One Piece may be a fictional world, but many of the pirates are named after or inspired by real captains. Because there are so many characters in the manga and anime, I’m not going to break all of them down, but I will give special attention to the key players. For full disclosure, if you have not watched One Piece, some of this may be confusing, so you might want to start watching One Piece first. You’re gonna need some time…

Gol D. Roger = Olivier Levasseur (aka The Buzzard)

Let’s look at Gol D. Roger, the guy who started it all. He’s based on a French pirate named Olivier Levasseur aka “The Buzzard”. Like Roger, Levasseur allegedly hid one of the biggest treasures in pirate history, and to this day, it has never been found.

According to legend, he had a necklace containing a 17 line cryptogram that revealed the location of his treasure. During his execution, he threw the necklace into the crow and shouted “Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!” Sound familiar? Gol D. Roger basically says the same thing during his execution, and the Poneglyphs serve as his cryptograms.

[A kind commenter on my YouTube channel mentioned Henry Every as an additional inspiration for Gol D. Roger. Every was known as “King of the Pirates” and is one of the few pirates to escape with his treasure and elude capture.]

Luffy = Luffy

Okay, now let’s look at the some of the main characters. When Eiichiro Oda, (the creator of One Piece) named Luffy, the show’s main character and the captain of the Strawhat Pirates, he did not name him after anyone in particular. However, by coincidence, there’s a sailing term called “luffing”, where you sail a ship closer to the wind.

Rorona Zoro = François l’Olonnais (aka Lolona)

Rorona Zoro, the second pirate to join Luffy’s crew, is named after the French pirate, François l’Olonnais. l’Olonnais was also known as Lolona, and Rorona is the Japanese pronunciation of his name. Like Zoro, the real-life Lolona had a fearsome reputation.

When Lolona became shipwrecked in Mexico, the Spanish attacked his crew and killed his entire party. Lolona survived by covering himself in blood and hiding among the dead. After that, he swore to give the Spanish no quarter and brutally took out any Spanish men he encountered. Lolona may have also inspired the character design of Zoro’s rival, Dracule Mihawk, who looks a bit this 1684 portrait of Lolona.

Blackbeard & Whitebeard = Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard)

Next, you have Blackbeard and Whitebeard, who are BOTH based on one of the most infamous pirates of all time, Blackbeard, aka Edward Teach. In One Piece, Blackbeard’s full name is Marshall D. Teach, and Whitebeard’s full name is Edward Newgate. Both characters are powerhouses that rival the infamy of the real-life Blackbeard.

Despite Blackbeard’s infamy, his pirate career was very short. He started out as a entry level pirate on Benjamin Hornigold’s crew in 1716 and was beheaded in 1718 by Royal Navy sailors in colonial America. Imagine being remembered for a job you had for less than two years.

Trafalgar D. Water Law = Edward Low + Battle of Trafalgar

Trafalgar D. Water Law is named after another infamous pirate. Edward Low. However, the similarities end there. Law is a doctor known for his strategy and intelligence. Meanwhile, Edward Low was best known for his cruelty and torture, and historians have even called him a “psychopath”.

But there’s one more nautical reference in Law’s name. Trafalgar comes from the Battle of Trafalgar, which was a famous naval battle that took place off Cape Trafalgar. Here, Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Empire fought Napoleon’s combined fleet of French and Spanish ships. The British won, but Admiral Nelson got shot by a French musketeer and died shortly before the end of the battle.

Eustass Kid = William Kidd (aka Captain Kidd)

Other members of the so-called “Worst Generation” of pirates are also named after real pirates. Eustass Kid is named after William Kidd, also known as Captain Kidd, who was almost as infamous as Blackbeard. He’s best known for burying a treasure chest on Gardiner’s Island, just east of Long Island, New York. I mean, what are pirates without chests of gold? Captain Kidd also had a man on his crew named Samuel Burgess, who likely inspired the name for Jesus Burgess in One Piece.

Jewelry Bonney = Anne Bonney

Jewelry Bonney is named after Anne Bonney, who was one of the few female pirates known during the Golden Age of Piracy. She had an affair with another famous pirate named John Rackham aka Calico Jack. In One Piece, “Calico” Yorki of the Rumbar Pirates is named after Calico Jack, but he has no relation to Jewelry Bonney.

Scratchmen Apoo = Chui A-poo

Scratchmen Apoo is named after Chui A-poo, a Chinese pirate from the 1800s. At his height, he commanded over 50 junks in the South China Sea, but in 1849, he lost everything when the Royal Navy destroyed his fleet. Not long after, his crew betrayed him and handed him over to the British.

Basil Hawkins = Basil Ringrose + John Hawkins & X Drake = Sir Francis Drake

Basil Hawkins is named after two people: Basil Ringrose, an English buccaneer, and John Hawkins, an English privateer. X Drake is named after John Hawkins’s cousin, Sir Francis Drake, who was also a privateer. John Hawkins and Francis Drake were known for their exploration of the world, and Drake was known for his circumnavigation of it.

However, both men are also known for their role in the Atlantic slave trade. Hawkins is responsible for leading England’s first voyages to capture and sell African slaves, and Francis Drake helped his cousin on these voyages. With that in mind, it’s fitting that Basil Hawkins ends up as a creepy villain in the Wano arc.

Cavendish = Thomas Cavendish

Oddly enough, Cavendish is also associated with Hawkins and Drake. Not in the anime but in real life. Cavendish is named after Thomas Cavendish, yet another English explorer and privateer. Inspired by Francis Drake, Cavendish circumnavigated the world in record time and captured Spanish gold along the way.

Bartolomeo = Bartolomeu Dias & Bartholomew Roberts

Bartolomeo is named after Bartolomeu Dias & Bartholomew Roberts. Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer who rounded the southern tip of Africa to establish a sea route between Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, Bartholomew Roberts aka “Black Bart” was the most successful pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy, capturing over 400 ships and adopting an early version of the skull and crossbones flag.

Other One Piece Pirates

Okay, there’s a lot more characters in One Piece, so we’re going to speedrun this. Captain Morgan is named after Henry Morgan, which is fitting because Henry Morgan was a privateer. Privateers were “legal” pirates, and England allowed Henry Morgan to “legally” raid Spanish shipping and colonies. You might recognize Henry Morgan from Captain Morgan rum.

Bellamy is named after Samuel Bellamy aka “Black Sam”, who was the wealthiest pirate in recorded history. Montblanc Noland is named after Richard Noland, an Irish pirate who sailed with Samuel Bellamy and became a Spanish privateer. Jean Bart is named after Jean Bart, a Flemish privateer and naval commander. Orlumbus is named after Christopher Columbus, and his Yonta Maria Grant Fleet is named after one of Columbus’s ships, the Santa Maria. Magellan, the chief warden of Impel Down, is named after Ferdinand Magellan, who led the first expedition around the world in the 1500s.

Zeff aka Red-Leg Zeff might be named after “Red Legs” Greaves, a Scottish buccaneer who may not actually be a real person. Alvida is named after Awilda aka Alfhild, a Scandinavian shieldmaiden who commanded a fleet of longships crewed by young women and raided villages around the Baltic Sea. Lafitte is named after Jean Lafitte, a French pirate who was very active in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 1800s and illegally smuggled slaves into the United States.

Charlotte Linlin aka “Big Mom” is named after Charlotte Badger & Charlotte de Berry, who were both allegedly real female pirates. However, Charlotte Badger was a normal woman, who was wrongly accused of being a mutineer, and Charlotte de Berry was likely made up entirely.

Lastly, Silvers Rayleigh may be named after Sir Walter Raleigh, a key figure in the English colonization of America, although he never set foot in North America. The city of Raleigh, North Carolina is named after him.

Well, that sums up the One Piece characters that are obviously named after real-life captains. There are many others named after both real and mythical people, but this list is focused purely on those named after pirates and seafarers.

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