Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece and a pirate who set out to sea with the aim of becoming the Pirate King, just like Gol D. Roger.
Luffy captains the Straw Hat Pirates, a crew that hails from the East Blue and has now become one of the strongest in the entire story. Although Luffy's beginning to his journey was nothing groundbreaking, over the years, he's made himself worthy of being the next Pirate King and accomplished quite a lot on his road to Laugh Tale.
10 Luffy Became The Meanest Man In The East
Shortly after beginning his journey, Luffy quickly gained notoriety in the East Blue. He defeated Buggy, followed by Kuro, and then even the likes of Don Krieg and Arlong, all of whom were formidable pirates in their own right. This put the Navy in an alarmed state and Luffy was given a starting reward of 30 million berries, which was unprecedented. This remains one of his biggest accomplishments, although it was overshadowed by what he achieved shortly after.
9 Luffy Took Down The Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile
Luffy entered the Grand Line without realizing how intense the ocean actually was. Not knowing the strength of the other pirates on the sea, Luffy got a taste of it during the Alabasta arc when he fought one of the Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile. As expected, Luffy lost the fight against him but eventually rose to the challenge, and on his third attempt at fighting Crocodile, he managed to defeat him. Once again, for a rookie who just entered the Grand Line, defeating a Shichibukai and liberating a country was unprecedented and thus earned him a bounty of 100 million berries.
8 Luffy Is The Only Known Man In History To Attack Enies Lobby
The Water 7 Saga of One Piece saw Nico Robin being taken away from the Straw Hat Pirates by the CP-9 in an attempt to revive the Ancient Weapon Pluton in exchange for protecting the crew from a Buster Call. As expected, Luffy chose to follow her all the way to Enies Lobby and stormed the Government stronghold without any hesitation. By the end, not only had he defeated Rob Lucci and freed Robin but also survived a Buster Call, raising his bounty to a staggering sum of 300 million berries.
7 Luffy Was The First Person Since Shiki To Escape Impel Down
Impel Down is the largest prison in the world of One Piece, known to hold the most heinous criminals to ever live. After Ace was handed over to the Navy by Blackbeard, Luffy asked Hancock to help him sneak into the prison.
Without hesitating, Hancock got the job done and Luffy started what was the worst event in the history of the prison. Although he failed to save Ace there, he freed hundreds of prisoners from Level 1 all the way to Level 6 and broke out of the prison together with them.
6 Luffy Attacked Marineford With His Impel Down Team
Having already wreaked havoc in two of the three World Government strongholds, Luffy left no stone unturned as he led his group of prison escapees straight into the Paramount War on Marineford to save Ace. There, Luffy showed his skill as a pirate to everyone and managed to successfully rescue Ace from his execution. Sadly, Ace ended up giving his life to save Luffy from Akainu. Luffy's act of attacking Marineford and fighting even the Admirals is certainly one of his biggest accomplishments.
5 Luffy Shook The New World By Taking Down Doflamingo
Luffy's first big challenge in the New World came against Donquixote Doflamingo, a Shichibukai and the King of Dressrosa. Doflamingo was known as Joker in the Underworld and had great influence across the Grand Line. Not only did he run countless slave trades, but he was also the biggest supplier of weapons and, most importantly, SMILE Devil Fruits for Yonko Kaido. By taking him down, Luffy shook the New World and announced himself to the big names by earning a bounty of 500 million berries.
4 He Defeated The Strongest Sweet Commander, Charlotte Katakuri
To retrieve Sanji, Luffy went all the way to Whole Cake Island and fought against the mighty Big Mom Pirates.
As expected, he caused a lot of damage to Big Mom's crew by taking down Sweet Commander Cracker in the Seducing Woods, followed by taking on Charlotte Katakuri in the Mirro World. Katakuri had never lost even a single battle prior to the fight against Luffy, yet Luffy's tenacity got the better of Katakuri, and he was defeated.
3 Luffy Earned A Bounty Of 1.5 Billion Berries
Having defeated Charlotte Katakuri and successfully escaping from Big Mom, Luffy gained a huge bounty upgrade. His 500 million berries bounty shot up to 1.5 billion berries, which made him an elite pirate in every way. Charlotte Katakuri had a bounty of 1.057 billion berries so it only made sense for Luffy's bounty to surpass his when he surpassed the man himself. Luffy's bounty remains at that mark currently, but after defeating Yonko Kaido, it will certainly shoot up once again.
2 Luffy Became The Fifth Emperor Of The Sea
Luffy's accomplishments during the Whole Cake Island arc made him stand out in the pirate world as the next big thing and put him on the same level as the Yonko by naming him the Fifth Emperor of the Sea. Although there was a slight exaggeration in the story that spread across the world, Luffy thoroughly deserved his title nonetheless.
Not only did he take Sanji back but he also ruined Big Mom's Tea Party, destroyed the Whole Cake Chateau, defeated two of her Three Sweet Commanders, and took down a large portion of her fleet. He escaped from right under her nose and took command of the situation when his crew relied on him.
1 Luffy Became One Of The Strongest Pirates In The World
Luffy progressed at a blistering speed during the Whole Cake Island arc, and Wano saw him achieve even further greatness. Luffy managed to learn Ryou and then tap into the true power of Conqueror's Haki by infusing his attacks with them. He fought Kaido on the rooftop, damaged him severely in battle, and earned his respect in the process.
He is currently the strongest pirate on the side of the pirate alliance right now, and it is only a matter of time before he defeats Kaido and becomes one of the great pirates of the world.