Monkey D. Luffy

Monkey D. Luffy is the main protagonist of the anime adaptation of Eiichiro Odi's manga, One Piece. He is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and has a goal of becoming the King of the Pirates in order to have all of the freedom in the world. When he was 7 years old, he devoured a Devil Fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit, which grants him properties of rubber.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) He is one of the most recognizable anime characters of all time.
 * 2) He is part of Shonen Jump's Big 3, alongside Naruto Uzumaki and Ichigo Kurosaki.
 * 3) His love for adventure and desire for freedom makes him relatable to viewers.
 * 4) He is rather creative with his Gum-Gum powers, which is why he is able to defeat his enemies, along with his strong sense of willpower.
 * 5) Despite not wanting to be a hero, he will help out anyone that he takes a liking to out of the goodness of his heart.
 * 6) He views his crew as his family and would do anything to assure their safety.
 * 7) His confident and optimistic nature inspires others to fight for their dreams.
 * 8) He saves countless coutries throughout the series, along with his crew.
 * 9) Character Development: After witnessing his brother Ace being murdered by Akainu in front of him, Luffy became severely traumatized by Ace's loss that he mentally broke down. He realizes that being a pirate can sometimes means losing the people he cares about.  After he recovered from his trauma, he develops a more realistic outlook on life and becomes less reckless and impulsive.
 * 10) He has an energetic and playful personality, which makes him fun to watch.
 * 11) He teaches viewers to be able to take risks to create a future.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) He can be childish, naive and reckless.
 * 2) He does not want to be a hero and his goal of being the King of the Pirates can be seen as selfish, albeit in a sympathetic way.
 * 3) Although his voice actresses from various countries did a good job voicing him, Erica Schroeder, in the 4Kids dub, was actually poorly directed and makes the voice very phoned-in and annoying.