Character Piece: Monkey D. Luffy (Part 1)

Hello everyone and welcome to a new segment called Character Piece, where I review and analyze the numerous different characters in One Piece. Today's subject is the main protagonist of the series:
Monkey D. Luffy.

Monkey D. Luffy is the heart and soul of One Piece. He is the driving force behind the story and the character that makes everything happen. Luffy is the one who brings the Strawhat pirates together, unites them under one flag, and pushes them to become stronger. If it wasn't for Luffy, Coby and Usopp would still be cowards, Crocodile would have conquered the kingdom of Alabasta, and Arlong would have continued to terrorize Cocoyashi village.

With that being said, Luffy has had little to no character development over the course of the series. There are many people who refer to Luffy as "The Poor Man's Goku" but I disagree strongly. In my opinion, Luffy's character is strong enough that it doesn't really need to be expanded upon.

First of all, I do notice that there are similarities between Luffy and Goku. They're both incredibly strong and heroic, they eat ridiculous amounts of food on a daily basis, and they do look eerily similar in design. However, these are simply personality quirks and do not define Luffy's character all that much. Luffy is defined by his dreams and ideals.

From the very beginning of the manga and the anime, we learn everything we need to know about Luffy. He's laid back and carefree most of the time but he can get serious when he needs to be. His dream is to become the Pirate King and he pursues this dream with immense passion. He's completely fearless and isn't afraid to speak whatever comes to mind. We can see that Luffy has a very strong set of ideals and these ideals form the foundation of everything he does.

For example, when Luffy first meets Coby, we can clearly see that Luffy is an immensely strong person. Coby spends the entire episode trying to tell Luffy that his dream is impossible and that he will simply get himself killed on the Grand Line but Luffy doesn't care. His dreams are simply much more important than his own safety and he is confidant that he can take care of any pirate that stands in his way.

Luffy's confidence is another major part of his character. For the majority of One Piece, Luffy believes that he can confront any problem and defeat any pirate. When he learns that Arlong made Nami cry, Luffy rushes in to take the fish-man down. In the Alabasta arc, he loudly announces that he is going to defeat Crocodile, even after he learns that Croc is a Warlord. In the Enies Lobby arc Luffy orders Sogeking to burn down the flag of the world government, even if it means becoming an enemy of the world. Luffy's confidence is a weapon that allows him to overcome any obstacle that comes in his path.

Where does this confidence come from? Why does Luffy want to be the Pirate King? Find out in part 2!

I'm Zenithwillrule and I will see you next time.