A bounty (懸賞金 Kenshōkin?, literally meaning "prize money") is a government-issued reward placed on an individual and awarded to whoever can capture or kill that person.
Overview
Becoming Wanted
Normally, a bounty is issued by a government official or by the police. The idea is to tempt others to aid with the capture of the criminal so they can be brought to justice quickly. Bounty Hunters make careers trying to find and capture these wanted people. Bounties are issued with a "Dead or Alive" disclaimer, meaning the reward will be paid so long as the threat gets eliminated.
The amount of a bounty is determined in response to the perceived threat level of the criminal in question; the greater the threat to the world, the greater the bounty. In the eyes of a pirate, high bounties are thus usually seen as a sign of strength. After all, having been assigned a bounty means that the World Government as well as the Marines acknowledge the threat of the person to whom it is assigned. An excess bounty of 
100,000,000 indicates that the person to whom it was assigned has committed unlawful acts of catastrophic degrees.
Bounty Issuing
A bounty reflects both the threat and power of an individual. Engaging in activities deemed criminal by the World Government or associating with groups which engage in them is enough to warrant significant bounties even if the criminal is not powerful themselves. In particular, direct opposition to the World Government, no matter the reason, is treated as a serious offense, and bounties are issued accordingly./
A bounty can be increased for several reasons:
- The threat of a person's observed combat abilities
- More experienced bounty hunters volunteering to capture the individual or group
- Further criminal acts beyond the initial one;
- Inspiring criminal acts when provoked or inciting others to act 'criminally'
Occasionally, a designated amount on a bounty may increase if the criminal in question has committed crimes of considerable magnitude that goes beyond the crime(s) committed beforehand that earned them their initial bounty.
Since the Marines can only issue bounties based on their knowledge of the criminal in question, a bounty may not necessarily reflect the true threat of a person. In some cases, due to miscommunication or unreported information, the bounty may end up being much higher or lower than the criminal deserved for their actions such as the case with Max Hedgedroid as it has been said that he took down many Marine Bases with his partner yet only received a 430,000 bounty. This might be because the attacks may have been unreported or no one had identified who had been attacking them.
Regardless of the discrepancies, bounties are still treated as a way to determine a person's average threat level, being the one facet of society that can be easily compared. Stacking them against averages helps determine threats in relation to location; for example, the average bounty in the East Blue is 10,000,000, so a noteworthy one there would be 20,000,000 or more. Since East Blue is defined as the weakest of the four seas outside of the Grand Line, West, North, and South Blue must have higher average bounties and have a greater number of famous criminals hailing from their waters. However, the four 'cardinal (direction)' seas pale in comparison to the Grand Line (up to Mariejois), where an exceptional bounty is around 100,000,000, and is considered nothing in the New World (or the second half of the Grand Line), where 100,000,000 is common or weak.
While the details of how high a bounty could be are not exactly known, the greatest amount revealed is that of the 640,000,000 bounty of Silas A. Bourne for unknown reasons except the fact that he is a Yonko. While a pirate with a bounty of 300,000,000 is still considered a rookie, once a pirate exceeds that value it is difficult to get any higher and it seems that 400,000,000 is enough to be considered an elite pirate.
In terms of piracy, any rookies who has earned a bounty of over 100,000,000 is considered impressive, and can be considered as a "Supernova" (超新星 Chōshinsei?).
Retracting Bounties
Bounties, once issued, are usually only retracted when the criminal is captured, killed, or is known to have otherwise died. A change in lifestyle will not affect the bounty. Wanted posters are usually marked with a large red X to indicate that the criminal was taken cared of. A bounty can last large amounts of time if the criminal is not proven to have been captured and incarcerated or dead. Aside from death or capture, bounties may be retracted if the criminal can prove themselves an asset to either The Marines or World Government. This is the case with the Shichibukai, who are considered allies of the World Government and have their bounties retracted. With this, they are allowed to continue being a criminal on a conditional basis. A bounty may also be removed by a court of law.
Criminals who end up as slaves keep their bounties on their heads; however, so long as the slave remains a slave the Marines do nothing to arrest them. Once a slave is freed or tossed aside by its owner, they immediately become fair game once more.
Identification
A criminal is, more often than not, known by his poster. Without the issuing of a wanted poster (手配書 tehai-sho?), no criminal can be made known. These posters are distributed across the world in newspapers and establishments. Marines also keep copies of each criminal at their bases and on board their ships for quick identification. Bounty Hunters may also carry a list and/or wanted posters.
The Poster Picture
The most important part of a poster is the person's portrait. It allows swift identification upon sighting the person and informs everyone in the world of their wanted status. The picture normally takes the form of a photograph; if a suitable photograph is unavailable, an artist's rendering may be substituted. To some, a decent photograph is as important as the bounty itself, it being the only way to be associated with the bounty on the poster. A new picture can be issued to account for any change in appearance.
One of the most mysterious things about wanted posters is the Marines' ability to obtain photos of almost every criminal with a bounty. Alternatively, should a photo be unavailable, a sketch will be made of the criminal.
Nicknames
The Marines give criminals, especially pirates, nicknames with the bounty poster that either describes their appearance (such as "ThunderScar Nitro" or "Crimson Dragon Blitz"), what their powers/abilities are (such as "Wind Walker Max" or "Lightning Lance Ryder"), or what they do (such as "Science Marvel Tech"). Sometimes, it is just the most common nickname a person has.
List of bounties
In the series, many bounties are revealed - either by the authors on this very wikia, by the character page on the comic or in comic via any means. Many of the pirates in Hedgehog Piece have had there bounties revealed via comic, such as the Hyacintho Carpe Pirates and the ThunderScar Pirates but many have also been revealed by other means such as the ??? pirates being revealed on the character page.
The two known Shichibukai do not have revealed former bounties and the only Yonko to appear in Hedgehog Piece has been confirmed throughout the series with the highest known bounty of 640,000,000.
While several prisoners from Impel Down do not hold any specific value, Impel Down orders its prisoners from the bounty on their head. Levels 3 and 5 require bounties of 50,000,000 and 100,000,000 respectively, and the values required for others levels were not revealed. It is unknown if level 1 and level 2 has a minimal value. Level 6 seems to use special requirements. As such, the values may be just recommendations, and the effort taken to capture the criminals may factor into where they are placed, but not affect their bounty since the Marines see no need to change it now that they have been arrested.
The ??? Pirates bounties
Total bounty: 740,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Viu E. Blaze | "Green Hand" | 490,000
|
| First Bounty: His first bounty is 6,000,000 and it was accumulated after him being seen a threat after using a mind-control Devil's Fruit on Captain Fritz to complete take over his body and mind. After having seen being associated with the ThunderScars they raised his bounty to 9,000,000 thinking that he was apart of their crew. | ||
| Ryder Nakamura | "Lightning Lance" | 0
|
| First Bounty: None. | ||
| Drake Mealei | "Burning Eye" | 0
|
| First Bounty: None. | ||
| Scar Z. Iketeru | "Light Flash" | 0
|
| First Bounty: None. | ||
| Sol Shinekuya | "???" | 0
|
| First Bounty: None. | ||
| Aqueous Cyan | "Combat Cuisiner" | 250,000
|
| First Bounty: It is unknown how and why Aqueous has a bounty but it is believed to be because he worked under Crime Boss Hamaki, but couldn't really fight well. | ||
Hyacintho Carpe Pirates bounties
Total bounty: 50,000,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Anise S. Divine | "Survivor Child" | 15,000,000
|
| First Bounty: After escaping imprisonment and getting help from a pirate named Frost Shinekuya, the Marines issued a bounty on little Anise's head. For whatever odd reason, they want her incarcerated and safely protected. | ||
| Frost Shinekuya | "Frost Angel" | 11,000,000
|
| First Bounty: After attacking the Punishment Branch's ship and threatening it's commander, Captain Fritz, the Marines deemed Frost a threat, especially with the devastating Devil's Fruit abilities he had shown by freezing the Punishment Branch's entire ship. | ||
| Blitz Talon | "Crimson Dragon" | 2,000,000
|
| First Bounty: The Marines issued a bounty on his head after realizing and identifying him to be allied with Anise S. Divine and others. | ||
| Toadi Firma | "Son of the Earth" | 9,000,000
|
| First Bounty: Issued to him as a child, they deemed Toadi a threat for obtaining and eating his mother's, who had been a world-class pirate, Devil's fruit and training with it's abilities. He obtained a 8,000,000 bounty.
Second Bounty: Had been issued to him after the Marines realized and identified that he had been allied with Anise S. Divine and others. | ||
| Frezisius A. Aerion | "Public's Enemy" | 13,000,000
|
| First Bounty: After stealing a mysterious necklace from an unnamed companion who thought he was appointed by the Nobles to be her bodyguard, he called an ally, presumably within the Marines, to tell him that the objective was complete and he needed to be picked up. After his ally said that they couldn't he told him/her to appoint a 13,000,000 bounty on him as he was going to travel with a group of pirates to get off of Raven's Point.
| ||
The ThunderScars bounties
Total bounty: 64,250,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Nitro V. Kaian | "ThunderScar" | 33,000,000
|
| First Bounty: Before being captured, Nitro was a notorious pirate who was being sent to Impel Down but escaped from a ship and attacked it's captain alongside Dark Ranoki. His bounty was 11,000,000.
Second Bounty: After defeating Crime Boss Hamaki, one of the most notorious slave traders within the East Blue, he showed that he had the strength to be a real threat to the World Government, so they shot his bounty up to | ||
| Dark Ranoki | "Black Fist" | 11,000,000
|
| First Bounty: He had been known as a Notorious pirate and had been captured by the Marines. They issued a bounty back on him when he escaped a ship alongside Nitro V. Kaian and attacked their men. | ||
| Max Hedgedroid | "Wind Walker" | 430,000
|
| First Bounty: After the destruction of a Marine ship the Marines deemed Max a criminal, believing that he had only been following his friend Damon, not really thinking he was the one to have torn down the ship and a few Marine bases throughout Islands. | ||
| Zinzuki Kerulaii | "Cross Blade" | 21,000,000
|
| First Bounty: After being appointed one of Crime Boss Hamaki's elite warriors on his slave trade, the Marines issued a bounty of 21,000,000 for him terrorizing and enslaving people on Raven's Point. The Marines have acknowledged that he is now apart of the ThunderScars.
| ||
| Jenelle Neveah | "Reaper's Disciple" | 0
|
| First Bounty: None. | ||
The ??? Pirates bounties
Total bounty: 14,500,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Tyder T. Ingram | "Rogue Wave" | 10,000,000
|
|
First Bounty: Though the reason is unknown, it is believed that due to previous acts of piracy Tyder had recieved a bounty of approximately Second Bounty: His second bounty is was issued to him after escaping Marine clutches using a Devil's Fruit when they were escorting him and breaking his friend, Sixxis Dargos, out of prison on Raven's Point. The result was that they blew up the entire base and was sent flying into the air. | ||
| Sixxis Dargos | "Project 666" | 4,500,000
|
| First Bounty: It is mainly unknown how Sixxis ended up in jail on Raven's Point and it is presumed he already had a bounty on his head, but it was raised a bit after getting help from escaping said base and blowing the entire thing up. It is not that high because the Marines believed that Tyder was the one to have done it. | ||
The Ouroboros bounties
Total bounty: 956,000,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Silas A. Bourne | "Pirate Commander" | 640,000,000
|
| First Bounty: It is unknown what his first bounty appointed to him was, but his first revealed bounty, which is currently the highest revealed bounty, of 640,000,000. This is because he is a Yonko.
| ||
| Oliver Prower | "Science Marvel" | 316,000,000
|
| First Bounty: It is unknown what his first bounty appointed to him was, but his first revealed bounty is 316,000,000. For what reason besides being the 5th commander of a Yonko crew is unknown.
| ||
East Blue bounties
Total bounty: 33,000,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Hamaki | "Crime Boss" | 22,000,000
|
| First Bounty: He became a notorious, wanted criminal for murder, terrorism and enslavement giving him his current bounty. | ||
| Sven R. Pocalyptic | "Project 777" | 11,000,000
|
| First Bounty: After escaping the clutches of a maximum security Marine Base, beating their warden and killing many Marines, the Marines issued a heavy starting bounty of 11,000,000 on him.
| ||
| Dirk | "Pick Pocket" | ???
|
| First Bounty: His bounty is unknown but, stated by Shichibukai Michi Canera, it is low and presumably from his epithet it is for constant successful pickpocket attempts. | ||
West Blue bounties
Total bounty: 18,500,000
| Name | Nickname | Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| Seraph | "Seraph of the Silver Sphere" | 5,000,000
|
| First Bounty: | ||
| Mez | "Red Blade" | 13,500,000
|
| First Bounty: | ||