 In the last moment of his life, he turned his fading flame into a huge fire that enveloped the world. I've never laughed more on that day. I've never cried more on that day. He was our captain, and he was a magnificent man. Hello and welcome to One Piece 101, the series that breaks down every one and every thing in the One Piece world. Today we are going to be exploring the man who conquered the Grand Line, hid the One Piece, and single-handedly began the Great Age of Piracy, the former pirate king, Gold D. Roger. Gold D. Roger, known to most of the world as Gold Roger, is a tall and very stereotypically looking pirate man who gained incredible wealth and fame as a result of doing what nobody thought possible by conquering the Grand Line and becoming the Pirate King. However, exactly how he went about doing this is one of the greater enduring and ever unraveling mysteries in the series, along with Roger himself actually. Despite being such a prolific figure, we as readers and watchers still know such a limited amount about him after more than 20 years of publication. What we do know, however, comes from first-hand sources who knew the pirate king, and he has generally been described as a fearless, ever-confident, and extremely reckless individual who managed to find allies wherever he set sail. Now you may notice that that description is quite befitting of the series' protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, and his similarities to the personality of Roger have also been noted by figures who sailed with Roger, including Crocus and Red-Head Shanks. However, according to Monkey D. Garp, Roger was also a man prone to violence, being quite short-tempered, particularly when it involved any form of sight against one of his crewmates. Although Garp did also add that Roger's actions were always pure and straight, very akin to that of a child, actually. But being the mysterious figure he is, we currently know very little about Roger's history, except for the fact that he was born in Loghtown in East Blue. From there, the earliest record we have of Roger is his meeting with his future first mate, Silver's Rayleigh. At the time, Rayleigh was something of a delinquent, who was living on a stolen boat when a young man wearing a straw hat rocked up in front of him. And this brings us to something absurdly important, actually. This straw hat should look very familiar to all of you, because it is the exact same piece of headwear currently being donned by Monkey D. Luffy. At some stage, during his career, Roger Passat had on to a young Shanks, who in turn gave it to Luffy 10 years prior to the commencement of his adventure. In any case, a young straw hat clad Roger asked Rayleigh to join his pirate crew, claiming that this was a fated meeting. Over the course of his career, Roger proceeded to recruit a crew of highly renowned individuals, many of whom are still unknown to us, actually, but it would eventually come to include Scoppa Goban, Kozuki Oden, Nekomomushi Inurashi, as well as a very young Redhead Shanks and the ever-important Buggy the Clown. Exactly when and where each of these members joined the Roger Pirates is currently unclear, but at some stage, the initial incarnation of the crew sailed to what they thought was the end of the grand line, only to discover a deeper layer of mystery hidden throughout the world in the form of the Ponyglyphs. And so the Roger Pirates set out on subsequent voyages to discover the secrets of these stones. However, prior to their final journey, Roger contracted an incurable disease and as a result, they recruited the Doctor Crocus into the crew in order to keep Roger alive long enough to complete the voyage. Despite the illness at this stage, Roger's strength was known worldwide, having been powerful enough to combat the hero of the Marines, Monkey D. Garb, as well as direct rival Edward Newgate, who would go on to become known as the strongest man in the world. In addition to this, Roger possessed the very vaguely explained power to hear the voice of all things. This allowed Roger to read or at least interpret Ponyglyphs, even though they were written in an unfamiliar ancient language. And furthermore, he was able to hear the voices of gargantuan creatures such as sea kings as well as Zunisha. Roger possessed one further attribute, and that was incredible luck. A perfect example of which was seen during the Ed War, when the Roger Pirates were up against the insurmountable fleet of Golden Lion Sheiky. This war concluded with an unpredictable storm that almost as if it were fated, wiped out half of Sheiky's fleet. And fated it may have been, because Roger is one of the few figures in the world known to carry the ever mysterious middle initial D. However, even rarer than that, Roger appears to be one of the few people in the world who understood the true meaning of the will of D. At some stage, the final journey of the Roger Pirates led them to the legendary hidden island of Ruff Tell, and they became the first people in hundreds of years to set foot on the island. What happened on the island is currently unclear, but in the final year of his life, Roger had attained more wealth, power and fame than anybody could comprehend, as well as became known as the Pirate King. Despite that, Roger's health was worsening, and in secrecy, he proceeded to disband the Roger Pirates. He then conducted something of a farewell tour, officially parting ways with long-time best friend Silver's Rayleigh, and even visited his old rival Whitebeard. This meeting displayed the mutual respect that they had for one another, as Roger even offered to tell Whitebeard the location of Ruff Tell, as well as the mystery behind the will of D, although Whitebeard refused the former, because he had no interest in visiting the hidden island. At yet another unknown point, Roger became romantically entwined with a lady by the name of Port Gasti Rouge, and the two of them conceived a child prior to Roger handing himself over to the Marines. After surrendering himself, Roger was scheduled to be executed, and in his final days, Roger implored his one-time rival Garb to take care of his unborn child who would grow up to be Port Gasti Ace. Roger's birthplace of Loghtown in East Blue was chosen as the venue for his execution. This show had been planned by the World Government in order to set an example to others and dissuade them from taking up piracy. The idea being that, if even the Pirate King could be caught and dealt justice, then nobody would be able to escape their own incoming justice. Unfortunately for the World Government, this spectacle backfired heavily, and just before his execution, Roger uttered what are probably the most famous words in the entire series. 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. These words acted as the spark of the great Age of Pirates, inspiring countless individuals to take to the sea and pursue the dream of finding Roger's legendary hidden treasure, the One Piece, and taking the mantle of Pirate King for themselves. Thus in death, Roger left a legacy far more powerful than any of his living achievements. And when one of those achievements includes becoming the Pirate King, then that is one truly astonishing accomplishment. Some more fun facts about Goldie Roger. While Roger's execution is one of the most memorable images in the entire series, exactly how the execution was performed is subject to interpretation. In the anime, Roger is seen being impaled through the heart by two spears, however the manga never actually shows or states how he was rendered dead. Although it should be noted that in the VisManga translation, it is stated that Roger was decapitated, while in the Four Kids dub, he was said to be hung from the gallows. Despite being such an epic figure in the story, Roger has traditionally been a rather unpopular character, at least with Japanese fans. As he was ranked 83rd in the 4th popularity poll, and didn't place at all in the 5th poll, although in the 6th poll, Roger's popularity has improved significantly, with him securing the 39th place position. Roger's final legacy is hypothesized to be based on the final moments of real life pirate, Olivia Levassur, who is known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest treasures in pirate history and who tossed a cryptogram into the crowd prior to his own execution. To this day, this alleged treasure has yet to be found. Another potential inspiration of Roger can be found in the pirate Henry Everry, who at one point became the richest pirate in the world and was even dubbed the King of the Pirates. And finally, a truly useless fact, in one piece green it was revealed that Roger's moustache was originally intended doobie nose hair. And that pretty much does it for Goldie Roger. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produces in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line Review Patreon, because the support of all of you amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. Also please do check out my Teespring store if you're interested in shirts, hoodies and other miscellaneous items, but the proceeds also going to directly support the channel. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time then please do head over to my Discord server where a wide array of shenanigans takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with who, what or where you'd like to see featured in the next One Piece 101.