Raptor D. Baron

Raptor D. Baron is the captain of the Titan pirates. A poised veteran of war, the many treacherous events over the course of his career have garnered him a colossal bounty currently worth 500,000,000, making him one of the most wanted men within the entire world. Raptor is well reputed for his mastery in close quarters combat, particularly in regards to the Six Powers, which he learned under the guidance of the Navy during his childhood years.

Having sailed the ocean blue for the better part of the past two decades, it seems as though Raptor is a front runner for the title of "Pirate King", most nearly because of the large pool of warriors he has gathered under his arsenal. There are very few pirates in the world today who could claim to have as much knowledge as he, as he has traveled across the very depths of the Grand Line to the point where the amount of islands he has not yet visited can be counted on his fingertips.

He is a former member of the Shichibukai, a position he took up briefly upon the request of the Navy in order to flee from level six of.

Poverty Stricken
Birthed into a state of virtual penury, the preliminary stages of the childhood of the one known as Raptor were filled with hardship and unprecedented bloodshed, for his arrival into the world could not have come at a more catastrophic period of time. The blessed entities known and feared throughout the seas as the celestial dragons had placed their claims upon Deguchi, a distant island just along the coast of the calm belts of the Grand Line simply because of the lavish dandelions the island had been known to produce all year round. Without consent, Deguchi was infiltrated by the Navy and taken over; even despite the fact that the world nobles had never placed any interest beyond placing claims upon the territory, urban life was prohibited for its inhabitants by none other than the navy, and they were all pushed towards the outskirts of the islands, forced to live in the surrounding jungles. Food was scarce, and the presence of the various carnivorous animals only made life that much more difficult. In time, the population of the once prominent Deguchi forces plummeted significantly, until the existence of the people in the woods became a mere myth. The island as a whole was later turned into an additional base for the marines, granting beneficial access to some of the more premier locations across the first half of the Grand Line.

During the period of time in which the navy took over Deguchi, Raptor was exposed to many horrific projections of warlike material. Even at a young age, the boy had experienced death at first hand and had taken to living in the surrounding jungles of Deguchi where he battled day in and day out against monstrous animals of the sorts. Each day in itself presented a new challenge, and each day was made a contest amongst the finest of survivors. In this time, Raptor became wary of his ever increasing powers; during his very first battles, he caught a glimpse of his true potential. Fending off the many tyrants that came to disturb the slumber of his family, Raptor grew in strength and unleashed the beast that had been living inside of him ever since the Navy had arrived on Deguchi. He was slowly becoming a devil himself, and with all do respect, it would not have been farfetched for one to believe that with the mysterious intellect he acquired during such a time that he had become determined to extract his revenge upon the marines who had taken away his beloved home. However, the exact opposite ended up happening when the fate of his family's life fell into his own hands.

Life in the jungle was not at all what it was made out to be; while the common belief remains that all forgoers accustomed to such a lifestyle would have replicated the actions of the native folk —abandoning their clothing, donning face paint, carrying spears—those surviving upon Deguchi tried their very best to maintain their urban upbringing, aside from the fact that they lived in caves, and that their living conditions could never truly ever be the same. For people that had grown so reliant on all the festivities of modern living, a sudden switch into the jungles was beyond disastrous; many had no idea what they were doing, and with the many tales of those who were lost to the very same woods lingering about, the citizens were placed forth head first into turmoil. Much to their benefit, however, the island of Deguchi was known to harvest many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, all of which were quite unlike the ones that grew naturally on any other island. However, as much as it may have been a benefit, the fact that every other fruit had the chance of being poisonous negated any cheers from uprising, for a single mistake could have costed a man his life. So then it became a game of chance, where single parents left their lives in the hands of the higher ups in order to fulfill the aching stomachs of their children. This was far from the most suitable strategy, and with such incoherent planning came a plethora of diseases. Of the many who grew ill were Raptor's mother and younger brother, the latter of which had grown blind after devouring a mysterious vegetable that had grown warts all about his eyelashes, forcing him to bear a pair of shades to conceal them from the public.

Raptor's younger brother utilized a pair of dark tinted sunglasses to hide his eyes from plain view, to prevent any such beliefs as to whether or not the disease was contagious from surfacing. Treatment was essentially impossible, as with the amount of survivors left, none of them had any medical knowledge, not to mention that the illness the poor lad had attracted was quite rare in nature, and even had a doctor been apparent, there was little chance that he would have been able to accomplish much. With Raptor at his bedside, the young boy passed away, and Raptor inherited his sunglasses as his signature article of equipment. By wearing them at all times, Raptor believed that he would have been allowing his younger brother to see the future through his own eyes and carrying his will into the next era. However, the series of unfortunate events did not cease with the demise of his sibling, for the next in line to succumb to another horrific disease was none other than the very same person who had breathed life into Raptor's body —his mother. By the name of Shiela, Raptor's mother had become bedridden and thereafter, unable to move on her own accord. With the fear of losing yet another family member, Raptor ventured deep into the jungle for food after a shortage in number had been discovered. For whatever reason, the supply of fruits especially had dwindled significantly, and even despite having had nothing to eat through the duration of several days, Raptor remained poised to find so much as a single apple to bring home for his mother.

Days went by and Raptor had long since proclaimed himself a failure after failing to find any edible substances. The various animals that had plagued him in the past had vanished themselves, and just about the only time he prayed they would reappear, the exact opposite happened. The jungles were abandoned, both by humans and animals alike. The only ones left in such a state were Raptor and Shiela, though the thought of consuming the many fallen corpses of Deguchi's lost citizens was most certainly out of question, as Shiela had always preached particular morals, and the act of cannibalism would have gone against them entirely. Left with no other option, Raptor ventured through the prohibited barriers placed forth by the marines and foresaw a forbidden exchange between a group of navy officers and a band of pirates. Though unbeknownst to Raptor, the pirates were in the process of selling a Devil Fruit to the navy for a grand total of 1,000,000,000; the fact that the navy had agreed to meet on fair terms in itself suggested that the fruit possessed quite formidable power, as more often than not, they would have instead captured the pirates instead. The sight of the fruit made Raptor's mouth water from behind his hiding place in some nearby bushes; the ripe red color was but all too intriguing, and his mother needed some sort of nutrient to stave off her illness, or so he had come to believe.

Staving off all measures of intellect, Raptor reacted solely upon desperate instinct and exposed himself out into the open in a foolish attempt to collect the fruit for himself. He was met immediately by the collaborative gunfire of both the marines and pirates, who showed no mercy, despite his in part being nothing more than a mere child. Bombarded with such an intensifying assault, Raptor displayed hints of his sheer will by overcoming the many wounds he had acquired during the event and even with numerous bullet holes in his body, remained standing long enough to place a hand on the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Ryujin, before he was ultimately pinned to the ground from behind by a navy marine. With blood fountaining out of every inch of his body, Raptor looked at his own pitiful state and thought back at how it had felt to lose his younger brother; garnering the same emotions for his mother who was practically on her own deathbed at home, Raptor cried out into the star filled sky and utilized for the very first time, knocking down the enemies that had restrained him by using his own will to overpower them. Without hesitation or a second to collect his thoughts as to how he had managed to accomplish such a feat, Raptor fled the scene with the Ryu Ryu no Mi in his hands and made haste towards his home.

By the time he had managed to return home, Raptor's entire body had been reduced to nothing short of a bucket containing oozing red paint, or so it seemed, courtesy of the many wounds he had reopened on his way back that were now quite literally gushing ounces of blood by the second. Entering the door, a tattered Raptor crawled toward his mother's bedside, offering her the fruit before collapsing on top of her from exhaustion. Sheila was worried beyond belief ever since he had disappeared into the woods without trace, and was not at all relieved to have found him in such a near death state. Shedding tears, instead of complying to the last wish of her son, Sheila tended to his wounds with the last ounce of strength she could muster, feeding him the devil fruit obliviously in the process, before finally succumbing to her illness and passing on with Raptor in her arms. The boy awoke several hours later after his untimely slumber had been interrupted by gunfire; Raptor experienced a mental breakdown upon uncovering his mother's corpse, and was taken away by the marines who had pinpointed the exact location of his home.

After uncovering the remains of the missing devil fruit within the vicinity of the Raptor household, the marines concluded that its powers had been granted to Raptor, and instead of taking the boy's life and risking having to search for it all over again, they instead took him in and treated his grievous injuries. Consumption of the fruit had actually caused additional harm to Raptor, placing him in a coma for nearly a week before he regained consciousness. Through the duration of his many medical procedures, the boy was fed through various tubes and high ranking officers had been issued to his room to act as bodyguards in the off chance that he was unable to gain control over his devil fruit abilities and went off into a berserk rampage. Raptor's health was closely monitored, though even despite all the medical treatment by the professional medical staff of the branch navy headquarters, his survival in itself was considered a miracle, though a survival nonetheless. Under the tutelage of the navy, Raptor would see to grueling hours of mental therapy to recover from the trauma of his mother's death. He agreed to serve them in return for funeral arrangements for Sheila.

Strength in Numbers
Under the navy, Raptor was always on the move, being transported from place to place in order to progress with his training. Initially, Raptor had declared his interest in specializing in swordsmanship; however, he soon realized that it was not meant for him and instead altered into majoring in hand to hand combat, in particular, the martial arts style known as "". Additionally, it was under the influence of the marines that Raptor learned to better control his devil fruit abilities. While he was never able to swim ever again, he was given a specific mentor who had complete mastery over his Zoan type devil fruit by the name of Milan, who explained the benefits of the fruit classification to Raptor, along with any necessary information he would have needed for his fruit especially. If it had not been for the navy, Raptor would not have been aware of his own abilities, for he had lost consciousness when he had been fed the Ryu Ryu no Mi. In the wake of all this training, Raptor never once allowed himself to forget the sheer pain he had felt of losing not only his most dearest of companions, but his homeland as well, and secretly vowed to return to Deguchi when he had enough strength to fend for himself. Among the other trainees, Raptor seemed to be the most promising, with majority of the credit going towards the fact that he had been bestowed with a mythical zoan type devil fruit at such a young age.

Early on, controlling his devil fruit powers proved to be an immense struggle. Raptor was prone to unprecedented transformations, where parts of his body turned into that of the dark dragon king without his consent; this often led to him being subdued by the various marine officers that were patrolling the area at the time. As he progressed more and more up the ladder, Raptor's training was eventually overseen by two vice admirals; one of which possessed the powers of a logia class devil fruit, and the other who was well versed with his own zoan type. As Raptor himself was a mythical zoan type, and thus possessed properties similar of both classifications, this training was incredibly meaningful, and allowed him to trespass into the levels of mastery under such tutelage. Eventually, Raptor became inducted as a marine, and in the process, pledged his allegiance to the navy, becoming an official officer. It was a fate he could not yet escape, though resented nonetheless. Raptor himself, however, could not argue against the fact that he would have not been able to receive such formal training if it had not been for his decision; the greatest training facilities resided within the eye of the navy; if he wanted to truly grow stronger, then he would have had to muster his pride aside and continue to flourish under them.

His career as a marine was highly profiled and well reputed. Raptor gained fame for his successful completion of assignments and climbed the ladder in ranking as swiftly as any other, with his progress being compared to that of the late Coby. It wasn't long before Raptor had gained the trust of the navy as a whole and found himself adorned in the various golden lined coats saved for those select few members with the utmost authority; Raptor became a high authoritated figure, and his name was spread across the seas, until it was known to all. Stories of how he defeated various pirate captains and locked them away into Impel Down were not uncommon, and only worked to increase his popularity within the ranks of the marines. His past had been long forgotten, and he had finally gained the complete trust of those he served; however, he was unsure of whether or not it was a lifestyle he wanted to go about living, even if it did provide him with a temporary reason to continue existing. In time, Raptor became well versed in haki, and thus, ascended past the boundaries of any normal being by becoming a Vice Admiral.

Venturing beyond his middle ages, Raptor was eventually elected as an admiral of the navy, taking up a spot amongst the three most powerful positions in the navy. With great power would have normally come great responsibility, however, it oddly appeared as though the man had become more laid back and more naturally calm. He had taken to smoking cigars and calibrated into the devilish festivities of drinking liquor; all such came with age, though most of all, Raptor was at last able to see the true terrors of the navy from up close. As a child, he had caught but a glimpse of their true nature; their behavior was unprecedented. They who claimed to be the saviors of the world were nothing short of robots working for the betterment of the celestial dragons. They cared little for the well being of the world, much less of those inhabiting it. The marines were all being programmed, almost hypnotized to live their lives a certain way. Raptor was no longer going to play apart in such corruption, and he addressed his intent to the front office of the world government and resigned from his position altogether, electing instead, to become what they despised most --a pirate.

Grand Ascension
Raptor defected his position as an admiral and took to the seas once more, however this time, traveling of his own accord. He gathered companions of his own and formed a pirate crew, taking up his new position as their captain. With his notorious past still but lingering about the very oceans he now wished to claim, he became known as "Titan", and defeated various opposing pirate captains and forced them to join his side instead. With each passing day, his fleet multiplied, until it stormed through the Grand Line and into the New World as a force to be reckoned with. As a former admiral, the navy was swift in issuing a hefty bounty in return for his head, with a price set at 500,000,000 from the beginning. Raptor enjoyed his time away from the marines and indulged himself within the life of a pirate. The seas were but all too familiar to him, as he had long since ventured them during his years under the world government. Harnessing their powers and lessons, it was the ultimate betrayal.

Behind every man is a weakness, and for Raptor, it happened to be his comrades, the companions comprising his pirate crew. An instance befell the man in which certain figures of his group had been confiscated; abducted and filed for treason, it seemed as though their lives had come to an end. However, having raised the man through their devilish efforts, the navy cornered Raptor, by offering him a bit of hope. In return for his comrades, they instead desired him in their place, and without hesitation, the man agreed, going as far as to even cuffing himself in sea stone to prove his worth. Abiding to the man's wish, they freed the rest of his crew and allowed them a running start, before locking Raptor away into the lowest pits of Impel Down --the sixth level. Said to be hell itself, it offered Raptor remorse, and even he could not sustain such trauma for eternity. He spent years locked away within the depths of such darkness before he was given another offer by his past allies; seeing him such a pitiful state, they offered him but one final chance. Though he would never be able to regain his posture amongst the admirals, the navy instead offered him a position as a member of the shichibukai after the ranks had become clear; he would once again be under their watchful eye and be able to serve them like he had in the past, albeit with the exception of living his life as a pirate. Raptor agreed, and he was released from the prison which allowed him to reunite with his crew.

There was a common belief that even despite their affiliation with the world government, the shichibukai were still pirates before anything else, and thus, their behavior would remain the same. Pirates were never to be trusted in the first place, though in Raptor's case, he had been offered the benefit of the doubt most nearly due to his rich history with the navy; for a man of his caliber to have been released from prison was but a fantasy for them and a nightmare for all else. With his quote on quote "return", the navy's strength was believed to have been doubled if not increased dramatically, though he took advantage of his reign as a member of the shichibukai and instead utilized it to gain supremacy amidst the endless seas. Without the marines on his tail, Raptor was no longer a wanted man; this allowed him to embark freely on a journey of his own, in which he conquered many islands on his way across the Grand Line. Covering distance they had already tackled before, it was a new era for the Titan Pirates, though others dared not to challenge them based off of their decade long experiences during their initial run. The Titan Pirates were back in full bloom, better than they ever had been. Living under the radar, their bounties were frozen, and they were able to sneak about wrecking havoc without consequence for some period of time.

Without troubling himself with the affairs of the navy allowed both Raptor and the Titan Pirates to work much more efficiently. They took this time to conquer a portion of the New World, and it wasn't until much later that Raptor was stripped of his title as a member of the shichibukai. This had been done after the Titan Pirates had already long since placed their claims upon various territories, angering the navy to no end. When met by such matters, Raptor threw in the towel himself and resigned from the shichibukai voluntarily, his way of spitting in the face of the world government after the grueling second chance they had offered him. In a highly publicized event of which was broadcasted to the navy headquarters by members of the Titan Pirates, Raptor informed the fleet admiral of his resignation through the process of burning the navy flag, thereby declaring war against the entire world. Raptor's actions would face heavy consequences, and his bounty that had been frozen for some years was doubled, making him one of the most wanted men within the entire world, and the most wanted man by the highest authorized figures within the world government personally.