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.

Appearance
While still a pirate, Zeff has short blonde-hair, which is somewhat unkempt, a mustache that he tied with ribbons on each end, and a slight beard. He wore a simple red-and-white vertical stripped shirt with gold buttons on the collar. By the time he raided the Orbit, he changed to a purple-and-red horizontal-stripped overall, and braided his mustache. In either case, he wore dark pants with a pirate's sash, and a captain's coat draped over his shoulders like a cape.

As the head chef of Baratie, Zeff is an elderly-looking man who still retains his blonde-colored hair, which he keeps underneath his extra-long chef's hat. His mustache has grown considerably long, and he grew a beard. He wore a red-and-purple horizontal-stripped shirt, with a chef's uniform over it, along with dark pants. Due to the loss of his right leg, he has a peg leg in place. He seems to have no trouble walking with it.

Personality
Zeff is a tough former pirate. 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 than a hot temper and has a firm hold of authority at the Baratie.

As a chef at sea, Zeff respects food to a very high degree. When he ordered his crew to plunder the Orbit, he kicked one of his crew for stealing food, the one thing they can never take. Also, when Sanji was still in-training at the Baratie, when his food was unsatisfactory for customers, Zeff forced Sanji to eat it himself, rather than throw it out.

Relationships
While he was always harshly critical toward Sanji, he did this to make Sanji into the great chef and tough 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) provoking Sanji into leaving the Baratie, most 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 kept on staying at the Baratie. He found himself crying during Sanji's departure and was overjoyed at hearing he had a bounty.

Zeff has also earned the respect from the other chefs of Baratie, as everyone there would stay and fight against Don Krieg's Pirate Armada, and they were visibly upset that Gin would break Zeff's peg leg and hold him hostage.

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. He was a great cook, and knew how and what to eat when the situation calls for it. He gave up all his food to Sanji when they were trapped on the rock, and was still able to sustain himself. 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.

Fighting Style
Zeff is renowned of his incredible leg strength; because of the immense 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 leave footprints on iron. 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) 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's attacks can be seen against Luffy during their discussion for Luffy compensation:
 * Head Chef Peg-Leg Kick (料理長義足キック): A powerful horizontal kick with the tip of his peg leg. In the Viz Manga, this is called Chef's Special Peg-Leg Kick.
 * Head Chef Drop (料理長ドロップ): A kick from his peg leg done by jumping in the air. Zeff destroy his ceiling in the process. In the Viz Manga, this is simply called Chef Drop.

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 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 tall, rocky island they wash up on. 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 eighty or more days with little food in their possession they were finally rescued. 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 marines or pirates. Moments after revealing his dream, Zeff and Sanji are rescued by a passing ship. Years later, Zeff makes good on his promise and opens a restaurant known as the 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 Baratie 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 background 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 in an attempt to save Sanji. The change was due to censorship, as it was considered too much of a shock for young children.

Also, in the anime, it is revealed that when Zeff was young, he had some kind of relationship with a old man named BanBan.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the English manga, Zeff has a tendency to call Sanji "Little Eggplant" and Sanji calls him "Shitty 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". In the FUNimation dub Zeff calls Sanji "Little Brat" while Sanji refers to him as "Old Geezer" or just "Geezer" in return. He also has a vague Bronx accent in the 4Kids dub, similar to the one Sanji was given.

His nickname is "Red-Shoes" in the Viz Manga and 4Kids dub and "Red-Foot" in the FUNimation dub.

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 the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Zeff is ranked the 60th most popular character in One Piece.
 * Even with a peg-leg, Zeff is able to hurt Luffy with a physical attack, which could be a hint that Zeff might possess Haki.
 * 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 both are still proficient fighters despite their handicap. However, while Zeff's power was reduced to where he could no longer be a pirate, Shanks remains one of the four most powerful pirates in the world.
 * Zeff's role as a cook, and his peg leg; might be a reference to the famous, fictional Pirate 'Long John Silver' from Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'.
 * Before Luffy left, Zeff told him that the first half of Grand Line is called "Paradise," hinting that Zeff may have gone to the New World, since that is a name commonly used by pirates who faced the New World. This fact is also pointed out in One Piece Green Databook.
 * Zeff's peg leg may be a reference to stereotypical pirates, which often are depicted with peg legs, hooks, and eye patches as prosthesis for lost limbs, although losing limbs was a constant danger in the real life pirate world.