BOIIIIIIS!!! Summer semester is over, so coming in to contribute to my favorite forum on the interweb with few threads here, that can hopefully contribute to discussions that will be had on here in the future as well. Let's GOOO!!!!
There are many parents, specifically fathers, in the world of One Piece. Some are pretty terrible, some are pretty ok, some are pretty much non-existant, while others wrongly labeled "bad" by the fans. You see often the case is that when fandom judges characters for bonds that exist in real life, they tend to use their own perspective real life perspective to determine whether that somebody is a good friend/brother/partner/father/mother/etc. We many times don't consider the actual context of the world itself. So when I'm saying Garp is the best parent, I'm specifically talking about within the context of the One Piece world.
Garp has raised 3 kids:
- Monkey D. Dragon - World Government's biggest enemy
- Monkey D. Luffy - future biggest enemy of the World Government
- Portgas D. Ace - had the potential to be the same as Luffy
Some might question the "Raised" by claiming "Garp didn't raise them, Dandan did (for Ace & Luffy)". They wouldn't be wrong, only issue is saying that Dandan (well to be more accurate the collective bandits) raised them, doesn't mean Garp didn't raise them. Dandan was set as the overseer for them by Garp. Why? Because he wanted them to be in the wilderness. Garp based on what we know was essentially acting like a typical military parent, he went on his duty and then when it was holidays for him he cameback to train the kids, for example: He leaves Luffy with Ace -> Few months later he comes back again and trains up Ace/Luffy/Sabo.
So he raised three kids all with "PK level" potential at their peak, something no other person in One Piece has done. Now we don't necessarily know about how he raised Dragon, so for the rest of the thread I will be focusing on Ace & Luffy specifically, since I doubt he would've done things differently with Dragon.
Garp gets criticized for his parenting method of putting Luffy & Ace in dangers, trying to force them to be marines, and of course hitting Luffy. So I'm gonna address all of these one by one.
Parenting method:
His parenting method by many is labeled as "child abuse", and were all the things he did to happen in the real world.. they'd be right it's child abuse. Only issue is One Piece is not the real world. The world of One Piece is a world filled with monsters in the oceans that are nearly island sized, ran by a tyrannical world government that has ruled for 700+ years, powerful criminals roaming the seas, Celestial Dragons who can enslave anyone they simply point to... it's a world where power = freedom, why? Because those who are powerful run the world.
Now what is a great parent? For me, it's somebody who equips their child with the tools and capabilities to handle the world around them once they're of age. Even if it means having them do things that they might not want to do.
Our world doesn't require ass whoopings as a child to succeed in the world when we're grown. One Piece world on the other hand? It's a different situation. You see when we look at the current top tiers in their youth, they've all been through terrible situations to stand where they are in prowess:
So how would anybody reach their levels while living a coddled life? It's not possible. You either go through tough shit as a child and overcome it, becoming stronger or you end up becoming their bitches when you're all grown. Any of these mfs could come to your home/city/island/nation and commit a mass genocide and you wouldn't be able to do shit about it. Why? Because you lived coddled life.
Zoro as a kid was literally fighting adults, but you won't hear anyone call Koshiro a child abuser, rather people accept it as Zoro training:
Ain't nobody ever called Zeff a child abuser, rather always say he's one of the best parents in the world of OP, but dude was about as strict as they come.. not even including his training of Sanji as a combatant, can bet your ass he laid some ass whooping on Sanji:
But when it comes to the homie Garp, some people seem to have selective memory for some reason regarding this scene:
These people only look at "Grandpa almost killed me when I was small..... threw you down that unfathmoable ravine...threw you into the jungle...tied you to a balloon" Ignore rest of the convo. All of that shit happened under Garp's supervision, and it was all done to make Luffy strong... to put Luffy into hardships that he would overcome. And it's not like this happened everyday, considering who know Luffy was just lazying around the village when Shanks came.. but happened when Garp came home on a holiday.
And what Garp implemented into Luffy with all of those things is essentially what became Luffy's greatest weapon, his endless endurance.
Cause the man didn't just do that, he gave personal training to Ace, Luffy and even Sabo.
Leaving them in the jungle:
Leaving them in the jungle rather than taking them with him into the marines, makes sense for who garp is. Garp himself grew up fighting animals and as a wild kid in the Jungle, pretty much similar to Ace/Luffy/Sabo were.
Though I'm sure it was also a factor of keeping them protected from the World Government/Marines/Pirates out there on the seas, since the only danger out there was the forest, which he knew they could handle. Hence Dadan was also put in charge of them, to make sure they stay alive.
Forcing them to be Marines:
Yes he was essentially forcing them to be Marines... but that's a gross simplification. His specific desire was for them to be THE STRONGEST marines. Which is different than simply being marines. Reason being is that if Ace & Luffy become the strongest Marines they would indispensable to the World Government & they would be able to take on any pirates out there, similar to how Garp was. Celestial Dragons wanted to take out Garp, but couldn't cause he was indispensable as a Marine. While he was also able to go up against the likes of Whitebeard, Roger, Rocks, and etc while surviving every single time.
Him forcing them to be the strongest marines is essentially him wanting the safest future for them. Which is being able to handle the criminals of the world, while also not being targeted by the World Government... since they are the sons of the two biggest known criminals of known World Government history.
Some view it as a failure on his part that he wasn't able to make them turn into Marines. I personally don't, I think unless Luffy & Ace were brainwashed then they would've had their own goals based on however they feel. Hell even after Ace became a pirate his goals switched multiple times. Ace wanted to surpass his father, Garp couldn't have done anything about that. Luffy wanted got enamored by Shanks, Garp couldn't have done anything about that. I've seen parents try to sweet talk their kids, give them first hand experience of something and so on.. yet the kid still decides a different route.
But yea, Garp wanted them to be the strongest marines, but not for some selfish reasons.. but for their own sake. Also a filler added in something really good about Garp.
Near the end of the video when he carries Luffy off he says: "I guess you must hate a grandpa like me; so intimidating. But Luffy, the reason I'm training you to become a navy soldier so harshly is... that I don't want you to stay from the right path at any price.":
Key thing that's often left out here is that he never took away Luffy's hat that he knew belonged to Shanks and before him Roger. Even though he could've. Then after Luffy does become a pirate, he initially gives him some hard love (which I'll address later) since he was essentially caught off-guard by the homie setting sail and becoming a notorious pirate. But few minutes after that, he's chill about it:
Like the homie perfectly accepts Luffy being a pirate and accepted Ace being a pirate. Is it something he'd be proud of ? Hell no, majority of the pirates in the world of one piece are damn criminals raiding cities/killing people/looting/etc.
Heck Dragon became the biggest criminal in the world, and the dude still talks to him.
He didn't save Ace:
Now this is where it gets tough. For me a person can't claim that Garp should've let the kids be w.e they wanted instead of forcing them to be marines, but then also claim he now has to throw away his entire life's work for his kid. Like that's goddamn selfish, priviliaged as fuck type of mentality. Imagine a kid who ignored all of his parent's warnings, then when he became a criminal his parent accepted it and let him do what he wanted, even after he joined the parent's rival.... but then after kid gets into trouble he now expects the parent to throw away their life and turn his back on everything they've built up in their career... cause the kid's foolish actions? Like Ace ignored Whitebeard telling him not to go after Blackbeard because he was getting a bad feeling about the situation.
But see here's where the complexity regarding Garp comes in. There is an internal conflict inside Garp to save Ace vs betray the Marines. Let's keep in mind hundreds if not thousands of marines have joined because of somebody like Garp. Many marines even look up to him as a role model. He's fought side by side with many of them in death situations. He's also nearly given his life for the same marines many times. This is a 78 year old man, who's spent atleast 50+ years of his life as a Marine. And this is the first time he has to face a situation where he has to choose between what he's worked his whole life for vs his family. He's hated pirates his whole life and never shown em mercy to a point where he was labeled "The Devil himself to pirates".. but now the pirate he can't show mercy to is his Family.
I think a lot of fans make it seem like it's an easy choice for Garp to make.. when it's not. Since it's essentailly saying it's an easy choice for Garp to betray his comrades and everything he's worked for and stood for over 50+ years, because his family member is now facing death... partly due to that family member's own decisions. The very situation Garp wanted to avoid by making Ace & Luffy into the strongest marines, came to fruition.
For me this is one of the top 5 deepest moments in One Piece, a 76 year old (his age at the time) soldier conflicted between family vs basically his entire life. I do think this was a development moment for Garp and might play a role in the next time he has to choose between World Government/Marines vs his family member. But yo you can't hold this against Garp and say it makes him a bad parent because he didn't abandon his entire life to save Ace.
Hitting Luffy:
Some have pointed out they don't like how he hits Luffy and what have you. But I mean that's a typical shonen gag/trope, we see it with other characters like Nami/Sanji/etc. So really just picking at straws here. If you don't like that trope, that's cool, but it's really nothing more than a gag/trope point. Unless we want to start calling Nami everytime she commits Assault against Zoro/Sanji/Luffy/etc.. or call out Sanji/Brook for sexual harassment.... all of these way more serious when taken at face value than Garp hitting Luffy when they met.
Conclusion:
Overall, for the One Piece world the best parent in my opinion would be Monkey D. Garp. He established the bases for Ace/Luffy/Dragon, making them men with great character, while also giving them willpower to go through anything. Like yo taking punches from Garp.. Bluejam ain't shit compared to that. But while trying to make them into something they didn't want to be, he was still understanding of whatever they became, rather than holding any grudge against them or being bitter about it.
Raised three men who have/had the potential to deal with most of the dangerous of the world. Equipping them with the tools of endless endurance and proper morals before they ventured out into the world, and of course making them strong in general which led to their skyrocket rise in whatever they goals were trying to achieve. In a world filled with monsters, where scrubs like Arlong could wipe out or enslave your whole island, where Islands get burnt because of not being able to provide sweets, where the likes of Celestial Dragons can point at your parents or siblings and proceed to enslave them with you having no power to do anything about it... in such a world. I would want Garp as my parent, who has seen the harshness of the world, who will equip me with the proper tools to take on the world, and who will ultimately be looking out for my safety the most.
Now if this was the real world, then yea I mean dude is a flat out child abuser, however, if this was the real world.. he wouldn't have any reasons to do all that training to Luffy. Different situations call for different things.
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Garp bad.
