LUFFY (Earth-7)

Biography 

Origin

“Shanks!” comes a shrill cry from the child perched high on the wooden railing of the pier. It is Luffy, the local vagabond who is always there whenever the Red Hair Pirates visit that port. Before the gang’s leader, Shanks, answers the boy’s call, he shouts for him to come down from where he is, worried about his safety, until he notices that the boy is holding an aged dagger, which he presses against his own eye. 

 For Luffy, the reason was clear: he wanted to be like Shanks. He wanted to imitate the distinctive scar that twists the bloodshot eye of the greatest pirate he’d ever met, but since he has terrible aim, he ends up hitting his cheek. 

Red Hair Pirates

 While the child is treated by the somewhat unskilled medical knowledge of a local tavern keeper, he asks Shanks if he can now join his crew.

 Luffy has heard nothing but stories of pirates his whole life, for as long as he can remember, and all he knows is about pirates, life at sea, and how that is everything he wants for his future: to be the greatest pirate of all. Pirates like Shanks and his crew are the true representatives of their class, protecting the needy and oppressed from people like Higuma—a mere navigator who calls himself a pirate but has no clue what that means, and who spends his time raiding that harbor bar, which must be constantly defended by the Red Hair Pirates. 

Finding the Devil Fruit

 At that moment, Luffy sneaked onto the docked ship belonging to that crew, searching for legendary treasures and stories to tell. 

 However, when hunger sets in—a recurring sensation for that child—Luffy focuses more on looking for some kind of side dish or pasta. In doing so, he knocks over a heavy box that opens, spilling a fruit out. 

 He delighted in the gelatinous, chewy texture, with a strong smoky flavor, but Shanks found him before he could finish eating the fruit. 

 The pirate was startled, but carried him back to the ship in his arms, explaining that he had consumed something dangerous and that it was best to stay away from the sea forever if he didn’t want to sink. Luffy didn’t seem too worried; he’d never liked baths, and a pirate spends his life on a ship. 

 All he could think about was how much he’d like to be like Shanks—or even bigger—as his idol’s arms wrapped around him in a hug. He claimed he could do the same, or even more; he’d like to hug far more people than he could possibly handle. 

Facing Higuma

 When they return to the bar, they find Higuma and his gang wreaking havoc and threatening the tavern owner. Luffy leaps from the counter and lunges toward Higuma, managing to reach him with astonishing speed. 

 His arms stretch out to the pirate’s shoulders, distorted, with large hands and bulging veins running across them. They burn from the inside, while radiating heat on the outside. A general shock takes hold of the crowd.

  Luffy then pulls his arms back to lunge at his target again, who stops him mid-air, gripping him tightly by the neck. A fight breaks out between the two groups of pirates, and a thick cloud of smoke forms thanks to Higuma’s gang’s equipment, allowing him to escape with the boy as a hostage. 

 He tightens his grip on the boy’s neck and takes him to a boat near the shore. When he releases him, the boy is gasping for air and too weak to fight back, experiencing brief lapses of consciousness. 

 When he finally wakes up, he can see nothing on the horizon but water and mist and realizes he woke up due to the incessant, destructive rocking of the sea. 

 Higuma has a stern expression and states that Luffy has angered the gods. His soul was now evil in its essence for having consumed the fruit of all evils; his body merely externalized all the evil that dwelled within him, and the gods now demanded purification—a sacrifice in exchange for safety.

  He grabs him by the neck again and throws him into the sea. However, before he lets go, a colossal, scaly creature emerges from the depths and sinks the boat. 

The Straw Hat

Luffy can only see a light, growing ever more distant. His stomach feels as heavy as stones, pulling him toward the center of it all: the bottom. The ocean claims what is its own. 

 Now, he belongs to the abyss. Everything goes dark; he can no longer see any light. Yet he can feel. 

 He feels a trembling hand grab his arm and pull him back to the surface. When the light returns, he sees red: the blood-stained sea and boat, as well as the red hair of the man standing before him.

  Shanks embraces the boy with his remaining arm. 

 Luffy hugs him, crying, while the man stares at the sea creature in front of him, eye to eye. The King of the Sea then submerges. 

 Back at the bar that served as the Straw Hat Pirates’ base for so long, Luffy knows that a farewell is approaching. On shore, Shanks hands him his straw hat and asks him to return it when they meet again. Luffy replies that, by then, he’ll have his own crew. He’ll be the Pirate King. And he’ll have found One Piece. Shanks believes in him. 

Raised by a Mariner

From then on, Luffy was found and adopted by a man who claimed to be his grandfather. Monkey D. Garp was a decorated vice admiral who raised the boy with strict discipline, but this was not enough to stifle his dreams of becoming a pirate when he grew up. 

Luffy found the strength to pursue his aspirations in his so-called foster brothers, Ace and Sabo, other boys of similar age who supported one another throughout their childhood. 

Straw Hat Pirates

Upon reaching his teens, Luffy set out on his own pirate journey, initially to steal the Grand Line map from the Marines.

  However, with no crew and aboard a leaky boat, Luffy abandoned his vessel just a few hours after setting sail, hiding inside a barrel to survive. 

 The barrel was seized by the Alvida Pirates, who believed it contained supplies looted from a recent naval battle. Luffy was found in the barrel by Koby, a subordinate of the fearsome pirate Alvida, who offered him help. And so began his journey as a Straw Hat Pirate.