Scopper Gaban

Scopper Gaban is a former member of the Roger Pirates, known within the story as the "Left Hand of the Pirate King" for his history alongside Gol D. Roger. Long referenced more than shown, Gaban's role expanded dramatically in the Elbaf Arc, when he stepped directly into a fight that had already gone badly for the story's protagonist.

Stepping in after Luffy falls

In Chapter 1190, Imu — one of the most powerful and mysterious figures in the series — defeats and incapacitates Luffy, who had entered the fight in his Gear 5 form. With Luffy down, Gaban takes over the confrontation, despite already being weakened from injuries sustained earlier in the arc. That he's able to hold his own, and even outperform both Luffy and Prince Loki in the exchange, is a significant demonstration of just how dangerous a member of Roger's old crew remains even in a diminished state.

Forcing Imu's hand

Gaban's performance is strong enough that Imu is forced to escalate, drawing on multiple legendary weapons — including the Xingtian Axe and the Honebami Toshiro katana — to match him. Gaban answers with a new named technique, reported as "Shinmon: Hassen – Fukushu" (also referred to as the "Kamudo" attack), a strike powerful enough to tear apart the battlefield and sever a branch of the Adam Tree. The scale of that clash puts Gaban's abilities on a level rarely shown outside of the series' very top-tier fighters.

The cost of the fight

Despite his showing, Gaban ultimately loses the exchange, and his left arm is severed below the elbow as a result. Rather than framing this purely as a defeat, the chapter uses the aftermath to give Gaban room to speak directly to Luffy — delivering two pointed warnings about the weight of the title Luffy is chasing.

What he tells Luffy

Gaban warns Luffy bluntly: "If any part of you still thinks becoming Pirate King is gonna be a stroll in the park, then go home now!" He goes further, framing the Pirate King as effectively "the person whose death would make people happy" — a warning that anyone hoping to hold that title while living a peaceful life should give up the ambition entirely. Coming from someone who fought alongside Roger himself, that framing carries weight it wouldn't have from almost any other character in the story, and it directly informs how readers are meant to understand just how steep the road ahead of Luffy still is.

Why his appearance matters

Gaban's clash with Imu does double duty: it demonstrates the scale of Imu's power by showing what it takes to seriously threaten them, and it recontextualizes Roger's old crew as still being relevant, dangerous forces in the present-day story rather than background history. Outlets covering the chapter have read the sequence as establishing that even a wounded, aged member of Roger's crew currently exceeds Gear 5 Luffy's power level — a deliberate signal about how much further Luffy still has to go before he can credibly claim the title Gaban is warning him about.