One Piece: Luffy’s readiness to accept allies is his strongest ability

❘ Updated: 2023-05-26T16:07:00

An image of Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece

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One Piece’s Monkey D. Luffy has every ability expected from a Shonen protagonist. However, how he easily trusts others and accepts allies represents his strongest leadership ability.

As far as Shonen heroes go, the protagonist of One Piece, Luffy is certainly the oddball among them. Despite being the Straw Hat’s captain, he doesn’t seek power or authority, which is why his crew respects him even more.

Unlike other fictional characters, Luffy doesn’t have an inner monologue, further portraying his straightforward personality. However, the one quality that the Straw Hats probably nag him for is his readiness to accept allies.

Luffy doesn’t resort to tricks, which is why he also doesn’t expect that from others. Furthermore, he trusts others too easily, which always worries his crew. However, this may not be a bad quality for the future Pirate King to have.

Luffy often accepts suspicious allies in One Piece

Whether it is accepting Robin to join the crew or accepting Trafalgar Law’s offer to form an alliance, Luffy doesn’t give a thought before agreeing to those requests. In Robin’s case, she’s the only Straw Hat member who offered to join herself, while Luffy had to practically drag the rest of them with him.

However, before Robin joined the crew, she was technically their enemy since she was working for the former Warlord Crocodile. On the other hand, Trafalgar Law became a Warlord. Therefore, he was practically on the World Government’s side, which worried the Straw Hats.

Furthermore, Luffy even accepts Drake’s request to join them in the battle against Kaido. Various such examples can be seen throughout the series, which always keeps his crew on edge. However, things always turn out for the better.

Why is Luffy’s readiness to trust others a strong ability?

An image of Luffy, Law, and Kid using their ability in One Piece

Luffy dreams of becoming the Pirate King and claiming the treasure of One Piece, which requires an abundance of luck and ability. Throughout his voyage in the dangerous sea, he meets several people who can be either friends or foes.

Even someone as powerful and kind as Whitebeard was betrayed by Marshall D. Teach. The Yonko trusted the helpless orphan and let him join the crew, only to lose his life and the lives of his several crew members many years later.

Since there’s no way to ensure that someone is trying to trick him, Luffy relies on his instinct to judge whether the person is trustworthy or not. Sure, he easily accepts others, but not once has someone he trusted betrayed him.

Although Kanjuro could be said to be an exception, Luffy didn’t directly accept him. Rather, Kanjuro tagged along with Kinemon and Momonosuke, who are important allies to the Straw Hats. Regardless, Luffy never chooses allies based on their past, profession, or allegiance.

The fact that he respects Admiral Fujitora further proves that he never judges people based on the world’s stereotypes. Furthermore, in the “Wano Country Saga,” Luffy easily trusts Drake despite everyone’s disapproval — and it also works in his favour. Therefore, Luffy’s readiness to accept allies always results in something good, which can be considered a useful and strong ability for the future Pirate King.

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