Summary

Strong characters like Vergo, Caesar Clown, and Stussy betrayed the World Government for personal gains.
Notable betrayals were spurred by events like the Impel Down breakout and the Summit War.
Despite serving the government, characters like Law and Jimbei defected due to conflicting loyalties.

The World Government is the controlling federation on the Blue Planet, where One Piece takes place. Its proximity to power, as well as its objective of protecting those it controls, lead it to attract a variety of subordinates, a number of whom are not strictly loyal to its greater goals.

Amidst events such as the Impel Down breakout, The Summit War, and the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, ripple effects have led to many previous affiliates abandoning the government for their own objectives. These are the strongest characters who betrayed the World Government to fulfill other objectives.

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10 Vergo

The Inside Man

Vergo was a longtime follower of Donquixote Doflamingo. As a reward for his strength and loyalty, Vergo was given the rank of Corazon, being one of his top officers. However, he was removed from the rank because he was needed elsewhere.

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Doflamingo gave Vergo the objective of spying on the marines by infiltrating them. To this end, he climbed up the ranks, becoming a Vice Admiral, the third-highest rank in the organization, before his passing. He was not caught for roughly 15 years, and is implied to have sent vital info to his captain during this time. He caught Rosinante, Doflamingo's estranged younger brother, ironically acting as a mole for the marines, in his own vacated seat. Vergo was mighty, having been skilled enough in armament haki to the point where he could coat his entire body in it, and use a bamboo stick as a weapon.

9 Caesar Clown

A Mad Scientist

Caesar Clown was one Dr. Vegapunk's affiliates in MADS, an innovative but illegal research institute. He competed with Vinsmoke Judge and Scien (later known as Queen) to be known as the group's second best (as Vegapunk was the obvious first). When MADS shut down, Caesar was one of the scientists who was co-opted into the marines.

Caesar once again worked with Vegapunk on Punk Hazard. However, Caesar took things too far with his experiments when he was ordered not to finish the creation of an illegal gas weapon. In response, Caesar detonated it, and was subsequently removed from the research group and arrested. He later escaped, but became indirectly affiliated with the government through Doflamingo. He has since resumed fugitive status and created NEO MADS, alongside Vinsmoke Judge.

8 Stussy

An Undercover Clone

Stussy was the first successful human clone, copied from the DNA of Miss Buckingham Stussy. The original Stussy was an affiliate of MADS, widely considered a freeloader. At age 10, Stussy was accepted into Cipher Pol, the government agency that trains children into advanced agents, as an orphan.

However, her true loyalty lay with Dr. Vegapunk, who had his own misgivings about the World Government. Stussy knocked out her colleagues, Lucci and Kaku, identifying them as too strong to fight directly. That being said, she still showed an impressive level of physical power, and had the powers of the Batto Batto no Mi.

7 Shiryu

The Second Titanic Captain

Even by Impel Down's low standards regarding conduct towards prisoners, the excessive brutality of Shiryu, Impel Down's previous head jailer, proved too great to ignore. This led him to being imprisoned on the lowest floor and put on death row. The breakout temporarily halted Shiryu's execution, but it was made clear that Shiryu would eventually be executed for his crimes.

However, the Blackbeard Pirates, who were at the prison to recruit strong crewmates, offered Shiryu a chance to join them. He accepted, noting the alternative was a death sentence. As the crew expanded, Shiryu was made one of its Ten Titanic Captains, giving him authority over a portion of the Blackbeard Pirates. Shiryu is physically strong, and is shown to relish killing others. He recently added a new addition to his arsenal, the Suke Suke no Mi, which allows him to turn himself and his surroundings invisible.

6 Trafalgar D. Water Law

Briefly A Warlord

Trafalgar D. Water Law's partnership with the government is fairly short compared to most warlords. Sometime during the timeskip, he allegedly caused the Rocky Port Incident, which led to capturing the hearts of a hundred pirates, and sending them to the government in exchange for his rank.

On Punk Hazard, he brokered an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates, wanting to use their power to overthrow an Emperor, and believing Luffy was not the type to take orders. After declaring their alliance to Fujitora, Law was unceremoniously stripped of his role.

5 Crocodile

Covert Cross Guild Leader

A longtime member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile was lauded as a defender of Alabasta, yet he had designs for the kingdom, in secret. He was the head of Baroque Works, known as Mr. 0, who used a variety of similarly labeled enforcers to conduct various operations towards controlling the kingdom. His plot was foiled by the Straw Hats, but the World Government, embarrassed at the betrayal, downplayed their role and held up the marines as the true heroes of Alabasta.

Crocodile was imprisoned in Impel Down for his crimes, but escaped with aid from Luffy and other pirates. After the Summit War, he formed the marine-hunting organization, Cross Guild, but his fellow Ex-Warlord, Buggy, was falsely identified as the leader the group. Crocodile's own power is nothing to sneeze at. He is one of few antagonists to beat Luffy twice, and is strong enough to confront the toughest of his fellow warlords.

4 Jimbei

The Newest Straw Hat Pirate

Jimbei was a member of the Sun Pirates, a crew that emphasized fish-men solidarity. Despite his personal hatred of humans, the crew's leader, Tiger, ended up losing his life by returning one escaped human slave to her home. In his place, Jimbei took on leadership, and ended up joining the Seven Warlords of the Sea to allow his crewmates to return home if they so desired.

Jimbei admired the Whitebeard Pirates, who had claimed Fish-Man Island for the sake of defending it. Jimbei's own relationship with Whitebeard led him to be voluntarily imprisoned in Impel Down, losing his government privileges. He was eventually part of the breakout, which spilled over into the Summit War.

3 Donquixote Doflamingo

Disinherited Dragon

Doflamingo's immediate family was removed from the World Noble system at his father's insistence. The pain he endured as a result became the basis of a lifelong grudge against the Celestial Dragons. To redeem some level of lost power, his crew took over Dressrosa, the kingdom his ancestors abdicated rule of, for the sake of becoming World Nobles.

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Despite being a government authority, Doflamingo often brokered alliances with other infamous criminals like Caesar Clown and Kaido. After Law forced him to acknowledge Caesar in front of the marines, Doflamingo deemed him a subordinate, in an effort to vindicate them both. Ultimately, he was defeated by Luffy, and apprehended by the marines. Along with Crocodile, his own efforts to take over a government-sanctioned kingdom were part of the precedent for the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

2 Kuzan

The Tenth Titanic Captain

Kuzan, formerly known as Admiral Aokiji, had a complicated relationship with the government. He saw their brutality at Ohara, where the population was wiped out in a genocide, for the sake of preventing Void Century research. This led him to adhere to Lazy Justice, which reasoned that justice was rarely worth the effort it took to enact. However, he only began to act against the government after losing out on the Fleet Admiral position.

Power alone was not Kuzan's motive. He was disgusted by the ideals and actions of Akainu and seemingly wanted to prevent him from getting power. He fought Akainu for days, but he lost the battle and the promotion, electing to leave the organization. He has since become the Tenth Titanic Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, despite being a later addition to the crew. This is likely out of respect for his sheer power, with his Devil Fruit allowing him to immobilize multiple members of the crew with ease.

1 Blackbeard

Admiral Teach

Marshall D. Teach's effort to infiltrate the Seven Warlords of the Sea was carefully crafted. He captured Portgas D. Ace and traveled to Impel Down, which was in the midst of a breakout due to his capturing of Ace. In addition to recruiting Shiryu, Teach initiated a fatal free-for-all to determine the strongest prisoner, selecting Vasco Shot, Sanjuan Wolf, Avalo Pizarro, and Catarina Devon. This lost him his government privileges, but since he was one of two warlords to actively resign rather than be dismissed, it didn't bother him much. After killing Whitebeard and stealing his Devil Fruit, Teach ascended to his former captain's rank of Emperor, going by the alias of Blackbeard.

The Blackbeard Pirates expanded, leading Teach to designate his original crewmates, along with Kuzan, as the Ten Titanic Captains, giving each a portion of authority within the crew. As he held control over these captains and the greater crew, Teach gave himself the rank of 'Admiral', which his crewmates tend to use for him. Since leaving Whitebeard's crew, his two Devil Fruits, the Yami Yami no Mi and the Gura Gura no Mi, have increased his power further. He is arguably the most powerful traitor to the World Government.

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