Figarland Garling

Saint Figarland Garling is a World Noble of the Figarland Family and one of the Five Elders who publicly head the World Government, holding the title of Warrior God of Science and Defense. Previously, Garling served as Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, as part of whom he became a "champion" of God Valley 38 years ago. After decades of being a God's Knight, Garling was named an Elder to succeed Jaygarcia Saturn, who was killed by Imu following his failure during the Egghead Incident.
Due to his role, Garling is, along with the other Elders, one of the main antagonists of the Final Saga.
==Appearance==
Garling is a tall, well-built man of advanced age, with a visibly wrinkled face and a sharp, aquiline nose. His long, light-colored hair is styled into a pair of unbent, side-facing spikes left and right on his head, alongside one extremely tall, forward-bent spike on top. Garling's facial hair consists of a mustache with a large beard linked to his sideburns (also forming spikes), which culminates in a large forward spike below his chin and makes it so that his hair-and-beard combo resembles a front-facing crescent moon; when seen from the front, his facial hair more so resembles a four-pointed star.
As a God's Knight, Garling has been seen donning what resembled the typical World Noble suit, light in color with a thick, standing collar, which was mostly hidden underneath an ankle-length, hooded, dark-colored coat adorned with light, medal-like knobs (bearing the World Government's five-circle insignia) on the upper arms. Garling's footwear consisted of plain dark dress boots, and his eyes were covered by circle-frame sunglasses. Upon being appointed as one of the Five Elders, Garling changed his wardrobe into a full black business suit paired with a simple white dress shirt and tie, plus a light-colored, collared cape draped over his shoulders. He also took off his shades upon greeting his fellow Elders in the Room of Authority, but continues to carry his saber in his left hand.
Thirty-eight years ago, a much younger Garling had a similar appearance to now, his head hair already matching its present-day size and shape (with two strands loose on either side of his face), though his facial hair was still absent beyond minor chin stubble; Garling was apparently considered quite attractive given that he had female fans swooning over him. For attire, he notably eschewed wearing a bubble around his head like his Noble compatriots. Similar to his current cloak, Garling wore a dark cape with light fur trim particularly thick around the collar, and below a three-button shirt of dark color: high-collared, adorned on the left by two disc brooches with the government symbol, and cut off above his abdomen like a half-shirt, transitioning into a light-colored lower half that went past his waistline, was thickly and vertically striated next to each front hem, and held closed by a light-colored belt with two buckles (the government symbol on each). In addition, Garling donned dark gloves and plate-armor components, namely two light-colored vambraces and pauldrons (the latter made of a circular cop and one lame each). Garling's lower wear consisted of dark pants with light greaves and dark, ankle-high boots.
===Gallery===
==Personality==
Garling is an equanimous and confident man. While seemingly not as self-indulgent or ignorant of the world as lesser World Nobles, he is still no less arrogant and depraved, as he sees anyone beneath his own station as "trash". He is ruthless in his administration of punishment to those who break World Noble rules and customs, believing in particular that those Nobles who protect people of lower status debase themselves into being even lower than trash; Garling was willing to execute Saint Mjosgard for that very crime (namely defending the Neptune Royal Family and/or the pirates who, in turn, protected them). Indeed, much like other Celestial Dragons, Garling is exceedingly cruel without the slightest regard for the lives of commoners, deeming them so worthless that the slaughter of an entire island's native population (and partaking therein) means little more to him than sport. Hence, he was an eager participant in the Native Hunting Competition on God Valley 38 years ago, where he slayed the country's king the very instant he started protesting about having his own subjects hunted to death.
A younger Garling showed himself to be very confident in his own abilities, claiming that his incurrence of a 10,000-point penalty during the aforesaid hunting contest (for starting early) was a good handicap to make things competitive. When the Rocks and Roger Pirates made landfall on God Valley, Garling was unperturbed and ready to take on the pirates despite both crews being the strongest of their time, highlighting his aplomb disposition.
Upon joining the ranks of the Five Elders, Garling was quick to establish himself as an equal to the other four, immediately speaking to them in a non-deferential tone despite his newcomer status, and expressed confidence in the Elders' joint pursuit to better the world and re-establish order in the face of imminent global chaos and rebellion.
==Abilities and Powers==
As Supreme Commander of the God's Knights, Garling held authority over the rest of the group and could pass judgment upon his fellow World Nobles for behavior deemed intolerable, making him one of the most eminent Celestial Dragons. With his ascension to one of the Five Elders, Garling has become one of the "Highest Authorities in the World" alongside his four peers, wielding unrivaled influence over the world at large and over government operations, second only to Imu's; if, as the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Garling has scientific expertise like his predecessor Saturn is unclear.
Little is currently known about Garling's combat prowess. However, given his leadership of the God's Knights, whom Monkey D. Dragon (head of the Revolutionary Army) is wary of, plus him being deemed worthy of replacing one of the Five Elders (all of whom have proven exceedingly powerful), it can be assumed that Garling is quite dangerous, at least by World Noble standards.
Garling is said to have been a "champion" of God Valley. On said island 38 years ago, he was the World Nobles' favorite to win their Native Hunting Competition in which, despite starting with a negative 10,000 points, Garling successfully took the lead prior to the contest's interruption. When both the Rocks and Roger Pirates (two of the strongest pirate crews of that era) arrived on God Valley, Garling was ready to take on the enemy with his fellow God's Knights; apart from his survival, what involvement Garling ultimately had in the God Valley Incident is still unknown.
During the Native Hunting Competition, Garling was seen riding some sort of oversized bird wearing an aviator cap.
===Weapons===
Garling's trademark weapon is a large saber with a rounded knuckle-bow guard, entirely light-colored from its hilt to its sheath. He already possessed it 38 years ago on God Valley, but his skill with the weapon remains unknown.
==History==
===Past===
Thirty-eight years ago, Garling (already part of the God's Knights) took part in the Native Hunting Competition hosted on God Valley, where he executed the former king of the island for protesting the game and having his own countrymen culled for sport. This action led to Garling receiving a 10,000-point demerit for killing before the timer started, but Garling did not care and saw it as a suitable "handicap" to improve competition. Following an announcement about how many points the different hunting targets ("Rabbits") awarded and the prizes awaiting the winners, Garling was quick to enter the contest and amass 100,000 points by going for the high-value Rabbits. Once both the Rocks and Roger Pirates had made landfall on God Valley in a surprise assault, an irritated Garling issued the order to pull back the Marines and have them guard the Celestial Dragons instead, noting that the God's Knights were to handle the pirates instead.
Though details on his involvement in the God Valley Incident remain unknown, Garling was eventually declared a "champion" of God Valley.
===Final Saga===
====Egghead Arc====
Following the most recent Levely, Garling acted as a judge against Saint Donquixote Mjosgard, who was accused of abetting the escape of the pirates suspected of Saint Charlos's attempted murder. He chose to execute Mjosgard for protecting "trash" and was subsequently seen lounging in a chair at the execution site in Mary Geoise, with cheering Celestial Dragons around.
Later, Garling calmly listened to Vegapunk's pre-recorded worldwide message as the scientist spoke about the One Piece.
Following the events of the Egghead Incident, Garling received "orders" to become the new Warrior God of Science and Defense among the Five Elders (unbeknownst to the other Elders), effectively displacing Jaygarcia Saturn in his duties. After arriving in the Room of Authority, Garling proclaimed that York was now under his purview, before alerting his fellow Elders to prepare themselves for an imminent wave of chaos and uncertainty regarding the future of the world.
==Translation and Dub Issues==
While called "the ruler" of God Valley in Chapter 1086's initial VIZ translation, Garling's designation is a term that does not typically refer to a country's king but, rather, to a kingly figure or "champion". He is also said to on God Valley. This was later revised in the VIZ translation to instead call Garling a "dominating figure" who "distinguished himself" at God Valley, which is more in line with the actual circumstances revealed 9 chapters later.
==Trivia==
*According to Oda, if Garling were to grow out his head and beard hair more, it would join together and form a full circle.
*As of now, having replaced Saturn, Garling stands as the only one of the Five Elders who is not named after a planet. However, his hair and beard do resemble a crescent moon from the side, and when seen on a frontal view they resemble a four-pointed star.
*Garling is currently the only member of the Five Elders not shown to have Devil Fruit powers.
==References==
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