Garp D. Monkey

Garp D. Monkey (ガープ・D・モンキー, Gāpu D. Monkī), also known as "Garp the Fist" (ゲンコツのガープ, Genkotsu no Gāpu), is both a fictional character and deuteragonist from the J-Stars' Fairy One Piece Tail series created by Hiro Mashima and Eiichiro Oda.

He is an extremely famous and powerful Marine vice admiral. Notably, Garp was offered the rank of admiral several times before in the past throughout his career, but he refused the offer of promotion every time. He took charge of Koby and Helmeppo's training.

After the war, he became a Marine Instructor to train new recruits, though still retaining his old rank.Garp is one of the major figures, along with Kong, Sengoku, Shiki, Rayleigh, and Whitebeard, from the times when the "King of the Pirates" Roger was still alive.

"So what if I dropped you off a few cliffs, tossed you into the midnight jungle, and tied you to a balloon and set you to fly away...? It was to make you a stronger man!"
 * —Garp D. Monkey.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Brian Mathis (English), Hiroshi Naka (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (Castilian Spanish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Appearance
Garp is a tall, tanned, broad-chested, muscular old man. He has blue eyes and a scar over his left eye.

The Young Past Days
When he was a child and a young man, Garp resembled Luffy, though more muscular than his grandson. As a child, he had light brown hair, wore a tropical button shirt with shorts, and wielded a pipe staff. Garp already had the scar on his left eye in his childhood days.

Thirty years ago, Garp’s hair and goatee were all black. He wore a dark suit with an orange striped undershirt and a black tie.

Twenty-four years ago, Garp's hair and goatee were still black, with sideburns beginning to whiten. He wore a dark double breasted suit with a white shirt and a red tie.

In his free time or vacation, Garp often wears sandals, a red tropical shirt and light-colored shorts. He sometimes pairs this shirt with black trousers and boots. When visiting Dadan during Luffy's childhood, he sometimes wear his official black suit without wearing his Marine cape.

Pre-Timeskip
He has a beard, and his hair is gray, whereas in the manga, it is white. Garp and Tsuru are the only two vice admirals to have special shoulder-pads; Garp is black and red while Tsuru is purple with white dot whereas the standard color is blue and red. During the Battle of Edd War, Garp's had two black stripes on his epaulettes and during his appearance at Water 7, it increased to three stripes and by the time of the Marineford War, it increased again to four stripes.

The dog mask that Garp initially wore when introduced served to hide his identity as Luffy's grandfather, whose design had appeared in Romance Dawn, Version 2. After their relationship was revealed in the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Garp is no longer seen wearing the mask.

Post-Timeskip
After the time-skip, his appearance has somewhat remained the same though he now wears a dark-colored suit.


 * Hair Color: Gray (anime), White (manga)
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Blue
 * Age: 77 (debut), 78 (after timeskip)
 * Birthday: May 2nd
 * Height: 287 cm (9'5")
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Garp is an eccentric but caring man, who is loyal to both his criminal family and the Marine Headquarters, who he has served for decades. He is loud, boisterous, exuberant, and overall acts in a similar manner to his grandson. He has a habit of falling asleep during conversations and can be absent-minded. Luffy's crew noted his, apparently hereditary, selfishness during Garp's interaction with Luffy in Water 7. Unlike many Marines, Garp does not believe that a person's lineage determines their path.

On a similar note, he does not believe that being labeled a criminal necessarily makes someone a bad person. Although Garp wanted his grandsons to become marines, he entrusted their care to a mountain bandit whom he had refused to turn over for prosecution. Garp believes that throwing children into harsh conditions will ultimately make them strong, and has no problem hitting children to drive home a point. Despite this, Garp is a supportive person. When Ace asked Garp whether he should have been born, Garp replies that Ace will find the answer if he continues living.

Although Garp will ultimately comply with Marine HQ's most serious orders, he highly values his freedom and family, often to a point where he bends the rules to accommodate these values. He initially refused to capture Luffy in Water 7 until explicitly ordered to do so. Additionally, Garp is generally amused by Luffy's exploits as a pirate, and only seriously laments both of his grandsons' choices to become pirates after Ace is captured. He also ultimately allowed Luffy to hit him due valuing his family more than his duty as a Marine during the war at Marineford.

Like Luffy, Garp is extremely blunt and honest when talking to people, as seen when he openly badmouthed Sterry, the current king of the Goa Kingdom, unafraid of the consequences in doing so. He considers the Celestial Dragons scumbags and is not afraid of expressing this aloud. The main reason he refused to become an admiral is because he does not want to be their direct subordinate. In one occasion, he also blurted out Monkey D. Dragon's name in front of Luffy, his friends, and his subordinates without any consideration at Water 7.

When he realized he should not have said that, he just simply laughed it off, asking those who heard to forget about it. Garp has his own laughter style: Bwahaha or Wahaha. When Garp prepares to fight seriously, he often removes his Marine coat or suit jacket. Like his grandson, Garp is extremely fond of food, especially donuts and rice crackers. When Momousagi mentioned Luffy being targeted by two Emperors, Garp did not express much concern about it.

Friends/Allies

 * Marines
 * Aokiji
 * Bogard
 * Koby
 * Helmeppo
 * Tsuru

Family

 * Dragon D. Monkey (older son)
 * Rex D. Monkey (younger son)
 * Luffy D. Monkey (grandson)
 * Ace D. Portgas (adopted grandson)

Neutral

 * World Government
 * Kong
 * Sengoku
 * Z
 * Mountain Bandits
 * Dadan Curly
 * Fairy Tail
 * Sabo
 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * World Nobles
 * Sterry

Enemies

 * Akainu
 * Roger Pirates
 * Roger D. Gol
 * Rayleigh Silvers
 * Rocks Pirates
 * Rocks D. Xebec
 * Golden Lion Pirates
 * Shiki
 * Whitebeard Pirates
 * Whitebeard
 * Marco
 * Red-Hair Pirates
 * Shanks
 * Shakky
 * Chinjao
 * Blackbeard Pirates
 * Blackbeard
 * Burgess Jesus

Powers and Abilities
Garp is easily one of the most powerful Marines and one of the strongest characters seen in the series.

A testament to his strength is that he was one of the very few people to be considered a rival to the "King of the Pirates" Roger D. Gol and he was offered the rank of Admiral several times throughout his life. It should be noted that those who hold the rank of Admiral are regarded as the World Government's "Greatest Military Powers" and are the strongest individual fighters within the World Government structure and the Marines.

In terms of combat, Garp has had several decades worth of experience, in both combat and navigating the harshest oceans within the volatile "New World". Alongside Roger, he fought and prevailed against the very powerful Rocks Pirates, which consisted of three future Four Emperors, earning him the epithet of "Hero of the Marines". He was also well known for cornering and fighting Roger many times. Roger also stated that he and Garp had almost killed each other on numerous occasions.

As another true testament of sheer power, Garp defeated and nearly killed Don Chin Jao in the past with a single punch, whose bounty was worth over 500,000,000 berries in his prime and was said to be able to split a continent with a headbutt. The extent of Garp's power and fame is evident round the time of the Battle of Edd War, three years before the future King of the Pirates died. It was revealed that he was offered the promotion to the rank of admiral more than once, but repeatedly refused the promotion.

Garp's subordinate at that time, Kuzan (later promoted to admiral), commented on how cool Garp was for refusing such an irresistible promotion, to which he answers by stating that he does not need a higher position, and that it would reduce his liberty to do what he wants. Another example of Garp's strength is when he was shown to easily strike down Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates and knock him back, despite having his Devil Fruit abilities activated at the time, which was something that both Kizaru and Akainu seemed unable to do.

Similarly, when it was revealed worldwide that Luffy is Garp's grandson, Luffy's fame rose based on that fact, as Black Demaro attempted to use that as one of the strong points in his impersonation of Luffy. Linlin Charlotte referenced Garp when Luffy challenged her.

Physical Abilities
Despite his advanced age, Garp still posseses tremendous physical strength. He is able to throw iron cannonballs like baseballs at speeds higher than if they were fired from an actual cannon, break through brick walls and cannon stands with his fists, and both carry and throw a gigantic ball and chain many times bigger than the Thousand Sunny. Garp also has a monstrous punching power at his disposal, with his epithet, "Garp the Fist", vouching for the tremendous power of his punches.

He claimed to have crushed eight mountains during his training to face Chin Jao. Enhanced with Haki, Garp could even dent Chin Jao's Haki enhanced drill-shaped head, which was powerful enough to split the Jewel Ice Sheet. In addition to his legendary strength, he also has incredible durability and pain-tolerance, as seen when he was slashed by Captain Morgan's axe hand, only to recover only seconds later, with no obvious pain and apparently oblivious to the fact that he was struck at all.

In fact, when informed by one of the Marines that he was nearly killed, he mistook this for one of the men being killed. It was only when he saw the wound did he realize what happened, as he fell asleep before being attacked. He was able to get back on his feet after allowing himself to be punched by Luffy in Gear Second at point-blank range without losing consciousness, and was still able to fight the Blackbeard Pirates along with Sengoku. He has also been shown to be extremely fast, as he managed to bypass all of the Straw Hats in order to get to a sleeping Luffy.

It is evident Whitebeard respects Garp's strength, as he mentioned him during his talk with Shanks. Aside from the cannonballs he throws and a gigantic iron ball he keeps on a chain, Garp is also a tremendously powerful and skilled hand to hand fighter. Garp has a particular emphasis on using powerful punches. The greatest testament of his skill is defeating Chin Jao, a immensely powerful master of Eight-Impact Fist, in a single Haki-enhanced punch. Even in old age, Garp retained his strength.

During the Battle of Marineford, he easily struck down Marco, a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit User and one of the most powerful members of the Whitebeard Pirates, and in the anime, Garp knocked down Jesus Burgess, a master wrestler with titanic physical strength without effort. In fact, Sengoku had to personally restrain Garp before he attempted to kill Akainu out of fury.

In the Pirate-Wizard Warriors game series, Garp makes use of a fighting style that incorporates a variety of grapple attacks, ranging from suplexes, backbreakers, and even his iconic headbutt collar lift (to where he promptly displays his usual sleepiness).

Leadership
As a vice admiral of the Marine Headquarters, Garp has command over all lower ranking soldiers, as seen when he took two of Ripper's subordinates (Koby and Helmeppo) and made them his own subordinates instead due to his higher rank. Also, as a vice admiral, he has the potential to be called upon to be one of five vice admirals leading a fleet of ten battleships during a Buster Call.

Being a Marine vice admiral and the commanding officer of the 153rd Marine Branch, Garp possesses leadership skills and is well respected by many among the Marines, having mentored many other prominent figures in the Marines, including former Admiral Kuzan.

He is a great teacher, as he was able to make Koby and Helmeppo capable fighters in a short period of time, and he was also selected to be an instructor. He was also the one who trained Luffy and Ace into being strong enough to set sail on their own.

Haki

 * Main article: Haki

As a vice admiral, Garp is fully capable of using Haki. Aside from his mastery over Armament Haki, Garp is also knowledgeable about Conqueror's Haki. Although not demonstrated to be a user of it, Garp commented that Luffy has "inherited" it when he subconsciously released it.

Armament Haki
Garp demonstrates extremely proficient skill in Armament Haki, being able to injure Luffy several times, bypassing his rubber body.

Observation Haki
Garp possesses the ability to use Observation Haki. When Koby awakens Observation Haki, Dr. Fishbonen recommended that Koby ask Garp how to master it, suggesting he has enough expertise in it to mentor others.

Before the Great Age of Pirates
Garp D. Monkey was born in the Goa Kingdom. He joined the Marines 56 years ago at the age of 22 along with Tsuru and Sengoku. Over the years, Garp would rise up through the ranks of the Marines, eventually achieving the rank of Vice Admiral.

At the age of 23, Garp became a father as his two sons, Dragon and Rex were born to him and an unknown woman.

Around 40 to 38 years ago, he earned his epithet "Hero of the Marines" during the time known as the "Era of Rocks" by defeating Rocks D. Xebec in God Valley, through joint forces with Roger D. Gol. However Garp rarely discusses the God Valley Incident as he feels shame about this event. Around this time Garp also chased other pirates like Shakuyaku as part of his duties.

Thirty years ago, he fought Chin Jao and got his epithet as "Garp the Fist" and also earned his hatred after denting his pointy head, which was the strongest head of that time, and robbing him of the means to acquire the treasure from the Ice Continent. He became famous for cornering and fighting the late King of the Pirates, Roger D. Gol, numerous times in his career. Garp was offered a promotion to admiral position many times from Fleet Admiral Kong, but he declined every time.

The main reason was because he refused to work under authority of the Celestial Dragons, according to Sengoku's statement. Prior to Roger's execution, the King of the Pirates requested Garp to take care of his then-unborn child, as he thought the child did not deserve to be branded a criminal due to being born to a pirate.

When Shiki the Gold Lion attacked Marineford a week before Roger's execution, Garp and Sengoku challenged him together. After a grueling battle that devastated half of Marineford, they managed to defeat him. A number of months after the King of the Pirates' death, Garp went to Baterilla and visited Rouge D. Portgas. He was present at Ace's birth and Rouge's death afterward. Honoring Roger's last request, Garp took Ace to Dawn Island to be raised by Dadan. Garp would visit Ace during his vacations.

The Five Brothers and One Sister
Early on in Luffy's life, Garp trained him to become a strong Marine. Luffy was thrown into valleys, left alone in dangerous forests, and tied to balloons over high altitudes, all for the sake of making him stronger. After this, he left Luffy in the care of Dadan. Despite Dadan not wanting to take care of another one of Garp's children, she complied. When Dadan voiced her displeasure of Garp's irresponsibility to take care of them himself, he became angered, making Dadan immediately take back what she said.

Throughout his visits, he would often hold "training sessions" with Luffy and Ace and on one occassion with Natsu, Sabo, Gray, and Erza. When Garp first read in the newspaper that Ace had become the captain of the Spade Pirates, he was furious.

Canon

 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Roger D. Gol (none seen, multiple times)
 * Garp D. Monkey and Roger D. Gol vs. Rocks Pirates
 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Chin Jao
 * Garp D. Monkey and Sengoku vs. Shiki
 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Straw Hat Pirates
 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Marco
 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Luffy D. Monkey
 * Garp D. Monkey and Sengoku vs. Blackbeard

Non-Canon

 * Garp D. Monkey vs. Burgess Jesus

Notes & Trivia

 * Garp's wife has not been named, but the supplement Grand Line Times left a "?" in place of her.
 * Garp smoked cigars, but in recent appearances, he stopped doing it.
 * In the anime, Garp said he has eaten 842 donuts without sleeping or taking a break because he was trying to beat a world record.
 * Aside from Luffy himself, Garp is the only Romance Dawn V.2 character to actually appear in the storyline.
 * Garp's laughter style is that he adds either "Bwa" or "Wa" before the haha part. This is somewhat unique as most characters only stick with one laughter style (the only other character sharing this distinction being Mihawk Dracule).
 * Garp appears to have a dog animal-theme, as shown by his mask and his ship.
 * In an SBS question on Volume 59, a fan pointed out the fact that despite Garp's few appearances, his trademark scar has disappeared 25 times if counted up to Volume 58. In response to the statement above, Oda joked that "if an enemy he hates is around, his scar tingles, and it will float up" and that Garp's "true form" may be the scar-less one, but he also points out that this is not proved anywhere.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Garp ranked 74th.
 * In the Volume 45 cover, Garp's epaulettes are golden and blue stripes while in the original series, his epaulettes remain red and black stripes.
 * In the Fairy One Piece Tail Magazine Vol.5, Oda drew a what-if of Ace, Luffy, and Sabo as Marines. Garp was seen wielding a pair of katana swords.