Among One Piece fans in Japan, the connection between the Seven Warlords of the Sea (Shichibukai) and the Seven Heroes of Romancing SaGa 2 — the 1993 Super Famicom RPG developed by Square — is well established. But it goes deeper than “similar character types.” Every warlord maps onto a specific Seven Hero, matching abilities, personality, plot role, and even the order in which replacement members are appointed after they leave the position.
Romancing SaGa 2 is the spine of One Piece. Everything else is built on top of it.
The Backstory of the Seven Heroes: One Piece’s Hidden Lore
In Romancing SaGa 2, the world was once ruled by long-lived ancient people who kept shorter-lived “modern people” as slaves. The ancients feared monsters above everything else. Seven brave ancients volunteered to exterminate the monsters — developing a technique called the Law of Assimilation, later improved into the Law of Absorption, which allowed them to take the power of monsters into themselves.
The process worked. But absorbing monsters changed the seven heroes — they gained extreme power but also took on the monsters’ personalities. The ancient people, now fearing their own protectors, used a dimensional transfer device to exile the seven heroes to a parallel world. The heroes, realizing they had been betrayed by the people they protected, eventually found their way back to seek revenge.
This is the framework underlying the Void Century, the Celestial Dragons, the ancient weapons, and the Shichibukai system. Ancient people (天竜人 = Celestial Dragons) who used and discarded powerful servants, who suppressed the history of those who opposed them, and who created systems of power that eventually turn against them.
Wagnas → Crocodile (successor: Blackbeard)
Wagnas is the leader of the Seven Heroes. He eventually absorbs the other six into himself to become the final boss. His stated goal is to “become a god who looks down from the heavens.” He is associated with bird-type and fairy-type monsters, which gave his appearance a feminine quality — he is a male character who does not look male.
Crocodile: tried to seize Alabasta to obtain an ancient weapon, wants power beyond what his position provides, and has a secret connected to his gender that Ivankov uses as leverage. When Crocodile is defeated and removed from the Shichibukai, the vacancy is filled by Blackbeard — who, like Wagnas absorbing the others, eventually absorbs multiple devil fruits and becomes the final antagonist.
Noel → Mihawk
Noel is Wagnas’s best friend, co-developer of the Law of Absorption, the calmest and most gentlemanly of the seven, a dark-skinned swordsmanship expert whose hobby is stargazing. He is associated with dragon-type monsters.
Mihawk: calm, gentlemanly, the world’s greatest swordsman, with a distinctive appearance and demeanor that sets him apart from every other character in the series. His relationship with Zoro mirrors Noel’s dynamic as the supreme standard of swordsmanship that others measure themselves against.
Kujinshi → Moria (successor: Buggy)
Kujinshi: disliked by the other heroes, considered weak, associated with demon-type monsters (giving him a demon-like appearance), his signature ability is “Soul Steal” — which kills anyone it hits by draining their life force. He is looked down on by both Dantarg and Bokohn, the characters who correspond to Kuma and Doflamingo.
Moria: shadow manipulation (the soul externalized), considered obsolete and expendable by both Kuma and Doflamingo — the exact two characters who look down on Kujinshi in the game. When Moria is removed after Marineford, the vacancy is filled by Buggy — who, like Kujinshi, is considered weak by those around him but persists through circumstances that favor him.
Dantarg → Kuma
Dantarg: known as the “raging Dantarg,” the strongest fighter of the seven, solely focused on physical enhancement, absorbs beast-type monsters, has no interest in revenge against the ancient people — his only goal is self-improvement. His dream is “a life with no regrets.” He goes through four transformation stages, including a centaur-like form.
Kuma: the “Tyrant,” enormous physical power, converted into the ultimate human weapon (PX-0) through physical modification, no longer acts on his own desires — the closest parallel to Dantarg’s pure physical existence. Franky’s centaur-like cyborg form also references Dantarg’s transformation stages.
Rockbouquet → Boa Hancock
Rockbouquet: the only female of the seven heroes, Noel’s younger sister. Her signature ability is “Temptation” — which charms all male characters, making them unable to fight. If a party consists entirely of male characters, Temptation causes immediate defeat. Her dream is to marry Wagnas.
Hancock: the only female warlord, her powers are triggered by men (and women) finding her beautiful, her Love-Love fruit turns anyone who feels attracted to her to stone. Her defining characteristic is that male opponents cannot fight her effectively. She is deeply in love with Luffy.
Bokohn → Doflamingo
Bokohn: the schemer, who joined the Seven Heroes by selling his own intelligence rather than his combat ability. His goals are drug trafficking and illegal trade. His signature ability is “Marionette” — controlling other people like puppets. His stated dream is “to accomplish a great achievement that history will remember.” He looks down on Rockbouquet as completely unnecessary.
Doflamingo: runs the SMILE factory (a form of illegal trade), his Ito Ito no Mi controls others like puppets on strings, his ambition is to write his name into history, and he is dismissive of colleagues he considers beneath him. The match is complete.
Subier → Jinbe
Subier: Wagnas’s cousin, who joined the Seven Heroes saying simply “I don’t fully understand the risks, but I trust Wagnas, and that’s enough.” Aquatic-type monster absorption gave him an octopus-like lower body. His signature ability is “Maelstrom” — a massive tidal wave. His hobby is surfing.
Jinbe: a fishman (aquatic), whose abilities include controlling the sea itself, and whose defining characteristic across every arc he appears in is absolute loyalty to the person he has chosen to follow — first Whitebeard, then Luffy. “I trust this person completely” is Subier’s entire personality, and it is Jinbe’s.
What This Means for the World of One Piece
In Romancing SaGa 2, the Seven Heroes are both the cause of the world’s crisis and its former saviors — people who protected the world, were betrayed by it, and came back to take revenge. The ambiguity about whether they are villains or victims is the game’s central ethical question.
The Shichibukai system places seven powerful figures in the service of a world government that uses them as tools and discards them. Each one has reasons that go beyond simple villainy. Crocodile wanted freedom from the system that produced him. Kuma sacrificed himself for others. Hancock’s villainy was survival. Jinbe’s loyalty was genuine. The Seven Heroes’ story — used, betrayed, returned — is the Shichibukai’s story.
For the full character model guide, see Every One Piece Character and Their Real-Life Model. For the historical framework, see One Piece History is Real History.