Monkey D. Luffy

Monkey D. Luffy is a pirate and the main protagonist of One Piece. He is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, which are sometimes referred to as the "Luffy Pirates".

Appearance
Luffy is renowned for wearing his trademark Straw Hat (from which he gets his nickname 'Straw Hat Luffy') which was given to him when he was young by the legendary pirate captain Red-Haired Shanks. His outfit somewhat mimics Shanks' own outfit in that he wears short trousers (although his are much shorter then Shanks') and sandals. Luffy also wears a red vest and has a scar underneath his left eye and short black hair.

Luffy, for some reason, has the same outfit over most of the series, as opposed to the rest of the crew. Luffy may wear a different outfit to suit the climate of an island (like Drum Island or Alabasta), but will switch back to his trademark vest and shorts after the adventures on that island are over.

Eiichiro Oda has mentioned that Luffy mostly resembles a monkey (he sometimes even makes a monkey face). According to Oda, Luffy is represented by the color red, and smells like meat.

Personality
At first glance, Luffy does not appear to be very intelligent. Luffy can easily be amazed by the simplest things, such as hermit crabs, and can be confused by concepts such as that by digging a hole right next to another he may be unintentionally filling the other hole. Because he views the world in a straightforward and simple manner, he occasionally is the only person who can see past events that have taken place and realize the true goal.

As a person with the initial letter D, Luffy shares the common trait of not fearing of death. He will often state that if he reaches his goal, that's fine, but if he dies on the way, that's fine too. He even smiled when he was nearly executed by Buggy the Clown in Loguetown. Luffy seems to have an unstoppable appetite which is another common "D" trait, as well as a strong belief in dreams.

Luffy never kills any of the villains (no matter how cold-hearted they are); instead, he frequently sends the villain flying, knocking them out or until the point that they are almost near death, which results in some of the villains searching for revenge, such as Buggy the Clown. Oda explains that it's not a question of morality so much as a matter of punishing the villains for their crimes - he feels that killing the villains lets them off too lightly, whereas he considers letting them live to see their dreams be ruined a far more fitting punishment.

Crew
Because he is the captain and recruited all the crew mates, Luffy is on good terms with everyone on the ship. Luffy also has the rare ability to cheer up just about anyone with his idiotic antics, even pulling a smile every now and then from the serious Zoro and Robin. Usopp and Chopper, as the youngest of the crew, often join him in singing and fooling around. Nami often scolds Luffy's airheaded-ness, but he never gets angry at her, even when she manipulates him. He adores Sanji's cooking, especially meat, and drops anything he's doing for a meal.

He likes to make fun of other's imperfections and character traits, such as Zoro's bad sense of direction (though he is rarely better). Luffy also likes to comically imitate his crew members, and sometimes even himself.

Friends
Luffy shares a strong relationship with Shanks, the pirate who save his life ten years ago at his hometown and looks up to him as his role model of an ideal pirate. Shanks and his crew are the ones Luffy proclaimed he would beat as they were leaving Luffy's hometown. Luffy will often defend his friend when others insult him and was relieved to hear from his grandfather that Shanks and his crew were okay. Part of Luffy's dream is to return the hat Shanks gave him when he becomes a great pirate.

Luffy has since worked diligently on keeping that promise and is known famously as "Monkey D. Luffy", or simply "Straw Hat Luffy". Most people don't take his goal seriously, until they see his absurd strength.

Enemies
Even the Marines started to take him more seriously after he defeated the villainous Marine Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan and several known pirates such as Captain Buggy the Clown, "Pirate Admiral" Don Krieg, and Arlong The Fish-man. A 30 million belli bounty was placed on his head after he had beaten Arlong. This reward eventually becomes 100 million belly after he defeated Sir Crocodile when the World Government deemed him a serious threat for beating one of their Shichibukai. After the invasion of Enies Lobby, the government raised the bounties of the entire crew; Luffy's was raised to 300 million belly.

During his voyage, Luffy has had a few meetings with the Marines, from the not-too serious looking return of Ironfist Fullbody (whom Luffy met first by the Baratie) and Captain Smoker (Captain Chaser in the English anime) of Loguetown (Roguetown in the English version), to Admiral Aokiji.

Luffy has passed several islands on his way to and along The Grand Line, including Drum Island, Little Garden, Alabasta, and Skypiea. He has met many new allies, as well as making several enemies, such as Wapol, Sir Crocodile, and Eneru.

Monkey D. Garp
Luffy is completely afraid of his grandfather Garp. This is due to the extreme training he was put through in his younger years in his bid to make Luffy a Marine. Garp has high expectations for Luffy, but to Garp's dismay, Luffy does not share his grandfather's ideas on his future.

Monkey D. Dragon
Luffy has only just recently discovered that Dragon the Revolutionary is his father, so the two have yet to talk to each other. It is unclear whether he cares for his son's life, however Dragon saved Luffy in Loguetown and seems to expect great things from him like, much like his grandfather. However, unlike Garp, Dragon seems content with letting him find his own place in the world.

Portgas D. Ace
Ace and Luffy are close to each other. They grew up together back in their hometown and from time to time fought. Luffy displayed no grudge against Ace for always winning and instead boasted about how he could win now which led to him being put in his place. It has yet to be explained why Ace has a different family name. In the one-off supplement Grand Line Times, the question of their different surnames was raised and the idea put forth that Ace and Luffy may be stepbrothers.

Other
Though neither mother nor grandmother have been shown, in the Grand Line Times a "?" was left in the place of both Dragon and Garp's wives. Though Oda may not decide to ever state who the women in Luffy's family are this leaves the spot open to suggest they may be mentioned later. It is unknown how they may be related, but anyone carring the Will of D may also be related to Luffy.

Abilities and Powers
Unlike Zoro or Sanji, Luffy follows no particular code of honor, and so if necessary he will attack women or animals, hit below the belt, use human shields, or even bite his opponents. His bare physical strength and dexterity is a result of his grandfathers training methods and he claimed he had a punch as powerful as a pistol even at seven years of age.

Devil Fruit
Luffy has gained extraordinary stretching powers from eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which is one of the rare and legendary Devil Fruits. After consuming the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Luffy's body becomes like rubber, giving him the ability to stretch long distances. Having trained hard for ten years, Luffy is able to supplement his stretching powers with immense strength, agility, and creativity in combat. His fighting style is largely improvised, and heavily reliant on his Devil Fruit.

Luffy uses his stretching power in ingenious ways. He is able to use the malleable stretchiness of his limbs to gain tremendous velocity and hit enemies with devastating impact. His rubber body is also virtually immune to blunt objects such as bullets (in One Piece, bullets are still round pellets), punches and electricity, either reflecting off his body harmlessly or being absorbed into him. It's even become a running gag that people find out the hard way Luffy is made of rubber when they shoot at him, only to have the bullets bounce right back. However, he is still very susceptible to sharp objects such as swords and knives, but is better than having flesh. He can not only use his ability to increase the range and strength of his attacks, but he can also use it to restrain and even control foes like puppets.

Like all Devil Fruit users, Luffy cannot swim (although he could not swim even before he ate the Devil Fruit). Even though blunt objects do no damage to him, sharp blades or points can harm him, as well as nonphysical attacks like flames, explosions, and freezing.

Romance Dawn
When Luffy was young he met a band of pirates led by a kindly pirate captain named Red-Haired Shanks. Luffy befriended that band of pirates and from that moment on wanted to become a pirate as well. Luffy cut himself under his eye to show that he was tough enough to join Shanks's crew, a scene that was never reproduced in the anime. During a scene with Shanks and Higuma the Bear, a local mountain bandit that insulted Shanks and his crew, Luffy accidentally ate a Devil Fruit known as the Gomu Gomu no Mi and unwittingly turned himself into a rubber man. Initially this situation affected Luffy badly as it meant he could never be able to swim again. This was a great weakness to anyone who would journey the seas as a pirate or otherwise. This however didn't deter Luffy's dream and Luffy was once again determined to become a pirate.

After Luffy stood up to Higuma, Luffy got caught up in a hostage situation. His captors were defeated by the Red-Haired Pirates, but the bandit leader Higuma had fled out to sea with Luffy. While out at sea, Higuma threw Luffy in the ocean, only to be attacked by a Sea King moments later while he was laughing at Luffy. Higuma was eaten, but Shanks managed to save Luffy, however the incident cost Shanks his left arm. Shortly after, Shanks set sail along with his crew, but before leaving, he and Luffy promised each other that one day Luffy would surpass Shanks and become the Pirate King. Then Shanks left Luffy his straw hat as a parting gift, telling him to return it once he surpassed him.

After ten years of training, Luffy left his village on a small boat. He then waited out upon the open sea for the Lord of the Coast. With a rubber fist, he punched the Sea King in the face. With plans to create his own Jolly Roger and to get at least ten crewmembers, he then decided to begin his journey as a pirates and sailed on.

Morgan and Buggy
While sailing across the ocean, Luffy accidentally came across a whirlpool. To escape from it, Luffy hid inside a barrel as the whirlpool sucked his boat in. He and his barrel were recovered some time later by marines on a cruise ship. Luffy then came out from the barrel and met up with Coby. After defeating Alvida, Luffy was able to free Coby from his servitude and acquire a small boat. As he and Coby were sailing to the next island so that Coby can enlist in the Marines, Luffy decided to seek a bounty hunter who was imprisoned there. Luffy decided to ask the infamous, Roronoa Zoro, to become the first of his crew.

Upon arrival in Shell Town, Luffy and Coby learned the truth about Zoro through Rika. With this in mind, Luffy decided to free Zoro from Captain Morgan and Helmeppo. With the promise of giving Zoro's swords back if he'd join Luffy's crew, Luffy went into the Marine Base and caught Morgan's wrath. After witnessing Zoro's unique fighting style, Luffy had a brief battle with Morgan in which he defeated the captain. The Marines seeing their corrupt leader finally defeated rejoiced and allowed Luffy and Zoro to go free. However as Luffy and Zoro were pirates, the Marines asked them to leave the island. As they were leaving, Commander Ripper asked about Coby's past. To help Coby fufill his dream, Luffy pretended that they weren't friends and a brief fight broke between them. After Luffy beat Coby, Luffy and Zoro upon leaving were saluted by Coby and the Marines for their efforts. Luffy and Zoro then sailed onto their next destination.

While sailing, Luffy realized that neither he or Zoro knew how to navigate. With this, they decided to get a navigator for their crew. While pondering on this, Luffy decided to get them some food. Luffy spotted a bird flying above and decided to catch it. Unfortunately, the bird instead caught him and flew away with Luffy in his beak. Luckily, the bird was shot at and Luffy was dropped in the middle of Orange Town. While in Orange Town, Luffy met up with Nami and asked her to become the navigator of his crew when he learned of her abilities. Nami was intinially not thrilled at first at Luffy's offer and instead tricked him into being captured. Luffy was then sent before the captain of the pirates that had taken over the town, Buggy. Through some luck wherein Zoro came to Luffy's rescue, Luffy and his companions were able to escape from Buggy. Unfortunately, Luffy had been locked in a cage and the three had learned that Buggy had eaten the Bara Bara no Mi.

After escaping from the cage during some incidents with Shushu and Mohji, Luffy decided to battle against Buggy and his crew. Using one of Buggy's cannonballs against him, Luffy was able to take out most of Buggy's crew. With most of Buggy's crew defeated, Luffy and Zoro battled against Buggy and his second mate, Cabaji, respectively. During the battle, Luffy's hat got torn and Luffy learned of Buggy's past with Shanks. With fierce determination for his treasure, Buggy decided to attack Nami also. Luckily during the fray however, Nami was able tie Buggy's body parts up so that Luffy could deliver the final blow.

After defeating Buggy, Luffy and his companions found themselves in a situation. Due to Luffy knocking out the village chief, Boodle, the villagers got mad at them and decided to chase them. Luckily for Luffy and his companions, Shushu decided to repay his debt with Luffy by stopping the angry villagers. As Luffy and his companions decided to sail on to the next island, they were thanked by Boodle for all their hard work. Luffy, with his new navigator, Nami, then sailed on to the next destination.

Gaimon's Island and Usopp's Blockade
After sailing for awhile and getting his hat restitched thanks to Nami, Luffy and his crew then went to an island in hopes of finding some food and possibly a new crewmember. The island they came however was deserted and was apparently filled with all sorts of strange animals. As Luffy and Nami explored the forest, a mysterious voice called out to them. This voice threatened them with forest judgment unless they left the island. Luffy was then shot but was luckily saved thanks to his powers. Nami and Luffy then found that the shot came man with a large green afro in a box, Gaimon. After sorting out the misunderstandings, Gaimon, Luffy, and Nami talked about One Piece and the Grand Line. Gaimon then explained his predicament and his past. Luffy, learning about this, decided to help Gaimon. Luffy, with his powers, scaled the hill where Gaimon's treasure was supposedly located. However when he found the treasure boxes, Luffy revealed that they were unfortunately empty. Gaimon however, was grateful that he was able to learn the truth before he died. Afterwards, Luffy then decided to continue on his journey. As Luffy and his crew were leaving, Luffy asked Gaimon if could come along too. Gaimon replied however that couldn't join them as he had some responsibility for the animals on the island. With some thanks from Gaimon, Luffy then sailed off to the next island. In the anime, these series of events happened after Luffy and crew defeated Kuro.

Luffy and his crew then came upon Gecko Island. Upon landing, they met Usopp, the local troublemaker of Syrup Village. After some misuderstanding about comming to the island, Usopp told Luffy and his crew that they could get a ship from the owner of the large mansion in town. Luffy and his crew, following Usopp, then learned of Usopp's father and his relationship with the mansion's owner, Kaya. Later while talking with Usopp about his father on a cliff, Luffy and Usopp learned a scheme to steal Kaya's fortunes being discussed by the caretaker, Kurahadol, and Jango. They learned that the caretaker was actually Captain Kuro and he had planned for the past three for this. Luffy, not liking this, revealed himself to Kuro and Jango, and accidentally got hypnotized by Jango. Luffy then fell off the cliff. Luckily, because of his rubber body, Luffy was able to survive.

Later upon learning that no one would believe Usopp, Luffy and his crew decided to help Usopp defend his village. They then set a trap for Kuro's crew at the coast where Kuro and Jango discussed their plans. Early the next day however, they suddenly realized that the pirates would attack from the other coast. Luffy realizing this, asked Usopp for directions and dashed ahead. Unfortunately, Luffy misinterpreted on where to go and ended up going back to village. Luffy, along with Zoro, were then luckily able to find the right coast and give Nami and Usopp a hand.

In the midst of the battle, Luffy accidentally got hypnotized by Jango again. Luckily, this was a good thing as Luffy was able to beat most of the pirates. Just as Luffy was about to crush the pirates with the figurehead of Kuro's ship, he was hypnotized once again and fell asleep. Luffy was then awoken by Nami and got one of Jango's rings lodged at the back of his head. In the anime, this scene was altered so Luffy instead caught it in his mouth. Luffy then seeing Usopp's determination to save Kaya and his village, decided to fight Kuro who gotten there. In the midst of the fight with Kuro, he and the caretaker discussed briefly on what a pirate was. With firm belief, Luffy boldly told Kuro that Usopp was better than him. After witnessing Kuro's ability and the slaughter of some of Kuro's own crew, Luffy defeated Kuro. Luffy then threw an unconsious Kuro back to his crew and told them to remember him.

Later, after everything setteled down, Luffy and his crew were given a ship for helping save Kaya. The ship, the Going Merry, impressed Luffy alot. Luffy and his crew then saw Usopp rolling down the hill with a large backpack. They then offered Usopp a place on the crew for which Usopp accepted. Luffy, his crew, and his new crewmate, Usopp, then sailed off on their new ship.

Battle for Baratie
While sailing on the Going Merry, Luffy decided to draw his Jolly Roger. His drawing however was bad which everyone onboard commented about. Usopp fortunately drew a better version of Luffy's design. With this, Luffy's crew decided to paint it on the sails. After painting, Luffy decided to try praticing cannon firing. Usopp helped Luffy with this and they were able to shoot a nearby island. Later, as Luffy and his crew were discussing who they should get next, somebody had climbed aboard the ship and called out to them. After a brief bout with Luffy, Johnny, the one who had climbed aboard, revealed that he came aboard to get at people who fired at him and Yosaku while they were on the nearby island. Luffy and Usopp, realizing their mistake, asked for forgiveness. As they were talking, Nami explained that Yosaku was suffering from scurvy. Luffy and Usopp luckily helped Yosaku gain some strength back by giving him some lemon juice. Seeing this, it was mutually agreed amongst Luffy's crew that they need a chef to supply them during their long voyage. Johnny, grateful for their help, told Luffy where he could get a chef. With this info, Luffy and crew then sailed to the sailing restaurant, Baratie.

Upon arrival in Baratie, Luffy and his crew unfortunately met up with the Marine Lieutenant, Ironfist Fullbody. With orders from Fullbody, his men shot a cannonball at Luffy and his crew. Luffy luckily diverted it away with his Fuusen technique. Unfortunately, he redirected the shot to the restuarant ship. For damaging the ship, Luffy was brought before the restaurant's owner, Zeff. Since Luffy had no money at the time to repay for the damages done, Zeff asked Luffy to repay by working in the restaurant for one year. Luffy, not wanting to wait for one year, tried to negotiate with Zeff. Unfortunately the negotiations didn't go so well and the two of them ended up creating and falling through a hole in the restaurant. The two then landed in between an argument between the second head chef, Sanji, and Fullbody. Luffy then learned that a prisoner from Fullbody had suddenly escaped. This pirate, Gin, demanded food through force. He was however instead denied and kicked out. As Gin was crawling outside due to lack of food, Luffy witnessed Sanji give him some food despite having no money. Luffy upon witnessing this, declared that he had found a good chef for his crew.

Luffy then asked Sanji to join his crew. Sanji in response refused Luffy's offer. Luffy however refused Sanji's refusal and insisted that the chef should join his crew. As the two argued, Gin interupted and warned Luffy not to go to the Grand Line. Later after Gin left, Luffy was put to work. Being no help at all in the kitchen, Luffy was told to take some orders from the customers. Upon leaving the kitchen, Luffy was surprised to see the rest rest of his crew relaxing. This agrivated Luffy and thus he tried to dirty Zoro's drink with his booger. This scheme however failed. Luffy then witnessed Sanji's more womanizing side and brief argument between him and Zeff. Afterwards, Luffy was sent back to work. Two days later, Luffy witnessed a huge ship come to Baratie. The ship, the Dreadnaught Sabre, belonged to Don Krieg, the most feared East Blue Pirate and Gin's captain. Luffy then witness Krieg enter the restaurant and demand food. For this, Sanji complied. Unfortunately, the Don then demanded to take over the restaurant ship.

Alot of things happened afterwards. Luffy learned that the Going Merry was taken by Nami and witnessed the Dreadnaught Sabre get destroyed by Mihawk. After witnessing a fight between Zoro and Mihawk, Luffy told Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, and Zoro to try to catch up with Nami. Luffy then decided to repay his debt to Zeff by fighting off Krieg's pirates. Luffy asked Zeff if this was acceptable. Zeff replied that it was and Luffy joined the chefs in the battle to protect the Baratie from Don Krieg. During the battle, uffy witnesses Sanji's amazing kicking ability. Then while receiving an attack from Don Krieg, Luffy accidentally hit Pearl. This caused the pirate to become scared at the sight of his own blood. Pearl then threatened to burn everyone including Luffy due to fear. Luckily, with the help of Sanji and one of Don Krieg's attacks redirected by Luffy's Gomu Gomu Bazooka, Pearl was knocked out. Suddenly, Luffy and the other battling chefs then saw Zeff get taken hostage by Gin.

Gin, trying to reason with everyone, told everyone, including Luffy, to back down from the fight. It was then Luffy saw Sanji's resolve to save Zeff's restaurant no matter what. Finding Sanji's reason stupid, Luffy tried to destroy the Baratie in order to stop the pirates from attacking. Luffy then explained to Sanji that he wasn't repaying Zeff at all by letting himself die. In the confusion, Gin suddenly stopped holding Zeff hostage and attacked Pearl. He then asked Don Krieg if he could kill Sanji himself. Luffy, seeing these events, claimed them as part of his plan to get Krieg's pirates confused. For this, Sanji simply replied that Luffy was a liar since it wasn't part of Luffy's original plan at all.

Witnessing Luffy's cockiness and unseriousness towards him and his crew, Don Krieg decided to fight Luffy. As the two pirate captains prepared to fight, Krieg also ordered Gin to get rid of Sanji. While Krieg was witnessing Gin and Sanji's fight, Luffy then attempted to attack while he was looking. Luffy however was stopped by a barrage of Krieg's spikes. For this Luffy insulted Krieg for insulting him. Luffy then witnessed Gin's inability to kill Sanji. Angered by Gin's disobedience, Krieg decided to use his poison bomb, MH5. Luffy, in response to this, stole two gas masks from two of Krieg's men for Sanji and Gin. Before Luffy could steal one for himself, all of Krieg's men had dived in to the ocean. Luckily, Luffy was able to find one laying around. After the bomb was fired and the gas subsided, it was revealed that Gin had given his mask to Luffy. With this act by Krieg towards his own man, Luffy became enraged. Luffy then charged at Krieg and punched him directly in the face through a barrage of spikes and a coat of thorns. With this fighting spirit displayed before them, Zeff told Sanji to watch Luffy closely. The fight between the two captains then intensified as they argued over whose grave will the battlefield, the wrekage of Krieg's ship, will belong to.

With Luffy's performance before them, Krieg's crew started to wonder who exactly Luffy was. Krieg, on the other hand, thought otherwise and created his special spear to battle Luffy. With Krieg's spear's ability to create explosions on impact, Luffy was given a tough battle. Just when it looked like Luffy had succumbed to Krieg's spear, Luffy was able to get up. He then revealed that he was able to hit it five times as the tip of the spear crumbled. With his spear's power decreased by half, Krieg decided to fight against Luffy more furiously. Luffy's battle with Don Krieg raged on further as Luffy attempted to punch through Krieg's armor. Nothing apparently seemed to work. However just when it looked like Krieg had defeated Luffy with some bombs, Luffy was able to emerge from the blast and break through Krieg's armor with his Gomu Gomu no Bazooka attack. With Don Krieg's armor destroyed, all seemed finally over. However, Krieg had one last trick up his sleeve. With a net, Krieg attempted to drag Luffy with him into the ocean. Luffy however dealt with with this tactic also. Using his legs, Luffy grabbed Kreig's face and slammed him onto the porch of the Baratie. With this Luffy defeated Don Krieg. However despite Luffy defeating Krieg, he still fell into the ocean. Luckily, Sanji then dove in after Luffy and thus saved him from drowning.

After awakening from being knocked out conscious by falling into the ocean, Luffy is told by Sanji of Gin's final words to Luffy. Seeing as his debt to Zeff was finally repaid, Luffy then once again tried to convince Sanji to join his crew. Though rejected once again by the chef, Luffy and Sanji talk about Sanji's dream of finding All Blue. After discussing about Sanji's dream for awhile, Luffy and Sanji decide to join the other chefs for a meal. During the meal, Zeff and the other chefs angered Sanji by saying the soup he made was bad. Luffy on the other hand, thought the soup was good and asked them why they acted as such. Zeff and the others then explained themselves to Luffy and asked him to take Sanji along with him. Luffy however, refused to take Sanji along unless he agreed to go by his own free will. Just as Luffy and the chefs were discussing, a half eaten Yosaku came barging into the restaurant. After getting Yosaku out from the Panda Shark, Yosaku explained to Luffy that the others needed his abilities to deal with the situation with Nami. Just as Luffy and Yosaku were about to leave, Sanji decided to join Luffy's crew. After making some preparations, acquiring the Shimashima Shopping to travel on, and witnessing Sanji's farewell to Zeff and the other chefs, Luffy, Yosaku, and Luffy's new chef, Sanji, sailed on to where Nami was.

After Enies Lobby
Chapter 430: With the Going Merry, everyone has managed to escape Enies Lobby safely. However, after escaping, Iceburg arrives in a Galley-La just in time to pick up the Strawhat Pirates as the Merry suddenly breaks apart. Luffy then gives the Going Merry a viking funeral by burning it as the crew tearfully says goodbye.

Chapter 431: As everyone relaxes at Water 7, Franky decides to build a ship for the crew out of the special wood called Adam Wood. However, at that point, Marines led by Garp break into Iceburg's mansion, where everyone is staying, and punches the still-asleep Luffy to wake him up. At this point, Luffy reveals that Garp is his grandfather.

With the help of the rest of the Franky Family, he is holding Franky's pants hostage as a bargaining chip to get him to join his crew. Franky simply poses naked and he says "I'm still a man naked". Meanwhile, Sanji comes running with Zoro tell that Vice-Admiral Garp, has sailed on the opposite shore in attack position. Luffy then throws Franky's speedo back and tells him to sail with them. Franky then says he does want to see his dream ship. Franky then agrees to join.

As of chapter 438, Luffy is trying to battle his grandfather with his new ship. At this moment Usopp tries to rejoin the crew, however Zoro had already advised Luffy not to do so until Usopp apologized. Zoro proclaims he must join under their terms not his own since there is now bad terms between him and the crew for him to rejoin. During the struggle between Garp and the Straw Hats, Usopp finally admits he wants to rejoin and that he will never question orders again, with that note, Luffy tearfully accepts him back into the crew.

Adventure on Ghost Island
After sailing for some time on the Thousand Sunny, Luffy and the rest of the crew came across a mysterious barrel floating on the ocean. Upon opening it, a flash shot up from it. After braving a storm that mysteriously came afterwards thanks to Nami and Franky, Luffy and the rest of the crew found themselves in the pressence of a ghost ship.

Wanting to explore the ship, Luffy along with Sanji and Nami climbed aboard. There they met a skeleton named Brook whose being interested Luffy. Luffy then asked Brook to join his crew which in turn the skeleton accepted. Luffy then brought Brook back to Thousand Sunny to show to the rest of the crew. Over dinner, Brook explained his past and later explained that he really can't join Luffy due to his current condition of having his shadow stolen. Luffy really wanting to have Brook as a member, promised to get Brook's shadow back no matter what. This pleased Brook so much that the skeleton decided to perform before the crew with his violin as he was a musician. Just as Brook was about to perform before an even more determined Luffy and the rest of the crew after dinner, a ghost appeared and some clanking sounds were heard. These sounds were caused by the gates of the island that suddenly appeared, Thriller Bark, closing. These events prompted Brook to head to the island before Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats' eyes.

With Luffy's resolve to go to the island to get his long awaited musician and to explore the island, Franky and Robin decided to join him also. After witnessing Franky's present to the Straw Hats, Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats decided to look for Nami, Usopp, and Chopper who had not returned. However before Luffy and the rest could go to the island, they were stopped by an invisible thing. This thing tried to stab Luffy with one of Zoro's swords. Luckily, Franky kicked the sword away before it found it's mark. The thing later left Luffy and the rest baffled.

After the Thousand Sunny got caught in what was apparently a spider web, Luffy and the rest descended to the island. There they met the Cerberus which Luffy thought of eating. Luffy decided to tame the beast seeing as it was a big dog. The creature bit Luffy and in retaliation slammed the creature to a nearby wall. After Luffy tamed the beast, Luffy and the rest met two more of the island's creatures. Luffy caught the "Geezer Tree" while Franky caught the unicorn. Luffy then tried to get the tree to join his crew. He was fortunately stopped by Zoro and Sanji.

Later as Sanji was scolding him for asking Luffy, Luffy and the rest then came across some ghosts which he tried to catch one. The ghost was unaffected and instead passed through Luffy and temporarily drained his will to go on. After Luffy and the rest who also affected by the ghosts recovered, they pressed forward. Luffy and the rest later met with some Zombies which Luffy mistook one for an old man with a big wound after he tried to shove it back into it's grave as it was climbing out. He and the rest defeated the zombies with a combo technique. Luffy then asked the zombies about his three friends that came by earlier. The zombies inadvertedly revealed that they attack them earlier with one of them selling out the other. For this, Luffy and the rest shoved the zombies back into their graves head first.

The group then met with a real old man with a big wound who looked like a Zombie. The old man asked them to defeat Gecko Moria who had stolen his shadow. Robin then explained that Moria was a Shichibukai with a former bounty higher than Luffy. With plans to actually beat Moria, Luffy agreed to help the old man and the others who had their shadows stolen by the Shichibukai. As it began to rain, Luffy and the others discovered that Thriller Bark was a actually a ship. With determination, he and the others ventured into Hogback's mansion.

Inside the mansion, Luffy and the others fought against the Zombies in the dining hall. One of them, a Bear's Skin Rug fascinated Luffy as he fought against it. Luffy was so fascinated with the bear that he commented that he would've liked to have it join his crew if only they weren't enemies. After the battle, he and the others noticed that Sanji was missing. With nothing else to do in the room, Luffy and the others decided to take Buhichuck, the leader of the Zombies in the room, along in order to have him guide them to the rest of their friends. As Luffy left the room, the Zombies told him to be scared of Moria's wrath for what Luffy and his friends did in the dining hall. Luffy in response, merely replied that he will kick Moria's ass.

Current Events (Spoilers)
After walking awhile with Buhichuck as their hostage, Luffy, Robin, and Franky suddenly noticed that Zoro too was now missing. The situation was begining to become suspicious. Later, Luffy found a suit of armor and decided to don it. Franky questioning Luffy, asked why he put it on. Luffy then explained to Franky that it is a man's romance to don armor even if he is made of steel. After a performance by Franky, the three came upon an arena like area. There, Luffy and Robin witnessed a bout between Franky and a Zombie General. After witnessing it for while, Luffy's group were suddenly trapped in the room by Buhichuck. There they were forced to fight a large group of Zombie Generals. In the middle of the battle, Luffy found himself face to face with Zombie General with three swords like Zoro. Before Luffy could get a clear answer from Jigorou, he was captured by the other Zombie Generals. Luffy was then sealed in a coffin and then sent to the main mast of Thriller Bark.

Luffy was then brought before Gecko Moria. After trying to escape by eating the cage he was in, Luffy had his shadow stolen by Moria. Upon being separated from his shadow, Luffy fell into a coma. With Luffy's shadow in Moria's hands, Moria decides to put in the 900th Zombie, Oz. Having his shadow finished being extracted, Luffy is then brought back to the Thousand Sunny by some Spider Mice.

After being placed in the Thousand Sunny's kitchen along with Sanji and Zoro, Luffy was then awakened by Franky and the Straw Hats with him. Upon awakening, Luffy's first immediate thought was kicking Moria's ass. After calming down for abit, Luffy and the others briefed on what happened recently. With Nami and three of their shadows taken, Luffy and the others planned to take them back. Luffy was then informed by Franky of Brook's relationship with Laboon. Ever more excited by this information, Luffy then decided that he will make Brook join their crew, even if he has to drag the skeleton onto the ship himself. With this, Luffy and his crew decided to take back from Moria what he stole from them and their friends. Currently Luffy has caught up with Moria.

Major Battles

 * Luffy vs. Buggy the Clown
 * Luffy vs. Captain Kuro
 * Luffy vs. Don Krieg
 * Luffy vs. Arlong
 * Luffy vs. Laboon
 * Luffy vs. Zoro
 * Luffy, Usopp, Carue, Vivi, Nami, and Zoro vs. Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine
 * Luffy vs. Wapol
 * Luffy vs. Sir Crocodile(1)
 * Luffy vs. Sir Crocodile(2)
 * Luffy vs. Sir Crocodile(3)
 * Luffy vs. Bellamy the Hyena
 * Luffy, Usopp and Sanji vs. Satori
 * Luffy vs. Eneru
 * Luffy vs. Foxy the Silver Fox (Davy Back Fight Round 3)
 * Luffy vs. Admiral Aokiji
 * Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper vs. Franky Family
 * Luffy vs. Franky vs. Galley-La foremen
 * Luffy vs. Usopp
 * Luffy vs. Rob Lucci (Iceburg's home)
 * Luffy vs. Blueno
 * Luffy vs. Rob Lucci (Enies Lobby)
 * Luffy vs. Monkey D. Garp
 * Luffy vs. Coby
 * Luffy vs. Gecko Moria

Filler Battles

 * Luffy vs. Erik the Whirlwind
 * Luffy vs. El Drago
 * Luffy vs. Bear King
 * Luffy vs. Colonel Butler
 * Luffy vs. Gasparde
 * Luffy and Zoro vs. Saga
 * Luffy vs. Baron Omatsuri
 * Luffy vs. Ratchet
 * Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, and Robin vs. Bayan
 * Luffy vs. Governor
 * Luffy vs. Hatchan and Gedatsu

Early One Piece
Luffy was first featured as the main protagonist in the first pilot of One Piece Romance Dawn V.1 in the Shonen Jump specials showcasting upcoming artists, about a year and a half before One Piece began. He would remain as the main protagonist in the second release of Romance Dawn, Romance Dawn V.2 (featured in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine itself) and the final version Romance Dawn V.3.

Luffy's character changed throughout all three versions of Romance Dawn. Starting from Romance Dawn version 1, Luffy was much smarter than his final incarnation and while he had the power of the Devil Fruit he did not seem to have any named attacks. He claimed to be a candidate for pirate and a Peace Maine type of pirate. His background story was near enough identical to the final story released with Romance Dawn version 3, with a number of note worthy differences. The major difference being that Higuma the Bear was absent from the story in this version. Another minor difference was that Shanks' arm was bitten off by a shark instead of a Sea King. In Romance Dawn V.1 there was also a panel that featured a Luffy as captain of his own crew. This is the only time a older version of Luffy has been drawn by Oda in regards to One Piece storyline.

Version 2 of Romance Dawn feature a Luffy closer to the final version then Romance Dawn version 1. He now had a named attack (though it featured a different naming scheme to the final version) and lacked the intelligence he displayed in Romance Dawn version 1, however, it is arguable that he was less intelligent than his final design overall. His story, though still featured him eating the Devil Fruit, did not feature Shanks and instead Luffy got both his hat and the Devil fruit he ate from his grandfather. Luffy remained a Peace Maine type of pirate in this version and was still promoting himself as a candidate for a pirate while seeking to join up with a crew.

In both versions, Luffy was missing the scar under his left eye. Apart from this the only difference in Luffy's overall appearance was the adaptation to suit the drawing style of each Romance Dawn. The most note worthy change from each version was of Young Luffy, whose head and body shape, though remained roughly the same, was different enough to notice.

Translation and Dub Issues
In the 4Kids dub, the most common alteration seen to Luffy is the reference to his devil the Gomu Gomu no mi as the "gum gum fruit". This is an incorrect translation of the devil fruit as "Gomu" means "rubber".

Other alterations are mostly directed around the renaming of most of his attacks, most away from references to weapons such as guns (such as the Gomu Gomu no Pistol). Out of attacks, Luffy is constantly the centre of attention for the removal of blood shed in battle against foes. All of these are common censorship edits made for TV.

In the book The Anime Encyclopedia - A guide to Japanese animation since 1917(2001), there was a short article about One Piece. In it there were 3 mistakes concerning Luffy; his age was written as 16, his name was spelt Rufy and he was written to have saved Shanks life instead of the other way round.

Crossovers

 * Luffy appeared in an Shonen Jump special, where Enel attacks Tokyo and Odaiba. Goku arrives to fight Enel and Luffy appears to help him. Luffy and Goku make an attack called "Gomu Gomu No Kame Hame Ha" and they destroy Enel.
 * Luffy and other characters also appeared in Cross Epoch.
 * Luffy has appeared in the games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars for the DS. He also appeared in Battle Stadium D.O.N on the GameCube and PlayStation 2.

Cultural References

 * Luffy's Devil Fruit the Gomu Gomu no Mi was referenced in the Japanese TV Drama show Trick.
 * Luffy had a small mention in the PS2 game Ape Escape 3, where it is revealed that Pink Monkey is angry over Luffy's popularity, and seems to believe he is a real monkey.
 * 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 Japanese-Style Ja-pan dumpling. To this effect, he dons a straw hat and starts stretching his arms like rubber to unbelievable lengths a la Monkey D. Luffy.
 * In the Gintama movie, a Sir Crocodile lookalike is seen charging towards one of the characters to fight. He is knocked away by a "Gomu Gomu" move pulled off by one of the characters.

Merchandise
As the main protagonist, Luffy has been the choice character in many forms of mercandise and is arguably only out produced by Chopper. He has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates. He was released in the One Piece DX Figure - Swim Suit Style set which included him and Nami. When the Wii game One Piece: Unlimited Adventure was released Luffy was one of the crew produced as a figure in the One Piece Locations Trading Figures series. He has also appeared as a plushie in a number of sets such as the One Piece Fishing Plushies pair.

He has featured in One Piece Gashapon sets on numerous occusions and he also featured in the 5 piece One Piece VS Figure Gashapon set. Another Gashapon set he featured in was the One Piece Full Color R Gashapon, of what he was featured twice. He was issued alongside Shanks and Lord of the Coast in a One Piece Block Figures set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones. He has featured in trading figure sets such as One-Piece Motion Figure box and the One Piece Styling Figures.

Luffy has also featured on many Keychains/cellphone Straps sets including the One Piece Desert Kingdom Mascot Keychain/Cellphone Strap collection, alongside his brother Ace. He is part of the One Piece Sky Island Mascot Keychain collection. Another set he featured in was the One Piece Monkey Island Mascot Keychain/Cellphone strap series. In the Keychain pairing, he was released alongside Nami, however in the Cellphone strap series he was released alongside Shoujou.

Trivia

 * Monkey D. Luffy is the second character that carries the initial D., however he is the first D. to be named in the story.
 * When lost Luffy will often say things like 'South is colder' or 'North is warmer'. This seems to be a slight reference on the argument between Shanks and Buggy over which pole was colder North of South (which Shanks correctly stated was the South Pole due to it being a mass of ice overtop ground as opposed to just a mass of ice).
 * Except for the Gears, Luffy's Forms (up to now) have all been him messing around hoping something will work, and just doing goofy stuff, but they have saved him each time.
 * Luffy's favourite food is meat.

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