Luffy!

Monkey D. Luffy "Straw Hat" (モンキー・D・ルフィ Monkī Dī Rufi) is a fictional character and the primary protagonist of the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Edo. He is introduced as a young boy whose body gains the properties of rubber after he inadvertently eats a supernatural fruit called the Gomu-Gomu Fruit.

In One Piece, Luffy sails from the East Blue to the Grand Line in search of the legendary treasure One Piece to succeed Gold D. Roger as the King of the Pirates. He is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and he recruits members along his journey. He fights several antagonists, such as the World Government, during his travels. Luffy has a nonchalant demeanor but is quick to become serious whenever he senses that someone is in danger. Luffy is able to use the elasticity of his body to concentrate his strength and power for attacks, the most prominent being his signature Gum-Gum Pistol, in which Luffy slingshots his punches at opponents from a distance.

As the protagonist, Luffy appears in most of the episodes, films, television specials, and OVA's of the anime series One Piece, as well as several of the franchise's video games. Due to the series' international popularity, Luffy has become one of the most recognizable and iconic anime characters. 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 throughout Japanese pop culture. Luffy's critical reception has been largely positive and he has been recognized as one of the greatest manga/anime characters of all time.

Personality

Luffy is portrayed as a carefree and happy-go-lucky character with great ambitions and a huge appetite. He often thinks with his stomach and often gorges himself to comical levels. He is caring and generally good hearted. However, he is not as naive as many people believe him to be, showing more understanding in situations than people often expect. Knowing the dangers ahead, he is willing to risk his life to reach his goal to become the King of the Pirates, 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) that each individual crew member fulfills (in the respective cases, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Brook and Franky). Luffy stated in the beginning of the series that he wants at least 10 crew members, each with abilities that he feels necessary for his goal. Each members of the crew respect him in their own way despite his carefree personality. He is rarely concerned with the consequences of his actions, doing what he feels even if it leads to retaliation by a powerful force. 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.

Abilities

Luffy's rubber powers are a result from eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, which makes him virtually immune to nearly every blunt force attack, as well as the ability to stretch his body 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, head butts, body checks, or simply for propulsion. As with other Devil Fruit users, Luffy is unable to swim and when he is submerged in water as water can negate his powers. In addition to his Devil Fruit powers, Luffy possesses immense strength and endurance.

Luffy's signature move is the Gum-Gum Pistol (ゴムゴムの銃(ピストル) Gomu-gomu no Pisutoru), a punch technique which he learned during his years of training. Another technique developed later in the series, is Gear 2 (ギア2(セカンド) Gia Sekando), an attack increasing his strength and overall speed for a limited amount of time, but can strain his body afterwards. Gear 3 (ギア3(サード) Gia Sādo), another technique, uses air inflated into his bone structure to attack with massive limbs and strength, but initially causes him to shrink afterwards. He is capable of using both techniques simultaneously. Eventually, Luffy develops his latent ability to use Haki (覇気, lit. "ambition"). This ability has two types, Armament Haki (武装色の覇気 Busōshoku no Haki), which is an armor-like force that can amplify defense and the force of attacks and negate a Devil Fruit user's defense, allow physical contact and damage, and Observation Haki (見聞色の覇気 Kenbunshoku no Haki), which is a sixth sense that can read a person's moves and detect their presence. He has a rare variation, the Color of the Supreme King (覇王色の覇気 Haōshoku no Haki) which can render people or animals in his proximity unconscious. Two years later, Luffy masters the three types of Haki, and uses them in conjunction with his improved attacks. Also, as a result of his encounter with Magellan, Luffy has also developed an immunity to poison.