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Monkey D. Luffy

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Monkey D. Luffy
One Piece character
Monkey D. Luffy by Eiichiro Oda
First appearanceOne Piece chapter 1
Created byEiichiro Oda
In-universe information
AliasStraw Hat (nickname)
RelativesMonkey D. Dragon (father)
Portgas D. Ace (adopted brother)

Monkey D. Luffy (モンキー・D・ルフィ, Monkī Dī Rufi), often addressed as "Straw Hat Luffy" (麦わらのルフィ, Mugiwara no Rufi), is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. He first appears in the manga chapter Romance Dawn (Romance Dawn —冒険の夜明け—, Romance Dawn: Bōken no Yoake) first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on August 4, 1997.[1] He is introduced as a boy who possesses elasticity powers after eating a devil fruit.[2] Luffy is captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, a group of pirates he assembles himself as he quests to find the "One Piece" and become the King of the Pirates. His primary motivation throughout the series is to reach the goal with all of his comrades, a task he pursues no matter what stands in his way. While he is goofy and reckless, he gets quite serious when anyone is in serious danger, notably his crew, whom he considers his friends.

Luffy has starred in most of the episodes, films, and specials of the anime series One Piece, as well as many of the spin-off video games. Outside of the One Piece franchise, Luffy has had an appearance in the crossover manga Cross Epoch. He has also been the subject of other parodies, and has appeared in various special events and in Japanese pop culture.

Creation and conception

Oda partially based Luffy on Son Goku, the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball series created by Akira Toriyama.[3] To make the readers relax without being stressed out, Oda added elasticity powers to Luffy for a comical effect.[4] Oda tries to draw Luffy very straightforward about what he wants to be and how he feels.[5]

The devil fruit that Luffy gained his abilities from was originally called the Gomu no Mi (ゴムの実, lit. fruit of rubber), but after the editor pointed out that a real rubber fruit existed, the name was changed to the Gomu Gomu no Mi (ゴムゴムの実, lit. fruit of rubber rubber, renamed "Gum Gum Fruit" in the English adaptations).[6]

Character outline

Personality

Luffy is portrayed as a carefree character with great ambitions and a huge appetite. He often thinks with his stomach and eats to the point of becoming comically fat. He is caring and generally good hearted. However, he is not naïve and understands most situations more than he shows. He was inspired to become a pirate by his friend "Red-Haired" Shanks who entrusted him with his strawhat, which he holds as one of his most precious objects. Knowing the dangers ahead, he is willing to risk his life to reach his goal, and protect his crew.

He invites several people, such as Chopper or Brook, onto his crew generally for their personality but also because of his instinctual ability to be able to read people. His main reason has been stated a few times in the story. He needs several key jobs filled in his crew (i.e.: cook, navigator, doctor, musician, shipwright, and so on). Only one member of the crew invited herself on, Nico Robin. She actually has no place on the ship, having no true abilities that Luffy requires. She is just a historian who Luffy accepted. Luffy stated in the beginning of the series that he wants about ten crew members, each with abilities that he feels necessary for his goal.[7][8] He is rarely concerned with the consequences of his actions, doing what he feels even if it leads to retaliation by a powerful force.[9] However, he is an extremely loyal captain, who has demonstrated at many points throughout the series that he is willing to risk his life for the well-being of his crew.[10]

Abilities

Luffy's elasticity powers are a result from eating the Gum-Gum Fruit,[11] which makes him virtually immune to all blunt force attacks except attacks filled with Haki. The fruit also gave him the ability to stretch at will. Combined with the elasticity of his body, he uses that ability to accelerate parts or the whole of his body as if shot by a slingshot to deliver punches, kicks, headbutts, body checks, or simply for propulsion. But like everyone who consumed a Devil Fruit, Luffy is unable to swim and when drenched in sea-water or in contact with an artifact blessed by the sea quickly loses his strength. He also has immense physical strength as he was able to knock over 2 large apartment buildings at the same time (Water 7 arc).

Luffy develops two techniques to improve on his rubber abilities. The first of these is Gear Second. He uses his legs as a pump to increase his blood vessels, causing it to increase his attack power and overall speed instantly. However, the technique drains his stamina and if overused makes him temporarily unable to move afterward, as well as shortening his life span. The second is Gear Third, which is activated by biting a hole into his thumb and blowing air into his bones.[1] He is then able to move the air around his bone structure and strike with limbs comparable in size to those of giants. The side effect to using Gear Third is that Luffy temporarily shrinks to a fraction of his normal size after releasing the air for a length that corresponds to the amount of time he was using Gear Third. He is capable of using both techniques simultaneously.

Further into the series, Luffy demonstrates the still innate ability to use Haki (覇気, lit. "ambition") to make people or animals in his proximity faint. Additionally, this ability can negate a devil fruit users power and allow physical contact and damage. Eventually, through training with Silvers Rayleigh, Luffy masters his Haki power and uses it with his attacks. [12] He has a very rare variation of Haki, King Ambition. He first used it on Motobaro without realizing what he did.[13]

Plot overview

Luffy befriends Shanks, intending to become a crew member. However, due to Luffy inadvertently eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, he trains to improve himself. During his early adulthood, he leaves his hometown to search for the "One Piece" and to form a pirate crew of his own, called the "Straw Hat Pirates". In the beginning of the series, Luffy meets a swordsman named Roronoa Zoro, the navigator and thief Nami, the cowardly marksman and inventor Usopp, and the first-class chef Sanji. He also encounters and defeats pirates in the East Blue, such as Buggy the Clown, Captain Kuro, Commodore Don Krieg, and Arlong. These actions cause him to be placed on the Marines' most wanted list with a bounty of 30 million in the fictional currency named berries. After entering the Grand Line, Luffy accepts an offer to return the princess of Alabasta, Nefertari Vivi, safely into her homeland to stop a rebellion, incited by a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sir Crocodile. Along the way, Luffy defeats the ruthless king Wapol while in Drum Island and finds a reindeer doctor named Tony Tony Chopper. In Alabasta, Luffy defeats Crocodile and the civil war ends, causing the World Government to raise Luffy's bounty to 100 million berries. Following Luffy's epic battle with Crocodile, he allows Crocodile's former second-in-command and archaeologist Nico Robin to join his crew.

Later on, the crew visits Skypiea. They get drawn into a war between two races, and Luffy defeats the god Eneru. He later meets Admiral Aokiji, an encounter that results in his defeat after he learns about Robin's heritage. The crew travels to Water 7 in an attempt to search for a shipwright. When Robin is captured by the intelligence agency Cipher Pol No. 9, the crew, along with a cyborg named Franky, follows Robin to Enies Lobby, and they are able to stop her execution. After the crew's battle against the CP9, Robin rejoins the crew, and each member receives their bounties; Luffy's bounty having been increased to 300 million berries. The crew returns to Water 7 and after the Going Merry breaks down, they get their second ship, the Thousand Sunny; there, they meet Luffy's grandfather, Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp. Shortly after, Franky joins the crew as the shipwright.

In the crew's attempt to enter the New World, they come across a ghost ship inhabited by a skeleton musician named Brook. When the crew discovers an island ship, Thriller Bark, they defeat the Warlord Gecko Moria, returning Brook's shadow in the process. After releasing the rest of the island's prisoners, Brook joins Luffy's crew. The crew goes to the Sabaody Archipelago in an attempt to coat their ship. However, an incident involving the auction of the mermaid Camie, results in the encounter against Admiral Kizaru, and the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma. Kuma defeats them by teleporting each of the crew members to different islands. Luffy lands on Amazon Lily, an island ruled by the Warlord Boa Hancock. Hancock eventually falls in love with Luffy and helps bring him to Impel Down, a prison, to save his brother Portgas D. Ace, who was imprisoned there after being defeated by Blackbeard. Luffy breaks into the prison and acquires foes-turned-allies, such as Crocodile and Buggy, as well as new allies, such as the Warlord Jimbei and Emporio Ivankov, releasing the prisoners in the process. The warden, Magellan, nearly kills Luffy, but he manages to escape from the prison to follow Ace to Marineford. After arriving in Marineford, Luffy is drawn into a war between the Marines and Whitebeard's pirate crews. Luffy manages to save Ace, but Ace's love for Luffy causes him to receive a fatal attack from Admiral Akainu. Luffy and Jimbei are hospitalized and evacuated from Marineford. When they return to Amazon Lily, Luffy realizes what has happened to Ace and looks back on how he and Ace first met. Silvers Rayleigh trains Luffy as his successor. Luffy returns to the Sabaody Archipelago from Rusukaina two years later and reunites with his crew, with his bounty being increased to 400 million berries.

Voice actors

In the original Japanese version of the anime, Luffy has been voiced by Mayumi Tanaka.[14] In the OVA Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!, Luffy was voiced by Urara Takano.[15] In the numerous English productions of the anime, the voice actor for Luffy have changed as a result of different companies producing the dub.

In 4Kids Entertainment's dub of the One Piece media franchise, Luffy was voiced by Bella Hudson.[16] In Funimation Entertainment's dub of the One Piece franchise, Luffy has been consistently voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard.[17]

Appearances in other media

Luffy has made several appearances outside of the One Piece anime and manga. He is featured in all the One Piece movies, as well as the One Piece original video animation. He appears in every One Piece video game and is playable in most. He and several Straw Hat Pirates are also playable in the Nintendo DS game, Jump Super Stars and its sequel. Along with many Shonen Jump characters, Luffy appears in a Shonen Jump special, where Eneru attacks Tokyo and Odaiba.[citation needed] Luffy appeared in Cross Epoch, a collaboration of Oda and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, which crossovered both One Piece and Dragon Ball's universes. But even before One Piece had taken its final shape, Luffy had already appeared in Oda's two short stories, entitled Romance Dawn.[citation needed]

Luffy has made cameos and has been mentioned in other TV shows, such as Yakitate!! Japan. It parodies One Piece, Kuroyanagi turns into a "Tenobi Man" as a reaction from trying Azuma's Ja-pan dumpling. To this effect, he dons a straw hat and starts stretching his arms like rubber to great lengths ("tenobi" means "stretching arms"). Luffy's face can be seen on a Weekly Shonen Jump binding in an episode of To Love-Ru. Luffy's Devil Fruit was referenced in the Japanese TV Drama show Trick[citation needed] and in the 50th episode of the Gin Tama anime.[18]

Luffy has also appeared in the popular web comic VG Cats.[19] And in an online RPG called Dragonfable there was an enemy pirate monkey dressed up like Luffy, and was called L.D.MONKEE which is both backwards spelling of and a pun on, Monkey.D.LUFFY.[citation needed]

In 2008, Toei Animation sponsored the Pallavolo Modena Italian volleyball team. To represent their sponsorship, Pietro Rinaldi's and Edoardo Ciabattini's traditional black uniforms were emblazoned with a large image one Luffy on the front.[20] He was featured in cover of the January 2010 issue from the Japanese fashion magazine Men's Non-No, becoming the first manga character to appear in the cover of such magazine. His new clothes were designed by Shinichi "Miter" Mita.[21]

A small homage to Luffy was in the 2009 PSP game 'Half minute hero' Where the description of the usable item 'Straw hat' said it makes the user feel rubbery and want to become a pirate. In the manga Rookies, a girl is shown with a Luffy phone strap on her cell phone during a graduation ceremony.

There is also a reference to Luffy in the online MMORPG, Aika Online. In-game, there is an NPC wearing Luffy's style of clothes called "Monkey C. Lupis III" and even has a title above his head saying "Future King of Pirates".

Reception

Besides being featured in pieces of merchandise based on the One Piece, he has appeared in crossover figurines which show him along with Dragon Ball characters.[22] Luffy has been ranked as the most popular One Piece character in a recent Japanese fan poll.[citation needed] Luffy ranked first in all three Shōnen Jump character popularity polls.[23][24][25] FUNimation's Mike McFarland and Christopher Sabat, both stated that they felt that Luffy was more likable than the Dragon Ball character Son Goku.[26] Mayumi Tanaka, Luffy's Japanese voice actor, comically mentioned she feels sorry for making Luffy's voice due the fact she is a mother while Luffy is much younger.[27] When asked about how she does Luffy's voice, Tanaka replies that she "strives for reality" during scenes that the character talks while eating or while touching his nose.[28] In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Awards from 2008, Luffy was nominated for the category "Best Male Character". However, he lost to Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach.[29][30] He was also 22nd in IGN's Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time by writer Chris Mackenzie.[31]

Luffy's character has also been received positively by publications from several media. T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews calls Luffy "likable goofy", and an idealist with an infectious optimism.[32] In a review for the fourth One Piece movie, "Dead End Adventure", The Star Online describes Luffy as "an airhead and brilliant fighter."[33] Rika Takahashi from EX comments that Luffy's character with his stretching powers is what sets One Piece apart from "the old stereotypical adventure manga" and the many other "combat-oriented mangas [sic]", turning the series into "something new and interesting".[34] On the other hand, Anime News Network (ANN) writer Zac Bertschy found Luffy remminiscent to Rurouni Kenshin's character Himura Kenshin due their personalities and attitudes. However, he still noted Luffy to be entertaining.[35] Mania Entertainment's Bryce Coulter noted Luffy's actions to save people to be like the one from "any great shonen hero."[36] Colleen Clinkenbeard, Luffy's English voice actor in the Funimation dub, has been commented to be making a good job in the dub of the series, with Carl Kimlinger from ANN noting there are "enough moments of perfection."[37]

References

  1. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (w, a). "Romance Dawn —冒険の夜明け—" Weekly Shonen Jump, vol. 29, no. 34 (August 4, 1997). Japan: Shueisha.
  2. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (1997). "1. Romance Dawn". Romance Dawn. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-872509-3.
  3. ^ Oda, Eiichiro. "Interview with Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama". One Piece Color Walk. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 1. ISBN 978-4088592176. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  4. ^ "Interview with Eiichiro Oda". Shonen Jump (unknown issue). Viz Media.
  5. ^ Watanabe, Roy. "Interview with Eiichiro Oda". COMICKERS (in Japanese) (October 1998).
  6. ^ "Interview with Eiichiro Oda" (in Japanese). manganohi.jp. Archived from the original on February 4, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
  7. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2001). "149. Rumble". Hiruluk's Cherry Blossoms. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 17. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-873073-9.
  8. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2007). "460. Get Her Back Before Dawn!!". Oars' Adventure. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 48. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874442-1. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  9. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2008). "502. The Celestial Dragon Incident". The 11 Supernovas. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 51. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-874563-3.
  10. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2006). "398. Declaration of War". Declaration of War. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 41. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874047-5.
  11. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2005). I Won't Die. One Piece. Vol. 8. Viz Media. p. 44. ISBN 1-4215-0075-2.
  12. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2008). "495. Gaon Cannon". The 11 Supernovas. One Piece (in Japanese). Vol. 51. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-874563-3.
  13. ^ "炸裂! サニー号の超秘密兵器ガオン砲". One Piece. Season 11. Episode 389. February 19, 2009. Fuji TV. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Toei Animation (October 20, 1999). "俺はルフィ! 海賊王になる男だ!". One Piece. Season 1. Episode 1. Fuji TV.
  15. ^ One Piece 倒せ！海賊ギャンザック！！. Shueisha. 2008. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help)
  16. ^ Toei Animation (October 9, 2004). "I'm Gonna Be King of the Pirates". One Piece. Season 1. Episode 1. 4Kids TV.
  17. ^ Toei Animation (October 20, 2007). "Caught Log! The King of Salvagers, Masira!". One Piece. Season 6. Episode 144 (105). Cartoon Network.
  18. ^ Director: Shinji Takamatsu (April 5, 2007). "節目節目に気合を入れ直せ". Gin Tama. Episode 50. TV Tokyo.
  19. ^ http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=145
  20. ^ "Italian volleyball team sponsorship". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "One Piece's Luffy Adorns Cover of Men's Fashion Mag". Anime News Network. December 8, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  22. ^ Bricken, Rob (December 14, 2008). "Astro Toy with Rob Bricken: Dragonball x One Piece Dream Fusion". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  23. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2005). One Piece, vol. 7. Viz Media. p. 148. ISBN 1-59116-852-X.
  24. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2002). One Piece, vol. 24. Shueisha. pp. 206–209. ISBN 4-08-873282-0.
  25. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2006). One Piece, vol. 43. Shueisha. pp. 214–219. ISBN 4-08-874149-8.
  26. ^ Mike McFarland, Christopher Sabat (Commentators). One Piece: Season 1, First Voyage Disc 1; Staff Commentary on Episode 1 (DVD). Funimation Entertainment.
  27. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2008). One Piece, Vol. 52. Shueisha. p. 168. ISBN 978-4-08-874602-9.
  28. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2008). One Piece, Vol. 52. Shueisha. p. 188. ISBN 978-4-08-874602-9.
  29. ^ "Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Announces SPJA Industry Award Finalists at Tokyo International Anime Fair". Anime News Network. March 27, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  30. ^ "Anime Expo 2008 Announces the 2008 SPJA Award Winners". Anime News Network. July 4, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  31. ^ Mackenzie, Chris (October 20, 2009). "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time". IGN. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  32. ^ "One Piece the Movie 1: I'll Become the Pirate King!". THEM Anime Reviews 4.0. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  33. ^ "Nice Piece of Work". The Star Online. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
  34. ^ Takahashi, Rika (1998). "One Piece". Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  35. ^ Bertschy, Zac (August 3, 2002). "One Piece anime review". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  36. ^ Coulter, Bryce (June 5, 2008). "One Piece Season 1 Part 1". Mania Entertainment. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  37. ^ Kimlinger, Carl (September 29, 2008). "One Piece DVD - Season One Part 2 Second Voyage". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
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