A mad scientist and king of the Germa Kingdom in equal measure, Vinsmoke Judge is one of the more terrible fathers in One Piece. The father to Sanji, Ichiji, Neji, Yonji, and Reiju, he’s infamous for overall just being a massive jerk to his family. He takes pride in his work though, and three of his sons are the pinnacle of that work, perfect soldiers with no emotions. How in the world does someone end up as cold and cruel as Vinsmoke Judge though?
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Who is Vinsmoke Judge?
King of Germa and head of the Vinsmoke Family, Judge is one of the most harsh rulers in the world. Especially considering Germa consists of nothing but genetically engineered clone soldiers that obey his every command. That’s still not enough for Judge though, who strives to create the perfect human weapon, even going as far as turning his own children into hyper-violent, emotionless tools of death. Judge goes so far as to even use his wife in his experiments, genetically altering his children’s DNA in the womb without her consent.
As if he’s not bad enough for all of that, he later pivots his children to his own advantage. Judge has known how to finagle his way into greater positions, like gaining access to the Reverie for the Germa Kingdom before they defect to ally with Big Mom. However, this idea significantly backfires on him later, thanks to the plotting of Big Mom’s family and the interference of the Straw Hat and Firetank Pirate crews. It does end up showing Judge some important information though, and gains him an old comrade in Caesar Clown.
Germa King
The Vinsmoke family have been the rulers of the Germa Kingdom and their intense scientific might for decades. Judge is only the latest in a long line of rulers, using the incredible science at their hands to rule the North Blue with relative ease. They even get a comic book named after them in the North Blue that eventually makes its way around the world. The comic of Germa 66 existed before the actual people, but when Judge turns his kids into weapons, he gives them each the color and abilities of a different one of the comic characters. Guess he is a big nerd after all.
However, by the time of the main story, Germa is no longer the supreme force in the North Blue that they once were. Instead, they take their sailing, modular kingdom which fits together or breaks apart as needed to the New World. Judge is going to regain their political might no matter what it takes, even if it means selling off one of his own children for a political marriage. Even after their deal explodes in his face though, Judge tries to keep a reputation for the might of Germa, aiding the Straw Hats to escape from the Big Mom Pirates.
Worst Father of the Year
It’s pretty hard to become one of the worst fathers in One Piece, especially considering it’s a long list and a high bar. Even with that challenge though, Vinsmoke Judge goes out of his way to make life hell on earth for not only his children, but his wife too. Despite her protests, Vinsmoke Judge willingly manipulates the DNA of his wife Sora and their quadruplets in the womb yet to be born. In doing so, he creates part of the infamous Germa 66, a fighting force like none other the Grand Line has ever seen.
As if that’s not bad enough, Judge had already tried this before on Sora’s first pregnancy. With that one though, he only created Reiju, and even with his meddling, he wasn’t able to fully eclipse her emotions like the three other boys. It still worked to give her the incredible powers of Germa though, and earned the name Poison Pink. Judge takes his time training his children in the art of battle, teaching them everything he knows about violence to make them into the terrifying fighting force of Germa 66. With their power, he intends to take back the North Blue by force.
Judge’s Shame
Despite his fiddling with the DNA of his children against her will, Sora does try to undo Judge’s tampering. Not long after he does his experiments, Sora takes a handful of pills that try to nullify the effect. This only works for Sanji though, granting him the empathy and feelings his brothers lack while also making his Germa abilities lie dormant. It takes a toll on her health though, leading to illness and, by the time Sanji is older, Sora’s death. Judge blames Sanji for her death too, taking things even further than he already was in his son’s training.
Despite Sanji just wanting to cook for people and help, Judge beats him mercilessly for being a ‘failure’. This isn’t just limited to beatings by Judge either as Neiji, Ichiji, and Yonji also join in whenever they need to relieve some stress. Sanji is powerless to stop them of course, with none of the bonuses to power and speed they have. Finally, after Sora’s death, Judge locks him in a room with an iron mask on, imprisoning his one shameful failure. When Germa is eventually attacked, Judge happens to let Sanji slip away after Reiju frees him, allowing him to go on to meet Zeff, his REAL father.
MADS Scientist
Long before he took over the Kingdom of Germa and became the mad scientist in charge there, Judge was part of MADS. This research institute was a launching point for many infamous scientists in the Grand Line, both good and bad. Alongside Queen, Buckingham Stussy, Caesar Clown, and even Vegapunk himself, Judge perfects all kinds of science while working together. Of course, that’s not enough to keep them from fighting, and eventually, MADS implodes thanks to the insane ego involved of each member. Though they all go their separate ways, this isn’t the end of MADS all altogether.
After fleeing from Big Mom along with the Firetank Pirates, Caesar Clown jumps ship over to Germa without Judge’s knowledge. When he reveals himself, the two are apprehensive of each other at first but soon start drinking and reminiscing about the old days. In the process, they make up a whole new iteration of MADS for a new era, bringing together Germa 66 and Caesar Clown’s genocidal weapon ideas.
Deal with Big Mom
Vinsmoke Judge really just looks for new ways to be a total jerk to his family nearly every day. After Germa loses their standing in the North Blue, he leaves for the New World to give Big Mom a proposal, an alliance, with a marriage between children as a pact. It’s one of the more disgusting things that happens in the New World, with Big Mom marrying off her children to try and create a huge network of loyalty. Meanwhile, Judge just wants to use the power and funding behind an Emperor of the Sea to get Germa back on track before going back North to dominate. Judge’s main pawn in this plan, of course, is the one child he couldn’t care less what happens to, and believed to be dead anyway.
Judge uses his political power to petition the World Government, changing Sanji’s bounty from ‘Dead or Alive’ to ‘Alive Only’. Then Big Mom’s Pirates send out Gang Bege to bring him in, with Germa kidnapping his adoptive father, Red Shoes Zeff, as collateral. While Zeff is held prisoner over in the East Blue, Sanji knows he has a debt to uphold for the man who saved him long ago, and decides to go along with his father’s plan. Now, on Whole Cake Island, the wedding between Vinsmoke Sanji and Charlotte Pudding is going to change the New World.
Finally Accepting Sanji
Judge might be an asshole, but he does know when to respect power when it appears. Judge wasn’t aware of Big Mom’s betrayal, with Reiju only telling the Straw Hat Pirates about what was going to happen. It’s one of the greater failings of Germa’s king, and shows him that even though he thinks he’s on top of the world, dealing with a pirate Emperor is much more than he’s ready for. With Big Mom’s betrayal, Judge has to fight for his life alongside his children to try and make it out while also seeing his greatest failure become the savior for them all.
After Sanji leaves to make another wedding cake and the Straw Hats have to get away, Judge and the rest of Germa 66 go into battle to back them up. It’s more of a tactical decision for him, but Judge knows that he’s unlikely to make it out of Totto Land on his own without their help. By the time he sees his son Sanji unload a couple of Diablo Jambe’s while keeping up in a fight with his brothers, Judge finally gives in. He realizes that even though he could create as many scientific advantages as he wants, he could never replicate the drive and grit of humans to gain strength to defend others.
Where is Judge Now?
After their intense flight from Totto Land, Judge and the rest of Germa 66 are lying low in the New World. It’s unknown if they plan on going back to the North Blue, but after surviving the ordeal and rediscovering Judge’s friendship with Caesar Clown, there are new endeavors on the horizon. Judge and Caesar are taking themselves back to their MADS days, recreating the old organization to foster scientific study between genius minds. At the rate they’re going, they’ll likely manage to gather the original MADS crew by the time the story is over.
Considering that Queen is now homeless with the Beast Pirates dissolution, there’s nowhere else for him to go. Not that he could stand Judge much anyway. Buckingham Stussy is still out there as well, though she’s currently focused on saving her child Edward Weevil, son of Whitebeard Edward Newgate. Meanwhile, Vegapunk is on Egghead Island facing down a Gorosei alongside the Straw Hat Pirates, and as of now, that’s not going very well in the manga. It’s going to be an interesting development if Vegapunk reteams with his old MADS colleagues.
Vinsmoke Judge though, seems to possibly have changed over his time reconnecting with Sanji. He now has the realization that he hasn’t succeeded in building the ultimate fighting force, and maybe he’ll turn away from a more militaristic line of work. Doubtful, considering the Kingdom of Germa is entirely made up of super soldier clones, but hey, strange things have happened in the world of One Piece.
