Blackbeard

Yonko · Son of Rocks · Grandson of Davy Jones · Wielder of two Devil Fruits, possibly three

Profile

Per the 2026 reveals (Ch. 1162–Ch. 1164), Teach is the son of Rocks D. Xebec and Eris, hidden on God Valley as an infant. As Davy D. Jones’s grandson, he inherits the Will of Davy directly — possibly the purest D.-clan lineage in the story. Stole the Gura Gura no Mi from Whitebeard’s corpse via unknown method (Ch. 576), breaking the one-fruit-per-person rule. Holds Garp captive as of late Elbaf.

See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits for the leading “how” theories.

Etymology

Marshall D. Teach is a direct homage to the real-world pirate Edward Teach (c. 1680–1718) — Blackbeard — English pirate of the West Indies and the American eastern seaboard, famous for the enormous black beard he wore long with lit slow-match fuses braided in to terrify victims, and for his flagship the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Oda forks the historical Edward Teach into two One Piece characters: Whitebeard takes the forename and seafaring-overlord status (Edward Newgate), while Blackbeard takes the surname (Marshall D. Teach) and the actual epithet. The Whitebeard commander Thatch — murdered by Teach to steal the Yami Yami no Mi — uses Edward Teach’s alternate historical surname spelling (Thatch).

Two nice deeper layers:

• His Devil Fruit (Yami Yami no Mi) gives off black smoke, mirroring the historical Teach’s smoking lit-fuse beard.
• His bounty 3,9​96,000,000 hides a goroawase: the 9-6 reads kyū-ro, and 黒 (kuro) = “black” — i.e. the bounty number itself spells his “Black(beard)” name.

The early VIZ rendering “Teech” (ティーチ over-literalism) weakened the allusion; later printings reverted to Teach. Sources: One Piece Wiki; Wikipedia, Blackbeard.

Arc-by-arc updates

God Valley (flashback) (Ch. 1164) — shown (deep flashback)

• Young “Teech” is present at God Valley as a small child (p. 13).
• A blonde woman shields him and vows he must survive “whatever it takes to keep the Davy blood alive” — moments after recognizing the transformed monster as Xebec (Rocks D. Xebec, Blackbeard’s father per Ch. 1154) (p. 13). Seeds a Davy → Xebec → Teach bloodline.
• See The Davy Blood Must Survive Through Blackbeard, Will of D, Rocks and God Valley.

God Valley flashback (Ch. 1162) — shown (deep flashback)

• Shown as an infant, “Teech,” at the God Valley Incident — son of Rocks D. Xebec and Eris (pp. 8, 11, 15). Eris shields him through the battle and vows to die with him rather than let him be captured (the “Davy name” is hunted).
• See Eris, Rocks, Rocks and God Valley.

God Valley flashback — young Teech led to safety (Ch. 1159) — shown (deep flashback)

Elbaf (flashback) — referenced: named as Xebec’s son (Ch. 1154) — named, not shown

• (Referenced only → last_mentioned 1100→1154; HOLD last_appearance 1126, firsts fm 0133 / fa 0223. ) See Rocks, D, Will of D.

Elbaf (voyage) — returns to Fullalead; the haul (Ch. 1126)

• Returns to Fullalead enraged that Koby and Gecko Moria escaped, but exults at the captures of Garp (alive) and the “three-eyed girl” (Charlotte Pudding) (pp. 10-13). Frames the moment as a global “scramble for the stones” now that “the poneglyphs ain’t just the knowledge of the underworld anymore” (p. 10). Has Lafitte patched in via the Umit Shipping Company; relishes the prospect of starving Celestial Dragons (pp. 13-14). See Garp’s Disappearance at Fullalead (RESOLVED @1126), Koby Abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates.

Final Saga — Egghead broadcast: Caribou’s secret (Ch. 1122)

• The broadcast reaches the crew; Caribou promises Teach a revelation that “will delight you!!” A crewmate suggests killing the source, but Blackbeard rules: “If what he has to say doesn’t blow me away… we’ll blow HIM away!! Bring him to me!!!” The crew vows to follow him “to the depths of hell!!!” (p.5). What Caribou knows — GUARDED.

Final Saga — world reaction (Ch. 1121)

• At Pirate Island Fullalead, his crew chafes at the broadcast — “I can’t just wait around like this!! / Is the Commodore’s crew back yet, or what?!” Blackbeard’s eye appears in shadow in the closing race-for-One-Piece montage (pp. 14, 16).

Egghead / Final Saga — confronts Garp at Fullalead (Ch. 1088)

• Appears at the climax as Garp’s rescue squad escapes with Koby — a dark silhouette amid his crew, laughing “BWA HA HA HA!!!” (p. 18). Garp stays to face him alone; the newspaper then reports Garp’s “disappearance” on Pirate Island (p. 19), implying a Blackbeard-vs-Garp clash the chapter conceals. Kuzan is present on his side (p. 9). See Garp’s Disappearance at Fullalead, Koby Abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates (RESOLVED @1088).

Winner Island — covets Law’s Op-Op Fruit; recruiting Kuzan in flashback (Ch. 1081)

• Present-day, Winner Island: with Law and the Heart Pirates defeated, Blackbeard names his motive for hunting Law — “I just can’t decide whether to sell the Op-Op Fruit, or use it… can it give me eternal life?!” (p. 18) — the Immortality Operation. See Ope Ope no Mi.
• Recruitment flashback (~1 year ago, Pirate Island bar): Teach drinks with the arriving ex-Admiral Kuzan (a year after Kuzan’s 2-years-ago Fleet-Admiral duel), warns him off testing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (“your crew will crumble to pieces”, p. 9), and offers him a place: “Would you ride with us instead?! … In our world, justice takes a different form!!” — recruiting Kuzan as the crew’s Tenth Ship Captain (pp. 9–13). See Blackbeard Pirates.

Egghead-era — the “Blackbeard Kingdom” plan (Ch. 1080)

• At Fullalead, reveals his ambition to turn Pirate Island into its own country — a member of the World Government (“Blackbeard Kingdom”), using the captured hero Koby as a bargaining chip (pp. 6–8). “Ze ha ha ha!!” See Blackbeard’s Bid for Nationhood.
• Orders Koby recaptured alive (“don’t kill Koby!!”); unmoved when Koby reveals SWORD makes the hostage gambit worthless, “but I’m not changin’ plans!!” (pp. 3, 8). The base is then cratered by Garp’s Galaxy Impact. See Koby Abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates.

Egghead / Final Saga (Ch. 1071) — referenced, not shown

• Named as Koby’s captor (“Blackbeard’s got Koby”); Garp deploys from G-14 to Fullalead to retrieve Koby from him (pp. 16-17). See Koby Abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates.

Post-Wano — Winner Island (Ch. 1064)

• Continues the ambush on Law at Winner Island, throwing quake-shockwave attacks (“Tremor Crush,” “Black Vortex”) with his Gura Gura no Mi (pp. 2–9). His crew confirms all of his officers now carry Devil Fruits — “they all share the same weakness, the sea, but the benefits are worth the risk” (p. 7). See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

New World — ambushes Law; hunts his road poneglyphs (Ch. 1063)

• Ambushes Law’s surfaced submarine at sea, descending on his winged-Pegasus mount Stronger (“Zeha ha ha ha!!”); greets Law as a fellow “worst generation” and gloats over Kaido and Big Mom’s fall (pp. 14–15).
• Declares the fight “winner takes all” and demands “how many have you found?! I’ll take all your road poneglyphs!!!” — the Yonko openly racing for Laugh Tale. See Road Poneglyph, What is the One Piece.
• His crew’s powers are on display and freshly named — Burgess’s Strong-Strong Fruit super-strength, Van Augur’s Warp-Warp Fruit teleportation, Doc Q’s Sick-Sick Fruit contagion — reinforcing the crew’s devil-fruit-harvesting reputation. See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits, Blackbeard Pirates Harvest Devil-Fruit Abilities From Power-Users.

Amazon Lily raid (post-Wano) (Ch. 1059)

• Bounty on-page confirmed: 3,996,000,000 berries (p.13 bio-box) — matches the held frontmatter value; do not regress.
• Raids Amazon Lily to seize Hancock’s Mero Mero no Mi — “all yours… as long as I get those powers!!” (p.8); fits his Devil-Fruit-collecting agenda targeting the dethroned former Warlords. See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.
• Uses “Black Hole” (Yami Yami no Mi) to nullify Hancock’s petrification on contact (p.11).
• Backstory dropped: he toppled Wang Zhi to become “boss of Pirate Island” (Fullalead) and recalls the Rocky Port Incident with Koby (“You helped me out in that Rocky Port Incident”, p.14).
• Stands down when Rayleigh intervenes — Rayleigh addresses him as “Whitebeard’s cabin boy” (p.15).
• His crew abducts Captain Koby (p.17). See Koby Abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates.

New Era — the new Four Emperors reveal (Ch. 1053)

• “Marshall D. Teach / Blackbeard Teach” named one of the new Four Emperors (p.17), alongside Shanks, Buggy, and Luffy, with Kaido and Big Mom toppled. Present-day reaction cutaway: “The world outside is one unholy mess right now…” (p.17). See Four Emperors (Yonko).

Flashback — Whitebeard Pirates era (Ch. 999) — flashback; does not advance last_appearance

• Shown as a Whitebeard Pirate alongside Ace, addressing him as “Commander Ace” and noting “Oden was plenty tough!!” while egging on the talk of taking out a “big shot” (Kaido) (p. 13).

Wano — Oden-era origin flashback (Ch. 965) — young Teach recruited (historical)

• Earliest depiction of his recruitment: a young orphan Teach begs aboard the Whitebeard Pirates (“I got nowhere else to go!!”) and Whitebeard — “another orphan, it seems… Teech!!” — lets him on (p. 5). First on-page dramatization of how Teach entered the crew he would later betray.

Wano interlude — newest Emperor, Fullalead boss (Ch. 957)

• Bounty as of 957: 2,247,600,000, “Commodore of the Blackbeard Pirates”; given the Emperor title just one year ago — the newest of the four (pp. 12-13).
• Current boss of the pirate island Fullalead, expanding his territory to fill the void left by Whitebeard; gained “mighty new followers” through his Impel Down assault two years ago (p. 13).

Reverie aftermath — Fullalead (Ch. 956)

• At Pirate Island, Fullalead, reacts to the Warlord abolition: “If the Navy’s only going to take it… I might as well claim the prize! Pack yer bags!! Onto the ship!!” — moving to hunt the dethroned former Warlords (p. 10). See Blackbeard Hunts the Dethroned Warlords.

Wano-era cutaway — Fullalead (Ch. 925)

• Captioned “Emperor of the Sea — Commodore of the Blackbeard Pirates,” bounty 2,247,600,000 (at this time) (p. 10).
• Arrives mid-quake (his Tremor power) as Moria rampages at the Pirate Island of Fullalead, inviting him aboard: “Then come ride on my ship instead!! Do ye like partying, Moria?!” (p. 9).
• His crew openly hunts “people with particular powers” (p. 6) — a crew-wide Devil-Fruit-acquisition MO. Cross-link Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

Reverie / Levely (Ch. 903)

• Reads the “Fifth Emperor” headline and dismisses Luffy’s promotion: “Ze ha ha ha… You’re not ready for that yet, Straw Hat!! An emperor…?” (p. 15) — seeds the future Luffy–Blackbeard rivalry. See Big Mom and Kaido Set Sights on Straw Hat, Four Emperors (Yonko).

Four-Emperors saga — the Revolutionary HQ raid reported (Ch. 824) — reported in the news, not shown

• The Blackbeard Pirates raid the Revolutionary Army HQ, leveling the settlement before the Navy/Cipher Pol arrive; the HQ location was leaked by an anonymous source; Blackbeard briefly clashes with Cipher Pol, then flees. No fatalities reported (pp. 5–6). Burgess’s earlier Dressrosa clash with Sabo is floated as a possible link. See Anonymous Source Behind the Revolutionary HQ Raid, Burgess Marks Baltigo for a Blackbeard Assault.

Post-War — became a Yonko via the Grudge War (Ch. 820) — mentioned

• Revealed that one year ago Teech’s crew obliterated Marco’s Whitebeard remnants in “the Grudge War,” and “it was only after this major confrontation that Blackbeard was first included… among the list of the Four Emperors” (pp. 11–12). See Grudge War, Four Emperors (Yonko).

Four Emperors saga — crew operates as an Emperor fleet (Ch. 803) — referenced via his crew, not shown

• Referenced via his crew, not shown. His crew (Shiryu, Lafitte) is shown operating an Emperor-tier multi-ship fleet; Burgess relays the Revolutionary HQ’s location (Baltigo) for a future raid (pp. 8-9). Referred to as “Commodore/Captain Teech.”

Dressrosa — referenced (Ch. 720) — mentioned, not shown; the crew weighs “Aokiji’s word”

• Referenced via his crew, not shown. Through Burgess, it is revealed that Blackbeard originally offered “the original one” (Ace) a place / the Flame-Flame fruit, and Ace turned him down; now the crew means to claim the reborn Mera Mera no Mi for Burgess (p. 11). The crew also weighs whether to trust “Aokiji’s word” and Shiryu (p. 10). See Blackbeard Pirates Hinge On Aokijis Word.

Dressrosa — referenced (Ch. 704) — the crew’s numbered-division structure surfaces

• Referenced via his crew, not shown. At Dressrosa’s Corrida Coliseum his crew is publicly called “the terrible Blackbeard Crew, one of the infamous Four Emperors” (p. 19), and is shown to use a numbered-division command structure: his 1st Division Captain Jesus Burgess (“Mr. Store”) competes for the reborn Mera Mera no Mi, winning Block A and unmasking (pp. 18–19). First on-page evidence of the Blackbeard Pirates’ division command-structure.

Post-War / Timeskip — recounted (Ch. 650) — recollection panel

• Recounted in Jinbei’s exposition (with his looming face shown, pp. 7-8): after Whitebeard’s death he conquered Whitebeard’s entire stretch of sea using the stolen quake-power (Gura Gura no Mi) and is now counted as one of the Four Emperors alongside Shanks, Kaido, and Big Mom. His crew is hunting devil-fruit users — “they possess the means to kill power-users and loot them of their abilities” (pp. 7-8). See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

Post-War (Ch. 595) — shown

• Sailing the New World on a battered raft (their ship damaged), Teech bemoans not stealing a Marineford warship and manages his now-ten-strong, openly bickering crew: “Stop whining, Wolf!… We’re trying to strike a deal here!” (pp. 6–7). First post-Marineford on-page group scene of the expanded crew.

Post-War (Ch. 581) — named by others / flashback recap

• Flagged by the rookies as the rising new power and “an eventual enemy”; “the key here is Blackbeard” (p.4).
• Flashback recap of his Level 6 recruitment: he forced a survivors’ cage-fight and “only took four of them” — the strongest of the world’s most dangerous prisoners (pp.15-16). (Recruits named in Ch. 576.)

Marineford — the war’s conclusion (Ch. 580) — shown

• Confronted by Shanks (“What about you, Teech?! Or should I call you Blackbeard?”), declines the duel — “I got what I wanted. This is not yet the time… for me to fight you! …I’ll pass!” — and withdraws with his crew (p. 11). Seeds the deferred Shanks-vs-Blackbeard reckoning. See Blackbeard Declines To Fight Shanks Not Yet The Time.

Marineford — first use of the stolen tremor fruit (Ch. 579)

• Wields the Gura Gura no Mi for the first time, generating island-leveling tsunamis (“This power is exhilarating!!”), but cannot yet control it — risks collapsing the ground under his own crew (pp. 4–5).
• Declares Whitebeard’s era over, taunts Sengoku (“Buddha”) and Garp (“Hero/Hedo”): “Do you think you can stop me?!” (p. 5).
• His quake’s tidal wave is broadcast as heading for the Sabaody Archipelago; “No one can stop me!! I will destroy everything!! I will swallow up everything!!” (p. 8). Direct evidence for Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

Marineford (Ch. 578)

• First wields Whitebeard’s stolen tremor power in combat — a quake shockwave over Marineford — while keeping his own Yami Yami darkness; declares “I’m gonna sink Marineford!!” (pp. 4-6).
• Verbally clashes with Sengoku, who refuses to let him speak lightly of sinking “the hub of our world” (p. 7).

Summit War / Marineford — wields two Devil Fruits; “my era begins” (Ch. 577) — shown

• Wields two Devil Fruits. After draping a black cloth over Whitebeard’s corpse for his “greatest show in the world” (pp. 4-5), Teach takes the Gura Gura no Mi from the body and uses Whitebeard’s earthquake (pp. 13-15) in the same body as his Yami Yami no Mi “Black Hole” (p. 13) — the first on-page individual to demonstrably wield two Devil Fruits. The Marines voice the broken rule: “I thought it was impossible for anyone to have two different Devil Fruit powers!” → that’s true “for normal humans… but Teech isn’t normal!” → “His body is… odd.” See Blackbeard Multiple Fruits, Nature of Devil Fruits.
• “My era begins.” Broadcasts to the Navy, the World Government, and all pirates that “the future of the world has just been decided!… my era… begins!!” (pp. 16-17). See Shanks Warns Whitebeard Blackbeard Will Aim For Your Seat, Blackbeard Wields Two Devil Fruits And Declares His Era Begins.

Summit War / Marineford — the plan revealed; duel with Whitebeard (Ch. 576) — shown

• Arrives at Marineford with his crew and the colossal giant San Juan Wolf, escorting freed Level 6 prisoners (pp. 2-3).
• Reveals the whole long con: the Seventh Warlord seat was only ever a key to open the Gates of Justice and breach Impel Down — “now that it’s done, I don’t need that title anymore!” (p. 5). Renounces the title.
• Fights Whitebeard — “Thatch died, but so did Ace, Pops!!”; his Yami Yami no Mi nullifies the quakes (“your powers have no effect on me anymore!!”, pp. 6-8); takes a heavy beating and a point-blank quake to the face (p. 9), then has his crew gun Whitebeard down (pp. 10-11).
• After Whitebeard dies: “Forgive me, my sons. I couldn’t finish off that fool! This is… for me.” (p. 14).

Summit War / Marineford — arrives as Whitebeard lies dying (Ch. 575) — shown

• Arrives at Marineford with his full crew, emerging from behind the fortress onto the execution platform as Whitebeard lies dying (pp. 13-15).
• Greets his former captain: “Long time no see! I’m glad I’ll get to see you die, Pops!!” — recognized by Whitebeard as “Teech” (p. 15). The vulture timing fixates on the dying Emperor, not the battle. See Blackbeard Pirates Arrive At Marineford As Whitebeard Lies Dying, Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

Whitebeard-crew flashback — the murder of Thatch dramatized (Ch. 552) — shown in flashback

• Shown serving in Ace’s 2nd Division and described as the one “with Whitebeard the longest” (p. 13); declined the Division-Two commander post (“Ze ha ha ha… I don’t have those kinds of ambitions”) and recommended Ace.
• The murder of Thatch and his flight from the crew are dramatized on-page (pp. 13-14) — the inciting crime that put Ace on his trail and, downstream, triggered the present war. Reinforces Blackbeard Multiple Fruits, Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal.

Impel Down — survives Magellan’s poison; welcomes Shiryu as an ally (Ch. 549)

• The Blackbeard Pirates survive Magellan’s poison at Level 4 — an antidote reaches them in time (“If I hadn’t shown up with the antidote, you’d all be dead”) (p. 2).
• Welcomes Shiryu as an ally: “Glad you came to help us!… you’ll be a great ally!”; “Ze ha ha ha! Let’s live for the moment — but whoever gets scared first loses!” (pp. 2-3). See Shiryu Of The Rain Freed And Sides With Blackbeard At Impel Down.

Impel Down — Black Vortex vs Luffy; “the age of pirate dreams is over” (Ch. 544)

• Encounters Luffy’s breakout at the Level 3 stairway. Reveals he originally targeted Luffy at Water 7 for a Warlord seat; Ace intercepted and was captured instead — which is how Teech “became one of the Seven Warlords.”
• Uses Black Vortex to drag Luffy in and nullify his rubber (Luffy bleeds — “Isn’t he made of rubber?!”); declares “The age of pirate dreams is over” and promises a “show that will shake the world… in a few short hours.” See Yami Yami no Mi, What is the One Piece.
• Faces Warden Magellan, who hits the crew with the Hydra poison (p. 17). His men sever Impel Down’s communications with Navy HQ. See Blackbeard Pirates.

Impel Down — breaches to Level 4; greets Luffy (Ch. 543) — “my old division leader, Ace”

• Storms Impel Down with his five-man crew, breaching from Level 1 up to Level 4; cuts down Under Warden Hannyabal from behind (pp. 16-17).
• Greets Luffy (“Long time no see, Straw Hat!”) and reveals he learned Luffy is the brother of Ace, “my old division leader,” confirming Teech’s pre-defection place in the Whitebeard Pirates’ 2nd Division (p. 19). Taunts that Ace is “about to lose his head.” See Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal.
• Recognized by Jinbe (“Teech! What are you doing here?!”) and by Luffy as the Jaya / Mock Town stranger (pp. 17-18). The freed ex-Head-Jailer Shiryu is at his side. See Shiryu Of The Rain Freed And Sides With Blackbeard At Impel Down.

Impel Down — invades the prison; “LIBERATION!!” (Ch. 542) — uses the Warlord seat as a master key

• Brings his entire crew to Impel Down’s main entrance instead of the Marineford war; walks in under his Warlord cover — “It’s all right. I’m with the government now” (p. 5) — then attacks: “LIBERATION!!” as the guards are annihilated (p. 6).
• Named in full on-page as “Marshall D. Teech, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea” (p. 6) — the staff identify the invader.
• “What a gloomy place! Wee-ha-ha!” / “ZE HA HA HA…” — enters with clear malicious intent. See Blackbeard Invades Impel Down To Liberate Level 6, Blackbeards Warlord Seat And Aces Impel Down Execution Announced.

Summit War — re-reported as Ace’s captor and a new Warlord (mentioned) (Ch. 522)

• News relayed at Amazon Lily by Grandma Nyon: “some pirate called Blackbeard… captured ‘Fire Fist’ Ace… and was recently made one of the Seven Warlords” (p. 8). Reinforces the 0474/0486 seat-succession beat.

Mentioned — Warlord nomination (Ch. 486)

• Kuma’s relayed news + the newspaper name Blackbeard as the pirate set to replace Crocodile among the Seven Warlords, having captured Ace and handed him to the government (p. 3). See Blackbeards Warlord Seat And Aces Impel Down Execution Announced.

Thriller Bark — appointed Seventh Warlord (off-page reveal) (Ch. 474) — Crocodile’s replacement; bounty zero; ex-Whitebeard who fled

• Reveal (via Kuma briefing Gecko Moria, pp. 12-15): following Crocodile’s removal, the Warlord seat’s replacement is decided — “The name of the successor… is Marshall D. Teech” (p. 12, the D. printed on-page). “Also known as Blackbeard.” This consummates Lafitte’s Ch. 234 Mariejois petition.
• Original bounty: ZERO (p. 13) — “completely unknown; I’m surprised the government approved of it.” Restated as “a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates” who “fled from there and proved his abilities before being appointed” (pp. 13-15) — re-affirms the defection canonized Ch. 159/Ch. 440. Cross-link Blackbeard Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Blackbeard Appointed Seventh Warlord Replacing Crocodile Bounty Zero.

Post-Enies Lobby — Banaro Island duel (Ch. 441) — Yami Yami no Mi powers debut; fights Ace; the absorb/nullify rulebook

• First full on-page demonstration of the Yami Yami no Mi (the “Dark-Dark Fruit”), named a Logia and “the most dangerous power in the history of all Devil Fruit powers” (pp. 2-3). Techniques: Black Hole (swallows the entire town into the ground) and Liberation (ejects the crushed debris in one blast).
• The double-rulebook (pp. 11-14): his body absorbs all pain and amplifies it (he can be hurt — Ace’s fire burns him), and by touch he cancels any Devil Fruit user’s powers — “Logia, Zoan, Paramythia… back into ordinary, weak human beings”; his Black Vortex gravity pulls a user’s body in. Lands a real punch on a depowered Ace.
• Recruits Ace, refused (p. 17): “Come on, Ace! Join me! But it’d be a great loss if you died!” Frames the duel as sun vs darkness (p. 19): “The sun?! Or the darkness?! Only one of us will win!” Cross-link Ace Vs Blackbeard Sun Versus Darkness Thematic Duel, Yami Yami No Mi Nullifies Devil Fruit Powers By Touch Rulebook.
• Confirms Teach has obtained and mastered the Yami Yami no Mi he defected to steal (cross-link Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal). (last_appearance ADVANCES 0440→0441; the multi-fruit mechanism stays an open thread — Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.)

Post-Enies Lobby — Banaro Island (Ch. 440) — named a pirate captain on-caption; confesses Thatch’s murder; darkness-Logia power debut

• Now a pirate captain (“Head of the Blackbeard Pirates, Captain Marshall D. Teech,” p. 11). Full name canonized on-caption (VIZ spelling “Teech”).
• Confesses he killed Thatch (Whitebeard’s Fourth Division Commander) for a Devil Fruit he had hunted for decades (p. 17); stayed on Whitebeard’s ship for decades and memorized the Devil-Fruit identification manual to recognize it.
• States the pirate rule: “the one who finds a Devil Fruit has the right to eat it” (p. 17).
• Ambition: “Whitebeard’s era is over! I will become the King of the Pirates!” — proposes Ace join him to take over the world; plans to kill Luffy at Water Seven and gift him to the government (pp. 12–13).
• Darkness-Logia power debut — “a rarity even among the Logia fruits” → “You may be fire… but I’m made of darkness!” (pp. 17–19). Fruit not named on-page. (last_appearance ADVANCES 0434→0440.) Cross-link Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal, Blackbeard Multiple Fruits.

Heading for Enies Lobby (Ch. 434) — named as Shanks’s scar-giver and Whitebeard’s hidden threat; Ace catches up

• Named on-page by Shanks as the man who gave him his three eye-scars and as a hidden threat inside Whitebeard’s crew biding his time to seize the top (pp. 11-12). Cross-link Shanks Warns Whitebeard Blackbeard Will Aim For Your Seat.
• Whitebeard confirms Teach killed a crewmate — “the one unforgivable crime” — which is why Ace hunts him (p. 14). Cross-link Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal.
• On a Grand Line island the Blackbeard Pirates read of the Straw Hats razing Enies Lobby and set sail there to claim Luffy’s rising bounty (“they’re almost in our grip,” p. 18; “Ze ha ha ha!”). At chapter’s end Ace catches up: “I’ve been looking for you!” (p. 20). (last_appearance ADVANCES 0237→0434.)

Jaya / Sky-Island launch (Ch. 237) — watches the Straw Hats blast up the Knock-Up Stream; “endlessly turning wheel” doctrine

• Pages 2–4: Teach and Jesus Burgess, on a small boat on the Blue Sea, watch the Straw Hats blast away up the Knock-Up Stream. Their “prey” escaped; Burgess wants to chase, but Teach is unbothered.
• Load-bearing doctrine line (pages 3–4): “This world… is one big, endlessly turning wheel… Don’t worry, Burgess. They haven’t disappeared from this world. If we stay on the Grand Line, we’ll meet them again soon enough… If our will is strong… we’ll meet again.” — direct telegraph of the future Luffy–Blackbeard collision; the “will” rhetoric ties to the Will of D theme (Will of D).
• Confirms Teach survives Jaya and stays on the Grand Line in pursuit. Cross-link Blackbeard This World Is One Big Endlessly Turning Wheel Doctrine (new).

Jaya — Mock Town crew reveal (Ch. 234) — Blackbeard Pirates fully revealed; “Marshall D. Teach” name-caption with the D. shown explicitly

• Crew fully revealed in Mock Town (pp. 18–19): captain “Marshall D. Teach,” with the D. middle initial shown explicitly in his caption (p. 19). This is a notable crew-reveal appearance, not a first appearance — first_appearance remains Ch. 223 (provisional, earlier batch).
• Hunting doctrine stated: “I’m looking for a head worth a hundred million!! I don’t deal with small fry!!” (pp. 16, 19).
• His navigator Lafitte petitions the Warlord summit at Mariejois to have Teach appointed Warlord to fill Crocodile’s vacated seat (pp. 8–9, 16).
• Sets sail from Mock Town to hunt — the same town the Straw Hats just left.

Jaya — Mock Town (Ch. 225) — “People’s dreams don’t ever end” speech; first major dialogue

• LOAD-BEARING — Blackbeard’s core dream-doctrine articulated on-page for the first time. As Bellamy declares “the age of pirate dreams is over,” Blackbeard — drinking alone, laughing — shouts back “People’s dreams…don’t ever end!!” (Ch. 225 pp. 12–13). This is the thesis statement of his entire character and the moral counter-axis to Bellamy’s “new age” nihilism. One of the most-cited early-series lines.
• Two-sided characterization, deliberately contradictory. He first damns Luffy and Zoro: “Pacifism…sounds like an excuse for cowardice to me,” “They’re worms,” “Get them out of my sight! They make me sick” (pp. 4–6). Then he reverses: praises their endurance — “Your comeback was impressive too! You’ve got guts!” — and reframes refusing-to-fight as strength: “If you’re aiming for the top…you don’t always need your fists to show your might!!” and “It isn’t easy to be great!!” (pp. 11, 14–15). The unreadable double-register seeds his opaque alignment.
• Affirms the sky island exists to Luffy directly: “There’s more than one…I think” and wishes the crew well: “I hope you make it…to the sky island” (pp. 17–18). Identifies himself (off-page) as Luffy’s apple-feeding well-wisher from Ch. 223.
• Shown drinking heavily and laughing constantly — the never-sleeps / always-drinking characterization that later feeds the multi-consciousness / multi-fruit speculation. Cross-link Blackbeard Multiple Fruits, Will of D. (Name Marshall D. Teach not yet spoken on-page.)

Jaya — Mock Town (Ch. 223) — First on-page appearance (unnamed, face in shadow)

• Blackbeard’s first on-page appearance in the series, ~90 chapters after his name was first dropped (Ch. 133) and ~64 after his origin was canonized (Ch. 159). He is drawn entirely as a cloaked, face-shadowed silhouette — a deliberate villain-silhouette debut. His name is NOT spoken in-chapter; he is an unidentified Mock Town drifter.
• Introduced as a sickly man — “I was born with a weak constitution” — who falls off his horse and coughs up blood (pp. 5-6).
• Gives Luffy apples in thanks for help; watches Luffy unknowingly eat an unexploded bomb-apple and survive, then delivers his thesis line: “You’re… a lucky boy.” (pp. 6-8). Early install of Teach’s luck/fate-and-dreams philosophy.
• Eats beside Luffy at the tavern bar in the famous mirror two-shot: Teach “THIS CHERRY PIE IS SO GOOD I COULD DIE!!” / Luffy ”…SO BAD I COULD DIE!!” (p. 16). Frames Teach as Luffy’s dark counterpart before either is named to the other.
• Buys fifty cherry pies to go, leaves the bar telling Luffy “There’s no fighting in here” — exits just as Bellamy crashes in (p. 19).

Alabasta (Ch. 159) — Origin-story reveal — former Whitebeard 2nd-Division pirate who killed a shipmate and jumped ship

• LOAD-BEARING — Blackbeard origin-story canonized on-page (Ch. 159 p. 15). Ace, identifying him as the prey of his Alabasta business: “He was one of my henchmen. He used to belong to Whitebeard’s Second Division. He committed the worst crime possible for a pirate. He killed a shipmate and jumped ship. He’s been calling himself ‘Blackbeard’ lately. I’m on the trail of a major outlaw right now.” First on-page reveal of Blackbeard’s actual identity: a former Whitebeard 2nd-Division pirate (under Ace’s command) who murdered a Whitebeard crewmate and jumped ship.
• Single most load-bearing line in the chapter: in 60 words, Oda pre-loads (1) Ace’s pursuit of Blackbeard at Banaro Island (~Ch. 440); (2) Ace’s capture by Blackbeard; (3) Ace’s execution at Marineford; (4) Whitebeard’s vengeance-war; (5) Blackbeard’s Marineford Yonko-promotion. 400 chapters of arc-architecture in one paragraph.
• Self-adoption of the name Blackbeard — Ace: “He’s been calling himself ‘Blackbeard’ lately.” — first on-page evidence that Blackbeard is an adopted captain-name (not his original name; his birth-name Marshall D. Teach is forward-canon). The Ch. 133 Dalton name-drop is thus his self-chosen captain-epithet, post-Whitebeard-defection. Cross-link Blackbeard Five-Pirate Crew Conquered Drum Kingdom Off-Page Debut (Ch. 159 captain-epithet evidence add — Blackbeard is his post-defection self-adoption).
• Hunted by Ace — Ace’s trail of a major outlaw register makes Blackbeard the single highest-priority bounty in Ace’s operational world. Pre-loads forward-canon Banaro Island arc. Cross-link Ace (pursuer / former commander), Whitebeard (former captain / betrayed), Whitebeard Pirates (former member), Blackbeard Killed Shipmate And Jumped Ship Reveal (new — load-bearing).

Drum Island (Ch. 154) — Ace’s manhunt target named on-page

• First on-page mention of the name Blackbeard. Dalton tells the Straw Hats that “only a few months ago” the Drum Kingdom was “defeated by pirates” — “there were only five pirates. They were immensely powerful… The captain called himself Blackbeard.” (Ch. 133 pp. 17-18).
• Blackbeard is established here purely as a name and a reputation: a captain who, with a crew of only five, can overrun an entire kingdom in a single strike. The conquest of the Drum Kingdom is Blackbeard’s first attributed deed in the series.
• The character (Marshall D. Teach) does not appear on-page until Ch. 223; this is one of Oda’s longest-fuse name-drops.

God Valley (flashback) (Ch. 1161) — name “Teech” called out; not shown

SBS reveals