Monkey D. Luffy

Monkey D. Luffy, also known as "Straw Hat Luffy" and commonly as "Straw Hat", is the founder and captain of the increasingly infamous and powerful Straw Hat Pirates, as well as the most powerful of its top fighters. He desires to find the legendary treasure left behind by the late Gol D. Roger and thereby become the Pirate King, which would help facilitate an unknown dream of his that he has told only to Shanks, his brothers, and crew. He believes that being the Pirate King means having the most freedom in the world.

Born in Foosha Village, Luffy is the son of Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and the grandson of the Marine hero Monkey D. Garp, where their family carries the initial of D. At age 7, Luffy accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which turned his body into rubber. Shanks also gave Luffy the very straw hat that has become Luffy's signature accessory, having gifted it to the boy as part of a promise for them to meet again someday after he became a great pirate. Growing up on Dawn Island under the care of Curly Dadan, Luffy befriended and became sworn brothers of the late "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace and Revolutionary Chief-of-Staff Sabo.

Luffy has gone up against numerous global powers around him, starting with fighting the most powerful pirates in the East Blue and moving to clashes against the Marines, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Cipher Pol, World Nobles, and even the Four Emperors of the Grand Line, emerging victorious in a majority of these battles. He invaded and indirectly caused the annihilation of Enies Lobby, escaped the impregnable Impel Down, and was a focal figure in the Summit War of Marineford. He has also either defeated or befriended seven of the eleven known past or present Warlords prior to the organization's dissolution. Furthermore, Luffy has invaded the territory of the Four Emperors on multiple occasions and eventually managed to defeat one. Luffy's accomplishments and heritage have caused him to be labeled as a "Dangerous Future Element" while in the process gaining a reputation for being "reckless" and, in some cases, "insane," earning the wrath of Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, the Marine Headquarters, and even the World Government.

Luffy also has a penchant for attracting followers and has unwillingly been named the leader of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, consisting of seven pirate crews who swore to come to his aid whenever he wishes. After learning of this and his exploits against the Big Mom Pirates, the press labeled him the "Fifth Emperor of the Sea," though many prominent figures initially considered this to be exaggerated. However, after defeating Kaidou during the Raid on Onigashima, Luffy was officially declared as one of the Four Emperors by the World Government along with Buggy, replacing Kaidou and Big Mom.

Luffy has made tremendous strides in his life of piracy, with his bounty heavily reflecting this fact. He gained his first bounty of 30,000,000 for defeating the strongest pirate captains of the East Blue, which then increased to 100,000,000 after defeating Crocodile in Arabasta. After his crew's invasion into and escape from Enies Lobby, his bounty was increased to 300,000,000. His sizeable bounty upon arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago caused Luffy, along with Zoro to be included among the eleven "Super Rookies", pirates who simultaneously reached the Red Line with bounties of over 100,000,000 shortly before the Summit War. He, the other ten Super Rookies, and Marshall D. Teach would go on to be referred to as the "Worst Generation".

Two years after the war, with his bounty increased to 400,000,000, he entered the New World and began challenging the Emperors and their allies directly, with his bounty going up to 500,000,000 after the Dressrosa Arc, and later all the way to 1,500,000,000 after the global revelation that he is Sabo's brother and the existence of Straw Hat Grand Fleet becoming public, as well as the events of the Whole Cake Island Arc. After leading the Raid on Onigashima and defeating Kaidou, his bounty was increased to 3,000,000,000, placing him as one of the members of the Four Emperors.

He is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, One Piece.

Appearance
Luffy is a young man of average height with shaggy black hair, round black eyes, and a slim muscular build. He is renowned for his trademark straw hat (from which he gets his nickname "Straw Hat Luffy"), which was lent to him when he was young by the legendary pirate captain, "Red-Haired" Shanks, who in turn received it from Gol D. Roger. He wears blue shorts with cuffs, sandals, and a sleeveless red vest. Luffy also has a scar with two stitches underneath his left eye, which he earned as a child by stabbing his face to show Shanks that he was tough enough to be a pirate. He was severely wounded by Akainu in the Summit War of Marineford, leaving a large X-shaped scar on his chest.

Before the Timeskip
Similar to most of his male crewmates, Luffy hated black people. He has the same outfit throughout most of the series. Luffy will often wear a different outfit to suit the climate of an island (such as a hooded parka on Drum Island or desert robes in Arabasta) but will switch back to his trademark red vest and blue shorts after the adventures on that island are over. Despite this, he will wear his usual outfit in different colors and has been known to sport other miscellaneous items on his person from time to time like in Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago. According to Eiichiro Oda in 37 Volume SBS, Luffy does not know how to dress stylishly so sometimes he is advised on how to dress by more fashionable team members, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Robin.
 * During the Drum Island Arc, he wore two different parkas, the first being a dark red parka with fur on the cuffs, hood, and hem, and then a checkered, hooded parka with the colors white, orange, and bright yellow, which Nami wore in the beginning.
 * During the Arabasta Arc, he wore desert robes consisting of a dark red robe with three white rings decorated along both sleeves and a light blue wrap over his head.
 * During the Skypiea Arc, he wore a black wristband around his left wrist with a white bangle over it. In 37 Volume SBS, Oda said that two members of his crew lent him accessories: a black wristband by Usopp and a white bracelet by Sanji.
 * During the Long Ring Long Land Arc, Luffy wore an afro on his head, dark red shorts, and red bandages on his feet, getting an image of a blue flaming skull and crossbones painted on his chest as well, when he was fighting Foxy.
 * During the Enies Lobby Arc, he wore black shorts with more pockets than his blue shorts, which he noted he could not fit his meat in.
 * During the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Luffy wore a white T-shirt with the Galley-La Company emblem on it in red; red liners around the top, shoulders, and collar; and navy-blue shorts.
 * During the Thriller Bark Arc, he wore an orange vest and red shorts. After the battle against Moria in Thriller Bark, Luffy wore a dark decorated, jeweled armband around his left bicep, given to him by Nami. This armband was later revealed to be a map that leads to Captain John's lost treasure, which Buggy sought for some time; Luffy handed the armband over to Buggy in exchange for his services in navigating through Impel Down.
 * During the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, in the manga, he wore a blue vest and red shorts (which can also be seen on the cover of Volume 52). In the anime, he wore the same blue vest, but dark blue shorts.
 * During the Amazon Lily Arc, Luffy wore a light blue vest with red shorts.
 * During the Impel Down Arc, Luffy wore his outfit from his stay on Amazon Lily until after his fight with Magellan, at which point he replaced his light blue vest with a bright yellow vest given to him by Inazuma.

No matter where he is, Luffy wears his Straw Hat through absolutely everything, though at the start, the hat was prone to get knocked off his head easily, forcing Luffy to either put it aside or have someone hold onto it during fights. From the Arabasta Arc onward, he has gotten a string strap for it, which was sewn on by Nami, allowing the hat to hang on his back from his neck during fights.

During his return to Marineford to give a silent prayer, Luffy was briefly shown with four characters written on his right arm spelling 3D 2Y, with the 3D crossed out to symbolize that the Straw Hat Pirates should meet up in 2 years (2Y) rather than the 3 days (3D) as planned after fleeing from Bartholomew Kuma.

During his journey, Luffy has used the power of his Devil Fruit in creative ways, many of which involve altering his body. The greatest example of his altered appearance is the creation of his Gear transformations which dramatically affect his entire body:
 * In Gear 2, Luffy pumps more blood throughout his whole body, causing his sweat to rapidly vaporize and making it appear that he is releasing steam. In the anime, his entire skin turns slightly pink and shiny from the increased blood flow.
 * In Gear 3 form, Luffy blows a massive amount of air into his body, causing it to inflate and enlarge a specific part of his body to a size equivalent to that of a Giant. After the transformation wears off, his body temporarily shrinks to a child-sized form, with large hands and a vertically compressed head. The properties and appearance of this technique changed after the two-year timeskip.

After the Timeskip
After those two years, a few things have changed. He has grown slightly taller and is shown to be significantly more muscular due to his training. This can be seen in his slightly thicker neck, more pronounced deltoids, and a better-defined chest, which shows the X-shaped scar he received by then-Admiral Akainu covering most of it. His usual attire is mostly the same as it was two years ago, but instead of a vest, Luffy wears an open, long-sleeved red cardigan with four buttons, with a yellow sash tied around his waist (somewhat reminiscent of Gol D. Roger's outfit).

Due to Luffy's increasing notoriety in addition to the increasing strength of his foes, after the timeskip he finds himself more often dressed in disguises to mask his identity, with varying levels of sophistication. Despite this, he still never loses his trademark straw hat and instead opts to at times cover it with other headwear.


 * During the Punk Hazard Arc, Luffy wore a long winter coat with red and white horizontal stripes, along with yellow earmuffs, which he stole from one of Brownbeard's Centaur Patrol Unit.
 * During the Dressrosa Arc, due to his need to hide his identity in Doflamingo's territory, Luffy wore an open, short-sleeved shirt with a sunflower pattern, standard blue shorts, a yellow sash, and a black bowler hat over his straw hat. He also wore a fake beard. Upon entering the tournament for the Mera Mera no Mi in the Corrida Colosseum, he wore Viking-style armor, complete with a sword and shield. Upon revision to meet the tournament's weight restriction, he got rid of most of the armor, but kept the cape and helmet, along with his registration number '0556' and the word "Lucy" written on the back of his shirt, obscured by his cape. When he recovered after his battle against Doflamingo, Luffy wore a red tank top along with his standard shorts in brown (dark grey in the anime).
 * During the Whole Cake Island Arc, Luffy wore an open, fancy white cardigan with puffy sleeves along with his standard shorts in red. He also had a decorative scarf wrapped around his straw hat after landing at the Seducing Woods, though he appears to have lost it during his battle with Charlotte Cracker. These clothes were eventually torn to shreds after several battles and he later dons a new outfit to meet with Capone Bege; a red suit jacket with a brown shirt and a pink ascot along with red formal shorts. He also fitted a black fedora to the top of his straw hat.
 * During his fight with Sanji, Luffy loses one of his top teeth after being struck by a Diable Jambe Joue Shot directly into his face. However, it grew back after he drank a bottle of milk.
 * During the Wano Country Arc, Luffy wore a red yukata with patchwork mon of a blue rounded sun on a cyan background and a yellow obi. He also had a topknot on top of his hair. He also had the Nidai Kitetsu he borrowed from Tenguyama Hitetsu. Before beginning the assault on Onigashima, Luffy received a set of samurai armor from Hitetsu. When helping Kin'emon and the others against Kaidou's fleet at sea, Luffy wore a long, dark-colored coat over his usual attire. He also swapped his regular sash and pants for a purple and orange-brown one respectively. He also briefly wore a Beasts Pirates disguise created by Kin'emon when infiltrating Onigashima.
 * During the Egghead Arc, Luffy received a long coat with SSG logo, along with gloves, an earpiece, and a pair of DOM Shoes.

After the two-year timeskip, Luffy developed another two Gears, with one of them having its own sub-transformations, as well as significantly changing Gear 3:
 * During Luffy's two years of training, he further developed Gear 3 to have the air concentrated into his fist and a large sphere of air in his wrist, as opposed to throughout a whole limb as before. He also uses it in a variety of sizes, does not shrink afterward, and is almost always hardened with Busoshoku Haki, giving it a shiny black appearance.
 * In Gear 4, Luffy's body proportions shift dramatically, specific to the exact form he is taking. In all forms, he gains dark rings around his eyes, and a level of Busoshoku Haki coating over at least his arms and legs.
 * In the Boundman form, Luffy inflates himself, transforming his torso to be more spherical. He increases the size of his arms to match his torso and spreads Busoshoku Haki coating over portions of his upper chest, creating intricate designs. In the process of inflating, Luffy also becomes taller and more muscular.
 * The details of the Tankman form's appearance are unknown, as Luffy has only used a variation called the "Manpuku Version". In the Manpuku Version of Tankman, Luffy's body goes through a similar yet exaggerated transformation to Boundman. In this form, his torso inflates significantly more than the rest of his body, while his arms only slightly inflate. The Busoshoku Haki coating remains the same as Boundman, as does the height increase, though he loses the muscular physique to increase the roundness of his body.
 * In the Snakeman form, Luffy's body does not shift dramatically, remaining largely the same in terms of overall proportions. While some expansion still occurs, it's much less than in Boundman and Tankman, with the bulk of the transformation occurring in Luffy's newly flame-like hair. Compared to the other forms, he has less Busoshoku Haki spread, barely reaching his shoulders. He also gains a trail of steam and fire that drapes over his shoulders.
 * In Gear 5, Luffy's hair and clothes turn pure white. His hair takes on the appearance of a flame, and his eyes glow with red ring-like pupils. Like in Snakeman, he has a trail of gas draped over his shoulders, this time formed out of clouds.

Non-Canon
In Movie 3, he wears a red shirt with the number "01" in black in the middle. A deer costume with a fur coat and two tree branches for antlers was also momentarily seen.

In the G-8 Arc, he infiltrates the kitchens as a Marine cook, wearing a white cook uniform, a blue scarf on his neck, and a white cook hat covering his straw hat.