Gol D. Roger († 24 years ago), later also Gold Roger, was once a pirate who crossed the Grand Line as the only one so far with his crew and reached the last island Laugh Tale. Thus, he became the king of pirates and hid the legendary One Piece. Due to his death, the great pirate age began. Together with Portgas D. Rouge he got Ace.
Contents
Appearance
Roger was a tall man with black hair that grew to the nape of his neck. He possessed a black, broad French moustache. This mustache was also, to all appearances, the trademark of his pirate crew, as it was depicted on his flag. Like many other high-ranking pirates, he wore a red captain’s coat. Underneath, he wore a green shirt and a blue scarf around his waist. In public and around his crew, he wore his long red coat with his arms in the sleeves and a white tie around his neck, like an English gentleman. Occasionally he wore his coat on his shoulders. He also owned a captain’s hat with his pirate flag on it.
As it turned out, Roger was also in possession of the straw hat.
Personality
It is said that the king of pirates was absolutely fearless. Even shortly before his death, he did not turn pale, but smiled. His personality was often compared to Luffy’s by people who knew him personally. Moreover, he was said to have always been a man who made a big and pompous thing out of everything. As Garp once reported, he loved his crew like his own family.
Even when faced with an army he could not defeat, he would not have fled: the protection of his friends and the danger that those might be pursued never made him flee from an enemy. This trait accompanied him to the point that he did not stop at destroying a force of an entire nation just because someone insulted one of his friends.
This mercilessness was also experienced by Squard, whose entire crew Roger destroyed for unknown reasons. Thus, Garp characterized him as violent, easily irritated, and self-centered whenever he got angry. However, in his heart he was always sincere.
Skills and strength
Until his death, he was the king of the pirates. Whitebeard, who was declared the strongest pirate in the world after Roger’s demise, was reportedly once able to claim a draw against Roger. This is a great and important indication that his physical strength was very high. In battle, he used one of the 12 dragon swords that bore the name of his later son, Ace.
With this, he was able to demonstrate his superiority to the strong samurai Kozuki Oden with just one strike, and when exchanging blows with Whitebeard, a huge shockwave was created. That he had a vice like Silvers Rayleigh under him as his right hand man speaks all the more for Roger’s strength and qualities as a captain. The latter, despite his age, was able to take on Admiral Kizaru in the Sabaody Archipelago, though by his own admission he no longer possessed the strength he had in days gone by.
Also, Roger along with his crew was able to face Shiki’s fleet, consisting of at least 26 ships, and make it through in one piece. Although Shiki was an eternal opponent of Roger and usually spoke disparagingly of him, he still acknowledged Roger. At the time, he simply couldn’t believe that such a strong guy as the Pirate King would be arrested by the Navy just like that. Also, in his opinion, Roger’s death would be an insult to the very same if he were to be executed in the weakest of the four blues, the East Blue. Further evidence of his strength was his joint victory with Garp over Rocks D. Xebec and his gang, and the fact that he possessed the highest bounty ever posted on a pirate.
Roger also possessed the ability to hear the voice of all things, which allowed him not only to understand sea kings, for example, but also to hear and thus locate the Poneglyph. However, according to Silvers Rayleigh, they were only simple pirates who never possessed the intellect of the archaeologists from Ohara to be able to read the Poneglyph, nor could they edit it. He had the message left by Roger in the Poneglyph on Skypiea engraved by Kozuki Oden.
In addition, Gol D. Roger possessed the ability to use king shaki and armor shaki.
History
The beginning
It all began in Loguetown in the East Blue. Gol D. Roger was born – later probably the most powerful pirate in the world. His first crew member was Silvers Rayleigh. Roger said their meeting was fated. During Brook’s active time in the Rumba Pirates, he made a name for himself as a rookie.
The Rise of the Roger Pirates
Then, 39 years ago, the Roger pirate gang finally reached the last island to be reached with a log port, Lodestar, but there they realized that there had to be another island. They learned that this one could be reached with the four Road-Poneglyphs.
A year later, during the era of the Rocks Pirates, Roger allied with Monkey D. Garp, Vice Admiral of the Navy, and confronted the Rocks Pirates, which included Kaidou, Shiki, Big Mom, and Whitebeard, and their captain Rocks D. Xebec, on the island of God Valley. They emerged victorious from this battle, but the collaboration was kept from the public and the victory was attributed solely to Garp, making him the “Hero of the Navy”. Then, 30 years ago, he learned from the newspaper of Whitebeard’s actions and that there was a samurai from closed Wano Country aboard the Moby Dick whom he wished to meet.
Roger’s Last Journey
But 28 years ago he fell ill with an incurable disease. He decided to cross the Grand Line again as a last voyage together with his crew. He and his gang sought out Crocus, supposedly the best doctor in the world at the time, at the Cape of Twins. To delay Roger’s death during his last voyage, Crocus allowed himself to be persuaded to accompany the Roger gang. But the Navy was not idle either, and it so happened that Roger had an eternal pursuer from those ranks – Monkey D. Garp. The two often fought each other to the death.
Battle of Edd War
Roger’s crew is getting ready to fight
With him on board, the Roger pirates clashed with the dangerous pirate Shiki the Gold Lion. During their time at sea, the two captains already had some differences with each other. About 27 years ago, a year after his last voyage began, his gang encountered Shiki’s fleet of at least twenty-six pirate ships in the At War Sea in the New World. Despite his illness, Roger was in top form that day. He was called upon by Shiki to reveal the location of a world-destroying weapon. A weapon whose hiding place only Roger knew. At the same time, he was offered by Shiki to rule the world by his side. But Roger did not accept the offer and fearlessly faced Shiki’s entire fleet with his crew.
The man who was known for commanding a vast pirate fleet – Shiki, the Gold Lion – and the future “Pirate King” Gold Roger collide.
In the world, this is called the “Battle of Edd War.”
Roger’s ship, thought to be in dire straits, was about to be saved by a sudden, violent and great change in the weather.
As a result, half of Shiki’s massive pirate fleet was sunk into the sea.
Furthermore, due to an unexpected accident involving Shiki himself, the battlefield would be left in dire straits by the injury of their enemy.
-New World, Three Years Before Roger’s Execution
This fact only occurs in the anime.
Also, of course, he fought other battles, such as with Killer Giant, who was referred to as the Devil. Roger defeated and killed him in a single short fight, with Killer Giant suffering a deep cut in his skull. He also defeated the captain of the Eric Pirates, the devilish Kung Fu Brothers, and the famous gunman Silver Silver.
Reaching the last island
About 26 years ago, the Roger pirates were finishing off a bunch of Navy soldiers and challenging stronger opponents when Buggy spotted the Whitebeard pirates on the other side of the island. A fight with Whitebeard, his most dangerous rival, greatly appealed to Roger.
Earlier, he spotted the samurai Oden charging towards him, but he was able to put him to flight with just one punch and faced Whitebeard. While the captains fought, the two pirate gangs also faced off and the three-day battle ended in a truce and an exchange of loot.
Meanwhile, the two captains sat with Oden and Gol D. Roger told them about his trip to Lodestar and what he had learned about a possible last island as well as the Road-Porne glyph. In order to reach this final island, Roger asked his eternal rival to lend him Oden for a year, as he could read the Poneglyph.
Oden, along with his family and Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, joined the Roger pirates and the pirate gangs parted ways. Together they reached Skypiea, where they learned of Poseidon through a pore glyph. Roger also left a message in the stone through the samurai. They then revisited Water 7 and their old friend Tom, who once built them the Oro Jackson. On Fish Man Island afterwards, Roger saw Neptune again and discovered two more Poneglyphs in the sea forest.
One turned out to be an apology from a certain “Joy Boy,” but Roger was more interested in young Shyarly’s prophecy about the birth of Poseidon. However, he also learned that this would not be born for another ten years and he would not live to see it. They moved on to the New World until Toki, Oden’s wife, finally fell ill off Wano Country and disembarked there along with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. Oden, however, stayed by Roger’s side.
On Zou, they finally discovered the last Road-Poneglyph and set off for their destination, the last island. They reached Laugh Tale, but despite standing in front of the treasure and learning The True Story, they laughed tears. By reaching the last island, Roger was declared the king of pirates all over the world. During this last voyage, he also defeated “Whirlpool Spider” Squard and wiped out the latter’s comrades, leaving the latter to wander lonely and be taken in by Whitebeard.
The last days of the pirate king
He then declared the Roger Pirates disbanded and settled on an island. He knew that the Roger Pirates was too early to use the information on Laugh Tale, but he was sure that someone would come in the future. Possibly his yet unborn son.
So he allowed himself to be captured by the Navy and was taken to Impel Down, where he was to serve his time until his public execution. What he did during the one year between the disbanding of his crew and his capture is unclear. Only one thing is known – the Pirate King sailed to Baterilla in the Southblue. According to eyewitnesses, Roger wanted to become a father there. So he met Portgas D. Rouge and impregnated her five months before his death. Thus, it would be clear that the Pirate King was captured no more than five months before his execution.
When he received a visit in prison from his most dangerous naval pursuer Monkey D. Garp, Roger told him of his lover and the imminent birth of his child. Fearing the government would find and kill the two, he asked Garp to take care of and protect them. In Roger’s opinion, a child would have no fault in being born. No matter how many times the two had fought each other to the death, he considered Garp a mate and trusted him as much as he once trusted his fellow soldiers.
He trusted Garp and knew full well that his “mate” would honor his last will and testament. Before his arrest he told Rouge what name the child should be given. If it was to be a girl, it was to be called Ann, but if it was to be a boy, he was to be named Ace.
The news of the Pirate King’s arrest stunned the entire world. The golden lion Shiki just couldn’t believe that such a strong guy like Roger was arrested by the navy so easily. For this reason, he decided to leave for Marine Ford to find out more. At this point, it was announced that Roger was to be executed in his birthplace, Loguetown, the “City of Beginnings.” As a result of a fight against the then Admiral Sengoku and Garp in Marine Ford, Shiki was also imprisoned in Impel Down.
The execution
Twenty-four years ago, the King of Pirates was publicly executed by the Navy with two naginata in his hometown of Loguetown. Gol D. Roger was said to have been absolutely fearless. Even at his execution, he smiled down from the scaffold and said that he had hidden the greatest treasure in the world.„You want my treasure? You can have it! Go find it! Somewhere I’ve hidden the greatest treasure in the world!„
But before he could say exactly where he hid it, the execution was carried out. Here we find an interesting parallel with Luffy, for he also smiled when Buggy was about to execute him on the same scaffold in Loguetown. The situation was actually hopeless and Luffy must have known he was going to die, just as Roger did twenty-two years ago. Jaguar D. Saul even went so far as to laugh out loud during his execution by Admiral Aokiji twenty years ago on Ohara. His motto was to laugh whenever he felt bad. These three individuals never lost their smiles even in their darkest hour, though they all faced death. Luffy was the only one lucky enough to survive the situation. Moreover, all three characters are united by the D. in their names.
On that day there had gathered in the square pirates who now made their names on the seas, and who were then young. Among these pirates were Shanks, Buggy, Dracule Mihawk, Moria, Crocodile, and Doflamingo. Monkey D. Dragon was also among those present. The whole world wanted to witness the pirate king being executed!
The story takes its course
With his death, the curtain was to be lifted on the “Great Pirate Age” and people would already sense the rough, choppy seas that lay ahead. Every pirate wanted to find the treasure bequeathed by the Pirate King, which would later be called the One Piece, to become King of the Pirates himself. Even as far as the inmates in Impel Down, the big news reached.
The World Government had misjudged the situation when they had publicly executed Roger for the sole reason of deterring other pirates. It was supposed to break the will of a large number of pirates, but as it turned out, the exact opposite was true.
Because in those few seconds that he uttered that one sentence, he turned the fire of his life into raging flames that infected the entire world. Gol D. Roger did not really die. His body may be dead, but his spirit lives on. He has become an unforgettable idol for many pirates. I wonder if he knew and meant that when he told his friend he would not die.
Miscellaneous
- Information on Gol D. Rogers Naming
- His favorite food was sake and higashi shark steak.
- His “hate court” was medicine.
- His hobby were adventures.
- If he were an animal, he would be a Quokka Wallaby.
- Gol D. Roger had the highest bounty ever placed on a pirate, 5,564,800,000.
