Silvers Rayleigh

Silvers Rayleigh, also known as the "Dark King", is the former first mate of the Jolly Roger Pirates and the "Right Hand of the Pirate King". He became a coating mechanic in Sabaody Archipelago at some point after Gold Roger died and the crew was disbanded. He is one of the central characters of the Sabaody Archipelago arc as the Straw Hats require his skills in order to get to Fishman Island.

Appearance
Two of Rayleigh's most distinguishing traits are that he typically wears glasses and that the facial hairs on his chin are arranged like stripes across his lower jaw. He also has a scar over his right eye, which he has had for many years. When he was younger, Rayleigh kept his black hair clean cut and had a moderate amount of facial hair. Over the years, as his hair whitened, he let it grow longer and wild. He also grew a beard from his initial striped facial hair.

Personality
Rayleigh is light hearted, casual and fun loving, much like his captain Gol D. Roger was supposed to have been. In the past he was shown to have been intolerable to the antics of the younger members arguing, and took the position of crew disciplinarian very seriously. He, like Whitebeard seems to have enjoyed talking about the past, although he seems reluctant to speak about certain topics like the Void Century. As stated by Shakky, he loves alcohol and women, the latter of which he proved when he saved Keimi from being mistreated by Disco. He prefers to be called "Ray-San".

Abilities and Powers
In his younger days with Gol D. Roger, Rayleigh commanded the rest of Roger's crew as First Mate. He would do several duties while supervising the rest of the crew. Amongst these duties was disciplining the young Buggy and Shanks over their constant arguing about useless things, such as which of the two polar regions is the colder one.

After Gol D. Roger'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 Fishmen Island.

Rayleigh is apparently extremely powerful, possibly one of the strongest characters introduced. Shakky, a business partner of his, vouches for his strength by saying that he's "100 times stronger than all of you boys", referring to the Eleven Supernovas. Indeed, when Vice Admiral Garp was informed Rayleigh may be on Sabaody Archipelago, rather than go straight to the archipelago, Garp told the Marines not to have his men confront him, due to his phenomenal strength. However, Rayleigh himself has admitted that he is not as young as he used to be, and can tire in battle. Eustass Kid himself stated that Rayleigh was a "legend".

Haki
Rayleigh is able to utilize "Haki" the same way displayed by Shanks and Luffy. Also, Rayleigh's spirit power can be focused, as suggested from having rendered a specific target completely unconscious without the aid of eye contact, nor adversely affecting anybody else near the initial target. He disabled an entire room with this power save for the Straw Hats, Keimi and Pappug, and later commented that the pirates still standing, were no ordinary rookies to be able to withstand the attack. Only very strong and determined individuals can resist from being knocked unconscious. One of Trafalgar Law's crewmen was very close to being knocked out; and even Law and Eustass Kid were sweating slightly after enduring the blast. Another glimpse of his strength is seen when he seemingly snatches off Keimi's exploding slave collar and tosses it into the air before it could self destruct. Rayleigh also kicked and redirected an attack by Marine Admiral and Logia Devil Fruit user Kizaru. He is later shown to be strong enough to fight Kizaru to a draw, although he was starting to fatigue due to his more advanced age.

Rayleigh knows the "True History" of the world from his time with Roger, but he has also stated that, as a pirate crew lacking the intellect of scholars of Ohara's caliber, they may very well have misinterpreted that information.

Weapons
He has shown the ability to use a sword, though he does comment he's out of practice, also he somehow has managed to cut and draw blood from Kizaru's face.

Past
As right-hand man of Gol D. Roger's ship, he disciplined Buggy and Shanks over their constant arguing by chiding and beating them over the head. Twenty-six years ago, Roger fell ill to an incurable disease, leading the Jolly 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.

Six years later, Rayleigh was saved by a young Hatchan from drowning in a shipwreck. Since then, Rayleigh has been on good terms with Hachi.

Eventually, Rayleigh would go on to become a coating master on Sabaody Archipelago and set up a partnership with Shakuyaku. In the current storyline, he had been missing for six months prior to Luffy's arrival.

Sabaody Archipelago Arc
By the time Luffy had arrived, he had taken himself to the Human Auctioning House to be sold as a slave. Garp stated he most likely built up a debt he couldn't pay off so decided the money for selling himself would repay his debts.

When the manager, Disco, mistreated the newly arrived Keimi, he used a "rush of spirit" or "Haki" to knock Disco out. The giant in a cage with him noted this and asked him who he was, which Rayleigh shrugged off, saying he was just an old man.

Rayleigh eventually broke out of his cell along with the giant. He revealed that he only had himself put up for auction to eventually rob whoever bought him. He then disabled the entire auction house, one of the victims being World Noble Saint Shalulia, with his "Haki" before addressing Luffy, whom he said he'd been waiting to meet for a long time, remarking that the Straw Hat suits him. After that, Rayleigh removed Keimi's collar and told Zoro, as he was leaving with Hatchan, for him and the rest of the Straw Hats to meet up with Rayleigh later at Grove 13.

He is next seen running carrying Hatchan on his back and with Franky close behind when they escaped from the Auction house, later everyone arrived at Shakky's Rip-off Bar. Here he told the Straw Hat Pirates all about Roger and his crew. He then goes to coat the Straw Hats' ship which will take three days to finish, Rayleigh then gives them a Biblicard so they know where to find him, as he isn't sure where he might end up while he's coating their ship. He finally advises them to get supplies for the trip to Fishman Island.

Current Events
Rayleigh then appears after the Straw Hats are confronted by Sentoumaru and a Pacifista, saving Roronoa Zoro from certain death by Admiral Kizaru by blocking Kizaru's kick. Kizaru greets the "Dark King" while Rayleigh tells him not to pluck the fine sprouts (i.e: the Straw Hats) since their era is just beginning. When Kizaru moves to chase the escaping Zoro, Usopp and Brook with "Yata no Kagami", Rayleigh draws a sword and cuts the beam of light, stopping Kizaru in his tracks. The two quickly engage in a sword fight, Kizaru using a sword of light, where Rayleigh manages to draw blood by cutting Kizaru's cheek. Despite fighting evenly with Kizaru, he is unable to prevent the Straw Hats from being overpowered by PX-1 and Sentoumaru. After Bartholomew Kuma arrives and transports Zoro far away with his powers, he tells Rayleigh something, which he seems unwilling to believe, before teleporting the rest of the crew to distant islands. After this incident, Kizaru captured 500 pirates in the Sabaody Archipelago out of spite. It is unknown whether Rayleigh was one of the the 500, but since his Biblicard was intact as shown on Amazon Lily, it can be assumed he is in fine shape.

Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga, when young Rayleigh's glasses were briefly seen, they had a circular shape. In the anime, they had an oblong shape. Also his scar is missing, presumably this is a mistake because the scar is difficult to see in the manga.

Translation and Dub Issues
The term used by Rayleigh's companion, Shakky, to refer to him is うちの人 (Uchi no Hito). This is a common Japanese phrase referring to a companion that lives with one. Depending on the context on how it is used, it can sometimes refer to a woman's husband. However, this is not necessarily always the case. The phrase is usually used amongst friends rather than in formal situations.

Trivia

 * When Shanks and Buggy were first revealed to be part of Gol D. 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 Gol D. 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.
 * His name possibly refers 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 spelt in over 40 ways, in which also includes the spelling "Rayleigh". Additionally, the name 'Rayleigh' may be a reference to Lord Rayleigh, a physicist who explained the phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering, an effect whereby light can be scattered by particles that are smaller in size than wavelength of light. This is likely not a coincidence, since Rayleigh was capable of fending off Admiral Kizaru, who possesses the Pika Pika no Mi, the Logia of light.
 * Silver is traditionally considered the next most valuable metal after gold, and as the First Mate, Silvers Rayleigh was the second high ranked man in the crew after the captain, Gol D. Roger.
 * When Rayleigh saved Zoro from Kizaru, he told him that if he were to get rid of his wanted poster, he could go into a peaceful retirement. This is an indication that Rayleigh has an active bounty and the amount has yet to be revealed