Before becoming symbols of power and the uneasy truce between pirates and the World Government, the Shichibukai had troubled pasts. Few know that behind their cold and ruthless exteriors lie souls scarred by slavery, discrimination, and the collapse of their homelands. These childhood tragedies forged the bloody and ambitious paths they would later take.
Here’s a look into the hidden pasts of six of the most legendary former Shichibukai in One Piece.
1. Boa Hancock
Before becoming the beloved Pirate Empress, Hancock was just an ordinary girl on Amazon Lily. Fate cruelly tore her and her two sisters away, selling them as slaves to the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise.
There, she was forced to eat a Devil Fruit as entertainment for the nobles. The scar of slavery branded on her back left Hancock closed off and deeply hateful of the World Government and men. After being rescued by Fisher Tiger, she returned and channeled that hatred to lead the Kuja Pirates, cementing her reign as a queen.
2. Donquixote Doflamingo
Born a noble Celestial Dragon, Doflamingo’s life changed when his father abandoned their status to live as commoners. This decision plunged the family into misery, hunted and brutally tortured by those who hated the nobles.
Witnessing his mother’s death in poverty and being hung for execution himself, Doflamingo awakened his Conqueror’s Haki. After killing his father in a desperate bid to return to nobility but being rejected, he chose a criminal path, building the world’s most ruthless underground empire before becoming a Shichibukai.
3. Bartholomew Kuma
Kuma belonged to the Buccaneer tribe, a giant race hunted to near extinction by the World Government. Born in prison and enslaved from childhood, his turning point came after the God Valley incident, where he met Ivankov and Ginny.
After becoming a hero in the Sorbet Kingdom and joining the Revolutionary Army, Kuma faced the heartbreak of his daughter Bonney’s illness. To save her, he accepted a cruel deal with the World Government: to become a soulless experiment and a pawn under the Shichibukai title.
4. Trafalgar D. Water Law
Law’s homeland Flevance once thrived thanks to White Lead ore, but it also caused a deadly disease. Fearful of the outbreak, the world mercilessly wiped out his country, forcing young Law to witness his family’s slaughter.
Fortune smiled when Law met Corazon, who sacrificed his life to help Law find hope again. Law’s goal to become a Shichibukai was part of a plan to avenge Corazon by taking down Doflamingo.
5. Jinbe
Jinbe grew up an orphan alongside Arlong and Fisher Tiger on Fish-Man Island. From a young age, he trained in Fish-Man Karate and earned a black belt.
After serving in Neptune’s army, Jinbe followed Fisher Tiger to fight for fish-men’s rights. Following his elder brother’s death, Jinbe accepted the Shichibukai invitation not out of ambition but to maintain the fragile peace between fish-men and humans, protecting his home from threats.
6. Marshall D. Teach (Blackbeard)
Teach is the son of Rocks D. Xebec and a survivor of the God Valley tragedy. Witnessing his father’s fall to the Roger-Garp alliance fueled his ambition to rule the world and overthrow the government.
He joined Whitebeard’s crew early on to spy on the Yami Yami Fruit. Teach is the most cunning, using the Shichibukai title (by handing over Ace) as a stepping stone to infiltrate Impel Down, recruit the cruelest allies, and execute his plan for domination.