Red Hair Pirates

Japanese Name: 赤髪海賊団

Romanized Name: Akagami Kaizoku-dan
Official English Name: Red-Haired Pirates (4Kids)
Red-Hair Pirates (FUNimation)

First Appearance: Chapter 1; Episode 4[1]

Captain: Shanks
Main Ship: Unnamed former ship; Red Force
Total Bounty: At least 4,142,900,000[2]

The Red Hair Pirates are an infamous and powerful pirate crew ruling in the New
World, captained by their leader Red-Haired Shanks, who is one of the Yonko. The Red
Hair Pirates are the first pirate crew to appear in the manga and second to appear (next
to the Alvida Pirates) in the anime. They are the main influences of both Luffy (Shanks
inspired Luffy) and Usopp (wants to become a brave warrior of the sea like his father
Yasopp) journeys.

Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger of the Red Hair Pirates has a realistic looking skull with a pair of
crossed sabres behind it. It has two red stripes with black outlines that cross diagonally
across the skull's left eye socket, representing scars that the captain has.
Crew Members
Red Hair Pirates
Captain

Shanks
Officers

Benn Beckman Lucky Roux Yasopp

Other Members

Rockstar ????? ????? ????? ?????

????? ?????
Unnamed Crew Members
 There is a relatively thin member of Shanks' crew, with blond hair. His trademark
features seem to be his nut-shaped hat with the crew's Jolly Roger on it, and his
white gloves, objects he retain in both of his appearances. On his first appearance
in Foosha Village, his hair was shorter, and he was seen smiling. At Marineford,
he added to his attire a coat draped over his shoulders like a cape and a pair of
sunglasses covering his eyes. His hair has grown longer, almost reaching down to
his waist, and he has a stern facial appearance, maybe due to the circumstances. In
his hands he carries what looks like a sword.
 Another member is a bald man, with black spots around his eyes, similar to a
panda. In his first appearance, he was just as tall as his other crew members, and
was quite thin. At Marineford, he seems to have grown more muscular, and his
size is enhanced, towering over most of the main members, except for Lucky Roux
and another unnamed crew member. He has a scar running down the left side of
his face, down to his muscular neck, and a monkey is seen perched on his
shoulders. The monkey may be Monstar.
 There is also a tall man with light brown hair and a dragon tattoo on his right arm.
In Foosha village, he was already muscular, but was quite thin in size. At
Marineford, he is bigger and the tallest one of the members visible, his hair is
longer and his tattoo has changed shape: the dragon now faces the opposite
direction, is bigger, and extends to the pirate's muscular neck. He retains the
orange sunglasses and the sword he had in his earlier appearance.
 Another member is a man with blond hair tied in a ponytail pointing upwards on
the back of his head. In Marineford, like the others, he seems to have gotten
bigger, and carries a sword on his right shoulder.
 Another member that appeared at Marineford was a man with shaggy hair and
pointy teeth giving him a lion-like appearance.

Organization
Though much of the crews' hierarchy remains uncertain, Shanks is identified as the
おおがしら
groups Leader ( 大 頭 ōgashira?) and as such maintains overall authority. Just below
him and the next most senior are his three officers, all of whom have become infamous
in their own right. The remainder of the crew is comprised of members with notable
bounties themselves, who together share a great deal of trust in their leader, making for
a well-balanced and unassailable crew. It is unknown if they have allied pirate
crews like the other Yonkos crews.
Protected Territories
The Red Hair Pirates are known to have the following territories under their control:
 Unnamed island visited by the Barto Club.

Crew Strength

The main members' current appearances.

The exact strength of the crew as a whole is unknown, but since their captain is a
member of the Yonko, they are recognized as one of the four strongest pirate crews in
the world. According to commodore Brannew, the Red Hair Pirates are well-balanced
and impregnable as a group, showing little weakness overall.

The captain Shanks has a bounty of 4,048,900,000 while his officers, Benn
Beckman, Lucky Roux and Yasopp, are all noted to be big names themselves. Rockstar,
who joined Shanks' crew prior to the timeskip, has a bounty of 94,000,000 and is still
considered to be a rookie. The bounties of every other crew member are still unknown.

The first hint at the crew's strength came early on in the story from Luffy's past. The
bandit leader Higuma tried to threaten Shanks with his 8,000,000 bounty, but Shanks
was not afraid of the man and even put up with having a bottle of sake and his plate of
food being smashed and spilled over him. Later on, Benn Beckman took on the bandit's
men and wiped them all out with ease, telling Higuma that if he and the bandits
wanted to take them on they should bring a warship as back-up. Moments later, Shanks
did something shocking while rescuing Luffy from the sea - he scared away a Sea
King just by staring at it, using a form of Haki.

When Dracule Mihawk, one of the Shichibukai, brought news of Luffy's rise to fame,
the younger, weaker members of his crew appear to be terrified of the great swordsman
and approached him with caution. However, the senior members (including Shanks,
Benn Beckman, Yasopp, and Lucky Roux) appeared not to be bothered by his visit.[5]
Shanks does not fear Whitebeard, who was another Yonko and known as the world's
strongest pirate, whereas some pirate captains quiver at the mere mention of his name.
Rockstar also used his captain's name to convey to Whitebeard the importance of the
letter he delivered to him.[6]

The true depth to the crew's strength is that the World Government greatly fears what
would happen if the Red Hair Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates joined up. Right after
their battle with Kaido in the New World, they sailed to Marineford in just one day.
When Shanks and his crew finally showed up at Marineford, they were able to bring the
war to halt with words alone. The captain was able to rescue Koby from Admiral
Akainu's attack with only a clash of his sword and even the arrogant Blackbeard (who
strengthened his crew and had two Devil Fruits) avoided engaging Shanks' crew,
simply saying they were not ready to fight them yet.

Charlotte Linlin also believed that with the combined military force of the Big Mom
Pirates and Elbaf's army of giants, which is famed as the strongest in the world, she
would have a chance to kill Shanks and his crew.

Ships

The former ship of the Red Hair Pirates.

When the crew first arrived in Foosha Village, they were seen with a ship that was
similar in design to the ship used by "Crescent-Moon Gally" during Romance Dawn
version 1. Not much is known about its capabilities but it appears to be a standard
pirate ship with no noteworthy features.

It was the first ship introduced in the series as well as the first pirate ship. It was on the
figurehead that Luffy cut and scarred his face to prove he was a man to Shanks and his
crew.[7]
During the Whitebeard War, the Red Hair pirates arrived at Marineford with their
current ship, the Red Force.[8][9]

Other Information
 Not much else is currently known about the Red Hair Pirates. Shanks used to be
on the same crew as Buggy the Clown, and Buggy forever resents him for
botching one of his treasure hunts by "making" him eat a Devil Fruit.
 They are a very laid back group of pirates who are almost always seen partying
and drinking alcoholic beverages whenever they make an appearance. They
seem much friendlier compared to other pirates seen in the series: they hung
around Luffy's hometown for roughly a year without complaints from the local
villagers (aside from the ones that came from Mayor Woop Slap).
 They have intercepted the attack Kaido, another Yonko, tried to make
against Whitebeard. It is unclear whether they are actually fighting against each
other or only blocking the path. Afterwards, the crew arrived at Marineford, with
the intent of ending the Whitebeard war. By proposing a ceasefire with Fleet
Admiral Sengoku, the battle was thus ended.
 One of the crew's protectorates is shown in The Stories of the Self-Proclaimed Straw
Hat Grand Fleet mini-arc, which the Barto Club visited. After their arrival, the
Barto Club burned the crew's flag in a daring act, much to the horror of the local
citizens.
 Aside from their protected territories, the Red Hair Pirates also frequent Yukiryu
Island and use it as a hangout for drinking and partying away from civilization.
 Most members also seem to wear capes.

History

Past

Monkey D. Luffy and The Red Hair Pirates

 Young Luffy and the Red Hair Pirates.
 Twelve years before the present story line, they spent a year in Luffy's home
town and became very good friends with him, which led to him wanting to
become part of their crew. However, Shanks told him that he was too weak,
which angered him. Shanks was also the one who unintentionally supplied Luffy
with his Devil Fruit. When a group of mountain bandits hassled the crew in a
bar, they did not fight back, but once they left, they immediately burst out
laughing, saying that pirates are cowards. Luffy was angry at them for not
fighting back, since he did not realize that there was no need to retaliate.
 Later, after the bandits showed up again when the crew was away, Luffy
overheard them saying bad things about Shanks and his crew so Luffy's temper
flared up and he started insulting their leader, Higuma. The bandits easily
subdued him and wanted to kill him. Then Shanks and his crew arrived and
immediately took control of the situation, easily beating all of the bandits.
However, the leader, Higuma the Bear, had escaped out to sea in order to kill
Luffy, only to be eaten by a Sea King. Since Luffy could not swim due to his
Devil Fruit, he began to sink into the water, but Shanks quickly saved him.
Because the Sea King was about to eat Luffy, he dodged it but his left arm was
torn off. Shanks shows no regret of this, even saying to Whitebeard he was
making a bet on the New Age by losing it. He frightened the monster off simply
by staring at it and saying "Get lost".
 Later, when the crew finally decided to leave, Luffy said he did not want to join
Shanks and his crew anymore. Luffy said that he would be a pirate on his own,
to which Shanks then said that there was no way that he could become a pirate.
Luffy immediately declared his intentions to become an even greater pirate than
Shanks and to become the Pirate King, so an amused Shanks gave his signature
straw hat to Luffy and said to give back to him once he surpasses Shanks as a
pirate.[1]
  Usopp's connection to the Red Hair Pirates is through his father, Yasopp. When
Usopp was young, Yasopp left his family in order to go out to sea, as urged by
his wife. Due to how he was raised, Usopp understood that his father left to
pursue his dream and harbors no ill will against him. In fact, he wants to become
a great sniper and a warrior of the sea like him.[10]

Arrival of the Pirate Brothers

Years after meeting Luffy, they met Portgas D. Ace, who thanked Shanks for saving his
little brother. Shanks responded by throwing a party to celebrate, as he did not know
Luffy had a brother.

Sometime later, Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk paid Shanks a visit, much to the shock of a
few of Shanks' weaker crew members. The Shichibukai brought news that delighted the
red-haired pirate, which was Luffy gaining a bounty of 30,000,000. Hearing Luffy had
now come at last, Shanks threw another party despite being already hungover from his
previous drinking session.[5]

Trivia
 A couple of the crew have a common tattoo on their bodies, it is seen on the arm
of one member and then on the back of a shirt of another. The symbol however
has not been seen since.
 Perhaps in line with a "Shank" being a part of an anchor, it should also be noted
that a number of his crew also had an anchor on their body (at least 4), a note
since Luffy himself also bore a larger anchor on his shirt as a child.
 Sometimes, Oda forgets to put the three scars on the Red Hair Pirates' flag, as
stated once in an SBS.
 According to Luffy, it was Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates who taught him the
song "Binks' Sake".[18]
 The original ship of the Red Hair Pirates in One Piece seems to be based of the
ship of Crescent-Moon Gally from Romance Dawn. Their later ship also continues
this style.
  In One Piece Yellow: Grand Elements the name of the crew is transliterated "Red
Haired Pirates", but in the One Piece Green: Secret Pieces it's transliterated "Red
Hair Pirates".
 The Red Hair Pirates are the only Yonko crew so far that does not have any
known crew members that are Devil Fruit users.
 Interesting, the four main members (Shanks, Beckman, Roo, and Yasopp) each hail
from one of the four seas.
 Despite being the first crew of a Yonko to be introduced, being present in the story
since the beginning of the series, it is the crew of a Yonko with fewer members
whose names and identities are known.

Cultural References
 A Japanese coast guard vessel, pretending to be a pirate ship during an exercise
was caught on video using Shanks' Jolly Roger.

The flag used by the Japanese coast guard during an exercise.

The flag as depicted in the anime.