Garp

Biodata

Background

Garp is a veteran Marine celebrated as a living legend. He once chased Pirate King Roger around the world and remains a formidable physical fighter despite his age 5 55.

He regularly returns to the East Blue to visit his family. Sengoku accuses him of using recruitment inspections to obtain two months of leave each year, spending the time eating senbei, sleeping, and looking after his grandson instead of finding recruits 11 12.

Lin Xuan had spent two years under Garp’s care before joining the Marines. Although Garp initially declared their grandfather–grandson relationship unilaterally, he openly acknowledged Lin Xuan as his adopted grandson after securing his agreement to enlist 5 6.

Appearance

• Build: Tall, burly, and powerfully built, with broad shoulders and large, heavily callused hands 5 8 113.
• Hair: Unruly white or silver hair, with graying temples 5 38 55.
• Face: Large, bell-like eyes, a weathered face, and a beard 5 68 72.
• Clothing: White Marine uniform, a coat or cloak marked “Justice,” and a distinctive dog-head hat or hood 5 38 113.

Personality

Garp is boisterous, informal, and openly dismissive of military decorum. He picks his nose during serious conversations, laughs loudly, and treats Lin Xuan’s dislike of paperwork and orders as evidence that the boy takes after him. He even offers to pass his position and title of hero to Lin Xuan so that he can spend his time traveling and eating senbei 5 68.

He wants his family to become Marines and uses his “Fist of Love” to discipline them. Lin Xuan’s admission that he intends to enlist to protect Ace and Luffy—not uphold justice—initially enrages him. Once persuaded to accept the enlistment, however, Garp immediately switches from anger to paying for a village celebration 1 6.

His affection is most apparent when his family is threatened. He nearly fights Admirals over Lin Xuan’s safety, attacks a CP0 agent who implicates the boy in the Impel Down riot, and refuses to remain at Headquarters while pirates hunt him 55 66 100 101 113.

Despite his careless manner, Garp can be politically calculating. After Crocodile’s defeat, he proposes publicizing Lin Xuan as a national savior before the Five Elders can object, making opposition costly to the World Government’s reputation 90.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Durability

• Throws an enormous chained iron ball toward Ace’s departing boat using raw strength 4.
• Cracks piers and concrete landings simply by landing on them; shatters a warship’s bow deck when launching himself toward shore 5 29 55.
• Smashes a reef with his head after missing Lin Xuan, then resurfaces and continues speaking without apparent serious injury 9.
• Punches a hole more than ten meters across through the Fleet Admiral’s office wall, releasing a shock wave that destroys the office’s contents 101.
• Dents and cracks a Seastone surveillance console with a Haki-coated punch 106.

Armament Haki

• Injures Luffy with blunt punches despite his rubber body 6.
• Coats both fists in pitch-black Haki when preparing to defend Lin Xuan from Akainu 68.
• Uses an Armament-coated punch against a CP0 agent; the agent cannot even begin to raise a defense before Sengoku intervenes 100.
• Personally taught Bogard Armament Haki Hardening 8.

Conqueror’s Haki

• Releases an uncontrolled burst when CP0 implicates Lin Xuan in the Impel Down crisis, placing the Fleet Admiral’s office under crushing pressure 100.
• Produces visible black lightning during a second eruption; nearby rubble is ground into powder and the Headquarters building strains under his will 101.
• His displayed power prompts one of the Five Elders to remark that he appears to have grown stronger again 101.

Soru and High-Speed Movement

• Combines Soru with a surprise punch at thirty percent strength to test Lin Xuan’s Armament Haki 9.
• The test exposes Lin Xuan’s Observation Haki instead: he predicts the attack, leaving Garp unable to stop his momentum before falling into the sea 9.
• Moves toward a CP0 agent too quickly for the naked eye to follow, leaving an afterimage 100.

Training and Talent Assessment

• Trained Bogard, whom he regards as an elite among Headquarters’ elite 8.
• Recognizes Lin Xuan’s destructive potential and recruits him before he can follow Ace into piracy 5.
• Identifies predictive Observation Haki and reports Lin Xuan’s Conqueror-infused sword attack to Headquarters 9 12.

Equipment & Items

• Dog-Head Warship — His regular vessel, distinguished by its dog-head figurehead; used for East Blue travel and the urgent pursuit of Shiki 4 55 56.
• Chained iron ball — A massive projectile thrown by hand to stop Ace from sailing away 4.
• Private Golden Den Den Mushi — Kept inside his coat specifically for contacting family; receives Carina’s distress call about Lin Xuan 55.
• Senbei and donuts — Favorite snacks that feature in his celebrations, travel detours, and disputed reimbursement expenses 8 12 55.

Relationships

• Lin Xuan — Adoptive grandson and Marine recruit. Garp champions his promotion, while Lin Xuan’s decision to enlist partly reflects gratitude for Garp’s care 5 6 30.
• Monkey D. Luffy — Grandson. Garp insists that he become a Marine and repeatedly punishes his declarations of pirate ambition 6 8.
• Portgas D. Ace — Grandson. Garp opposes his departure into piracy, though his frustration over Ace’s later exploits carries an unmistakable trace of pride 1 4 38.
• Bogard — Adjutant and former pupil. Bogard handles practical instruction and restrains Garp when his temper threatens Lin Xuan’s recruitment 5 6 8.
• Sengoku — Old friend and superior. Their arguments frequently concern discipline, snack expenses, property damage, and the limits of Garp’s protection of his family 11 49 73 101.
• Tsuru — Longstanding colleague who understands his family-centered East Blue visits and recognizes the political intent behind his defense of Lin Xuan 12 90.
• Zephyr — Old friend and instructor whom Garp hopes to surprise with Lin Xuan’s talent 55.
• Akainu / Sakazuki — A hostile colleague whose objections to rescuing and promoting Lin Xuan bring them close to violence 66 68.
• Kizaru / Borsalino — Admiral whom Garp pressures into searching for Shiki’s floating island, exploiting his Devil Fruit’s speed 55.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruiting Lin Xuan

Garp returns to Foosha Village as Ace attempts to leave. He throws a massive iron ball at Ace’s boat, but Lin Xuan splits it with a wooden weapon, allowing Ace to escape. Impressed by the display and encouraged by Bogard, Garp decides to take Lin Xuan to Marineford 4 5.

After Lin Xuan agrees to enlist, Garp learns that he has mastered Armament Haki within minutes. His subsequent surprise test reveals predictive Observation Haki as well. Following Lin Xuan’s Conqueror-infused attack on a Lord of the Coast, Garp reports the sixteen-year-old’s abilities to Sengoku and asks for an Admiral Candidate recommendation—only to admit that Lin Xuan has already sailed ahead alone 6 8 9 12.

East Blue Campaign

Sent to intercept Trejer, Garp arrives with Smoker after Lin Xuan has already killed the pirate with rotten wood. He formally nominates Lin Xuan as an Admiral Candidate and allows Smoker to pursue him, confident that the recruit can handle a Logia opponent 11 30.

At Arlong Park, Garp finds Smoker defeated and Nezumi dead. He warns Lin Xuan that killing a Marine superior warrants a court-martial, but reluctantly agrees to cover up Nezumi’s death. Before leaving, he also asks Lin Xuan to deal with Krieg if their paths cross 38 39.

Shiki Crisis and Marineford Battle

Garp reaches Headquarters expecting to introduce Lin Xuan to Zephyr’s training program. Carina’s distress call instead reveals that Golden Lion Shiki has taken the boy. Garp demands an immediate rescue, pressures Kizaru into searching, and sails east at full speed 55 56.

When Lin Xuan remains missing, Akainu’s refusal to devote resources to a recruit nearly provokes a fight. After Lin Xuan returns carrying Shiki’s sword Oto, Garp presses for his promotion and prepares to defend him when Akainu threatens him 66 68.

During Lin Xuan’s battle with Akainu, Garp loudly praises his performance but privately shows his anxiety through clenched fists. Afterward, he angrily examines Lin Xuan’s exposed-bone shoulder wound and leaves Marineford with him and Nami 70 72 73.

Alabasta and the Impel Down Plot

After Lin Xuan defeats Crocodile, Garp proposes turning the incident into a public Marine victory over a conspiracy against Alabasta. Sengoku adopts the approach and arranges front-page coverage with Morgans 90.

When CP0 later implicates Lin Xuan in the Impel Down riot, Garp attempts to punch the reporting agent. Sengoku saves the agent by kicking him out of the attack’s path, leaving Garp’s blow to devastate the office. Garp eventually grants Sengoku half an hour to verify the accusation 100 101.

At Impel Down, Magellan exposes the Five Elders’ plot to frame Lin Xuan. Garp destroys the surveillance console and declares his intention to confront them in Mary Geoise, but Sengoku stops him from charging directly into the dispute 102 106.

New World Manhunt

After Kaido issues an assassination order and Doflamingo leaks Lin Xuan’s location to pirates, Garp requests the fastest available warship. He rejects Sengoku’s argument that Lin Xuan’s Admiral rank makes intervention unnecessary, insisting that he is going as a grandfather rather than as the Hero of the Marines. Sengoku authorizes supplies and new Seastone weapons for his ship 113.

Notable Quotes

“With my fists watching over him, where could he go?” 5

“Even if my grandson tears a hole in the sky, a bunch of pirate scum have no right to hunt him down!” 113

“Relax. I won't intervene as the Hero of the Marines. I'm just... an ordinary grandfather going to visit his disobedient grandson.” 113