History Characters / OnePieceRogerPirates

%% Please, do not put up links to manga pages. It isn't legal.

!All spoilers regarding the Super Rookies era are unmarked. New World spoilers are ''unmarked'' in character descriptions, and examples relating to the New World era can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.
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[[folder:Character Index]]
[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Manga/OnePiece'' '''[[Characters/OnePiece Main Character Index]]''']]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceStrawHatPirates Straw Hat Pirates]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceMonkeyDLuffy Monkey D. Luffy]], [[Characters/OnePieceRoronoaZoro Roronoa Zoro]], [[Characters/OnePieceNami Nami]], [[Characters/OnePieceUsopp Usopp]], [[Characters/OnePieceSanji Sanji]], [[Characters/OnePieceTonyTonyChopper Tony Tony Chopper]], [[Characters/OnePieceNicoRobin Nico Robin]], [[Characters/OnePieceStrawHatGrandFleet Straw Hat Grand Fleet]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceWorldGovernment World Government]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceMarines Marines]] [[[Characters/OnePieceMarineAdmirals Marine Admirals]]], [[Characters/OnePieceCipherPol Cipher Pol]], [[Characters/OnePieceImpelDown Impel Down]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceSevenWarlordsOfTheSea Seven Warlords of the Sea]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceDraculeMihawk Dracule Mihawk]], [[Characters/OnePieceSirCrocodile Sir Crocodile]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBaroqueWorks Baroque Works]]], [[Characters/OnePieceDonquixoteDoflamingo Donquixote Doflamingo]] [[[Characters/OnePieceDonquixotePirates Donquixote Pirates]]], [[Characters/OnePieceThrillerBarkPirates Thriller Bark Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceBoaHancock Boa Hancock]] [[[Characters/OnePieceKuja Kuja]]], [[Characters/OnePieceSunPirates Sun Pirates]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceFourEmperors Four Emperors]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceRedHairPirates Red Hair Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceWhitebeardPirates Whitebeard Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceKaido Kaido]] [[[Characters/OnePieceAnimalKingdomPirates Animal Kingdom Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceLeadPerformers Lead Performers]]], [[Characters/OnePieceBigMom Big Mom]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBigMomPirates Big Mom Pirates]] ([[Characters/OnePieceSweet3Generals Sweet 3 Generals]], [[Characters/OnePieceCharlotteKatakuri Charlotte Katakuri]], [[Characters/OnePieceCharlottePudding Charlotte Pudding]])], [[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeard Blackbeard]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeardPirates Blackbeard Pirates]]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- [[Characters/OnePieceElevenSupernovas Eleven Supernovas]] ([[Characters/OnePieceTrafalgarLaw Trafalgar Law]], [[Characters/OnePieceSupernovasCrews Supernovas Crews]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceRevolutionaryArmy Revolutionary Army]] | '''Roger Pirates''' | [[Characters/OnePieceGerma66 Germa 66]] ([[Characters/OnePieceVinsmokeJudge Vinsmoke Judge]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceBlueSeas Blue Seas]] ([[Characters/OnePieceBuggyPirates Buggy Pirates]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBuggy Buggy]]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceParadise Paradise]] ([[Characters/OnePieceAlabasta Alabasta]], [[Characters/OnePieceWater7 Water 7]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceSkyPeople Sky People]] | [[Characters/OnePieceFishManIsland Fish-Man Island]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNewWorld New World]] ([[Characters/OnePieceDressrosa Dressrosa]], [[Characters/OnePieceMinkTribe Mink Tribe]], [[Characters/OnePieceWano Wano]] [[[Characters/OnePieceWanoKozukiClanAndAllies Kozuki Clan]], [[Characters/OnePieceKozukiOden Kozuki Oden]], [[Characters/OnePieceKurozumiOrochi Kurozumi Orochi]]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceOthers Others]] | [[Characters/OnePieceAnimeOnly Anime-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceMovieOnly Movie-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePiecePremierShowOnly Premier Show-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceVideoGameOnly Video Game-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNovelOnly Novel-Only Characters]]]]-]]]
[[/folder]]
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!Roger Pirates

[[quoteright:288:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roger_pirates_jolly_roger.png]]
[[caption-width-right:288:]]

The pirate crew of the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. They were the only known crew to ever successfully circumnavigate the globe and reach Laugh Tale, the end of the New World in the Grand Line. They encountered Vice Admiral Garp on several occasions and were strong rivals to the Whitebeard Pirates.

The crew traveled the Grand Line together and their exploits have become things of legends. They made it as far as Skypiea and the end of the Grand Line, Laugh Tale, on their ship the Oro Jackson. Roger was one of the most famous figures of his day, while the name of his first mate, Silvers Rayleigh, is widely known and famed as well.

However, only the captain and the first mate seem to have been remembered while the rest of the crew have yet to be mentioned, all save those still active like Shanks and Buggy, leaving the rest of the crew mostly ShroudedInMyth.


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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In General]]
* AllThereInTheScript: The majority of the Roger Pirates' names and official designs were revealed in an SBS section.
* BadassCrew: The strongest crew in the time following the Rocks Pirates' disbanding, with every member except Buggy being a supreme badass then or becoming one in the future. At one point, they fought off Shiki's entire armada by themselves with nothing but sheer strength and a lucky change in weather.
* EggMacGuffin: There is a mysterious giant egg aboard the Oro Jackson, but it has never even been talked about so far even at the point the Roger Pirates disband. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight It is just... there.]]
* TheFellowshipHasEnded: Roger disbanded the crew for good after they reached Laugh Tale and found the One Piece, half because there was nothing left to do, half because he was already doomed to die within a year's time from his illness.
* FriendlyEnemy: Their relationship with the Whitebeard Pirates as a whole. Best exemplified during Oden's flashback: They immediately fought for three days and three nights...and then had a party on the fourth.
* PrecursorHeroes: They are all but stated to be this to the Strawhat Pirates. Notice the OddlySmallOrganization, numerous similarities between Luffy and Roger, the Oro Jackson and Thousand Sunny made from the same material, and crew's composition and attitude. They are a bit darker than the Straw Hat in that they are definitely NOT ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything.
* RoguesGallery: They accumulated quite a few adversaries during their travel: the Rocks Pirates, the Shiki Pirates, the Marines and [[WorthyOpponent worthy opponents]] such as the Whitebeard Pirates and Garp.

[[/folder]]

!Crew Members
[[folder:Gol D. Roger]]
!!Gol D. Roger "The Pirate King"
!!!'''Young Voice:''' Creator/TakeshiKusao (JP), Creator/MarcusDStimac (EN, Funi)\\
'''Older Voice:''' Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka (JP, first voice), Masane Tsukayama (JP, second voice), Frederick B. Owens (EN, 4Kids), Sean Hennigan (EN, Funi), Arturo Casanova ([=LatAm=] Spanish, 4Kids), Creator/GabrielPingarron ([=LatAm=] Spanish, Netflix)
!!!'''Age:''' 53
!!!'''Debut:''' Chapter 1 (Manga), Episode 1 (Anime)

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gol_d_roger_anime.png]]

->''"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!"''
-->--'''Chapter 1'''

"Gold" Roger, real name Gol D. Roger, is the captain of the Roger Pirates and the great legendary pirate that started the Great Age of Pirates on his execution scaffold twenty-two years ago. His legendary treasure, One Piece, is sought after by pirates the world over, and the one who reaches the hidden island Laugh Tale at the end of the Grand Line and finds it will inherit his title of Pirate King. He just happens to be Ace's dad.

In life, he had the highest bounty ever earned by any pirate in recorded history, clocking in with a record of 5,564,800,000 Berries.
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* AintTooProudToBeg: He prostrates himself with his head on the floor and begged Whitebeard to lend him Oden for a year, because of the man's ability to read Poneglyphs being the key to his end goal. Allies and rivals alike are irritated by this behavior, but the whole thing is PlayedForLaughs.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: By conquering the Grand Line and starting the first Golden Age of Piracy, Roger cemented himself as the greatest pirate to have ever lived. Even over twenty years after his death, all the pirates in the world, including his old rivals, are ''still'' living in his shadow -- to the point that most seek out the treasure he left behind just to measure up. Only Whitebeard (who, ironically, is one of the few pirates to never care about finding the One Piece) ever manages to really stand on equal footing with Roger's legend, and even then it's by claiming One Piece is real to the world and starting a second great age of piracy, essentially bolstering Roger's claims with his own.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Several stories around him are about how he was a great man, but just as many claim that he was evil. The legitimacy of ''both'' interpretations is tenuous at best. According to Vice Admiral Garp, Roger was a short-tempered, violent, and selfish man when angry. His actions were pure and straight, like a child's, but completely merciless to an enemy.
* ArchEnemy: While Roger is known to have feuded with many Marines and fellow pirates alike, only one man has ever held the title of his greatest enemy even decades later, and it wasn't Whitebeard or Garp. [[spoiler:It was the previous WorldsStrongestMan and captain of the Rocks Pirates, one Rocks D. Xebec.]]
* AwesomenessIsAForce: Confirmed to have had Conqueror's Haki, and along with Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido, and [[spoiler:Luffy]], he is one of a tiny handful of people in the series known to be capable of infusing his attacks with it to augment them to devastating levels.
* BadassNormal: Undeniably, one of the key aspects to his legendary status -- this was a man who was ''just that good.'' One who led an entire crew who genuinely believed that Devil Fruits' instant SuperDrowningSkills tradeoff for ridiculous physics-breaking powers was '''not''' worth it. For someone to be '''Whitebeard's''' one true rival and be completely unaided says leagues.
* BenevolentBoss: Despite being a pirate, Roger appears to treat his subordinates like true companions, not unlike Luffy. Silvers Rayleigh, his partner, described him as a "magnificent man". Shanks and Buggy also seem saddened when speaking of his death, and both cried a lot at his execution.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Inverted; he decided to be killed rather than die. Roger hated the idea of dying to disease and going out with a whimper, so he decided to turn himself in and face execution and go out with style in a way that nobody would ''ever'' forget.
* BloodKnight: While standing among a large group of defeated Marine grunts, he told them to send someone like Garp or Sengoku next time, in order to make the fights more challenging.
* BookDumb: Double subverted. The Skypiea Arc hinted that Roger had Ohara-level knowledge of ancient inscriptions, until his first mate admitted that the crew lacked the intelligence to fully understand and interpret what the Poneglyph actually meant. Roger could locate them through the ability to hear "the voice of all things", but he required Oden's knowledge to translate the Poneglyphs.
* CheshireCatGrin: One of the more notable things about him to people that met him is that he was always smiling, even up to the point of his own death.
* CharlesAtlasSuperPower: Undeniably, one of the key aspects to his legendary status -- this was a man who was ''just that good.'' One who led an entire crew who genuinely believed that Devil Fruits' instant SuperDrowningSkills tradeoff for ridiculous physics-breaking powers was '''not''' worth it. For someone to be '''Whitebeard's''' one true rival and be completely unaided says leagues.
* CoolSword: Roger wielded his cutlass Ace, which is one of the twelve Supreme Grade Swords, making it one of the strongest blades in the entire world.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Roger kept away from Rouge in his last days for several reasons. The major one was that he was Gold Roger, and any kid he had would've been killed immediately once the World Government found out about his existence. The other one was that he was dying anyway and chances are he wouldn't have been around for Ace's birth. Once the government found out his location, he wouldn't have been around to protect Rouge and Ace anyway. Ironically, Ace still resents him, but not because he died, it's because of all the grief his heritage caused him in life, to the point that he has questioned the worth of his own existence.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Garp states that he would wipe out the military forces of entire countries because they spoke ill of his crew.
* DoNotGoGentle: The World Government intended for his execution to be a warning to all pirates. However, Roger turned it into [[DyingMomentOfAwesome the moment]] that would start the Golden Age of Piracy. As Rayleigh revealed, that was his intention all along.
* DramaticIrony: A flashback in the Wano arc reveals that Roger hoped his then-hypothetical son would continue the work Roger couldn't finish and become the Pirate King by claiming the One Piece. The audience is well aware by this point that Ace loathed Roger with every fiber of his being, disavowed their relation, and hoped to claim the One Piece so he could make Roger's rival Whitebeard the Pirate King as thanks for being his beloved replacement father. To add to the irony, Ace's adoptive younger brother Luffy, the grandson of Roger's Marine rival Garp, is also seeking out the One Piece to become the Pirate King, and there are numerous signs throughout the series that ''he's'' the heir Roger was waiting for.
* EnemyMine: His friendship with Garp started when they teamed up together to take down the Rocks Pirates.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: He went to his death with a smile on his face and words to send one final middle finger to the World Government.
* FireForgedFriends: Specifically [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this with Garp, reasoning that they are as good as friends given how long they've known each other, and on this principle trusts Garp to protect his newborn son from the Marines. Despite Garp's initial disbelief, ''it works''.
* FriendlyEnemy:
** With Whitebeard. There's a flashback moment after he became Pirate King, where he and Whitebeard share a drink, and he offers to tell Whitebeard the location of Laugh Tale, and tells him what The Will of D means.
** With Garp. He knew and trusted the man's character enough to trust him with protecting his lover and then-unborn child, despite both of them being sought by the Marines and World Government.
* GenerationXerox:
** An odd example. Shanks and Rayleigh see a lot of Roger in Luffy's personality and ambitions, and flashbacks show that in his younger days, Roger really did look almost exactly like Luffy. Despite that, there are no indications that he and Luffy are blood-related in any way ('D' initial aside, of course).
** Ace, despite all the bitterness and resentment he had for his sire, ironically enough inherited many of his personality traits (and apparently behaves even more like Roger than Luffy does), including his inability to back down from a fight, [[KilledOffForReal unfortunately.]] Also, in his youth, Roger's design is just Ace with a mustache and fancier clothes.
* GeniusBruiser: {{Subverted|Trope}}. In the Skypeia arc, it's discovered that Gol D. Roger was not only on Skypeia, but capable of ''reading and writing'' the language of the Poneglyphs that only those like Clover and the scholars of Ohara could do, making it appear he was this. However, it's later subverted by Rayleigh, who mentions that he couldn't really read or write the language, but still understood it very vaguely via "the voice of all things" (which is implied to have been the same factor that allowed Roger to understand what Sea Kings and the ancient elephant Zunisha, who carries Zou, were saying.) He sought out Oden specifically in order to fully understand the Poneglyphs.
* GoOutWithASmile: As expected of a "D.", he died with a huge grin on his face, not that he [[PerpetualSmiler isn't usually shown smiling to begin with]]. When Luffy is almost beheaded by Buggy, he smiles and Smoker notices his similarity to Roger.
* GreaterScopeParagon: Roger was the Pirate King and the man who kickstarted the golden age of pirates with his own death. To achieve the title of Pirate King means to find his treasure and reach his own level of greatness.
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold:
** He was essential to Garp's victory over Rocks by teaming up with the former during the God Valley Incident. Unsurprisingly, the World Government thinks a Marine teaming up with a pirate looks bad on them and covered up Roger's involvement.
** His overall journey. Roger and his crew figured out every mystery the Goverment has buried and the location of the final island, but Roger was unable to realize whatever it is Joy Boy left behind to be done due to his impending death and all his feats faded into myth. The crew disbanded to parts unknown, Oden only wrote a vague summary of the One Piece's discovery on his log and Luffy refused to let Rayleigh spill the beans to his crew.
* GunAndSword: Seen wielding both while facing off Shiki in Chapter Zero. Against a young Whitebeard, he only used his sword charged with Haki.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: He conquered the Grand Line.
* HiddenEyes: It wasn't until Sabaody Archipelago, over five hundred chapters into the story, that his eyes were shown to the reader.
* InformedFlaw: During Luffy's flashback, Garp comments how Ace inherited Roger's bad temper. However, in all his brief appearances, besides some BloodKnight tendencies, Roger is pretty calm and composed and never gets easily angered or provoked.
* KiManipulation: Flashbacks show that he knows [[AwesomenessIsAForce Conqueror's]] and [[InstantArmor Armament]] Haki. Along with Whitebeard, Kaido, and [[spoiler:Luffy]], he is also one of a tiny handful of people in the series known to be capable of infusing their attacks with Conqueror's Haki to massively increase their power.
* KingOfThieves: He gained the title of "King of the Pirates" after conquering the Grand Line. That accomplishment is very rare considering what the New World is like; you ''have'' to be Pirate King to rule over a sea that dangerous.
* LeeroyJenkins: The man was apparently almost suicidally reckless and impulsive, and according to Garp, it's frankly a miracle that he even survived long enough to become Pirate King.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: According to Garp, anyway, Ace inherited his impulsiveness and short temper from his father.
* LivingLegend: To ShroudedInMyth proportions, but considering that he was not only the "Pirate King" but was rivals with Whitebeard, Garp, and Shiki, and every member of the crew seems to be undeniably badass (except Buggy, and even then, he has the potential to become just as Badass) and as the Captain, it's implied that he was the strongest member of his crew... Yeah, badass all the way.
* LongDeadBadass: Gol D. Roger is the legendary pirate who reached Laugh Tale, the final island of the Grand Line, and was executed twenty-two years before the beginning of the story. After all this time, he's still considered a legend among pirates.
* MaliciousMisnaming: [[AccidentalMisnaming To most of the world]] he's known as Gold Roger, and few people alive know his real name is Gol D. Roger because the World Government is attempting to [[UnPerson suppress knowledge of the Will of D]]. At the end of the Drum Arc, Kureha reveals his actual name to Dalton while the Straw Hats are leaving.
* MasterSwordsman: Roger is shown fighting solely with his sword, and he sends Oden flying with one strike and clashes with Whitebeard so fiercely that they nearly capsize the Moby Dick.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Roger was aware that, by giving himself to the Marines and revealing the existence of his treasure before his death, he would start a new era of piracy, which is exactly what happened.
* MysteriousMiddleInitial: The D in his name is attributed to the mysterious "Will of D", which somehow connects Roger and Luffy and a few other notable individuals throughout the story to the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. Notably, Roger and his crew are some of the few people to have actually discovered the meaning of the D.
* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: His final words to a Marine RedShirt he just defeated in Wano were that if the Marines ever want to capture him, they should send either Garp or Sengoku. Roger considers these two as {{Worthy Opponent}}s and anybody else is simply not worth his time.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Roger resembles a number of real-life pirates:
** [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Levasseur Olivier Levasseur]]. Upon his death, had tossed a cryptogram from the scaffolding into the crowd and told them if they could figure out the message, his treasure would be theirs, a treasure that to this day has never been found. Sound familiar?
** [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Every Henry Every]], the real life Pirate King himself. In 1695, Every led what has been called the most profitable pirate raid of all time, capturing an enormous treasure estimated to be worth up to £600,000 (around $120 million in modern currency), becoming the richest pirate in the world and earning him the epithet "The King of Pirates". Despite being the target of a worldwide manhunt and getting the highest bounty in history placed on his head, Every vanished with his treasure in the Caribbean (then called New World). He is said to have influenced the next generation of pirates, including Edward "UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}" Thatch/Teach, Bartholomew Roberts, Calico Jack, Samuel Bellamy and Edward Low, among others, who were children at the time. The same thing happened in the beginning of ''One Piece''!
** Speaking of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Roberts Bartholomew Roberts]], Roger is partially based off him as well: both are highly successful pirates who were thought to be invincible by the military forces sent to apprehend them.
* NotoriousParent: He was the greatest pirate of his time, most-wanted by the entire World Government and the father of Portgas D. Ace. This trope is played with in that Roger was dead before Ace was born, but this fact still makes the Marines want to hunt and execute him (though it helps that Ace is also a pirate himself).
* OffstageVillainy: Though he is largely a flashback character and thus we haven't seen much of him at all, every flashback always seems to present him positively. By contrast, pretty much every villainous act he's done (slaughtering Squad's crew, for example) is always presented via word of mouth of his victims. Garp painted what appears to be the most objective picture of him available: to his friends, allies, and the adversaries who he respected, he was endlessly loyal and would spare nothing to help them out or protect them, but he was also renowned for his cutthroat ruthlessness and his incredible cruelty and brutality towards anyone who had angered or offended him, or wronged one of his friends or allies, and was inordinately fond of scorched-earth revenge campaigns.
* OneLastJob: Roger knew he only had a short time to live because of an incurable disease, so he and his crew set out to find what lies at the end of the Grand Line as his last adventure. After succeeding in this endeavor, he dissolves his crew and willingly surrenders to the Marines.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Gol D. Roger, the strongest pirate in the world, someone who would never dream of allying with the Marines nevertheless teamed up with Garp during the God Valley incident. This speaks ''volumes'' about how terrifying Rocks must have been for him to side with the Marines over allying with a fellow pirate, though it doesn't help that Rocks' crew included ''Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom'' amongst its ranks, so the team-up was a good call regardless.
* PapaWolf:
** Was known to beat up anyone who spoke ill of his crew.
** He asked Garp to take care of Ace, since Roger was aware of how the Government would treat his son.
* TheParagon: When he became the Pirate King, Gold Roger was ''the'' supreme name among pirates in the entire world, and still is even in death. Not even the Four Emperors could hold a candle to him.
* PerpetualSmiler: The scenes in which he ''doesn't'' have a big toothy grin can be counted on one hand.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: His Conqueror's Haki was so strong that a clash with Whitebeard (who was also using his own and was ''not'' using his Devil Fruit that time) created a shockwave strong enough to potentially level an island, so it goes without saying that when Roger wanted to keep it real, wide-scale devastation was the usual result.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Before he died, he revealed that he had hidden his treasure, the eponymous One Piece, somewhere on the Grand Line, triggering the new age of piracy from people going to search for it.
* PresentAbsence: While his death triggered the events of the series, his absence initially has very little direct influence on the Straw Hats' overall journey until the Sabaody Arc, where they meet his first-mate Silvers Rayleigh (who becomes Luffy's mentor over the TimeSkip), and the public learns that Ace is his biological son. After the TimeSkip, the true impact of his death is felt full force as two of his old rivals, the Emperors Kaido and Big Mom, take center stage as the main antagonists of the narrative. Kaido respects Roger immensely and ultimately seeks to emulate him -- either by seeking out and claiming the One Piece, or by dying awesomely like Roger did. Big Mom, meanwhile, hates Roger for allegedly tricking her and preventing her from reaching Laugh Tale, [[spoiler:and for starting the Great Pirate Era and then dying, forcing her and the rest of their generation to deal with the mess it left behind]]. Whether either Emperor admits it or not, both of them are defined to some extent by their relationships with Roger, and those motives are what eventually drive them into conflict with Luffy and his crew.
* PropheticName: With a name like Gol D. Roger, this guy was practically ''born'' to be a pirate.
* PureIsNotGood: According to Garp, he had a childlike purity to him, but more in the sense that his actions and motivations were clear and direct: he supported his friends and allies and respected sufficiently powerful and/or persistent enemies, but he was also renowned for his merciless cruelty and brutality towards anyone who had angered or offended him.
* RealMenDontCry: According to Shanks, Roger never showed weakness and was never able to let things go. It's one of the few things he greatly disliked about his otherwise beloved captain. After the death of Ace, Shanks voices his approval of Luffy not being like Roger in this way.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He turns and runs like hell when he sees the shadows cast by the Skypieans, thinking of course that he's looking at mile-high winged giants standing in the sea.
* SecretKeeper: He found out the secrets of the Void Century including the locations of the [[LostSuperweapon Ancient Weapons]], but refused to tell anyone save Whitebeard anything even under threat of death.
* SecretLegacy: Not only was he part of the mysterious will of D. and he knew the meaning of the mysterious initial, but it's been said many times during the story that Luffy has inherited Gol D. Roger's will.
* ShroudedInMyth: For over 900 chapters, precious little information was given about who Roger was and what his fighting skills were. Then finally, during Oden's backstory, we're shown a summary of Roger's final journey and his final meeting with Whitebeard. However, the flashback also raises more questions about Roger's past and his feud with his mysterious ArchEnemy Rocks.
* SinsOfOurFathers: He was perfectly aware of how the World Government would react to Ace's existence, and since he was dying, he had no choice but to stay away and ask Garp to care for Ace in his stead. His reasoning even rejects the notion of this, stating that "an unborn child bears no sin."
* SoapOperaDisease: He suffered some sort of illness that would kill him in a few years but also allowed him to fight as if he was healthy.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Before he was executed, he got his lover, Portgas D. Rouge, pregnant with their son, Ace.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: His appearance at the end of chapter 964 shows off just how similar he and his son actually looked. Ace's hairstyle, eye shape, browline, and mouth shape are all nearly identical to his father, with the only major differences between the two coming down to Ace's clean shave in contrast to his father's notorious DastardlyWhiplash.
* SuperSenses: He's apparently able to sense "the voice of all things". With it, he can understand what nonhuman living beings such as Sea Kings or Zunisha said, and can even understand Poneglyphs to a degree.
* TalkLikeAPirate: The most prominent example in the series. Very fitting given that Creator/EiichiroOda designed him as a very typical, traditional pirate. The Funimation dub gives a distinct Irish Pirate sounding accent unique to him.
* ThanatosGambit: His last words about the location of his treasure sparked the Great Age of Pirates.
* ToBeAMaster: Roger sought to travel the entire world and be acknowledged as the Pirate King just for adventure's sake, and didn't care if he was called childish for it.
* VictoryIsBoring: This guy was never caught -- he turned himself in. He had more wealth and fame than a hundred men would ever need, and seeing as he was dying of an incurable disease anyway, he figured he'd [[LastWords stick it to the World Government one more time.]]
* VisualPun: When Oden recounts in his tale about how he accompanied Roger to Laugh Tale and discovered [[spoiler:the treasure left behind by Joyboy]], Roger is shown guffawing his head off at the sight. He's a Jolly Roger.
* WhereItAllBegan: He was born and executed in his hometown of Roguetown. Fittingly, it's for this very reason that Roguetown is known as "The Town of the Beginning and the End."
* WorldsStrongestMan: At least shared this title with Whitebeard when he lived after the previous holder Rocks died 14 years before Roger's own death. Whether he was truly a little stronger than Whitebeard is unclear. He was the only one of the two to reach the end of the Grand Line and be called Pirate King, but it's implied Whitebeard could have done the same if he wanted to (and he never wanted to). It should be noted that Roger didn't have a Devil Fruit and was able to match ''Whitebeard'', who possessed amazing power on his own in addition to one of the most powerful Devil Fruits. He also sent Oden -- another MasterSwordsman that managed to scar Kaido -- flying with zero effort.
* WorthyOpponent:
** His relationship with Whitebeard and Garp can be summed up as this. He was usually prone to scorched-earth revenge campaigns against his enemies (or anyone who had offended him), but he genuinely respected them and was generally rather cordial towards them.
** This also extended to Sengoku, but to a more muted level - he didn't have the friendly relationship that he had with Newgate or Garp, but he nonetheless respected him for his fighting ability, specifically telling a RedShirt that the only two Marines that he would consider to be worth his time in a fight would be Sengoku or Garp.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh]]
!!"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Keiichi Sonobe (JP), Bradford Hutson (episode 8), Bruce Carey (Sabaody arc onwards) (EN, Funi), David Wills (EN, 4Kids), Creator/JoseLuisOrozco (Young, Netflix) (Latin Spanish Dub)
!!!'''Age:''' 76 (Pre-Timeskip), 78 (Post-Timeskip)
!!!'''Debut:''' Chapter 19 (Manga), Episode 8 (Anime)

[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silvers_rayleigh_anime.png]]

->''"[[SchmuckBait Who'd want to buy me as a slave? I'm an old man!]]"''

A ship-coating master in Sabaody Archipelago and former First Mate of Gold Roger. Given the RedBaron "The Dark King" during his days as a pirate. During this time as a pirate, he acted as [[NumberTwo a supervisor of the crew]], [[PromotionToParent having a disciplinary role]] to Shanks and Buggy, especially when they argued. Having long since retired from piracy after Roger disbanded his crew, he hid in the Sabaody Archipelago and became infamous for coating ships, gambling, drinking, and partying with women. He is married to his business partner of twenty years Shakuyaku, and is good friends with Hatchan, who saved his life when Hatchan was a kid.
-----
* AwesomenessIsAForce: He knocks out an entire crowd of watchers with Conqueror's Haki when the Straw Hats cause a scene in the Auctioning House. Even a member of the Heart Pirates, which is a very strong crew considering their captain is Supernova Trafalgar Law, nearly faints from his awesomeness.
* BadassNormal: Rayleigh doesn't have a Devil Fruit, but remains one of the strongest fighter of the world despite twenty years of inaction. He fights admiral Kizaru to a standstill and can swim the Calm Belt by himself, a stretch of sea filled with dangerous sea creatures, without any sort of special ship.
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Rayleigh arrives just in time to save Hancock from getting killed by Blackbeard and uses his reputation and Haki to intimidate Blackbeard into leaving or he had to face him instead should he choose. Turns out Rayleigh was betting on Blackbeard leaving rather than fighting someone as notorous as him, as Rayleigh admits if not for using his reputation, he would have lost in an actual fight with Blackbeard.]]
* BigDamnHeroes:
** In Sabaody, Rayleigh stops Kizaru just when he's about to finish off Zoro.
** Rayleigh arrives [[spoiler:at Amazon Lily when Hancock is dealing with both the Marines and Blackbeard and drives both of the forces out of Amazon Lily with his presence alone.]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: He's capable of swimming through the Calm Belt, the most dangerous stretch of water in One Piece. It's so dangerous that only Marine battleships that are made of a special camouflage alloy, and the Kuja's ships, which are pulled by sea serpents strong enough to keep the monsters at bay, dare to cross it.
* ChekhovsGunman: Rayleigh makes his first appearance in Buggy's flashback, at the beginning of the story, as the unnamed ship's first mate who broke up the argument between Buggy and Shanks. In chapter 500, during the Sabaody Arc, it's revealed that said first mate was actually Silvers Rayleigh, Roger's first mate, and becomes a key player in the story by training Luffy over the two-year timeskip.
* ChivalrousPervert: He likes going out and looking for beautiful ladies around, but he's otherwise a well-meaning, wise-cracking old man. Rayleigh is also happily married with Shakky.
* ClarkKentOutfit: [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/keyblade-universe/images/6/6d/Silvers_Rayleigh_Anime_Full_Body.png/revision/latest?cb=20171005194122 He looks like a regular old man]] with his top on... but is one of the most muscular characters in the series [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l0Hvf5mz0sg/UEWCugNTSdI/AAAAAAAAEQo/UaJ7LA07jFM/s1600/Rayleigh+Reaches+Amazon+Lily.jpg with his top off]].
* CoolOldGuy: He is around Garp's age, able to still throw down with Admirals [[spoiler:and scare an ''Emperor of the Sea'' into retreating]], plays mentor to Luffy, and is an all around badass.
* DeathGlare: With his Conqueror's Haki, Rayleigh delivers a severe glare to the ringers when Camie is in trouble, leaving them knocked out and foaming in the mouth.
* DirtyOldMan: Despite his age, Shakky suggests that he loves women, and this is implied to be the thing that actually motivates him to do anything to his captors after they force an explosive collar around Camie's neck. Although Rayileigh is still well-meaining.
* TheDreaded: As the former first mate of the King of Pirates, Rayleigh has a fearsome reputation across the entire world. Garp ( who took on ''Roger himself'') outright tells his men to not engage him or tells Sengoku when he found out that he was on Sabaody, as he didn't want to risk the consequences of the Marines having to deal with both him and Whitebeard at the same time. [[spoiler:Rayleigh exploits his reputation to make Blackbeard leave Amazon Lily without a fight, as he later admits in private that if they had actually fought, Blackbeard would've won.]]
* FeelingTheirAge: Similar to [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], Rayleigh is an incredibly strong veteran, but he's still way past his prime physically, something he himself is aware of. While he does manage to save Zoro from being killed by Kizaru, Rayleigh is then tired down dueling the Admiral, unable to aid the Straw Hats against Sentomaru and the Pacifista. [[spoiler:Two years later, Rayleigh scares off Blackbeard with just his reputation, but he confesses afterwards to the Kuja Pirates that he probably couldn't have actually defeated Blackbeard.]]
* HappilyMarried: Supplemental material reveals that Rayliegh is married with Shakky. Even with his love for women in general, he appears to be very loyal to her and she never worries about his well-being even after having dissapeared in 6 months on Shabody.
* KiManipulation: Rayleigh is a master of all forms of Haki and, during the timeskip, he teaches Luffy how to use them.
* LivingLegend: Usopp recognizes him as legendary due to being the First Mate of the legendary crew. He's still alive, and he's still badass enough to take on the likes of [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kizaru.]] [[spoiler:His reputation is also legendary enough for both the Marines and ''Blackbeard'' to stand down in their attack on Amazon Lily.]]
%%* ManlyTears: He's strong enough to take on an Admiral, feared by the Marines, and the Pirate King's second-in-command. Yet he's still not afraid to show his emotions.
* MeaningfulName: Along with PunnyName and PropheticName. Silvers Rayleigh is Gold Roger's First Mate. Also, "Rayleigh" refers to "Rayleigh scattering", an optical phenomenon characterized by the ''scattering of light''. As the first and only character able to break up Kizaru's light beams (albeit done with Haki), it's fitting.
* MentorArchetype: He becomes Luffy's mentor during the TimeSkip, teaching him how to use the three types of [[KiManipulation Haki]].
* MrExposition: Zigzagged.
** Despite him knowing the answers to some of the series driving questions (the location/status of One Piece, what happened during the Void Century), Luffy insists him to not reveal anything, while he explains to Robin that, once she learns about the Void Century, she might find a different conclusion from the one he and his former crew did.
** While training Luffy, Rayleigh explains to him what the forms of Haki are and what each of them can do while demonstrating them on wild animals.
* NiceGuy: He's a friendly and jovial CoolOldGuy who helps the Straw Hats at Sabaody Archipelago with many of their problems and who mentors Luffy during the TimeSkip.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: His name is a nod to British explorer/entrepeneur Sir Walter Raleigh.
* NumberTwo: He's Roger's first mate of the Roger Pirates and, as a flashback reveals, Roger invited him when he was beginning his journey.
* OldMaster: He is around Garp's age but a master of Haki and other fighting forms. He's able to fight a Navy Admiral to a standstill without even having a Devil Fruit of his own.
* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:When the Marines and the Blackbeard Pirates raid Amazon Lily, Rayleigh arrives to rescue Boa Hancock and her sisters.]]
* ParentalSubstitute: After their escape from slavery, the Gorgon Sisters are housed by Silvers Rayliegh, who becomes their paternal figure. [[spoiler:He's even willing to fight Blackbeard to save Hancock from certain death.]]
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: When the Straw Hats are making it back to the ''Thousand Sunny'' after the timeskip, he cuts off the Marines who are pursuing them, and then draws a line in the ground:
-->"It's my student's farewell. I want it to be proper. I advise you not to cross that line."
--->'''Chapter 602'''
* RedBaron: His also known as "The Dark King." The Swedish translation made him "Dödens Konung" -- the King of Death.
* RetiredBadass: He has since quit piracy, but he's still strong enough to go toe-to-toe with an ''Admiral'' even in his old age and even cut him despite possessing a [[NighInvulnerable Logia]] Devil Fruit. He's also strong enough to swim the Calm Belt, the most dangerous stretch of sea in the world, by himself. And all this after twenty years of non-action.
* SchmuckBait: Rayleigh plays the role of an helpless old man when at auction just to be purchased, swindling whoever buys him of their money, while he's actually one of the strongest pirates of the worlds.
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: Luffy calls him "Old man" at the start of his training under Rayleigh, and he weakly suggests in reply that Luffy should instead call him "Rayleigh-san," "Rayleigh-sensei" or "Master". But the best Luffy does is to just start calling him "Rayleigh", with no honorifics, and he decides to just roll with that.
* TheTrickster: He gambles his money away, and to pay off old debts, he allows himself to be captured and sold as a slave. Because he looks like an unassuming old man, no-one notices that capturing the Roger Pirates NumberTwo is playing with fire, so he would usually steal the money of whatever schmuck with more cash than brains once he's bought off, pay off his old debts, and [[HereWeGoAgain start gambling again]]. [[LampshadeHanging He actually highlights]] that buying him is bona-fide SchmuckBait as in his words: "Who'd want to buy me as a slave? I'm an old man!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Scopper Gaban]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scopper_gaban_anime_infobox.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:]]

A prominent member of the Roger Pirates.
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* AnAxeToGrind: His main weapon is a pair of small axes.
* DualWielding: During Oden flashback, he wieldes two axes to fight the Whitebeard Pirates.
* PerpetualSmiler: Always smiling, just like his captain.
* ThemeNaming: S'''copper'''. Continuing the Metal theme of Roger Pirates.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He's implied to be the third most powerful member of the Roger Pirates and virtually nothing is known of him in the present.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Crocus]]
!!Crocus
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GoroNaya (JP, first voice), Masuo Amada (JP, second voice), Jerry Russell (EN, Funi first voice), Burl Procter (EN, Funi second voice), Creator/ArturoMercado ([=LatAm=] Spanish, Netflix)
!!!'''Age:''' 71 (Pre-Timeskip), 73 (Post-Timeskip)
!!!'''Debut:''' Chapter 102 (Manga), Episode 62 (Anime)

[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crocus_anime.png]]

A lighthouse keeper as well as the caretaker of Laboon. He the first person the Straw Hats meet upon entering the Grand Line. After they help Laboon, he tells the crew how the Grand Line works and loans them a Log Pose to navigate the sea. It's later revealed he was on Roger's crew as its doctor. Mostly to help Roger stay alive for one final journey.
-----
* AnimeHair: His hair is Flower-shaped to go with his name.
* BladeOnAStick: During the battle on Edd War, Crocus fights with harpoons.
* CombatMedic: Crocus joined Roger because he was sick and needed a medic to stay alive, but was also a fighter worthy of, at the time, the world's strongest crew. During Oden's flashback, Crocus is shown in combat with the other crewmembers.
* CoolOldGuy: Vivi and Mr. 9 shoots him several times with ''bazookas'', but Crocus comes out okay. And if that isn't badass enough for you, he also used to be a member of Roger's crew.
* DeathGlare: Parodied. Crocus tends to give people threatening glares but most of the time he's actually totally harmless.
* ExactWords: While giving the Straw Hats a Log Pose, he tells them that, by proceeding on the Grand Line, they would ''eventually'' reach the island where the One Piece is located, [[spoiler:but doesn't say that said island is at the end of the Grand Line. It's actually somewhere in the New World, and to find it one needs to collect the four Road Poneglyphs]].
* FaceOfAThug: Downplayed. Crocus's face is really grumpy and rough, giving the impression that he's threatening someone while, for the most part, he's a nice old man who's been taking care of a whale for almost fifty years. However, Crocus also used to be part of a pirate crew, even if one of the most benevolent ones.
* ImpliedDeathThreat: Don't dare try to shoot him with a cannon. Somebody might end up dead. [[SubvertedTrope Especially him]]. Crocus sounds like he's threatening to kill someone because of his DeathGlare but in truth he doesn't mean it, although he did serve in the Oro Jackson so he's bound not to be your average old man.
* MadeOfIron: His age doesn't stop him from swimming in a lake of digestive juice or taking several bazooka bullets to the chest.
* RetiredBadass: He used to be the doctor of Roger's crew but after the crew disbanded he went back to his job as lighthouse keeper.
* RunningGag: He lampshades his own [[InvokedTrope running gag]] to stare people threateningly only to claim to be totally harmless in the next panel.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/0/00/Crocus_50_Years_Ago.png/revision/latest?cb=20130622160323 When he was 21 years old]], he already looked middle-aged. Even in the present, at 73, he looks quite a bit more elderly than Sengoku or Rayleigh -- both of whom are actually a few years ''older'' than him.
[[/folder]]

!Apprentices
[[folder:Shanks]]
See his entry on the [[Characters/OnePieceFourEmperors Four Emperors]] page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Buggy]]
See his [[Characters/OnePieceBuggy page]].
[[/folder]]

!Affiliates

[[folder:Kozuki Oden, His Family, and Retainers]]

Roger sought out Oden to help him translate the Poneglyphs and complete his goal of circumnavigating the world. Oden brought his family (and his retainers Dogstorm and Cat Viper as stowaways) on this journey.

See their entries on the [[Characters/OnePieceWano Wano]] page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Portgas D. Rouge]]
!!Portgas D. Rouge
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YukoMinaguchi (JP), Taylor Anne Ramsey (EN)
!!!'''Debut:''' Chapter 550 (Manga), Episode 0 (Anime)

[[quoteright:170:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portgas_d_rouge_anime.png]]

A mysterious young woman only seen in flashbacks. This is because she was Gold Roger's girlfriend/lover, as well as the mother of his child... Ace. Whom she also ''died'' for, holding him in her womb for ''twenty'' months to make sure the World Government wouldn't get at him. She ultimately passed away -- but not before entrusting Vice-Admiral Garp with the task of taking care of her child, which he did by taking him in as his adoptive grandson. Her full name is Portgas D. Rouge, and she is the first known female carrier of the D initial.
-----
* DeathByChildbirth: She died giving birth to Ace. Justified due to the strain of prolonging her pregnancy.
* TheDeterminator: The only conceivable way she could've ''deliberately stayed pregnant for 20 months''.
* GoOutWithASmile: Dies smiling as she gives birth to Ace and entrusts him to Garp.
* LongestPregnancyEver: She was able to hold Ace in her womb for ''twenty months''.
* MamaBear: A pacifist example, but still. She held her son in her womb until she found a safe place to give birth to him.
* MysteriousMiddleInitial: The D in her name is attributed to the mysterious "Will of D", which somehow connects her and Roger and a few other notable individuals throughout the story to the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
* PluckyGirl: She wouldn't be able to hold Ace in her womb for that long if not for her pluck.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Ace takes a lot from his mom, and not just her name.
[[/folder]]

* NoHistoricalFigureWereHarmed: His name is a nod to British explorer/entrepeneur Sir Walter Raleigh.

* AwesomenessIsAForce: He knocks out an entire crowd of watchers with this when the Straw Hats cause a scene in the Auctioning House. Even a member of the Heart Pirates, which is assuredly a BadassCrew considering their captain is Supernova Trafalgar Law, nearly faints from his awesomeness.
* BadassNormal: It came as a shock to many fans that he doesn't have a Devil Fruit, despite fighting an Admiral to a standstill after twenty years of inaction. He's also able to swim the Calm Belt by himself, a stretch filled with dangerous sea creatures, without any sort of special ship. He's just ''that'' good.
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Rayleigh arrives just in time to save Hancock from getting killed by Blackbeard and uses his reputation and Haki to intimidate Blackbeard into leaving or he had to face him instead should he choose. Turns out Rayleigh was betting on Blackbeard leaving because he's too much of a coward to fight against someone as notorous as him, as Rayleigh admits if not for using his reputation, he would have lost in an actual fight with Blackbeard.]]

** He gets an '''epic''' one against Kizaru as the latter was about to finish off Zoro.
** Rayleigh later repeats the feat [[spoiler:at Amazon Lily when Hancock is dealing with both the Marines and Blackbeard by driving both of them out of Amazon Lily with his presence alone.]]
* BigGood: He takes over after Whitebeard's death in the Marineford arc, though unlike Shanks and Dragon, who act as this to world as a whole, Rayleigh acts a more personal one to the Straw Hats, in both as acting as Luffy's mentor during the two-year TimeSkip and giving Luffy the idea to have his crew train for two years before heading into the New World.

* ChekhovsGunman: Remember the ship's first mate who broke up the argument between Buggy the Clown and Shanks, and is not mentioned again? Ladies and gentlemen, you just met Silvers Rayleigh.
* ChivalrousPervert: He likes going out and looking for beautiful ladies around, but he's otherwise a well-meaning, wise-cracking old man.

* DeathGlare: He does this against some ringers when Camie was in trouble, leaving them knocked out and foaming in the mouth.
* DirtyOldMan: Shakky suggests that he loves women, and this is implied to be the thing that actually motivates him to do anything to his captors after they force an explosive collar around Camie's neck.
* TheDreaded: Enough so that Garp (the man who took on ''Roger himself'') outright told his men to not engage him or tell Sengoku when he found out that he was on Sabaody, as he didn't want to risk the consequences of the Marines having to deal with both him and Whitebeard at the same time. Bear in mind that Whitebeard, in addition to being the WorldsStrongestMan also had massive BadassCrew supporting him. Rayleigh is alone. Yet Garp's worry is justified in that anybody less powerful than an Admiral would probably just get in the way against Rayleigh and the Marines needed ''all'' of their Admirals for the upcoming war against Whitebeard. His performance against Kizaru proved that Garp's fears were accurate; Kizaru was clearly outmatched, while Rayleigh was barely even trying and was just doing the absolute minimum necessary to buy them time to get off the island. [[spoiler:Even Blackbeard is [[OhCrap visibly nervous]] when Rayleigh confronts him at Amazon Lily and quickly scampers off with his crew. In private though, Rayleigh admits that he was mostly banking on his infamy in the situation; if they had actually fought, Blackbeard would've won.]]
* FeelingTheirAge: Similar to [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], Rayleigh is an incredibly strong veteran, but he's still way past his prime physically, something he himself is aware of. While he does manage to save Zoro from being killed by Kizaru, Rayleigh is then tied down dueling the Admiral, unable to aid the Straw Hats against Sentomaru and the Pacifista. [[spoiler:Two years later, Rayleigh scares off Blackbeard with just his reputation, but he confesses afterwards to the Kuja Pirates that he probably couldn't have actually defeated Blackbeard.]]

* IOweYouMyLife: Hatchan saved his life when he was a kid. That might be why he offers to coat the ''Thousand Sunny'' for the journey to Fish-Man Island for free after Luffy saves Hatchan's life at the slave auction.
* KiManipulation: He's an OldMaster of all forms of Haki, and is also the one who taught Luffy how to use it.

* ManlyTears: He's strong enough to take on an Admiral, feared by the Marines, and the Pirate King's second-in-command. Yet he's still not afraid to show his emotions.
* MeaningfulName: Along with PunnyName and PropheticName. Silvers Rayleigh is Gold Roger's First Mate. (And one of his crewmates was called Scopper Gaban.) Also, "Rayleigh" refers to "Rayleigh scattering", an optical phenomenon characterized by the ''scattering of light''. As the first and only character able to break up Kizaru's light beams (albeit done with Haki), it's fitting. Plus, it's a possible historical ShoutOut to British explorer/entrepeneur Sir Walter Raleigh.

* MrExposition: Averted then played straight. Despite him knowing the answers to some of the series driving questions (the location/status of One Piece, what happened during the Void Century), for various reasons the Straw Hats insist he not tell them anything. Though, he IS the one to explain to Luffy what Haki is and what it can do.

* NumberTwo: He's Roger's first mate of the Roger Pirates.

* PapaWolf: Seems to have taken this role with Hancock and her sisters, having housed them sometime after their escape from slavery. [[spoiler:He even is willing to fight Blackbeard to save Hancock from certain death from the latter.]]
* ParentalSubstitute: He essentially took on this role with Buggy and Shanks, who were ''very'' young when they became cabin boys on Roger's crew and thus required a lot of supervision.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: When the Straw Hats are making it back to the ''Thousand Sunny'' post time-skip, he cuts off the Marines who are pursuing them, and then draws a line in the ground:

* RedBaron: "The Dark King." The Swedish translation made him "Dödens Konung" -- the King of Death.
* RetiredBadass: He has since quit piracy, but he's still awesome enough to go toe-to-toe with an ''Admiral'' even in his old age and even ''cut him'' despite him being a [[NighInvulnerable Logia-type]]. He's also strong enough to swim the Calm Belt, the most dangerous stretch of sea in the world, by himself. And all this after twenty years of non-action.
* SchmuckBait: He plays the role of an helpless old man when at auction just to be purchased, swindling whoever buys him of their money.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Rayleigh arrives just in time to save Hancock from getting killed by Blackbeard and uses his reputation and Haki to intimidate Blackbeard into leaving or he had to face him instead should he choose. Turns out Rayleigh was betting on Blackbeard leaving because he's too much of a coward to fight against someone as notorous as him, as Rayleigh admits if not for using his reputation, he would have lost in an actual fight with Blackbeard.

* AwesomenessIsAForce: Knocked out an entire crowd of watchers with this when the Straw Hats caused a scene in the Auctioning House. Even a member of the Heart Pirates, which is assuredly a BadassCrew considering their captain is Supernova Trafalgar Law, nearly fainted from his awesomeness.
* BadassNormal: It came as a shock to many fans that he doesn't have a Devil Fruit, despite fighting an Admiral to a standstill after twenty years of inaction. He's just ''that'' good.

** He got an '''epic''' one against Kizaru as the latter was about to finish off Zoro.
** Rayleigh later repeats the feat [[spoiler:at Amazon Lily when Hancock is dealing with both the Marines and Blackbeard.]]
* BigGood: Took over after Whitebeard's death in the Marineford arc, though unlike Shanks and Dragon, who act as this to world as a whole, Rayleigh acts a more personal one to the Straw Hats, in both as acting as Luffy's mentor during the two-year timeskip and giving Luffy the idea to have his crew train for two years before heading into the New World.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Is capable of swimming through the Calm Belt, the most dangerous stretch of water in One Piece. It's so dangerous that only Marine battleships that are made of a special camouflage alloy, and the Kuja's ships, which are pulled by sea serpents strong enough to keep the monsters at bay, dare to cross it.

* CoolOldGuy: He is around Garp's age, able to still throw down with Admirals, plays mentor to Luffy, and all around badass.

* DeathGlare: Did this against some ringers when Camie was in trouble, leaving them knocked out and foaming in the mouth.

* FeelingTheirAge: Similar to [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]], Rayleigh is an incredibly strong veteran, but he's still way past his prime physically, something he himself is aware of. While he does manage to save Zoro from being killed by Kizaru, Rayleigh is then tied down duelling the Admiral, unable to aid the Straw Hats against Sentomaru and the Pacifista. [[spoiler:Two years later, Rayleigh scares off Blackbeard with just his reputation, but he confesses afterwards to the Kuja Pirates that he probably couldn't have actually defeated Blackbeard.]]
* IOweYouMyLife: Hatchan saved his life when he was a kid. That might be why he offered to coat the ''Thousand Sunny'' for the journey to Fish-Man Island for free, after Luffy saved Hatchan's life at the slave auction.

* LivingLegend: Called as one by Usopp. He's the First Mate of the legendary crew, he's still alive, and he's still badass enough to take on the likes of [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kizaru.]]

* MrExposition: Averted then played straight. Despite him knowing the answers to some of the series driving questions (the location/status of One Piece, what happened during the Void Century), for various reasons the Strawhats insist he not tell them anything.
** Though he IS the one to explain to Luffy what Haki is and what it can do.
* MentorArchetype: He becomes Luffy's mentor in Haki durimg the timeskip.
* NiceGuy: A friendly and jovial CoolOldGuy.
* NumberTwo: To Roger.

* ParentalSubstitute: Essentially took on this role with Buggy and Shanks, who were ''very'' young when they became cabin boys on Roger's crew and thus required a lot of supervision.

* RetiredBadass: He has since quit piracy, but he's still awesome enough to go toe-to-toe with an ''Admiral'' even in his old age and even ''cut him'' despite him being a [[NighInvulnerable Logia-type]]. And all this after twenty years of non-action.
* SchmuckBait: He plays the role of an helpless old man when at auction just to be purchased.

* BigDamnHeroes: He got an '''epic''' one against Kizaru as the latter was about to finish off Zoro.

* TheDreaded: Enough so that Garp (the man who took on ''Roger himself'') outright told his men to not engage him or tell Sengoku when he found out that he was on Sabaody, as he didn't want to risk the consequences of the Marines having to deal with both him and Whitebeard at the same time. Bear in mind that Whitebeard, in addition to being the WorldsStrongestMan also had massive BadassCrew supporting him. Rayleigh is alone. Yet Garp's worry is justified in that anybody less powerful than an Admiral would probably just get in the way against Rayleigh and the Marines needed ''all'' of their Admirals for the upcoming war against Whitebeard. His performance against Kizaru proved that Garp's fears were accurate; Kizaru was clearly outmatched, while Rayleigh was barely even trying and was just doing the absolute minimum necessary to buy them time to get off the island.

* TheDreaded: Enough so that Garp (the man who took on ''Roger himself'') outright told his men to not engage him or tell Sengoku when he found out that he was on Sabaody, as he didn't want to risk the consequences of the Marines having to deal with both him and Whitebeard at the same time. Bear in mind that Whitebeard, in addition to being the WorldsStrongestMan also had massive BadassCrew supporting him. Rayleigh is alone. Yet Garp's worry is justified in that anybody less powerful than an Admiral would probably just get in the way against Rayleigh and the Marines needed ''all'' of their Admirals for the upcoming war against Whitebeard.

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceSevenWarlordsOfTheSea Seven Warlords of the Sea]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceDonquixoteDoflamingo Donquixote Doflamingo]] [[[Characters/OnePieceDonquixotePirates Donquixote Pirates]]], [[Characters/OnePieceBuggyPirates Buggy Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceSirCrocodile Sir Crocodile]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBaroqueWorks Baroque Works]]], [[Characters/OnePieceThrillerBarkPirates Thriller Bark Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceBoaHancock Boa Hancock]] [[[Characters/OnePieceKuja Kuja]]], [[Characters/OnePieceSunPirates Sun Pirates]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- '''[[Characters/OnePieceFourEmperors Four Emperors]]''' ([[Characters/OnePieceBigMom Big Mom]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBigMomPirates Big Mom Pirates]] ([[Characters/OnePieceCharlottePudding Charlotte Pudding]], [[Characters/OnePieceSweet3Generals Sweet 3 Generals]], [[Characters/OnePieceCharlotteKatakuri Charlotte Katakuri]])], [[Characters/OnePieceRedHairPirates Red Hair Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceWhitebeardPirates Whitebeard Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceKaido Kaido]] [[[Characters/OnePieceAnimalKingdomPirates Animal Kingdom Pirates]], [[Characters/OnePieceLeadPerformers Lead Performers]]], [[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeard Blackbeard]] [[[Characters/OnePieceBlackbeardPirates Blackbeard Pirates]]])]]-]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- [[Characters/OnePieceElevenSupernovas Eleven Supernovas]] ([[Characters/OnePieceTrafalgarLaw Trafalgar Law]], [[Characters/OnePieceSupernovasCrews Supernovas Crews]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceRevolutionaryArmy Revolutionary Army]] | '''Roger Pirates''' | [[Characters/OnePieceGerma66 Germa 66]] ([[Characters/OnePieceVinsmokeJudge Vinsmoke Judge]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceBlueSeas Blue Seas]] | [[Characters/OnePieceParadise Paradise]] ([[Characters/OnePieceAlabasta Alabasta]], [[Characters/OnePieceWater7 Water 7]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceSkyPeople Sky People]] | [[Characters/OnePieceFishManIsland Fish-Man Island]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNewWorld New World]] ([[Characters/OnePieceDressrosa Dressrosa]], [[Characters/OnePieceMinkTribe Mink Tribe]], [[Characters/OnePieceWano Wano]] [[[Characters/OnePieceKurozumiOrochi Kurozumi Orochi]], [[Characters/OnePieceWanoKozukiClanAndAllies Kozuki Clan]], [[Characters/OnePieceKozukiOden Kozuki Oden]]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceOthers Others]] | [[Characters/OnePieceAnimeOnly Anime-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceMovieOnly Movie-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceVideoGameOnly Video Game-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNovelOnly Novel-Only Characters]]]]-]]]

See his entry on the [[Characters/OnePieceFourEmperors Four Emperors]] page.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Is capable of swimming through the Calm Belt, the most dangerous stretch of water in One Piece. It's so dangerous that only specially-made Marine battleships and the Kuja's ships, which are pulled by sea serpents strong enough to keep the monsters at bay, dare to cross it.

!All spoilers regarding the Super Rookies era are unmarked. Examples relating to the New World era can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.

See his entry on the [[Characters/OnePieceSevenWarlordsOfTheSea Seven Warlords]] page.

* LongDeadBadass: Gol D. Roger is the legendary pirated who reached Laugh Tale, the final island of the Grand Line, and was executed twenty-two years before the beginning of the story. After all this time, he's still considered a legend among pirates.

* KingPfThieves: He gained the title of "King of the Pirates" after conquering the Grand Line. That accomplishment is very rare considering what the New World is like; you ''have'' to be Pirate King to rule over a sea that dangerous.

* NiceHat: The straw hat that Luffy wears that was given to him by Shanks was originally Roger's. In Rayleigh's flashback to when he first met Roger, the latter is wearing it. More often, he's seen wearing a traditional red pirate hat with his Jolly Roger on it over a yellow-spotted bandana. This one he left with Rayleigh.

[[WMG:[[center: [- [[Characters/OnePieceElevenSupernovas Eleven Supernovas]] ([[Characters/OnePieceTrafalgarLaw Trafalgar Law]], [[Characters/OnePieceSupernovasCrews Supernovas Crews]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceRevolutionaryArmy Revolutionary Army]] | '''Roger Pirates''' | [[Characters/OnePieceGerma66 Germa 66]] ([[Characters/OnePieceVinsmokeJudge Vinsmoke Judge]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceBlueSeas Blue Seas]] | [[Characters/OnePieceParadise Paradise]] ([[Characters/OnePieceAlabasta Alabasta]], [[Characters/OnePieceWater7 Water 7]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceSkyPeople Sky People]] | [[Characters/OnePieceFishManIsland Fish-Man Island]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNewWorld New World]] ([[Characters/OnePieceDressrosa Dressrosa]], [[Characters/OnePieceMinkTribe Mink Tribe]], [[Characters/OnePieceWano Wano]] [[[Characters/OnePieceWanoKozukiClanAndAllies Kozuki Clan]], [[Characters/OnePieceKozukiOden Kozuki Oden]]]) | [[Characters/OnePieceOthers Others]] | [[Characters/OnePieceAnimeOnly Anime-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceMovieOnly Movie-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceVideoGameOnly Video Game-Only Characters]] | [[Characters/OnePieceNovelOnly Novel-Only Characters]]]]-]]]