Zeff

Zeff is a former pirate known as "Red-Leg" Zeff (赫足のゼフ, Aka Ashi no Zefu) and is also Sanji's mentor.

Personality
Zeff is the tough former Pirate "Red-Leg" ("Red Shoes" in the 4kids dub). He is hard on those around him and is always serious (at times appearing frighteningly serious) about everything. Zeff normally doesn't show emotions other then a hot temper and holds a firm hold of authority at the Baratie.

Relationships
While he was ever brutal to Sanji, he did this to make Sanji into the great chef and fighter he is now. Though Sanji objected to it at first, eventually he seemed to come to understand what Zeff was up to. In a way Sanji seemed to become like a son to him. And while he seems to spend most of his time (besides cooking) to provoke Sanji into leaving the Baratie, most people see this as an attempt to encourage Sanji to leave so he could fulfill the dream that he and the old pirate shared together nine years ago, a dream that just can't happen if Sanji keeps on staying at the Baratie. He found himself crying at Sanji's departure from the Baratie and was overjoyed at hearing he had a bounty.

One of Zeff's most precious possessions is his journal from his days as a pirate. He considers it valuable because it contains the memories of him and his crews journey in the Grand Line. This means that while his days of a pirate are long past, he still holds them dear and was not prepared to just let Don Krieg take this away.

Abilities and Powers
When Zeff was a pirate, he was renowned for being both a great chef and a great captain. Zeff is the original master of the technique known as Red Leg. Because of the power of his lethal kicks, his shoes were left covered in the blood of his enemies, leading to his nickname of "Red-Leg". He could easily break through rock and left imprints on iron of his footprints. At the Baratie, the wind alone from one of his kicks was great enough to strike a number of Pearl's fire pearls in mid-air, and cause them to lose their fire and fall to the ground.

Even with a peg leg, Zeff's kicks can still kill a man (and even hurt Luffy who is almost immune to physical attacks) and he passed the art on to Sanji. During Sanji's fight against Kuroobi, after receiving a 40th-degree punch from the Fishman, Sanji commented that the kicks that he normally receives from Zeff must be of "400th-degree" if placed in the same category. This implies that, even in his old age, Zeff's kicks are at least 10 times that of a high level Fishman karate practitioner

Zeff also retains a fair amount of knowledge of the Grand Line and piracy from his days as captain, as displayed when he knew about "The Hawk-Eyes Man" that Gin was talking about.

Zeff and Sanji
Zeff originally made a name for himself as captain on a pirate ship. He became both great at being a chef and a pirate. His dream of finding the "All Blue" led him to the Grand Line. After one year of traveling around the Grand Line, he left that sea.

When Sanji was a kitchen boy, the ship he worked on was attacked by Zeff's pirate crew. While it was obvious that Zeff and his crew had no initial desire to harm anyone onboard and only attacked the ship for loot, and nothing else (Zeff even kicked one of his crewmates after attempting to take a bag of food), Sanji (thinking otherwise) had the guts to attack Zeff himself, claiming that he wanted to live in order to find the mythical sea All Blue, (Great Blue in 4Kids version) Zeff's own dream as well. During the skirmish, a fierce storm wiped out both Sanji's ship and the pirate ship, nearly drowning Sanji. Zeff went into the water to save the boy because they shared the same dream. In the anime, Zeff's leg caught on debris during the rescue, and he had to cut it off in order to get Sanji and save them both. He does this by wrapping a chain around the trapped leg and letting the force of the ships sever it. In the manga he actually loses his leg on the island. After giving Sanji all his food, and lying to the boy that the larger bag that he kept himself were his rations (knowing that the boy would never accept it if he found out that he had no food with him at all, only treasure), he smashed his leg off with a large rock and ate it to stay alive.



After the rescue, they were washed up onto a tall, rocky island by a wave. There was no food on it, and no way to get to the sea and back to land for fish. Unknown to Sanji, Zeff gave all of the food that had washed ashore with them to the young boy and kept none for himself (In the manga, he still had both his legs but cuts off his right leg and eats it to keep himself alive). After eighty or more days with little food they were finally rescued, and Zeff swore that if he made it off the island alive, he would open a restaurant on the sea and serve anyone who was hungry, whether they be naval marine or pirate. Moments after revealing his dream, Zeff and Sanji are rescued by a passing ship.

Years later, Zeff makes good on his promise and opens Baratie, a floating restaurant shaped like a fish, famous for its amazing food and fighting cooks.

Baratie Arc
When Luffy comes to the restaurant after accidental damage to the Bartie from the cannonball he repelled from Fullbody´s ship, Zeff forced him into labor as a Chore boy for a full year to pay for the damages. However, Luffy continually messed up in his chores. During Don Krieg's attack Zeff graciously accepts Luffy's offer for his dept to be repaid in exchange for Luffy's help against Krieg so Luffy wouldn't cause further accidental harm to his restaurant. After Luffy defeats Krieg, Zeff encourages Sanji to leave the restaurant to pursue his dream for both their sakes. In the anime, he offers to give Luffy his log book that records the days he spent on the Grand Line, but was turned down because Luffy wanted to have his own journey rather than copy someone else's.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
When Sanji's bounty came out, Zeff and his chefs were so overjoyed that they would tell customers that Sanji came from the Baratie in an attempt to give Baratie more profit. Although the crying laughter could also have been attributed to Sanji's horribly drawn portrait.

Anime and Manga Difference
The storyline on how Zeff lost his leg differs between anime and manga. In the manga, he cut it off and ate it to survive but in the anime he lost it during the ship wreck. The change was due to censorship, as it was considered too much of a shock for young children.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the manga Zeff has a tendency to call Sanji "Little Eggplant" and Sanji calls him "Crap Geezer" in return. In the 4Kids dub of the anime, Zeff has a tendency to call Sanji "String Bean" and in return Sanji calls him "Ol' geezer". He also has a vague Bronx accent, similar to the one Sanji was given.

Merchandise
He was issued alongside Sanji in a One Piece Block Figures set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones.

Trivia

 * Zeff is a playable character in One Piece Grand Adventure.
 * In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Zeff is currently ranked the 29th most popular character in One Piece.
 * Even with a peg-leg, Zeff ranks as one of the few One Piece characters that is able to hurt Luffy with a physical attack.
 * Both Zeff and Shanks lost a limb to save their protégé's life, a right leg for Sanji and a left arm for Luffy respectively. And poth are still proficient fighters despite their handicap. However, while Zeff's power was reduced to where he can no longer be a pirate, Shanks remains as one of the four most powerful pirates in the world.