Garp vs. Gol D. Roger: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win in a Fight?

The comparison we will make in this article will involve two truly epic characters from the One Piece franchise, both of which are incredibly popular for different reasons. One of them is Monkey D. Garp, the Marine Vice-Admiral who is also Luffy’s grandfather, while the other is Gol D. Roger, who needs no introduction. Garp and Roger have a strong bond, and in this article, we will tell you who the stronger one is, i.e., who would win in a fight.

Roger was most likely stronger than Garp and would be able to defeat him. And while Roger’s status is legendary in the series, we don’t have much information on his skills, but we still think he would be strong enough to surpass Garp. Had Garp been able to defeat Roger in the past, he certainly would have done so, but Roger was taken in only when he let himself be taken in. Roger was a truly legendary figure in the series, and seeing how many powerful characters there are, for him to be the King of the Pirates means that he was, indeed, the strongest pirate of his generation, and that is certainly enough for us to proclaim the winner in this match-up.

What follows, of course, is a detailed analysis of the answer we have given you above. We will portray Monkey D. Garp and Gol D. Roger in more detail, giving you a thorough analysis of the issue at hand and the balance of power between the two characters using our usual formula. Through several categories, you will see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why we’re certain that Gol D. Roger is stronger than Garp at this point of the story.

Physical abilities

Garp has extremely powerful fists. In fact, they are so potent that with just one strike, he could hurt Luffy and make him feel pain. Moreover, while he was in his Phoenix form during the War, Garp still injured Marco. He claimed he had successfully taken down eight mountains while training for Chinjao.

Garp also has a great amount of stamina and an exceptional tolerance for pain, as shown when he was attacked by Captain Morgan and survived a cut from his ax. Garp has also demonstrated incredible speed, maybe even being faster than CP9’s Soru, as evidenced by the fact that he was able to wake up Luffy in such a very short amount of time while being able to run past all the other Straw Hats.

Because of his nearly unreachable combat strength, Roger earned the nickname “King of the Pirates” before he passed away. Only Vice Admiral Garp, who had incredible strength despite his age and cornered Roger multiple times before handing himself in, and his opponent Edward Newgate, who possessed the Gura Gura no Mi and was dubbed the “World’s Strongest Man” after Roger’s death, have been able to equal Roger in combat.

He was also known to have Rocks D. Xebec as an opponent, whom Roger and Monkey D. Garp had to work together to defeat. Another example of his power is his capacity to rival Shiki. He had little issue defeating Kozuki Oden despite being seriously unwell.

As stated, Garp is – alongside Whitebeard – the only known person in history who was able to match Roger’s physical strength, which speaks a lot in and for itself. This is why, to honor Garp’s legacy, we are going to split the points in this first category.

Points: Garp 1, Roger 1

Devil Fruit

Monkey D. Garp is one of the rare characters that are on such a high level of power but don’t have any Devil Fruit powers. Since Monkey D. Garp has never consumed a Devil Fruit, we can conclude that there is nothing more to say about this category—at least when it comes to Monkey D. Garp.

Gol D. Roger is a highly strong individual. He is regarded as one of the series’ most powerful characters. It is reasonable to assume that Roger has ingested a Devil Fruit, given his abilities and accomplishments, but is that actually the case? No, Gol D. Roger has never consumed a Devil Fruit in his life, much like Garp. He is one of a very select group of very strong characters who haven’t eaten a devil fruit; most other strong characters attribute their distinctive reputations to their consumption of devil fruits.

This is one of those situations where we cannot give a point to either of them because neither of them has anything to offer in this category. They haven’t consumed a Devil Fruit, either of them and from that aspect, we can only give both of them 0 points here.

Points: Garp 1, Roger 1

Haki

Because Garp is a Vice Admiral, he can use Haki, as it is a condition, apparently. To begin with, we can verify that Garp can use Observation Haki. Dr. Fishbonen advised Koby to seek out Garp’s help in learning Observation Haki as soon as he awoke because Garp is knowledgeable enough to impart it to others. Garp has repeatedly hurt Luffy despite his rubber body to show off his skill with the Armament Haki. He also showed his ability to employ Conqueror’s Haki in a recent confrontation with Kuzan, demonstrating how unusual it is to be able to use all three varieties of Haki.

Roger was able to use all three varieties of Haki. While the extent of Roger’s use of Kenbunshoku Haki is unknown, we know that he could use it. With Busoshoku Haki’s help, Roger could use his sword to harden and strike Whitebeard’s Murakumogiri. He had such a command of the technique that he could even employ its more sophisticated form.

He was also one of the few individuals who had Conqueror’s Haki. When he and Whitebeard clashed twenty-six years ago, lightning discharged, and a wind blew that could only come from the collision of two persons employing this Haki. During the same encounter, Roger also showed off his ability to imbue his sword with a specific Haki, causing black lightning to flash from the blade.

We’ll split the points here to make it more interesting, but we honestly think that Roger’s proficiency with Haki was greater than Garp’s, but since the latter also used all three types and was quite skilled with them, we decided to honor that in this category.

Points: Garp 2, Roger 2

Weapons

Garp has been spotted firing cannonballs up to this point (including a gigantic one). The extent of his weaponry skills is that he can even use his fists as weapons. He is similar to Luffy in that he doesn’t use weapons and relies only on his physical strength (and Haki) instead of any special abilities. Even though he is unquestionably a better weapon user than Luffy, who is a terrible weapon user, we do not believe that he ranks among the series’ top weapon users.

Roger was a remarkable swordsman, as shown by his single-attack victory over the legendary warrior Kozuki Oden. He was also able to match the power of Whitebeard’s Murakumogiri, which produced a powerful shock wave that shook the entire island and Moby Dick. As far as it is known, he was one of the most skilled swordsmen in the series and has proven himself capable of taking on the strongest and most skilled weapons users of his time.

Garp, like Luffy, usually loses this category, which happened here as well, as Gol D. Roger surpasses Garp when it comes to the use of weapons. The final point simply had to go to Roger, as Garp is nowhere near Roger’s skills regarding weapons.

Points: Garp 2, Roger 3

Garp was a rival of Roger’s but had Roger really wanted to defeat him, he would have been able to

The points had this one down as a very close duel, and we can only agree with that. Garp and Roger were rivals at the time, and Garp was, as we know, only one of two people who were able to rival Roger in terms of strength. This proof of just how powerful Garp was in his youth and why he is such a badass character.

But, ultimately, Garp was unable to take Roger down at the time. We believe that if he could’ve done it, he would’ve done it, but since he did not, it is probably because he couldn’t have. Roger probably never demonstrated the full extent of his powers against Garp because he respected him, and it is known that the two of them had a lot of respect for each other.

This is why Garp was able to survive his clash with Roger at the time, but if it would come down to a fair, one-on-one fight, we do think that Roger would win, and that is what the points suggest as well.