What makes a good pure evil villain?

If you're like me, then you enjoy watching videos of people discussing their favorite villain, whether its the classic Joker or Dr. Doom or the more recent Bill Cipher and Gus Fring, I enjoy watching people analyze and discuss what makes these villains work in their own narrative, but I've been noticing somewhat of a common trend whenever I peek into the comment section, I see a very common phrase over and over again.

"A good villain is the hero of their own story"

Now I won't deny that some of the best villains out there are the hero of their own story, their complex and don't see what they're doing as wrong BUT the idea that villains must see themselves as good, otherwise its bad writing is absurd, any writing that is done well is good writing and many of the greatest villains out there don't see what they do as good or just, they simply do it for self-interest or enjoyment. These are the Pure-Evil villains.


Villains that are completely unredeemable that know their bad and LOVE every second of it. And today I would like to breakdown what I think makes a bad pure evil villain, like Fire Lord Ozai, and what makes a good pure evil villain like DIO.


But before we begin...

"What is a pure evil villain?"

Great question me!


A pure evil villain is a villain who is so terrible that they are almost completely irredeemable, they know that their actions are wrong and have no moral justification for it and simply do it for self-satisfaction, that's also a big part in what makes a pure evil villain, above all else no matter what they do, whether its money, political power, greater strength, or simply for the thrill they do for themselves, and rarely care who gets in their way.

Many of these villains also cross something called a "Moral Event Horizon" where after doing something so terrible in their story that no matter what happened to them in the past is now completely irredeemable take when Gregor Clegane "Confesses" to his crimes to Oberyen Martell while brutalizing him, before Gregor violently crushes Oberyen's skull he lets him know that he raped and murdered his sister as well as her children before viciously ending his life.

Crossing the moral event horizon may also be the establishing moment where an anti-hero or anti-villain who has been on the fence of becoming full evil finally makes that jumps to full villainy.

The two examples that come to mind are from Breaking Bad and Berserk.


Walt admitting to Jessie right before he is about to be dragged off and tortured that he purposefully let Jessie's girlfriend die right in front of him as he chooses not to save her, kicking Jessie down at his lowest moment.




In Berserk Griffith sacrifices all of his friends in the Eclipse, leading them to be tortured and brutally murdered, and while Guts and Casca survive he make sure that they suffer, forcing Guts to watch as he rapes and breaks his girlfriend right in front of him as Guts is forced to chop his hand away to try and save Casca.




Now onto what makes good Pure-Evil Villain.

POINT ONE: BACKSTORY DOESN'T MATTER

A pure evil villain has a backstory but it often doesn't matter in the grand scheme of these, this can go the first way by having the villain simply appear to cause some general havoc and mayhem for the protagonist, Heath Ledger version of the Joker from the Dark Knight is an excellent example of this, in that universe, he shows up fully formed and developed, his backstory is completely irrelevant to the story, when he first gives an explanation to his scarred face we are lead to believe that, that is the reason for his warped view on the world, however, a few scenes later he gives another completely fabricated story of how he got his scars, we don't know which story to believe or if any of them are true, but the enigma that is the Joker leaves people to wonder what this man could have been before he started to terrorize Gotham.



Making the villain a walking enigma can give them a feeling of ominous dread to them, one of my favorite versions of this was from Chapter 3 of Silence of The Lambs, were after Clarice tries to dissect the Cannibalistic doctor he gives her this chilling response:

"Nothing happened to me, Officer, I happened. You can't reduce me to a set of influences."

I love this quote, this adds not only to the mystery of Hanibal but adds a level of terror to his background as one can only imagine what was Hanibal like before his rain of terror.

(Yes I know in Hanibal Rising they give him a backstory where Nazis ate his sister and he ended up killing a bunch of Nazi's with a katana and started to eat people to honor his sister but that's dumb)


That is not to say a pure evil villain's backstory is never important, it can often be used to explain how a villain got somewhere while not excusing their actions.

JoJo is an excellent example of this as two of their most recognizable villains invoke this trope but in different ways.



For Dio, we see what his life was like before and how he became such a monster, raised alone by his alcoholic criminal father after the passing of his mother Dio cut his teeth in Orge Street the darkest and cruelest street in London often getting beaten by the other bigger residents of Orge Street, and despite his intelligence, he is not in the position to change his social status until he killed his own father and was taken in by the Joestars.

While this does not excuse his behavior or his actions later on it does explain how he became so cruel and may even let the audience feel a tad of sympathy for the monster.



But with Yoshikage Kira it's just the opposite not only do we not know Kira's backstory till the end of the volume but unlike Dio who did what he did for power, Kira simply does what he does because he enjoys it, he doesn't want power or glory or to prove himself to Josuke. Yoshikage Kira just wants a quiet life while going about his days with his hobby.

His "Hobby" by the way is stalking and killing women, then cutting off their hands while becoming romantically involved with said severed hand.




Now you may wonder to yourself "What happened to Kira to make him such a twisted induvial?"



Well, when Kira was a boy he saw Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in an art book and uh...



Got a boner. Yes really.



Another great but more blatant tragic example is Baldur from the new God of War game in short Baldur was the Norse God of Light and one of the children of Odin and Freya, despite the animosity Freya had to her husband she did deeply love and care for her son Baldur, however, this changed when she received a vision of her sons untimely death.

And so she placed a curse upon her son so that he'd never receive damage again, though this came with an unfortunate side effect.


While he'd never feel pain again he would never feel ANYTHING again, he'd never feel again, never smell again, never even taste again, now this would drive most people insane in a week but imagine enduring this curse for over at least one hundred years, it drove the once kind and noble God into a murderous psychopath who is consumed by revenge.

This ties into another small part of the Pure Evil Villain backstory, how it may relate to the hero, in Baldur's case he is a mirror of the man Kratos once was.

So, in short, a purely evil villain CAN have a backstory but it shouldn't affect what they do now.

POINT TWO: SIMPLE MOTIVATION

Much like a Pure Evil Villains backstory, their motivation is also usually very simple and straightforward.


However, while the motivation is often simple it is a great way to reflect their personality and their own philosophies on life.


I'm going to use three characters from two different shows with different personalities and who take very different roles in their universe, the first is Father from Full Metal Alchemist, and the second being Maleficent from Sleeping Beuty.



Father is a "man" whose entire life we know everything about, created through the blood of slave in Xerxes, only known simply "Dwarf in the Flask" or "Homunculus" by the people of Xerxes, he had an immense wealth of knowledge which would be used to create the power known as Alchemy, however, despite his own unique gifts, he became envious of the human race jealous of their mutual emotional support for one another he started to plot to eventually to become a being even greater than God.

While Father's goal is to gain the knowledge to become greater than God (It really doesn't work out for him) but at his core, Father simply wants to learn more, there is this theme throughout Full Metal Alchemist of the dangers of knowing too much, many characters who want to uncover the secrets of the world, whether its to bring back something they lost like the Elric brothers, wanting to prove a government conspiracy like with Maes Hughes or to find out a secret to avenge a fallen friend like with Roy Mustang, however with each of these characters learning The Truth (See what I did there?) often comes with a heavy price, and how it may not be the exact answer they want.

This ties in Fathers own story as his desire to become greater than God comes with a heavy price, which makes his defeat all the more fitting as for all his knowledge Father was incapable of accepting the human element of himself made doubly effective as throughout the story he had spent his time comparing humans to nothing more than insects one would step on.



Maleficent, on the other hand, has a motivation which ties in more with her personality rather than her backstory, when Aurora was born the king and queen invited everyone throughout the land to greet Aurora when Maleficent finds out that she was not wanted she brings it upon herself to curse the newborn baby giving her a death sentence.



This shows how Maleficent thinks of herself, she thinks that she is a cut above the rest, she refers to herself as the Mistress of All Evil, she makes other people refer to her as Mistress or Excellency, this shows that despite all the incredible power she may have what matters most to her is her own ego, she can not even comprehend why someone wouldn't invite her to a babies birthday and then takes it as a personal insult, so she is willing to bring an end to the child's life.

But perhaps the greatest way to convey simple motivation is through the story Crime and Punishment


In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's most famous and influential stories the main protagonist's murders and end up butchering an elderly woman, throughout the story, he comes up with many elaborate seemingly moral reasons as to why he did this. Whether this was for the good of his family, for the benefit of society or that heaven itself intrusted him.

But in the ends he confesses that there was no reason, no greater good he was striving for, he simply did it for himself.

"I simply killed, killed for myself, for myself alone, and whether I would later become anyone's or would spend my life like a spider, catching everyone in my web and sucking the life-sap out of everyone" 

POINT THREE: EGO/SCREEN PRESENCE

As the pure evil villain is often never held down by personal morality of whether what they are doing is right or wrong they often have an inflated ego, which leads to two of the most fun parts of the pure evil villain, their success and their failure.

See pure evil villains are often having so much fun with what they're doing that its kind of contagious, you laugh along with them as they wreak havoc and enjoy their confidence but you also look forward to their inevitable defeat, its this weird paradox where you're both rooting for and against them.


Take Frieza, while he is a maniacal racist warlord hellbent on destroying anyone who dares cross him in the slightest but he speaks with this elegance and rich vocabulary that makes him oddly charming despite so casually talking about mass murder.

Aku from Samurai Jack, despite being the series biggest evil responsible for every tragedy Jack faces has this dry sense of deadpan humor that makes him funny even when punishing someone.

However with such a big ego comes a downside, when things don't really go their way pure evil villains have a tendency to crack and reveal that under all that bravado who they really are, whether its a madman, a coward, just a human, etc.

Villainous breakdowns can be short or over the course of a series, for example, in the Phoenix Wright series once Phoenix analyzes the case and manages to pinpoint a flaw in someone's defense and goes on offense the hidden smug criminal tends to lose it in an often hilarious manner. My favorite being Mr. White and Mr. Von Karma.



Aku's come from Jack returning to the past and attacks him forcing Aku to try and run away revealing that for all his smack talk he is still a coward, DIO's is when Jotaro copies his time stop, Riddler's come from whenever someone outsmarts him, and Hal from a Space Odesy comes from someone disobeying his orders.

But not all of these breakdowns come so quick sometimes they gradually build up overtime Azula from Avatar was originally very calm and cunning, and always had planned on hand, but throughout the second half of season three less and less of her plans succeed, her friends start to abandon her and learns that Zuko has started to surpass her, the final straw on the camels back was the added pressure of becoming Firelord, which lead to her to lose it.



Light Yagami from Death Note is another great example of a breakdown that took time, while he obviously appeared less stable then Azula from the beginning he always able to justify his actions, he simply started killing criminals to make the world a better place, but eventually his ego inflated to the point where he believes himself to be a god, even after crimes rates had dropped Light had kept on killing which makes his breakdown all the more fitting where he is killed by the very thing he used to end so many lives.




However, I have three favorite villainous breakdowns each for a different reason, one from JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, one from the Great Mouse detective and one from One Piece, but to fully understand why I love them I have to give them some context so bear with me.

The first one is to show just how awesome a Villainous Breakdown can be for the hero.



JoJo is a series that follows the journey of the decedents of the Joestar family in the first part of JoJo Phantom Blood, the main threat throughout the series was Vampire flashforward half a century later and the grandson of the first Joestar, Joseph Joestar ends is up against a race of creatures known as The Pillarmen, a group of warriors so powerful that they are the predators of the previous main threat of Phantom Blood, Joseph Joestar alongside his new group are completely outclassed in almost every manner, experience, strength, speed, and power the only thing Joseph can really outdo them in his brains and luck but even then not by much.

Each fight with the Pillarmen seems like Joseph is just getting by, by the skin of his teeth but he does manage to defeat two of the three Pillarmen, however, the final Pillarman Kars seems to just be one step of ahead of him and his team, he tears the cyborg Nazi Stroheim in half despite being created to specifically defeat the Pillarmen, comes close to killing his teacher in a near-effortless attack and even learned how to counter his seemingly only weakness the Sun and became the Ultimate Life Form outclassing the likes of Joseph in an unimaginable way.

Joseph spends the majority of their "fight" running away and trying to trick Kars but still, Kars still manages to counter everything Joseph throws at him, he grows armor to protect himself from lava, cuts off his hand, and completely melts his leg with a single attack but just as everything seems lost through sheer instinct, quick thinking and an absurd amount of luck Joseph manages TO TURN A VOLCANO INTO A WEAPON THAT LAUNCHES KARS INTO SPACE!

And this is great for two reasons one it's fitting for Joseph's character to defeat an opponent with his mind rather than raw strength while keeping a cocky attitude all the way, and secondly to see the villain Kar's freak out after getting everything he wanted is simply beautiful.



The second one is an example of how a villainous breakdown can be downright terrifying done right.

In the Great Mouse Detective, the main villain Professor Ratigan is delightfully wicked and intelligent criminal mastermind but throughout the film, we see small glimpses of his true personality, you see Ratigan's entire goal is to be seen in as a member of the highest society and hates the fact that he is a rat when one of his henchmen interrupts his villain song and accidentally refers to him as a rat Ratigan briefly loses it but still he manages to regain his composure and resumes his villain song after killing him.



But after his plan is foiled by his most hated enemy and is humiliated in front of everyone he wanted to rule over, Ratigan just loses it and goes on a rampage, revealing his true animalistic nature.



And man seeing something like this as a kid was pretty scary.

The final one is a kind of villainous breakdown we do see too much of, the comedic one.

In the One Piece Skypeia arc, the main villain Enel

Enel had eaten the Logia devil fruit the Goro Goro no Mi fruit, which lets him become and control lighting, he also has the ability to predict anyone attacks making him next to untouchable, his ego became so big to the point where he believed he was a god, he spent his days being waited on hand and foot by beautiful women while killing anyone who defied his divine order, he was so disillusioned to the point where he started to build a ship that would take him off earth so he could return to his "Home" the moon.

The Strawhats minus Luffy had no luck fighting Enel, he started to effortlessly dispose of them one by one as none of them could withstand a single attack from his electricity, it seemed as though Luffy was going to need a new powerup or something to win.

That is until the hilariously simple conclusion, Luffy, the main character is made of rubber. You know, that thing that doesn't conduct electricity?

In a few short seconds, we see Enel who hasn't even been scratched thus far get his ass handed to him and his entire world shatters around him.






Sometimes a villain survives their villainous breakdown which results in them starting to change their ways or at least start to rethink their ways.

This happens to Gaara after his defeat from Naruto, Hiei after losing to Yusuke, The Terminator after being reprogrammed, and for Vegeta, it takes around four arcs for him to eventually fully redeem himself.

POINT FOUR: POWER, PHYSICAL OR NOT

Another defining trait of a Pure Evil Villain is the sense of pure dread they evoke in the world around them, this is a great way of making the villain's defeat at the hands of the heroes all the more satisfying as it was something no one thought was possible.


Now there are a few ways of getting the sense of power across.

For one the easiest way to convey power and strength is through their own feats building up both a sense of dread and hype.

This is done all the time in Baki the Grapplers, like with the Five Death Row Inmates, Jack (When we thought he was a villain) Pickle the Caveman (Yes there is a caveman named Pickle), but most effectively of all with the series main villain, Yujrio Hanma.

Here's some stuff Yujrio did before the events of Baki when he was a baby a poison dart frog tried to kill him only for baby Yujrio to crush it with his hands, by the age of 16 he went to Vietnam to fight the US army not to protect the local villages but to test his strength, his body eventually reached a point of such strength where the muscles on his back form the face of a grinning demon, and soon he became so powerful that every country agreed to a non-aggression treaty with him.

Now I bet a few of you are a bit curious of Yujrio right now and wonder just what he does in the series right? Well, that's the hype of a pure evil villain I was talking about, they make you anticipate them as well as their defeat.


Another way of presenting power is done by showing the power of a lesser villain, this is often used for the Emperor Villain, Frieza's and Sidious introduction shows their power by having characters that were previously the big threat like Vegeta and Vader are nothing more than ants when compared to their master.



Frieza especially as before we are introduced to him Vegeta apers to be the most powerful character in the series, being able to conquer and wipe away planets like nothing, not only is Frieza hundreds of times more powerful than Vegeta but he has an entire army of Vegeta's.



But keep in mind that physical strength is not the only sign of power, many pure evil villains who lack the raw power of the heroes make up for it with their keen mind.

Hisoka from Hunter X Hunter is a great example, while by no means weak by any standards in comparison to the some of the stronger characters like Lucifer, Merum, or Issac he would be considered fodder, Hisoka's main ability is to expand a sticky string gum-like substance from his fingers, in comparison to other abilities in the series like opening portals, crushing someone's heart with a chain, conjure weapons, stealing someones ability, creating clones, summoning a giant buddha to fight and dropping the sun on someone, Hisoka really doesn't seem that impressive.


That and Hisoka's desire to fight strong opponents seems like it would be a bad combo.


But what makes Hisoka so dangerous is his cunning mind and deadly tenacity, in his fight with Kastro despite Hisoka's inferior ability in comparison to Kastro ability to duplicate himself but Hisoka not only managed to win but brutally kill Kastro due to Hisoka's superior skills of manipulating Kastro's mind the entirety of their fight even stopping mid-fight after getting his arm severed to do a magic trick.



Throughout the series, despite being a man no one should trust he is always in a possession where someone must trust them either by putting in an unwinnable situation where they are forced to work with him.


Another great powerful villain like this is Gus Fring from Breaking Bad.



I bring him up because he plays the opposite role of Hisoka, while Hisoka is at his core a thrill-seeker, Gus is a businessman first and foremost, he takes no pleasure in any crime he commits but at the same time, he does not have any distaste for his actions.

Rather every move he makes is calculated with no emotion this can be best seen when he killed Victor.


Gus logic is nothing but business-driven, Gus, Victor is seen at the scene of a crime, the scene of the crime is linked to Gus, the DA can link Victor back to Gus, so Victor must die.

Gus is almost like a robot throughout the series or a super-advanced A.I. which makes Walt's perfect foe as throughout Breaking Bad we see that Walt's true specialty isn't chemistry but is rather lying and manipulation, he survives a lot of encounters with psychopaths and killers because he is able to appeal to their emotions, he survived dealing with the insane Tuco because he was able to appeal to his sense of pride as a gangster but the only way he could survive Gus was to put Gus in a situation were he needs Walt to be alive.


Some people may think the only way to show a smart villain is through either combat strategy or through standard smarts like chemistry or business but with that, I would also disagree, mainly because if you're clever enough you can have a villain manipulate people through emotions rather than fear.


A prime example is Roose Bolton from A Song of Ice and Fire, who despite his limited time in the book is one of my favorite villains in the series, mainly because of this interaction between him and his bastard son Ramsay where he scolds him for his blatant and open cruelty.

Roose: "People fear you."
Ramsay: "Good."
Roose: "You are mistaken. It is not good. No tales were ever told of me. Do you think I would be sitting here if it were otherwise? Your amusements are your own, I will not chide you on that count, but you must be more discreet. A peaceful land, a quiet people. That has always been my rule. Make it yours."

However, while a smart villain is good on paper this trick may backfire because for a smart villain it is not enough to just say that they're smart you also have to write them intelligent, otherwise, their victories will just come off as either dumb blind luck, the heroes being stupid, or the lazy writing, this was a big problem I had with the Handler from Umbrella Academy

Spoilers for the second half of Umbrella Academy by the way.



So in The Handler runs a time-traveling organization that sends hitmen into the past to make sure that everything goes the way it's supposed to be even if that means letting the apocalypse happen.

She ends up employing the former "Hero" Number 5 to work for her sending him through the past to kill whoever may upset the flow of time, but eventually, he goes back to his original time period before the five days before the Apolopsye happens so he could prevent it, after some of her agents get killed and roughed up by Number 5 she decided to employ him again, not taking into account that he may betray her again, which he does cause major damage to her organization, she does manage to track him down because he took a piece of candy from her desk which had a tracking device in it, the show frames this as a super cunning move on The Handler's part but like...

What if he didn't ask for the piece of candy in the first place? What if he took a piece that didn't have a tracker in it, because most of the candy was normal candy. Hell, what if he tried to eat it like five minutes later and was like "oh fuck, this lady put a tracker in the candy better not take it with me."?

Later on, she goes back in time and blackmails two of her agents Hazel and Cha Cha to fix things by holding Hazels girlfriend hostage, however, she knew that Hazel and Cha Cha have been trying to kill each other recently and no longer got along, plus Hazel has shown signs of resentment to his job and no longer wants to work for her agency which SHE KNEW!

So Hazel comes back to confront the Handler and save his girlfriend, now does the Handler have his girlfriend at gunpoint, or did she bring her to a point of time where the Handler only knew she was?

No, she just has her tied up to a chair like earlier and takes a bath, so when Hazel comes back and just shots the Handler it is extremely disappointing.


So basically if you want your villain to be a form of a powerhouse you got to have them be able to back up their claims.

CONCLUSION:

So to be a good Pure Evil villain they just need to follow these points right?

Well... Kind of.


Pure Evil villains are in a unique situation where having all the right ingredients doesn't make them a good villain.


I will talk about two very similar villains in terms of the status of their universe but are very different in terms of quality.

Avatar is one of those series that are just good while every now and then there is a plot hole or inconcinnity what really carries the series is the characters, what I like is that they take the base level of a character and explore it, Aang pacifist and peaceful nature leads to him being conflicted when he faces the idea of being forced to take a life, Katara's status as the heart of the team is vital to the gang, even Sokka who would normally be empty comic relief goes on his own journey of self-worth.

But something the series struggled was with its Big Bads, no I'm not talking about Azula she's fucking great, I'm talking about Ozai, the moment I saw Ozai's first appearance I internally groaned, I could not even begin to list the number of times I've seen this. The main emperor villain who spends most of there time with there face hidden within the darkness, I don't know why but a lot of people seem to think this automatic makes them a good villain and don't really do anything with them and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't like with Ozai.



My main problem with Ozai is that despite following all these points listed just feels plastic-like, other than being voiced by Mark Hamill I can't recall anything special about him, he's just a walking plot device made to give Aang someone to fight at the end of the series to reinforce that Aang is the protagonist.

He by no means ruins the series Avatar is still a great show but it is a shame that it couldn't have a villain as great.


Let's compare Ozai to fantastic Frieza from Dragon Ball Z.

In a lot of ways Ozai and Frieza are very similar villains, both are warlords with an expanding empire, both had a prince who worked for them until they left to join the heroes, both are powerful martial artist who has supernatural powers, both caused genocide (Or in Ozai's case tried to) in fear of a race becoming their downfall, and both fear an ancient prophecy which could result in their downfall.

Now, why is Frieza loved while Ozai is seen as a cliche?


Well for me it may be because we can define Frieza's personality and a lot about his interests.


Frieza is known as a brutal and vicious warlord who has ended countless lives across the universe, but at the same time Frieza carries himself in a formal and polite manner, he comes across as bizarrely charming despite that every word he speaks is soaked in rage and contempt for everyone around him even when he is about to lose it, Frieza is still seen as elegant and makes us want to see more of him unlike Ozai who could be replaced with a cardboard cut out.


One last thing that has Frieza stand out from other villains like him is the fact that unlike Ozai Frieza is capable of growing.


In the new Broly movie Frieza's main goal is no longer immortality but to simple get taller by five whole centimeters and when one of his servants points this out in a cocky manner Frieza smiles and laughs along, if someone laughed at old Frieza than he would of vaporized her on the spot, but no after suffering several defeats Frieza understands that he is physically no longer the top dog around and starts to take himself less seriously than before.

This shows that villains can grow without changing their moral alignment.




So... I guess what I'm trying to say is, the difference between a good pure evil villain and a bad one is simply...

Death Analysis: Monkey D. Luffy

History

Monkey D. Luffy

"I'm going to be king of the pirates!"

Wealth, fame, and power, many men struggled to truly obtain these wonders, however, only one man was able to truly obtain all these treasure, this man was Gol D Roger, the King of the Pirates. Gol D. Roger was famed as the man who did what no one thought possible - conquering the Grand Line and amassed a vast fortune, but he knew that he would soon die from an incurable disease. He disbanded his crew before turning himself in to be executed. The World Government intended to have Roger be publicly executed to discourage piracy, but his last words had the opposite impact. He told everyone of his legendary treasure, the One Piece, who many thought, was unattainable was out there and that all you had to do was find it.


Years passed by and the stories of Gol D Roger inspired a new wave of pirates who set out to obtain the One Piece and be recognized as the King of Pirates, one of these new pirates would include a young Monkey D Luffy who dreamed of becoming the King of The Pirates, raised in a small town few would suspect the rich heritage the boy possessed, Grandson to the legendary marine and hero of the sea, Monkey D. Gap, son of the most wanted man in the world, the revelatory leader, Monkey D. Dragon, hell he was even brought up for most of his early childhood by Red-Haired Shanks, apprentice to Gol D. Roger and one of the four Yonko (Basically a world power) who was key factor in Luffy wanting to be a pirate.


Not wanting his grandson to become a pirate, Garp took Luffy away from the town he raised in and took him to a remote village in the woods, where Luffy would be raised along by the former bandit Dadan, with Garp's adopted grandson Portgas D. Ace (The son of Gol D. Roger) and Sabo, while they fight at first they all bonded together over their shared dream of becoming a pirate, years passed and after the believed death of Sabo, and after Ace went off on his own Luffy decided to make his dream a reality.


He created a crew that consisted of the swordsman Roronoa Zoro, the sniper Ussop, the cook Sanji Vinsmoke, the navigator Nami, the doctor Tony Tony Chopper, the Archaeologist Nico Robin, the shipwright Franky, and the musician Brook. They went on many adventures together and despite each having a different dream they would help each other along the journey. That was until one day during a fateful encounter with the Warlord of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma, ended in the Straw Hat Pirates’ complete and utter defeat. Kuma sent each crew member to a different island in the world. Luffy would end on Amazon Island, where after a long battle he allied himself with Queen of the Amazons, Boa Hancock (Who fell in love with Luffy), Luffy originally planned on reuniting with his crew but soon discovered that his brother Ace had been defeated and turned in by the newly appointed Warlord Blackbeard, and was scheduled to be executed by the World Government. Luffy now made a plan to save his brother Ace, after breaking into the prison he was being held he allied himself with the clown pirate Captain Buggy, Bon Clay the ballet fighter, former Warlord and archenemy Crocodile, Warlord, and son of the Sea Jinbei, and queen of queers and general of the Revolutionary army Ivankov, together they broke out and entered the Marineford war where Ace was about to be executed, unfortunately, Ace would be killed in the process at the hand of Admiral Akaniu.


After a grief-stricken Luffy was reminded of everything he had, Luffy became even more determined to become the Pirate King, but before he and his crew would reunite he would spend the next two years training under the former right hand to Gol D. Roger, Dark King Silvers Rayleigh, learning how to master his Haki.


Two years have now passed and now reunited with his crew, Luffy journies the New World to become the Pirate King.

Powers/Abilities

Monkey D. Luffy

Gomu Gomu no Mi Properties

In the world of One Piece, there are a series of rare mystical fruits known as Devil Fruits, which are capable of bestowing great powers and abilities upon those who eat them, these Devil Fruits are said to be the fruits of the Sea Devil and that the secret to their power is hidden in the Grand Line, however upon eating one you become an enemy of the sea and loss your ability to swim. While the exact origins of Devil Fruits are currently unknown it has been confirmed by the scientific community that they are not magic, or at least not entirely, most people are only able to gain one Devil Fruit ability as eating a second one would cause them to die, though there is an exception to this rule, Blackbeard, who used the Yami Yami Fruit to gain different Devil Fruit abilities somehow.

Devil Fruits come in a total of three varieties, Zoan which allow the user to transform into a certain beast real or mythical, Logia which let their users the ability to transform themselves into an element, which effectively makes them intangible, making physical attacks harmlessly go through them, or allow them to be able to absorb the attack completely and heal, along with the ability to control said element. And the most common one, which Luffy got, Paramecia, these fruits give the users a power that can affect their body, manipulate the environment, or produce substances. In general, Paramecia Devil Fruits are fruits that give their users powers other than transforming into natural elements, like Logias, or transforming into animals, like Zoans. Extremely skilled Devil Fruit are able to awaken their Devil Fruits latent potential gaining several new abilities and while Luffy is yet to unlock such a skill, he has fought and defeated Awakened Devil Fruit users before.

After accidentally eating the Gomu Gomu fruit Luffy became a literal rubber man, this fruit gives his body the properties of rubber, allowing him to stretch any part of his body (And yes before you ask his penis can do the same) in any direction before snapping back to his center of gravity like a rubber band, and while he was unable to control it at first he eventually learned how to master this ability. Luffy is able to stretch his body parts out for longer more powerful strikes, as well as twisting body parts around each other and spinning them to improve attack power. While being made of rubber does make him more vulnerable to blade-based attacks this does give him an added defensive boost against blunt force attacks, making it next to impossible for any non-Haki user to hurt him with a strike, his body is able to repel bullets and cannonballs if they hit his body, plus Luffy's insides are able to take an extraordinary amount of pressure even when at the bottom of the ocean. As he is made of rubber Luffy is immune to any electrical-based attack and is able to hurt beings made of pure electricity such as Enel.

However, there is a limit to how far Luffy may be stretched, as ODA put it, he can stretch up to "72 Gomu Gomus" before starting to tear, plus most elemental attacks like superheat and ice are able to damage his body.

He has also learned to create several unique techniques and transformations with his Rubber body but more on that later.

Haki

Luffy posses the ability to manipulate his Haki, Haki is a mysterious power that is found in every living being in the world. It is not that different from the typical senses. However, most people do not notice it or fail to awaken it. Broadly speaking, there are two types of Haki available to everyone, given the proper training, but there is a third type that only a certain group of "chosen ones" are said to possess (Which Luffy has).

While it is unexplained as of now, some users such as Blackbeard, are able to detect and measure someone's level of Haki. Luffy learned how to control all three aspects of Haki under the tutelage of Silvers Rayleigh for two years, despite the great power Haki has it is not limitless and someone can burn through it if they exhaust themselves too much (Though keep in mind people in One Piece can fight for days before tiring out).

Haoshoku Haki

Haoshoku Haki (Or Conquerors Haki) is the rarest form of Haki that cannot be obtained through any amount of training, only one in several million people are able to use this Haki, many of which are every main villain of the Arc now has.

It allows the wielder to overpower others through their willpower alone causing them to foam at the mouth and faint, some people like Shanks are even able to crack wood with this, though individuals with extremely high willpower are able to resist its effects. Originally Luffy was unable to control this ability and used it in highly stressful situations or subconsciously, though over time he mastered this ability, he was able to knock out 10000 fishmen pirates with a single burst. Another useful ability of this Haki is its ability to tame wild animals in a second regardless of how fierce or brutal they were. Luffy is even able to use this while knocked out.

Lastly, when two users of Haoshoku Haki clash against one another it is known as "A Conqueror's Clash", which produces powerful shockwaves throughout the air when Luffy and Chingo clashed they were able to knock bystanders out of the Coliseum they were in, but in more of a power struggle scenario it generates shockwaves

Luffy's Haoshoku Haki is strong enough to create shockwaves that knock away Law, shake massive stone pillars, shatter mirrors while sending people flying, and can even span an entire archipelago of islands.

Kenbunshoku Haki

Kenbunshoku Haki (Or observation Haki or simply Mantra) is a form of Haki that allows the user to sense the presence of others, even if they are concealed from view or too far to see naturally.

More useful the user can also use this Haki to predict an opponent's moves shortly before they make them, thereby making the attack much easier to evade with enough skill. This prediction appears to the user as an image or brief "premonition" of what the opponent will do in the user's mind's eye, and the damage the user will take if the attack actually "hits", as a bonus it may also let the user sense someone's level of strength and even their emotions (Though very skilled actors like Pudding can fool it). Even before his training with Rayleigh Luffy could occasionally use this subconsciously as it aided him in dodging attacks from Dracule Mihawk and is implied which is why he eventually heard "The Voice of All Things"

However during his fight with the Sweet Commander Charlotte Karakuri, Luffy was outdone in every way, as his form of Kenbunshoku Haki was so advanced he could see glimpses into the future, and Luffy was forced to grow in that fight and learned to see glimpses into the future. He can now see the future as fluidly as Katakuri, as shown when he helped Hyogoro dodge multiple attacks from Alpacaman and Madilloman before they happened.

Busoshoku Haki

Busoshoku Haki or Armament Haki is a form of Haki that allows the user to use their spirit to create, in essence, an invisible armor around themselves which increases someones striking power and durability immensely. This also gives the user the ability to hit a Logia type who would normally be intangible, whether they are made of Sand, Fire, Gas, or even Light, this is because it lets the user bypass someone's Devil Fruit ability.

Users can also use it on their weapons such as swords, bullets, or arrows, for example when the Kuja clan used it on their arrows it gave them the power to explode with the force like a grenade.

When two users of Busoshoku Haki clash the one with the harder Busoshoku Haki will win often breaking through the other ones Busoshoku Haki, Luffy's Busoshoku Haki has the potential to be strengthened, as he has faced opponents with a stronger caliber of Haki than him such as Charlotte Cracker and Katakuri

Luffy has recently learned advanced application of Busoshoku that will allow him to emit his Haki a short distance without a medium under the guide of Hyogoro of the flower and may now let him strike a target's internal organs.

Gluttony and Advanced Metabolism

Like any good Shounen hero, Luffy has a monstrous appetite, devouring large amounts of food in seconds, he is then able to burn off any and all unnecessary fat by going for a quick run.

Eating food is able to rejuvenate Luffy and refuel his stamina and Haki, in his eleven-hour fight with Cracker he replenished his Haki by eating Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers.

And while he can't heal lost limbs he can very quickly recover from torture, beatings, missing teeth, and not eating for days after one meal.

Poison/Toxin Resistance

Ever since his near-death encounter with Magellan and being healed by Ivankov, Luffy has gained a near immunity to all poisons and toxins, Magellan's poison was potent enough to melt stone and required an immediate antidote to survive, he was also able to survive Caeser's Gasu Gasu attacks which is far stronger then nerve gas. Though some poisons are still able to hurt him, though it must be extremely powerful.

Stealth

Ok, this may sound weird but despite Luffy's very loud nature he has shown a bizarre talent for stealth and infiltration, he snuck around a military base, hid under Boa Hancock's dress, and for the beginning of Impel Down actually did a pretty good job of not being it was only because of Buggy's intervention did he get noticed.

He has also shown some skill for disguise as widely went unnoticed in Dressrosa.

Asexuality

Luffy is canonically asexual as according to ODA he is in love with adventure, the only time he had expressed any form of sexual attraction was when Nami flashed them but according to the SBS Luffy was just playing around with Ussop. This does shocking serve a purpose in combat, as he is immune to any form of seduction.

Even Boa Hancock, the most beautiful woman in the world was unable to bring any arousal him, evident by the fact that he is immune to her Melo Melo beam which turns anyone who is attracted to her into stone, such as straight women, robots, and even inmate objects like weapons.

The Voice of All Things

The Voice of All Things refers to the words conveyed by inanimate objects and animals that don't speak the human language. Although these words are usually either inaudible or unintelligible to humans, there exists an innate ability that allows a person to perceive these words and to understand and gain information through them. For example, it is possible to use this ability to gain information from the Poneglyphs as well as track them down.

Furthermore, some people are able to converse with the voice and, in case it belongs to an animal, might even be able to command it. However, those who are able to perceive the Voice of All Things are usually unaware of their ability and don't know about the Voice of All Things itself.

Luffy may perceive and understand animals like the Sea Kings and Zunesha as well but has not shown the ability to perceive the voice of non-living things.

The Will of D

Yes his name counts.

In the world of One Piece, there are few but extraordinary individuals whose middle initial is simply D., descendants of the kingdom of D. and are Natural Enemy of God. The will of D. was first brought up by Doctor Kureha revealing the Gold Roger's name was actually Gol D. Roger (Same with Buggy D. Clown), it is an "Inherited Will" as those who bear it have an incredible conviction to their dreams and have lead to shaking the world and when death comes will meet their end with a smile.


Those with the Will of D. have also shown an insane amount of stamina and willpower, Portgas D. Rouge withstood giving birth to Ace for additional elven months, Portgas D. Ace fought Jinbei for five days straight, and Luffy withstood having 100 shadows stuffed into him where a normal person would die after 3.

Equipment

Monkey D. Luffy

Straw Hat

Luffy's most treasured possession is his signature Straw Hat where he gets his pirate name from, originally worn the legendary Pirate King Gol D. Roger then passed on to his apprentice, Luffy inherited the hat from Yonko Red-Haired Shanks. While the hat has no special properties what so ever, Luffy treasures it deeply and taking it from him can send him into a rage.

Pipe

When Luffy was younger he utilized a metal pipe for combat, he was able to fight off a horde of bandits with it as well as killing several large animals.

Animals:

With his Haoshoku Haki (Or just by beating the shit out of them) Luffy has tamed many creatures from across the world regardless if they were ravenous and wild or intelligent and trained to specifically serve an enemy, they can fight alongside Luffy or be used to travel.

Lapahn: Originating from Drum Island they are large, rabbit-like, creatures are highly aggressive and attacked Luffy mercilessly, however, they eventually saw Luffy as a friendly person and chose to protect him from Wapol later, they have razor-sharp claws and teeth alongside superstrong legs allowing them to performs large leaps as well as run at superhuman speeds.

Kung-Fu Dugongs: A hybrid marine animal which is the mix of a dugong and a turtle that resides on beaches, though small, they are renowned their martial art skills and strength. Their code of honor states that once they are defeated, a dugong must follow and aid the one who defeated them; this code extends to all prior 'disciples' of their master as well after Luffy quickly defeated the strongest pack member he quickly acquired a legion of Kung-Fu Dugong followers.


Surume: The famed giant Kraken that dwells in the deepest part of Fishman Island who was originally blackmailed by Hody Jones to serve the New Fishman Pirates but after a quick skirmish with the Strawhats ended up becoming Luffy's pet, suiting its massive size being 984 feet tall, Surmue has incredible strength able to shatter ships, lift giants over his head, and is feared by other Sea Beasts and Kings he has shown some skill in hand to hand (Or tentacle) combat.

(Obvious Hentai Joke)

Ucy: A fighting bull that originally participated in the Corrida Colosseum tournament which Luffy quickly made friends with, Ucy's large size and speed make him a deadly fighter able to knock out many competitors of Block C and was said to have eliminated many death row prisoners in the past. Luffy can also ride Ucy to get to his destination.

Komachiyo: A komainu (Lion-Dog) from Kuri Wano who protected Tama from a member of the Beast Pirates, a fierce fighter who can fight a massive Baboon in the Beast Pirates and recovered quickly after being sent flying into the Thousand Sunny. It is fast enough to outrun a fellow Supernova Basil Hawkins.

Hihimaru: A massive baboon who originally served the Beast Pirates that Luffy and Tama quickly tamed and became much friendly as a result. Hihimaru possesses a great amount of strength able to hold its own against the equally large Omachiyo. He is very agile as well while wielding a massive katana.

Pocket Food:

Luffy has a tendency to keep food in his pockets for emergencies usually bone racks of meat but occasionally milk, eating can restore his health and stamina a bit.

Fighting Style/Techniques

Gomu Gomu no fighting style

Luffy is not a martial artists the same way Zoro or Sanji is, rather he is a wild brawler who uses anything he can to win a fight, he will bite, kick people in the groin, whatever, as long as he wins, and he doesn't expect his opponent to fight fair either as many of them are pirates, this gives him a level of unpredictability that is hard to counter. Luffy has also developed several techniques along the way such as.

Gomu Gomu no Pistol: Luffy's signature attack; he stretches his arm back then throws a devastating punch. In other words, it is a standard straight punch, augmented with stretching. This attack can be used from short to long-range. Luffy would typically increase the striking reach of fist by 'charging up' by means of first repeatedly swinging his un-stretched punching arm around before using the spinning force to both stretches his arm to its limits and to maximize the hitting power.

Gomu Gomu no Pistol Shot: Starts off as an ordinary Pistol attack, after which Luffy "twangs" his stretched arm, causing his fist to connect multiple times.

Gomu Gomu no Rocket: Luffy's main method of traveling long distances fast. He stretches out one of his arms or both and grabs a handhold, then retracts them, projecting himself high into the air at high speeds, over great distances, or even into an opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Bazooka: Luffy stretches both his arms far back, and then hurls them forward, striking his opponent with both instantaneously with a double open palm strike with both hands, that frequently sends the recipient(s) flying off the other direction. This is usually used as a finishing move, he often prefers to do it at point-blank range, sometimes running up to his opponent as he's charging it.

Gomu Gomu no Gatling: Luffy uses his stretching ability to bring his fists forward repeatedly in a blurry, rapid barrage of strong punches that creates the illusion of him having multiple arms, however, he does not actually grow more arms so he can still be stopped by an opponent fast enough.

Gomu Gomu no Bullet: Luffy stretches one arm, far behind him while running, then snaps it back to deliver a short-distance, one-fisted powerful blow to an opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Bow Gun: Taking hold of his opponent from behind, Luffy repeatedly twists his torso vertically around his hips before grasping them with his feet and then rapidly untwisting, creating a snapback that sends his opponent flying upwards.

Gomu Gomu no Rifle: Similar to the Gomu Gomu no Bullet, but Luffy twists his arm around as he stretches it behind him and hits the opponent at close range, massively increasing the velocity of the punch as twisting the arm stretches the arm even further without having to draw it back any longer which also saves the amount of time the kick-back takes.

Gomu Gomu no Cannon: Luffy builds up speed and momentum with a long series of quick punches similar to Gomu Gomu no Gatling, stopping just short of the target(s) at first, and finishes with a single double-palm blow similar to Bazooka. A powerful technique that can pierce strong armor.

Gomu Gomu no Muchi: Luffy stretches his leg and kicks in a wide circle, striking multiple foes.

Gomu Gomu no Tsuchi: Luffy stretches out his arms while twisting them, and then takes hold of his opponent. He then untwists them, rapidly spinning his opponent, while bringing him crashing to the floor.

Gomu Gomu no Kama: Luffy grabs an object behind his opponent and pulls himself towards them. He then stretches out his other arm and clotheslines his opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Yari: Luffy holds his feet together (with the bottoms of each touching each other) and kicks with both simultaneously via his toes (giving off the image of an actual spearhead).

Gomu Gomu no Ogam: Identical to Gomu Gomu no Kama, but he uses both arms for the rocket and the clotheslining.

Gomu Gomu no Ono: Luffy stretches one leg high into the air, then brings it crashing down via a high-gravity stomp on an opponent or structure, for massive damage, strong enough to destroy large buildings and ships in a single hit. Usually, when Luffy executes this attack, after stretching out his leg, he brings his foot down immediately below him.

Gomu Gomu no Ozuchi: Similar to Gomu Gomu no Mallet, but he performs it using the feet and legs instead of hands and arms while in mid-air.

Gomu Gomu no Fusen: A technique where Luffy inflates himself rapidly through his mouth, further increasing his resistance to blunt attacks. With his inflated body, Luffy is capable of deflecting projectile attacks back at his attackers

Gomu Gomu no Kane: While latched onto an enemy, Luffy stretches his neck backward, then snaps it back for a devastating head butt to the opponent's face.

Gomu Gomu no Kazaguruma: Luffy plants his feet into the ground to steady himself, then twisted his body around tightly. He then grabs hold of someone and spins them around at super speeds and then throws them. Though this attack can leave his feet stuck in the ground.

Gomu Gomu no Tate: Luffy grabs the fingers of one hand with the other, and stretches them before his face to block blades that pass between the fingers.

Gomu Gomu no Ami: Luffy entwines his fingers making a net-like shape and then stretches out his fingers making a larger net in an attempt to trap his opponents.

Gomu Gomu no Stamp: Luffy stretches his leg out and hits his opponent with the bottom of his foot, leaving an imprint, or "stamp", of his sandal.

Gomu Gomu no Stamp Gatling: Similar to Gomu Gomu no Stamp, except he makes multiple strikes with his foot.

Gomu Gomu no Baku Baku: Luffy stretches his mouth wide open, and attempts to bite or swallow his opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Marunoko: Luffy grabs his opponent from afar with both arms and winds himself up like with a bow gun. He then kicks off from the ground and spins towards his opponent to deliver a powerful head butt.

Gomu Gomu no Storm: An extremely powerful move and is easily one of Luffy's strongest attacks. Luffy first uses Gomu Gomu no Balloon and twists his body around tightly, then blows the air out behind him while untwisting to fly in forward while spinning towards an opponent, where he delivers a constant barrage of powerful punches similar to Gomu Gomu no Gatling, with power greatly enhanced by the momentum of his launch.

Gomu Gomu no Hanabi: Luffy jumps into the air and spins around rapidly. He then stretches and wraps himself in his own arms and legs like a rubber ball. When the rubber rebounds and the 'ball' is unwrapped he unleashes a flurry of punches and kicks of increased speed, that go in every direction due to his fists and feet bouncing back and forth.

Gomu Gomu no Boh...: A technique in which Luffy "switches off" his conscious mind, allowing him to avoid attacks entirely on instinct. This made him immune to Enel's mind-reading Mantra ability. The disadvantage is that he can neither think nor attack in this state.

Gomu Gomu no Tako: A technique in which Luffy makes his appendages go limp that they resemble the tentacles of an octopus. This was done in an attempt to figure a way to fight against Enel's Mantra ability.

Gomu Gomu no Mikata Robo: Luffy wraps his arms and legs around a person's limbs in order to manipulate their movements.

Gomu Gomu no Kazan: Similar to Gomu Gomu no Ono, except Luffy's foot is stretched upwards to break through a roof and is not followed by a stomp like Gomu Gomu no Ono.

Gomu Gomu no Ame: Luffy jumps into the air and performs a strong, rapid-fire punching attack while spinning. Similar to Gomu Gomu no Storm, except without inflating himself beforehand, and he punches while descending like rain.

Gomu Gomu no Migawari: Luffy avoids getting hurt from his opponent by grabbing someone else around him and use them as a human shield.

Gomu Gomu no Snake Shot: Luffy uses his Devil Fruit abilities to launch his arm in a swerving snake-like movement and grasp the enemy with an open hand gripping hard enough to cause great pain.

Gomu Gomu no Orei Fire: A stronger counter version of Gomu Gomu no Fusen, Luffy first absorbs the gunshots the way he does normally and then accurately rebounds the bullets right back at the enemy with twice the power as when they hit him. When he used this technique, Luffy put the thumb and forefinger of each hand together to form a rectangle with a crosshair.

It should be noted that Luffy can imbue Haki into any of these attacks for extra power, plus he can use any of these moves in the advanced gears, speaking of...

Transformations

Second Gear

During his fight with the Cipher Pol agents, he created a technique inspired by their abilities. This technique involves Luffy speeding up the blood flow in all or selected body parts, in order to provide them with more oxygen and nutrients. This makes him much faster and more powerful, he was able to break through Blueno's Iron Body While originally this would shorten his lifespan he eventually learned how to use this technique without shortening his lifespan and could access this much quicker.

Soru: With the enhanced metabolism, Luffy is able to perform the Rokushiki technique Soru, allowing him to move at disappearing speeds. His prowess of it has surpassed that of Blueno's.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol: Luffy delivers a Gomu Gomu no Pistol so fast that the fist's movement is invisible, and it truly seems like he shoots his opponent, except that the resulting impact is not akin to an actual pistol, but to a small hand-held cannon and powerful enough to propel the unlucky recipient several meters away. The incredible speed both makes the strike far more powerful and harder to dodge. When using this technique, he points his other hand out to aim at his target.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Stamp: Luffy delivers a Gomu Gomu no Stamp, with the same effect as the Jet Pistol.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Hammer: Luffy wraps his legs around his opponent and, at an extreme speed, smashes him into the ground. Unlike the normal version, Luffy does not twist, and then un-twist his legs during the execution of this technique.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka: Luffy charges at his opponent at high speed, and delivers an incredibly fast and strong Gomu Gomu no Bazooka. This was able to knock out an Awakened Zoan.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Whip: Luffy delivers a 'Gomu Gomu no Muchi, so fast, that only the slipstream is visible.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Bullet: An extremely fast, close-range punch with very great force. When attacking head-on, the stretching of the original Bullet along with the resulting snapback seem to occur almost simultaneously at once, making it virtually inescapable.

Gomu Gomu no Twin Jet Pistol: Luffy punches with both arms simultaneously.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling: This is Luffy's strongest technique in Gear Second. Luffy stands still, bends forward and moves his arms upwards at speeds which they can no longer be seen, leaving only jet streams in their place, very much like how the Jet Pistol looks.

Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket: A Gear Second version of Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Rocket technique. After grabbing onto something with stretched out arms, Luffy instantly propels himself forward with blinding speed.

Gomu Gomu no Red Hawk: An attack made to honor his late brother "Fire Fist" Ace, Luffy uses Busoshoku Haki to harden his arm entering in Gear Second Busō. He then stretches it back like Gomu Gomu no Bullet. When cocked back, his arm ignites, releasing a stream of fire. When the attack hits, it creates a fiery explosion even underwater and deals immense damage.

Gomu Gomu no Hawk Gatling: A Haki enhanced version of Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling. Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling while using Busoshoku Haki on his arms to enhance the power of his punches.

Gomu Gomu no Hawk Rifle: Coating his arm in Haki he twists his arm to create a spinning punch and increase the power. This was first used against Chinjao at Corrida Colosseum, and was sufficiently powerful to make Chinjao bleed, despite the fact that Chinjao was using Busoshoku Haki on his stomach to minimize the damage.

Gomu Gomu no Eagle Bazooka: Luffy hardens his arms with Busoshoku Haki and stretches them both backward. The arms then deliver a great impact to the opponent after Luffy blasts them forwards.

Gomu Gomu no Hawk Whip: Luffy imbues his entire leg with Busoshoku Haki, and then swipes it towards the target as an elongated kick.

Gomu Gomu no Hawk Stamp: Haki-enhanced version of Gomu Gomu no Jet Stamp. Luffy imbues his entire leg with Busoshoku Haki, and then stretches his leg out and hits his opponent with the bottom of his foot, leaving an imprint or "stamp" of his sandal.

Gear Third

Second Gear was not the only boost Luffy got during his time in Enis Lobby, he corks his mouth with his thumb, bites into his thumb joint (making a small opening) and blows very hard into it, which inflates his arm. He is then able to transfer the air through his entire body, requiring the torso to act as an interface for his various limbs. Luffy blows so much air into his body that when they are all focused on a single limb, they become the sizing equivalent to (or greater than) that of a giant's. While originally after using this he would become Chibi Luffy, a much weaker version of himself this is no longer an issue.

Hone Fusen: Luffy inflates his body by blowing air into his bones. This is done by biting into his right thumb, presumably cutting it open down to the bone, and then blowing air directly into the opened bone. This technique seems to give Luffy a sturdier defense than the regular balloon since bullets now ricochet off of him instead of bouncing off of him. Due to this form having a disadvantage of moving about, he can transfer his air into his torso and then launch himself with his "Gomu Gomu no Rocket" technique.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol: Luffy delivers a Gomu Gomu no Pistol with extreme force due to the larger size of his fist. This was first fully seen being used against Rob Lucci. Its sheer power was able to fling him from the Bridge of Hesitation on to a Buster Call Battleship.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Axe: A Gomu Gomu no Ono with even more power due to his enlarged foot and leg. This was first seen being used against Rob Lucci. Its sheer power is able to damage and create a hole in the deck of a Buster Call Battleship.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Whip: Gomu Gomu no Muchi with more power due to his enlarged foot and leg. This was first seen being used against Rob Lucci. Its sheer power is able to damage the mast of a Buster Call Battleship.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Bazooka: Luffy inflates both his arms by biting both his thumbs and blowing into them. With both his arms inflated to large proportions, Luffy then delivers the attack onto an opponent the same way he regularly does with a normal Gomu Gomu no Bazooka attack, except with much greater power.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Jet Shell: With the combination of Gear Second's high speed and Gear Third's air within his bones, Luffy launches his air-filled body and rams into an opponent like a large cannonball. This move is quite reckless, as Luffy suffers both from the excess burn on his body from Gear Second, and the difficulty of moving his body from Gear Third.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Rifle: Luffy activates Gear Third to expand one of his arms and then use it to launch a giant version of the original Gomu Gomu No Rifle at a target with greater power, drilling hard into the unfortunate target. This attack is strong enough to destroy the heavily-armored Pacifista and was first seen being used to defeat PX-4 on the Sabaody Archipelago.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Stamp: Luffy activates Gear Third and expands his foot to deliver a giant version of Gomu Gomu no Stamp with greater force.

Gomu Gomu no Gigant Fusen: Luffy activates Gear Third and expands his torso to create a giant version of his traditional Gomu Gomu no Fusen, with a much sturdier defense. This move was strong enough to cushion the impact from a massive adversary and was first used to protect Ace and Mr. 3 from a punch of Sengoku in his giant form.

Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gatling: After enlarging and imbuing both his arms with Busoshoku Haki in a similar manner as Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun, Luffy performs his Gomu Gomu no Gatling, which, with the heavily enforced arms, causes massive damage. Since the bulk of the air sits in his forearms and fists and not in his upper arms, it allows him to punch and pull back rapidly. This technique was first seen to defeat Hody Jones, as well as breaking apart the falling Noah which ODA claimed to be the size of a state.

Gomu Gomu no Tsuppari: Luffy strikes his opponent with an open, slightly enlarged hand in a sumo wrestler style, he can also do create a giant-sized version of it.

Gear Fourth Boundman

During his training with Rayleigh, he created his own transformation when he learned how to fully utilize his Haki. Luffy coats his arm in Busoshoku Haki before biting into his forearm. Similar to how he activates Gear Third, he blows an incredible amount of air into his body, but this time he inflates his muscular structure before distributing the air throughout his body entering a form resembling that of the Nio Statue.

 Depending on the situation, Luffy can adapt Gear Fourth into different forms but in its standard it causes Luffy's body to bounce continuously and have most attacks bounce off of him even blades and Haki infused attacks. While in this form Luffy's strength and speed greatly increase to the point where he is able to fight opponents which he previously had no chance against, he is able to compress his limbs to increase his striking power or to achieve flight.

However, despite its power Gear Fourth has a time limit and does drain his Haki when he is done, though he has found ways of replenishing his stamina, mainly eating.

Python: Using a combination of Busoshoku Haki and his rubber body, Luffy is now able to redirect his punches during an attack instead of retracting it back, allowing himself to bypass to necessary build-up time between attacks, making his attacks into semi-homing attacks. Whilst in Bondman form the attack can continue stretching without losing momentum; in his Snakeman form, the attack goes a step further by continuously accelerating until Luffy retracts it.

Gomu Gomu no Kong Gun: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Bullet. After compressing his fist into his enlarged forearm (and making it look like the barrel of an actual canon), Luffy flies towards his opponent at high speeds and unleashes a devastating short-range punch with massive power. This technique had enough strength to break through Doflamingo's own Haki-enhanced defense and hurl the Shichibukai all the way from Dressrosa's palace to the middle of the city. This technique is drastically more powerful than anything Luffy has utilized in Gear Second or Gear Third, best demonstrated when he was completely unable to harm the Beli 860,000,000 bounty Cracker with Hawk Gatling or Elephant Gun, having them blocked and deflected by his shields, but sent him reeling with a Kong Gun while also easily shattering the shields.

Gomu Gomu no Rhino Schneider: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Yari. After compressing both legs into his body, Luffy delivers a double flying kick. It has enough power to send the opponent crashing through dozens of buildings and across a town center. This was first used as a surprise attack against Doflamingo.

Gomu Gomu no Culverin: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Pistol, Luffy launches a regular straight punch at his opponent, augmented with stretching. However, if the attack misses, it can be combined with the Python technique to continue chasing after the opponent until it lands. It was first used while airborne against Doflamingo in Dressrosa and was powerful enough to send him plummeting to the ground at high speeds.

Gomu Gomu no Double Culverin: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Twin Pistol. Luffy pulls back his arms before punching his opponent with them.

Gomu Gomu no Leo Bazooka: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Bazooka. After retracting both of his fists into his arms, Luffy "fires" them at his opponent with a double open-palm strike. This was first used while airborne against Doflamingo and its power sent him flying over Dressrosa and caused him to create an enormous crater when he slammed into the side of the King's Plateau.

Gomu Gomu no King Kong Gun: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol and Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun, and one of the most powerful techniques Luffy has ever utilized in any form. After Luffy compresses his fist, as he does for Kong Gun, he blows a large amount of air into his arm, drastically increasing its size, then unleashes it for a devastating blow. This was first used to defeat Doflamingo and was powerful enough to break through the Shichibukai's Spider's Web and God Thread techniques simultaneously, while still maintaining enough momentum to send him flying into the city below with enough force to completely level the city and cause the ground to fold in on itself.

Gomu Gomu no Kong Organ: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Gatling and rapid-fire version of Kong Gun. After compressing both fists into his arms, Luffy moves his arms horizontally in a rapid fashion, with the afterimages giving the impression of two extra pairs of arms being materialized, before releasing a flurry of continuous heavy punches. This was first used against Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers, and each individual punch was powerful enough to smash through a biscuit shield.

Tank Man

In his fight with Cracker Luffy ate an enormous amount of biscuits leaving him bloated and enlarged, in this form, Luffy resembles a sumo wrestler with exaggerated proportions: while his arms and legs are slightly increased in size with muscle, his Busoshoku Haki-coated torso becomes far larger.

Tankman gives Luffy tremendous Haki-based durability: while Cracker nearly cut through Luffy's Haki-coated Bondman arm with his sword, he was unable to pierce Luffy's stomach with the same sword while the latter was in Tankman form. Furthermore, this form further increases the power and magnitude of Bondman's compression-based offense by using Luffy's enormous stomach as a launcher, which allowed him to defeat Cracker by blasting him through his incredibly hard Biscuit Soldiers with Gomu Gomu no Cannonball.

Gomu Gomu no Cannonball: The Gear Fourth version of Gomu Gomu no Fusen and Gomu Gomu no Orei Fire. After trapping an enemy within him by compressing and withdrawing his stomach, Luffy launches them forward and into the air with incredible power and speed. This technique was first used to defeat Charlotte Cracker, who, when launched, plowed through several of his immensely hard Biscuit Soldiers and was sent flying far away.

Snake Man

During his battle with Charlotte Katakuri, Luffy revealed another form of Gear Fourth known as Snakeman, In this form, Luffy gains a significant increase in speed and ability to use "Python" to change the direction of his attacks, the latter of which he also possesses in his Bondman form. However, Snakeman allows his attacks to continuously accelerate the longer they last, allowing Luffy not only to press an attack more fiercely on an opponent capable of dodging but also to increase the attack's speed and power until he finally lands the hit. It also gives him the opportunity to attack any area of an opponent with ease. This form focuses on dealing with agile opponents who specialize in dodging and requires Luffy's recently heightened proficiency in Kenbunshoku Haki in order to make his punches into semi-homing attacks. His speed increases immensely.


However, because of his body's lack of inflation, Luffy's defense is considerably worse compared to his Bondman and Tankman forms. When he was thrown into structures by Katakuri, he took the impact like he normally would, as opposed to bouncing as he does in Bondman. Additionally, he receives blunt attacks as he does normally rather than having them bounce off him.


Gomu Gomu no Jet Culverin: A faster version of Bondman's Gomu Gomu no Culverin. Luffy compresses his fist and releases it, using Python to change the direction of his punch according to the actions of his opponent. His arm speeds up the more it stretches, and the force of the punch was strong enough to smash Charlotte Katakuri into a wall.

Gomu Gomu no Black Mamba: Luffy arches backward and compresses both arms before unleashing a rapid-fire strike, moving his arms up and down to give the impression of multiple arms moving to attack. As with Jet Culverin, Black Mamba involves Luffy changing the direction of his attacks, but their rapid movements make Black Mamba harder to avoid. Unlike its counterpart in the Bondman form, the Kong Organ, Luffy only manifests two pairs of afterimages instead of three pairs, indicating a lower frequency of attacks. However, he makes up for it with the semi-homing abilities of the Python, though it is not as accurate as of the Culverins.

Gomu Gomu no King Cobra: Luffy compresses his arm, and as he releases it, instead of directly targeting his opponent, the first has his arms loop around himself once before sending his enlarged fist flying at his opponent. The wide loop gives his attack additional acceleration, thus increasing its momentum, while enlarging the fist adds more mass, the combination multiplying the force of this strike.

Feats

Overall

• Luffy has a current bounty of 1,500,000,000 Beli.
• Started his own pirate crew.
• In his earlier career of the East Blue, he defeated Captain Morgan, Buggy, Kuro, Don Krieg, and Arlong.
• Defeated the corrupt King Wapol.
• After two losses managed to defeat Sir Crocodile, saving the country of Alabasta.
• Earned the admiration of Marshal D Teach, who would later be known as Blackbeard.
• Defeated Bellamy with a single punch.
• Made it to Skypeia.
• Defeated the self-proclaimed God Enel, terrifying him in the process.
• Prove Skypeia was real to the world by ringing the golden bell.
• Beat Foxy in the Davy Back fight.
• Survived an encounter with Admiral Aokiji.
• Stormed Enis Lobby.
• Declared war on the World Government.
• Responsible for a Buster Call.
• Defeated Blueno with ease with Gear Second.
• Defeated one of the World Governments' top Agent Rob Lucci.
• Was able to withstand having 100 spirits jammed into him when the average person would die after two.
• Became Nightmare Luffy and defeated Oars.
• With help defeated Gekko Moriah who had just consumed 1000 shadows.
• Punched a Celestial Dragon.
• With his crew destroyed a Pacifista.
• At Amazon Lily, he managed to not only befriend Boa Hancock but get her to fall in love with him.
• Was the first person to break in to Impel Down.
• Survived Magellan's poison.
• Survived and recovered from Ivankovs treatment days before Ivankov suspected he could
• Defeated an Awakened Zoan with a single hit.
• Was the second person to break out of Impel Down.
• Made it to Marineford to save Ace.
• Survived the brutal war of Marineford.
• Trained under Rayleigh for two years mastering his Haki.
• Destroyed a Pacifista with one punch.
• Befriended a Kraken.
• Defeated Hody Jones and his new Fishmen pirate crew.
• Defeated Ceaser and destroyed his SMILE factor.
• Fought and defeated Doflimngo.
• Went to Whole Cake Island to get Sanji back.
• Defeated Charlotte Cracker one of the strongest Big Mom Pirates.
• After fighting for eleven hours straight, taking a beating from Sanji, Luffy managed to hold his own against the Big Mom army before they could restrain them.
• With Capone Gang Bege and his crew took part in a plot to ruin the Charlotte wedding.
• Saved Sanji.
• Fought and defeated Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest Big Mom pirate, and learned how to see into the future.
• Escaped Whole Cake island.
• Made it to Wano.
• Was such a threat that Kaido himself had to step in to stop him.
• After being imprisoned he managed to still move around, lift huge stones, and fight entire hordes of Kaido's crew with Seastone in him.
• Broke out of Kaido's personal prison getting a former Wano Yakuza member as his teacher.
• Formed an alliance between fellow Supernova Kidd and Law to storm Kaido's palace.
• MOTHERFUCKING AFRO LUFFY!

Strength/Power

• Can kill a massive Sea King with a single punch.
• Can send the massive Alvida flying.
• Tore the mast off a ship.
• Knocked out several marines with a kick.
• Accidentally destroyed a house.
• Punched Buggy to another island.
• Tore the mast off a ship and used it as a bat.
• Destroyed Don Krieg's armor which was capable of withstanding cannon fire.
• Sent another Sea King flying and then swung it around at super speeds.
• Can easily overpower Fishmen who have the strength of ten men.
• Shattered Arlong's teeth which had previously bitten through stone pillars.
• Overpowered Arlong's grip who had previously lifted up a house then slammed it into another one.
• Destroyed Arlong's tower knocking out Arlong as well.
• Used the mast of his ship like a spear and stabbed Laboon, an absolutely massive whale.
• Smashed apart a giant candle pillar which was harder than iron and able to restrain a giant.
• With Zoro and Sanji killed a massive lizard in one hit.
• Was able to break through Crocodiles Desert Spada which is casual city level, knocking him through the castle.
• Managed to lift and run up surfaces at hypersonic speeds despite having a giant golden bell fused to his arm.
• Destroyed a blast of lighting with the Golden Bell which was capable of wiping out an island.
• Hits Enel so hard it shatters the ball of gold stuck to his arm and topples a large stone structure.
• Took down Bellamy in a single punch.
• His clash with Lucci caused several shockwaves.
• Destroyed a warship with a single hit in Gear Third.
• Destroyed a massive steel door in Gear Third.
• Chewed through metal bars.
• Defeated Bacura with a single hit sending him flying into the stands.
• Could one shot an Awakened Zoan.
• An extremely injured and heartbroken Luffy could destroy mountains and trees.
• After two years of training was able to destroy a Pacifista in a single hit which previously took Luffy's entire crew to defeat.
• Beatdown a massive Kraken while underwater which restricted his strength and weakened his attacks.
• Knocked the tooth out of a giant.
• Defeated Hody Jones while underwater.
• Was said to be capable of destroying the massive ship, Noah, which was half the size of Fishman Island.
• Took down Monster Chopper in a single hit.
• Smashed Ceaser through his lab, a giant stone wall, and into his ship.
• Knocked out a giant in a single punch.
• Matched and overpowered Don Chingo.
• In Gear Fourth Luffy was able to overpower Doflimngo, destroy his birdcage which was capable of cutting country busting meteors, and completely folded the city beneath him.
• Held his own against the Admiral Ishho Fujirto (Admirals are around Multi-Continental level)
• Defeated Charlotte Cracker and his biscuit soldiers.
• Forced Big Mom to use Arment Haki to defend herself.
• Managed to defeat Charlotte Kakakuri the strongest Big Mom pirate (And best boy).
• Despite nearly being killed by Kaido, starved, and having Seastone Cuff on and season nails in him, he was able to lift up many massive marble stones and defeat several of Kaido's pirates.

Speed/Reflexes

• Regularly dodges bullets.
• Scaled a building.
• Avoided a Desert Spada.
• Reacted to Bellamy's Spring Hopper (MHS) and punched him out while he was still bouncing.
• Moved at FTE in his fight with Foxy.
• Fought on par with Rob Lucci and was able to blitz Blueno, who were both far faster then Kalifa who was able to dodge point-blank natural lighting.
• Barley dodged a light speed blast from a Pacifista's light cannon.
• Dodged attacks from Mihawk one of the top-tiers in One Piece.
• After two years of training was able to effortless light speed blasts from a Pacifista's light cannon.
• Blitzed Hody Jones while underwater.
• Ran so fast he set ground beneath him on fire.
• Dodged a liquid explosion.
• In Gear Fourth, he was able to keep up with Doflamingo and even blitz him several times in their fight.
• Can keep up with Admirals who can move over 50 percent the speed of light
• Kept up with Zephyr who in turn can move over 90 percent the speed of light.

Durability/Endurance

• His rubbery body can take plenty of blunt force attacks with him barely feeling anything.
• Was smashed under a giant.
• Crushed by a mace.
• Thrown off a building.
• Was stabbed in the back of the head.
• Bullets rebound off his body.
• Was punched through a building.
• Wasn't even slowed down when stabbed in the shoulder.
• Was hit by Krieg's explosive spear.
• Got his side and neck bitten by Arlong.
• Blocks a collision between a pillar and a ship with his body.
• Survives several point-blank explosions.
• Unharmed by a kick from Zoro which smashes the front a building.
• Survived a beating from Crocodile which ended in him getting impaled.
• Gets hit by a shockwave based attack, shockwaves tend to ignore Luffy's rubber durability.
• Electricity based attacks do literally nothing to Luffy.
• Survived a beating from Aokiji which had him being frozen.
• Was impaled by Lucci and thrown through a wall.
• Managed to take a total of three Rokuogan which launches an explosive shockwave inside an opponent's body.
• Took a hit from Gecko Moriah Asgard form which completely split the island they were on.
• Withstood taking a hundred shadows where a normal person would die after two.
• Survived Magellan's poison.
• Took a light speed kick from Kizaru(That is over 7,556.72 megatons of force).
• Took a slash from Mihawk.
• Survived a hit from Akianu who can vaporize giant glaciers, destroy islands, vaporize steel just by being close to it, and who was able to defeat Aokiji while creating several volcanoes.
• Takes a hit from Jinbe's Fishmen Karate which uses shockwaves and water, two of Luffy's weaknesses, to attack.
• A punch from Hody does nothing, Hody is strong enough to launch a drop of water through multiple cliffs shattering them on the way through.
• Took hits from Doflimngo who could cut up meteors and entire islands.
• Fought Cracker for eleven hours straight with no break where he was stabbed multiple times.
• After fighting Cracker, taking a beating from Sanji, and refusing to eat a single bit for days he was still able to hold his own against the Big Mom army for a while.
• Could take hits from Big Mom.
• Was impaled by Karakuri.
• Survived a beating from Kaido who is so strong Big Mom refers to him as "That Thing".

Weaknesses

Luffy's Devil Fruit may let him perform amazing feats but it also gives him one major weakness, water, if more then half of Luffy's body is submerged in water then he will sink like a stone without being able to swim it should be noted that being hit by water itself does not weaken Luffy's body. Devil Fruit users also have an inherent weakness to Seastone which greatly weakens their power and usually puts them down, though after the time skip Luffy is able to lift massive stone columns and fight many pirates with Seastone cuffs on. Plus his rubbery body makes him vulnerable to cutting attacks, though he is able to protect himself with Haki.

While Gear Fourth is incredibly powerful it does run on a time limit and drains him stamina far faster than any other form, though he was able to still fight for eleven hours straight while transforming into Gear Fourth twice.

Lastly, while Luffy is very creative with his Devil Fruit and a fighting genius, he is still grounded by his inherent stupidity, he is easily distracted and thinks whatever he sees is the coolest thing to ever exist, he is susceptible to hypnotism, and can burn out his brain by thinking too hard. Though he has gotten better over the time skip.

Monkey D. Luffy

"Hero? No! We're pirates! I love heroes, but I don't wanna be one! Do you know what heroes are? Say there is a chunk of meat. Pirates will have a banquet and eat it, but heroes will share it with other people. I want all the meat!"

Advantages:

• Very impressive stats all around.
• Rubber gives him resistance to blunt force attacks and flat out immunity to electric-based attacks.
• Kenbunshoku Haki and his reflexes make it very hard to hit him.
• Kenbunshoku Haki counters stealth, invisibility, and traps.
• Busoshoku Haki not only gives him additional defense and striking power but lets him hit those with intangibility and can somewhat counter a healing factor.
• Can adapt and fight many different kinds of opponents.
• Haoshoku Haki can knock out those with a weak will and at least stun others.
• Gomu attacks give him great range.
• Resistance to most poisons.
• His fighting style is incredibly unique and hard to predict.
• Has excellent stamina able to fight for days.
• Transformation not only gives him an impressive stat boost but past Second Gear it gives him more varied attacks and counters.
• His advanced Haki now lets him look into the future and can ignore durability.

Disadvantages:

• Luffy is still fairly dumb when it comes to anything that's not fighting and can still be tricked.
• His Rubber body can still be damaged if hit by attacks that ignore durability, that affect someone's soul or is just powerful enough.
• His Haoshoku Haki is only really effective on the weak-willed.
• Without Busoshoku Haki is vulnerable to blade-based attacks.
• Limits his stretching by applying Busoshoku Haki.
• Being submerged in water greatly weakens him as does Seastone.
• While he has gotten better with it his transformation still drain his stamina especially Fourth Gear