Woonan

During childhood Woonan carried an ordinary frame and reddish-brown hair. Once grown into a pirate, he stood fairly tall and athletic, his hair falling as a long, ragged mane below thick brows and a slim horseshoe mustache. His outfit fit the mold of a typical captain: a low-cut shirt edged in gold, a sash at the waist that held at least one pistol, a bulky black overcoat, a string of beads at the neck, and a black bicorne bearing his Jolly Roger.

The young Woonan seethed with ambition and a quick temper, looking down on the humble village life that raised him and even branding his own father worthless for a lifetime of toil that paid almost nothing. Across most of his years he gauged a man's value by gold and felt scarcely any guilt about becoming a pirate to seize it, although he held to a romantic notion of plundering only the wicked. A sentimental core lay beneath all of it. He held Ganzo in high regard for his strength of character in spite of their clashing views, and he preserved his very first flag for his whole career, taking it as a sign that his friend's spirit voyaged at his side. By old age, having won fame and wealth past anything he had imagined as a child, he drifted toward Ganzo's way of thinking, valuing adventure and companionship above riches, and yet he never came to regret his life on the sea.

An argument with Ganzo in their youth about how much gold truly mattered ended with both boys plunging over a cliff, where they clung to the banner that bore Woonan's mark. To spare that banner from ruin and allow his friend to haul himself back up, Ganzo released his grip and fell. Convinced he had lost Ganzo, a heartbroken Woonan dedicated himself to piracy, never knowing a passing vessel had pulled his friend from the water. He soon encountered Rokai, who resembled him almost exactly, and the pair sailed like brothers until, around twenty-nine years before the present day, they unearthed the Ancient Gold. The curse it carried turned Rokai murderous, leaving Woonan the lone survivor of the slaughter. Undeterred, he carried on and gathered up to a third of every gold piece on the planet, stacking it mountain-high on his secret Gold Island and drawing one of the steepest bounties in the East Blue.

Eventually the treasure rang hollow to him, and he made up his mind to return all of it. Far too notorious to slip back into a quiet existence, he shut himself within his storeroom, sat alone, and awaited death. Years after he was gone, Eldoraggo went searching for his riches, joined in the hunt by the Straw Hat Pirates alongside Ganzo and Tobio. At the concealed vault they discovered no gold whatsoever, only Woonan's corpse and a parting message: the wealth had counted for nothing, while the thrill of pursuing it and the bond he had with Ganzo were what truly held meaning.