One Piece: Gol D. Roger’s Best Friends, Ranked

The King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, is arguably the most important character in all of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda’s anime and manga series about pirates. Not only did he discover the titular treasure, but he also told the world to find it, single-handedly kick-starting a new Pirate Era.

Gol D. Roger wouldn’t have been able to do all of this if it wasn’t for his loyal friends. What’s especially interesting is that he was a key player in the old era of piracy, so all of his friends and allies were figures of equal power, relevance, and influence. And not all of them were necessarily pirates.

6 Scopper Gaban

One of the “Wings” of the Pirate King

There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the members of the Roger Pirates, with a few exceptions. One of the most striking characters of the crew is Scopper Gaban, who has been shown time and time again to have been close to their captain, at a level similar to Silvers Rayleigh.

Sadly, Scopper hasn’t been seen in the present timeline, and it’s unknown whether he’s still alive. But according to what little has been shown about him, he was crucial to the crew. His role in the Roger Pirates could be compared to the role Sanji has in the Straw Hat Pirates.

5 Tom

The Shipwright of the Pirate King’s Crew

Tom was a master shipwright and Franky’s father figure who was responsible for building the Oro Jackson, the legendary ship of the Roger Pirates. But Tom’s and Roger’s relationship was not just professional business between builder and client. In fact, they were actually quite close.

Every time the Oro Jackson needed repairs, the Roger Pirates would go to Water 7 and meet with Tom, hugging him, laughing with him, and spending time with him. Even if he wasn’t part of the crew, it was obvious Tom felt a great deal of respect towards Roger. That’s why he was always proud of his creation, and was even willing to die for the ship he made for the Pirate King.

4 Monkey D. Garp

Eternal Rivals

A powerful pirate can’t become the King without an authority figure of equal strength behind them. Monkey D. Garp, Hero of the Marines and the grandfather of series’ protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, was Roger’s eternal rival. Garp spent most of his days chasing, fighting, and trying to capture Roger. But despite their differences, it was evident that they grew to respect each other.

There are still a lot of things that weren’t revealed about their friendship, such as how and why they decided to join forces to defeat the Rock Pirates in the God Valley Incident. Whatever it was, it led to Roger entrusting Garp with taking care of his unborn child, Portgas D. Ace. And Garp kept his promise for the most part, showing how much he appreciated his rival, even after death.

3 Kozuki Oden

The Roger Pirates’ Most Important Crewmate

Gol D. Roger met a lot of interesting figures during his journey through the magical world of One Piece. One of the most important was Kozuki Oden, the former inhabitant of Wano who could read Poneglyphs when nobody else could. Altough Roger initially snatched Oden from Whitebeard’s crew, the samurai didn’t end up as a mere tool. He became a member of their found family.

Oden was impulsive, cheerful, silly and extremely powerful. These characteristics could also be applied to Roger himself. They hit it off from the first moment they clashed, and their friendship grew until Roger passed away. All the members of the Roger Pirates felt a deep affection for their captain, and Kozuki Oden was no exception.

2 Edward Newgate AKA Whitebeard

The Other Potential Pirate King

A powerful pirate’s most common rivals are not just marines, but also other powerful pirates. This was the case with Whitebeard, a former member of the Rocks Pirates who would eventually match Roger in power. Even though both crews clashed every time they met, they always ended up trading items, drinking, eating, and laughing together.

This is something that could never have happened if Roger and Whitebeard didn’t respect each other so much. The Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates were equally powerful, and luckily, their captains were extremely close. This is why Edward Newgate is one of the few people who knew what the One Piece and the Will of D. were, since Roger felt like he could be trusted with those world-changing secrets.

1 Silvers Rayleigh

The Right Hand of the Pirate King

There’s an argument to be made that Silvers Rayleigh is even more important to the world of One Piece than Gol D. Roger himself. Rayleigh let Roger use his boat for his adventures, and immediately became his first mate. He was part of the crew from the very beginning, always acting as the right hand of the Pirate King. The Roger Pirates would have been nothing without him.

Rayleigh was arguably as powerful and important as Roger, but he was never ashamed of being overshadowed by his captain, since he was extremely loyal to him until the very end. That’s why Rayleigh kept spreading the Will of Roger, even after his captain’s death. This led to his training of Monkey D. Luffy, hoping the young pirate could eventually become the new King of the Pirates. At the end of the day, Silvers Rayleigh was to Gol D. Roger what Roronoa Zoro is currently to Luffy.