Giants

Giants are a race of beings that vastly overshadow the other known races of the One Piece world in size. The most commonly known are those from the island of Elbaf.

Appearance
Being giants, they are literally Giant humans in appearance. They are so large that when they cry, their tears can cause large areas on the ground to be covered with them. They are based on Vikings in both design and beliefs. But not all of them seem to be viking themed, which is peculiar to ones from Elbaf. Jaguar D. Saul told Nico Robin not to mistake him for the brutes of Elbaf. Marine Vice-Admiral, John Giant, seems to be another non-Elbaf giant.

They are not to be confused with large-sized humans such as the Franky Family's Mighty Destroyers or Bartholomew Kuma. To a giant, these large humans are no more than "oversized ants." Large sized humans at their tallest reach knee-height of a giant, a normal human only reaches as high as the ankle in comparison.

Certain giants, such as Oars and his descendant Oars Jr., are bigger than average giants by roughly four times that of an average giant and are the giants equivalent to the large sized humans. However, Sanjuan Wolf is even larger than them, being as big as the Marineford's main headquarters' building.

Biology
All giants can live for up to three times longer than human beings.

Giants can also interbreed with Fishmen, which produces a Wotan. Though Wotans are huge by human standards, they are still not as big as an actual giant.

Despite their size, they are still just another race of "humans" and as noted by the Marines when Oars Jr. attacked they can feel pain like any other human race. However, due to their gigantic sizes, they are still more resilient than an average human.

Inter-species Relationships
Giants seem to get along fine with other races, though generally many humans think twice about upsetting them. Normally they seem very casual, light-headed and friendly towards just about everyone despite their size. Though a different race they are still regarded as "Men" by humans, noting there is a respectful acceptance between them and humans.

Overall Strength
G... Giants for gatekeepers...?? That's not fair!! They are a strong and almost unstoppable race, the average human cannot stand up to them making them both ideal guards and deadly warriors. Throughout the storyline, characters regularly are aware of just what the strength of a giants is. Oars' strength was said to be enough to move continents, and his fearsome reputation was one of the attractions for Moria that lead his desire to gain the corpse of both him and his descendant Oars Jr. to use their power to become the Pirate King. Saul had lifted up and smashed a number of the large Buster Call fleet ships during the destruction of Ohara, he has been noted to have more strength than an average giant. In fact, many giants are servants of the World Government and the Marines, enforcing the latter as one of the Three Great Powers. At Enies Lobby the sight of seeing the giants Oimo and Kāshī made the Franky Family commented on how using giants was "unfair". The Marines have an entire squad consisting of Giants, these giants were placed in charge of guarding Ace's execution platform. When they were ordered to prepare themselves, the pirates advancing took note of the incoming giants and warned each other that "the big-boys are advancing". They also have many other Giants as high-ranking officers.

Just as large-sized humans have advantage against "normal" humans, large-sized giants like Oars have a huge advantage against "normal" giants. Large sized humans, even those with great strength are usually just too weak to take on a giant as Oimo and Kāshī proved to the Kairiki Destroyers. Most giants thus far have either been taken down by the strongest of the human fighters, or by tactics; thus far the most common method to take them down is using one giant against another as seen with Oars Jr., Oimo and Brogy. Oimo and Kāshī were taken down by joint efforts of Galley-la, Zambai and Sodom and Gomorrah. While Sodom and Gomorrah had strength and size almost equal to the giants, the others who aided them had used more tactical efforts such as pinning down Kāshī's face when he fell and using Oimo to deal a knock out blow to his partner. Mr. 3 had to devise a plan in order to take down Brogy and Dorry. While he took down Dorry by a explosion in his stomach (Brogy had finished him off), the giant had survived. During the Sabaody Archipelago arc, the kidnapping group the Coffee Monkeys reported that the only reason why they captured their giant was because he was asleep.

Kāshī: We're natural born fighters!! Oimo: We have a different kind of blood... Than some tiny humans who're bigger then usual!!

They are often shown surviving being hit by cannon blasts and explosions, usually simply being knocked down temporary or coming out with only minor injuries and even when suffering major injuries, still having some life left in them to fight again with. At Enies Lobby, when the allies of the Straw Hats appeared to have been wiped out by the Buster Call fleet, whose cannons are able to wipe out whole island with their cannon blasts, it was revealed that Oimo and Kāshī had taken the brunt of the attack yet been largely unaffected. Saul had also taken several hits of cannon fire while on Ohara from Buster Call shots, although the ships used in that incident were not as strong as the Enies Lobby incident. Oars Jr. had taken many hits by cannon fire before he was initially taken out by the Shichibukai Kuma, Doflamingo and Moria; although he gave up the last of his strength taking Whitebeard to the Plaza where one final cannon blast finished him off. Despite the fact they survive these blasts, however, they will still feel the pain from the impact even if it doesn't topple them.

It should be taken into account that when a giant goes on a rampage, there is a general fear from the weakest of men, as very little can stop a giant normally and seemingly even less when one is angry. As equal as they make for dangerous guards and enforcers, likewise they make for dangerous criminals and such giants end up in the lower levels of Impel Down, even as far down as level 6.

However while they are incredibly strong their size is also their biggest disadvantage; the larger giants such as Oars and Oars Jr. are so big that they make for easy targets during battles. Another disadvantage is space, as giants need room to maneuver themselves without damaging buildings or stepping on allies. Notably, to date no giant in the canon storyline has been known to have taken a Devil Fruit or displayed extra abilities like Haki, making them one of the most physically reliant races in the One Piece world. This can also put them at disadvantage as they have no alternative ways of fighting. However, they do use weapons of their choice to effectively increase damage.

One should also take into account that giants seen thus far seem fearless of Seakings (even seen hunting them), a remarkable note as Fishmen are wary of them and careless Mermen (such as Keimi) may fall prey to their jaws.

Beliefs
They believe that to die in battle is a great honor. They believe that duels are sacred battles between the strong to determine who wins the favor of the Gods of Elbaf. Upon returning to Elbaf after a victorious battle, they are treated as heroes. However, not all giants believe that dying in battle is a great honor. For example, Jaguar D. Saul stated that he did not come from Elbaf. He also said that he didn't share what he called those "barbaric" beliefs.

Another note is that due to their longer lifespan, they tend to treat time differently to humans. Where as 50 years to a human would be a lifetime wasted, to giants 50 years is only 1/6 of their potential lifespan. As such, a vow that results in them losing 50 years of their life can be seen by them as "nothing".

List of Giants
Other giants:
 * Unnamed giants imprisoned in Impel Down
 * An unnamed giant caught by the Coffee Monkeys and sold as a slave in the Human Auction House, freed by Silvers Rayleigh

Trivia

 * Oars came from a particularly evil band of giants who also did not come from Elbaf.
 * Bruce is the only giant to date to have been featured in any One Piece storyline with a Devil Fruit ability (the Mini Mini no Mi), but he is not canon.
 * At present, only one female giant has appeared. She has not been named.
 * Coincidentally, every named giant from the marines so far (John Giant, Saul, Ronse, and Lacroix) are (or at least was in Saul's case) Vice Admirals. This implies that they can all use Haki, as all Vice Admirals are said to be able to.
 * Sanjuan Wolf is the largest giant in the world, and he is one of a kind.