The God Knights were introduced in One Piece's Elbaph story arc as the ultimate guardians of the Five Elders and other Celestial Dragons, but their fearsome reputation feels hollow so far. Members such as the horribly cruel St. Sommers and the kirin-like St. Killingham are underperforming in battle against the Straw Hats, and they can only blame themselves. They're the product of a world order that always shielded them from proper challenges or battlefield tests.
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While the God Knights are far from helpless, they're not nearly as skilled or elite as their station would suggest. Right now, World Government agents such as the Admirals, the Five Elders, and even CP0 commander Rob Lucci are putting the God Knights to shame. Being immortal has clearly gotten to their heads, and it's made them sloppy when facing the likes of the Straw Hats and Scopper Gaban. Still, there's time for all that to change. If so, the Straw Hats may face a repeat of the horrors of Egghead Island, when they faced the Elders' wrath head-on.
The God Knights Keep Dropping the Ball as Immortal Warriors
Scopper Gaban Made a Joke of St. Sommers on Elbaph
Currently known God Knights members:
- St. Shamrock Figarland
- St. Manmayer Gunko
- St. Shepherd Sommers
- St. Rimoshifu Killingham
- St. Figarland Garling
To a shocking degree, the known members of the God Knights have taken their mission on Elbaph much too lightly, at least in terms of combat. Members such as Sommers, Killingham, and Gunko are making a terrific effort to pressure Elbaph's leaders into bending to their will. However, the God Knights' combat record and tactics thus far only paint them as cowardly creeps rather than being the epitome of Imu's world order. Even the mighty Five Elders, who aren't "supposed" to do their own dirty work, made a better show of things on Elbaph. And that's counting the fact that the Straw Hats and Dr. Vegapunk's satellites escaped the Navy assault safe and sound.
To begin with, the God Knights' biggest play right now was to take Elbaph's children hostage with a blend of Killingham's and Gunko's Devil Fruits. It's an effective way to put pressure on Chief Jarul and other giant leaders, but it's disgustingly cowardly in more ways than one. It's typical for One Piece villains to resort to cartoonishly extreme methods to highlight their wicked ways, from Crocodile provoking a civil war to Spandam toying around with Buster Calls. But even so, the God Knights are stooping to holding vulnerable children hostage, which seems beneath the self-proclaimed stewards of the living gods, the Celestial Dragons.
It's not surprising that the God Knights fight dirty and contrast so sharply with the Straw Hats' innate goodness. Still, it feels more than just dirty, it feels cheap for Gunko and her allies to resort to such methods. It's not inconsistent with the World Government's exploitative attitude, with the World Government being an entity that makes a game of slavery and genocide. Yet the God Knights couldn't be bothered to use their full combat strength to get their way on Elbaph.
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For another thing, when the God Knights do actually fight, their combat record leaves ample room for improvement on their part. So far, Gunko herself has done the finest job, making expert use of her Arrow-Arrow Fruit to maneuver even the strongest Straw Hat crewmates like Jinbe into harming each other. Killingham, meanwhile, is making good use of his nightmare MMAs to hold the giants back. Aside from that, the God Knights are falling short of what One Piece fans might expect from a villain group that's picking up where the Five Elders left off.
It's a given that Gear 5 Luffy can handle the likes of the God Knights, in light of how he made a joke of both Admiral Kizaru and St. Jaygarcia Saturn on Egghead. Meanwhile, even retirees like Scopper Gaban, Gol D. Roger's former left hand, has no trouble dealing with the God Knights. In recent manga chapters, Scopper used his axes and Haki to slice St. Sommers in half, with Sommers only surviving thanks to the immortality Imu granted him. This goes beyond the Straw Hats enjoying typical shonen plot armor to survive scrapes with the bad guys. It's a clear sign that the God Knights aren't used to doing their own dirty work, instead coasting on their authority and immortality. That reveals the full extent of the rot found in Marie Geoise.
The God Knights Were Insulated in Their Own Safe World
Reality May Force St. Sommers and the Others to Grow Stronger
The blame for the God Knights' underwhelming reputation may fall not just on their shoulders, but also on the world they call home. Marie Geoise has long been established as a world of its own on the Red Line, a private utopia for the Celestial Dragons, the enigmatic Imu, and other parties. The people there are disconnected from the rest of the world in every way, and in the case of the God Knights, that fact may work against them. Living in such a world, where their authority and power is never questioned, meant the God Knights have lost perspective on themselves.
Unlike the Straw Hats and similar pirate crews, who have fought hard for all they have, the God Knights are too used to having it all. Paradoxically, that means the God Knights are missing what they need most: the grit to get the job done. They're not accustomed to facing tough reality like the Straw Hats are, and that's no surprise. Many shonen heroes are everyday underdogs who claw their way up from the bottom and thus appreciate all the strength they gain along the way. Villains start off with everything, meaning the only way they can go is down. Villains like the God Knights are simply not prepared for anyone to be a real challenge, so they crumble when facing real hardship for the first time.
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One Piece fans can point to Figarland Garling taking part in the God Valley Incident in a flashback as an example of a member leaving his safe little world to get his hands dirty. But even then, it was more like hunting for sport than a proper battle. Garling had every advantage -- he has yet to win by the skin of his teeth on-screen. That being said, there is room for the God Knights, including Garling himself, to get much stronger. When facing the likes of Scopper Gaban and the Straw Hats' "monster trio," they may tap into the shonen spirit of growth in the heat of battle.
It's common for One Piece's heroes to train or even figure out new moves mid-battle, and the God Knights may do the same. They need another way to surpass the Five Elders as physical threats here on Elbaph, since manga like One Piece need the power scaling to keep going up, not slide back down. Ideally, the God Knights may become a dark mirror of Luffy's crew and learn some lessons from their hard-won scrapes and bruises before taking things to the next level. They now know they can't coast on immortality, authority, or fancy titles. They're down in the dirt with the Straw Hats, and down there, only strength and grit matter, not dress uniforms.
If the God Knights want to be anything other than overrated, pompous creeps, they will ignore their own immortality and fight as though their lives were on the line. That would grant them the same rugged, do-or-die grit that have seen the Straw Hats through the likes of the Enies Lobby battle and the raid on Onigashima. Even the proudest, most twisted villains like the God Knights can think a little more like underdog heroes if they have a job left undone. In light of what Imu did to St. Saturn for his failure, it's likely the God Knights know that if they drop the ball one more time, they really will die. The Straw Hats are their trial by fire, and warriors like the God Knights can't afford to fail.
