Who is Luffy in One Piece? Explained

In recent months and years, mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series has been given an incredible amount of exposure and publicity. With so much of this publicity revolving around protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, “who is Luffy in One Piece” is a question the general public finds itself asking more and more.

Monkey D. Luffy is the series’ kind and carefree protagonist, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, and self-proclaimed future King of the Pirates, dependent on his discovery of the titular treasure.

Luffy has an incredibly unique personality and moral compass, which has grown to be quite complex over the course of the series but can be boiled down fairly simply. Luffy is primarily known as a lovable, laughable person who is utterly fearless and has steadfast confidence in himself and those he calls his friends.

He also speaks very plainly, unafraid to call out the flaws of others in an effort to help them become better (such as with Nefertari D. Vivi). While he can be described as childlike, Luffy can also become deadly serious, and he carries that seriousness with him even if it isn’t what he’s showing at that moment.

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The One Piece protagonist's personality and goals, explained

One Piece’s protagonist also has a seemingly contradicting personality in his selfishness and selflessness. The former side of his personality comes out in fairly trivial matters, such as food, his desired crewmates, and his sense of and desire for adventure.

The latter is more accurate to who he truly is, seeing him recklessly sacrifice himself to avenge or protect his friends, crewmates, and family members. He even does so unflinchingly no matter the stakes.

Thanks to the influence of his idol Shanks, Luffy is also fairly imperturbable, often unbothered by the words and actions of others when they involve him alone. This calmness goes out the window when his friends are affected, but in cases where they’re uninvolved, Luffy is often level-headed.

What does bother Luffy is people who are weak and use words like “impossible,” as well as people who betray their comrades. He also argues and fights with his crew at times.

Luffy also has an incredible sense of wonder, with this being one of the most heavily reinforced aspects of his personality throughout One Piece. This goes hand-in-hand with the series’ adventure-focused story, seeing him in awe at any new thing he experiences for the first time.

He’s likewise enthralled by pirate life, further playing into this sense of wonder; in turn, Luffy also vehemently rejects heroic labels and identities despite being viewed as such by those he saves.

Luffy’s biggest goal in the series is to become the next King of the Pirates by finding the titular treasure; however, there’s more to what this represents. Luffy’s goal is to become a great pirate like his idol and mentor, Shanks, who gave him his Straw Hat and told him to return it when he had become a great pirate, i.e., became King of the Pirates. Thus, it can be said that Luffy’s true goal isn’t just to become King of the Pirates but also to earn Shanks' respect.

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The answer to “who is Luffy in One Piece” boils down to the protagonist’s core identifying traits. He’s an adventurous and wondrous pirate with a strong moral compass, a desire to help those he calls his friends, and a goofy but lovable personality.

Despite being a hero to many, he wants to be labelled as a pirate rather than a heroic person. His goals are to become King of the Pirates and likewise be on equal standing with his idol and mentor, Shanks.