a tarp as Blackbeard enters it and somehow steals Whitebeard's Gura Gura no mi powers through an unknown method and declares that the new era belongs to him with his powers of darkness and earthquakes.

Blackbeard soon declares his intentions of sinking Marineford before he is confronted by Sengoku who angrily retaliates against him. The fight stops due to Coby shouting everyone to and the crew soon leave the area on account of being confronted by Shanks and his crew the Red Haired Pirates.

Post-War Arc
Sometime after arriving in the New World, the crew were confronted by the Bonney Pirates who they easily defeated.

They planned to trade her for a ship after Jewelry Bonney angrily refused to become Teach's woman as a taunt. They realize that the marines were not keeping their words as they sent Akainu to deal with him.

Not wanting to fight the Admiral yet, the crew quickly fled while leaving Bonney and her crew to be arrested.

During the Timeskip
After Blackbeard and his crew killed Whitebeard, they used their captain's knowledge of Whitebeard's crew's former territories and took them over. A year later, they fought the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates led by Marco and defeated them with ease. With nobody else standing in their way, Blackbeard seized control of the rest of their territory and became one of the Four Emperors, taking Whitebeard's place.

The crew's numbers and power have grown and expanded into fleets, with Blackbeard deeming himself Admiral and promoting the rest of his crew to captains. According to rumors, they have been seeking out and killing Devil Fruit users for their powers which they took after death.

Dressrosa Arc
Burgess entered the monthly Corrida Colosseum tournament as "Mr. Store" to compete for the Mera Mera no Mi and was assigned to block A. It did not take him long to defeat all of his opponents and he was declared the winner of the Block A battle royale. He then removed the paper bag mask he was wearing and revealed his identity, shocking the spectators and the other fighters.

During the fight between Luffy (as Lucy) and Chinjao, Burgess went to the observation deck and commented that Block C has gotten interesting. He then wondered who Lucy was. After witnessing his victory in his group's battle royale, Burgess overheard comments of the man's identity from Cavendish and Bartolomeo as he realized that the man was in fact Luffy and got excited.

After Block C ended, Burgess spoke to Blackbeard via Den Den Mushi. Teach was discussing the possibility of recruiting Kuzan to join their crew, but Burgess stated that the former admiral cannot be trusted. When Luffy stopped by, an amused Burgess handed the Den Den Mushi to him, allowing him to speak to Blackbeard. Excited, Blackbeard then spoke to Luffy, he states he was aware of the reason Luffy entered but stated Burgess would win the fruit and it'll be like Ace joining as he refused their previous offer. When Luffy declared that he would not allow the Blackbeard Pirates to get Ace's power, Burgess merely laughed.

Burgess later entered the arena alongside Lucy (now Sabo), Bartolomeo, Rebecca, and Diamante. After Diamante explained the rules of this round, a five-person battle royale had commenced. Burgess continued to engage Lucy in heated combat, causing more damage to the Colosseum in the process.

During the time the toys in the audience transformed back into their original forms, Burgess was surprised when Lucy demolished the entire arena with his bare hands. After Lucy acquired the power of the Flame Flame fruit and destroyed the arena, Burgess fell into the underground trade port. Burgess then noticed that Lucy was not Luffy and was frustrated that he lost the Devil Fruit.

Burgess later observed the fight between Luffy and Doflamingo, he waited for the perfect chance to make his move. After Luffy was weaken from using Gear Fourth, Burgess attempted to kill him but Sabo intervened. Burgess learned Sabo was Luffy and Ace's brother, he tried to cast this aside but he discovered that Sabo was the Lucy that ate the Flame Flame Fruit.

Changing targets, Burgess engaged Sabo in battle as Luffy went off to face Doflamingo. In the end, Sabo defeated Burgess as the latter tried to goad him to finish the fight but Sabo ignored him but was provoked after Burgess mentioned Ace's last words before he was turned over.

Burgess survived albeit critically wounded and managed to stow away on a revolutionary army ship. He lost consciousness on the way to the island of Baltigo but later awoke and contacted his crewmates Laffite and Shiliew who went to find him in Dressrosa as he explained his reason. Burgess then told them to contact Blackbeard and have all their crew ready for battle as he found the revolutionary base and they could get ahold of weapons.

Zou Arc
The crew went through with their attack and invaded Baltigo, leaving the base in ruins before they were forced to retreat after briefly fighting Cipher Pol. Their attack left the status revolutionaries unknown but let the world learn where their headquarters were.