The One Piece world of piracy is full of adventure, crazy characters, and ridiculous powers. The series may have been inspired by pirates, some of the characters even sharing names of infamous pirates in reality, but just how much of the pirate life is transcribed from the real world and how much is pure fantasy? When excluding the exuberant Devil Fruit powers and extreme character designs of the anime, there are certainly some similarities that indicate Eiichiro Oda drew from both historical and fictional concepts of pirate life.
The life of a pirate was a balance of enjoyment and risk. They sailed the sea in search of other ships to sink and raid, they were hired by different navies to attack their enemies, and they amassed piles of treasure which usually ended up buried on an island or at the bottom of the sea. One Piece shows the world of piracy as if the crew is a family, sharing an unbreakable bond. Some pirate captains stood the test of time, until they found themselves hanged for their crimes, whilst many others were mutinied against by their crew. The life of a One Piece pirate is very different from reality.
The Life of Pirate in Fiction and Reality
One Piece portrays the daily life on a pirate ship as a largely enjoyable affair, mainly through the experiences of the Straw Hat Crew. For the Straw Hats, each crew member has a particular role they fulfill, sailing the ship with relatively few hands on deck. In reality, this is far from the truth. There were certain roles that pirate crews performed, such as Captain, Quartermaster, Surgeon, Master Gunner, and so on, but a pirate crew in the real world is far more comparable to some of the larger crews in the anime, such as Whitebeard’s crew. This is because it takes over a hundred men to successfully sail a sloop and even more for a decent-sized galleon. Ten would simply not be enough.
However, the life of a pirate was not too dissimilar from the jovial antics many of the pirates in One Piece enjoy. Bartholomew Roberts, known for sinking over 400 ships, ran his ship under a strict code that detailed the balance of freedom and security for those on his ship. It worked in a manner that ensured life aboard the ship remained a pleasurable experience and any sour matters were settled on land. The purpose of this was to keep the ship — where they spent the majority of their time — a securable place. A well-run ship meant a stable crew, which in turn meant more cohesion when taking on their prey, something Roberts did in abundance.
What Was the Goal of Historical Pirates?
One Piece makes the intentions of the pirates very clear — to find the One Piece. There are certainly differing motivations within the boundless crews in the anime, but the Golden Age of Piracy was kicked off by Gol D. Roger’s announcement, and many of the characters in the series dream of reaching Raftel, claiming the One Piece and with it, the title of King of the Pirates. Henry Every was considered the King of the Pirates in the real world after a raid on an Indian Treasure Fleet and obtaining a vast amount of wealth. However, his buried treasure and death did not spark a life of piracy in the real world. In reality, many pirates were simply after work.
Pirates are essentially seafaring robbers, the same as horse-riding highwaymen but choosing to sail instead of ride. Thousands of men across the world found work on pirate ships due to the high-risk, high-reward lifestyle it offered. Many had little left for them on land or were restricted in their opportunities for work due to previous run-ins with the law. This offered them few options in work, and a life of piracy offered an opportunity to not only start fresh and see the world, but the chance to obtain great wealth should their ship be successful. That may certainly be the case for many of the nameless pirates in the anime, yet when considering the Straw Hat Crew, many of their motivations seem far more noble or meaningful than simply wanting to work outside the confines of society.
The Seven Warlords and Privateers
Another similar aspect between One Piece and real-life piracy is the navy-funded pirates known as privateers. During the 1300s to the 1800s privateers were hired by various country naval forces primarily to disrupt other nations’ supplies by robbing ships, attacking military vessels, or pillaging coastal towns. They would, on occasion, confront other pirates that targeted the navy forces they were hired by, but this was not their main objective. In One Piece, the Seven Warlords of the Sea are granted immunity to the law to balance out the power of the Marines and the pirates, namely the Yonko. In a manner of speaking, the Yonko could be considered rulers of nations with their territory, making the similarity somewhat more comparable. This offered pirates in both worlds a safety-net, allowing them to enjoy the pirate life without worrying about being hounded by a naval force.
One of the most famous privateers was Sir Francis Drake, the namesake of X Drake in the anime. Whilst X Drake is not a Warlord in the series, he does serve the Marines whilst portraying a life of a pirate. However, it is Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, who allegedly served as a privateer before coming one of the most notorious pirates in history. This narrative is closely reflected by Marshall D. Teach, One Piece’s Blackbeard, who used the privateer status for his own gain, similar to what Edward did to obtain notoriety before increasing his crew size and ousting his former captain, Benjamin Hornigold.
The life of a pirate in One Piece and the real world is a life of adventure. Nowadays with technology and satellite mapping, it is hard to imagine the concept of sailing into an unknown world. Back during the Golden Age of Piracy, it was as much of an adventure sailing across the Caribbean or the coasts of Africa, finding undiscovered islands or cultures as the Straw Hat’s journey. The main difference between the anime and reality is the motivations of most pirates — One Piece shows pirates aiming towards something bigger than themselves, in reality, most pirates did what they did for a wage, boredom, or a desire for infamy.
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