One Piece's first saga, the East Blue, indeed took place in the East Blue region and served as a multi-arc introduction to Luffy's adventure. In this story arc, Monkey D. Luffy grew up, received red-haired Shanks' straw hat, and set off on his voyage to become the pirate king. He was a real star in that saga and proved it with his fists and words alike.
Throughout the East Blue saga, Luffy proved himself the series' best character in many ways that anime fans now love him for. Sometimes, he was the East Blue saga's best character with his gutsy decisions and his compassionate dialogue. Other times, he defeated a nasty, horrible villain no one else could beat and saved the day.
10 Luffy Destroyed Captain Morgan's Statue
In the Romance Dawn story arc, Luffy arrived at Shells Town and took on the arrogant, annoying Captain Morgan and his spoiled son, the bratty Helmeppo. Luffy toppled the conceited Captain Morgan in two ways, actually, and defeating Morgan in combat was just the start.
Luffy also symbolically destroyed Captain Morgan's huge statue, an eyesore that was erected solely to heap praise on Morgan and show off his domination. A lot of taxpayer money was misused to build that thing, and Luffy did everyone a favor when he toppled it.
9 Luffy Convinced Roronoa Zoro To Join His Crew
Luffy did more than defeat Captain Morgan at Shells Town - he also recruited One Piece's most iconic swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. At first, Zoro was proud to be a bounty hunter who captured pirates for cash, and he refused to actually become a pirate himself.
Over time, Luffy wore him down with sheer persistence, willpower, and charisma, and the stubborn Zoro changed his mind. Zoro also recognized Luffy as a powerful, trustworthy, and noble fighter worth following, so he agreed to become Luffy's first real crewmate then and there.
8 Luffy Used Reverse Psychology To Harden Koby's Resolve
Even before he met Zoro, Luffy met a pink-haired dandere boy named Koby, who timidly dreamed of joining the Marines and saving the world from evil while in uniform. Luffy had no interest in the Navy, but he did view Koby as a friend, so he wanted to encourage Koby's dream.
Luffy finally found a way to push Koby along. After Captain Morgan's defeat, Luffy used reverse psychology and tried to make Koby look bad in front of the local Marines. Koby hit Luffy on the head, then firmly resolved to join the Marines and prove his worth, despite his pirate-based past.
7 Luffy Protected His Hat & Shanks' Reputation From Buggy The Clown
Luffy didn't have much trouble defending himself from the comical villain Buggy the Clown, but he did fight hard to defend his personal treasures from his Chop-Chop opponent. At one point, Buggy lightly damaged Luffy's straw hat, then mentioned his past with Shanks.
Luffy flew into a rage and fought back to defend his straw hat, a precious treasure that Shanks had entrusted him with. Luffy also demanded that the sleazy, villainous Buggy not compare himself to Shanks or insult Shanks and harm his reputation in the process.
6 Luffy Defeated Captain Kuro
In the Syrup Village story arc, the long-nosed liar Usopp made his debut, and he was fiercely determined to protect the lovely lady Kaya from all threats. He also suspected the butler Klahadore of being a villain, but no one believed him until Klahadore attacked as Captain Kuro of the Black Cat pirates.
Luffy and his small crew struggled at first against the Black Cat pirates' superior numbers and Kuro's formidable ten-sword style, but Luffy found a way. He destroyed half of Kuro's "claws," endured Kuro's ultimate move, then saved Kaya and Syrup Village with the final blow as a true hero.
5 Luffy Defeated Captain Don Krieg To Save The Baratie
Luffy was amazed when his crew came across the Baratie, a huge ship-restaurant staffed with combat-ready cooks, including the blond tsundere Sanji Vinsmoke. Sanji, chef Zeff, and the others fought well when Captain Don Krieg arrived with his battle fleet, and it fell to Luffy to save the Baratie.
Luffy leaped right into action, and he didn't fear Don Krieg's heavy armor or weapons. Despite the odds, Luffy prevailed and even punched his way through Don Krieg's spiked armor no matter the pain. This not only saved Zeff's beloved restaurant but paved the way for recruiting Sanji.
4 Luffy Praised Sanji's Best Soup
Another reverse psychology moment arrived when chef Zeff and his crew wanted to push Sanji to join Luffy and realize his dream of finding the All Blue. However, Zeff wasn't sentimental enough for tearful goodbyes, so he and the staff used reverse psychology and heavily criticized Sanji's best soup dish.
Luffy, however, warmly praised Sanji's soup as some of the best food he'd ever had. Not only was it Luffy's honest opinion, but it may also have helped convince Sanji to join the small Straw Hat crew. Luffy isn't above trickery sometimes, but heartfelt honesty is usually his best policy.
3 Luffy Agreed To Help Nami Against Arlong
Luffy's tsundere ally Nami was actually more loyal to her home village than to Luffy, so she ran off to help them and even stole the Going Merry to get there. Nami seemingly joined Arlong's pirate crew, but she was playing both sides and meant to free her home islands from Arlong.
Then, Arlong turned on Nami. Out of options, Nami tearfully implored Luffy to help her despite all she had done. Luffy impressed One Piece fans when he put his hat on Nami's head, acknowledging her as a treasured Straw Hat crewmate after all. Luffy went on to prepare for battle on Nami's behalf.
2 Luffy Defeated Arlong & Destroyed Nami's Office
Luffy did more than defeat the mighty Arlong. He also destroyed Nami's office in the Arlong Park building, representing how Nami was no longer obliged to work for Arlong as his cartographer. Nami's office was well-supplied but for the wrong cause.
Luffy only wanted Nami to conduct research and draw maps for people who cared about and respected her, and Arlong was no such person. So, Luffy reset Nami's cartography career to square one with this collateral damage, and Nami didn't mind the destruction one bit.
1 Luffy Declared His Dream On Gol D. Roger's Execution Site
At a glance, it seemed foolish and ridiculous for Luffy to nearly die at Buggy's hands at Loguetown's execution spot, but there's more to it than that. Luffy symbolically declared his dream to become pirate king at the same spot where the previous pirate king had died, and he didn't fear death.
It was both foolish and impressive how Luffy did that, and he clearly valued his dream more than his own life. He got away with it, too, since a sudden lightning storm destroyed the scaffolding and freed Luffy. On that note, Luffy outran Alvida, Buggy, and Captain Smoker on his way back to the Going Merry to finally reach the Grand Line.