This article contains spoilers for the One Piece manga
There's no one in the world of One Piece who's quite as fun, jovial, and lovable as Monkey D. Luffy, but with that being said, there is one legendary pirate whom he is often compared to within the story. Luffy and Roger may have both shared the same dream of reaching the world's final island of Laugh Tale, but while there's a lot more that connects these two than just this lofty goal, it's only recently in the One Piece manga that these subtle similarities have become a lot clearer.
Chapter 1160 marks the beginning of the infamous God Valley Incident, and while Rocks and Garp may be ready to rumble, Roger and his crew have also arrived in a desperate attempt to rescue Shakky from being sold off to the Celestial Dragons. However, while fans are immensely excited to see these iconic figures duke it out one final time, there is a particular scene that seems to be a clear attempt from Oda to establish Roger's connection to the protagonist of the entire series.
Roger And Luffy Are Both Goofy Captains
They Don't Need To Put On A Serious Facade All The Time
- Roger gets trampled all over by his own crew
- The hilarious moment proves he doesn't always need to be serious and stoic
- It's very reminiscent of the protagonist
While Rocks and his absurdly powerful crew of pirates may have rocked up to God Valley looking as menacing as possible, the same can't exactly be said for the Roger Pirates, or more specifically, Roger himself. When the future Pirate King enters the battlefield, he proudly proclaims that he and his crewmates are going to save Shakky by any means necessary, though it's clear that Roger himself is desperate to reach her first in the hopes that she might actually fall in love with him, despite Shakky making it known that she only has eyes for Rayleigh.
However, only moments after making his grandiose speech, Roger is then unceremoniously trampled over by his own crew. All that can be seen in the panel is a battered and bloodied Roger lying on the floor, barely able to utter a few words after feeling the wrath of Rayleigh, Scopper, and his fellow pirates. This is clearly meant to be nothing more than a gag on Oda's part to add some light-hearted fun to an otherwise very dark portion of the story, but it does also highlight a shared aspect between Luffy and Roger, that being that both are incredibly goofy captains.
While Luffy does have his moments of looking very powerful and badass, most of the time, he's a happy-go-lucky kid who can usually be found playing pranks on his crewmates or simply stuffing his face full of food. At first glance, he's not exactly someone who would be considered a very influential or powerful pirate captain, and the same could definitely be said for Roger in this particular scene that was shown in the latest chapter.
They Are Both More Than Willing To Rescue A Friend
Even If It Means Putting Their Lives On The Line
- Roger rushed in to a dangerous warzone just to rescue Shakky
- Luffy has put his life on the line to save a friend on countless occasions
Aside from this hilarious panel, there is another element to Roger's actions in his chapter that seems almost identical to that of Luffy, and that's when he charges in to rescue Shakky. Though Rocks has also landed on God Valley, his reasons for doing so include making sure his family is safe, but also collecting as much treasure and powerful Devil Fruits as possible, with Shakky seemingly being more or less of an afterthought to him and his crew.
Roger, on the other hand, makes it abundantly clear that he and his allies are charging into the fray to rescue someone that they consider a close friend, which is something Luffy has done on countless occasions. For example, not only did he declare war on the World Government just to save Robin from being kidnapped, but Luffy also plunged himself into one of the biggest wars in the history of One Piece, all to rescue his brother Ace from execution, and though he didn't end up succeeding, he was still willing to put his life on the line to save someone that he considered a brother.
"The three of us swore an oath! Me, Sabo, and Ace" - Luffy
It's no secret that Roger and many members of his crew are head over heels for Shakky because of her overwhelming beauty, but the captain also isn't the kind of guy who would stand back idly while someone he considers a close ally or friend is in imminent danger. Therefore, the shot of him rushing into battle is very reminiscent of the protagonist of the series, with the two of them being more than happy to put everything on the line if it means rescuing even a single person.
Is Roger A Bad Captain?
Being Trampled Over By Your Crew Isn't A Good Look, But Does It Mean Anything?
It's pretty clear that Roger being stomped all over by Rayleigh and the others is just Oda poking a bit of fun at the future Pirate King, but some fans have taken it to suggest that maybe he's actually not as great a captain as we might have once believed. This flashback has already done a great job establishing how close the Roger pirates truly are with one another, so if anything, this moment can simply be seen as a bit of casual banter or tomfoolery, rather than an actual act of disobedience.
In the case of Rocks' crew, though, it's long been established, ever since Sengoku first mentioned them, that this band of pirates isn't exactly all that close to one another. They may have banded together to form an unstoppable crew, but each member is still clearly out for their own selfish deeds. Even Kaido and Linlin, who seem to have a much stronger bond than any of the others, are still evidently very wary of one another and don't share anywhere near as much trust as Roger and Rayleigh, for example.
"Well, they all got along so terribly, not on of them actually wants to tell the tale" - Sengoku
It's also important to remember that the Roger Pirates, even by this point in the story, are extremely powerful, so even though God Valley is an absolute warzone, they can still manage to mess around every now and again without looking like complete idiots. Since Roger, Garp, and Rocks are all going to be involved in a bloody battle very soon, it's probably the case that Oda wanted to give fans one last bit of laughter before everything officially kicks off. Therefore, while the moment can definitely feel a little abrupt given everything that's happening, it seems more like a blatant attempt create a comical connection between Roger and Luffy, rather than Oda actually belittling Roger before he has even entered the fight.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
