Monkey D. Luffy, known as Luffy, is the main character of one piece and the captain of the powerful straw hat pirates, known for his ambitious goal of finding and becoming the pirate king.Â
Luffy was born on Dawn Island. His father being Monkey D. Dragon(The leader of the revolutionary army) and grandfather, being Monkey D. Garp(A Vice Admiral of the Marines) with an unknown mother and grandmother and being a member of the D. Clan. The youngest we've seen luffy was when he was 7. He had 2 older brothers that aren't related, Fire Fist Ace and Sabo. He was mostly taken care by his grandfather(Garp), and Dadan(A mountain bandit) who cared for Luffy, Sabo and Ace very much.
He met the Red Hair pirates where got his inspiration from Red Hair Shanks, when Red Hair Shanks saved kid Luffy by sacrificing his arm and gifted his signature straw hat as a symbol of their vow to reunite someday after Luffy becomes a great pirate. That's also where he got his special stretchy abilities by eating a devil fruit called "Gomu Gomu No Mi"(Gum Gum Fruit). But later on, we find out it's the Hito Hito No Mi: Nika(Human Human Fruit : Model Sun God)
As a pirate, Luffy has actively shown countless local, national and global powers, beginning with several attacks with East Blue pirates, the Marines, the Seven Shichibukai(Warlords Of The Seas), Cipher Pol, World Nobles and even the Four Yonkos(Emperors) of the New World. Despite his young age at 19 and relatively short career, he has achieved over a majority of these; successfully invading and indirectly causing the destruction of Enies Lobby, escaping the impregnable defense of Impel Down(He was the second person to do that), getting several acknowledgements and defeating three Shichibukais and a Yonko in direct hand-to-hand combat. He carries a great liking for attracting friends and allies; in addition to personally engage every member of his crew, he has earned respect and gratitude among many nations, fellow pirates, the Revolutionary Army and even several Marines.
APPEARANCE
Luffy takes the appearance of a young man with a height of 5'8(172cm) pre-timeskip and 5'9(174cm) after time-skip. He has shaggy black hair, round eyes and a muscular slim body(his strong points being his abs, chest and arms). He is renowned for his trademark straw hat which was lent to him when he was young by the legendary pirate, "Red Hair Shanks". Pre-timeskip, his main outfit consisted of a red-vest, light-blue denim shorts and tan sandles. He also has a scar with 2 stitches under his left eye, he got it when he was trying to prove shanks he was worthy to join his crew by stabbing his left eye, but missed. After the Summit War of Marineford, he got an X-shaped injury by Akainu.
PRE-TIMESKIP
Similar to most of his male crewmates, Luffy 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[45] or desert robes in Arabasta[46]) 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.[47]
During the Drum Island Arc, he wore two different parkas, the first being a burgundy parka with white fur on the cuffs, hood, and hem,[45] and then a checkered, hooded parka with the colors white, orange, and bright yellow, which Nami wore in the beginning.[48]
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.[46]
During the Skypiea Arc, he wore his vest open and additionally wore a black wristband around his left wrist with a white bangle over it.[49] 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.[47]
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.[50]
During the Enies Lobby Arc, he wore black shorts with larger pockets than his blue shorts.
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.[51]
During the Thriller Bark Arc, he wore an orange vest and dark red shorts.[52] After the battle against Moria in Thriller Bark, Luffy wore a dark decorated, jeweled armband around his left bicep, given to him by Nami.[53] 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.[54]
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.[55]
During the Amazon Lily Arc, Luffy wore a light blue vest with maroon shorts.[56]
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 and brighter red shorts given to him by Inazuma.[57]
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 3D2Y,[58] 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.[59]
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 techniques 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.
POST TIME-SKIP
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.[60] His usual attire is mostly the same as it was two years ago, but instead of a vest, Luffy wears an open, 3/4-sleeved red cardigan with four buttons and with a yellow sash tied around his waist with the end hanging from his left hip (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 and dark red gloves, which he stole from one of Brownbeard's Centaur Patrol Unit.[61] Just before leaving, he switched to a different coat that is all red with dark brown fur lining and a light brown belt, as well as brown gloves.
During the Dressrosa Arc, due to his need to hide his identity in Doflamingo's territory, Luffy wore an open, dark blue short-sleeved shirt with a sunflower pattern, his standard blue shorts and yellow sash, and a black bowler hat over his straw hat. He also wore a fake beard.[62] 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.[63] 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.[64] When he recovered after his battle against Doflamingo, Luffy wore a dark red tank top along with his standard shorts in brown (dark grey in the anime).[65]
As he and the newly formed 'Sanji Retrieval Team' departed from Zou, he swapped out his standard blue shorts for a brown pair.
During the Whole Cake Island Arc, Luffy wore an open, fancy white shirt with puffy sleeves, red trim, and an ornate gold pattern on the collar along with red shorts and his standard yellow sash. 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 brick red blazer with matching shorts, a black dress shirt, and a pink cravat. He also fitted a black fedora to the top of his straw hat.[66]
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.[67] However, it grew back after he drank a bottle of milk.[68]
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.[69] Before beginning the assault on Onigashima, Luffy received a set of samurai armor from Hitetsu.[70] When helping Kin'emon and the others against Kaidou's fleet at sea, Luffy wore a long black coat, his usual red shirt, orange shorts and a purple sash.[71] He also briefly wore a Beasts Pirates disguise created by Kin'emon when infiltrating Onigashima, which consisted of fake red horns, black pauldrons with white lining, a black belt with white lining and the Beast Pirates jolly roger on the front, which is connected to the pauldrons by brown straps connecting to a silver ring, black leather pants, a red feather cape, orange gloves, and his regular sandals.[72] During his celebration of the Raid's success, Luffy wears another red yukata, this one with a blue sash and yellow-and-white hexagonal patterns. In the following days, he wears a third red yukata with a purple ocean wave pattern and an orange sash. As he leaves Wano, he is seen wearing his Raid outfit, though his orange shorts were swapped for yellow ones.
During the Egghead Arc, Luffy received a long red coat with orange-yellow accents and the SSG logo, along with gloves, an earpiece, and a pair of red DOM Shoes.[73] During his fight with Kizaru, he discarded this attire, remaining in his original shorts and sandals.[74]
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 Armament 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 Armament Haki coating over at least his arms and legs that has crimson accents in addition to the typical black.
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 Armament Haki coating over portions of his upper chest, creating the same type of swirls as those on the Gomu Gomu no Mi. In the process of inflating, Luffy also becomes taller and more muscular.
The details of the Tankman form's regular 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 Armament Haki coating covers most of his body except for his chest, creating a flame-like pattern. He goes through a much more significant height increase, though he loses the muscular physique of Boundman 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 Armament 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 (save for his sash and sandals). His hair takes on the appearance of a flame, and his eyes glow with large pink pupils. Like in Snakeman, he has a trail of gas draped over his shoulders, this time formed out of clouds.