Red-Haired Pirates

The Red-Haired Pirates (赤髪海賊団, Akagami Kaizokudan) is a group that appears in the One Piece series. It is a strong pirate crews ruling in the New World, led by their captain, Red-Haired Shanks, who is one of the Four Emperors. This is one of the two crews that are responsible for influencing two of the Straw Hat Pirates to become pirates, Monkey D. Luffy and Usopp.

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 * —About the Red-Haired Pirates.

Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger of the Red-Haired 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

Main

 * Shanks - Captain;
 * Ben Beckman- First mate
 * Lucky Roux
 * Yasopp- Sniper
 * Rockstar

Unnamed Crewmembers

 * There is a relatively thin member of Shank's 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 Fushia Village, his hair was shorter, and he was seen smiling. At Navyford, 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 crewmembers, and was quite thin. At Navyford, he seems to have grown more muscular, and his size is enhanced, towering over most of the main members, except for Roux Lucky and another unnamed crewmember. 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 Fushia Village, he was already muscular, but was quite thin in size. At Navyford, 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 Navyford, like the others, he seems to have gotten bigger, and carries a sword on his right shoulder.
 * Another member that appeared at Navyford was a man with shaggy hair and pointy teeth giving him a lion-like appearance.

Crew Strength
The strength of the crew as a whole is unknown. But Rockstar, a recent addition to Shanks' crew, has a bounty of 94,000,000 Berries and is still considered to be a rookie. While the bounties of every other crew member is still unknown, if Rockstar's bounty is any indication, their crew is summed up to be very powerful.

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 berry 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 Neptunian just by staring at it, using a form of Haki.

When Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, 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, Ben Beckman, Yasopp and Lucky Roux) appeared to not be bothered at all by his visit. This is possibly because of their captain's friendly relations with him.

Shanks does not fear Whitebeard, 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.

The final clue 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. Both Shanks and Whitebeard are among the Four Emperors. Right after their battle with Kaido in the New World, they sailed to Navyford in just one day. When Shanks and his crew finally showed up at Navyford, with words alone they were able to bring the war to halt. The captain was able to rescue Coby from Admiral Akainu's attack with only a clash of his sword and even the arrogant Blackbeard refused to engage Shanks' crew saying they simply were not ready to fight them yet.

Other Information
Not much else is currently known about the Red-Haired Pirates. Shanks used to be on the same crew as Buggy the Clown, and Buggy forever hates him for botching one of his treasure hunts by "making" him eat a Curséd Fruit.

While the Red-Haired Pirates appear in only small scenes normally at the end of arcs, they seem to be an ongoing background plot throughout the entire story. 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 Emperor, 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 Navyford, with the intent of ending the Whitebeard war. By proposing a ceasefire with Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the battle was thus ended.

Most members also seem to wear capes.

Ship
When the crew first arrived in Fushia Village, they were seen with a ship that was similar in design to the ship used by "Crescent-Moon Galley" 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.

The ship was first seen in the manga version during Chapter 1, and was first seen in the anime during a flashback in Episode 4. 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.

Red Force

 * Main article: Red Force

During the Whitebeard War, the Red Hair pirates arrived at Navyford by their current ship, the Red Force. This was first seen in Episode 488.

List of Protected Territories
There are no known islands that are protected by the Red-Haired Pirates.

Arrival of the Pirate Brothers
A short while before the storyline they met Portgaz D. Ace, who thanks Shanks for saving his little brother. Shanks responds by throwing a party to celebrate, as he did not know Luffy had a brother.

Then a few years later, to the shock of a few of Shanks' weaker crew members, "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk pays Shanks a visit. The Seven Warlords of the Sea brings news that delighted the red-haired pirate; Luffy has gained a bounty of 30,000,000 berries. Hearing Luffy had now come at last, Shanks throws another party despite being already unwell from his previous drinking session.