

The true depth to the crew's strength is that the World Government greatly fears what would happen if the Red Hair Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates were to form an alliance.

Rockstar also used his chief's name to convey to Whitebeard the importance of the letter he delivered to him. In addition, Shanks does not fear Whitebeard, who was another Emperor and known as the world's strongest pirate, as well as a known rival of his former captain, whereas some pirate captains quiver at the mere mention of his name. However, the senior members (including Shanks, Benn Beckman, Yasopp, and Lucky Roux) appeared not to be bothered by his visit. When Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, brought news of Luffy's rise to fame, the younger, weaker members of his crew appear to be terrified of the great swordsman and approached him with caution. Moments later, Shanks did something shocking while rescuing Luffy from the sea - he scared away a Sea King just by staring at it, even right after the beast took his right arm.

Later on, Benn Beckman took on the bandit's men and wiped them all out with ease, telling Higuma that if he and the bandits wanted to take them on they should bring a warship as back-up. The bandit leader Higuma tried to threaten Shanks with his 8,000,000 bounty, but Shanks was not afraid of the man and even put up with having a bottle of sake and his plate of food being smashed and spilled over him. The first hint at the crew's strength came early on in the story from Luffy's past. The bounties of every other crew member are still unknown. Rockstar, who joined Shanks' crew prior to the timeskip, had a bounty of 94,000,000 and is still considered to be a rookie. The chief, Shanks, has a bounty of 4,048,900,000 while his officers, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roux and Yasopp, are all noted to be big names themselves. They were also recognized as having a high average bounty. According to commodore Brannew, the Red Hair Pirates are the most balanced and impregnable as a group, showing little weakness overall. The exact strength of the crew as a whole is unknown, but since their chief is one of the Four Emperors, they are recognized as one of the four strongest pirate crews in the world. Unnamed island visited by the Barto Club.The Red Hair Pirates are known to have the following territories under their control:

The remainder of the crew is comprised of members with notable bounties themselves, who together share a great deal of trust in their leader, making for a well-balanced and unassailable crew. Just below him and the next most senior are his three officers, all of whom have become infamous in their own right. Though much of the crews' hierarchy remains uncertain, Shanks is identified as the groups Leader ( 大頭 ( おおがしら ), ōgashira ?) and as such maintains overall authority.
