Monkey D. Garp. The man who is hailed as ‘The Hero’ and due to his physical prowess and fighting style, ‘The Fist’. The Vice-Admiral Of The Marines.
GARP VS ROCKS
The oldest feat we know of Garp is his fight with Rocks D. Xebec and the Rocks Pirates. Granted he was assisted by Gol D. Roger himself, but that still doesn’t take away the sheer brutal strength. Beating a man, who was able to keep Kaido, Big Mom, Whitebeard And Shiki under check, into submission and possibly death itself, is no small feat.
After this event in God Valley, Garp came to be hailed as ‘THE HERO’ of the Marines. We also know Garp and Roger ‘almost killed each other’ multiple times. That’s one more notch of the buckle of battle feats for Garp.
HIS POSITION WITH THE MARINES
Garp is said to be more than strong enough to be an Admiral, but he kept on refusing the promotion. At first we thought it was only because of the freedom he got as a Vice-Admiral. But now we know that he despises the Celestial Dragons and refused a promotion to avoid serving directly under them. This part of Garp’s character, resonates with that of his son, Monkey D. Dragon, and to a lesser extent his grandson , Monkey D. Luffy. But I would not go as far as to imply that Garp was the one inculcated the hatred of Celestial Dragons in his son Dragon.
In Water 7 after the events of Enies Lobby, Garp visits Luffy and the Straw Hats and they bicker for a bit. But when Garp gets a stern order to capture the Straw Hats, he ‘tries’ to. I am sure if Garp, even at this age, went all out in trying to capture Luffy, I’m sure he could’ve. This is underrated, but this is one of the first times we see Garp showing compassion to his family.
Throughout the events in the Paradise part of the Grand Line, Garp is shown to be amused by Luffy’s various exploits. Be it the Crocodile issue or CP-9 or punching Charloss or Impel Down, Garp is always sitting munching on rice crackers and donuts and laughing at the news of Luffy’s statements to the world. Remember this point, as this one of the key points of what I’m going to be discussing in a while.
GARP AND ACE
22 years before the beginning of the story, the man known as the King Of The Pirates, Gol D. Roger surrenders himself to the Marines, and a few days before his execution meets with his rival, Garp. Roger tells Garp that he has a son who is yet to be born and asks Garp, who he says he trusts as much as his own crewmates, to protect him. Garp also a believer of what Roger told him ,” A child doesn’t have to bear the burden of the sins of his father” or something along those lines, goes ahead and protects Ace from the Marines who are trying to extinguish Roger’s bloodline.
This scene to me is really significant. People have asked why Roger didn’t entrust Ace to Rayleigh or Gaban or his crewmates. This is because having Rayleigh or Gaban being seen in islands only draws suspicion to those islands. In no time the island would be rounded by the Marines in search of Ace, but having Garp, a guy on their side, on an island, would draw no suspicion in the Marines’ side.
Garp entrusts Ace to Dadan And some time later, Luffy too, occasionally paying them visits and hoping to shape them into future Marines. But each have their own reason to become a pirate and disobey him. But this doesn’t cause Garp to disown them. He continues to pour his love on them, albeit through fists of love. Parents usually don’t make their child become what they currently are, profession wise. Garp wanting Ace And Luffy to become Marines shoes us how much he loves his job and the amount of respect he has for it.
