Gol D. Roger, more commonly known as Gold Roger, was a legendary pirate who, as captain of the Roger Pirates, held the title of Pirate King and possessed the legendary treasure known as the One Piece. He was also the lover of Portgas D. Rouge and the biological father of Portgas D. Ace.
Roger was the first pirate in history since Joy Boy to circumnavigate the Grand Line, culminating in reaching its final island which he named Laugh Tale. However, knowing that his life was limited by an incurable disease, Roger disbanded his crew and turned himself in to be executed. Though the World Government staged the execution as a public spectacle to discourage piracy, Roger used his final words to ensure the opposite, openly declaring that the One Piece belonged to anyone that could find it. As such, he singlehandedly began the Great Pirate Era.
He apparently had a strong bond with his crew. Silvers Rayleigh, his first mate, described him as a “magnificent man”. Shanks and Buggy also seemed saddened when speaking of the day of their captain’s execution, and both cried a lot at his execution. According to Garp, even though the whole world hated him, his crewmates trusted Roger completely. He had also destroyed the military force of one country for insulting his crew.
Kin’emon stated that Roger had great admiration for Kouzuki Oden and recruited him as a crewmate for his final voyage. The feeling appeared to be mutual, as Oden thought very highly of Roger, perhaps even more than his previous captain, Edward Newgate. After receiving news of Roger’s execution, Oden simultaneously cried and laughed as he marveled at Roger’s achievements in life.
Roger had been enemies with the Marine Garp for many years, and in turn Garp attempted to kill Roger several times, but both men respected one another to the point that Roger trusted him as he would trust any member of his own crew. Garp was one of two Marines that Roger considered to be worth his time, the other being Sengoku. This rivalry went so far that both would set aside all their other fights or things they did in the meantime to focus on clashing with each other, but their clashes always ended in draws. In their youth, their rivalry was so intense that he and Garp tended to fight on sight, with Roger dropping everything he was doing beforehand to start fighting Garp.
