Four Emperors (Yonko)
- Introduced
- Ch. 432
- Name meaning
- 四皇 (Yonkō) = 四 (yon, 'four') + 皇 (kō, 'emperor / august sovereign' — the same 皇 as in 天皇 Tennō, the Emperor of Japan). The four mightiest pirates of the New World, who 'live as though sovereigns'; in-text also called 海の皇帝 (Umi no Kōtei) 'Emperors of the Sea.' One leg of the Three Great Powers that balance the world.
First named on-page: Ch. 432 p. 7 — by Garp explaining the world’s power structure to Luffy.
The Four Emperors (Yonko) are the four most powerful pirate captains who rule territories in the second half of the Grand Line (the New World). Per Garp (p. 7): “People call them the Four Emperors. … He’s one of the four greatest pirates in the world, who live in the second half of the Grand Line. … they rule the lands there with an iron grip.” Shanks is named as one of them, “considered to be on the same level as Whitebeard.”
The Four Emperors form one leg of the Three Great Powers — the WG-enforced balance among the Yonko, the Seven Warlords, and the Marines. “If the balance between these three great powers is broken, the world will fall into disarray.” The Navy and the Seven Warlords are “allied together against these four pirates.”
This is the first on-page naming of the Yonko in the series. Only Shanks and Whitebeard are identified as Emperors at this point; the other two are unnamed. Cross-link Shanks, Whitebeard, Three Great Powers, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Marines.
Roster change — the New Era (Ch. 1053)
With Kaido and Big Mom toppled in a single night, the press declares the new Four Emperors: Red-Haired Shanks, Marshall D. Teach, Buggy (Buggy the Genius Jester), and Monkey D. Luffy (Straw Hat Luffy) (pp.16–17). First on-page seating of Luffy and Buggy as Emperors. Luffy’s new bounty is ฿3,000,000,000.