One Piece, the story of Monkey D. Luffy, his crew the Straw Hats, and their adventure to find Gold Roger's treasure. It's a tale that has been ongoing for over 20 years now, and throughout that entire adventure, Luffy has finally grown from a reckless boy into a slightly less reckless captain. We love Luffy, but the kid doesn't exactly scream "man in charge," and that's sort of the point. Still, he's one of the best pirate captains in the series and we want to talk about why that is as well as some ways he still has room to grow.
10 Amazing Captain: He Knows What His Crew Really Wants
Luffy may not listen to all the details when it comes to, well, anything in One Piece. He slept through Nami's backstory, heard nothing of Chopper's adoptive father Hiriluk, and couldn't care less about Sanji's near-death starvation experience with Zeff. But, over time, Luffy really learns to understand his crew to their cores. It's one of his most endearing traits honestly. It's become such a strong bond now that most of the time they can't even hide anything from him. The first example of this is Nami acting like she's an enemy while at Arlong Park and Luffy not buying it, but the most recent example is the tearjerker moment where Luffy gets Sanji to admit that he doesn't want to be married into the Big Mom family.
9 Still A Kid: He Doesn't Put Their Safety First
Luffy may know his crew inside and out, but that doesn't stop him from putting them in danger for the sake of his own goals. And to be fair, that is part of what a captain does, but for as little as Luffy prepares for anything, he should really stop charging headlong into danger so much. It never really came back to bite him in the butt until Sabaody Archipelago, where Luffy learned how weak and thoughtless he truly was. Nowadays the kid still rushes headfirst into danger, leaving his crew to clean up for him, though every 1-in-100 times he'll have a backup plan ready too.
8 Amazing Captain: He's Willing To Do Anything For His Crew
Now the mark of any good captain is putting their crew before themselves. But, that just isn't the case a lot of the time, some captains got to their position by violence and brutality alone and couldn't care less about their crew. Take Don Krieg for example, that dude would do anything just to win, even if all of his crew died in the process.
Or what about Black Cat Kuro, a Pirate Captain who straight up despises his own crew? Even further still is Doflamingo Donquixote, a man ready to sacrifice anyone in his crew or even kill his own family all for the sake of his Grand Plan. And obviously, Luffy is the exact opposite of these types of leaders.
7 Still A Kid: Never Really Plans Ahead
We briefly mentioned it before but Luffy really needs to have some sort of plan in mind for most situations. We can't even count the number of times Zoro, Nami, Sanji, or even Usopp have thought up great plans for a confrontation only for Luffy to charge straight in and go about it in the most straight forward and blunt way possible. It's why the kid has so many dang fights throughout the series. Sure, it's hilarious, but what if things went wrong? Again Sabaody Archipelago was a wake-up call for Luffy of exactly why he shouldn't do things like this, yet he still does. Luckily his crew has learned to better adapt to it after the time-skip.
6 Amazing Captain: He Has Arguments And Discussions With Them
There are numerous types of leaders in the world. Some put everything to a vote, some take absolute authority on all arguments, and some solve issues with the flip of a coin. But, in our experience, the best leaders or captains in any source of media are those who act like any other member of the crew, but they have the final say in any decision.
Luffy is prideful, stuck-up, and closed-minded, but he actively listens to his crew an even goes with their plan without even hearing about it. The guy for good or bad has absolute trust in his companions.
5 Still A Kid: Can Be Selfish And Petty At Times
This is probably the most "pure" entry on this list simply because we're saying that Luffy is still a kid because he acts like a kid sometimes. It sounds redundant, but just give us a second. Basically, there are times where Luffy isn't stubborn or gung-ho like an adult. He isn't open to discussion and he isn't planning before charging forward, he's just being childish. Plenty of times in the series it simply works out for him regardless thanks to his absurd amount of luck (so much so it's a fan theory that there's more to it at this point), but in any one of those same situations, he could have led his crew to their deaths.
4 Amazing Captain: He Doesn't Lord Over Them
Again, all the captains in One Piece are different, but a trait we've noticed in a lot of them is their possessiveness for their crew. If one of their men doesn't show up on time or even has to leave the crew for a bit, the consequences are dire at best. But, that's not the case with Luffy, he understands that he has an exceedingly rare crew who are all at the forefronts of their field and that the best way to respect them is to let things go. Over the course of the series Usopp, Robin, Nami, Franky, and Sanji have all technically "betrayed" Luffy or even outright tried to kill him, but the dude doesn't hold grudges.
3 Still A Kid: He Can Childishly Treat Them As If They Were His Objects
While Luffy does treat his crewmates as his equals, even admitting he's worse than them at most things, Luffy does sort of act like he "owns" them at times. Of course, it's always in a comical tone or he verbalizes it as something akin to losing a friend, but there's no doubt that for those moments Luffy talks about his crewmates as if they were possessions.
Whether its the Davy Back Fight with the Foxy crew or trying to get "Sanji back" so that he can feed everyone, Luffy does act like a kid who got his toys stolen from time to time.
2 Amazing Captain: Everyone Understands Their Role
It's hard to run a crew of specialized, strong-willed individuals without having them fight. And, no one is saying that the Straw Hats avoid fighting. This crew of (now) 10 fight like cats and dogs at almost all times. But, rarely does this crew actually fight for real. The only time is when Usopp and Luffy are on the outs due to the Going Merry's condition. But, other than that, there's never really any arguments over who should do what or which crew member is best at what activity. It's nice and not at all something you see with every crew in the franchise.
1 Still A Kid: Luffy Doesn't Understand His Title Yet As A New World Emperor
So, where things currently are in the Wano arc, most of the Grand Line now believe that Luffy is either vying for a New World Emperor spot or that he already has one as the "Fifth Emperor." But does Luffy himself believe that? He might talk big most of the time, but the kid doesn't really act like an Emperor. The Straw Hats insignia now flies in Fish-Man Island as a deterrent against invading pirates, but has Luffy ever even thought of going back to defend his territory if something happened? Absolutely not. He only looks forward. But, you can bet almost anything that Whitebeard or Big Mom would send one of her crew to set things straight and we just don't see Luffy ever doing something like that.