| “ |
I saw so many things... Prosperity; Ruin; Creation; Destruction; Life and Death. Bound by this curse which prolonged my suffering. And then, I finally realized... that my suffering would lead to true happiness... |
” |
—Garterbelt | ||
Garterbelt (ガーターベルト, Gātāberuto) is the titular deuteragonist of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. He is a large black man with an oversized afro. Garterbelt is the reverend of Daten City and the mentor of the Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking.
Background[]
Garterbelt in his young years.
Garterbelt has a very checkered past. In "Once Upon a Time in Garterbelt", it is revealed that Garterbelt used to be a gangster, who performed various crimes, including assault and drug dealing. He eventually became the greatest crime lord in his town, but was gunned down in his own office.
Soon after, he ended up in Heaven, where he was given an as-of-yet undisclosed mission by Judgement. When he refused to take it, he was cursed with immortality and sent to the beginning of time, forced to live through the creation of the world as it is today, going through biblical events such as Adam and Eve (in which he ate the apple), Noah's ark, etc. Eventually, Garterbelt finally realized that his own suffering would lead to true happiness. He then retained his immortality, became a priest and was given the task to supervise two angels, Panty and Stocking. Due to being immortal, Garterbelt explodes in a manner similar to ghosts whenever he is killed, only to reassemble himself moments later.
Description[]
Taken from NewPSG.com:
"The priest of the Cemetery Hills Church on the outskirts of Daten City. He serves as the overseer of the angel sisters, but beneath his calm demeanor, he occasionally acts suspiciously and engages in dubious activities, making him a mysterious character."
Appearance[]
Garterbelt is a very tall and slim man. He has brown skin, red eyes, and a massive, oval-shaped afro. Garterbelt is commonly seen wearing a normal priest's robe with a red and white stole and black shoes. In his past, Garterbelt had dreadlocked hair which partially covered his face. In season 2, Garterbelt's "donut lips" and the crosses on his priest's robe were removed.
In "Bitch Girls: 2 Bitch", Garterbelt was attacked by Corset, causing part of his afro to get torn off and resemble a crescent moon. It is unknown if his afro will go back to normal in season 2.
Master G[]
Master G.
Garterbelt's alter-ego, Master G, was first introduced in "High School Nudical". He had hosted the Lingerie Run and told the Anarchy sisters to defeat the ghost. Master G was brought back in "If the Angels Wore Swimsuits", when he set up a betting table on who would win the volleyball tournament in hopes to gain money. Master G has a mask that covers his afro, some of his face, and his robe. His stole is also colored orange and white.
Personality[]
Garterbelt is constantly annoyed and bewildered by Panty and Stocking's erratic behavior and lack of commitment to the task at hand. He is the one who gives the Anarchy sisters most of their missions, which are sent to him through Chuck, in the form of small notes.
Garterbelt seems dedicated and stoic most of the time; however, he considers BDSM to be a sacred ritual, and uses bondage as a way to secretly judge himself. He believes Corset's version of bondage lacks 'self control' possibly due to Garterbelt's own past, which causes him to yearn for self control and judgement.
Orientation[]
Garterbelt entering a gay club.
Throughout the series, Garterbelt is shown to be attracted to men. This is mostly foreshadowed in "Catfight Club" after a comment Brief made, saying Garterbelt was a really interesting guy, to which Garterbelt stated that he was single. He offered to take Brief home after having dinner together. He is later seen walking into an area full of men hugging each other, with clubs named Rainbow, Bear Club, and Club GBoys in the background. Also, in the beginning of "Pulp Addiction" when Garterbelt talks about his torturous two weeks without tissues, one scene shows him huddled in a corner with several magazines on the floor with men on them; one of the magazines is named Play Guys, a parody of the famous Playboy magazines. During "High School Nudical", Garterbelt is seen ogling the boys' scantily clad bodies during the Lingerie Run party. Garterbelt was also very eager to see Brief strip naked in "Inner Brief".
One of the biggest hints to Gaterbelt's sexuality is the short "Map of the Daten City" from the OVA, where there are multiple signs of Garterbelt taking interest in men. At the start, Garterbelt is seen kicking numeral naked men out of the church with no sign of Panty nor Stocking around. Slightly after, Garterbelt is seen in BDSM gear being whipped by several men. During the part about Daten Beach, yet again, naked boys are seen coming out of the umbrella Garterbelt is under. Finally, while discussing West Hollywood, Garterbelt chooses which man he wants to see at GoGo Boy, which is garnished with rainbow flags.
With that being said, before he was killed and turned immortal, he was seen surrounded by women, indicating he may be bisexual.
Abilities[]
Garterbelt is known to be immortal. Every time he is killed, he explodes the same way as ghosts do, but his body reassembles a few moments later. It is unknown if he will die the moment Panty and Stocking's mission on Earth finally concludes.
Garterbelt does not seem to be affected by wounds that would normally kill a human, as shown in "Bitch Girls: 2 Bitch", in which he was mortally stabbed by Corset, and even after the latter took Garterbelt's heart completely out, he didn't die. At least, not until Corset (literally) crushed his heart.
He can also pull infinite ammo from his afro, and use guns and rifles with precise ease.
Relationships[]
Panty and Stocking[]
While Garterbelt lives with Panty and Stocking in the church, he is extremely demanding towards them due to not taking their ghost-hunting missions seriously. This often leads to arguments, especially with Panty.
Brief[]
Ever since Garterbelt met Brief in "Catfight Club", the two have become good friends, although Garterbelt has flirted with Brief several times throughout the series, indicating that he has feelings for Brief. In "Catfight Club", he reminded Brief that he was single and "look'n for some mingle'n", and in "Inner Brief", Garterbelt was excited to see Brief naked.
Corset[]
Corset and Garterbelt are arch-enemies to one another, similarly to Panty and Stocking with Scanty and Kneesocks. Both Corset and Garterbelt have a massive yellow X-shaped scar on their chests, with Garter's on the right side and Corset's on the left. It is currently unknown how either character got their scars, but it likely indicates that the two have encountered each other before.
Trivia[]
- When Panty and Stocking used Garterbelt's Express Black Card to buy unnecessary stuff, they caused the card to max out. However, this should have been impossible, since the card was supposed to give unlimited Heaven Coins.
- In "Bitch Girls: 2 Bitch", when Corset told them his plan to go to Oten City, Garterbelt came back to life, meaning he still has a purpose on Earth.
- It may also imply that his mission was to be the mentor of Panty and not Stocking, who betrayed them in the end.
- When Corset momentarily kills Garterbelt, the hole where his heart was is on the right side of his chest, perhaps meaning that the orientation of his organs is reversed.
- Garterbelt's bodily characteristics seem to be inspired by Gurren Lagann's Lordgenome. Such similarities include his dark skin complexion, circular chest hair, red-spiraled eyes, immortality, and imposing demeanor.
- Garterbelt's voice in the English dub is likely a reference to Samuel L. Jackson.
- In "Sit Down with Panty and Stocking", Ian Sinclair (the English voice of Chuck) revealed that he originally auditioned to be the voice of Garterbelt.
- Garterbelt's attraction towards young boys is a parody of the real-life cases of sexual abuse by priests.
- It may be implied that Garterbelt is also a zoophile because in "Once Upon a Time in Garterbelt", it is revealed that Garterbelt does his BDSM activities with Chuck. Furthermore, in the second "Cherry Corrida" track, it is implied that Garterbelt sleeps with Chuck.
- The decision to recolor Garterbelt's lips to brown in season 2 seems to have been a last-minute decision, as Garterbelt was still shown with his donut lips as recently as July 2024.[2]
- In "Pulp Addiction", it is revealed that Garterbelt is 6 feet and 6 inches tall, and his afro is 2 feet tall.
References[]
- ↑ "FUNimation announces PSG English cast" (April 28, 2012).
- ↑ File:GRptl7bbMAMQxqw.jpg
