One Piece: 20+ characters inspired by real people (Part 1)

Although a work of fiction, Oda Eiichiro’s One Piece manga has a lot of details learned from real life. Many characters in the story are also inspired by real people. If you want to know who they are, let’s see Lag.

1. Gol D. Roger – Olivier Levasseur

The Pirate King Roger is a character based on the famous French pirate Olivier Levasseur. Legend has it that Olivier buried a treasure in a secret location. As he prepared to be executed, Olivier threw a necklace containing 18 lines of code into the crowd, saying “go find my treasure, who can understand it”. Yeah, that sounds very “Gol D. Roger”, doesn’t it?

See more: Oda-sensei asked ChatGPT for an idea for a One Piece manga and a surprise ending!

2. Alvida – Awilda

The first female pirate to appear in One Piece is also a character based on a real person. Alvida’s “prototype” is said to be the pirate Awilda. The story of Awilda is not known to be true or false. According to many oral traditions, it is said that Awilda was the one who became Queen of Denmark after marrying Prince Alf.

3. Zoro – Francois I’olonnals

Francois was a French pirate active in the Caribbean around 1660. According to records, Francois I’olonnals is called “the wicked man of Spain” due to his many tortures, robberies, cruel arson. Well, when it comes to torture, Francois has a lot of extremely barbaric tricks.

If you pay attention, you’ll see that Zoro’s last name is the Japanese transliteration of the I’olonnals. It’s hard to understand that the author Oda chose a scary name like Francois as Zoro’s model.

See more: TOP 20 most hated manga and anime characters One Piece: The author and fans are also terribly hated!

4. Bartolomeo – Bartolomeu Dias & Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts

The Bartolomeo fanatic is said to be inspired by two real-life characters, a pirate and an adventurer. Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer, the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa. Meanwhile, Black Bart is a Welsh pirate, who is considered the most successful pirate of all time when he captured about 400 ships.

5. Cavendish – Thomas Cavendish

The character Cavendish is modeled after Thomas Cavendish, an adventurer known by the nickname “The Guide”. He was one of the first navigators to circumnavigate the world in the late 1500s.

6. Zeff – Redfoot Greaves

Former pirate Zeff was inspired by Redfoot Greaves. This is an unknown pirate. Information about Greaves indicates that he was a notorious pirate of the 1670s, operating mainly in the Caribbean and West Indies.

See more: AI art: What happens when the One Piece Straw Hats transform into gods in Norse Mythology?

7. Yamato – Yamato Takeru

Yamato, son of Kaido is said to be based on a real Japanese historical figure – Emperor Yamato Takeru. This is the 12th emperor of Japan. According to legend, Yamato Takeru, after receiving a lot of help from the gods, repeatedly marched in to quell the rebellion and protect the peace of the world.

(To be continued…)