Shepherd Sommers

Sommers is a tall, muscular, middle-aged man with wrinkles, a bulbous nose, shaggy body, long hair held in place by pigtails and a light, short full beard that is styled in a crucifix shape below the mouth. His left arm has a distinct, elaborate tattoo and he wears a pair of plain glasses when off-duty, switching to sunglasses during official missions. Sommers’ God’s Knights attire consists of a dark-colored tunic held together by light colored strings, a belt and decorated with various medals and a rose pinned on his attire’s left breast, leaving the right comparatively bare save for a single medal in parallel to his rose. His tunic is also open at the upper torso, exposing part of his chest, and he wears long light gloves and dark boots, the latter reaching all the way to his thighs. Furthermore, he wears a light-colored armband on his left arm with the God’s Knights insignia depicted on it. Sommers completes his uniform with a fancy cape sporting a furry collar and epaulets draped over his shoulders. At least four pentagrams decorate his attire at various spots, one above his rose, one above his belt, one below and positioned between his sword and a final one on his pants. His belt buckle is decorated with the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon flocked by a pair of feathered wings. He keeps a sword with a thorn shaped guard at his side, held in place by a shoulder sash-like belt. When first summoned, Sommers was in a state of undress, wearing a light-colored undershirt and dark briefs with heart-shaped polka dots, and his military cape draped over his shoulders. His right forearm was severed by Scopper Gaban, using an attack that bypassed Sommers’ immortality.

In addition, Sommers also has no issues with revealing the God’s Knights mission and ultimate goal when they were sent to Elbaph, as he broadcast their objective all across Elbaph, fully wanting to execute the World Government’s absolute domination over the giants. He even went so far as to combine their objectives with his cruel side, as he told the shocked giants that they would kill each of the children they had captured one by one if their demands were not met, playing into his personality of total disregard for other lives while gaining benefits for himself or the World Government. He believed that academic pursuits and historical retention to be completely worthless for warriors of Elbaph, demanding both to be abolished. This complete lack of empathy even went so far as he disregarded Ange’s pleas for the Owl Library’s vast collection of books to be preserved, calling her out and ignoring her pleas. Due to his immortality, Sommers is very relaxed during his missions, as he continued his broadcast completely unbothered when Robin attacked him and dealt otherwise lethal injuries to him. However, should his regeneration fail to heal him, he seems to fall into a panic. According to his fellow knight Killingham, Sommers is a gourmet with good taste in food. He also enjoys live musical performances, albeit, by his own admission, he is very strict against mistakes and will punish anyone who plays imperfectly. Unlike most World Nobles, Saint Sommers appears to be more informed of the goings on of the “Lower World” and calmer in handling the crisis of the food shortage ravaging the Holy Land. Like several other characters, Sommers has a unique laughing style: “Gihaha” (ギハハ, Gihaha?).

Sommers is very loyal and respectful of Imu, regarding the secret ruler of the World Government as “Great One” (御大, Ontai?).

Sommers ate the Iba Iba no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit which grants him the ability to create and control thorny vines. Once the vines are created, he can wrap them around himself, or bind them around any target of his choosing, even to multiple individuals at once. He can create enough oversized vines to cover an entire battlefield. He can also create an enormous thorn-covered kanabō many times larger than himself. If someone attempts to make physical contact with a person wrapped by the vines, they will get hurt by the thorns. Additionally, the thorns can be made invisible, making it easier for someone to fall into the trap and more difficult for them to figure out the nature of the ability.

Abyss

As someone who can travel through the Abyss, Sommers has a “mark” that allows him to summon magic circles in order to teleport through them.

Immortality

Through unknown means, Sommers is effectively immortal as he can heal instantaneously from injuries. When Nico Robin used her powers to snap Sommers’ spine in half, he effortlessly restored himself as if nothing happened. However, when former Roger Pirates member Scopper Gaban severed Sommers’ arm with Supreme King Haki, the Noble was shocked to find out it was not growing back. Scopper’s attack slowed his regeneration so that despite being decapitated in battle, Sommers still survived and was eventually able to pull himself together and regenerate his arm though he felt great pain.

Haki

Sommers possesses Haki. His arrival on Elbaph was accompanied by a massive burst of Haki which resembled black lightning. His Haki was sensed by Scopper Gaban and described as being abnormal.

Weapons

Sommers is shown to carry a sword with a thorn-covered guard over the hilt. Using his Devil Fruit power, Sommers can transform his sword into a thorny kanabō many times larger than he is tall which he has used to beat Saul, using the many spikes on it to inflict extra damage.

Due to the unique situation, Shamrock conceived the idea that they could make kidnapping the children into a “game” of some sort, using their powers. The group quickly got to work, with Killingham putting the giant children to sleep, Sommers placing invisible thorns on them, and Gunko directing them toward the ships using their abilities. While sitting and watching as a massive group of what the children feared most attacked the Walrus School, Sommers questioned Gunko on what she feared most, and was shocked at her simple answer of “Nika”. Sometime after, the trio setup a table and began to dine as Killingham’s monsters began to cause chaos. Sommers laughed at the idea of the giant parents being unable to rescue their children, due to the thorns he had placed around them, and even considered the idea of the parents dying in front of the children to be exciting.

At the same time, Gunko was unmoved, making Sommers grow annoyed at her apathetic attitude toward their “game”. Upon further discussion, Sommers was disappointed at realizing that they had essentially already won, due to how unprepared the giants were for them. Gunko assured Sommers that they had nothing to worry about, as the giant children were inadvertently walking straight toward a large fire (that had been started by Loki), which would add some uncertainty to their “game”. After finishing their meal, Gunko began listening to her headphones, which Sommers likened to a ritual. When Sommers attempted to make fun of Gunko for it, Killingham chastised him for insulting what others liked, leading to Sommers apologizing.

At the same time, he took notice of the fact that the giants were attempting to save their children from the fire. Sommers and Gunko made their way to the edge of their perch, and watched as the children began to enter the flames. Sommers was amused by the giants failing attempts to stop the flames, and found himself laughing after hearing Gunko’s grim description of what she believed their fates would be. However, a last-moment save by Jinbe quashed the flames, preventing the children’s deaths. Immediately after, Sommers descended to Jaguar D.

Saul’s position, where he made quick work of the former Vice Admiral using his devil fruit powers. He received a call from Killingham, with the intent of having Sommers speak to the giants on Elbaph using their Dengo Mushi system, but put it off for a moment. After Saul collapsed, Sommers went on a rant about Elbaph’s transformation into a peaceful society, and blamed Harald for not making the giants into mercenaries for the World Government. In the meantime, Gunko arrived with the four Straw Hats she had captured. Sommers questioned on whether or not they were to be taken prisoner, but was informed by Killingham that provoking a fight with Luffy was not in their interests.

Sommers agreed, and demanded that Gunko leave the Straw Hats be for the time being. A few moments later, Sommers began his broadcast to Elbaph as a whole. Sommers announced to the giants that the God’s Knights had taken 10 of their children hostage, and defeated Saul while he was at it. After taking a moment to laugh at the Giant Warrior Pirates being defeated, Sommers addressed Jarul directly, and instructed him that he would speak for the giants as a whole. Sommers issued the demand that the giants would either serve as warriors for the World Government, or he and his allies would slaughter their children.

He informed them that if they were to accept, they would have to burn down the Owl Library and Walrus School. To make his threats clear, Sommers had Gunko stand one of the children in a position that would allow her to be quickly dropped to her death. He then gave Jarul 30 seconds to make a call on whether or not the giants would burn down the library and school. Nami berated Sommers for his disregard for the children’s lives, but Sommers simply laughed at her in response. While the giants argued about what to do, Sommers announced that his goal was the destruction of giant culture as a whole, however, he was interrupted by an unseen attack from Nico Robin.

Before he could gain his bearings, Robin used Cuatro Manos : Clutch, but he was able to simply shrug it off, thanks to his immortality. As Sommers announced that only 20 seconds remained, Robin suddenly tackled him off of the branch they were on. Sommers was confused and annoyed by the attempt to remove him, and tried to impale Robin on his thorns. Upon learning that the Robin he stabbed was actually a clone, he became outraged at having been outsmarted. Fortunately, Sommers was able to make a quick move with one of his thorns, allowing him to quickly proceed back up to the branch, where he attacked the real Robin.

With only a few seconds remaining, Sommers counted down to add pressure, and was satisfied when Jarul tearfully told Ange to burn down the school and library. Believing himself to have won, Sommers gloated and prepared a finishing move on Robin, but found himself confused as his hand was suddenly cut off, yet he was unable to regenerate it. A look of horror appeared on his face as he recognized Scopper Gaban, before being struck down by the former pirate. Sommers cried out in pain, and proceeded to collapse from the damage inflicted by the attack. Fortunately, he was able to recover in time to block Gaban’s axe using Ibarrier, giving himself a chance to rise again.

Sommers demanded to know why Gaban would be on Elbaph, but was forced into the defensive as Gaban refused to answer whilst dishing out attacks. Wishing to end it quickly, Sommers used Ibarush and Guren Jigoku to make a flurry of thorns all around himself, and then goaded Gaban into trying another attack. Unfortunately, Gaban was able to slip through the thorns without damage, before bisecting Sommers’ head from his body using a swift swing of his axe. However, despite being nothing more than a head, Sommers immortality allowed him to survive the normally-fatal attack, leaving him impaled on a few of his own thorns on the ground. After a bit of struggling, Sommers was able to reattach his head to his body. Whilst trying to stand, he received a telepathic order from Imu, directing him to take charge of the hostages. Imu went on to mention their desire to establish a faux monarchy, so as to make the hostage deal seem more legitimate, which Sommers agreed with. While still regenerating his hand, Sommers quietly cursed Gaban for the pain he had caused him. In the meantime, Killingham rallied his MMAs, sending them out alongside the now-demonic Giant Warrior Pirates. Sommers, surprised by the amount of force being prepared, telepathically questioned Imu as to how far they planned to take their conquest of Elbaph. Killingham assured him that their victory was inevitable, adding that his MMAs would keep going until they destroyed themselves. Imu suddenly chimed in as well, declaring that they would not stop until Elbaph’s spirit had been shattered.