Races

Races (種族, Shuzoku), sometimes referred to as Tribes (族, Zoku), are groups of sentient beings that share distinctive physical traits. Many races coexist in various worlds, with some originating from the Moon.

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 * —About The Races.

Natural Races
Most races in the world originated through natural reproduction.

Humans

 * Main article: Humans

Humans (人間, Ningen) are the most common race in the world. They rule over more of the world than any other race, with the World Government being founded and operated by humans. Humans are extremely diverse in their size and appearance. Most are one to two meters tall, but there are many who are taller, with some reaching as high as seven meters, while Charlotte Lingling appears to be the same size as a giant. Humans do not typically possess a special physical trait like other races do; indeed, many races' attributes are noted by how they surpass those of humans. However, humans are the most active of any race in scientific research and development, creating weapons and other tools that increase their strength.

Some humans gather into different tribes, such as the Kumate Tribe, a group of cannibals that feature the same noses, and the Kuja, a group of only women.

Mermen

 * Main article: Mermen

Mermen (魚人, Gyojin; literally meaning "Fishman") are humanoid creatures that possess features of aquatic creatures. Each merman has the traits of a unique type of fish, gaining the abilities that correspond to that fish such as squirting ink, possessing more than two arms or legs, growing unlimited sets of teeth, camouflage, and much more. All mermen possess both lungs and gills, allowing them to move both on land and in the sea; while mermen are said to be ten times stronger than humans from birth, this strength is amplified underwater.

Giants

 * Main article: Giants

Giants (巨人, Kyojin) heavily resemble humans, with the main difference being their massive size; they are the largest known race in the world, with even large humans barely going up to the level of most giants' knees. However, even giants' size widely varies, with Bastille resembling a large human and Oars being about four times taller than an average giant. As a result of their monstrous size, giants possess a tremendous amount of strength, with few people of any other race being able to withstand it. This strength makes them highly coveted as soldiers, and attempts have been made to turn humans into giants, all of which have been unsuccessful so far. Giants originate from lands all across the world, although the most famous giant homeland is the country of Elbaph in the New World.

Fishfolk

 * Main article: Fishfolk

Fishfolk (人魚, Ningyo; literally meaning "Merfolk") are people with the upper bodies of humans and the tails of fish. Males are called Fishmen while females are mermaids. Along with mermen, they are capable of living both on land and in the sea. While their land movement can be limited due to possessing tails instead of legs, they are the fastest swimmers of any aquatic race or species. They also have the ability to communicate with fish. While mermen keep their tails intact for their whole lives, mermaid's tails split into legs when they turn 30, giving them the ability to move around better on land.

Sky People

 * Main article: Skypiea, Loftrians, and Bilka

There are three races of people who originated on the Moon but later came to the world after the Moon's resources dried up. They heavily resemble humans, with their sole unique feature being a pair of wings on their back which serve no purpose. The size and shape of their wings distinguish them from each other: Skypieans possess small wings that are pointed upward, Loftrians (formerly known as Shandia) possess larger wings that also point upward, and Bilkans possess wings that point downward. After leaving the Moon, the Skypieans and Bilkans settled on the Sky Islands, while the Loftrians went all the way down to the Blue Sea and settled on Jaya. However, they were later sent up to the Sky Islands by the Knock Up Stream. Eight years ago, Bilka was destroyed by the Bilkan Eneru, so how much of the race currently still lives is unknown.

Minks

 * Main article: Minks

Minks (ミンク, Minku) are humanoids that possess features of mammalian animals. Like mermen, each mink is connected to a specific animal and often features traits of the animal, such as rabbit minks jumping high and canine minks liking to chew on bones. Male minks almost fully resemble animals that talk and walk on two legs, while females more resemble furry humans with some animal traits. Minks are natural-born warriors and have the ability to discharge electric shocks known as Electro. Most of them live on Zou and have no contact with the rest of the world, causing them to be shrouded in mystery, but some of them have left Zou and reside in other places.

Longarms

 * Main article: Longarms

Longarms (手長, Tenaga) heavily resemble humans, but possess two joints in their arms that make them significantly longer. The Longarm Tribe once assaulted the country Harahetternia on Namakura Island, and has been in conflict with the Longleg Tribe for over a millennium.

Longfeets

 * Main article: Longfeets

Longfeets (足長, Ashinaga), like longarms, heavily resemble humans but possess extremely tall legs that make up most of their height. They possess great strength in their legs, although it was noted that their legs may be their greatest weakness as well. Most but not all longlegs adorn their legs with tattoos and tend to put them on full display. They have been in conflict with the longarms for over a millennium.

Three-Eye Tribe

 * Main article: Three-Eye Tribe

The Three-Eye Tribe (三つ目, Mitsume) is a tribe of people that are almost identical to humans, but possess a third eye on their forehead. They can use their third eye to gain the two abilities to hear the Voice of All Things and read Ponecliffs, but they are extremely rare.

Dwarves

 * Main article: Dwarves

Dwarves (小人, Kobito; literally meaning "Little People") are extremely small humanoids, being small enough to fit in the palm of an average-sized human's hand. Their most notable features are their large and fluffy tails. Dwarves possess tremendous strength for their size, being capable of damaging buildings with attacks, and they are also blindingly fast. They are all extremely gullible. A notable colony of dwarves known as the Tontatta Tribe lives on Green Bit near Dressrosa.

Snakenecks

 * Main article: Snakenecks

The Snakenecks (蛇首, Jakubi) is a tribe of people that possess extremely long necks. Snakenecks seem so far to be very slim and possess collars or tattoos on their necks.

Kinokobito

 * Main article: Kinokobito

A Kinokobito is a humanoid with a mushroom-shaped body and four legs. Nothing is known of the race other than its appearance.

Artificial Races
These races are composed of sentient beings that were created by people through science or Devil Fruit powers rather than by natural procreation.

Automata

 * Main article: Automata

Automata (カラクリ人形, Karakuri Ningyō) are robots that were built by the original Moon races and left behind when the Moon people left for the world. Despite being robots, they appear like they are made of flesh and blood. There were also some Automata created on Karakuri Island, who later went to the moon.

Zombies

 * Main article: Zombies

Zombies (ゾンビ, Zonbi) are corpses that are animated with shadows taken by Gecko Moria's Devil Fruit the Shadow-Shadow Fruit. The zombies' bodies can be anything that was once living, including plants and animals, but they have the sentience of humanoid races due to possessing human shadows, and will have the same personality as the person whose shadow was given to them. Zombies will die again if the person whose shadow they possess dies, if they are purified by ingesting salt, or if Moria removes their shadow. Many zombies lived on Thriller Bark while Moria was headquartered there, but Moria took all their shadows into himself while he was battling the Straw Hat Pirates, killing all of them. Moria would later leave Thriller Bark and briefly make a few zombies out of Navy on Navyford, but it is unknown if he has made any more since then.

Centaurs

 * Main article: Centaurs

Centaurs (ケンタウロス, Kentaurosu) are humans who had the lower bodies of different animals attached to them by Trafalgar Law's Devil Fruit the Op-Op Fruit. The centaurs were originally prisoners on Punk Hazard who were left to die after a gas weapon explosion and fallout four years ago, and who survived but lost their legs. They were given animal legs by Law when he came to the island over three years later, as well as the pirate captain Brownbeard who had came to the island during the fallout. These centaurs became the Centaur Patrol Unit and Brownbeard became their boss.

Toys

 * Main article: Toys

Toys (オモチャ, Omocha) were originally just people and animals that were been transformed by Sugar's Devil Fruit the Hobby-Hobby Fruit. Their bodies were made out of materials such as wood and stuffing, making them unable to feel the warmth of human touch. Anyone who was turned into a toy became forgotten by everyone who knew them, and Don Quixote Doflamingo used Sugar's ability to turn all of his enemies into toys and enslave them. However, the toys will return to their original form if Sugar is knocked out, which is what happened after Operation SOP successfully took her out. Sugar regained consciousness and turned a few more people into toys, but was knocked out again and was arrested before she came to, leaving no one under her curse.

Homies

 * Main article: Homies

Homies (ホーミーズ, Hōmīzu) are beings created by Big Mam's Devil Fruit the Soul-Soul Fruit. They are given life by Big Mom inserting her soul into them, making them similar to zombies, but there are differences between them. Homies can be made out of any inanimate object in addition to trees and animals, but cannot be made from corpses, and no humans alive or dead can be made into them. The soul fragments given to most of the homies are tributes from the citizens of Totto Land, who give up six months of their lifespan, and Big Mom's incarnations scatter these throughout the land.

Race Mixing
So far, there seems to be no limits in terms of people from different races procreating. Most people of mixed race seen so far have at least one human parent, and these people typically look similar to their non-human parent. This is evidenced by Big Mam's children, some of whom are half mermaid, half snakeneck, half longarm, half longfeet, and half three-eye and possess these races' unique features, although half three-eye Charlotte Pudding remarked that her mixed heritage might prevent her from awakening the ability to hear the Voice of All Things. However, human traits still do appear in some people of mixed blood, such as Dellinger, a half-merman who has human skin.

Hybrids between two non-human races have been shown to be much more varied, and multiple non-human mixed races have been given names. Hybrids between giants and mermen are known as wotans and possess both great size and traits of a certain fish, while hybrids between longarms and longfeets are known as longlimb humans.

Procreation between a merman and one of the fishfolk is different than other interracial procreation. Rather than gaining traits of both species, children will either be born as mermen or fishfolk.

Racism
Lack of knowledge and understanding of different races has resulted in centuries of racism between the races of the world.

The most common form of racism seen has been racism between humans and the mermen and fishfolk. Some humans view mermen and fishfolk to be inferior and closer to animals than people, and this prejudice exists even in the World Government. An alliance between the World Government and Merman Island was not established until two hundred years ago, and relations remain uneasy, with humans and mermen forbidden by law from donating blood to each other and the races generally not coexisting either on land or underwater. Mermen and fishfolk are commonly captured and sold into slavery. On the other side, the mermen's resentment of their treatment by humans has resulted in a breeding ground of hatred. Some mermen view themselves as superior to humans due to their physical superiorities, and groups such as the Arlong Pirates have attacked and subjugated humans. Fishfolk do not seem to share this resentment against humans.

Humans have not always gotten along well with giants, particularly those from Elbaph. It was stated that the execution of the Giant Warrior Pirates may have resulted in a war between the World Government and the giants had it been carried out, and giants were not integrated into the Marines until this past century. Due to the Mink Tribe's mysterious nature, myths and rumors abound about their unfriendliness and savage ferocity, creating prejudices about the minks that are inaccurate. Humans such as the Don Quixote Family have used dwarves for manual labor, taking advantage of their gullibility to effectively enslave them.

Although they once coexisted on the moon, the Skypieans and Loftrians began warring when their tribes reunited over 400 years after they journeyed to the world; the soil island the Loftrians had lived on had been shot up into the sky, and the Skypieans took over the land because they considered soil holy, causing warfare to break out over control of the Loftrians' land, which gained the name Upper Yard. However, the Bilkan Eneru came four years ago and took over Upper Yard, and the Skypieans and Loftrians ended up working together to dethrone him, putting an end to their long feud. The Longarm and Longfeet Tribes have been warring with each other for over a millennium, though not all longarms and longfeets engage in this; the cause of this fight is unknown.

Efforts have been made across the world for greater amounts of race integration. Merman Island's queen Otohime established a petition for mermen coexistence with humans on land. She managed to gain the backing of the World Nobles, but was assassinated by merman extremist Hordy Jones, who pinned the murder on a human to set back the coexistence efforts. However, after Hordy's crew the New Merman Pirates failed to take over Merman Island, the desire for coexistence was renewed and Otohime's petition gained enough signatures to be presented at the Reverie. Underworld dealer Carmel pioneered an effort to improve human and giant relations with the backing of the government; although this effort was only intended to recruit giants into the Navy, they were none the wiser as Carmel set up the Sheep's House on Elbaph, which took in orphaned and abandoned children of all races in order to recruit them into the Navy or Cipher Pol. One of Carmel's wards, Charlotte Lingling, adopted this dream from her without knowing it was an act, and after Carmel's death, Lingling sought to rule over a country where every race could live in harmony. She eventually achieved this dream, establishing Totto Land. However, not every race lives on Totto Land, as Lingling is reviled among the giant race due to her actions while living in the Sheep's House.

World Nobles are humans who have unprecedented privileges granted by the World Government. Lawful freedom and virtually inexhaustible wealth made them look down on all species, even fellow human, who are not in the same social caste as them. They believe themselves to be gods, and that humans are beneath them and should be looked down with contempt. When one of their own, Don Quixote Homing, expressed his differing views on humanity and requesting his family's World Noble statuses to be annulled, the others immediately severed ties with the entire Don Quixote Family, regarded them as "mere humans" and traitors, and refused to take them back or assist them. They have even more contemptuous views of superiority and inferiority for mermen and fishfolks, derogatorily considering them to be mere fishes, as Charloss only wanted to buy Camie for the sake of his personal entertainment at the expense of her safety, and Mjosgard snarlingly looked down on his escaped mermen slaves despite being outnumbered and isolated.