Sengoku

Fleet Admiral Sengoku (センゴク元帥) was the supreme commander of all the Marine forces in the world, his status apparent by the life-size seagull attached to his hat. He was one of the major figures along with Edward Newgate, Shiki, and Monkey D. Garp while Gol D. Roger was still alive, and still continues to be in the present, even after his resignation from the Marines.

Appearance
Sengoku is a tall and muscular, yet spry, roughly middle-aged man with a long braided beard and a mustache. He is usually seen alongside his pet goat. His cap covers his hair, which is set in a large afro. When he uses his powers, his hat is knocked off, revealing his afro.

He typically wears black-rimmed glasses and a white and gold full Marine Admiral uniform that is adorned with medals. The most distinctive features of this uniform are a life-size seagull on top of his cap and his oversized Marine coat which he wears like a cape. His coat has the kanji for justice, in blue, emblazoned on the back.

Twenty years before the present storyline, when Sengoku was already an Admiral, he did not cover his afro and had a beardless face. During his orders to Saul to bombard Ohara, he wore less-regal looking attire than he does in the present storyline, a simple black tank top, blue jeans, and his glasses, which is unlike a typical Admiral's formal suit; the only Marine related attire he wore at the time apparently was his Marine coat, draped over like a cape. However, when he was fighting Shiki in Marineford, he was wearing a black suit under his coat.

Personality
Sengoku appears to be a proud man who is loyal to the World Government and, up until the cover-up of the Impel Down incident, never questioned orders from them. He also won't accept any reason for letting a criminal go and also has a habit of getting very irritated with failure. While it has not been revealed what kind of justice Sengoku follows, he certainly does not shy away from actions that falls under the code of Absolute Justice. From his view, the Shichibukai are just pirates, though he notes how valuable they can be when the time comes. However as the years went by, he appears to be losing his faith in the government, shown after the Whitebeard War when he was angry at the order from the government to cover up the break-out incident in Level 6 of Impel Down to save face and keep the faith of the people, thus placing nations in danger. This eventually led Sengoku to resign from the Marines.

As of late, it would seem that he has become concerned over the movements of the Straw Hat Pirates, and has followed their movements ever since they left Water 7, though at the time his current concern was about the upcoming war against Whitebeard, to the point that he brushed off the incident of the attack of a Tenryuubito and left it to the Admirals. Upon hearing about Luffy's break-in of Impel Down, Sengoku was so frustrated that he almost took it out on Garp, and had come close to losing his patience with the antics of the Monkey family in general.

Sengoku also believes that a person's birth (with the consideration of the parents' reputation) is enough to determine the potential impact they could bring to the world if left unchecked, such as Ace being Roger's son and Luffy being Dragon's son. This is shown at Ace's execution where one of the main reasons for Ace's execution was not because he was a pirate, but because he was the son of Gol D. Roger and he believed that Ace must be executed by any means necessary even if that meant an all out war with Whitebeard.

His epithet Sengoku the Buddha may seem ironic at best because through the course of the series, while he has shown himself to be an extremely calm, composed, collected man, he has also shown himself to be quite capable of violence. Doflamingo remarked on this irony when the Shichibukai convened at Mariejois to choose a successor for Crocodile. However, with the revelation of his Devil Fruit, it would seem his epithet's origins come from his fruit's ability, exactly like the three current admirals (although his is not an alias). He also appears to have some common sense, as shown when he ordered the Whitebeard War to be over and ordered for people to tend to the wounded. His justice isn't as uncompromising as Akainu's; it seems to be more of a mix of both absolute and moral justice, as he did make a large speech about morality. He also called the war to an end upon Ace and Whitebeard's demises, after Shanks made his appearance. Another hint of moral justice is also shown when he got infuriated when the World Government decided to cover-up the break-out of the Level 6 Impel Down prisoners released by Blackbeard, although he once said not to question the World Government's orders. In addition, in his conversation with Kong, he stated that justice is a matter of personal values and doesn't endorse one form of justice over the other, mirroring Smoker's talk with Tashigi in Alabasta. This hints that Sengoku is more of a pragmatist in applying justice.

Monkey D. Garp
Garp was occasionally accompanied by Sengoku on his assignments when he was still an Admiral, even then Sengoku found him irritating. As Garp is considered a "Hero of the Marines", Sengoku, along with the rest of the Marines, respect him greatly. However, after discovering that Garp withheld the information that the infamous Monkey D. Luffy is his grandson, Sengoku became furious with the man. This added to the frustration caused by Luffy's repeated actions against the World Government, Sengoku is beginning to lose patience with Garp. Garp, on the other hand, enjoys getting on Sengoku's nerves.

Sengoku had somehow found out that Garp had adopted Portgas D. Ace, the son of Pirate King Gol D. Roger, which was meant to be kept secret from the World Government. Sengoku warned Garp not to do anything foolish regarding Ace's execution, or there would be no mercy. Sengoku also knows that the Revolutionary known as Dragon is Luffy's father, and by extension Garp's son. It is unknown as to how long Sengoku knew about all this, or when he first learned about this, or how it would affect Garp's standing in the Marines. However, Sengoku had no problem in revealing everything to the entire world. When Garp allows Luffy to pass him, Sengoku was displeased, saying that Garp was in the end "still a grandfather" and when Garp stood up after being hit by Luffy, he asked him whether he was alright, either showing concern or resentment but it is unknown how this will affect their relationship. Sengoku is also quick to restrain Garp if he tries to do anything foolish as shown when Sengoku pinned Garp to the ground when the latter tried to go after Akainu for killing Ace.

Shichibukai
As with Commodore Smoker and Admiral Kizaru, Sengoku believes that the Shichibukai are no more than pirates, and therefore, trusts them very little. However, he sees them to be very useful at times of need. When these World Government allies refuse to live up to their duties, such as Boa Hancock, Jinbe, and Marshall D. Teach did, Sengoku shows his resentment.

World Government
Twenty two years ago, Sengoku was shown to be loyal to the World Government and did not like anyone questioning them, he was shown though to be losing his trust in them, especially the Gorosei, as the years went by. This was proven by showing how angry he was at the government's decision not to put bounties on the many criminals who had escaped from Level 6 of Impel Down. This is also shown by his outburst at their decision to keep quiet about the breakout, even though any one of the escapees could potentially destroy a country. This was one of, if the not the biggest reason, for his resignation from the Marines.

Whitebeard
As Sengoku was a major figure back in Gol D. Roger's time, and still is today; he is one of the few people Whitebeard respects. Sengoku, along with the entire Marine and World Government, waged war against Whitebeard over the life of Portgas D. Ace before the latter's death. With the Marines' victory, Sengoku respected Shanks' wish to relinquish the bodies of Whitebeard and Ace for a proper burial, as opposed to showing them on the televised broadcast as trophies. By Shanks' admission, the Fleet Admiral respected the old pirate.

Blackbeard
Sengoku shows a great deal of hatred towards Blackbeard for a number of reasons. These reasons include abandoning his post in Marineford, stealing a warship, infiltrating Impel Down, recruiting a number of extremely dangerous prisoners into his crew, abusing his position in the Shichibukai and later resigning from it, obtaining the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, and attempting to completely destroy Marineford.

Monkey D. Luffy
As time goes on, Sengoku becomes more and more angry with Luffy's actions such as defeating Shichibukai Crocodile, invading Enies Lobby and defeating Rob Lucci of the CP9, defeating Shichibukai Gekko Moriah, punching World Noble Saint Charloss, breaking into and out of the Great Jail Impel Down, intruding on the war against Whitebeard, rescuing Ace, and later reinfiltrating Marineford (and getting the media's attention on it).

Coupled with the fact that each action deals a devastating blow to the World Government and that he is also Vice Admiral Garp's grandson, Sengoku tends to take the frustration he feels after one of Luffy's stunts out on Garp. Sengoku also knows that Dragon is Luffy's biological father, and considers Luffy to be a great threat to the world due to his heritage, exactly the same way he felt about Ace being Roger's son.

Shanks
Despite being a pirate, which would make him an enemy, he appears to have some respect towards Shanks. Stating because of his words he would officially consider the war at an end as well as hand over Ace and Whitebeard's bodies to the Red Hair Pirates to be given a proper burial. This is the first time he has shown respect toward a pirate, where he wouldn't show respect even towards the Shichibukai.

Shiki the Golden Lion
Sengoku seemed to view Shiki as his main enemy twenty years ago in the same sense that Garp viewed Gol. D. Roger. He warned Garp that Shiki was his to capture and was annoyed when Garp said he would give him the credit, showing Sengoku felt the need to capture Shiki himself and wasn't merely after fame. Although he was willing to fight Shiki with Garp when he attacked Marineford, this could be to limit the damage Shiki could cause seeing as he destroyed half of Marineford when fighting both of them.

Abilities and Powers
As the commanding officer of the entire Marine force, Sengoku had absolute power over every action the Marines do, including summoning a Buster Call. The only ones that are above him and command him are the Gorosei and Commander-in-Chief Kong. However, with his resignation came the loss of such authorities.

24 years ago, when Shiki was causing havoc in Marineford hearing about the capture of Roger, Sengoku fought alongside Garp and together, they were powerful enough to subdue him, whilst destroying half the city in the process, and also keeping him imprisoned in Impel Down. Even without his Devil Fruit powers, it is implied that he has enormous strength, enough to effortlessly hold down an enraged Garp.

He is also a military commander of the highest order, as demonstrated at Marineford. He is shown to have organizational and tactical skill, as his plan with Squardo resulted in Squardo critically injuring Whitebeard and his "Siege Wall Plan" combined with Admiral Akainu's Meteor Volcano has succeeded in routing the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies, which led to the destruction of the crew's flagship, the Moby Dick. He was referred to as "Strategist Sengoku the Buddha".

Haki
It was stated that all vice admirals possess Haki, so as a former higher ranked officer as well as leader of the Marines, Sengoku can also use the ability.

Devil Fruit
He has no powers

Shiki the Golden Lion


A week before Pirate King Gol D. Roger's execution, when Shiki attacked Marineford demanding that he be allowed to kill Roger, Sengoku and Garp intercepted him and fought him together. After a fierce battle that destroyed half of Marineford, they managed to defeat the Flying Pirate, and imprisoned him in Impel Down.

Ohara Incident
Twenty years ago before the current storyline, Sengoku used to be an Admiral. During his time as an Admiral, he received orders from the World Government to carry out a secret mission. This mission was to send a Buster Call to obliterate Ohara. With these orders, Sengoku gave the Golden Den Den Mushi for the operation to CP9 director who was to investigate the situation, Spandine. Among the five Vice Admirals Sengoku chose to lead the Buster Call were Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Jaguar D. Saul.



After the capture of Nico Olvia, Sengoku informed Saul of his role in the upcoming mission. The giant protested against this and tried to reason with Sengoku that the Oharans were merely scholars interested only in history. Sengoku however turned a deaf ear and told Saul to just follow orders.

Later, Sengoku received news that Saul had freed Nico Olvia. Seeing that the Buster Call mission to Ohara was in jeopardy, Sengoku ordered his men to quickly find the two before the operation could be stopped.

After the operation was finished, Sengoku was informed by Spandine that one of the scholars of Ohara had escaped from the Buster Call attack. This little girl, Nico Robin, was deemed a threat. With that in mind, Sengoku and other high ranking officials put up a bounty of 79,000,000 on her in order to help catch her.

Meeting with the Shichibukai
After Crocodile was defeated by Luffy and stripped of his rank as a Shichibukai, Sengoku was called in to discuss Crocodile's replacement in Mariejois, along with the various Marine officials attending there and whoever among the Shichibukai decided to show up. He had just shown up late and caught Doflamingo messing around with some of the Marine officials attending the meeting. Seeing the pirate's actions, he told him to stop immediately. With that settled, he apologized for being late, greeted everyone, and started the meeting.



While Sengoku discussed some further formalities with Doflamingo, he and everyone were suddenly surprised by Dracule Mihawk's sudden appearance in the meeting. This was quite a surprise for everyone as Mihawk was the last person they expected to come to the meeting. Sengoku and everyone else were then later surprised by the appearance of Laffitte, who had somehow snuck into the meeting room. As Sengoku was told of the identity of this newcomer, Laffitte suggested a perfect candidate to replace Crocodile.

Sengoku was then told of Marshall D. Teach by Laffitte. Having never heard of Teach before, Sengoku told Laffitte that an unknown pirate without a reputation wouldn't be much use as a Shichibukai. Laffitte however told Sengoku that he and the rest of his crew already have a plan to make Teach famous. With that, Laffitte left Sengoku and the other people attending the meeting and told them to remember his crew's name, the Blackbeard Pirates.

After Enies Lobby
After the big military mess that was Enies Lobby, Sengoku learned some startling information about one of the prominent players involved. Garp accidentally informed Sengoku that Luffy was his grandson. This revelation annoyed Sengoku not only because Garp withheld such information, but also because he didn't capture Luffy while he was in Water 7. Sengoku ordered Garp back to Water 7 to capture Luffy.

The Issue of Straw Hat
After Shichibukai Gekko Moriah's defeat, Sengoku was seen in Mariejois with Garp and Bartholomew Kuma. He was very angry that Kuma was not able to capture the Straw Hat Pirates, and voiced concern about their proximity to Marineford. Garp also annoyed him a great deal.

He was later seen in Mariejois commenting on how Luffy tends to get "into one thing after another" (mostly referring to the defeat of Crocodile, assault on Enies Lobby and defeat of CP9 and the recent victory over another of the Shichibukai, Gekko Moriah).

He was greatly irritated by Luffy's attack on Tenryubito Saint Charloss and for "taking hostage" his father and sister. Seeing this, Admiral Kizaru offered to go to Sabaody Archipelago himself to handle the problem.

Preparing for War
He is then seen at Marine Headquarters, receiving the report that Vice Admiral Momonga has managed to "convince" Pirate Empress Boa Hancock of the Shichibukai to follow up the mandatory summons of the government. Sengoku is pleased by this, and acknowledged Hancock is very strong, but is also troubled that Jinbe doesn't seem to want to cooperate with them and is prepared to lose his status, fighting the Marines, instead of Whitebeard.

Afterwards, an official tells him of the amount of pirates that Admiral Kizaru managed to capture at Sabaody - At least five hundred pirates are to be sent to Impel Down. He is irritated by being bothered for such a reason and asks to only be informed of matters related to Whitebeard. In the same manner, he brushes off the matter of the incident with Saint Charloss, saying its a matter for the admirals. He then asks where Garp is and is irritated upon learning that he left for Impel Down a while ago. He has no real time to react to this, mainly because he then receives news that Whitebeard's main ship, the Moby Dick was on the move and that all twenty three patrol ships are impossible to contact. He orders extreme caution even at Impel Down.



To Sengoku's great displeasure, he received information that Monkey D. Luffy has broken into Impel Down and, putting the dots together, Sengoku correctly deduced that Luffy's invasion within the great prison itself was to rescue Portgas D. Ace from execution, in the critical time when they're supposed to be preparing for war against Whitebeard for the same reason. He was also annoyed that he was able to go and cause one incident after another; the Enies Lobby raid, punching a World Noble and now breaking into the Great Prison. Garp, however, found it amusing that his grandson would go to such lengths simply to rescue Ace. Sengoku angrily tells Garp that no one had attempted anything so atrocious in the history of Impel Down, since twenty two years prior to current events, and was annoyed that the one who would do it was Garp's grandson.

Sengoku also said to Garp that had he not been the "Hero of the Marines", he would have held Garp personally responsible for his family's actions. Garp simply replies that the life of an old man may not atone for all of them.

When Blackbeard stole a Marine ship with his crew and broke into Impel Down, Sengoku looked distraught at the news.

The Battle of Marineford
Three hours prior to Ace's execution, Sengoku told Garp that he would reveal Ace's origins to the Marines, which Garp allowed. Sengoku then revealed to his subordinates that Ace's father is none other than Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King. He later witnesses the arrival of Whitebeard and his allies. According to Whitebeard, they have not seen each other in decades. Sengoku stated that Whitebeard ate the Gura Gura no Mi and that he had the power to destroy the world. Following several attacks from both sides, he proclaims the war has begun.

When Sengoku created a plan to execute Ace before the scheduled 3:00 p.m., he is interrupted when Garp sits on the execution platform, torn between family and duty. Sengoku warned him not to do anything foolish or he would suffer the consequences.

Luffy's unceremonious self-introduction into the Battle of Marineford has Sengoku apoplectic, going so far as screaming at Garp for having his family intruding in World Government affairs again. Sengoku only got angrier when Jinbe loudly declared his resignation from the title of Shichibukai. When asked by Kizaru if executions are in order for each and every last one of the Impel Down escapees, Sengoku whole-heartedly agreed.

When Luffy declares that he is Ace's brother, which brought the question of how Roger can have a second son after both he died before Ace's birth with Rouge dying shortly after the birth, Sengoku reveals to the world that Luffy is not only Ace's adoptive brother, but is also Revolutionary Dragon's son, and that Luffy is the most dangerous future element, exactly as Ace is being Roger's son. He then gives the order to cut the video broadcasting. A giant army of Pacifista, lead by Sentomaru, appears, being the Marine's ultimate strategy. However, because Buggy had stolen one of the Visual Den Den Mushi to broadcast his own fame as a member of Gol D. Roger's pirate crew, Sengoku's plan to execute Ace early could not proceed, and he ordered the Marines to shoot down Buggy and his crew.

Meanwhile, Sengoku ordered Akainu to deceive Squardo, one of Whitebeard's allies, telling him that Whitebeard had sold out every one of his allies to the Marines. Because of this, the Pacifistas attacked all non-Marines in the bay except members of the Whitebeard Pirates, and because of his hatred towards Gol D. Roger (and by extension, his son, Ace), Squardo believed Akainu's words and attacked Whitebeard, stabbing him in the chest. Everything goes according to Sengoku's plans, except for the fact that the whole world has seen everything happening thanks to Buggy's Den Den Mushi. In order to prevent him from broadcasting any more of the battle, Sengoku orders Aokiji to freeze him, the Den Den Mushi, and every Impel Down prisoner with him.

Later, when the siege wall is raised, Sengoku is seen flinching after one of Whitebeard's shockwaves slammed against the wall. His order to commence Ace's execution spurs Luffy into hurtling himself over the siege wall and landing in front of the execution platform, to which he is seen grimacing.

After Oars Jr. helped breach the siege wall with the newly revealed ship which allowed the Whitebeard Pirates access into the main plaza, Sengoku was seen stating he wouldn't be able to sit and watch anymore. He is then seen rolling up his sleeves, assuming that he will soon go into battle himself.

After Whitebeard makes a declaration of refusing to die until he can secure a future for his "children", Sengoku orders for the executioners to proceed to execute Ace, telling Whitebeard to see their future as it is now. Luffy then unleashes a wave of Haoshoku Haki, which knocks out the executioners. Sengoku is visibly shocked at this sudden burst of Haki.



When Luffy, thanks to Inazuma's powers, manages to reach the execution ground, Sengoku complains about Garp letting his grandson pass through him without much effort, declaring that even he is a father. Then, when Luffy tries to free his brother, he transforms into his giant form, declaring he will carry out the execution himself. As Sengoku attacks Luffy, Luffy activates Gear Third which surprises Sengoku, seeing that Luffy's body size is increasing, but heis stopped by Luffy's Gigant Fuusen, supplemented by Mr. 3's &quot;Candle Wall&quot; defense. The execution ground is destroyed by Sengoku's massive punch, and the fleet admiral falls to the ground with the pirates.

After Ace had been freed, Sengoku is then seen ashamed of himself for allowing Ace to escape in his presence. As Whitebeard is reducing Marineford to ruins, Sengoku tells his men that Whitebeard is the threat for the moment.



After Akainu kills Ace, an enraged Garp expresses a desire to kill the admiral in revenge. To prevent him from acting on this desire, Sengoku pins Garp down to the ground, calling him a fool. When Akainu blasts off a portion of Whitebeard's head, Whitebeard still continuesto shatter the Marine headquarters, Sengoku is shocked that the great pirate can still have so much power.

Sengoku's shock becomes mixed with fury when the Blackbeard Pirates arrive on the battlefield, with many legendary prisoners from Impel Down standing on the execution scaffold. Sengoku's fury only intensifies when he learns that Blackbeard only wanted the Shichibukai title to break into Impel Down to recruit those prisoners, and that he now has discarded the title.

When Whitebeard was saying his last words about the Will of D., Sengoku showed great fear and he was furious with Whitebeard because he revealed to the entire world about the existence of One Piece. When Whitebeard had taken his final breath, he and Garp are seen watching. After that, he witnesses Blackbeard and Whitebeard disappear under a black cloth, and later Blackbeard coming out of it after somehow stealing the powers of the Gura Gura no Mi from his former captain and using them to attack the already crumbling Marineford.



When Blackbeard declares that this age is now his and intends to start it off by sinking Marineford, Sengoku doesn't stand idly bywatching, instead suddenly transforming into his Buddha form and delivering a powerful shockwave to the Blackbeard Pirates, sending the whole crew flying. Then he warns Blackbeard to not go around spouting nonsense such as sinking the mighty fortress which represents justice, and prepares to fight to defend the pride of the Marines. In the anime, their fight is extended with his shockwaves and Blackbeard's quake punch tearing apart Marineford. Sengoku knocked Teach back with another shockwave, but he retaliates by tilting the island just as Whitebeard had done. Jesus Burgess jumps into the fight assisting Blackbeard, but is knocked back by the intervention of Garp. Blackbeard taunts Sengoku and Garp, stating he will end their age just like he ended Whitebeard's.

The battle was ended by Coby's screaming and the arrival of Shanks, who claims to be in Marineford to end the war. After a short conversation with Shanks, Sengoku lets him take care of Ace and Whitebeard and that he will take full responsibility for letting all the pirates on the battlefield go. He then tells the Marines to tend to the wounded and that the war is over.

Post-War Arc
Sengoku is seen sitting on a pile of rubble as the rebuilding begins, covered in bandages from the injuries he had sustained at some point during the war. He is then informed by Brandnew about Magellan's critical condition, and forbade Magellan from leaving his medical care to take responsibility for the mass breakouts, or to commit suicide from his failure. He is also told about the situation in Impel Down Level 6, in which there are Level 6 prisoners missing from the prison other than the four Blackbeard took, despite Blackbeard ordering them to massacre each other, and that he would take the winners as his new recruits.

This leads Sengoku to suspect that other Level 6 prisoners have also escaped. Sengoku tells Brandnew to distribute wanted posters immediately, as even one Level 6 prisoner getting into a nation could cause major casualties to its citizens. However, Brandnew informs the fleet admiral that the World Government is trying to keep this breakout quiet in order to save face and to keep the faith of the people. This level of cover-up greatly infuriates Sengoku.



Two weeks after the war, Sengoku approached Commander-in-Chief Kong, requesting resignation from his position as fleet admiral. Kong, though somewhat disappointed at this, allowed it to happen, but assured him that both his and Garp's (who resigned earlier) records will remain untouched, as an influential way of recruiting new Marines. Before departing, Sengoku suggested that Aokiji succeed him as the next Marine fleet admiral.

Major Battles

 * Sengoku and Monkey D. Garp vs. Shiki
 * Sengoku vs. Monkey D. Luffy and Mr. 3
 * Sengoku vs. Blackbeard Pirates

Merchandise


Sengoku thus far has been featured in the One Piece DX Figure The Marines set, along in the One Piece Collection -Promise of the Marineford, and the One Piece Den Den Mushi Measuring Tape collection.

Trivia

 * His pet goat has been seen when Sengoku ordered Saul to attack Ohara, at the meeting in Mariejois, standing behind him on the execution platform while telling the onlookers of Ace's parentage, and during the aftermath of the war.
 * "Sengoku" can be written in kanji as 戦国, meaning "warring states", a term borrowed from ancient Chinese to represent a period of history in Japan known as the "Sengoku Period", which was recorded to have had near constant military conflict with extensive use of naval forces.
 * Sengoku's epithet, "Buddha", is ironic, as the Buddha was a pacifist who discouraged killing and Sengoku has shown no qualms about killing. However, in Sanskrit, the original meaning of the term "Buddha" is "enlightened", which is a good way to describe Sengoku's intellect and wit.

Related Articles

 * Marines
 * Monkey D. Garp

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Sengoku 佛之戰國