Noble is a state-privileged status which is generally hereditary. Titles of nobility are usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies.
Nobles in One PieceEdit
Nobles are not to be confused with World Nobles as nobles are people restricted to their respective kingdoms while the World Nobles are people who were descendants from the Twenty Kingdoms and live only in Mary Geoise whose noble status is universal.
A majority of the nobles shown in the series have been portrayed as heartless. In particular, the nobles from Sabaody Archipelago, who were afraid of getting infected after Hatchan was shot and remorseless at the fact he was shot, as well as the Goa Kingdom nobles deciding to have Gray Terminal burned and massacre the people living there who tried to escape to make the kingdom beautiful for the visiting World Noble, Saint Jalmack, in hopes to be given an advancement in their noble status. They also believe that the "commoners" are fools for reasons outside of their control, one key statement where a father told his daughter they were trash and fools because they were not born as nobles, claiming they were stupid for not "choosing to be born noble". All nobles with such an attitude have been shown to be very cowardly, where despite their fearsome reputation they often cower to any threat of physical violence. They also seem to believe people are only interested in money, often bribing or suggesting money as a form of defense and if that does not succeed suggest the consequences that harming them would cause, and will believe the person is insane if they do not accept the money or threat. In other words, they have no idea how the real world works outside their own petty and selfish reasons.
However, it is shown by Sabo that some people born into nobility do not always inherit this heartless attitude, as Sabo completely rejected his noble status and was even ashamed to have been born a noble after the burning of the Grey Terminal. Sabo himself would later choose to join the Revolutionary Army after being saved by Monkey D. Dragon and despite his amnesia, he rejected returning to his family after Dragon informed him of his identity as a noble. Sabo would eventually become the army's chief of staff and Dragon's second-in-command, making himself an enemy of the World Government.
A noble becomes a true noble at age eighteen.
The Wano Country have their own class of nobility, known as "Daimyo" (大名 Daimyō?, literally meaning "Great Name", but the Japanese word for "feudal lord"), whose families act as lords of the country. Although they are influential like nobles of the other countries, they follow the creed of the samurai, and therefore are not spoiled by their wealth and status; they do not simply use money to solve their issues, and do not cower away when the lesser class use physical force, as the eight-year old Kozuki Momonosuke demonstrated. The Kozuki Family, lord of Kuri, has several retainers, even two from the foreign country of Zou.