Is the One Piece treasure real? True life inspiration behind Netflix series' prize

Netflix's highly anticipated One Piece live action adaptation is finally about to set sail.

The show, based on the worldwide bestselling manga of the same name, follows Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they search for the titular treasure. The ragtag group of adventures will travel to the Grand Line in search of the Gol D. Roger's mythical fortune.

The eight episode series stars Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro and Emily Rudd is Nami. The cast for the initial members of the Straw Hat Pirate crew has also been confirmed.

One Piece might feature many fantastical elements - including the Devil Fruits, which give supernatural powers - but the treasure itself has a real world inspiration.

Here's all you need to know:

Is the One Piece treasure real?

The treasure of Gol D. Roger is fictional, however it is based on the hidden haul of 18th Century French pirate Olivier Levasseur. La Buse - also known as La Bouche - first became acitive during the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 1700s.

He was known for his speed and ruthlessness as a pirate. During his career on the high seas he amassed quite the fortune.

Levasseur is alleged to have hidden one of the biggest pirate treasures in history - worth an estimated £1 billion - and according to legend he urged the crowd watching at his execution to search for his loot.

It is said that he wore a cryptograph around his neck while on the scaffolding waiting to be hung and said: "Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!"

This piece of pirate folklore served as inspiration for One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda - with Gol D. Roger similarly challenging his fellow pirates to hunt for his hidden treasure and become the King of the Pirates.

Oda has drawn inspiration from real life pirates throughout One Piece's run with characters drawing names from famous figures like Edward Teach - better known as Blackbeard - and more.

Has La Buse's treasure ever been found?

The legendary pirate treasure of Olivier Levasseur has never been found. However through the years many have tried to decipher his crytograph in a bid to find it.

Englishman Reginald Cruise-Wilkins attempted to find the hidden loot in the 20th century and claims the cryptograph was based on Masonic symbolism. He also claimed that it had connections to the trials of Hercules with various tasks having to be completed in a specific order.

Having started his search in the 1940s, Cruise-Wilkins died in 1977 still searching for the treasure in the Carribean. Levasseur's treasure has never been found - if it ever existed in the first place.