Anime and Manga(s) industries are having incredible growth as these forms of entertainment are getting immensely popular among people of various ages across the globe. There is a plethora of anime and manga based on different genres available now that are also becoming fan favorites. However, the bigger credit for this success and popularity enjoyed by anime and manga worldwide goes to the shōnen anime franchises that paved the way for the anime and manga revolution that the world is experiencing now. These shōnen anime and manga franchises include Dragon Ball, Naruto, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bleach, and One Piece.
And for a shōnen anime or manga to get successful commercially and critically, a solid protagonist is a pre-requisite that can carry the story and that the audience can connect with. Shōnen protagonists like Deku, Naruto, Ichigo, and Goku fulfill that pre-requisite, and then there is the protagonist of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy, who defies all the traditional norms of the shōnen protagonist. Luffy is not the average shōnen main character with over-the-top storylines and sentimental causation behind his ambitions. Numerous things about Luffy make him a unique shōnen protagonist, let's have a look at some of them.
Luffy's Ambitions
Luffy is a pretty sorted person when it comes to his ambitions in life or the goals that he wants to achieve, his primary goal is to become the King of Pirates just like his role model the former King of Pirates, Gol D. Roger. But what makes his goal more concrete and nuanced are Luffy's intentions behind his goal which is his belief in the idea of absolute freedom, his goal to become the person that enjoys freedom in its purest form, the King of Pirates, in a world full of exploitation, rules and regulations (especially, the unnecessary ones) just makes sense.
Luffy's belief in the idea of freedom is also reflected in his way of forming his pirate crew as gave freedom to his crew members in one way or another other for instance, he saved and freed Roronoa Zoro from the Marines who were keeping Zoro captive in Shell Island.
He ensures that he lets others know of his ambitions by announcing them whenever he introduces himself to someone, however, it does not annoy the viewers or readers like it does when the protagonists of other anime or manga do the same. Besides his serious goal of enjoying freedom and sharing it with everyone, Luffy also has his other laid-back and funny goals like throwing the biggest party in the world. Luffy's life goals make him peculiar yet unique, unlike most shōnen protagonists.
Character Traits
Luffy is a jolly individual who has a knack for voyages and adventures which makes him a character that the audience finds appealing and looks up to him as a source of inspiration. On the periphery, Luffy is often perceived by his friends and even his enemies as an immature simpleton who likes risking his and the lives of his crew mates, but that is not entirely true. Luffy can act like a total tool sometimes, but he is a quite mature person at the end of the day, and this can be observed from various decisions that he has taken throughout his journey as the captain of the Straw Hat pirates so far. For example, Luffy lets Sanji beat him up just to make sure the latter knows that Luffy would not be leaving his side and will be waiting for him at the promised place.
He is funny and entertaining and his abilities (his Devil Fruit powers) are also fun. Even though he is nineteen years old, he is still a kid at heart that is filled with innocence and does not have even a bit of malice in it. Another thing about Luffy that makes him stand out is his character development over the years and different arcs of One Piece, Oda has developed Luffy's character in such a way that it is flabbergasting to notice how Luffy has grown so much as a person, yet he is still the same as he was when the story began. His ideals have never changed, although they have been challenged several times throughout the story Luffy still believes in his ideals. While other shōnen protagonists go through heavy development arcs and develop new ways to reach their goals, Luffy's ways never change despite facing difficulties of different levels. When a main character like Luffy goes through a tough challenge that puts his ways, ideals, and goals through a hard test how he deals with such a challenge also fosters the audience to have a self-introspection which makes him different from most shōnen main characters.
Room for Growth
Oda did a good job by not making Luffy an overpowered main character at the same time he left a lot of scope for Luffy to increase his strength as the story goes on. Albeit, it was revealed by Oda in the Wano Country Arc that Luffy's Devil Fruit was considered the Gomu Gomu no Mi (a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit) was Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika (a mythical Zoan Devil Fruit) which is a very powerful Devi Fruit.
While giving more strength to Luffy's character, Oda has ensured the foes that Luffy would most probably face in the future are even stronger than him like Blackbeard who has two extremely powerful Devil Fruits, and Lord Imu who has the powers that can exterminate even big islands in a blink of an eye. Therefore, Luffy still has a long way to go and large scope to become stronger and this keeps the audience hooked up to One Piece. All in all, Luffy is indeed a protagonist like no other which is the reason why anime and manga fans worldwide love him and praise Oda for making such a unique and unapologetic protagonist.
One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll.