Editing One Piece (section)

==Politics==
Each island in the world of One Piece is nominally under its own independent authority, creating a vast, chaotic patchwork of kingdoms, republics, and gods know what else. However, in practice, everybody bows to the authority of the '''World Government''', who have set themselves up as the supreme authority of the world. The World Government enacts its might through its control of the ''Navy'', also known as the ''Marines'' (in European sense); the single largest coherent fighting force in the world, officially dedicated to enforcing law and order and beating back the pirate hordes. There's also the global intelligence agency, ''Cipher Pol'', as well as the ''SSG'', a science division led by Dr. Vegapunk that is responsible for fielding dangerous '''Pacifista''' and '''Seraphim''' robots as the Navy's fiercest weapons.

The World Government was founded 800 years ago, during something known only as "The Void Century", because all details have been deliberately scrubbed by the World Government. They have ruled for the 700 years since the Void Century ended without serious challenge. The nominal leaders of the World Government are the ''Celestial Dragons'', the descendants of the royal families of the twenty kingdoms who united to form the World Government during the Void Century. However, 700 years of being treated as divinely blessed rulers of the world have made the Celestial Dragons hideously decadent, corrupt, self-serving and cruel, concerned for little other than indulging their every whim, no matter how petty, perverse or petulant. The true managing of the World Government is done by a council called ''The Five Elder Stars'', and whilst officially they merely guide a democratic republic made up of the world's united kingdoms (at least those willing to pay the exorbitant annual tax/bribe that the World Government demands for membership), the truth is that they take '''their''' marching orders from an unknown leader.

It bears emphasis that the Celestial Dragons are complete and utter '''bastards''', but because a combination of social exultation and the fact they are surrounded by ridiculously strong warriors who are paid ludicrous amounts of money to defend them against the merest thought of harm, nobody stands up to them. And, as the saying goes, the fish stinks from the head down; the rest of the World Government is just as corrupt and self-serving, and even the Navy, the ostensible face of law, order, truth and justice, is full of petty tyrants, murderously self-righteous fanatics, and every other asshole you wouldn't want in the military.

Challenging the might of the Navy and the World Government are '''The Four Emperors of the Sea'''; four New World-based pirate captains who are so ridiculously badass and powerful that they might as well be fucking gods and whose influence spans across the New World. The Four Emperors consist of ''Kaido'' (a ridiculously strong and tough [[giant]] who can shapeshift into a [[dragon]], generally considered the most powerful being alive '''period'''), ''Charlotte "Big Mom" Linlin'' (a deranged giantess matriarch who can eat souls), ''Whitebeard'' (an ancient but badass warrior who can create continent-sinking earthquakes with a thought), and ''"Redhaired" Shanks'' (the youngest of the group, and the only one without a Devil Fruit, meaning he got the role through sheer combat skill and badassery). 

The other major threat to the World Government's authority is the '''Revolutionary Army''', a worldwide underground movement founded by ''Monkey D. Dragon'' (son of the legendary Navy hero Monkey D. Garp and father of our series protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy) for the purpose of taking down the corrupt government. Lacking the raw might of the Four Emperors, the Revolutionary Army instead wages a guerilla campaign, trying to subvert WG-aligned nations and recruit independent ones.

Somewhere in between, although nominally on the side of the World Government, are '''The Seven Warlords of the Sea'''; a set of seven super-strong privateers who have accepted legitimacy in the face of the World Government's forces in exchange for being willing to aid them in opposing the Four Emperors and any other major-league threats. At the time of the story's start, the Seven Warlords consist of ''Dracule Mihawk'' (the world's greatest swordsman), ''Crocodile'' (a genius strategist with the power to turn into and manipulate sand, as well as disintegrate anyone he touches), ''Gecko Moria'' (a [[giant]] [[necromancer]] with an island-ship full of [[zombie]]s), ''Bartholomew Kuma'' (a hulking [[cyborg]] with the power to "push" anything he wants to anywhere he wants - it's more dangerous than it sounds), ''Boa Hancock'' (an incredibly beautiful [[Amazon]] queen who can petrify anyone who thinks lustful thoughts about her), ''Jinbei'' (a fishman martial arts master), and ''Doflamingo'' (a sadistic genius with the power to create and control string, a Celestial Dragon by birth but outcast from his peers and pissed off about it). Future members included ''Trafalgar Law'' (part of the Worst Generation, a surgeon that can warp reality into his personal operating theatre), ''Edward Weevil'' (a super strong mama's boy who claims to be Whitebeard's son), ''Blackbeard'' (more on him later), and ''Buggy the Clown'' (a starter villain who bluffed his way to the position). By Chapter 956 of the manga, the entire "Warlord" system was replaced and the pirates who filled it have had their bounties reinstated and now actively being hunted down by the World Government.

Also worth mentioning here is the existence of '''Impel Down''', the great prison of the World Government reserved for pirates, which is technically an independent but allied nation. Impel Down is an artificial island consisting of a tower constructed from the surface of the sea down to the sea floor, and is divided into six levels, known as the Six Hells. Level 6 is top secret; nobody but the high-ranking government officials are supposed to know that it exists. Layer 1, ''Crimson Hell'', is an artificial forest where every leaf and blade of grass is a razor sharp blade (the name comes because it's been stained red with blood), which is also infested with venomous spiders - the inmates are chased through the forest once every day. Level 2, ''Wild Beast Hell'', is a labyrinth where the corridors are stalked by a variety of dangerous predatory animals, as well as four super-nasty Zoan-empowered guards. Level 3, ''Starvation Hell'', is a desert-like super-heated oubliette; prisoners are tossed down here and left with the bare minimum of food and water to keep them alive in the perpetually scorching hot environment - the "sand" is actually made up of the desiccated remains of countless prisoners who died here and disintegrated. The heat comes from Level 4, ''Blazing Hell'', where prisoners labor endlessly to stoke ridiculously huge fires that burn night and day, heating up a lake-sized cauldron of blood. Ironically, Level 5 is the ''Freezing Hell'', a super-chilled snowy wasteland where prisoners struggle to survive in the face of the cold and the roving packs of hyper-aggressive arctic wolves (who btw, were moved from Level 2 because the wolves were too vicious and hunted down the other beasts from that level). Finally, Level 6, ''Forgotten Hell'', is an oubliette reserved for the worst of the worst - the strongest, nastiest, most outright overpowered badass rogues ever to cross Impel Down's doorstep. Being unable to hurt them in any of the other hells, or simply because their crimes are that heinous, Impel Down doesn't even bother trying to torture them, but just tosses them down here in the dark to rot.

And then there's ''Blackbeard'', a scheming and sinister bastard who dreams of claiming the One Piece and with it the title of King of the Pirates. Formerly a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, he murdered his own captain to steal the Dark-Dark Fruit, a uniquely powerful Logia Devil Fruit, kicking off a chain of events that eventually got Whitebeard himself and also Portgas D. Ace (son of Gol D. Roger and adoptive brother of Monkey D. Luffy) killed. Then many bricks were shat when he somehow ''stole'' Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers, gaining the abilities to use two Devil Fruits at once. Which ''should'' be impossible...(The story implies it has something to do with having a weird body that among other things removes his need for sleep).