One Piece is a Shonen series that has cultivated quite a specific tone for being a pirate adventure. When most pieces of fiction would dwell in the evil and decay of dirty pirates, One Piece has given that romance a much more cartoonish, vibrant appeal, and a lot of that has to do with its main character, Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy has been the fan's main entryway into the pirating world, and he's addressed it with an incredible and freeing sense of adventure.

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However, one has to think if that really was the best way to enter the series, especially given the constant reveals of betrayal and conspiracy going on in its greater lore. In contrast, his new comrade, Trafalgar Law, is both a product of that chaos and an agent directly hellbent on creating change. With those concepts in mind, this list will be seeing whose story would've really been better.

10 Law: Cooler Power

The Ope Ope no Mi in One Piece

If a main character is to grab the audience's attention, they need to stand out from the menagerie of other main characters out there. And, with Trafalgaw Law's Devil Fruit, he could certainly do that. With the Op Op Fruit, Law has the one-of-a-kind ability to essentially make the world his operating table.

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Within his "Room," he's able to psychically raise objects of all sizes, cut-and-paste different parts of objects, and even switch people's personalities. It's a really weird yet entertaining power that would've been really exciting to see at the beginning of the series.

9 Luffy: Cooler Looking Power

young luffy

While Law's may be conceptually more interesting, it's something that isn't exactly easy to explain offhand. It would require quite a few panels of explanation if it were brought in the beginning, and long sections of text have the tendency of boring fans. Luffy on the other hand has a power that is not only immediately accessible, but it's just fun to watch both on page and in animation.

Luffy's Gum Gum abilities were specifically chosen for how vibrantly they would appear on page, as Eiichiro Oda was able to create much more dynamic fights by organically and magically accentuating Luffy's features.

8 Law: More Tragic Past

If there's one thing to make Law a much more tangible main character to the audience, it would be his tragic backstory. While Luffy's past is definitely endearing for his connections with Shanks, Ace, and Sabo, Law's almost appears straight out of a Shakespeare script.

After an incurable outbreak begins to infect his village, the World Government takes extreme measure to both quarantine and destroy the area along with everyone in it. Law had to escape the genocide by hiding within a cart of dead bodies and later joined the Donquixote Family to exact revenge upon the world before his disease killed him. By comparison, Luffy's past almost seems funny.

7 Luffy: Optimistic Attitude

In direct contrast to the above, what has helped Luffy retain the fans and adoration that he has is the pure fact that he's a much more approachable personality. Luffy has a natural optimism to him that has helped him both inspire his friends and attract readers young and old.

It's a friendly quality that makes the series easier to pick up and even harder to put down, as Luffy makes the viewer innately invested into what happens to him.

6 Law: Edgy Bad Boy

law hand death

Law sits at the other end of the tonal spectrum. For anime, there are two schools of thought for a main character. There is the classic protagonist that uses friendship and friendliness as his main weapons. And then there's edgy guys whose tragic backstories and permanently hunched backs can make anyone naturally think the word "Cool."

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While it's not as marketable, it's a much stronger sense of emotion and personality that'll help whoever does read/watch fall in love with the character more strongly and help make the series' be taken more seriously.

5 Luffy: Sense Of Opportunity

With that being said, One Piece really wouldn't be the same if it were taken more seriously. Part of its appeal is the near endless sense of possibility that comes from having a cartoonish world and funny characters. While not every character may appear as real or logical as in other stories, this offers Oda plenty of opportunities to surprise fans with their mix of character quirks and philosophy.

Opportunity is the prime word here, as Luffy's drive to just move forward is filled with twists and turns that not even the main characters suspect and can always surprise the fans.

4 Law: Has An Actual Plan

Trafalgar D. Water Law on Punk Hazard in One Piece

While carelessly moving forward does offer more potential for an adventure series, it's kind of a poor plan overall; and realistically, it would be a terrible idea when looking for a lost treasure. Law on the other hand just jumps into the series with a full blown plan that practically becomes the plot for the series' second half.

After seeing Corazon's tragic death, Law becomes hellbent on avenging his father figure and taking down the pirates who cruelly rule over sections of the world. This would lead to his plot to take down Doflamingo and the current journey to work with Luffy to be the first of the Supernovas to take down an Emperor.

3 Luffy: Power Of Friendship

As evident by Law's relatively small crew and tight submarine, Law's isn't the nicest personality and seems to revel in more isolated spaces. However, as stated earlier, Luffy is a much brighter personality whose own backstory involves an innate drive to make friends.

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This has helped him cultivate an ongoing theme and atmosphere in the series of creating new families when old ones and the world itself can reject people. Luffy can accept just about anyone, and that's a pretty strong trait to have as a main character.

2 Law: Full Of Twists

While Luffy may of the power of friendship, Law has the power of constantly surprising fans. Even within the current story, fans were suspecting that Law may betray the Straw Hats at some point. There's really no telling what this guy might do, but there's this consistent trust that he's doing what's best for himself and his crew.

Overall, this creates a much more cerebral and intriguing atmosphere for the series, as Law's intentions are always coming into question and he's constantly fighting with what's truly right or wrong with a given situation. Luffy may have an easy, simple answer to every situation, but that has the consequence of creating a deflating conversation. Law is just inherently interesting and makes fans genuinely surprised by what he's going to do next.

1 Luffy: Unpredictable

luffy looks confused in one piece

While Law's morals and intentions may have fans questioning what's going to happen next, everything about Luffy is having people do the same. He's an inherently flawed and unpredictable character whose mistakes, wild nature, and imagination have helped create some of the most memorable situations in One Piece.

Who would've thought that he would literally fall into Marineford? Who was expecting him to come out of a shark on Fishman Island? Why did an army of his clones jump out of a wedding cake on Whole Cake Island? The answer: because he wanted to and the opportunities and consequences are endless. That is essentially what One Piece is all about.

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