One Piece: The Six Strongest Pirates Before the Four Emperors!

The Four Emperors was a group identified by the World Government to be part of the Three Great Powers, a system in which

However, tihs was the system built after the execution of Gol D. Roger, the system built around the Great Pirate Era.

During Roger’s time, there were no Four Emperors but a wild sea of co-equally powerful pirates that caused more chaos than the Four Emperors did.

That is because while the Four Emperors were concentrated on their personal interests, the previous era saw a sudden spike

This was the Pirate Era after the God Valley Incident 38 years ago that saw the downfall of the Rocks Pirates.

Between the God Valley Incident and Roger’s execution, a 14-year period emerged where five of the Rocks Pirates became the strongest Pirates alongside one of the secret victors of the God Valley Incident: Gol D. Roger, who would rise above the other five as the King of the Pirates at the end of this era.

Charlotte Linlin

Charlotte Linlin was one of the four Pirates on this list that joined the initial attack against Imu alongside her crewmates Edward Newgate and Kaido, as well as her captain’s rival, Gol D. Roger.

Listing the future Big Mom on this list first is crucial because even early into her career among the Rocks Pirates, Linlin had always planned to form her crew based on her own children.

As of the God Valley Incident, she already had 30 of her 85 children and it is after the God Valley Incident that she would form the Big Mom Pirates.

She came to God Valley to steal some Devil Fruits for her crew, initially desiring the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu for her favored son Katakuri but this would be stolen by Kaido.

During her reign before the Great Pirate Era, Linlin recovered one of the four Road Poneglyphs, a clue to the location of Laugh Tale and the One Piece, a Poneglyph that Roger copied before the One Piece circumnavigation journey and around the time he would first encounter Kozuki Oden.

By Roger’s execution, Linlin had 58 children, having given birth to Brownie around this time in which the old era would end, meaning her military power doubled in a span of 14 years, allowing Big Mom to emerge as one of the first three of the Four Emperors.

Edward Newgate

Edward Newgate was one of the the four Pirates on this list that joined the initial attack against Imu alongside his fellow Rocks Pirates and Roger.

Unlike Linlin and Kaido, he had elected to counter one of Demon Rocks’ attacks but witnessing the disparity between him and his transformed Captain, Newgate chose to leave God Valley now that there was nothing left there for him.

Through the support of Polo Gram, the father of his future right-hand man Marco, Newgate would lay the foundations for his own individual crew, the Whitebeard Pirates, which constantly clashed with his personal rival, Roger.

By the time the two captains met Kozuki Oden, over half of Whitebeard’s division commanders were already crew members and had established a friendship with King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom, making Fishman Island one of the earliest protectorates prior to the Great Pirate Era.

It is during this era that Whitebeard would come to be called the Strongest Man in the World and by the time of Roger’s execution, he was considered the Man Closest to One Piece.

Kaido

Originally a young apprentice of the Rocks Pirates, Kaido would steal the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu from Linlin, who originally intended it for her son Katakuri.

After delighting in his Devil Fruit through an unexpected fight with Imu, Kaido would fly off God Valley and at some point, get captured and experimented on Punk Hazard, where he would meet Aiber, who would later become King, the first of his All-Stars.

26 years ago, Kaido would come across Scien, currently known as Queen, who was a former member of the group of scientists called MADS led by Dr. Vegapunk.

However, unlike the other contenders on this list, Kaido’s Beast Pirates were relatively new by comparison, having only two known executives and no known territory by the time of Roger’s execution.

Even then, Kaido would emerge as one of the first three of the Four Emperors, likely after his takeover of Wano 20 years ago.

Shiki

One of the former Rocks Pirates, Shiki the Golden Lion would benefit from his flying Fuwa Fuwa no Mi and the treasures of God Valley to set up his own armada, the Golden Lion Pirates 5 years after the God Valley Incident.

27 years ago, prior to Roger’s One Piece circumnavigation, he would clash with the Roger Pirates in the The Battle at Edd War after Roger refused Shiki’s offer to conquer the world with him, since Roger only valued freedom.

However, a sudden hurricane destroyed half of Shiki’s fleet and this is also where Shiki got part of a steering wheel stuck in his hard head, thus forcing a retreat out of him.

When Shiki had heard that Roger had been captured, he headed to Marineford but was beaten by Roger’s rivals, Hero of the Marines Monkey D. Garp and Admiral Sengoku, who sent him to Impel Down, ending the crew’s dominance over the seas at the same time as Roger’s execution.

Ochoku

One of the former Rocks Pirates, unlike the others on this list, Ochoku would stay on Hachinosu after betraying the crew and handing over Shakky to maintain control over his crew’s base, Hachinosu Island, for 36 years.

That is until the Rocky Port Incident, where Rocks’ secret son, Marshall D. Teach, together with Marine Captain Koby and future Warlord of the Sea, Trafalgar D. Water Law, would overthrow the Pirate Guru and make the island the base of the Blackbeard Pirates.

Gol D. Roger

The eventual King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger was already an established name by the time Rocks D. Xebec rampaged the seas with his crew of miscreants.

To such an extent that he, not Rocks, attracted Garp’s direct interest, making him the Vice Admiral’s main target.

50 years prior to the start of the story, Roger was considered a rookie by someone like Brook yet one with quite a reputation.

6 years later, Roger would make a bigger name for himself, garnering the interest of the Kuja Pirates and Rocks Pirates.

Prior to the God Valley Incident 38 years ago, Roger reached Lodestar Island, the final island the Log Pose would point to and realized there was a real final island beyond that point and only the Road Poneglyphs would have the clues to its location.

After the God Valley Incident, he would undertake various voyages to copy and acquire the four Road Poneglyphs, including one from fellow top pirate, Charlotte Linlin.

In a way, he pioneered the One Piece race, being the only one to figure out the connection with the Poneglyphs and circumnavigated the world within a year due to having already reached Lodestar Island and have all the four Road Poneglyphs.

Rather than focusing on keeping his power like the other five “proto-Emperors”, Roger went beyond even self-interest in this devotion to find the One Piece and that was when he was crowned King of the Pirates.

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