Jaguar D. Saul

Jaguar D. Saul is a giant and former Vice Admiral who deserted the Marines and happened to wash ashore on Ohara. During the Buster Call that destroyed Ohara 22 years ago, he risked his life to protect a young Nico Robin and ended up frozen by fellow former Vice Admiral Kuzan. While Robin and the World Government presumed that he had died, he had actually survived. After collecting the books that Ohara’s scholars sacrificed themselves to save, he brought them to Elbaph and went into hiding, after which he stayed and became a history teacher for the Walrus School, located on Elbaph’s “Sun World” level. He is a major ally of the Straw Hat Pirates during the Elbaph Arc.Jaguar D. Saul is a giant and former Vice Admiral who deserted the Marines and happened to wash ashore on Ohara. During the Buster Call that destroyed Ohara 22 years ago, he risked his life to protect a young Nico Robin and ended up frozen by fellow former Vice Admiral Kuzan. While Robin and the World Government presumed that he had died, he had actually survived. After collecting the books that Ohara’s scholars sacrificed themselves to save, he brought them to Elbaph and went into hiding, after which he stayed and became a history teacher for the Walrus School, located on Elbaph’s “Sun World” level. He is a major ally of the Straw Hat Pirates during the Elbaph Arc.

Saul is a big and friendly giant who was somewhat shy and timid. While he was loyal to the Marines, he questioned their orders at least twice, which shows that he followed moral Justice over the code of Absolute Justice. In the end, it was this moral judgment that led him to betraying them, as Saul could not see why the Marines would need to slaughter an entire clan of mere archaeologists, who had no fighting chance against them. He also justified his choice of defending Robin after seeing a former colleague destroy an entire ship of innocent citizens, who held no related crimes to the incident at hand. Saul is also characterized as having a unique, but awkward laugh (Dereshishishishi). He enjoys seeing others laugh and have fun, as shown when he encouraged Robin to laugh. Like other “D’s” before him, he was seen laughing before his presumed death. Saul has shown himself to be a loyal friend and comrade, caring for both his allies and the students of the Walrus School, willing to sacrifice himself to save them, going out in defiance against opponents whose strength exceeds his own, and running into raging flames to ensure that no child can be harmed. He regrets the possibility of losing the knowledge and experience saved from Ohara and passed on to the next generation, and cries over it, but also knows that the lives of the children who were blackmailed into burning down the library and school are far more important.

As Robin left the island, she mourns for him, not realizing he survived, along with the destruction of her home and the death of her mother. Saul’s relationship with Robin explained how she knows about the Will of D. After saving Luffy from being buried under quicksand, she questioned him about why those who have the Will of D. fight, although Luffy had no idea what she was talking about. Robin hallucinates Saul’s appearance alongside Olvia and Clover as her “most precious memories” under the effects of Black Maria’s illusion mist. It would not be until 22 years later that Robin would learn that Saul was still alive and in hiding at Elbaph which she was brought to tears when Shaka revealed this information, despite not being able to verify Saul’s name directly. The two would officially reunite when Robin visited Elbaph. Later when he fought Sommers, Saul hid both Robin and Chopper to keep them safe.

Kuzan

Saul and Vice Admiral Kuzan (later known as Admiral Aokiji) also had a good friendship. They also shared the same sight on Moral Justice. Despite this, their friendship was not enough to spare Saul, though the reason Kuzan allowed Robin to live was mostly a final favor to Saul.

Nico Olvia

Saul initially had a hostile interaction with Nico Olvia. She berated him for murdering her colleagues and blindly complying with the World Government’s policies without knowledge of the entire situation. Saul realized she was correct and it led him to question his senior officer about the prohibition on Poneglyphs. The lack of answers prompted him to question Olvia about her work and in disdain for the World Government’s cruelty defected by releasing her. Olvia warned him that he could never return to the Marines, due to his treason. Saul responded by stating he was following his own ethics and wished her luck on her return to Ohara. Olvia finally trusted him by requesting Saul to protect her daughter and evacuate her from Ohara. Saul told Robin to be proud of her mother and the other archaeologists for their defiance of the World Government. Years after her death, Saul still held respect for Olvia as he praised Robin for inheriting her mother’s beauty.

Giants Of Elbaph

Despite not being from Elbaph, Saul was familiar with the giants there, considering them somewhat barbaric. Despite this, he apparently has a good relationship with them, to the point that they helped him transport the books of Ohara and let him live on the island. His students refer to him with the honorific “-sensei” (先生?).

Straw Hat Pirates

Saul met the rest of Robin’s crewmates during their visit to Elbaph, where the majority of them (minus Zoro and Jinbe) cried in happiness upon seeing Robin happily reunited with Saul. Luffy personally thanked Saul for saving Robin’s life. Saul in turn knew who Luffy was, as Luffy had become very famous since becoming one of the Four Emperors and encourages him and the other members of the crew to continue to protect Robin from the World Government.

Enemies

Marines

As a Marine officer, Saul was supposed to be loyal to the ideals and duties of the naval military. However, he questioned the orders of his commanding officer at least twice, which shows that he followed Moral Justice over the code of Absolute Justice. In the end, it was this moral judgment that led him to defecting by releasing Nico Olvia from prison, as Saul could not see why the Marines would need to slaughter an entire clan of mere archaeologists, who had no fighting chance against them. He also justified his choice of defending Robin after seeing a former colleague destroy an entire ship of innocent citizens, who held no related crimes to the incident at hand. After the Buster Call ended, Saul undermined its purpose by saving the books that the scholars placed in a lake, preserving the knowledge that the Marines sought to destroy, while allowing Vegapunk to secretly read them and effectively study the forbidden Void Century.

Haki

It was stated that all vice admirals possess Haki, so Saul can also use the ability.

Armament Haki

Saul is a skilled user of Armament Haki, being capable of hardening his fists at the very least. He first demonstrated his ability in order to take out Jörmungandr with a powerful punch.

While on duty, Saul’s vessel encountered a wanted ship run by the archaeologists of Ohara, who had left West Blue to locate and decipher the mysterious poneglyphs that bear an ancient, forgotten history that was forbidden to be studied. Despite ordering his men to take the archaeologists alive, Saul’s crew slaughtered all but one, Nico Olvia. After Olvia’s capture, Saul was informed by Sengoku that he would be one of the five chosen vice admirals to lead a Buster Call against Ohara for its crimes of deciphering the poneglyphs. Rejecting the study of history as a justification for the order, Saul began to doubt the World Government’s actions. After interrogating Olvia, Saul grew disgusted with the military’s brutal intentions and defected against the World Government by releasing her.

Soon after, he was shipwrecked in a storm and sent adrift in the ocean until he unknowingly landed in Ohara. There he met Nico Robin, whom he befriended. She visited for the next four days, while he was building a raft. One he had finished his raft, she told him about her mother, which led Saul to realize that he was in Ohara and that Robin was Olvia’s daughter. He then warned her about the battleship that was going to destroy Ohara due to the scholars having studied the Poneglyph.

Upon seeing the battleships gathering for the Buster Call, Saul rushed off to find Robin. When he found her, she had reunited with her mother. Saul promised Olvia to protect her daughter and then carried Robin to the shore of the island, but the Marine ships spotted him and opened fire. Saul put Robin down and angrily retaliated, picking up one ship and throwing it into another. While attacking other ships, Saul told Robin to go to the evacuation ship. When Spandine refused to allow her aboard, Saul charged at the CP9 ship, but Kuzan intercepted him. Their argument about Justice was interrupted by the evacuation ship exploding. Saul attempted to escape with Robin, but Kuzan froze him in place. Before being completely encased in ice, Saul laughed and encouraged Robin to escape the island and to find friends out at sea. When he regained consciousness, Saul found himself drowning in the ocean, and concluded that the ice encasing him must have melted and swept him into the water. Awhile afterwards, Saul learned that Robin had survived the Buster Call as well. The World Government believed Saul to have died during the incident, with the assumption that he helped Robin escape the island at the moment of his death.

Aftermath Of Ohara

At some point, Saul became affiliated with Elbaph, and proceeded to lead a group of their giants to retrieve the books that the Ohara scholars had thrown into the lake, and transported the items to their home of Elbaph, where Saul went into hiding. Two years later Saul relayed this knowledge to Vegapunk’s clone when the scientist visited Owl Library on Elbaph, which set Vegapunk on a path to discover the truth of the Void Century. The king of Elbaph, Harald, requested Saul to open a school for the children of the nation as a part of his peaceful reforms, which Saul did, and becoming a history teacher of the newly founded Walrus School.

Final Saga

Egghead Arc

During Vegapunk’s broadcast to the world, Saul was seen relaxing and laughing in the wilds of Elbaph.

Elbaph Arc

On Elbaph, Saul suddenly collapsed to the ground and was unable to get back up, as others around him called for help. However, once the Straw Hats arrived on the island and reached the beach-like area known as Warrior Springs, it is revealed that Saul was only pretending so he could surprise Nico Robin, something that no one other than Robin herself noticed. Sure enough, once Robin got close, Saul tried spooking her, simply because he did not know what to say to Robin after all these years, so he figured he could surprise her with a joke instead, though it had no effect. Robin told him that his laugh was still funny as he picked her up close to get a better look at her. He told her that she looked just like Olvia now, which Robin is deeply touched by.

Saul then asked Robin if she heard Dr. Vegapunk’s broadcast and how he considers it Ohara’s legacy and praised the late scientist for risking his life for the sake of preserving its existence. She touched Saul’s face, asking about his scars and if they hurt, to which he stated he was fine and that he turned out to be tougher than even he thought, because while he was frozen, the fire of the island melted him free and he fell into the ocean. He later found out that Robin had successfully escaped the island, but he was furious by the lies that were written about her in the paper. Robin, however, tells Saul she does not want to focus on the dark stuff now; instead she wants Saul to praise her for being alive.

Saul immediately hugs her and tearfully thanks her for making it all the way here to him. In turn, Robin breaks down into tears saying she missed him, which he replies he missed her too. Robin proceeded to introduce him to Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, in which Saul was happy that they were the friends he hoped Robin would find. Lilith went up to Saul and introduced herself as Vegapunk, and showed the clone of Vegapunk that visited Elbaph 20 years ago, which left Saul confused. Afterwards, Ange and Gerd gave the Straw Hats a tour of the Walrus School, while Saul went to the Owl Library with Chopper, Lilith, and Bonney.

Once there, he showed them that the library contained every book he and the giants collected from Ohara. Saul went on to introduce the group to Biblo, the sort of librarian owl who had been there for centuries, and used the power of the Iku Iku no Mi to make the books larger for giants to read. While most of Luffy’s friends left to take care of their own business, Robin and Chopper decided to remain with Saul, in order to further study the literature present. Sometime later, Saul introduced Robin and Chopper to the Harley, a book about the myths and legends of Elbaph, including Nika. He further explained that it had various interpretations, due to its age and ambiguity, and allowed Robin to read from it.

Sometime later that day, a construct of Jörmungandr suddenly attacked the school, forcing Saul and the rest of the staff to defend the student body. While Kiba struck the construct with his hammer, Saul used a haki-coated punch to smash it into the ground, leaving it defeated. Saul apologized to the children about the scary situation, and spoke with Chopper and Robin about the unusual nature of the attack, as most large creatures usually stayed in the Underworld of Elbaph. Just after, however, Saul discovered a severely injured Wolf, the gym teacher, and was greatly confused as he watched many of the giant children sleepwalk away from the school. Moments later, more of the children began to collapse, and Saul stood shocked as massive constructs of the children’s fears began to manifest from the nearby forest.

Immediately afterward, Saul chased the sleepwalking children out of the school. Robin attempted to remind Saul of Wolf’s warning, but Saul disregarded it, and proceeded to try to grab Ylva. Saul’s attempt was quickly thwarted as invisible thorns around Ylva stabbed his hand, causing him to collapse in pain. Unwilling to give up, Saul equipped himself with a pair of shields, with the plan of simply blocking the children from moving forward without actually touching them. Robin and Chopper wished him luck, however upon being stopped by the shields, the children walked into each other, causing the thorns around each of them to begin pricking them.

As Saul aborted his plan, Robin suggested hunting down the user of the devil fruit, but Saul reminded her that nearby flames (that had been started by Loki), would soon enter the children’s path, meaning he had to stop them as soon as possible. Making another attempt, Saul equipped a nearby rope, which he used to lasso one of the children at the back. The plan seemed to work, until a MMA of Fenrir appeared, forcing the trio into a fight. Saul was able to defeat the MMA; however, the resulting delay allowed the children to make their way directly into the fire. Saul begged the nearby firefighters to stop the flames, but they were having trouble doing so. Jinbe extinguished the flames just in time, giving relief to all. Shepherd Sommers then descended to fight Saul, who warned Chopper and Robin to remain hidden, citing that the God’s Knights were immortal, and therefore unbeatable. The fight was over very quickly, with Saul unable to compete with the power of a God’s Knight, leading to him collapsing to the ground. Saul remained incapacitated in brambles throughout Sommers’ ultimatum to Elbaph. When Jarul gave the order to raze the Walrus School and Owl Library, in order to save the children taken hostage, Saul shed a few tears.