When fans first meet Monkey D. Luffy, the boy is stabbing himself beneath the eye to prove to a gang of pirates he has the mettle to become one of them. This is how the One Piece manga opens after Gold D. Roger, moments before his execution, gives his famous challenge to the world to find the legendary One Piece — with a boy trying to impress men most would consider the scum of the sea. But this is the boy fans would see continue to grow and surprise them up till today, 23 years later.

In a lot of ways, Luffy is the traditional shonen protagonist. He's not very smart, he's more of glutton then even Goku, and he puts his friends before himself constantly. But there's more to this rubber headed goofball than the troupes he's based on.

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Luffy's Origins

Luffy grew up in the small Foosha Village, where he met his hero, a pirate called Red-Haired Shanks. This man would influence Luffy a great deal, instilling in him a love of adventure and freedom. But the pirate also taught Luffy the importance of always standing up for friends and working to make dreams reality. Luffy hung around Shanks and his crew, learning from them as they laughed and drank and wanting to join them on their adventures, though Shanks often teased the high spirited boy. However, when Luffy was kidnapped, thrown into the sea by the mountain bandit and then attacked by the local sea monster, Shanks rushed in to save him.

This act of compassion came at a cost, as Shanks lost his left arm from the monster's attack. However, this doesn't bother Shanks at all, all that matters to him was that he was able to save Luffy, which would go on to influence Luffy's selfless (albeit reckless) way of putting others before himself. Before Shanks and his crew leave Foosha Village for good to go on their next adventure though, Luffy promises the pirate that one day he'll become the King of the Pirates. At this moment, Shanks sees something in Luffy, something that reminds him of his former captain, so before he leaves, he gives Luffy his most important treasure: his straw hat. Shanks asks that he hold on to it so that one day he can give it back when he's become a truly great pirate.

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"Frredom" is the main idea that defines Luffy. Luffy wants the freedom to do as he pleases, whether that's assembling a pirate crew to find the One Piece or eating everything in sight as a "light" breakfast. He loves to explore, to detriment of his crew as, when something interesting catches his eye, he can't be talked out of investigating it further. To him, being Pirate King is proof that you have more freedom than anyone else — it's his ultimate fantasy. Luffy's not interesting in becoming Pirate King to conquer the Grand Line or get rich off of the One Piece. What interests him is seeing more of the world and its unexplored corners, ith his friends by his side. This may sound like Luffy is a selfish person, and he is at times, but interestingly, he respects the freedom of other people just as much as his own.

When Luffy finds himself in situations where peoples' autonomy is in danger, he'll go to the ends of the earth to help them. When Luffy learns Brook's shadow was stolen from Gekko Morioh he helps him retrieve it at Thriller Bark. When Luffy sees the constant fear that the Skypians live in because of their god, Eneru, Luffy doesn't hesitate to fight him either. And when Luffy finds his navigator crying in her village, broken and begging for help after Arlong betrayed her trust, Luffy whole-heartedly goes after the Fishman pirate with the intent on taking him down. To Luffy, people should have the freedom to do whatever they please, but using that to take away other people's freedom is the worst crime you can commit.

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When Robin leaves the Straw Hats, despite her telling Luffy directly numerous times that she's no longer their friend, Luffy and the crew go after her. Robin is his friend and that's all she has to be for him and his crew to declare war on the world to save her. Luffy never hesitates on this because their relationship never comes into question for him. It doesn't matter what Robin says because he knows that she hasn't told him all of what she wants in that moment — that she wants to live.

An oft-criticized aspect of Luffy is that he doesn't have much character progression across One Piece's run. But that's not exactly the case. At the start of Water 7, Luffy finally begins taking his role as captain much more seriously. Luffy is responsible for the lives of his crew so, when he's told The Going Merry is unfit to sail any longer, he realizes that he can't just ignore that facts because of his attachment to the ship. This hard call Luffy makes leads to conflict with Usopp, which leads to yet another difficult decision as Luffy must face Usopp in a duel after his authority is called into question. All of One Piece is sprinkled with moments like these of Luffy forced to make tougher and tougher calls that steel him into a captain fit to be King.

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One Piece straw hats crew manga

Luffy's shonen tendency fight the big bad guy and save his friends lends itself to a very two-dimensional interpretation of the character, but it's how Luffy approaches these moments that makes him so interesting. Luffy very clearly recognizes his limitations and weaknesses, which is why he always has friends beside him. When he's fighting Arlong, Luffy admits to having none of the skills one needs survive at sea. He can fight and he can lead, but a seafarer needs more than that to survive. But he also admits that his shortcomings are why he needs his friends — to do what he can't. Whether that be to keep their ship from sinking or searching Alabasta's capital for a bomb while he's off fighting bad guys. It's one thing for a shonen hero to want to protect everyone, but it's another for that hero to trust in his friends.

Luffy is as honest and straight forward as they come. He doesn't hide how he feels, and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He loves to eat and he loves to go on adventures with the people he cares about most of all. He's a boy who's body got turned to rubber and he uses that to his strength every time. He's the man who'll, one day, be King of the Pirates.

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