Gold D. Roger

Gold Roger is a male anime and manga character who features in One Piece.

Biography

Gol D. Roger (Japanese: ゴール・D・ロジャー, Hepburn: Gōru dī Rojā) was a male human born in Loguetown in the East Blue around 77 years ago. According to Monkey D. Garp, Roger grew up in difficult circumstances and developed great fear of losing his loved ones above all else. Sometime later during his youth, he met Silvers Rayleigh and became impressed by the ship he was using, which Rayleigh stole to live on after his house burned down. Viewing their encounter as a fated meeting, he asked Rayleigh to join him in 'turning the world upside down'. Though Rayleigh refused at first, Roger's insistence managed to win him over, and the two became best friends ever since.

Gol D. Roger was the Pirate King, the strongest pirate alive, and owner of the legendary treasure known as One Piece. Born in Loguetown, Roger was famed as the man who did what no one thought possible - he conquered the Grand Line. Even before setting out, he was the only man who truly did not fear the dangers of the Grand Line and was even excited about venturing out there. Even with warnings about ships never returning from that ocean, he did not care; in fact, he even declared that was the reason for him going. He was said to be completely fearless, and those who witnessed his execution even claim that he grinned just before his death. Many people who've met Monkey D. Luffy and knew Roger have commented that the two are very similar.

One of Roger's famous battles involved 'Killer Giant', a rough man with a large sword who killed hundreds of pirates and was described as a devil. Gold Roger defeated and killed Killer Giant in a short battle, leaving a fatal gash in Killer Giant's skull. In his dying breath, the man praised Roger and dubbed him 'Eternal Pirate'. Other battles included fights against the King of the Eric Pirates, the famous gunner Silver-Silver, and the devilish Kung-Fu Brothers, each described as dangerous men until they met Roger. Roger was apparently well versed in ancient languages (able to decipher Poneglyphs). He and his crew had allegedly visited most (if not all) of the islands in the Grand Line; he befriended Gan Fall, the current "God" of Skypiea, a few years before his death, and left a cryptic inscription next to the Poneglyph of Shandora (which was in the stand of the golden bell of Skypiea). Roger's pirate ship, the Oro Jackson, was constructed by the fish-man Tom, the greatest shipwright of all time, and mentor to Water 7's mayor Iceburg, as well as its "underground face" and current Straw Hat Pirate crew member, Franky.[1] Interestingly enough, oro is the Spanish and Italian word for "gold," so Gold Roger's pirate ship's name, Oro Jackson, can be translated to "Gold Jackson." Roger was cornered at sea by Garp several times. Both Red-Haired Shanks and Buggy the Clown served Roger during their youth, and witnessed his execution.

The final act by the King of the Pirates was to be captured and executed; It is unknown who captured him. Considering how powerful Roger was in life, it is hard to believe he was captured at all. His bounty though has been put forward in a SBS question to the creator Oda, is known to be 760.000.000 Belli. One possibility behind his death is linked to his knowledge of being able to read Poneglyphs. From Nico Robin we learn reading them is forbidden. Each of the Poneglyphs (ancient stone tablets) reveals something lost to normal history. Even if Roger had not been punished for the crime of raising the Jolly Roger, the act of reading the stones alone would have brought him his final conviction to be executed by the Marines and the World Government. Exactly how Roger died is a subject of debate, however. In the anime, two executioners impaled spears into his heart (though utterly failing to make him stop smiling); in the 4Kids dub, he was "hung" (hanged) at the Roguetown gallows; and the Viz manga says the Navy "lopped off his head" (decapitated him). The manga itself is very ambiguous about his manner of death, showing the executioners using their blades on Roger in an unknown way after he makes his speech. as the execution is shown in the very distance in its panel it is impossible to know for sure what was done to Roger, but it remains to be seen whether this will become an important plot point in the future, or if it were simply a way of lessening the visceral impact of the character's death. In the 4Kids dub, Roger's last words before he died were: "My fortune is yours for the taking, but you'll have to find it first. I left everything I owned in one piece." In volume one of the graphic novel of One Piece, Roger's last words were: "My treasure? Why, it's right where I left it. It's yours if you can find it. But you'll have to search the whole world!" So with his legendary treasure One Piece now up for grabs, people took to the seas in search of it. The words "In One Piece" are an American interpretation. In the original and current Japanese openings, Gol D. Roger states (through fansub translations) "My treasure? If you want it, I'll let you have it... search for it! I left all of it at that place." The common understanding of these words were that he hid his treasure at "that place", which is generally believed to be Raftel, the last island on the Grand Line. It should also be noted that Roger may well have been about to name the island or place in question, if not for his short speech being interrupted by his execution

Gold Roger's treasure dubbed later as One Piece remains unclaimed and its location unknown. Many pirates have since set sail hoping to find that treasure, become the Pirate King and make all their wildest dreams come true.

For some reason, even as the World Government sought out people with relatively minor connections to Roger (such as Tom the shipwright), some of his former crew members were able to escape capture. While the number of members who escaped, how many are alive and who they are a mystery, at least two are known to be active. Both Buggy and Shanks went off to become pirates and set up their own pirate groups: Buggy's Band of Pirates and Red Haired Pirate Crew. Red Haired Shanks is currently very powerful, being a Yonkou himself along with Whitebeard, the "strongest pirate in the world". The series' emphasis on what 'wealth' and 'treasure' are, and how the definition changes for some people (such as Luffy's hat as his treasure) leads some fans to believe that his treasure may be nothing more than something Roger himself treasured. This also may challenge the English translation of "in one piece."

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Gold D. Roger was a tall and very muscular man with thick black hair and a thick neck. His most prominent physical features were his long, curved mustache, a fierce grin he almost always wore, and his intense eyes. Like many other pirate captains, he typically wore a long captain's coat, colored red with gold accents. Beneath his coat, he wore a blue shirt and had a yellow sash around his waist. He wore a white cravat around his neck, dark blue pants, and what appeared to be black sea boots. Before he turned himself in, he also wore a pirate hat with his Jolly Roger on it over a yellow-spotted bandana. It was shown that in his youth that he originally wore a straw hat that he passed onto Shanks who in turn passed it onto Monkey D. Luffy. Similar to other older men, Roger has a distinct style of laugh: "Wahahaha" (わハハハ, Wahahaha?). During his life, he came to grow a fearsome reputation where he had been known as the Pirate King. (海賊王, Kaizoku-Ō?, King of the Pirates)

Roger was said to be fearless, and those who witnessed his execution even claim that he smiled just before his death.

Roger was very quick to anger, and he would retaliate for something as simple as an insult to his crew, regardless of how small it might be. Garp stated that an angry Roger could be a violent, selfish, and short-tempered man, but his actions had been pure and straight, just like a child's, and that he was lucky to survive and become the Pirate King despite his extremely reckless nature. This headstrongness would be seen when he would argue against the risk's and warnings of his crew mate Scopper Gaban and fight with him about it.

It was shown that another side to him was that he mocked his enemies. This was shown at one point where after defeating a group of Marines, he told them to bring Garp or Sengoku while telling the Marines he just defeated that they were not worth his time.

He would get excited when he got the opportunity to face strong enemies, charging straight ahead past Rayleigh and Gaban to face Kouzuki Oden himself. When he clashed with Whitebeard for the first time in a while, he reacted with glee and casually greeted his old rival.

Despite his prideful and aggressive nature, Roger was a considerably humble man as he bowed to Whitebeard and Oden when requesting the samurai to join his crew and offered all the treasure and supplies his crew obtained to Whitebeard in exchange for Oden's service. He was also more than happy to tell others of his dreams and would socialize with his rivals with great enthusiasm. In addition, he was considerate towards civilians, and forbade his crew from stealing from them.

He also had a soft spot for children, as he was seen happily cradling Kouzuki Hiyori when she was a baby. He was even gentle towards children of other races such as with the mermaid Shyarly when he innocently asked her for some predictions with a gentle smile, and with the mink Pedro when Roger encouraged him to wait for his own moment one day. He also believed a newborn child should not be responsible for the sins of their parents, as he asked Garp to protect his unborn child because he did not want his child to be killed for being related to him.

Powers and abilities

Roger possessed immense physical strength, as shown when he easily sent Kozuki Oden flying. He could also clash evenly with a young Edward Newgate, who could, even in his old age, effortlessly overpower giants. Roger also had immense levels of endurance and vitality, even when his body was ravaged by an incurable disease. Aided by Crocus' medical skills, he managed to conquer the Grand Line in a mere three years. He was even able to fight for three days and three nights against Whitebeard until the fight resulted in a draw.

Unlike the majority of the most powerful individuals in the world, Roger never had any Devil Fruit powers.

According to Rayleigh, Roger could locate the Poneglyphs because he had the ability to "hear the voice of all things".

Roger was one of the very few people in the world who could use all three types of Haki. Kaidou mentioned that despite him not having a Devil Fruit, his Haki alone was powerful enough to make him among the strongest people in the world.

Among the techniques known to him included:

• Kamusari (神避かむさり, Kamusari?, literally meaning "Divine Departure") : holding his sword in his right hand, Roger imbued it with Supreme King Haki and then swings his sword horizontally, creating a powerful Haki imbued slash attack to strike his opponent. It could hit a target in a burst of dark lightning-like energy, and was powerful enough to overwhelm strong foes and sending them backward a great distance.

Roger's main weapon was a cutlass named Ace, which was one of the 12 Supreme Grade Blades.

Roger was hailed as one of the strongest pirates of all time, if not the strongest, considered nearly unstoppable in battle. As the Pirate King, he retains the highest status among all the world's pirates, even post-mortem. Elucidating this is the truly enormous bounty he had prior to his death, with Beli5,564,800,000 being the highest in pirating history.

In time, he came to head his own crew that came to be known as the Roger Pirates (ロジャー海賊団, Rojā Kaizoku-dan).

Notes

• Gold Roger was created by Eiichiro Oda where he featured in the setting of the One Piece universe.

Appearances

• One Piece:

External Links

• One Piece Wiki Entry

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