Summary
Luffy is the protagonist ofOne Pieceand quite easily Oda’s very best character.Luffy represents everything that Oda wants to showcasein the world ofOne Pieceand he does so effortlessly, which only adds to the depth and the beauty of his character. There is no better protagonist forOne Piecethan Luffy and there are countless reasons as to why Oda chose him to be the leader of his story when he first started writing this masterpiece back in 1997.
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Of course, Oda has discussed quite a few of these reasons openly in the past and they are certainly more than exciting and only strengthen the belief that Luffy is, by far, the very best character that Oda has ever written.
4Luffy’s Journey To Find The One Piece
At the very beginning ofOne Piece, fans get to see Luffy set sail on an adventure to find theOne Piece.Mesmerized by pirates, thanks to Shanks, Luffy sets out to create his own crew and heads to the Grand Line. His goal is to find the grandest of all treasures, theOne Piece, left behind by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Even before setting sail, Luffy is showcased to be special, given that he catches the eye of Red Hair Shanks. Even his crew sees that Luffy is special in more ways than one and him eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi only makes him more special. In many ways, Luffy heads out to sea to fulfill his destiny, however, Luffy wants to do everything his way, given that he values freedom the most, which establishes a core character trait for him very early into the series.
By the end of his journey across the East Blue, Luffy already acquires a very powerful andloyal crew, composed of Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji.As the crew heads into the Grand Line, they go on glamorous adventures, from Desert Islands to Sky Islands, however, at the same time, they also encounter powerful pirates as well as fight against the Navy. In both victory and defeat, Luffy learns quite a lot and grows as a pirate slowly. The losses that he faces along his journey only strengthen him and the need to protect those close to him and to maintain his freedom only meant that Luffy had to aim to grow to be the strongest of all. Currently, he has established himself as one of the Yonko, and that, in itself, goes to show that Luffy is at the very pinnacle of his powers.
3Oda’s Thoughts on Luffy
Oda has quite a lot of thoughts on Luffy as the protagonist and there are many reasons as to why he was chosen to lead this incredible series. One of those reasons is the fact that Oda considers Luffy to be an idiot in some ways. Oda mentions that Luffy is his ideal kid. While Luffy has incredible convincing power and can act like a pirate captain should when it is needed, at his core, just a kid and that is precisely how Oda sees him. According to Oda, Luffy is mysterious even to him, to some extent. If he knew everything about Luffy, then the audience would get bored eventually. The mysterious nature of his character is what keeps him interesting at all times.
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One Pieceis a manga that is primarily aimed at kids and teens. To keep them engaged in this beautiful story, Oda decided to make Luffy the way he is. His personality completely enamors the kids and inspires them but at the same time, his layers as a character keeps even adults hooked, which makes him the perfect protagonist. Essentially, Oda chose Luffy to be the way he is because, at the core of his manga, he wants fun and adventure and he would only get to explorethat through a goofy character like Luffy.
2Oda’s Perfect Protagonist
While being fun and goofy is one of the main reasons why Luffy is the protagonist ofOne Piece, that is certainly more to that and Oda has previously elaborated on it in 2012, when speaking about what makes a perfect protagonist, according to him, at the very least. Oda stated that when creating a protagonist, it must be ensured that he is not too strong. He went on to say that if Akainu, who is very strong, was the protagonist ofOne Piece,the story would end within a year. He also went down to say that the guy that Akainu is modeled after, Bunta Sugawara, is the most handsome guy in the world and that he would take good care of him.
Essentially, what Oda said was that it is important to make sure that a character progresses with the readers as the years go by. This allows the readers to form a connection with the protagonist and, at the same time, allows the author to introduce powerful villains and have the protagonist be the underdog to take them all on eventually and go on to surpass them. While there are protagonists who are strong to begin with or are geniuses, Oda does not want Luffy to fall into that category. At his core,Oda wanted Luffy to be free, Most of all, and that is what has shaped his character over the years.
1How Luffy Has Fared So Far
It is safe to say that Oda’s idea for Luffy as the protagonist ofOne Piecehas worked phenomenally well. This character has enamored fans of all ages and, at the same time, has touched hearts while taking them on a journey with him and the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy has given fans an adventure that no other character could have ever delivered and this has all been possible because of his cheerful and free personality. Luffy attracts others to him because of these qualities and this doesn’t just apply to characters that exist in theOne Pieceworld. This also holds true for the readers of the story, who have been charmed by his personality and, at the same time, made to laugh on countless occasions over the years.
Fans have witnessed Luffy’s journey from the very beginning and seen him transform from a no-name pirate to one of the Yonko in the new world. Luffy has risen to the top and he has done all that by keeping true to his very nature. In fact,Luffy’s Gear 5, which is his ultimate power-up, sees him get more in touch with his imaginative and childish personality than ever before. At the end of the day, Oda wanted to create a character that represented freedom and a symbol against tyranny, all the while keeping this character a light-hearted personality with a contagious smile. That is what Luffy is and that is precisely why Oda created him.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapp. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1092, is set to be June 05, 2025.
