The Five Elders (literally translated as “The Five Ancient Stars”) are the supreme authority of world government known to the public and as such are the highest political authorities in the entire world. What they say is law. They belong to the world aristocracy, but within this aristocracy they stand in the highest position. Only and alone Im is still above them, but this is not known to the public and thus they represent the highest authority of the world government to the outside world.
These five men are the threads of all government agencies, such as the Navy, the Seven Samurai or the secret services. They reside in a massive castle in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise. All decisions of global importance to the world government are made here by the Five Elders. They are also the only personalities directly superior to the General Commander.
The supreme commandment of the Five Elders is to maintain the structure of the Three Powers and thus to preserve peace in the world. However, they do not tolerate any other political views. Furthermore, they also seem to know about the True History and try to eradicate it by all means under the banner of “Absolute Justice”. How the current Five Elders came to their position is still unclear.
Contents
Appearance
All five are older men who have been in office for over 20 years. They have also not visibly changed since the time of the Buster Call on Ohara in 1502. It is also worth mentioning that none of the Wise Men have been named yet. Furthermore, although the Five Elders have been around for a relatively long time, they have only made a handful of appearances in the current storyline.
Often they could only be seen dimly or were present in the form of a talking Den-den Mushi. We can’t say much about their personalities at this point, but they all give a very serious and serene impression. They also always seem to be of one mind. Moreover, they are supporters of “Absolute Justice”.
Left Gorōsei – The Youngest
This sage is a slender man of advanced age and apparently the youngest of the five. He has short blond hair and a beard. He is dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt underneath, but unlike his colleagues, he is not wearing a tie. The V-neck of his suit reveals a large scar on the right side of his chest and neck.
Middle Gorōsei – The Men in Black
These three Gorōsei generally bear the most resemblance to each other: All three wear dark suits with ties and have white hair and beards.
The sage on the left has a somewhat rounded physique and also has a distinctive Port-wine stain on his forehead, which extends to under his right eye. He also wears a sickle-shaped, white moustache and has a half-smooth head.
The middle Gorōsei has the fewest distinctive characteristics overall. He is a slender man with shoulder-length white hair. He also wears a long, tapered moustache in combination with an equally long chin beard. His posture gives him a very elegant impression.
The sage on the right has a broad, somewhat roundish physique and – similar to Saint Rosward – always carries a rootstock with him. He also has a full white beard and a very pointed nose. As headgear he wears a flat, black hat. It is also noticeable that his hairstyle is reminiscent of a curly Wig. In addition, a strikingly wide scar adorns the left side of his face.
Right Gorōsei – The Monk
Contrary to his four colleagues, this sage does not wear a dark suit, but a white Kimonowhich makes him stand out the most. He also wears Geta (footwear) and always carries a long Katana, very reminiscent of the 3rd generation kitetsu in its make. Furthermore, he is bald, wears round glasses and tends to hold his index and middle finger to his forehead when speaking, which is reminiscent of saluting, but could also be a gesture of reflection. Due to his many wrinkles, he makes the oldest impression. His overall appearance is Japanese clothing and typical of a Buddhist Zen monk.
Skills & Strength
Whether the Five Elders are former or even still active fighters is not known. However, the fact that one of them carries a katana and two others bear large, distinctive scars is an indication that they must also have fighting experience. Otherwise, as mentioned above, they have full command of the entire world government.
Past
Buster Call on Ohara
During the preparations for the Buster Call to Ohara Research Island in 1502, the Five Elders spoke with Professor Kleeblatt. They mentioned in this context that reading the Poneglyph due to the Ancient Weapons posed too great a danger and was therefore a crime.
Professor Kleeblatt then voiced a hypothesis based on his research about the origin of the World Government and True History. The Five Elders appear extremely unhappy with the professor’s details and subsequently had him gunned down by Spandine – the head of the operation at the time – before he could even utter the name of a forgotten kingdom. Following this, they gave the order to fire on the Buster Call fleet, saying, “Ohara knows too much.”
While they didn’t seem too pleased with the harsh measures, they didn’t hesitate to give the order to attack and have all the archaeologists killed. Except for the then 8-year-old Nico Robin, there were no survivors. This is also the reason why she is considered a great danger by the world government.
Hunt for Pluton
In 1516, Spandam – then still head of the CP5 – managed to convince the Five Elders to get the blueprints of the Pluton into the possession of the world government before they fall into the hands of another organization. Somewhat skeptical at first, they finally agreed to the plan and gave Spandam special orders to obtain the blueprints in order to put an end to piracy once and for all with the help of the Ancient Weapon.
Spandam’s real intention, however, was to use the Pluton to usurp world domination. Whether the other Ancient Weapons have also been hunted since this time is currently unknown.
Present action
Meeting of two Yonkō
After being informed that Shanks has sent a messenger to Whitebeard, the Five Elders seem very concerned about an upcoming meeting between the two. According to them, two emperors together would be potentially too much of a threat. However, they added that they didn’t think Shanks was out for world domination. Despite this, they ordered the Navy to send a fleet to the New World to thwart direct contact between the two. However, the entire fleet was completely destroyed by the two Emperors and the two were subsequently in direct contact with each other.
Judging from the reactions of the Five Elders, they feared the worst. Thus, the naval headquarters was put on alert for an emergency. However, their meeting was not for the purpose of going to war together against the world government.
Message about Admiral Aokiji
After the navy headquarters could not locate Admiral Aokiji anywhere, they immediately contacted the Five Elders and reported. The navy suspected that the admiral had once again gone for a ride on his bicycle without checking out first, as it had also disappeared.
The Five Elders reacted very angrily to the Admiral’s stubbornness and expected that it would not be good for one of their strongest fighters to be so irresponsible with his rank.
Bartholomew Kuma’s special mission
After the Samurai of the Seas Gecko Moria was defeated by Luffy and Bartholomew Kuma got involved in the action, his Den-den Mushi rang and he gave a situation report to the Five Elders.
As a result, he received a special order in the name of the world government to eliminate all the people who were on the Thriller Bark, except for Moria, so that no word of its defeat leaks to the outside world. Bartholomew Kuma didn’t hesitate for long and immediately began attacking the Rolling Pirates. Eventually, Bear set about taking out the Straw Hat Pirates, starting with Zoro. However, Bartholomew Kuma offered him a deal: In exchange for Monkey D. Luffy’s head, he would spare the lives of the gang. Zoro then offered him his head, which impressed Bear so much that he let the crew live. He then spoke to Dragon in his mind and disappeared again.
Back in Mary Geoise, Grand Admiral Sengoku was quite angry at Bartholomew Kuma’s actions, as he had to report to the Five Elders.
Battle of Marine Ford
Following Marine Ford’s decisive battle, the Five Elders also met to discuss the most current developments in the world. Topics included: Jinbe and Blackbeard’s treachery, Monkey D. Luffy’s deeds, Rayleigh’s sudden appearance, and the balance of the Three Powers.
In this context, one of the sages mentioned that never in history had a human been able to eat two devil fruits. They therefore considered Blackbeard the most likely candidate to fill the gap with the Yonkō. As pirates in the New World who could put a stop to him, they only named the remaining emperors. Furthermore, Marco and the remnants of the Whitebeard Gang as another possibility. Moreover, they emphasized that they wanted to fill the three empty slots in the Seven Samurai exclusively with the most influential pirates.
While cleaning his sword, the bald Gorōsei also threw around with a serious expression that the name D. had been in the eyes of the world a little too often lately, and it basically meant danger.
Doflamingos defeat
After Donquixote Doflamingo deceived the whole world about his supposed resignation from The Seven Warlords of the Seas, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki sought out the Five Elders in Mary Geoise. He and the Navy were also hoodwinked by Doflamingo. In a heated argument, Sakazuki complained that a pirate was being covered up by the world government and that he too needed to save face. The wise men replied that they had left the case to Cipher Pol and then steered the conversation to Kuzan, who had apparently joined Blackbeard after resigning from the Navy. Their conversation was then interrupted by a marine who told of Donquixote Doflamingo’s defeat by Luffy and Law’s alliance.
The Levely
While the Levely was taking place in 1524, the Five Elders received Shanks, who had come all the way to Mary Geoise, in the Room of Authority. The Sages said his status as one of the Four Emperors did not lend itself to meddling in world politics. Still, they had granted him an audience. Shanks wanted to talk to them about a very specific pirate.
Later, the Five Elders made their way to the empty throne. Meanwhile, they mentioned that King Kobra had also requested an audience with them. To the Five Elders, he was nothing more than a traitor, as his family was the only ones who had refused to live like the World Nobles in Mary Geoise. They hoped he hadn’t found out too much and didn’t complicate things further. After reaching the room with the empty throne, they finally knelt down in front of the mysterious person named Im who had since taken a seat on the empty throne. The Five Elders inquired as to which light should be extinguished next from history.
