Rayleigh Silvers

Rayleigh Silvers (レイリー・シルバーズ, Reirī Shirubāzu), also known as the "Dark King" (冥王, Mei-Ō), is the former first mate of the Roger Pirates, known as the "Right Hand of the King of the Pirates" (海賊団の王の右腕, Kaizokudan no Ō no Migiude). He became a coating mechanic in Sabaody Archipelago at some point after Roger died and the crew was disbanded. He served as on of Luffy and Natsu's three mentors in the use of Haki during the two year timeskip. He is also the husband of Shakuyaku.

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 * —Rayleigh Silvers.

Appearance

 * Voice Actor: Bruce Carey (English), Keiichi Sonobe (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)
 * Voice Actor (young): Bradford Hutson (English), Kazuyuki Sogabe (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

Appearance
Two of Rayleigh's most distinguishing traits are his round glasses and facial hair, which is arranged embattled across his lower jaw. He also has a scar over his right eye, which he has had for many years.

The Young Past Days
When he was younger, Rayleigh had strawberry blonde hair (black when first seen in the anime) clean cut, and had a moderate amount of facial hair. Over the years, as his hair whitened, he grew it out. He also grew a beard from his initial striped facial hair. Regardless of his age, Rayleigh is a muscular man with a broad chest and well built body.

During his first appearance in Buggy's flashback, he was seen wearing a t-shirt with an ornately decorated collar, a motif that appeared even in the long coat he wore during the Edd War. He wore an orange shirt, light-brown spotted bermudas and simple sandals. He also has a silver-colored coat hanging from his shoulders.

Pre-Timeskip
The Dark King chooses to dress quite simply, usually just in a nearly plain t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. When out in public, he also seems to enjoy the cover of a large silver hooded cloak, though the hood is often down. Underneath these cloths, the old man's body is surprisingly built and very well-toned, a testament to his incredible strength.

Post-Timeskip
After the two year timeskip he now wears a black T-shirt as well as his silver hooded cloak.


 * Hair Color: White (formerly Strawberry Blonde)
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Black
 * Age: 76 (debut), 78 (after timeskip)
 * Birthday: May 13th
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Rayleigh is light hearted, casual, and fun loving, much like his captain Roger was. In the past, he was shown to have been impatient with the antics of the younger crew members, and took the position of crew disciplinarian very seriously. However, he has changed his personality in his older years, becoming much more relaxed even when training Luffy.

Though he often has a serious air, Rayleigh enjoys going with the flow and appearing in unexpected places and in unexpected ways, especially given his status and age. He often comments on his age and how his body "does not work the way it used to", much like Garp.

Rayleigh is not often headstrong, looking before he leaps and taking time to plan ahead before taking action, although he does not hesitate to act if needs be. Even when entering into an unfortunate or unplanned situation such as engaging a Navy admiral in combat or having his ship sink in the Neptunian infested waters of the Grand Line region, Rayleigh remains completely calm, pushing forward through adversity with no hesitation.

He, like Whitebeard, seem to enjoy talking about the past and its great times, as well as the good old days of their near bygone era. In spite of this, he appeared reluctant to get into the darker topic of the Void Century. He is typically open and talkative, such as when it came to the mysterious Void Century. He was willing to divulge the whole truth to Robin Nico if she wished, but she declined his offer.

As stated by Shakky, he loves alcohol and women, which he proved when he is first introduced saving Camie from being mistreated by Disco while holding a hip flask. He prefers to be called "Ray-San". Despite once being enemies with the Whitebeard Pirates, Rayleigh seems to have great respect for their captain, like Roger, and shed a tear for Whitebeard's passing.

Friends/Allies

 * Roger Pirates
 * Roger D. Gol
 * Buggy
 * Shanks
 * Rex D. Monkey
 * Crocus
 * Hatchan
 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * Luffy D. Monkey
 * Jimbei
 * Hancock Boa
 * Gloriosa

Family

 * Shakuyaku (Wife)

Neutral

 * Whitebeard Pirates
 * Newgate Ward
 * Law Water D. Trafalgar

Enemies

 * World Government
 * Navy
 * Garp D. Monkey

Abilities and Powers
In his younger days with Roger D. Gol, Rayleigh commanded the rest of Roger's crew as his first mate. He would do several duties while supervising the rest of the crew. Amongst these duties was disciplining the young apprentices Buggy and Shanks over their constant arguing about pointless things, such as which of the two polar regions is the colder one. After Roger D. Gol's crew disbanded, Rayleigh became a coating mechanic in Sabaody. He specializes in coating ships with Yarukiman resin, a process which enables ships to travel to Merman Island.

Rayleigh is extremely powerful, easily one of the strongest characters introduced. Shakky vouches for his strength by saying that he is "100 times stronger than all of you boys", referring to the Eleven Supernovas. Furthermore, when the Vice Admiral Garp was informed Rayleigh may be on Sabaody Archipelago, he told his men not to confront him nor should Fleet Admiral Sengoku be informed. Garp reasoned that the Navy should not confront two legends, Whitebeard and Rayleigh at the same time.

Due to his phenomenal strength, he was able to fight Admiral Kizaru equally. However, Rayleigh himself has admitted that he is not as young as he used to be, and can tire in battle. This may mean when he was in the prime of his strength he may have been even stronger than when he matched Kizaru, a true testament to his strength. Jimbei, a former Warlord who was used to seeing Whitebeard, was later shocked to see Rayleigh in person. Kid Eustass himself even states that Rayleigh was "a legend".

Another glimpse of his strength is seen when he seemingly snatches off Camie's exploding slave collar and tosses it into the air before it could self destruct.

Rayleigh is well-documented for his cunning: he has managed to evade the grasp of the expansive World Government for over 20 years now, and had quickly learned to exploit the slave-trading business on Sabaody Archipelago for personal gain (getting himself caught and sold to a wealthy bidder, before escaping and robbing his "master"). Calm and level-headed at virtually all times, he was the individual to break up arguments and disputes aboard the "Oro Jackson", as first mate and the right-hand man to Roger D. Gol himself.

Rayleigh knows the "True History" of the world from his time with Roger. However, he has also stated that, as a pirate crew lacking the knowledge of scholars of Ohara's caliber, they could have interpreted that information differently than the Ohara scholars.

Another noticeable trait of Rayleigh's is his incredible perceptive and deduction capability. This is shown when he was (within a matter of moments) easily able to deduce what had happened after ending up at the slave auction stage on the Sabaody Archipelago.

Rayleigh is also an expert in the coating business, with his current line of profit performing such operations for various pirate ships heading down to Merman Island, as well as understanding the mechanics of the deep-sea currents.

Physical Abilities
Rayleigh has shown to be extremely fast when he was able to intercept Kizaru's attack when the Admiral was about to kill Zolo Roronoa. He also has a large amount of stamina, as he was able to swim to Amazon Lily from another ocean, and was also still able to kill a number of Sea Kings despite swimming such a long distance. His ability to swim also definitively shows that his strength is natural, not based on a Curséd Fruit.

Swordsmanship
He is also an accomplished swordsman, though has admitted to having degraded in skill somewhat from his younger and healthier days. He was shown cutting the ground with ease to prevent Marines chasing after Luffy.

Rayleigh reports that it has been quite a while since he has had to use his own blade, though this was just moments before going toe-to-toe with Admiral Kizaru, so his skills do not seem to have dulled in any way. Rayleigh also managed to cut and draw blood from Kizaru's face, who is a Logia user, by imbuing his powerful Armament Haki into his sword.

In the anime, he is shown throwing bullets with enough force and accuracy to destroy cannonballs fired at him.

Haki

 * Main article: Haki

Rayleigh is able to utilize Haki the same way Shanks, Rex, Luffy and Whitebeard can. He is able to use all 3 types of Haki: Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki. Rayleigh is also shown to possess great mastery of Haki, and made use of all three types while teaching Luffy about them, and training him in the basics.

Conqueror's Haki

 * Main article: Conqueror's Haki

Rayleigh has mastered Conqueror's Haki to the extent that he can render a specific target completely unconscious. He is able to do this without adversely affecting anybody else near the initial target. He disabled an entire hall room of hostiles with this power, save for the Kid Pirates and Heart Pirates. Rayleigh later commented that the pirates still standing were no ordinary rookies. Only very strong and determined individuals can resist from being knocked unconscious. One of Law Trafalgar's crewmen was very close to being knocked out, and even Law and Kid Eustass were sweating slightly after enduring the blast.

Armament Haki

 * Main article: Armament Haki

Armament Haki allows Rayleigh to create a force similar to an invisible armor around himself. Rayleigh has the ability to bypass the powers of a Curséd Fruit user, touching the "substantial body" beneath whatever protection the fruit provides as seen when he used Armament Haki to kick and redirect an attack from Admiral Kizaru. He was also seen using it to deflect a giant elephant's foot and also hurting Luffy with a Haki-imbued flick while teaching him the basics of Haki. As stated by Rayleigh just before initiating Natsu and Luffy's training, it is possible to make this Haki strong enough to be used offensively.

Observation Haki

 * Main article: Observation Haki

This type of Haki can allow Rayleigh to sense the emotions and nature of others. It appears that it is also possible for the user of this Haki to sense the strength of others. This was shown when Rayleigh used this Haki to sense that there were five hundred creatures on Rusukaina who were stronger than Luffy and Natsu at that time. Rayleigh also used Observation Haki to dodge an elephant's attack without directly seeing the elephant.

The strength and mastery Rayleigh has over this kind of Haki is also shown by the fact that he can sense people all over the island he is currently on while most people can sense only in their immediate vicinity.

Weapons
Rayleigh possesses a straight-bladed sword, with a cross hilt and a large round pommel, roughly half as long as his body height.

It does not seem to possess any notable traits, though its wielder is capable of imbuing the weapon with his own immense Haki and using it to perform incredible feats, like fighting on equal terms with an experienced Logia user.

During his attack against the Marines who tried to chase down Luffy after the timeskip, he was seen holding a katana instead.

Past
Before Roger formed his crew, Rayleigh met Roger after he stole a ship due to his house burning down and needing a place to live. Roger said that it was a fated meeting and asked Rayleigh to join him. At first Rayleigh declined, but some time later, he formed a bond with Roger and became his first mate.

In the New World, at Edd War, Buggy panicked at the potential conflict between two infamous pirate crews: the Roger Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates. Rayleigh was present, and he held Buggy back, telling him not to worry. When Roger rejected Shiki's offer to become his right hand man, Rayleigh was seen preparing for battle along with the other Roger Pirates. A battle between the two crews ensued, and a change in the weather allowed the Roger Pirates to sink half of Shiki's ships.

Twenty-six years before the start of the story, Roger fell ill from an incurable disease, leading the Roger Pirates to take one final journey together. They ventured into the Grand Line together and conquered it. A year before his death, Roger disbanded the crew in secret and one by one the crew disappeared. Before he handed himself over to the Marines, Roger told Rayleigh that "He would not die". Unwilling to watch the execution of his closest friend, Rayleigh toasted a drink to the man with a laugh as the blades passed, and downed a glass as his first act in the Great Age of Piracy, the Age of Dreams. Rayleigh stated that he laughed (and cried, and drank) nonetheless upon hearing the message Roger had left the world.

Some time later, Rayleigh was saved by a young Hatchan from drowning in a shipwreck. Since then, Rayleigh has been on good terms with Hachi. He, along with Shakuyaku and Nyon, also helped protect the Gorgon Sisters after their escape from slavery from the World Nobles. Eventually, Rayleigh became a coating mechanic on Sabaody Archipelago and at some point married with Shakuyaku. He had been missing for six months prior to Luffy's arrival on the archipelago.

Canon

 * Roger Pirates vs. Whitebeard Pirates (several off-screen)
 * Roger Pirates vs. Golden Lion Pirates
 * Rayleigh Silvers vs. Admiral Kizaru
 * Rayleigh Silvers vs. numerous Neptunians
 * Rayleigh Silvers vs. a giant elephant
 * Rayleigh Silvers vs. Navy

Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga, when a younger Rayleigh's glasses were briefly seen, they had a circular shape. In the anime initially, they had an oblong shape. In the same flashback in the anime, his scar is missing, presumably because the scar is difficult to see in the manga.{ Also, Rayleigh's hair was black instead of the strawberry blonde seen in later flashbacks. This changing of a character's design to a more generic one occurs several times in the series, notably with Marco.

Rayleigh mentioning his second suggestion to Luffy was not in the manga. In the manga, Rayleigh is the only one who fights the elephant. It was never shown in the manga how Luffy, Jimbei and Rayleigh got back into Navyford. In the anime Luffy's actions in Navyford are seen, though in the manga they were only explained later.

Notes & Trivia

 * His name is similar to John Silver from Treasure Island and Sir Walter Raleigh, an English 16th-century explorer and privateer. It should be noted that Sir Walter Raleigh's name has been spelled in over forty different ways, in which also includes the spelling "Rayleigh" (note; the "y" would actually be pronounced as "i").
 * When Rayleigh fought Kizaru, he told him that if he were to get rid of his wanted poster, he could go into a peaceful retirement. This means that Rayleigh has an active bounty; the amount has yet to be revealed.
 * Silver is traditionally considered the next most valuable metal after gold, and as the first mate, Silvers Rayleigh was the second highest ranked man in the crew after the captain, Roger D. Gol also known as Roger Gold.
 * There is a theme of rare metals among the senior members of the Roger Pirates, as another member is named Scopper Gaban, as in "copper".
 * Rayleigh and Coby share the same birthday.
 * He is the first former pirate known to still have an active bounty.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Rayleigh ranked 32nd.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * When Shanks and Buggy were first revealed to be part of Roger's crew, a fan asked Oda in a SBS question if the man that scolded them was a subordinate captain under Roger that commanded the ship they were sailing on, or even a high ranking officer. Without giving away Rayleigh's name at the time, Oda responded that this man was none other than the first mate of Roger's crew. Oda also stated in his response that since he had set this fact in stone from the very start, he told Toei Animation that when they adapt Buggy's flashback for the anime, Buggy and Shanks should not refer to Rayleigh as Captain in the anime.