is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the anime and manga series One Piece created by Eiichiro Oda. He is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Creation and conception

When drawing One Piece, Eiichiro Oda was heavily influenced by the manga Dragon Ball, and had the series in mind when designing his characters. Oda has said that when he was creating Luffy, he was thinking about "manliness", because Dragon Ball had already done all the things that a child could possibly be happy about. Luffy's stretching powers were a result of Oda's desire for the fighting style to be silly, so that no matter how tense a situation got, the reader could relax without becoming stressed out. The fictional "Devil Fruit" Luffy gained his abilities from was originally called the "Gomu Fruit", but after Oda's editor pointed out that a real gomu fruit existed, the name was changed to "Gomu Gomu no Mi". When drawing him, Oda has said he tries to make Luffy very straightforward about what he wants to be and how he feels.

Character outline

Personality

Luffy's dream is to become the "Pirate King", by finding One Piece, the deceased "Pirate King" Gold Roger's treasure. Although his ambitions are that great, he is portrayed as a carefree and sometimes airheaded character which has a huge appetite, often eating to the point of becoming comically fat. But he isn't naive. Knowing the dangers ahead, he is willing to risk his life and possibly die trying to reach his goal.

Abilities

Luffy gained rubber-like stretching powers from eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi, at the cost of never being able to swim again, like all of the Devil Fruit users in One Piece. Luffy uses the malleability of his limbs to achieve tremendous velocity to strike enemies with devastating impact. His rubber body is virtually immune to recoil attacks. As such, blunt objects, punches and even bullets deflect off his body harmlessly.

Luffy's most powerful abilities are his upgraded Gears, which he developed after being beaten effortlessly by Admiral Aokiji. Luffy's Gears are used to enhance his basic attacks, and are regarded as different forms of his regular body. To date, Luffy has used two forms in the story; Gear Second and Gear Third. He has also shown that he is capable of using both techniques simultaneously during his fight with Gecko Moria, although it greatly strains his body. Luffy has also demonstrated the innate ability to intimidate a foe into submission without throwing a single punch, much like his hero Red-haired Shanks, who did the same to the local sea monster at Luffy's village (episode 4/chapter 1 of the book). This ability is known as "haki" in the world of One Piece, and is exhibited by Shanks, Luffy and, more recently, Silvers Rayleigh.

Plot overview

Luffy grew up in a town named Fushia Village. He accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, a Devil Fruit, giving his body the durability and stretchability of rubber. According to series author Eiichiro Oda, Luffy can stretch any part of his body. While defending the Red Hair pirates' honor from a gang of mountain bandits, Luffy is kidnapped by their leader, Higuma. Higuma takes Luffy hostage and escapes to sea, throwing Luffy overboard when he is no longer of use to him. Luffy is then almost swallowed by a fearsome Sea King; one of a variety of mammoth sea monsters that inhabit the oceans of the One Piece world. Shanks saves him from the creature, losing his arm in the process. This event only serves to steel Luffy's determination and when Shanks and crew leave the island, Luffy decides to set his sights on becoming the "Pirate Kng". When he told Rayleigh this and was told he would have to conquer the New World, he said he didn't want to conquer anything but he thinks the Pirate King is the guy with the most freedom in the world. Although Luffy is very obstinate in making decisions, he will always make the right choices in saving his friends.

Luffy's dream is to become the "Pirate King". He is portrayed as the carefree and sometimes airheaded captain of the Straw Hat pirates and is the son of Monkey D. Dragon, brother of Portgas D. Ace, and the grandson of vice-admiral, Monkey D. Garp. His trademark Straw Hat (from which he gets his nickname "Straw Hat Luffy") was entrusted to him by the pirate captain "Red Haired" Shanks, who inspired him to become pirate, when he was still a child.

Appearances in other media

Luffy has appeared in a variety of other media. He is present in all the One Piece Movies to date, as well as the One Piece OVA. He is also playable in the One Piece video games including Unlimited Adventure and Grand Battle.

In Yakitate!! Japan, episode 56, there is a parody of One Piece where Kuroyanagi turns into a "Tenobi Man" as a reaction from trying Azuma's Ja-pan dumpling. To this effect, he dons a straw hat and starts stretching his arms like rubber to great lengths ("tenobi" means "stretching arms").

Luffy's Devil Fruit was referenced in the Japanese TV Drama show Trick.

Along with other One Piece characters, Luffy appeared in a Shonen Jump special, where Enel attacks Tokyo and Odaiba, in Cross Epoch the short story created in cooperation by Oda and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, as well as in the video games Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, and Battle Stadium D.O.N.

Luffy's face can be seen on a Weekly Shonen Jump binding in an episode of the anime for fellow Jump series To Love-Ru.

In an online RPG called Dragonfable there was an enemy pirate monkey dressed up like Luffy, and was called L.D.MONKEE which is both backwards spelling of and a pun on, ''Monkey.D.LUFFY.

Reception

Luffy has been ranked as the most popular One Piece character in a recent Japanese fan poll. T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews calls Luffy "likably goofy", and an idealist with an infectious optimism. In a review for the fourth One Piece movie, "Dead End Adventure", The Star Online describes Luffy as "an airhead and brilliant fighter. FUNimation's Mike McFarland and Christopher Sabat, both stated that they felt that Luffy was more likable than Son Goku.

References