Romance Dawn Arc

The Captain Morgan Arc is the first story arc in the popular Japanese anime and manga series, One Piece. This arc is actually three stories in one. The first is the story of how Monkey D. Luffy gained his powers and tells us his driving force to become a pirate. The second story is his meeting with Coby and helping him escape from a female pirate named Alvida. In the final story Luffy tries to get the pirate hunter, Zoro to join his crew while dealing with the marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan. It is followed by the Buggy the Clown arc.

Chapters: 1-7 (Volume 1: Romance Dawn)

Episodes: 1-3 (English Dub: 1-3)

Romance Dawn: Luffy's beginnings
This saga starts off with a flashback. Gold Roger was about to get executed, before he dies he tells the crowds to go out and search for his treasure. With that he sparked the Golden age of pirates; countless pirates raise their flags and set off to find One Piece.

We then move 12 years later to Fuschia Village where we immedently meet Luffy (age 7 at the time), who tries to prove his worth to the Red Haired pirates by cutting himself in the cheek (which causes a cross shaped scar). Afterwards we get a more formal introduction to Luffy and his idol, Red-Hair Shanks, while his crew enjoy themselves in a bar owned by Luffy's friend, Makino. Shank's crew has used the village as a base of operations for a year of which during that time Luffy has taken an appreciation to the pirate life and tries to talk Shanks into taking him with them on their next departure. But Shanks continually refuses as it too dangerous and instead teases Luffy on his inability to swim.

The mood shifts when mountain bandits enter the bar and their leader, Higuma, demands some rum. Makino tell him that the pirates had already finished off all the rum, though Shanks offers the last remaining bottle as an apology. Higuma smashes it over his head and insults him for being a pirate. Shanks ignores Higuma and starts to clean up the mess. This only serves to anger Higuma and causes him to break more bottles. With one final insult, Higuma and his bandits leave. After they are gone, Shanks and his crew laugh at what had just occurred, though Luffy thinks otherwise. He chides Shanks because he didn't fight back and then starts to leave. When Shanks grabs Luffy's arm to stop him, it suddenly stretches! That's when one of the crew members realizes that a fruit that was kept in a chest on the bar is gone. It doesn't take them long to figure out that Luffy had eaten it. Shanks then reveals the cause for panic: Luffy had eaten a Devil Fruit that will cause him to never be able to swim again!

The next day and Luffy starts to see an upside in eating the fruit. He begins to show off his rubber powers to some of the villagers, much to the chagrin of the Mayor of the village who doesn't like the idea of Luffy becoming a pirate. Later, Luffy visits Makino and once again expresses his disappointment at Shanks not fighting back the day before. Next we see Higuma and his bandits enter the bar.

The story shifts ahead a bit when Makino runs to the mayor for help becase Luffy had upset the bandits and they were beating him up. After couple of more poundings, Higuma goes to finish Luffy off. The mayor tries to apologize for Luffy's action and offers money for his safety. But Higuma refuses and proceeds to kill Luffy anyway. Shanks returns and demands he let Luffy go. Higuma laughs at Shanks and sends his men to kill him as well. Instead, Shanks' first mate easily takes care of Higuma's thugs. When Shanks again demands that he let Luffy go, Higuma throws a smoke bomb, grabs Luffy, and escapes. Shanks starts panicking, but his first mate notices something...

Higuma sails a boat away from the town claiming a perfect getaway because no one suspects a bandit would flee to the ocean. Far from land, Higuma throws Luffy into the water and (true to the myth of the devil fruit), Luffy can't swim. A flashback shows us that when Higuma reentered the bar, he immedently started badmouthing Shanks, to which Luffy takes offense and screams for them to take back their words. Back in the present, Higuma laughs at Luffy's struggle but fails to notice the giant sea monster creeping up on him - until it is too late and he is eaten in one bite. The monster then sets his sights on Luffy, but Shanks pulls him away just in time and, with a very menacing expression on his face, tells the sea monster to leave. The monster leaves and Shanks tries to calm down a sobbing Luffy. Luffy points out that his left arm has been chomped off. Shanks tells him it's just a small price to pay for saving him.

Some time later, Shank's crew prepares to leave the village for the last time, and Luffy comes to say his goodbyes. When asked if he is disappointed, Luffy replies he is, but won't ask to join and that he will be a pirate on his own. Shanks teases him again and Luffy screams that he will be a better pirate than him - that he will be the king of pirates. Upon hearing this, Shanks gives Luffy his favorite straw hat and make him promise that he will return it someday when they meet again. Afterwards, Shanks and his crew leave the village.

Ten years pass and Luffy, now a teenager (17), is old enough to leave on his own. As Luffy sails away from his village, he runs into the sea monster again. This time, Luffy is ready and punches the monster with a Gum Gum Pistol, instantly knocking it out. Luffy once again reproclaims he'll be the king of pirates!

Coby and Alvida
The next act in the arc finds Luffy being sucked into a whirlpool but rescued by a pirate crew when they find him in a barrel (which he jumped into at the last second). Their captain, a ugly and fat woman named Alvida, barges in after their discovery, thinking that they're drinking behind her back. But the crewmates put the blame on their cabin boy, Coby.

Meanwhile in some woods not far from the ship, Luffy gets aquinted with said cabin boy who turns out to be quite the coward and only became a cabin boy because he got on the wrong ship while out fishing and it was the only way to spare his life. Coby also reveals he wants to be a marine (Navy in the english anime) but feels this goal is out of his reach. However when Luffy tells Coby of his dream and his willingness to do it or die trying, Coby starts to get insipired. Which turns out to be good timing as Alvida finds the two and barks at Coby to say who the prettiest person in the world (something she makes all her crew do). At first Coby starts to do as told, but remembering Luffy's words, he blurts out that Alvida's the uglist hag in the sea!

This, of course, angers Alvida and she goes to kill Coby with her iron mace (her signature weapon). Luffy pushes him back and takes the blow, taking no damage as his rubber body absorbs the impact. He then retailiates by hitting Alvida with a Gum Gum Pistol, knocking her out with one punch. He then demands to the rest of her crew to give Coby a dingy so he can fulfil his dream of joining the marines.

The crew does so and the two sail off with Luffy wondering if he can get a famed pirate hunter named Roranoa Zolo (Zoro) to join his crew though Coby thinks it'll never happen.

Captain Morgan
The third and final act of the Captain Morgan arc sees Luffy and Coby arriving in Shelltown that is home to a local marine base. While stopping at a café to eat, the two talk about Zolo and Captain Morgan, which make the residents a little jumpy when their names are mentioned and gives Coby a bad feeling.

The two boys then head for the Marine base where they see the pirate hunter, Zolo tied to post. Zolo tries to get the two to untie him which Luffy is all for and Coby of course is against. Before the two can make their decison, a girl (to be known as Rika) climbs over the gate and goes to Zolo, offering him some riceballs. He refuses and tries to send her away, but a man in a tacky outfit with marines behind him approaches. He is Helmeppo, Captain Morgan’s spoiled son. Helmeppo swipes Rika’s riceballs and eat them, only to spit them out and complain they have too much sugar (whereas you originally season them with salt). He stomps them into dirt right before her eyes before ordering one of his men to literally throw Rika out, but luckily she is caught by Luffy.

Helmeppo then talks with Zolo where we find out that if Zolo can survive a month at the stake with no food, Helmeppo promises he’ll let him go. After Helmeppo and his guards leave, Luffy confronts Zolo and ask him to join his crew. Zolo initially turns him down, but before Luffy leaves. Zolo asks him to feed him the now heavily dirted riceballs. After he eats it, he tells Luffy to tell Rika that they were delicious. To which Luffy does relay it to her, back in town, giving Coby a sense that Zolo can’t really be all bad.

Rika then tell Luffy and Coby that Zolo was thrown in prison for protecting her from a mean dog of Helmeppo's that was attacking her and the town. She also reveals that Morgan is the true menace to the island. Helmeppo happens to stroll into town at that very moment, bragging that he’ll put Zolo to death in three days. When Luffy confronts him on his promise, Helmeppo admits he was lying to which he receives a punch in the face from Luffy once the truth is known.

The townspeople start to panic as Helmeppo threatens to tell his dad what happened. Luffy, of course, isn’t worried and heads back to the base. In the base, Helmeppo bursts into his father's quarters, yelling he wants him to kill someone. On the marine ground, Luffy confronts Zolo again and makes a rather unfair deal with the swordsman, Luffy will get Zolo’s sword from the base. But if Zolo wants them back, he has to join the crew. Luffy then heads for the fortress while Zolo thinks he's a pretty dumb pirate.

At the top of the fortress, the marines are preparing to raise a newly finished statue of Captain Morgan, whom we are finally introduced to. He smacks then chides his son for his whining. Then he shows his cruel side when kills a lieutenant for not follwing his orders to search for and kill Rika. As the men begin to raise the statue, Luffy uses his rocket move to reach the top of the fortess. But overshoots and grabs onto the statue to stop himself, pulling the statue to the edge of the fortress and breaking it in half. Needless to say, Morgan is outraged and orders his men to kill Luffy, who ignores them and grabs Helmeppo before running into the base. On ground level, Coby trying to untie Zolo while asking him join Luffy and stop Morgan. Before he can finish his task, he is shot.

In the base, Luffy trying to get Helmeppo to tell him where Zolo’s swords are. He uses the man as a shield when he runs into marines. Back on ground level, we see Coby only been hit by in the arm. When Zolo tries to tell him to escape, Coby reveals Morgan's true intention of killing him. Morgan then appears before the two with a firing squad in tow. Back with Luffy he finds Zolo's sword but noticees both his friends about to be killed. As the squad prepares to fire, Zolo reflects on his past where he was younger and met a girl name Kuina who he couldn’t beat in a duel, despite him being the strongest in his class.

One night, he challenges Kuina to a fight with real swords, which results in his 2001th loss against her. However Kuina reveals that she’ll get weaker when she grows older and can’t become a true swordsman. Zolo convinces her otherwise and makes her promise that one of them will someday become the greatest sword fighter in the world. Sadly, Kuina dies the next day from falling down some stairs, prompting Zolo to take it upon himself to keep their promise. Back in the present, Morgan tell the squad to fire, but Luffy jumps in front of the two,taking the bullets and then bouncing them right back at the marines. He then asks Zolo one more time to join his crew to which, under the circumstances, Zolo accepts.

Luffy then unties him just as the marines are bearing down on them with their swords. Surprisingly Zolo hold them all off with his Santoryu (three sword) style. He then pledges his loyalty to Luffy though he threaten to make Luffy commit suicide if he interferes with Zolo's dream. Luffy accepts his terms then takes care of the marines with a Gum Gum Whip (a stretching leg sweep.) Morgan then confronts Luffy afterward with his Ax-arm but the fight turns out to be very one-sided as Luffy keeps hitting Morgan without taking a blow himself.

Helmeoppo stops the fight when he shows that he holding Coby hostage with pistol to his head. Coby however tells Luffy to not to worry about him and defeat the captain. Morgan rises over Luffy ready to bring a fatal blow to the boy as Luffy hits Helmeoppo with a Gum Gum Pistol, but Zolo stops Morgan at the last second. The marines soon rejoice as Captain Morgan’s tyranny is finally over.

Later Luffy, Zolo, and Coby are rewarded with a dinner at Rika’s house. As the three discuss their future plans, a marine lieutenant confronts the three. Telling Luffy and Zolo that they have to leave since the're pirates, despite having saved them. When this issue is brought up with Coby (because of his cabin boy background), Luffy starts to reveal his past to which Coby socks him the face. The two start to fight until the lieutenant orders Luffy to leave. Coby realizes Luffy helped him out once again and comes to the realization that he must start standing up for himself. He proclaims to the weary lieutenant that he's no pirate and that he’ll be a navy officer. Which is enough to get him accepted.

As Luffy and Zolo prepared to leave town, Coby catches up with them and salutes the two followed by the rest of the marine base. Luffy tells Coby they’ll meet again someday as he and Zolo ride off to continue their adventure, bringing a close to the Captain Morgan arc.

Anime Version
The anime verison of the series did the start of the arc a little differently.


 * The anime begins with Luffy meeting Coby and Alvida though rather on the sea while Alvida is pludering a passenger ship then Alvida's homebase island in the manga.
 * Luffy's past is withheld till the fourth episode and him cutting himself on the cheek and leaving his hometown at his current age are not animated. (Though the part where he defeats the giant sea serpent with one punch is shown in the first opening.)
 * And lastly Nami, while not named at this point in the series, is introduced before her part in the Buggy arc sneaking around areas where Luffy coincidently is (I.E: Alvida's ship, Captain Morgan's navel base) looking for treasure. It isn't until the fifth episode of the anime that she offically introduces herself and interacts with Luffy.

Episodes
1. I am Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the Pirate King!

2. The Great Swordsman Appears! Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro

3. Morgan VS Luffy! Who's This Beautiful Young Girl?