Buster Call
From One Piece Encyclopedia
The Buster Call (バスターコール Basutā Kōru?) is the ultimate form of military attack used by the Marines. It is a result of the naval doctrine of Absolute Justice.
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[edit] Targets of the Buster Call
The "Buster Call" is the strongest military action possible, performed only under special circumstances. The target of a Buster Call is usually to destroy a criminal or group of criminals that have proven extremely dangerous to the World Government. The reasons for the two known such things were:
- 20 years ago, Ohara was attacked because its scholars were able to read the Poneglyphs and decipher information about the Void Century.
- In recent times, Enies Lobby was attacked in order to prevent Nico Robin, the only survivor of the previous Buster Call, from escaping. This Buster Call was originally started by mistake by CP9 leader Spandam.
[edit] People who may initiate a Buster Call
Since the Buster Call is an order of such destructive powers, only the highest ranking leading authorities of the Marines (the Admirals & the Fleet Admiral) have the power to initiate the Buster Call. Above the Marine is the World Government, where only the Gorousei and government employees that have been given the Den Den Mushi for Buster Call have the right to order the call.
The people who may order a Buster Call are:
- Marine
- World Government
- Gorousei
- A government official entrusted with a Golden Den Den Mushi by an Admiral
- Admiral Sengoku to Spandine
- Admiral Aokiji to Spandam
[edit] Initiating a Buster Call
The procedure of calling the attack is said to be in the hands of the above. A Buster Call is sent, when one of the above uses a Golden Den Den Mushi by pressing its button, which immediately sends a signal, received by the Silver Den Den Mushi in the Naval Headquarters, where the island to be destroyed is acknowledged. Spandam himself said that using it without this delegation is illegal.
[edit] Description
After the signal is received, five Vice Admirals and a fleet of ten ships nearest to the location of the caller are scrambled to that island.
It seems that a Buster Call cannot be rescinded and once the targets of the Buster Call are announced all other details become unimportant. [1]
Robin described it as a "nightmare version of concentrated arson." The ships used are large and have apparently grown over time. The ones used 20 years ago were roughly twice as tall as a Giant. The ones apparently used currently are as tall as the Tower of Justice and are as long as the Bridge of Hesitation. They can now tower a Giant, and are capable of carrying a seemingly immeasurable number of Marines.
[edit] Death to all in the way
The Attack is derived from the Marine's doctrine of Absolute Justice, according to which a person is a criminal who must be punished when he opposes the World Government or could one day become a threat. The attack eliminates all who could one day be dangerous, "for the betterment of the world," without taking human lives or innocence into consideration.
Once the fleet arrives, the fleet fires a signal "test round". [2] Then the Vice Admirals, as well as the entire fleet, lay waste to the island, killing everything there, regardless of who is still on the island. For example, during the Ohara incident, the refugee boat containing all of the island's normal civilians was destroyed, along with everyone inside, in case a historian had slipped on board. The Buster Call fleet even kills government officials if they are still left stranded on the island. Even Admiral Aokiji was shocked by the ruthlessness of the attackers.
If there is an important criminal on one of the Buster Call ships, other Buster Call ships will not hesitate to attack it simply to kill the criminal, even if it means the death of every Marine soldier on board.[3]
So far only two islands have been known to have faced a Buster Call: Ohara and Enies Lobby, with Nico Robin and Aokiji present at both. [4]
The Straw Hat Pirates are the only known crew to survive and escape the Buster Call.
The general public is kept in the dark about a Buster Call, using propaganda to demonize the destroyed target and make its annihilation a great, praiseworthy feat of the World Government. For example, Iceburg was shown to have been fooled by the official information that the "Devils of Ohara" were working in order to destroy the world.
[edit] Buster Call statistics
| Ohara | Enies Lobby | |
|---|---|---|
| Reason | Reading the Poneglyph and deciphering the information about the Void Century. | A mistake on Spandam's account, by accidentally pressing the Golden Den Den Mushi instead of a common one.
Later reason: retrieval of Nico Robin and destruction of the invading Straw Hat force. [5] |
| Success | Partially succeeded (Nico Robin survives). | Failed (Nico Robin escaped with the Straw Hats). |
| Location of Fleet | At Ohara's coast; the Buster Call was already pre-planned and the "inspection" by Spandine was to only find an official excuse for its triggering. | Grand Line Marine Headquarters |
| Time for arrival | None, already present. | Thirty minutes. |
| Requester | Admiral Sengoku (current Fleet Admiral Sengoku), through Spandine. | Admiral Aokiji, through Spandam. |
| In charge | Admiral Sengoku was the one who told each Vice-Admiral about the mission and prepared the warships. It is unknown if he was at the HQ where the Buster Call was received, however. | Vice-Admiral John Giant received the report on the Silver Den Den Mushi. He was in charge of summoning the five vice admirals and preparing the ten warships.In addition, Vice-Admiral Onigumo apparently had enough authority to order nine battleships to fire on Ship Four, where Rob Lucci and Luffy were fighting. |
| Leading Vice-Admirals |
| 5 unintroduced Vice-Admirals; their names are revealed in One Piece Yellow databook as: |
| Soldiers present | Unknown | At least 10,000 (one Buster Call ship has been reported to house 1,000 soldiers, plus those "recruited" from Enies Lobby). |
| Government Personnel present | CP9 director Spandine, two unnamed agents of CP9, and an unknown number of Cipher Pol grunts. | CP9's full complement (excluding Nero) and the government soldiers and workers of Enies Lobby. |
| Civilian casualties | 98-99% (all but Nico Robin): the entire population of the island (at least 80-100 people) killed by the World Government. | 0 (presumably no civilians present, except the Straw Hats and their allies). |
| Soldier casualties | Any soldiers still left on the island (unknown) in addition to soldiers from two battleships and the evacuation ship. | 1,201+ (an unknown number possibly killed on the main island, up to 1,000 killed during a bombardment on a fellow buster call ship, one shot for arguing by the Vice-Admiral who ordered this, and up to two hundred officers defeated by the Straw Hats on the Bridge of Hesitation). |
| Military equipment lost | 6 ships (destroyed by former Vice-Admiral Jaguar D. Saul, although Nico Robin was blamed) | 3 or more ships (one destroyed by the order of Vice-Admiral Onigumo[3] (the helmeted one), two crushed when the Gates of Justice were closed by Sanji; More may have been unsalvageable after being damaged by the freak currents and/or hit by friendly fire) and one was rendered unusable by Luffy while in Gear Third. |
[edit] References
- ↑ One Piece manga - Chapter 421, the details of the Buster Call are announced and everything else is dismissed as unimportant.
- ↑ One Piece manga - Chapter 420, the test round begins.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 One Piece manga - Chapter 422, an attack is ordered against another Buster Call Ship.
- ↑ One Piece manga - Enies Lobby arc, destruction of both islands takes place here.
- ↑ One Piece manga - Chapter 421, the targets of the Buster Call on Enies Lobby are announced.
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