One of the biggest misconception people have with Luffy’s character is that a lot people assume he’s just some idiotic generic shōnen MC but that’s not the case at all. When you look at him carefully, his character is complex and detailed and I’ll explain it below.

A thread;

Before I get intro this thread, we need to understand what makes an mc great and well written. For me, as a viewer, one of them are ideals simply enough. The way Oda has written Luffy is that he doesn’t just have ideals, but he himself is that ideal personified.

The ideal/belief i’m talking about is freedom and Luffy is the epitome of the human desire for freedom. A force of (human) nature. Everything about Luffy practically revolves around this one ideal of freedom to the point that he made it his life goal to be free (be pirate king)

To help paint a picture of this concept, Oda has made a lot of One Piece villains a control freaks that keeps people/things in captivity which practically goes against freedom. Doflamingo and Crocodile control their respective countries behind the scenes

Arlong held a village hostage, Caesar held children captive, Moriah with the people’s shadow in Thriller Bark, Enel was an evil god that controlled nearly everything the people of Skypiea did or say, Magellan runs a prison etc.

Who was there to absolutely shatter their control and pull them down from tyrannical power. We’re talking about a man that complete went against their ideals of control. A man who loathes their entire philosophy, the human desire for freedom personified. Monkey D. Luffy

Luffy’s character is so well thought out that even they way he defeats his enemies is near genius. Oda has included subtle messages to them and I’ll try my best to explain them coherently.

For example, he beat Crocodile by using one of his attacks called Gum Gum Storm and sent Crocodile flying upwards through the underground chambers ceilings and it or the sky. Luffy physically took crocodile out from the shadows and for the people to see who he really is

Same could be said about Doflamingo. Doffy saw himself as a God and Luffy beat him by using his strongest Gear 4th attack called King Kong gun. This attack sent Doflamingo falling towards the ground making it seem like Luffy punched him out of heaven and into the mortal world.

There’s always a hidden message to the way Luffy does things and this to me makes him such a fantastically written mc. It has to be like that for someone that is basically a liberator, a saviour, the symbol of freedom. This is all one part of his complex characterisation

And a reason as to why we barely understand and see what goes on inside Luffy’s mind is something totally unnecessary. We fully understand what luffy is about and there aren’t any misgivings in his execution.

This isn’t because he’s simpleminded, this is because he represents something that is genuine and pure, something that should not be questioned nor challenged. Because doing so would be nothing short of preposterous.

Humanity’s right to freedom should never come into question, it is a right and a given that you should stop anyone who tries to take over no matter what. Limiting a necessity so basic for people would make us lose our humanity.

Luffy acknowledges this fantastically, that he does everything that I mentioned previously. Luffy is nothing short of a force of (human) nature. Persistent and tenacious, always around and no beating around the bush.

So that’s basically it for the thread, Luffy’s simple dream and motivation is groundbreaking. Luffy’s character is simple yet complex and detailed and what makes him that is he is the embodiment of our collective will for freedom in its purest form.

Thank you for reading this thread, I hope you enjoyed it and please like and retweet. Follow for more One Piece content and most importantly

Stan the greatest Main Character in Manga History