Few names illicite more excitement and hype in One Piece than the King of the Pirates himself, Gol D. Roger. The Pirate King ushered in the Great Pirate Era and had more impact on One Piece's story than any other character in the series, but beyond Roger's importance to the narrative, he was written to be legendary, and his influence expands across the shōnen genre as one of the most legendary characters in all of anime.
When Roger speaks, everyone listens and his character was not only written to be a legendary figure, but his name creates more suspense and inspiration than any other character in shōnen. While Roger himself is long dead, his presence remains constant throughout One Piece's saga and is one of the few instances in fiction where a character influenced an entire generation of fans to where every One Piece fan can recite the opening sequence surrounding his infamous execution scene.
Gol D. Roger: the King of the Pirates
Roger's Impact on One Piece's Narrative
Close
To say that Roger impacted One Piece's story is quite an understatement. The man made it to the end of the Grand Line, named Laugh Tale, and discovered the One Piece, only to surrender to the Marines. With only a few words, Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Age and left his mark on the world, forever cementing his legacy as the greatest pirate to ever live. Even after Roger died, he still has a lasting influence on One Piece's tale, to where he might as well be a living character within the world as his presence is always felt, particularly surrounding Monkey D. Luffy's similar ideals as someone who just wants to be free. Gol D. Roger may have accumulated wealth, fame, and power, but like Luffy, all he ever wanted was to live life to the fullest without regrets and to do that, he followed his dream no matter what, inspiring countless pirates to enter the Grand Line and reversing what would be a warning to all pirates to a call to action.
Gol D. Roger directly inspired Luffy to become a pirate and, while Shanks had a hand to play in Monkey D. Luffy's development, Roger was ultimately the person whose ideals Luffy imitated. Throughout the narrative of One Piece, Roger's legacy continues to inspire and build suspense as his journey is gradually unveiled through the marks and clues he left behind across the Grand Line. From the execution platform in Loguetown to Roger's message on the Poneglyph in Skypiea, his presence is always lurking in the tale's background as Luffy walks in his footsteps to become the next King of the Pirates. While Roger himself may be dead and gone, the members of the Roger Pirates are still very alive and relevant, such as Crocus or Silvers Rayleigh and other such nods to Roger's existence, as even some of the strongest characters in One Piece still look up to and compare themselves to Roger, like the Four Emperors of the Sea and various members of the Worst Generation.
Related
10 Reasons One Piece is The Greatest Adventure Anime Ever Made
One Piece stands above every other adventure-centric anime series, and for good reason.
Posts 2
The most influential and powerful characters across the Grand Line, with some of the strongest devil fruit users in the series believing themselves to be inferior to Roger in both name, deed, and power, as Roger's haki surpassed even the greatest showcases of Conqueror's Haki so far within the shōnen. Shanks is the closest pirate alive to Roger's proficiency with Haki, to where Shanks himself emulates his former captain's attack, Divine Departure, a powerful haki attack used in tandem with his swordsmanship. Shanks may be Roger's "successor" for the time being because of his mastery over haki, but not even Shanks has managed to effortlessly dominate the seas like his former captain and with Luffy's unrivaled rise as a pirate, Roger's true successor isn't far from surpassing the former Pirate King.
Gol D. Roger is the one character who is universally respected by all Pirates, a feat that no other character has yet to achieve. Luffy's striking similarities to Roger often lead others to draw parallels between the two. His words frequently resonate with those who knew the Pirate King, inspiring them to place their faith in Luffy -- even over much stronger characters. Shanks gave up his (Roger's) straw hat and put his faith in Luffy because the rubber boy echoed Roger's words and ideals to where Shanks bet on the next generation, giving up his arm to save Luffy. Silvers Rayleigh trained and mentor Luffy solely because Luffy's dreams weren't to conquer the Grand Line, but to become the pirate with the most freedom on the seas. Luffy's journey directly echoes Roger's and that comparison is not lost on the audience or characters to where Monkey D. Luffy has a static character arc to create parallels and comparisons between both characters.
Gol D. Roger's Free Nature and Legendary Status
The Pirate who Conquered the Grand Line
Gol D. Roger eventually became known as Gold Roger as his name and deeds became legend and myth, slowly removing his connection to the family of D. and the broader story implications surrounding his knowledge of the Void Century. Roger's motives for setting out to sea with Rayleigh to shake up the world have yet to truly be revealed in full, and it's unknown if Roger knew the broader implications of his future actions as he likely wished to sail the Grand Line for the adventure alone, but his journey started a chain of events that would have far-reaching and broad implications for the entire world and the coming pirate era. After Roger surrendered to the World Government to become a martyr to pirates, the Navy quickly changed the narrative and rewrote history to showcase their "strength" by making it seem as if they had captured the King of the Pirates and subsequently executed him as a warning to all other would-be pirates.
But, Roger turned his execution into a spectacle with a simple call to action to capture the greed and hearts of all who could hear. Instead of dying a slow and meaningless death because of his fatal illness, Gol D. Roger inspired countless souls to venture out onto the sea to make a name for themselves, creating the most turbulent era the world had ever seen. While initially the One Piece was believed to be the sum of Roger's treasure and wealth, as the narrative unfolded, Roger's reason for ushering in the Great Pirate Age was far more complex than initially believed, having named the final island on the Grand Line Laugh Tale because of the sight of (presumably) the One Piece itself causing the Roger Pirates to burst out in laughter and tears because of Joyboy's comedic display left behind from centuries ago. Roger himself may have indeed left everything he gathered as a pirate on Laugh Tale for his future successor to claim, but it's far more likely that the One Piece itself was enough of a reason to create the greatest call to action ever in shōnen history during his execution.
Related
Who is the Most Legendary Character Described in One Piece Lore?
One Piece's lore is full of legendary characters with far-reaching influence like Monkey D. Luffy, Gol D. Roger, and Joy Boy.
Posts
As Rayleigh stated during the Sabaody Archipelago arc, the Roger Pirates learned everything regarding the Void Century and the Will of D. but they were too hasty in uncovering the secrets of the world and ultimately left it be for the next generation to discover and deal with instead of shaking up the world too much. Roger's motivations remain unclear, but what can be surmised is that he knew his words would bring great change and, because of his knowledge of the Void Century, the Will of D. and what the One Piece itself is, Roger's decision to usher in a new age may have been born of greed or a heartfelt desire to pass on his will to the next generation. But, as Silvers Rayleigh pointed out during the Sabaody Archipelago arc, Roger never set out to sea to become king of anything, but the title stuck after he became the first person to circumnavigate the Grand Line and claim the mysterious One Piece, leaving his treasure all in one place.
Gol D. Roger, like Luffy, set out to sea for adventure and to find freedom on the Grand Line, wishing to turn the world upside-down along the way, and while Roger achieved everything the world offered, he ultimately achieved the one thing he sought on his perilous journey: freedom. The freedom to live and die how he chose and no one, not even the World Government, had the power or authority to stop him, making him one of the few characters to defy the rulers of the world and carve out his own legacy as a man unshackled by responsibility and the status quo. Considering freedom was Roger's true goal, like Luffy, he had no inherent desire to topple the World Government or reveal the secrets of the world to the masses, because Roger was a pirate above all else, and not a revolutionary.
Roger's Impact Across Shonen
The King of the Pirates Isn't Just a Character
Gol D. Roger was written to be legendary and few characters in shonen compare to the Pirate King's level of infamy and hype surrounding his words and deeds. Whenever Roger is mentioned, he's portrayed as almost a mythical figure whose name is spoken in reverence and awe. Certain shonen characters can come close to Roger's level of infamy with consistent foreshadowing and demonstration of their abilities, such as Madara Uchiha from Naruto or even main characters in some of the most popular shonen, but none of them can elicit the same emotional impact on audiences, no matter how cool or awesome a character is written to be. What separates Gol D. Roger from other legendary characters in anime is because he was written to be infamous in a way that creates not only hype surrounding his name, but goosebumps whenever he is mentioned.
Wealth, power, and fame. Gold Roger attained everything the world offered and his speech right before his execution not only created engagement and awe around his character, but he laid out the premise of One Piece in a way that few other characters can do because of the nature of the story being told. It's precisely because One Piece's entire plot is directly the result of Gol D. Roger's words that his character transcends the normal boundaries of what a character can normally achieve in fiction. Gol D. Roger isn't just some famous character in-universe, but a multifaceted character who lives beyond the page and draws fans into the rich world of One Piece with only a few words, just how he influenced an entire generation of pirates to set out to sea and search for the legendary treasure.
Related
10 Most Pivotal Moments in Luffy's Journey to Become Pirate King
Luffy's journey to become Pirate King has been filled with as much heartache as it has triumph, and every step shaped him along the way.
Posts
Characters like Gol D. Roger are scarce in fiction or anime, let alone to write, as they take a skilled writer to create enough emotional impact, depth, and characterization to make a character come alive beyond the page. While Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of One Piece and one of the most famous fictional characters in anime, he still hardly compares to Roger's impact as a character who lives beyond the page as almost a historical figure in a textbook. Roger is hardly a character and resembles more of a legendary figure that few fiction characters can achieve in terms of fame. Luffy might be the main character, but Roger is the one person in anime whose impact can be felt across genres and time.
Luffy's entire quest directly follows in the giant footsteps of the former King of the Pirates whose impact on the Grand Line reverberates throughout the One Piece world and its characters. In summary, without Gol D. Roger, there wouldn't be a One Piece story and, because of the Pirate King's influence on the shonen, from subtle character nods to downright foreshadowing, Gol D. Roger's influence on the saga made him the most legendary character in One Piece and in broader-aspects, the entire shōnen genre, spawning a decades-long narrative with some of the richest characters, lore, and storytelling in all of anime.
Your changes have been saved
Email is sent
Email has already been sent
One Piece
TV-14
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Fantasy
Super Power
Follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew in order to find the greatest treasure ever left by the legendary Pirate, Gold Roger. The famous mystery treasure named "One Piece".
Release Date October 20, 1999
Creator(s) Eiichiro Oda
Cast Mayumi Tanaka , Kazuya Nakai , Akemi Okamura , Kappei Yamaguchi , Hiroaki Hirata , Ikue Ôtani , Yuriko Yamaguchi , Kazuki Yao , Chō
Main Genre Action
Seasons 20
Studio Toei Animation
Creator Eiichiro Oda
Production Company
Writers Junki Takegami , Shoji Yonemura , Hirohiko Uesaka
Number of Episodes 1122
Streaming Service(s) Crunchyroll , Netflix , Hulu , Pluto TV
Franchise(s) One Piece
Directors Kônosuke Uda , Junji Shimizu , Munehisa Sakai
Based On Manga
MyAnimeList Score 8.72
Expand