The Emperors by era · Every change among the 4 Yonko
The Four Emperors’ Changes: Every Yonko and Their Replacement
Every change among the Yonko from Luffy setting sail to today, each one’s bounty when they rose to the title, without forgetting the case of Roger, Shiki and Xebec.
Every Four Emperors line-upBefore One Piece begins, only Shanks’s rise to the title of Emperor is dated, four years earlier: nobody knows since when Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom had been Emperors. The first row is not a line-up: it is the four pirates the New World revolved around in Roger’s day, according to the novel Ace. Were they already Emperors? Nothing says so.
- In Roger’s day?Roger, Shiki, Whitebeard and Big Mom: the four pirates the New World revolved around before the Emperors, according to the novel Ace. No official source calls them Emperors at the time.
- One Piece beginsGo to: Chapter 1 · When Luffy sets out as a pirate
- MarinefordGo to: Marineford
- TimeskipGo to: During the timeskip
- Whole CakeGo to: After Whole Cake Island
- WanoGo to: Wano – Onigashima
Blackbeard became an Emperor after Whitebeard’s fall, a year after his death. Luffy and Buggy took the Yonko places of Kaido and Big Mom, fallen at Onigashima. Of the first four known Emperors, only Shanks is still there.
- Before the timeskip · Today
- Before the timeskipWhitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom and Shanks: the 4 Emperors when One Piece begins.
- Three fallen, three crowned in their place: Shanks, the only one on both sides.
- Reigns over
- Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom: Emperors who no longer are.
- One death in battle, two defeats with no confirmed death
The Four Emperors, era after era
Marineford, the Payback War, Onigashima: every period of One Piece when the title of Emperor was turned upside down, and who made up the 4 Yonko then, with their bounties at the time. Never more than four at once in what the official sources show, and three in the year after Marineford. Nothing says whether their number is a rule, but their Japanese name suggests it: Yonko, the “four emperors”.
Before Luffy set sail
Were Roger, Shiki and Xebec Emperors? And when did the title appear?
No official source calls them Emperors, none says otherwise; none says when the title appeared, nor who held it first, but here is what they let us date:
≈ 36 yearsbefore
God Valley
The Rocks Pirates fall. Three future Emperors served under Rocks D. Xebec: Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido, still an apprentice.
22 yearsbefore
Roger’s execution
The Pirate King is executed, and the Great Pirate Era begins.
≈ 20 yearsbefore
The first Emperors of the seas?
The earliest moment the title is attested, two years after Roger’s execution. It may have existed before.
≈ 4 yearsbefore
Did Shanks take another Emperor’s place? Nobody even knows whether he replaced one: the official sources do not say.Shanks becomes an Emperor
The year he captured Loki, the prince of Elbaph. His own bounty that year is not known.
Chapter 1 · When Luffy sets out as a pirate
When One Piece begins, the 4 known Emperors
4 Emperors
Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom and Shanks: the 4 Emperors when One Piece begins, the pirates who rule the New World. Their bounties are only revealed much later, all in chapter 957; the highest is Whitebeard’s, 5.04 billion.
Marineford · Ch. 550 – 580
After Marineford: Whitebeard dies, but no new Emperor right away
3 Emperors
Whitebeard dies in battle at Marineford; Blackbeard seizes his Devil Fruit, and Shanks arrives to end the war. For the first known time, there are only three, and no new Emperor takes his place for a year.
During the timeskip
The Payback War: Blackbeard replaces Whitebeard for good and becomes an Emperor
4 Emperors
A year after Marineford, Blackbeard crushes Marco and Whitebeard’s last loyal men: the Payback War. He is recognized as an Emperor and takes the place left vacant by Edward Newgate. The bounty of his rise to the title, 2.24 billion, is only revealed later.
After Whole Cake Island · Ch. 903 – 908
The “Fifth Emperor”: Luffy, according to the press
4 Emperors
Luffy escapes Totto Land after beating Katakuri, and the press dubs him “the Fifth Emperor”, with a bounty of 1.5 billion. Not an official title, a newspaper word: his first step, from afar, among the Emperors.
Wano – Onigashima · Ch. 909 – 1057
After the raid on Onigashima: Kaido and Big Mom fall, Luffy and Buggy crowned
4 Emperors
At Onigashima, Kaido falls to Luffy, Big Mom falls to Law and Kid. The newspaper announces two new Emperors: Luffy, at 3 billion and Buggy, at 3.18 billion, bounties issued with the title.
Luffy, Law and Kid, three pirates of the Worst Generation: discover their bounties
Every Emperor’s reign: the complete timeline
Every Emperor’s reign at a glance: from the start of each one’s reign to its end, with the bounties that came with it.
EmperorBefore setting sailOne Piece beginsMarinefordTimeskipWhole CakeWanoAfter Wano
Did you know?
Why “Yonko”? The Emperors’ Japanese name, in the ranking of their bounties
Ch. 903
50. Luffy thought his bounty had gone down
Reading his new poster, Luffy sees 150 million and gets depressed: he used to be worth 500. Brook corrects him, he miscounted the zeros: it is 1.5 billion. Luffy is baffled, and the whole crew stares in shock: a billion more in one go is the biggest jump ever seen at the time. The papers are already calling him the "Fifth Emperor".
Discover more: Emperors- Uncover this fact
Ch. 1053
56. Three 3 billion bounties in the same chapter
1/3After Wano, Luffy, Law and Kid all reach 3 billion, announced in the same chapter. Luffy becomes an Emperor with the lowest bounty of the four: Buggy is worth 3.189 billion, Blackbeard 3.996, Shanks 4.0489. Blackbeard, for his part, had already been an Emperor for less: 2.2476 billion, before Wano.
Discover more: Emperors - And 4 more facts around the Emperors’ bounties, out of 63 bounty factsAll bounty facts
