Gaimon

Gaimon is a former pirate who lives as a hermit on the Island of Rare Animals.

Appearance
Gaimon has a green afro hairstyle, a black beard, a chubby face and a big mouth. He has been stuck inside a treasure chest for twenty-two years, and his body's shape has grown accustomed to it overtime, making it virtually impossible for him to get out.

Personality
He is hostile to those who try to hurt the animals or steal the treasure chest he has been guarding for twenty years (ironically, unbeknownst to him until the Straw Hats arrived, the chests were empty). But when he learned that someone who came into this island is not interested in the animals or the treasure, he can become very friendly.

Abilities and Powers
Gaimon seems to be proficient in using a gun, as he was able to hit Luffy by surprise, in the forest.

Past
Gaimon's life changed when he was searching for treasure on the island as part of an unnamed pirate crew. While searching, he fell from a high cliff and directly into an empty treasure chest at the bottom. His crew, considering him a lost cause, left Gaimon stranded on the island.

Over the next twenty years the treasure chest became a part of his body and could not be removed without killing him, however, he can still use his hands, head and feet. Because Gaimon shrank to fit the size of the small chest, he could no longer scale the cliff to the treasure. He managed to befriend the strange animals on the island, and developed a close bond with them. To protect his treasure and his "friends", he did not allow any visitors on his island. If any sailors came ashore there, he would hide and tell them to leave in a spooky voice, claiming to be the island guardian ("island god" in the anime). If this failed, he took the more direct route of shooting them with a pistol (which he apparently keeps hidden inside his afro).

Meeting the Straw Hats
Twenty years after he was first stranded, Monkey D. Luffy and his crew arrived on the island. They survived his deterrent tactics, and, after he realized that they aren't there to steal from him, they became friends. However, when Luffy finally got to the top of the cliff, Gaimon realized that the treasure chests were empty too and he had been protecting a nonexistent "treasure" for twenty years. Then, he considered the animals as his treasures, and vowed to protect them.

Chibi Buggy eventually met and befriended Gaimon in the "Special Cover Miniseries".

Two Years Later
Gaimon was seen again still living on the island of strange animals. Gaimon was seen acquainted with a new inhabitant, Sarfunkel, a woman who is coincidentally trapped in a barrel. They were seen living happily together.

Anime and Manga Differences
The introduction to Gaimon is different in the anime and manga. In the manga, they have not recruited Usopp and attained the Going Merry yet, and only Luffy and Nami met Gaimon while Zoro slept in the boat the entire time. In the anime, Usopp had already joined and they had the Going Merry, so all four of the Straw Hats met Gaimon (though Zoro spent time sleeping on the ship and as a result, met him later than the others).

He first appeared in the manga between the Orange Town Arc and the Syrup Village Arc, while in the anime he appeared in between the Syrup Village Arc and the Baratie Arc.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the original Japanese version, there is a running gag in which other characters ask Gaimon if he's a hakoirimusuko (箱入り息子), to which he responds with "Yes, my father held me back when I was a boy" and then irritably snaps back to reality. This is a pun off of the Japanese term hakoirimusume (箱入娘), which refers to a girl who's been sheltered throughout her life. Since the joke probably would not make sense to most American readers and viewers (it's based on Japanese history circa the late 19th century), Luffy instead calls Gaimon a "boxer" in the Viz Manga. The joke became a "Jack-in-the-Box" in the FUNimation dub, which he says ironically that he is in a box and nearly says that his name is Jack, before coming back to reality and calling out "you idiot" to whoever asked if he was a Jack-in-the-Box. 4Kids turned the joke into "heart of gold" as a reference to the treasure normally held within a treasure chest.

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Unlimited Cruise
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise

Enemy Appearances

 * One Piece: Treasure Wars
 * Treasure Wars 2 Welcome to Buggyland
 * Aim! The King of Berry

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Gear Spirit
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
 * Birth of Luffy's Dream Pirate Crew!
 * Dragon Dream!
 * One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!
 * One Piece (Game Boy Advance)

Trivia

 * Eiichiro Oda stated that Gaimon was his favorite character in an interview from One Piece Color Walk 1 (published in 2001).
 * His pairing with Sarfunkel is a spoonerism of the singing group Simon and Garfunkel.

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