One Piece: Who Is Figarland Garling and How Is He Related to Shanks?

Though the One Piece manga is currently on a month-long break, the last chapter before the hiatus brought us some major revelations and left us wondering what comes next. Just when we thought we had enough of Imu’s wickedness, Garling Firgarland, another new vicious character, showed up at the conclusion of One Piece manga chapter 1086. Garling Figarland appears to be linked to one of the well-known characters, Red Hair Shanks, and could play a significant part in the end fights. But who is Saint Figarland Garling? Keep reading to learn about this new character in One Piece and the Figarland family.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers about Saint Figarland Garling in One Piece. We suggest you watch the anime and read the manga first to avoid ruining your experience.

Who is Saint Figarland Garling in One Piece?

The most recent addition to One Piece’s cast of villainous adversaries is Saint Garling Figarland. He is a descendant of the Figarland family and is quoted to be the “former champion” of God Valley. The fact that Garling has the Saint in his name confirms that he is a world noble. But the most intriguing aspect is that he is now the Supreme Commander of the Holy Knights, the team that was just grabbing the attention of the fans.

Who would have imagined that an elderly man would be the key figurehead of the new mighty group? Given that the One Piece story is drawing to a close, he will undoubtedly be a frighteningly strong figure during the endgame.

According to chapter 1086, St. Garling was the one who was appointed as the judge and ordered the execution of St. Donquixote Mjosgard in One Piece. What this means is that Garling holds supreme authority, even over Celestial Dragons who are regarded as the descendant of the Gods. He sentenced Mjosgard to execution as he was found as an accomplice to the Fish Men. As a result, St. Garling Figarland is now one of the most hated characters in the fandom.

Personality

In his introduction and that too within a single panel, fans clearly noticed the ruthless nature of Saint Garling Figarland. He showcased his viciousness and hatred towards others who aren’t Celestial Dragons. St. Garling is a typical narcissistic world noble who, well, considers the commoners as scum as he mentioned that “anyone who protects scum is lower than the scum they protect.”

He also plays by his own rules as seen in chapter 1095 and once again shows his ruthlessness by killing the king of the God Valley. We don’t know everything about his personality yet, since he has just been introduced in the manga.

Appearance

Chapter 1095 gave us a glimpse of a much younger Figarland Garling (38 years ago). As you can see here, he does not have his trademark crescent-shaped beard here. But his handsome face did make the women around swoon over him. And what else did this face remind you of? As speculated, it hugely resembles none other than Shanks. We have explored more about their connection right below.

And in his current appearance, he has crescent moon-shaped hair and a beard combo and wears sunglasses. He is always seen carrying an unknown sword (check out the best swords in One Piece). He might be one of the strongest swordsmen in One Piece, check out his powers right below.

Powers

When it comes to powers, St. Garling Figarland has been deemed to have both superior authority and physical powers as well. In terms of authority, since he is the Supreme Commander of the God’s Knights, he has absolute control of this all-new organization. He is also considered a level above the World Nobles as he can punish his fellow men for conduct he deems unacceptable.

Now, in terms of how powerful he is, we certainly don’t know his power levels yet. He has appeared two times in the manga as of now and has killed two people already, but they weren’t powerful opponents. So we’ll have to wait a bit to learn about how strong he is in the world of One Piece.

Who Are the Figarland Family?

The Figarland family was first mentioned in the One Piece Film: Red (see all the One Piece movies in order) by Gorosei (The Five Elders). The Five Elders hypothesized that Uta was a member of the Figarland family, which might imply that Shanks is a descendent of the Figarland family as Uta is recognized as Shank’s daughter. There was much discussion about this among fans, and now that the Figarland family has been established as canon, there is a strong likelihood Shanks was born a Celestial Dragon. There is also a huge possibility that Shanks is related to Saint Garling Figarland, which we discuss below.

Is Figarland Garling Related to Shanks in One Piece?

The one question that is running through everyone’s minds after reading One Piece manga chapter 1086 is “Is Saint Garling Figarland related to Shanks?”

As mentioned earlier, Shanks was teased to be a part of the Figarland family in the latest One Piece movie Film: Red. The introduction of the “Holy Knights” had a number of silhouettes in which the main character had a resemblance to Shanks’ figure. Every hint indicates that there is some sort of connection between these characters and this will be answered soon by author Eiichiro Oda.

But as of now, we can’t say if Garling and Shanks are related by blood. But the fans have already started speculating that Garling Figarland is the father/grandfather/older brother of Shanks. There are a number of evidence to back up this theory. We have listed them so that you can see them for yourself. They are:

• Shanks was found as a kid in a treasure box by Roger after the God’s Valley incident, as mentioned in our facts you didn’t know about Shanks article. So, Shanks was definitely present on the island during the respective incident. St. Garling being the former champion of God’s Valley, and his reveal in the manga at this crucial moment, makes us believe there must be a link between them as they both were present on that island.
• The next big evidence was dropped in chapter 1095 of One Piece where we saw a young version of St. Figarland Garling. One can easily point out the similarities in his appearance with Shanks. We have attached a fan-colored image below to showcase how eerily similar they both look with the iconic red hair (yet to be confirmed in official color spreads).

• Shanks had requested a meeting with the Five Elders and eventually got to meet them. It makes no sense that one of the most wanted pirates gets a seat with the highest authorities in the One Piece world with such ease. There has to be some reason behind this and that could possibly be Shanks’ connection with the Figarland family.

• Another hint that went possibly unnoticed is from chapter 434 when we see Shanks meet Whitebeard for the first time. Whitebeard then said “When I look at your face, it makes my scars ache. The scars I got from him…” A man like Whitebeard reminisces about a powerful man who scarred him (he had a face similar to Shanks), which could possibly be St. Figarland. If you remember, Whitebeard was also present during the God Valley Incident as part of the Rocks Pirates. While fans speculated that the man was Roger, now after seeing the new younger look of St. Garling, one couldn’t rule out that the man is indeed Garling.

And that’s a wrap on this article for now. Shanks being a Celestial Dragon is one of the wildest theories that has been running for ages, and well, it might turn out to be true. Anyway, Saint Figarland Garling is shaping up to be another great villain in One Piece. We will update this article as and when new information related to this character is revealed in the manga. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Garling in One Piece? How do you think is he related to Shanks? Let us know in the comments below.