Monkey D. Luffy

• 1. Introduction

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  Monkey D. Luffy is the rubber-bodied hero of the manga One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda, and his story starts with a promise made by a small boy. In Windmill Village, in the Goa kingdom, young Luffy befriends a pirate called Red-Haired Shanks and decides he wants to be a pirate too. Then he accidentally eats a Devil Fruit, and his body takes on the properties of rubber. Soon after, a monstrous sea beast called a Sea King tries to devour him. Shanks saves the boy at the cost of his own left arm. Before leaving the village, Shanks hands over his treasured straw hat. The condition is simple. Luffy must become a great pirate someday and return it. Ten years later, at the age of 17, Luffy leaves in a small fishing boat in search of the legendary treasure called One Piece. His goal is to succeed Gold Roger as King of the Pirates. What really lies behind that rubber body? How does a cheerful captain with a famously low IQ keep gathering the right crew? And how did a fictional pirate end up inspiring poses at the Olympics?

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• 2. The Rubber Body

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  Electric attacks do nothing to Luffy. His rubber body makes him immune to them, and to most blunt force as well. Swords and spears are another matter, because sharp weapons can still hurt him. He stretches his body at will to speed up a single limb or the whole frame, and he uses that speed for punches, kicks and head butts. His signature attack is the Gum-Gum Pistol, in which he slingshots his punches at an opponent from a distance. The price of the fruit is steep. Like every Devil Fruit user, Luffy cannot swim. Submerged in water, or touching Sea-Prism Stone, he loses his strength and cannot move on his own.

  Over the course of the story, Luffy grows stronger by transforming his body through stages called Gears. The World Government reads that growth in his bounty. After observing a technique used by CP9, he learns to turn his body into a pump that drives blood around at high speed. For a short time this raises his strength and speed. It also strains him badly, and it can shorten his lifespan if he overuses it. A second technique has him blow air into his thumb bone and push it through his other bones to inflate parts of his body. The blows hit hard, but he shrinks afterward. These two techniques are known as Gears 2 and 3. Luffy can use both at once. After the two-year time skip he controls them so well that the drawbacks no longer affect him.

  A later technique works in the opposite direction from Gears 2 and 3. Luffy inflates his muscles with air, enlarging everything except his legs, and coats his limbs with Armament Haki. Instead of extending his limbs, he compresses them and releases them for devastating blows. His kicks release so much force that he can use them to fly, much like a technique of CP9.

  The name Gum-Gum Fruit is a lie the World Government's propaganda taught the world. The fruit is really the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit. The government renamed it to erase its original name from history, and it reclassified the fruit as a Paramecia to hide its true nature. For over 800 years the fruit was a treasure the government sought, until Red-haired Shanks stole it. According to the Five Elders, it had not awakened for centuries before Luffy managed it.

  Awakening makes the rubber-like body stronger and freer. It can even turn the environment and other living beings into rubber, limited only by the user's imagination. For this reason the user is said to become a trickster sun god, the "embodiment of freedom", who brings joy to the people nearby. The fruit is called "the most ridiculous power in the world".

  The awakening happens at Onigashima, in Luffy's long fight against the Emperor Kaido. The Five Elders send CP0 to interfere, fearing what happens if Luffy wins. Kaido lands an apparently fatal blow. The thrill of the moment triggers the awakening anyway. In the new transformation, called Gear Fifth, Luffy's hair and clothes turn white, and he can fight in any shape he likes. He overwhelms Kaido and frees Wano from his rule.

  The fruit is only one half of his strength. The other half is Haki, a force he trains to master on Ruskaina Island.

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• 3. Haki

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  On Ruskaina Island, Silvers Rayleigh, the retired First Mate of the Roger Pirates, trains Luffy to use Haki. Luffy has just decided that his crew will spend two years training, so that none of them is killed while searching for the One Piece. Haki comes in three types. Armament Haki is an armor-like force. It amplifies his defense and the force of his attacks, and it lets him touch and damage Devil Fruit users who would otherwise be protected. Observation Haki is a sixth sense that reads a person's moves and detects their presence. Conqueror's Haki can render weak-willed people or animals near him unconscious. Luffy learns all three and folds them into his improved attacks.

  Poison is a separate story. Magellan, the prison warden of Impel Down, ate the Poison-Poison Fruit. After Luffy's encounter with him, Luffy develops an immunity to poison. A strong enough poison can still affect him, but only very slowly.

  During his fight against Charlotte Katakuri, Luffy reaches an advanced form of Observation Haki called Future Sight. It lets him see several seconds into the future.

  Later, at Udon prison in Wano, Luffy gains two advanced forms of Armament Haki. The first, called Emission, shoots a short blast of Haki from a distance. The second, called Internal Destruction, goes inside a target's body or an object and destroys it from within. He also trains there under Hyogoro of the Flower, and the new form of Armament Haki is meant to let him damage Kaido.

  The last advance comes during the fight with Kaido at the top of Onigashima. Luffy learns to coat his entire body with Conqueror's Haki, much like Armament Haki, which further strengthens his attacks.

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• 4. The Captain's Mind

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  In the Loguetown arc, Smoker, then a navy captain, says that Luffy "enjoys playing stupid". Luffy answers with a mysterious smile. The remark captures the puzzle of his character. Luffy is carefree, fun-loving and happy-go-lucky, with a huge appetite. He often thinks with his stomach and gorges himself for comic effect. His conventional IQ is estimated at around 85. Yet he has an incredibly high "battle IQ" and EQ, and he often shows more understanding than other characters expect.

  That understanding shows in how he builds a crew. At the start of the series he says he wants at least ten crew members with the abilities he feels his goal requires. He fills key jobs with Sanji as cook, Nami as navigator, Chopper as medic, Brook as musician and Franky as shipwright. The roster also includes swordsman Roronoa Zoro, sniper Usopp, archaeologist Nico Robin and helmsman Jimbei. He chooses Chopper and Brook not only for personality or appearance but also because of an instinctive ability to read people.

  Luffy rarely worries about consequences. He does what feels right in the moment, even when a powerful force may strike back. At Enies Lobby, after Robin leaves with Cipher Pol No. 9, Luffy and the Straw Hats declare war on the World Government to affirm their commitment to her. Each crew member respects him in their own way. He is a capable captain who never puts his crew at risk out of incompetence, and he is willing to risk his life for their well-being.

  The same impulse costs him dearly at the Sabaody Archipelago. There Luffy attacks a World Noble for harming a friend. Admiral Kizaru and the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma then scatter his crew to different parts of the world.

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• 5. Family Ties

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  Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp of the Marines is Luffy's grandfather. After Shanks left Windmill Village, Garp left the boy in the care of his friend, the bandit Curly Dadan. Luffy befriended two other boys there, Portgas D. Ace and Sabo, and they became like brothers to him. Sabo was seemingly killed by a World Noble.

  After escaping Enies Lobby, Luffy meets Garp again and receives a shock. Garp tells him that the leader of the Revolutionary Army, which seeks to topple the World Government, is Monkey D. Dragon. Dragon is Luffy's father.

  Ace reappears in Alabasta, where he briefly reunites with Luffy. By then Ace is a commander in the Whitebeard Pirates, hunting the traitor Blackbeard. Later, on Amazon Lily, Luffy learns that Blackbeard defeated Ace and handed him to the World Government for execution. Boa Hancock helps Luffy infiltrate the underwater prison Impel Down. Inside he meets old foes and new allies, among them the former Warlord Crocodile and Jimbei. With Buggy and members of the Revolutionary Army, he frees the prisoners, but Ace is transferred to Marineford.

  At the war in Marineford, Whitebeard is impressed by Luffy's spirit and orders his men to support him directly. Ace is freed, but he gives his life to save Luffy from Admiral Akainu. The heartbroken Luffy is evacuated by Trafalgar Law, together with Jimbei.

  Jimbei offers him a line to hold on to: "remember what you still have". Luffy answers, "I have my crew!!"

  Sabo's story does not end with the World Noble. At Dressrosa, Luffy learns that Sabo is alive and part of the Revolutionary Army. Luffy enters a tournament there to win Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit. Sabo wins it instead, and with Luffy's blessing he eats the fruit himself.

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• 6. Bounty and Empire

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  The first number is 30,000,000 Berries. That is Luffy's initial bounty, set after he defeats Buggy, Don Krieg and Arlong in East Blue. The Marines also begin to know him as "Straw Hat" Luffy. By the major time skip, the figure has climbed to 400,000,000 Berries. In between, he has defeated some of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, rampaged at Enies Lobby and retaken Nico Robin. At the Sabaody Archipelago he is already known among the notorious rookies called Supernovas, who all carry bounties over 100 million Berries. Zoro, Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kidd and Capone "Gang" Bege are among them.

  Luffy's route takes him through the three great powers of One Piece. The first is the World Government's Marines. The second is the Seven Warlords of the Sea, allied privateers of the Marines. The third is the Four Emperors, the most influential pirate captains. Garp first tells Luffy that Shanks and Whitebeard are two of them.

  Earlier, Luffy had met Blackbeard without learning his name. Blackbeard encouraged him to find the Sky Island, saying that the dreams of pirates never die. After the two-year absence, Luffy learns that Blackbeard has replaced Whitebeard as one of the Four Emperors. He also learns that Akainu has been promoted to Fleet Admiral. Luffy begins a feud with the Emperor Big Mom over control of Fish-Man Island.

  At Dressrosa, seven pirate crews pledge their loyalty to Luffy, despite his protests. This forms the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. After Luffy defeats Katakuri in Big Mom's territory, news of that fight and of the Grand Fleet makes his bounty skyrocket.

  The climb ends at 3 billion Berries, after Kaido falls and Luffy is pronounced one of the Four Emperors. Fish-Man Island and the Wano Country are now under his protection. His grand fleet numbers over 5,600 pirates. Luffy now stands among the three most powerful pirate captains, alongside his mentor Shanks and his rival Blackbeard.

  The World Government has not let this stand. On the island of Egghead, CP0 informs the Government of Luffy's presence, and St. Jaygarcia Saturn arrives personally to eliminate him, accompanied by Kizaru.

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• 7. Creator and Voices

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  Eiichiro Oda first wanted Luffy to have a "manliness" like that of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series. He named the character "Luffy" because the name felt right for him. Later he learned of the sailing term "luffing" and was delighted by the coincidence. In a prototype one-shot called "Romance Dawn", Oda refined the art and the story. He published the final version a year later as the first chapter of One Piece. In the second version of "Romance Dawn", Luffy already resembled his design at the start of the series.

  After the one-shot, Oda contacted his former mentor Nobuhiro Watsuki, whom he had assisted on the manga Rurouni Kenshin. Watsuki liked Luffy's characterization. He advised Oda to briefly change the character for the main series, so that Luffy would always seem to act on his own free will. The rubber powers were added for comic effect, and Oda tries to keep the character straightforward. In retrospect, Watsuki felt that characters like Luffy reflect a trend of heroes who do not kill their enemies, like his own character Himura Kenshin.

  Luffy's look changes over time. As a young child he wears a white shirt and blue shorts. A scar under his left eye comes from stabbing himself to show his courage to Shanks and his crew. Later he wears a red vest, denim shorts and sandals. The vest is replaced by an unbuttoned red sea captain's coat, which reveals the X-shaped scar on his chest from Akainu, and he adds a yellow sash. In an interview, Oda said that Luffy's real-world nationality analogue is Brazilian.

  In Japanese, Luffy is voiced by Mayumi Tanaka in the anime and later spin-offs. She jokes that she regrets the role, because she is a mother in real life and Luffy is much younger. In scenes where he eats or touches his nose, she says she "strives for reality". Urara Takano voiced him in the OVA Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!

  English voices have changed several times. In Odex's English-dubbed VCDs, Chuck Powers voiced Luffy, and the name was mispronounced as "Luh-fee". Erica Schroeder voiced him in 4Kids Entertainment's dubs between 2004 and 2006. After Funimation/Crunchyroll acquired the franchise license in 2007, Colleen Clinkenbeard became his voice in all English-language releases.

  In the live action adaptation, Mexican actor Iñaki Godoy plays Luffy, and Colton Osorio plays him as a child. Godoy and Tanaka reprised their roles in the Latin American Spanish and Japanese dubs.

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• 8. Worldwide Fame

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  More than 12 million people voted in The 1st Global One Piece Characters Popularity Poll, the latest official poll for the series. Luffy topped it with 1,637,921 votes. He has ranked first in every One Piece character popularity poll. Only he and Gintoki Sakata have achieved that among main protagonists.

  Other rankings followed. NTT customers chose Luffy as their second-favorite black-haired male anime character. The Gum-Gum Gatling topped the male category in a Japanese survey of the most popular moves in manga and anime. At the 2008 Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards, Luffy was nominated for Best Male Character but lost to Alucard from the Hellsing manga. At the 8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2024, he won Best Main Character. IGN's Chris Mackenzie ranked him 22nd on a list of the top 25 anime characters of all time.

  Critics have been warm. Funimation Entertainment's Mike McFarland and Christopher Sabat found him more likable than Dragon Ball's Son Goku. Joe McCulloch preferred him to Naruto Uzumaki because Luffy "worked his ass off" for his goals after accidentally acquiring his powers. Rika Takahashi of EX wrote that his stretching powers set One Piece apart from the old stereotypical adventure manga.

  Luffy turns up well outside his own series. He is a playable character in the crossover game J-Stars Victory VS. He appears in the 2006 crossover game Battle Stadium D.O.N. In April 2011 he appeared in the first episode of the Toriko anime. His Gum-Gum power was mentioned in the 50th episode of the Gin Tama anime. In the final chapter of Naruto, Boruto Uzumaki draws a picture of Luffy.

  The real world has joined in. Luffy was the first manga character on the cover of the fashion magazine Men's Non-No in its 24-year history. He and Roronoa Zoro appeared on the cover of ELLE MEN after a collaboration between One Piece and Gucci. A costumed Luffy and Goku stood on stage at the 39th International Emmy Awards Gala in New York. Takashi Kawamura, then mayor of Nagoya, cosplayed Luffy at the 10th World Cosplay Summit. In 2019, the island of Sarushima was renamed in his honor from the 8th of July to the 20th of October, for the 20th anniversary of the One Piece anime.

  Athletes have copied him. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece posed in Luffy's Gear 2 before the long jump finals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and won gold. Another Olympic gold medalist, Massimo Stano, struck Luffy's Gear 3 pose as he crossed the finish line. The actor Xiao Zhan said he admired Luffy for working hard toward his ideals and never giving up. Polygon called Gear 5 one of anime's most iconic power ups, praising how Luffy's movements recall a Looney Tunes cartoon.

  In 2023, a Luffy balloon appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. An accident put a hole in the hat, and the balloon partly deflated. It returned in the 2024 parade. In 2025, a collaboration with the Los Angeles Dodgers produced an exclusive Luffy card for the One Piece Card Game, with Luffy wearing the team's uniform.

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