Kalifa - Creation and Conception

Creation and Conception

Several characters have been stated to be based on actual people, such as Blackbeard (Marshall D. Teach) and Whitebeard (Edward Newgate) being based on the owner of a bar where Oda used to go, and the famous pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach). Some other notable examples includes Eustass Kid (Eustace the Monk and William Kidd), X. Drake (Sir Francis Drake), Basil Hawkins (Basil Ringrose and John Hawkins), Capone "Gang" Bege (Al Capone and William Le Sauvage), Trafalgar Law (Edward Low), Jewelry Bonney (Anne Bonny), Urouge (Aruj), Scratchmen Apoo (Chui A-poo), Roronoa Zoro (François l'Olonnais), Sanji & Zeff (Red Legs Greaves), Lafitte (Jean Lafitte), Bartholomew Kuma (Bartholomew Roberts), Captain Morgan (Henry Morgan), Alvida (Awilda), and Bellamy (Samuel Bellamy). The transvestite Emporio Ivankov is based on Dr. Frank N. Furter and Norio Imamura. Norio had asked for Oda to draw more okama characters and became Ivankov's first voice actor.

Oda had created Helmeppo before he created Captain Morgan, Helmeppo's father. Oda originally named Morgan after "Chop," with the character's full title being "Naval Captain Chop" or "Sailor Chop". "Sailor" in Japanese is suihei (水兵?), and "Suihei Chop" is a fighting technique used by Giant Baba, a Japanese wrestler. Oda made several versions of Morgan before settling on the final design. After an editor told Oda that Morgan, in Oda's words, "looked lame", Oda changed Morgan's design to his final style.