Will of D.

In the series, a number of characters have the middle initial "D.". This mysterious middle initial has been called the "Will of D" or "D's will" by several characters in One Piece. Some translations mistakenly refer to it as "Gol D's will" in reference to Gol D. Roger, the late Pirate King. The English dub by 4Kids chooses to refer to the D as the "Gol D.'s will", while the FUNimation dub refers to it simply as the "Spirit of D." both deriving from a mistranslation of the original Japanese text. In the recap supplement Grand Line Times, they were referred to as the "Men of D."

The Mystery of D.
The initial was first pointed out in Oda's SBS questions and answers corner, when he was asked what the D in Luffy's name stood for. Oda just replied to read it as a D for now and that he would reveal the truth behind it in time. This was the first time Luffy's "D" was brought up, as well as Oda's first hint towards a bigger mystery.

In the storyline, Nico Robin is the first to mention The Will of D. when she rescues Monkey D. Luffy  from drowning in Crocodile's sand, asking him why people with the name of "D" fight. It was revealed by Kureha that Gold Roger's (the late pirate king) true name was Gol D. Roger. She tells Dalton that Chopper has joined up with a very dangerous man. So it still lives... The will of D. The "Will of D" has also been mentioned by Robin three times, the first being during the Alabasta arc, when she asked Luffy about the meaning of 'D' although Luffy had no idea. The second was when Robin was talking to Gan Fall after they pulled up the ancient belfry. Gan Fall spoke of Luffy leaving the same impression that Gol D. Roger did on him. He said to Robin, "It suits him to have a name of just one letter". The third time was when Robin tried to ask Silvers Rayleigh about the significance of the "Will of D" also mentioning the Void Century at the same time. While he did not reply on what the "D" stood for, Rayleigh stated that they (The Roger Pirates) discovered the details of the Void Century, but when he offers to tell her, she turns down his offer, determined to discover the truth herself. One clue about those who carry the "D" was left by Jaguar D. Saul who specifically said that, while he did not know the meaning of the initial, he did know everyone in his family carried it in their names.



So far, it seems that the Ds all may indeed be related to each other, if not by blood then at least by their fates. Luffy does have a grandfather, Vice-Admiral Garp, whose full name is Monkey D. Garp. Luffy is also the son of the revolutionary Monkey D. Dragon. In addition, Luffy's brother (Who took his mother’s maiden name in rejection of his father), Portgas D. Ace, has also been revealed to be blood related to Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rouge. Whitebeard noted that killing the bloodline of a D does not put out the flames that they (a person carrying the "D") carry and someone else simply will pick it up one day. Later on, Trafalgar Law stated "What's the Dark King thinking this time? The Will of the D. will almost certainly call up a storm again." It is still not cleared why he said that, but it hints that Silvers Rayleigh had a clear purpose for wanting to find Monkey D. Luffy on Amazon Lily. In the Post-War arc, one of the Gorosei stated that "D" means danger. After the timeskip, Law mentioned the Will of D. once more, when he was asked by Doflamingo why he has so much faith in Luffy.

"Inherited Will"
Inherited will, the swelling of the changing times, and the dreams of people. These are things that cannot be stopped. As long as people seek the answer to freedom, these will never cease to be!

It is not clear what the significance of the shared middle initial is, but it appears that all share a similar faith in their own (and others') dreams and/or destiny. Whenever a D. appears, a series of massive events can occur in the One Piece world particularly when they get involved directly, this has included the start of a new era, a war and many change of governments.

The biggest mystery with the D's is that most of those who carry the D. themselves do not know fully what it means either. Jaguar D. Saul displayed an absence of knowledge on the subject of the D. when Nico Robin asked him what it meant. When she asked Monkey D. Luffy why those that carry the D. fight, he was also completely clueless as to what she was talking about. Though it seems that the Marines are somewhat aware of the D's as Sengoku showed interest in Ace because of it. Corazon also seemed to have an idea about it, and was horrified when he found out that one, Trafalgar Law, had been so close to Donquixote Doflamingo, even warning him to run away.

Gol D. Roger also displayed a knowledge of it in a dialogue between him and Whitebeard. He begins "Long ago far far away" but it is cutoff before he can finish. Trafalgar Law's parents also seemed to have some knowledge about what D. meant, considering that though they passed down the middle initial to their children, they hid it and insisted that they only use their given and surnames. Roger is the first and currently only known person in the storyline to have discovered what it means to be a D. himself, with it currently being unknown if Law's parents discovered it, or if it was simply passed down knowledge.



Furthermore, they seem to be able to withstand incredible punishment in battle and only surrender to death when they know there truly is no way of avoiding it. An odd trait of the D's is related to this. Often they are seen laughing or smiling greatly when they are about to die, as if they seem to accept their death when they cannot escape it and display no apparent fear toward death. The reactions of many characters who witness this is often shock or disbelief because it is hard to imagine anyone not being afraid of dying at all.

So far this strange habit has been shown 5 times:
 * Witnesses claim Gol D. Roger died smiling during his execution.
 * 22 years later one of those witnesses, Smoker, also witnessed Luffy smiling in the same manner as Gol D. Roger when Buggy was about to kill him.
 * Nico Robin also witnessed Saul laughing and smiling as he was frozen to death.
 * Portgas D. Rouge is seen both crying and smiling during the naming of Ace right before her death as a result of the childbirth.
 * Portgas D. Ace was smiling after he thanked everyone for loving him right before his death.

There was almost another instance which was the duel between Ace and Blackbeard, in which both Ace and Blackbeard smiled before their final attack against each other. However Blackbeard did display overconfidence in his Devil Fruit's power and probably believed that he wouldn't die, while Ace didn't die and was only defeated before being sent to Impel Down.

Most notable, the mention of "will" creeps up on numerous occasions; Whitebeard himself went on to explain that when they die, another may pick up their "will" at a later date and carrying it on their back and fight for it, even if the bloodline dies. Before Whitebeard's death, it is revealed through a flashback that he was told by Gol D. Roger of the true meaning behind the Will of D; he claims that Roger is waiting for a certain man with the initial D. He noted that Teach is not the one who is carrying "Roger's Will" which also includes "Ace's will" and that one day it will be picked up by another.

However, Marshall D. Teach did show a fear of death, an odd trait amongst the men of D. When Whitebeard attacked him at Marineford, Blackbeard started to panic and became fearful saying "You would not do this to your son, would you?" Blackbeard, even though he did not fear it when facing Ace, did not accept his death when it was before him. He did not die from that incident due to his own strength, but he still feared it nonetheless. He is the first D. to show this fear when faced with the possibility of death.

Translation and Dub Issues
The English translations that use of "Gold D's spirit" or "Gol D.'s Will" instead of "Will of D" in Dr. Kureha's talk with Dalton can be considered an error. While Gold Roger is spoken of in the previous lines of text, Kureha made no mention of Roger in that particular line of text in the original Japanese manga and anime.

Trivia

 * A few of the characters with the D. have shown to be narcoleptic, such as Garp, Ace and Luffy. So far it has not yet been stated if this is a trait to the Will of D. But this could also be attributed to their care free nature.
 * Oddly, Whitebeard also spoke about One Piece in the same statement when discussing the Will of D., thus it would seem One Piece itself has some link to them, not just as Roger's great treasure. This is not the only time the Will of D. and One Piece have had a mention in the same chapter. Previously, Usopp and Robin had both inquired about One Piece, the Void Century and Will of D. to Rayleigh but did not get a response back for various reasons.
 * For some reason Donquixote Rocinante was horrified when Law revealed himself to be a D. even breaking his mute façade to warn the boy to get as far away from Doflamingo as he could.

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