Five Elders

Five Elders
Statistics
Japanese Name:	五老星
Romanized Name:	Gorōsei
Official English Name:	Five Elders (VIZ, Funimation); Five Elder Stars (formerly Funimation)
First Appearance:	Chapter 233; Episode 151
Affiliation:	World Government (World Nobles)
Occupation:	Highest Authorities of the World Government (Publicly); World Nobles
Residency:	Mary Geoise

For the chapter of the same name, see Chapter 1086.

The Five Elders are a council of the five highest-ranking Celestial Dragons: the "Highest Authorities of the World Government" (世界政府最高権力, Sekai Seifu Saikō Kenryoku^?). They are believed to oversee and hold the greatest authority over the world at large, although they are secretly subordinate to the government's shadow ruler Imu, who occupies the Empty Throne.

The Five Elders' political sway over the World Government, its constituent bodies, agencies, and military branches is paramount and near-illimitable. This includes absolute command over Cipher Pol, the Marines, and (prior to their disbandment) the Seven Warlords of the Sea, thus controlling two of the Three Great Powers. As of now, it is unknown how the Elders acquired their positions and how long they have been in power, but they are almost always found residing in the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle.

The Five Elders (most specifically Jaygarcia Saturn) are the main antagonists of the Egghead Arc. Due to their status, longstanding actions both indirect and direct, and their profound plot involvement, they can be considered among the main antagonists of the Final Saga as well as the One Piece series as a whole.

Members

See also the associated category: Five Elders.

As their name indicates, the Five Elders consist of five different members of the World Nobles. The original Five Elders, introduced at the beginning of the series during the Jaya Arc, consisted of Jaygarcia Saturn, Marcus Mars, Topman Warcury, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro and Shepherd Ju Peter. It is known that at least Jaygarcia Saturn has been in service of the group for centuries, as he was present during Emet's attack on Mary Geoise roughly 200 years ago.

Imu appears to have the authority to appoint a new Elder as replacement for an older one, with the role, duties, and title of the latter being passed down to the former as a result. The only known case of this happening so far has been Saturn being succeeded by Figarland Garling following the events of the Egghead Incident.

Overview

Despite being Celestial Dragons, none of the Five Elders wear the full-body white suit that their lower-ranking brethren wear. Also, none of them have been seen wearing the bubble or glass case over their heads to separate their air supply from other people, even when seen outside of Mary Geoise. Once Garling took over Saturn's position as an Elder, he switched out of his full-body Celestial Dragon robes and into a business attire that fall in line with the other Elders. They are all rather tall, comparable in height to the over 10 feet tall Sakazuki. Their high quality clothes comes from the famed designer brand Nyornyo Nyarmani.

Their primary concerns are protecting an unstable world from the influence of piracy and maintaining the public image of the World Government, going to great lengths to keep their oppressive reputation a secret from the public. They have ordered the killing of an entire island of people to hide the discovery of the Void Century through the deciphering of Poneglyphs. They have hidden the fact that Gecko Moria was beaten by Monkey D. Luffy and later ordered his silent assassination to make it look like he died in the war for a better image, and they have kept the escape of Level 6 inmates of Impel Down a secret, a decision that even angered Sengoku, the then-fleet admiral of the Marines. They are extremists who will sacrifice a countless number of innocent people for the sake of maintaining the World Government's political power and authority and even turn a blind eye to political corruption such as the atrocities of Warlords of the Sea Sir Crocodile and Donquixote Doflamingo, and when it should ever be exposed, they will simply give the Marines credit through falsified propaganda.

Each of the Five Elders is in charge of particular area of politics and hold the title Warrior God (武神, Bushin^?, English version: "Godhead") akin to a minister. These positions are as follows:

Warrior God	Field of Politics	Celestial Motif
Figarland Garling	Science and Defense	Crescent Moon
Jaygarcia Saturn (former)		Saturn
Marcus Mars	Environment	Mars
Topman Warcury	Justice	Mercury
Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro	Finance	Venus
Shepherd Ju Peter	Agriculture	Jupiter

Most of the Five Elders' governance so far has been executive in nature, while broader legislative action is more so shown as a function of the Council of Kings that meets every four years for the Levely. The Elders' political actions have mainly involved mobilizing the Marines and Cipher Pol to achieve their objectives, as well as each Elder overseeing government projects that correspond to their titles; for example, Saturn as Warrior God of Science and Defense oversaw Dr. Vegapunk's Pacifista project to create living weapons to fight on the World Government's behalf.

Though not to the same extent as the other World Nobles, they take great pride in their heritage, as Mars considered the Nefertari Family to be traitors for not joining their ranks 800 years ago. Unlike their fellow World Nobles, they are capable of showing respect to other people, like Shanks, as well as reverence in the case of Imu. Also, unlike their lower ranking brethren, who mainly enjoy abusing their own powers for hedonistic pleasures, the Five Elders show themselves to be more responsible and concerned about the world's activities and even demonstrate being regretful and upset at times such as when they ordered the death of all of Ohara's archaeologists being a measure they reluctantly took when the archaeologist Clover, was going to reveal the name of a Great Kingdom. This shows that despite being willing to take extreme and questionable measures, the Five Elders, unlike most World Nobles, are not without remorse. While typical Celestial Dragons would attack anyone of lower social statuses who tried to argue or protest with them, the Five Elders are more tolerant in that they are willing to at least give the benefit of counterarguments, as when Sakazuki openly insulted them, they bickered with him instead of threatening him with death. Another difference with other Celestial Dragons, none of the Five Elders say "-eh" at the end of their sentences.

Each one has a different criterion, made evident when they question each other's decisions, such as sending a CP0 agent as a scapegoat to cause Luffy's defeat, something that one of them considered contrary to their objectives but justified by another Elder, given the gravity of the situation.

When providing them with food, it must be thoroughly examined by agents to confirm that it has not been poisoned, given their excessive paranoia and the risks associated with their high political status.

Due to them almost exclusively staying at Pangaea Castle and rarely being in the outside world, only on special occasions, their status has almost become mythological, with people being completely unaware of their existence or if they exist at all, usually seeing them on portraits or only knowing they live in Mary Geoise. This leads to panic and hysteria from people who have never encountered them as well as people being totally caught off-guard whenever an Elder leaves Mary Geoise. This level of secrecy even goes as far as the Elders ordering their underlings to not reveal their presence to anyone but a select few. Marines in particular must be of a Rear-Admiral rank or higher in order to even be allowed to witness their presence, with transgressions of this rule being punishable with death. Even other Celestial Dragons, including those from the God's Knights, are expected to have nothing but absolute respect for the Elders. Likewise, entry to the Room of Authority, where the Elders usually reside, is highly restricted.

Relationships

Imu

Despite being reputed as the greatest authorities in the World Government, the Five Elders all answer to Imu, the current sovereign of the world and occupant of the Empty Throne whom all the Elders are extremely loyal to and is revered by them in high regard. As such, they immediately turn to Imu's guidance regarding whichever "light" deserves permanent erasure from history, indicating their role in the Government's oppressive tyranny for centuries. They also obey Imu's commands without questioning, even agreeing to wipe out entire kingdoms if they wish it and retrieving whoever Imu desires, stopping at nothing until their task is done. They are also very protective of Imu's secrecy and their status as being kept from the public and will eradicate and assassinate anybody who happens to encounter or even gains a peek at Imu to protect their status and keep up the illusion of the Elders' being the highest authority. At least Marcus Mars refers to Imu as "the Creator", indicating they only see themselves as their servants, ready to fulfill and execute their orders at any given point. Despite their loyalty, the Five Elders are not immune to Imu's wrath, as Saturn was killed by them for letting Luffy escape Egghead, and his place was taken by Saint Figarland Garling. The other Elders were not notified of Imu's choice beforehand, and were rather shocked when Garling took Saturn's seat.

Marines

Sakazuki

After the World Government played a role in falsifying the news of Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sakazuki was outraged by how the Five Elders would go out of their way to protect him, not even caring if it would tarnish the Marine's reputation. During a heated argument, Sakazuki even insulted, provoked, and mocked them because CP0 acted over their heads, testing his limits and showing that he does not agree with everything the Five Elders do.

Nefertari Family

Despite descending from one of the First Twenty monarchs that founded the World Government, the Five Elders consider the Nefertari Family to be traitors, since their ancestors preferred to stay in Arabasta instead of joining the other kings who moved to Mary Geoise. It appears that they keep that opinion to themselves, and try to avoid conflict with the family. When they are willing to have an audience with Cobra, their hostile intentions become clear as Imu shows themself to him and makes Cobra admit that the Nefertari family bears the Will of D. After which, the Five Elders and Imu kill Cobra, and they turn their attention to deal with Vivi next.

Enemies

Monkey D. Luffy

The Five Elders hold tremendous animus towards Monkey D. Luffy, not only for his heritage as the Revolutionary Dragon's son, but also for all the trouble he and his crew have caused. This includes invading Enies Lobby and defeating CP9 to save Nico Robin, punching Saint Charlos in the face at Sabaody Archipelago, causing the first mass breakout of Impel Down, intruding on the Summit War of Marineford to save Ace, and most of all for defeating multiple Warlords of the Sea such as Crocodile, Moria, and Doflamingo.

They acknowledge Luffy's strength and see that he is truly Garp's grandson, as well as a deadly variable in their plans. They feared what he would be capable of should he defeat the Emperor, Kaidou, and so they ordered CP0 to eliminate him before that could happen. They were deeply concerned about Luffy's survival and were even fine with losing an agent and angering Kaidou as long as Luffy was killed, as they understood the potential of what he could do once his Devil Fruit was awakened, calling it the "most ridiculous power in the world." Their decision backfired, as not only did Luffy awaken his Devil Fruit, but he used his newfound power to defeat Kaidou.

When Luffy later temporarily disrupted their plans by capturing York, they were first formally introduced to Luffy, making it their first exchange, during which they tried to persuade him to reveal crucial information, though they were unable to do so. Later, when Saturn, who was at Egghead, saw Luffy in his Gear 5 form, he immediately recognized him as "Nika". Seeing Luffy severely weakened from his battle with Kizaru, Saturn attempted to kill him, only for Franky to foil him. Shortly after, Saturn was bewildered when he spotted that Luffy somehow acquired food and ordered him to be detained, though he ultimately managed to escape his sight. Once Luffy returned in his Gear 5 form once more spotting Bonney and an injured Vegapunk, Saturn called him and Bonney "stupid insects" that deserved death, Saturn then used his ability to wound Luffy, but it proved useless as the Emperor struck him with multiple powerful blows causing him to be launched through a building. Saturn then returned enraged and in his full beast transformation as he attempted to kill Luffy again with multiple poison tainted strikes, but he was restrained when Luffy entered into his Giant form. As the battle between the two continued, Saturn was running out of time and summoned the rest of the Elders, in which he, Warcury and Peter fought against Luffy. Despite all their efforts, Luffy escaped from their clutches with the assistance of Emet, when the Iron Giant used Joy Boy's Conqueror's Haki.

Nico Robin

The Five Elders have developed a profound interest in Nico Robin, as due to her being the last surviving member of the Ohara Incident, they fear for her knowledge and her ability to read the Poneglyphs. Therefore, they are wary of her presence as part of the Straw Hat Pirates. Despite this, they will stop at nothing to have her silenced and eliminated due to her association with Ohara. On Wano, they specifically instructed their CP0-agents with finding and capturing Nico Robin, which they later reversed into ordering them to eliminate her instead, fearing her continued presence could prove beneficial for the uncovering of the True History and her ability to read the Poneglyphs would ultimately grant Luffy access to the One Piece.

Later, when they were talking to Luffy on Egghead, they noticed Nico Robin hanging up on the call.

While Saturn was focused on finding the source of Vegapunk's world broadcast, when he came across Robin he changed his focus towards killing her, clashing with the Straw Hat Pirates who stood in to protect her. However, Robin escaped from the Elders.

Clover and Ohara Archaeologists

The council recognized the merits of the Ohara archaeologist in his search for truth but that his vision was "distorted". The Five Elders were strongly against the research that was conducted by the Ohara archaeologists and had them killed for uncovering too much information about the Void Century, displaying their outrage when they decided to kill Clou D. Clover for what he had learned. Despite ordering their deaths, the Five Elders expressed some regret for their decision, and Mars looked distraught when the order was given.

Sabo

Although initially unknown to them, Sabo gained the Five Elders' attention and ire when he stepped in to protect Nefertari Cobra from their assassination attempt in the Throne Room at Mary Geoise and were exasperated when he managed to escape their grasp, having witnessed Imu sitting on the Empty Throne, effectively making him their number one enemy. They noticed Sabo's affiliation with several occupants of the mysterious D., noting he was fate-struck by having encountered several of them.

Dr. Vegapunk

The Elders meet Vegapunk.

They became acquainted with Dr. Vegapunk after he won the Ibel Peace Prize, inviting him to a personal audience at Mary Geoise. After enlisting him as a military scientist, they tasked him with the development of several new projects, including the Pacifista Program, the Seraphim, and the replication of the Mother Flame. During the time of Vegapunk's employment, they consistently monitored him and even forced him to abandoned his morality, with Saturn in particular intervening in his work. When they became aware of Dr. Vegapunk's secret research into the forbidden Void Century, thanks to another satellite of him, York, they decided to eliminate him. However, they were fine with letting York live given she could give into their requests and provide her knowledge, as it meant the research and the replication of their (Imu's) secret projects could continue, even going as far as to guarantee her prohibited privileges. Vegapunk would secretly defy the Elders by granting Jewelry Bonney absolute authority over the Kuma-formed Pacifista, surpassing even that of the Five Elders. When Saturn found out of this, he stabbed Vegapunk in anger. This effectively led to the demise of Vegapunk, but even after his death, he remained a thorn in the eyes of the Five Elders. His announcement of a message about the truth of the world terrified all of them so much that they decided to leave Mary Geoise and appear on Egghead, something they have never done before so far, to make sure Vegapunk could not reveal anything that could expose themselves or Imu. The Five Elders grew increasingly frustrated as Vegapunk's message revealed many secrets from the Void Century and how they are affecting the present world. After the Egghead Incident ended, Saturn considers their inability to prevent Vegapunk's message as a massive failure on their part.

Nusjuro expressed his displeasure at Vegapunk's decision to give Bonney authority over the Pacifista, in his eyes a power capable of leveling an entire country, calling his actions a foolish rebellion against the Elders.

Mars expressed the irony in Vegapunk's belief about fate when he believed he had the chance to stop Vegapunk's message being broadcast, calling out Vegapunk for running out of fortune. When he steps on the "broadcast" Den Den Mushi, Mars revealed Vegapunk fooled him with a decoy and failed to stop the message, cursing Vegapunk for his actions.

Other

Shanks

Though Shanks would be considered an enemy given his status as a pirate, the Five Elders showed respect towards him and even allowed him an audience with them inside Mary Geoise, making room in their political agendas for him.

Abilities and Powers

— A Marine soldier following Saturn's arrival on Egghead.

The Five Elders possess tremendous power both in governance and in combat, making them a fearsome threat that most accurately exemplifies the World Nobles' reputation as "gods". Though their existence appears to be generally known, they rarely if ever appear in public and when they do, only those of sufficient power and rank are deemed worthy of looking on them; in the case of Marines, only those of Rear Admiral rank and above may be in their presence. When a Marine below this rank looked at Saturn following the latter's arrival on Egghead, the Marine's head immediately ruptured. The Elders have held audiences with members of the Four Emperors and shown little worry, and have even personally engaged an Emperor and his crew in direct combat as they did during the Egghead Incident against Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. In addition, the Elders are endowed with total authority over the Pacifista and Seraphim (above even their creator, Dr. Vegapunk's, though due to Vegapunk's secret meddling, their authority over all Kuma-formed Pacifista is second to Jewelry Bonney).

Political Authority

Known as the Highest Authorities of the World Government and being members of the Celestial Dragons, the Five Elders have the right to act as they please with near-total impunity. They are capable of ordering a Buster Call, and like all other Celestial Dragons, can summon Marine Admirals to fight on their behalf; they also have authority over all Cipher Pol units, particularly CP0, and utilize them to directly carry out their bidding. As far as the world at large is concerned, they are the very top of the World Government's chain of command and everyone else is beholden to their authority, including the fleet admiral of the Marines. Indeed, when Sakazuki was enraged at the Elders for helping Donquixote Doflamingo deceive the entire world, they coldly disregarded his grievances and reminded him to know his place in comparison to them. While the Elders ultimately did not punish Sakazuki for questioning their actions, not everyone has been so lucky, as Vice Admiral Doberman was heavily injured after noting an inconvenient fact in front of Saturn.

The Elders have significant sway when it comes to influencing the flow of information in the world. They have frequently had a hand in covering up news stories they deem inconvenient to the image of the World Government and Marines, as well as erasing the names and legacies of inconvenient people and other subjects from popular history. This influence extends deep within history and includes covering up the entire Void Century, as well as renaming and reclassifying the Mythical Zoan-type fruit Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika to the Paramecia-type Gomu Gomu no Mi. However, this influence is not absolute and the Elders have failed to cover many things up, as they are ultimately dependent on news publishers like Morgans being willing to accept bribes or being sufficiently intimidated by government forces; they may also not realize the importance of covering something up until it is already published; alternatively, lower-ranking Marines have been known to ignore their superiors' orders and spread the word themselves before it can be spun into something else.

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the world, the Elders are in fact completely subordinate to Imu, the occupier of the Empty Throne, and are as totally deferent to Imu as the rest of the world is expected to be to them. When Emporio Ivankov learned of Imu, he wondered who could possibly have enough sway to command the Five Elders, concluding that it could only be an original member of the First Twenty.

Telepathy

The Five Elders seem to have some sort of psychic connection with each other and Imu, allowing them to communicate telepathically. They can even communicate with each other from entirely different parts of the world.

Immortality

The Elders self-resurrecting from a fatal attack.

By all indicators shown so far, the Elders possess immortality, being capable of living for centuries without visibly aging and being immune to age-changing abilities; this also enables them to regenerate from any injury no matter how severe. Notably, Peter was able to recover from simultaneously having his head chopped off and his torso cut clean through, while Saturn regenerated without issue despite having his entire body riddled with holes by Luffy and Bonney's punches. The regeneration extends to the user's clothes, akin to a Devil Fruit power. Veteran pirate captain Brogy noted that he had never heard of any race or ability that would allow for such a thing. Interestingly, some Elders do still possess visible scars; the reason for their existence is unclear.

The exact power behind this immortality is unknown, but it is implied to come from Imu, given that it was they who stripped Saturn of his immortality and killed him. When this occurred, a large quantity of dark energy resembling black lightning was expelled from Saturn's body, resulting in an explosion as his body withered away until it was nothing more than a skeleton.

Magic Circle

Saturn summons the other four Elders to Egghead, all the way from Mary Geoise.

The Five Elders can use "magic circles" (魔法陣, mahōjin^?) as portals to travel to other locations. These circles have a pentagram in the middle and five of the same number in-between their jags. When they appear, their circles emit black, Haki-esque lightning while having fiery energy erupt from them. Saturn was capable of transporting himself from his ship to Egghead and appears to be able to create multiple circles as well to summon others, having created four of them to teleport his fellow Elders from Mary Geoise all the way to Egghead.

An extremely powerful burst of Supreme King Haki can seemingly cancel out the effects of these Magic Circles, causing those summoned by them to return to their starting point.

Devil Fruits

The original Five Elders in their Awakened Beast Forms.

The original Five Elders seem to have Devil Fruit powers of the Mythical Zoan variety. Additionally, all five of the previous Elders achieved successful Devil Fruit awakening, granting them increases in their physical capabilities while maintaining their minds.

While transformed, they were able to take a direct hit from Sabo's giant fire fist and remain unscathed, subsequently forcing the Revolutionary Army's "No. 2" to flee for his life. Their Beast Forms are massive in size, with some of them even dwarfing giants. Additionally, being Mythical Zoans, they each have their own unique abilities.

Of the five current Elders, three of their Zoan abilities are based on demon-beasts from East Asian myth (though, the full names of their Zoan fruit models have not been given, only the specific creatures they turn into):

• Saturn was able to turn into a Gyuki: a massive ox-spider yōkai.
• Mars can turn into an Itsumade: a monstrous bird yōkai that is part-snake.
• Warcury can turn into a Fengxi: a monstrous, four-tusked boar yāoguài.
• Nusjuro can turn into a Bakotsu: a skeletal, seemingly undead horse yōkai.
• Peter can turn into a Sandworm: a giant worm monster that can burrow through the earth.

Haki

All Five Elders individually possess incredibly powerful Haki. As soon as they were summoned to Egghead, many powerful people on the island, such as Roronoa Zoro, Rob Lucci and Jinbe, felt their presence, with some commenting on the impressiveness of their Haki itself.

• All Elders (sans Garling) have showcased Observation Haki.
• Nusjuro has showcased Armament Haki.
• Warcury and Mars have showcased Supreme King Haki.
• While alive, Saturn showcased Supreme King Haki and Observation Haki.

History

Past

Much of the Five Elders' background remains unknown. Due to their immortality, it is indicated that they have been able to remain in power for centuries, with Saturn known to have been active in his role for over 200 years. 200 years ago, following the Iron Giant Emet's attempted attack on Mary Geoise, Saturn secretly instructed a band of scientists who had been commissioned to dismantle it to instead preserve the robot for the potential it held in military technology development.

During his time with MADS, Dr. Vegapunk was recognized for his genius inventions and received an audience with the Five Elders in Mary Geoise.

38 years ago, Saturn was present on God Valley where the Native Hunting Competition, organized by the World Nobles, was taking place. However, things devolved into chaos as both the Rocks Pirates and Roger Pirates invaded the island during this and clashed with the Marines. During the ongoing battle, Saturn happened to come face to face with a young slave named Bartholomew Kuma and moved to attack him due to his status as a buccaneer. However, Kuma somehow managed to escape, and the larger battle became renowned as the God Valley Incident.

Ohara Incident

— An elder orders the annihilation of the island of Ohara.

Warcury, Peter, and Mars listening to Professor Clover's demands.

22 years ago, a group of archaeologists on Ohara led by Professor Clover were found to be studying the Poneglyphs, which was illegal. After Clover was apprehended, the Elders made contact with him via a Den Den Mushi call and confronted him for performing this research. However, Clover was defiant toward the Elders and noted the coincidence between the Void Century and the founding of the World Government before revealing he knew of the existence of the Great Kingdom that once opposed it; before he could say the kingdom's name to everyone in his vicinity, Peter ordered for Spandine to shoot him. The Elders then ordered for Ohara and all its residents to be destroyed as a Buster Call was declared on the island.

Pluton and the Pacifista Project

Less than 14 years ago, Spandam manipulated them to give him the authority to seek out the blueprints for Pluton.

4 years ago, Kuma agreed to become the template for Dr. Vegapunk's clone soldier project. To ensure this unprecedented development of human weapons would proceed as he saw best, Saturn inserted himself into the project and forced Kuma to agree to become a cyborg weapon himself and surrender his free will. Kuma agreed in order to save his daughter Jewelry Bonney from a deadly disease; unbeknownst to him, Bonney had been born in Mary Geoise and her condition came from experiments that Saturn had performed.

Sky Island Saga

Jaya Arc

The Five Elders discussed the situation around Shanks and Whitebeard. They were determined to keep Whitebeard and Shanks from making direct contact. They were also distressed with Crocodile due to his actions in Arabasta and his subsequent dismissal from the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Water 7 Saga

Long Ring Long Land Arc

Later, they heard of Aokiji sneaking out of Marine Headquarters and became disappointed with him. They remarked that he should be careful with his rank.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc

Later, after the Enies Lobby raid, they were shocked to hear that Shanks had successfully met with Whitebeard.

Summit War Saga

Post-War Arc

After the Summit War of Marineford, they gathered to discuss the state the world was in. They talked about how Monkey D. Luffy had become a huge threat, as well as his relations to Garp and Dragon. Topman Warcury commented on how their power structure had almost completely collapsed and asked how they would fill the three vacant Warlords of the Sea positions. They decided to observe world events for now until they could find influential enough people to become new Warlords.

They then discussed Blackbeard and his activities in the New World, mentioning that he had defeated one of the Supernovas and that he was in the lead for replacing Whitebeard as one of the Four Emperors. They believed that the only people who could stop his rise to power were the three remaining Emperors and the Whitebeard Pirates, who were currently under Marco's command. They also expressed concern about the Will of D. and that it had reached the public too much as of late.

Dressrosa Saga

Dressrosa Arc

The Five Elders talk with Sakazuki.

Following the discovered falsehood behind the story about Donquixote Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea and abdication of his throne, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki confronted the Five Elders about this, where they engaged in a heated argument. Sakazuki angrily asked the elders why the whole world had to be misled for Doflamingo's sake, noting that if an incident like this were to occur again, he as fleet admiral would be disgraced. The elders ignored him, saying that they were not concerned with his reputation as the Marines were only the public face of the World Government, and that the case had been left to the Cipher Pol.

Sakazuki retorted that even the elders had been walked over and called them Celestial Dragons' puppets. They responded in anger, blaming Sakazuki for Kuzan joining Blackbeard. Sakazuki replied that Kuzan's actions after he resigned from the Marines were not the concern of the government or the Marines. Suddenly, a Marine interrupted the meeting and reported about what transpired on Dressrosa. Much to their shock and displeasure, they learned of Doflamingo's defeat at Luffy's hands.

Admiral Fujitora publicly announced Doflamingo's defeat to the world along the exposure of the crimes he committed by abusing his Warlord of the Sea position. Since the announcement was given before the elders were informed of it, this prevented them from covering up the debacle, allowing the Straw Hat Pirates to take credit for exposing the Heavenly Yaksha's criminal enterprises.

Whole Cake Island Saga

Levely Arc

The Five Elders questioned Shanks on why he felt it was necessary to speak with them despite the Levely being so important and his criminal status not being appropriate for global diplomacy. They stated the only reason Shanks was granted a private audience with them was because he is one of the Four Emperors. Shanks expressed his gratitude, and the Elders ordered their guards to leave their chambers. Shanks conveyed his desire to discuss a certain pirate with the Five Elders.

The Five Elders meet with Imu.

Sometime after the Levely had formally begun, the Five Elders headed towards the chamber containing the Empty Throne as they discussed Nefertari Cobra's request to have an audience with them even though they saw the Nefertari Family as nothing more than traitors to the World Nobles for choosing to stay in the "world below". On their way to the chamber, Nusjuro mentioned that things are getting out of their control, and they cannot maintain the balance anymore and will have to carry out a global cleansing soon. Upon arriving at the chamber of the Empty Throne, the Five Elders quickly knelt down as they were greeted by Imu, who then proceeded to sit upon the Empty Throne itself. They asked Imu which "light" should disappear from history.

Wano Country Saga

Wano Country Arc

The Five Elders prepare to kill Cobra.

The Five Elders granted an audience to Cobra in the Empty Throne room, where he inquired about his ancestor Nefertari D. Lili who had been a member of the First Twenty but disappeared after deciding to return to Arabasta. The Elders claimed to have no knowledge of this matter from the distant past; Cobra then asked them about the initial D, revealing that his family still possessed a letter from Lili. Imu then appeared before Cobra to the Elders' shock and gave some answers to the king's questions; the Elders took out flintlocks in preparation to kill Cobra for seeing Imu. As Imu pierced Cobra with an attack, the Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff Sabo suddenly arrived and attacked the Elders with Hiken. The Elders and Imu then transformed and chased Sabo as he tried liberating Cobra from the throne room; however, Cobra elected to sacrifice himself and intercept their attack to allow Sabo to escape, resulting in his death. Nusjuro then noticed Wapol spying on the proceedings through a hole in the wall, but the Elders were ultimately unable to prevent him and Sabo from escaping Mary Geoise.

The Five Elders discussing the defeat of two Emperors.

After the end of the Raid on Onigashima, the Five Elders discussed the defeat of Kaidou and Big Mom and the effect such big news will have on the world. They also noted that with Zunesha gone, Wano Country would remain closed, and they would not be able to militarily occupy the country. They then inquired about CP0's capture of Robin, which Joseph confirmed, albeit nervously. Seven days later, when new wanted posters were issued, the Elders contacted a Marine and angrily questioned him about a picture on one of the posters, as well as a "D." not being removed as they had previously requested. The Marine stated that he had not heard that request and clarified that the photograph was sent by the CP0 agent Guernika. In response, Warcury demanded that the posters be reprinted, but the Marine replied that they are unable to contact the printers, so he ordered all distribution to cease immediately, but it was all in vain thanks to "Big News" Morgans.

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The following events are Non-Canon and therefore not considered part of the Canon story.

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One Piece Film: Red

The Five Elders watched Uta's concert in Elegia from the Den Den Mushi. They discussed Uta being the daughter of Shanks, a serious threat that was opposed to the Great Pirate Era, and how to stop her rebellion, though there was some hesitation among them to carry out her elimination as they worried, she may have been related to the Figarland Family. Also, they were very concerned about Uta's connection with Tot Musica and they could not afford to be cautious if she summoned that as a threat. The Five Elders did not fall asleep to Uta's powers as they already muted her songs. They were later informed by Lucci about an estimate being 70% of the world's population would be pulled into the Uta World.

The Five Elders, horrified, witnessed Uta turning everyone including Saint Charlos into inanimate objects. As they couldn't afford more casualties, they needed to make a decision even if a Celestial Dragon would get caught in the crossfire. They witnessed Tot Musica, finally summoned by Uta, attacking the Marine ships. Lucci tried to turn off the Den Den Mushi to cut the sounds, but Peter stated there was no point to mute it as the reality and the song of Tot Musica had already been linked. After Tot Musica was defeated by Luffy and Shanks, the Five Elders witnessed Uta releasing everyone from the Uta World through singing.

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Concludes non-canon section.

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Final Saga

Egghead Arc

Three months before the Egghead Incident, the Elders got an anonymous call from Vegapunk York, who leaked information to them about Vegapunk performing research on the Void Century. They sent several Cipher Pol squadrons to investigate, but no evidence was found and the agents all vanished afterwards. Eventually, York and the Elders had a discussion which made clear that Vegapunk's treachery was real, and the Elders dispatched CP0 to assassinate the scientist.

York also provided the Elders with a portion of Vegapunk's newly invented energy source known as the Mother Flame, which the Elders and Imu were interested in for the purpose of powering an Ancient Weapon. Shortly after the end of the Levely, Imu contacted the Elders and ordered them to test the Mother Flame on the Lulusia Kingdom. Said test occurred six days before the Egghead Incident; on that day, they got word from Marine Headquarters that a transmission from Sabo had been intercepted and traced back to Lulusia, and the Elders noted this stroke of fortune as the test commenced and the Mother Flame-powered Ancient Weapon annihilated Lulusia. The Elders then instructed the Marines to act as though they had not intercepted any transmission and that Lulusia had never existed to begin with.

On the day before the Egghead Incident, the Marines learned that the Straw Hat Pirates were on Egghead and had gotten involved in CP0's attempt to assassinate Vegapunk. Admiral Kizaru was tasked to lead a massive fleet to engage the Emperor Luffy's crew, and Saturn accompanied him in secret. The Marine fleet besieged Egghead the next day, and the Elders received a call from York who revealed that the Straw Hats and other Vegapunks had taken her hostage. Although the Elders had initially intended to kill her with the rest of the Vegapunks, they changed their mind in the wake of Lulusia's destruction in order to acquire more of the Mother Flame, and Saturn made it a priority to preserve the necessary machines on the island responsible for making it.

Saturn is attacked by Kuma on Egghead.

As the attack on Egghead began, Saturn initially stayed put and strategized with Kizaru and the Vice Admirals. However, he elected to join the fighting after Vegapunk took control of all the Pacifistas on the island, as he overrode Vegapunk's command before teleporting onto the island where he confronted Vegapunk, Jewelry Bonney, and several Straw Hats. Bonney quickly attacked Saturn to avenge Kuma; Saturn overpowered her, but before he could deal a death blow, Kuma unexpectedly arrived on Egghead and punched the Elder with devastating force. Saturn quickly recovered and ordered a Buster Call against Egghead; he then had the Pacifistas move to shoot down Bonney and Kuma as they tried to escape. However, Vegapunk had outwitted him and secretly made Bonney the highest authority over the Pacifistas, allowing her to turn them back to her side. Saturn quickly stabbed Vegapunk for this insolent act and was then attacked by Luffy, who took on both him and Kizaru at once. Luffy sent Saturn flying into a faraway building, where he briefly encountered Catarina Devon and Van Augur; once Devon touched Saturn, the two Blackbeard Pirates deemed their mission successful and escaped.

Saturn then resumed fighting Luffy, and Kizaru successfully killed Vegapunk during the chaos. However, a message from Vegapunk then began broadcasting all over the world. The other Elders were immediately alarmed at this, and Saturn summoned them all to his side on Egghead to assist in stopping it. Warcury and Peter stayed to assist Saturn against Luffy, while Nusjuro went to disable the Pacifistas; Mars, meanwhile, flew up to the Labophase and freed York to seek her guidance in learning where Vegapunk's transmission might be coming from. After an attempt to find it in Punk Records proved unsuccessful, the other Elders scoured the island to take out any Den Den Mushi they could find as Vegapunk began revealing to the world what he knew about the Void Century.

The Elders confront the Iron Giant.

York eventually deduced where Vegapunk hid the transmission source, telling the Elders it was inside Emet which was roaming around Egghead's surface. The Elders quickly confronted and attacked Emet, sending it into the sea and causing the transmission to stop before turning their attention back to attacking the Straw Hats, Bonney, and Kuma. However, Emet emerged from the sea and began fighting back against the Elders to allow Luffy, whom it recognized as Joy Boy, to escape. Warcury ultimately gored Emet, which killed the transmitting Den Den Mushi inside it and ended the broadcast, but not before a significant portion of Vegapunk's message had gone out. Before losing power, Emet untied a knot containing Joy Boy's Supreme King Haki, which forced the Elders out of their transformations and sent all of them except Saturn back to Mary Geoise.

Saturn is killed by Imu for letting Luffy escape.

Saturn departed Egghead on the Marine fleet, noting that they had successfully retained the necessary machines and York to create the Mother Flame. However, Imu then decided to kill Saturn for allowing Joy Boy to escape; despite Saturn's pleas, a large mass of black energy erupted from his body as he withered away into a skeleton. At the same time, Figarland Garling received orders to take Saturn's place among the Elders and his title of Warrior God of Science and Defense.

Merchandise

Video Games

Non-Playable Appearances

• One Piece: Grand Battle! 3
• One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!
• One Piece Odyssey

Translation and Dub Issues

The Japanese word for the Five Elders, Gorōsei, translates more closely to "Five Elder Stars", which is the name used formerly in the Funimation adaptation. When Oda translated the word in Chapter 907, he left out "stars" from the title. In later episodes dubbed by Funimation, their original name is used as well. The kanji 星 can also refer to a planet or a celestial object in general. Their namesakes, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn have been known about since antiquity as a set of objects in the night sky that move, which are the only planets visible to the naked eye. In the past, before people realized what they actually were, the word planet meant wandering star, which could be the origin of the "star" segment of their name.

Their titles as "Warrior Gods" (武神, bushin^?) may also be pun on the identical sounding bushin (武臣^?), a historical term for a government official serving a military and war. This may be the reason the English manga and anime translated their titles as "Godhead".

Trivia

• The Five Elders' names currently have the longest gap between their first appearance to their official introduction at 21 years and 2 days, with 853 chapters released; and at 21 years, 6 months, and 2 days, with 969 episodes released.
  • However, Saturn was the first of the Five Elders to be named between his first appearance and his official introduction at 20 years, 7 months, 7 weeks, and 1 day, with 840 chapters released; and at 21 years, 3 weeks, and 6 days, with 954 anime episodes released.
• The original Five Elders' namesakes are based on the first five non-Earth planets in the real-world Solar System, each of which is associated with a Wuxing: Mercury (Water), Venus (Metal), Mars (Fire), Jupiter (Wood), and Saturn (Earth).
  • Fittingly, the Japanese term for the Five Elders (五老星, Gorōsei^?) includes the character 星, which means "star" or "planet", and is included in the Japanese names of planets.
  • Interestingly, the planetary bodies which follow Saturn (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), all share their names or etymologies with the three Ancient Weapons.
  • Garling continues the astrology theme by representing the crescent moon, which symbolizes both the concept of Yin as well as the beginning and end of each Chinese Lunisolar Month. Furthermore, under the Ptolemaic model, the moon is one of the seven spheres, being the closest to Earth.
• The Five Elders resemble the concept of the real world five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, in which the five sovereign states were given a permanent seat by the Charter of the United Nations of 1945.
• Ordinarily, Marines ranked Commodore and below are not allowed to have an audience with the Five Elders, yet this restriction does not seem to apply to government workers such as Spandam.
• Many readers and writers in Japan have speculated that the motifs of the Five Elders' transformations were based on livestock, the "slaves of humanity", contrary to the above-mentioned historical figures who were dedicated to improve human rights and freedoms; the Gyuki (cattle), Bakotsu (horse), Fengxi (pig), Itsumade (poultry), and Sandworm (silkworm and mealworm).