Saturn Five Elders

[Mellissa Sprock]

TheFive Elders' political sway over the World Government, its subsidiary organizations, agencies, and military branches is paramount and near-illimitable, including absolute command over Cipher Pol, the Marines, and (prior to their disbandment) the Seven Warlords of the Sea, thus controlling two of the Three Great Powers. As of now, it is unknown how the Elders acquired their positions and how long they have been in power, but they are almost always found residing in the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle.

Due to their status, longstanding actions both indirect and direct, and their profound plot involvement, the Five Elders are among the main antagonists in the Final Saga and of the One Piece series as a whole, while also being the main antagonists in the Egghead Arc.

Despite being Celestial Dragons, none of the Five Elders wore the full-body white suit that their lower-ranking brethren wear. Also, none of them have been seen wearing the bubble or glass case over their heads to separate their air supply from other people, even when seen outside of Mary Geoise.[8] They are all rather tall, comparable in height to the over 10 feet tall Sakazuki.[9] It would appear that none of them has physically changed in appearance over the course of twenty-two years (from the destruction of Ohara to current times). Jaygarcia Saturn is shown to look the same as he did thirty-eight years ago.[10]

Their primary concerns are protecting an unstable world from the influence of piracy and maintaining the public image of the World Government, going to great lengths to keep their oppressive reputation a secret from the public. They have ordered the killing of an entire island of people to hide the discovery of the Void Century through the deciphering of Poneglyphs. They have hidden the fact that Gecko Moria was beaten by Monkey D. Luffy and later ordered his silent assassination to make it look like he died in the war for a better image, and they have kept the escape of Level 6 inmates of Impel Down a secret, a decision that even angered Sengoku, the then-fleet admiral of the Marines. They are extremists who will sacrifice a countless number of innocent people for the sake of maintaining the World Government's political power and authority and even turn a blind eye to political corruption such as the atrocities of Warlords of the Sea Sir Crocodile and Donquixote Doflamingo, and when it should ever be exposed, they will simply give the Marines credit through falsified propaganda.

Each of the Five Elders is in charge of particular area of politics and hold the title Warrior God (武神, Bushin?, VIZ: "Godhead") akin to a minister. These positions are as follows:[11]

They each personally take note of Luffy not only for his heritage as Dragon's son, but also for all the trouble he and his crew have caused by rebelling against them, such as: invading Enies Lobby and defeating CP9 to save Nico Robin, causing the first mass breakout of Impel Down and later intruded on the Summit War of Marineford to save Portgas D. Ace, and most of all defeating multiple Warlords such as Crocodile, Moria and Doflamingo.

Though not to the same extent as the other World Nobles, they take great pride in their heritage, as Marcus Mars considered the Nefertari Family to be traitors for not joining their ranks 800 years ago.[5] Unlike their fellow World Nobles, they are capable of showing respect to other people, like Shanks, as well as reverence in the case of Imu. They do not wear the same full-body suits and bubbles that separate their air supply from the people of the lesser classes when in their presence. Also, unlike their lower ranking brethren, who mainly enjoy abusing their own powers for hedonistic pleasures, the Five Elders show themselves to be more responsible and concerned about the world's activities and even demonstrate being regretful and upset at times such as when they ordered the death of all of Ohara's scholars being a measure they reluctantly took when the scholar Clover, was going to reveal the name of a Great Kingdom. This shows that despite being willing to take extreme and questionable measures, the Five Elders, unlike most World Nobles, are not without remorse. While typical Celestial Dragons would attack anyone of lower social statuses who tried to argue or protest with them, the Five Elders are more tolerant in that they are willing to at least give the benefit of counterarguments, as when Sakazuki openly insulted them, they bickered with him instead of threatening him with death. Another difference with other Celestial Dragons, none of the Five Elders say "-eh" at the end of their sentences.

Each one has a different criterion, made evident when they question each other's decisions, such as sending a CP0 agent as a scapegoat to cause Luffy's defeat, something that one of them considered contrary to their objectives but justified by another Elder, given the gravity of the situation.[12]

When providing them with food it must be thoroughly examined by agents to confirm that it has not been poisoned, given their excessive paranoia and the risks associated with their high political status.[13]

Due to them almost exclusively staying at Pangaea Castle and rarely being in the outside world, only on special occasions, their status has almost become mythological, with people being completely unaware of their existence or if they exist at all, usually seeing them on portraits or only knowing they live in Mary Geoise.[14] This leads to panic and hysteria from people who have never encountered them as well as people being totally caught off-guard whenever an Elder leaves Mary Geoise.[15][16] This level of secrecy even goes as far as the Elders ordering their underlings to not reveal their presence to anyone but a select few.[17]

Despite being reputed as the greatest authorities in the World Government, the Five Elders all answer to Imu, the current sovereign of the world and occupant of the Empty Throne whom all the Elders are extremely loyal to and is revered by them in high regard. As such, they immediately turn to Imu's guidance regarding whichever "light" deserves permanent erasure from history, indicating their role in the Government's oppressive tyranny for centuries. They also obey Imu's commands without questioning, even agreeing to wipe out entire kingdoms if they wish it and retrieving whoever Imu desires, stopping at nothing until their task is done. They are also very protective of Imu's secrecy and their status as being kept from the public and will eradicate and assassinate anybody who happens to encounter or even gains a peek at Imu to protect their status and keep up the illusion of the Elders' being the highest authority. At least one refers to Imu as "the Creator", indicating they only see themselves as their servants, ready to fulfill and execute their orders at any given point.

After the World Government played a role in falsifying the news of Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sakazuki was outraged by how the Five Elders would go out of their way to protect him, not even caring if it would tarnish the Marine's reputation. During a heated argument, Sakazuki even insulted, provoked, and mocked them because CP0 acted over their heads, testing his limits and showing that he does not agree with everything the Five Elders do.

Despite descending from one of the First Twenty monarchs that founded the World Government, the Five Elders consider the Nefertari Family to be traitors, since their ancestors preferred to stay in Arabasta instead of joining the other kings who moved to Mary Geoise. It appears that they keep that opinion to themselves, and try to avoid conflict with the family. When they are willing to have an audience with Cobra, their hostile intentions become clear as Imu shows themself to him and makes Cobra admit that the Nefertari family bears the Will of D. After which, the Five Elders and Imu kill Cobra, and they turn their attention to deal with Vivi next.

The Five Elders hold tremendous animus towards Monkey D. Luffy, not only for his heritage as the Revolutionary Dragon's son, but also for all the trouble he and his crew have caused. This includes invading Enies Lobby and defeating CP9 to save Nico Robin, causing the first mass breakout of Impel Down, intruding on the Summit War of Marineford to save Ace, and most of all for defeating multiple Warlords of the Sea such as Crocodile, Moria, and Doflamingo.

They acknowledge Luffy's strength and see that he is truly Garp's grandson, as well as a deadly variable in their plans. They feared what he would be capable of should he defeat the Emperor, Kaidou, and so they ordered CP0 to eliminate him before that could happen. They were deeply concerned about Luffy's survival and were even fine with losing an agent and angering Kaidou as long as Luffy was killed, as they understood the potential of what he could do once his Devil Fruit was awakened, calling it the "most ridiculous power in the world." Their decision backfired, as not only did Luffy awaken his Devil Fruit, but he used his newfound power to defeat Kaidou.

When Luffy later temporarily disrupted their plans by capturing York, they were first formally introduced to Luffy, making it their first exchange, during which they tried to persuade him to reveal crucial information, though they were unable to do so. Later, when Saturn, who was at Egghead, saw Luffy in his Gear 5 form, he immediately recognized him as "Nika". Seeing Luffy severely weakened from his battle with Kizaru, Saturn attempted to kill him, only for Franky to foil him. Shortly after, Saturn was bewildered when he spotted that Luffy somehow acquired food and ordered him to be detained, though he ultimately managed to escape his sight. Once Luffy returned in his Gear 5 form once more spotting Bonney and an injured Vegapunk, Saturn called him and Bonney "stupid insects" that deserved death, Saturn then used his ability to wound Luffy, but it proved useless as the Emperor struck him with multiple powerful blows causing him to be launched through a building. Saturn then returned enraged and in his full beast transformation as he attempted to kill Luffy again with multiple poison tainted strikes, but he was restrained when Luffy entered into his Giant form. As the battle between the two continued, Saturn was running out of time and summoned the rest of the Elders, in which he, Warcury and Peter fought against Luffy.

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