Benn: Garp and Shanks’ influence indicates that Monkey or not, a crazy parental figure will have an effect. As will the sane one, as I have proved by imparting wisdom to Luffy like “remember to ask out the person you want to date” and “if you can’t punch it, ask yourself why to figure out what to do”
Shanks: Yeah. I mean, Luffy was already like me…but I think Ace and Sabo might have picked up a tendency or two…and somehow Ace got Garp’s narcolepsy. What’s up with that?
Garp: The weirdest part is that I’m fairly sure that hasn’t been genetic…Dragon doesn’t do it, Luffy almost never does it, but Ace does it….weird. And then there’s all the people who compare Luffy to Roger instead of Ace (and are weirdly correct in doing so…)
Rocinante: I’m more concerned about unleashing a kid with Luffy’s recklessness and Law’s plotting abilities on the world.
I was watching/reading Marineford for the umpteenth time and I kept noticing something.
There were multiple times in which Garp told everyone, Luffy included that he has to die before they can rescue Ace.
And it got me thinking.
Maybe Garp was looking for a way out. Making himself more of a target then necessary so he wouldn’t live through this, so he could die with the era, so he would die fighting like the soldier he is, so he didn’t have to feel guilty if Ace died and he was restricted from doing anything about it.
I mean Grap knows who Luffy will choose over him, it wouldn’t even be a question. Luffy does care about his grandfather, but they in no way share the bond the brothers have. And he makes an attempt to stay true to stay a loyal marine but knows it was futile, he couldn’t punch Luffy. Cause hitting Luffy would have stopped him and stopping him meant Ace died. So he was fully ready to take a possible fatal blow/fall for his grandsons.
Is Garp the best parent ever? Of course not. Some people give Garp shit for leaving Ace and Luffy with Dadan, but think about the circumstances for a minute. Was he going to take them with him? Take them into the Grand Line and the New World and have them watch as he fights mass murders with Devil Fruit powers and 5 mile long Sea Kings every time they need to cross the Calm Belt? No.
Plus, Luffy and Ace were branded as criminals in the eyes of the World Government from the moment they were born. Their names and blood alone would have been enough to put up wanted posters for them. Luffy not quite as much, since no one knew Dragon’s family name or anything, but Ace could never have been raised in a normal civilian environment. He had to be kept away from the Marines, the World Government, pirates, and regular citizens alike, lest Ace’s life have become like Robin’s childhood, with him eternally on the run because someone found out who his father was.
Garp’s only hope was to raise both Luffy and Ace to be strong–stronger than anyone–and have them join the Marines while their lineage was still unknown, and maybe then they could have a chance to prove themselves and become vital enough to the Marines and the World Government that they would let go of who their fathers were and not execute them for it. Ace and Luffy never had a shot at normal lives (and they never wanted them themselves, either), and while Garp was very harsh with them as children, there’s sympathy for what he did when you consider he was doing it all to try to save their lives in the future.
And then you fast-forward to Marineford and Ace’s execution, people also give Garp shit for not doing enough, which I also disagree with. Garp was struggling the entire time with what he had to do. The World Government is brutal and corrupt, but at the same time they’re the only major peace-keeping force in the world. Garp’s spent his entire life fighting pirates and other criminals who would murder children as soon as look at them, and for the most part he believed strongly in the Justice that he spent his life fighting for. It’s not fair to expect someone in that position to abandon the institution and comrades he’s spent his whole life fighting for and with because his grandson went and became a pirate.
Ace himself never held anything against Garp because he knew where the man was coming from, and right to the end he never stopped calling him his grandpa. In the end, Garp did the only thing he could do.
He let Luffy pass. It doesn’t seem like much to some, but it made all the difference. If Garp hadn’t blocked the way initially, Kizaru and the Vice Admirals would have swarmed Luffy and kicked him down in a heartbeat. Garp closed his eyes and let Luffy punch his jaw off because he loved his grandkids too much to let them be killed, even though they chose paths in live he couldn’t have disagreed with more.
Garp may have gone about things clumsily and even violently, but he was trying to do the best he could with a situation that was likely doomed from the start. He’s a man with flaws who tried his best, and even though it wasn’t good enough he tried and broke his heart over it all the same. I love Garp’s character, violence and flaws and failures included, and I’m not big on having anyone tell me that he’s the same as a man who shoved a hook through Luffy’s chest and threw him into quicksand to die.
Cheloneuniverse 