Golden Lion Shiki—one of the legends of these seas.
He had once been a member of the Rocks Pirates. After their dissolution, he formed his own Flying Pirates.
Many years ago, Golden Lion had sought to join forces with Gol D. Roger to rule the world. After Gol D. Roger rejected him, he flew into a rage, and their pirate crews clashed in the battle later known as the Battle of Aethelred.
A sudden storm caused the Flying Pirates to suffer a narrow defeat against Roger. At the same time, half a ship's wheel was accidentally lodged in Golden Lion's head. Since forcibly removing it would endanger his life, that half-wheel remained embedded in his head to this day.
After that battle, the Flying Pirates suffered a devastating blow, but Golden Lion also came to see Roger as an equal and formidable rival.
Later, Roger turned himself in, but the Marines publicly claimed that Roger had been captured. Golden Lion could not believe it, so he stormed Marine Headquarters, Marineford, alone. Garp and Sengoku stepped forward, and the two sides erupted into battle.
Only after the three of them had destroyed nearly half of Marineford was a victor decided. Shiki was defeated and imprisoned in Infinite Hell, at the very bottom of Impel Down.
Two years later, in order to escape Impel Down, Golden Lion cut off the feet bound by Seastone shackles. From then on, he used his two famed swords—Sakura Ten and Kogarashi—as prosthetic legs.
Afterward, he came to an island called Verumeu, where he discovered a plant known as "IQ."
This plant could cause animals that consumed it to evolve, granting them greater combat abilities.
Thus, Golden Lion used his powers to lift the entire island of Verumeu into the sky. There, he and his first mate