Who are your favourite One Piece characters? What do you like about them?
Luffy is my all-time favorite One Piece character, and i’m sticking to just him because this is gonna get long
I really love Luffy because he’s just a super fascinating character, especially for a shonen protagonist. he’s multifaceted and has so many different levels to him
one of my favorite things about him is his kindness. Luffy, in a way, is selfish in the most selfless way possible. He saved Coby only after Coby stood up against Alvida. He beat Kuro and saved Syrup Village not because he particularly cared about it, but because he liked Usopp and didn’t want Usopp to get hurt or killed. Luffy beat Arlong not for all the atrocities he’s done (hell, Luffy refused to listen to Nami’s backstory. he just got up and walked away.), no, Luffy beat Arlong because he made Nami cry. That’s all the reason he needed.
Luffy literally climbed a 3-mile high mountain, with his bare hands and feet, in 50 bellow weather, during a fucking blizzard, WHILE carrying his two injured and unconscious crewmates, just because they were his friends and he wanted to save them. that is one of my absolute favorite Luffy moments. And no one, except Luffy himself, Chopper, and Kureha knew he did this. he didn’t do it for the fame, or glory, or whatever. he did it to help his friends, and then he never brought it up again. it wasn’t important, anymore.
on a similar vein, the Lapins caused an avalanche that ended up nearly killing Nami and Sanji. once it’s over, Luffy happened upon the baby Lapin that started that whole mess, and it’s buried mother. Luffy could’ve attacked the baby. he could’ve left the mom to die. he had every right to, given all the trouble they caused him and his friends. but instead of doing either, he grabbed the mom and pulled it out. he saved them. and later on, they returned the favor.
Luffy is just so incredibly kind hearted and sweet and it’s one of my favorite qualities about him. He defeated Crocodile and saved Alabasta for Vivi. not for any other reason.
Luffy isn’t an idiot, as much as he seems like one. he’s incredibly observant. when Crocodile says that Vivi’s ideal of no one dying during the upcoming war is foolish, Luffy agrees. But he still chooses to fight for Vivi because Vivi’s his friend. Luffy realized Crocodile’s weakness, even while he was impaled, dying, and barely conscious. he realized that the country Vivi loved was already gone. that Crocodile had already stolen it from her, and he wanted to bring it back so she could smile again.
Again, Luffy is not an idiot. He learns from his mistakes. he learned Crocodile’s weakness. he learned, from Vivi herself, that sometimes you have to bow your head and ask for help for the sake of your friends. He taught himself Gear 2nd within hours after his first fight with Lucci. He copied a technique from a master that trained for years to perfect.
and Luffy isn’t perfect. he’s well aware of this. he knows that, without his crewmates, he’d be dead long ago. He even says this to Arlong– “I can’t use a sword! I can’t navigate! I can’t cook, and I can’t even lie! …But I can beat you.”
he’s also self aware. Luffy is completely aware of the consequences of his actions. Luffy perfectly understands what burning the World Government flag means, he knew he’d never win against Aokiji, and he realizes exactly what punching a World Noble will do. in fact, Luffy even apologizes for punching Charloss, because he knew the kinds of repercussions it’d have for him and his crew. Luffy also knows that he’s not a hero. He’s a pirate. and while he does heroic things from time to time, it’s not with the intent of being heroic–he just wants to beat up the guy who hurt his friends. it has nothing to do with heroism. (Which, ironically, makes him even more heroic because of it.)
Luffy also knows when an opponent is too strong for him and his crew. when Kizaru and the Pacafistas came to Shabaody, Luffy didn’t hesitate to split the crew up. they had to get the hell out of there, because there was no way they could handle these guys. Luffy has faith in his crew, but he’s also aware that they’re human, and sometimes there are just people that they can’t handle yet.
and another thing: Luffy’s dream to be the Pirate King. to many others, this dream is all about power, the money, the fame… not to Luffy. to him, the title of Pirate King means being the person with the most freedom in the world. Luffy doesn’t care about the rest of it. he couldn’t care less about being rich or famous. he just wants to be free.
as a kid, Luffy was tortured for hours. he refused to give the whereabouts of Ace and Sabo’s treasure. and yet, even after all that, even when he was about to be killed for not telling… to Luffy, physical pain is nothing. what’s worse than all the torture and pain and hurt is being alone.
After Ace’s death, Luffy didn’t magically gain some sort of power-up and beat everyone. he didn’t become super saiyan and he didn’t suddenly become as strong as an Admiral to avenge his brother. no, Luffy passed out. He’d just seen his crew get utterly defeated, found out Ace was going to be executed, snuck into Impel Down, suffered through poison and 20 hours of pure, horrifying, painful torture, and kept going and going and going all just to save Ace, even as his own life was shortened. and at the end of all that, Ace didn’t make it. Ace died. in his arms.
Luffy didn’t become super powerful. he passed out. his mind couldn’t take it anymore, and his body was pushed far, far passed it’s limits. he had to be carried off the battlefield by Ace’s crew (who view him as their hope for the future).
after Ace died, Luffy was gonna give up. he fell into depression, and anger, and didn’t care about what he was doing to his body. all he cared about was that Ace was gone. Luffy was gonna give up on everything, his life, his desires, and his dream.
the only reason Luffy broke out of his depression, the only reason he continued on with his life, was because Jimbei reminded him that he wasn’t alone. he still had his friends. He still had his crew.
Luffy realized after suffering through Marineford that he and his crew were still far to weak to enter the New World. if they had entered before this all started, they would be dead. Luffy had to go through all that hell to realize the power differences between them and what awaited. and he did. he had himself and his crew train for two years to prepare for the future, because he wasn’t gonna allow anyone dear to him die again.
Luffy is such a great character. he’s kind, he’s selfish, he’s pure, he’s a intelligent, he’s responsible, he’s a good leader. and, most of all, he’s human. that’s why i love him so much, and that’s why he’s my favorite One Piece character, and one of my favorite characters in all of fiction.
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