Summary
Giants are a fairly prominent race in One Piece, having made intermittent appearances throughout the series. They are most often depicted as desirable allies, with most powerful organizations, including both pirate crews and even the marines making use of their power. As the series continues, there are shown to be a variety of different kinds of giants, oftentimes distinguished by their origins or appearance. With the upcoming arcset to take place on the island kingdom of Elbaf, giants will likely become even more prominent from here on out. Here is a look at the various kinds of giants shown throughout the series thus far, as well as a look at some of their notable members.
7Elbaf Giants
Examples: Dorry and Broggy
The giants from Elbaf have a warrior-oriented culture, where disputes can result in honorable battles to the death. Dorry and Broggy, the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates, dueled for over a century as a result of a dispute as to which Giant was bigger. However, this seems to have ended for the time being, as both giants were seen off the island in more recent times, as Shanks enlisted them and their crew to fight Eustass Kidd, and they later appeared to aid Luffy at Egghead. This culture’s focus on honorable deaths notably madethe giants turn against Charlotte Linlin, as she killed Jorul, a former Captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates, in a manner deemed dishonorable.
The giants of this Grand Line-based island also hold a Winter Solstice festival, where they fast for 12 days after eating a huge quantity of semla. Linlin’s inability to fast led to her committing the actions that led to her being hated by every giant in the world. She tried to re-establish a connection with Elbaf by offering her daughter, Lola, as a bride to Elbaf’s Prince Loki. However, due to Lola being uninterested and ditching the wedding, this only further cemented the giants' hatred of Linlin. This has also led to her being one of the few Emperors, past or present, to not have giants of any kind either in her ranks or affiliated with her, which does not bode well for her dream of Totto Land becoming a paradise for all races.
Sheep’s House was an orphanage which operated in the area, run by Mother Carmel. It was secretly a front for her trafficking operation where promising orphans of any race were given to the World Government in exchange for money. This resulted in giants from Elbaf being enlisted into the marines. John Giant, the first ever giant marine, notably hailed from Elbaf and was a part of this exchange. There are also five giants from Elbaf in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, who make up the New Giant Warrior Pirates, a crew named in tribute to the original.
6Non-Elbaf Giants
Examples: Jaguar D. Saul and Sanjuan Wolf
While not heavily elaborated upon, the Island Kingdom of Elbaf is confirmed to not be the only place where giants hail from. Many giants who do not extol the values of Elbaf are confirmed to be from elsewhere. The most prominent giant of this kind is former Vice Admiral,Jaguar D. Saul, a giant hailing from the South Blue who was an ally of Nico Robin. He is distinctly the only known non-human character to carry the initial D, but claims every giant in his family has it. Saul ended up deserting the marines after becoming disillusioned with the World Government, and later became one of Robin’s first friends. He was thought to have been killed by his former comrade, Kuzan, but this turned out to be false. Instead, he survived, and managed to preserve documents saved by scholars of Ohara, which giants from Elbaf aided him by carrying.
There are also two giants, Sanjuan Wolf and Morley, who are not from Elbaf, and originated in the West Blue. Wolf was a playful giant who ate the Deka Deka no Mi, a Devil Fruit which allowed him to grow into an even bigger giant. He was jailed after committing atrocities bad enough to necessitate erasing his name from history. However, he was freed by Blackbeard, who added him to his crew and eventually gave him the rank of captain. Morley, a fairly small newkama giant, was a former pirate held in Impel Down. She is perhaps the first pirate to escape the prison, thanks to her Oshi Oshi no Mi, which allowed her to mold solid ground. She has since become the West Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army.
5Yetis (?)
Examples: Rock and Scotch
Very little is known about this potential variant of giant, including if it is even considered as distinct from the others. Additionally, the two current known members, the Yeti Cool Brothers, are similarly shrouded in mystery. The two worked as assassins for Caesar Clown during thePunk Hazard Arc, before being defeated by the likes of Franky (in Chopper’s Body) and Trafalgar D. Water Law.
The pair appear largely acclimated to the cold, with their bodies being largely covered in white fur. Every appearance of theirs in the series has obscured their faces with shadows, although Oda did illustrate their faces outside of it, as shown inOne Piece 15th Anniversary: Dive to Grand World. There is little else known about them, aside from the fact that they originated in the Grand Line. It is quite possible this variant will never be re-examined, due to already limited prominence in the story.
4Ancient Giants
Examples: Oars and Little Oars Jr.
This tribe of Giants is distinct in part because they are far bigger than most giants, with Sanjuan Wolf, who uses a Devil Fruit to achieve his gigantic size, being the only known exception. Their designs appear to be influenced by Oni, a demonic ogre-like yokai, rather than the traditional humanoid appearance of most giants. This results in uniquely colored skin, horns, and even sharp fangs as aspects of their appearance. They are also shown to wear significantly less clothing than their smaller counterparts.
Oars the Continent-Puller, is one of two known members of this race. His infamy was such that after his death,Gecko Moria, captain of the Thriller Bark Pirates,decided to make him his 900th zombie. Due to being re-animated with Monkey D. Luffy’s stolen shadow, he adopted some of the pirate’s mannerisms and personality. Little is known about his original personality, but he apparently wasn’t particularly smart, as Chopper assessed his cause of death to be from walking around in a cold climate with only a loincloth.
Little Oars Jr. is the only other known ancient giant, and is descended from Oars, as his name implies. He is captain of the Little Pirates, a subordinate crew of the Whitebeard Pirates. Ace was a close friend of his, which is why he was one of many pirates to fight for his sake during the Summit War. He is shown to be far physically stronger than other giants, even beating down a high-ranking marine giant, Vice Admiral Lacroix, with little-to-no-effort. However, he was eventually wounded by various members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Despite this, he manages to soldier on, and continue to aid Whitebeard during the war, however his ultimate fate is unknown.
3Wotans
Examples: Big Pan and Sebastian
The wotans are a hybrid species, boasting giant and fish-man heritage. This causes them to appear significantly larger than average humans, while still being dwarfed by giants. They also boast the enhanced strength and underwater abilities of their fish-men ancestors. As they are part giant, they tend to look more like humans than typical fish-men.
Wotans are fairly insignificant to the narrative ofOne Piece, with a total of one appearing canonically within the story in a somewhat minor role. Big Pan is a pond loach wotan who was a member of the Foxy Pirates. He fought against Zoro and Sanji during the Davy Back Fight between the Foxy Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates. Although he is shown to have a decent rapport with his teammates, Pickles and Hamburg, the three are no match for Zoro and Sanji once they get serious about working together. For reasons unclear, he has since left the crew, along with a majority of its members. The only other known wotan is the non-canon, anime-exclusive, Sebastian, a false kelpfish wotan who was a member of the World Pirates.
2Buccaneers
Examples: Bartholomew Kuma and Clapp
Buccaneers are another species with giant ancestry, rather than full-blooded giants themselves. Without a blood test, they appear difficult to distinguish from otherwise large humans. The immediate heritage of buccaneers isn’t known, as Kuma is identified as one despite having a purely human mother. The parentage of Clapp, Kuma’s buccaneer father, is also a mystery.
They are largely wiped out,with Kuma being the only surviving member of the species. It is said they committed a great crime against the world, which led to them being mercilessly hunted by the World Government. Buccaneers were either enslaved or put to death, which ended up being the ultimate fate of Clapp.
Despite the World Government’s relentless persecution towards them, buccaneers effectively make up a significant amount of their power, due to Kuma being the template their human weapons, Pacifistas, are cloned from. S-Bear, one of the Seraphim, is a new kind of Pacifista, who claims the heritage of both the buccaneers and the lunarians, another species which is also thought to be nearly extinct, save for government cloning.
They are known to have revered the Sun God, Nika, a being who they believe will bring joy and freedom to the world. Nika is also a revered figure in Elbaf, but the connection between these two belief systems, if indeed any exists, is not currently known.
1Numbers
Examples: Inbi and Fuga
Punk Hazard is an island that serves as a research site, having even once been used by Dr. Vegapunk himself. One such experiment conducted there by his sadistic former disciple, Caesar Clown, concerned procedures to turn human children into giants. While this successfully allowed the children to grow to a giant size and gain giant power, it came at the cost of their lifespan. An alliance of pirates and marines stepped in to verify the children were saved before any fatalities actually occurred, but this was not the only giant creation experiment conducted on the island.
The numbers were another experiment conducted on Punk Hazard, intended to artificially recreate the ancient giants. While somewhat visually distinct, these giants do generally resemble the ancient giants in terms of defining visual characteristics. They also have their characteristically long lifespans and towering heights. Despite this, they are considered failures, likely due to their incredibly limited intelligence. Regardless, they were purchased by Kaido and became members ofthe Beasts Pirates. They are shown to be large and powerful, but no match for more distinguished fighters such as those in the Straw Hat Pirates. They are infamously bad at holding their liquor, which also limits their capability in a fight.
The most notable member is Fuga, who ate a horse SMILE that effectively turned him into a centaur. He was punished by Kaido for stealing the SMILE and bullied by his peers for his new horse legs. Yamato believed them to be cool, which resulted in Fuga ultimately siding with him over his fellow numbers. It is not known what happened to them after the Wano arc concluded.
