Monkey D. Luffy may not look like much at first glance on One Piece, but he's one of the best shonen heroes out there (even if he sometimes fails).

Per statistics and fan reviews; its safe to say that One Piece has already claimed the Shonen throne. Yes, some might disagree with that statement, but in this reality of ours, nothing can ever gain a hundred percent approval from the masses, and thats just a fact.

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With that cleared off the table; lets delve into the topic at hand, the future pirate king, Luffy. From the perspective of a bystander, thats to say a non fan, Luffy might appear to be nothing less of a generic, man-child Shonen protagonist; and to some extent, they are actually right. But what they will never realize is that whatever they think they know about Luffy is merely the tip of the iceberg. Theres more than what meets the eye with Luffy, and every fan knows that.

Headstart here means a clear cut edge over his counterparts. Because as far as we are concerned, the gomu gomu no mi is not even remotely close to being one of the strongest devil fruits out there. Any fan can effortlessly name at least 10 devil fruits that are stronger than the gomu gomu no mi.

This symbolizes that all of Luffys achievements thus far were the results of his own hard work/talent, rather than reliance on hacks.

The guy wears his feelings on his sleeves; its almost as if he is incapable of hiding his feelings. If Luffy didnt like a character, you better bet that he will let that character know it. It doesnt even matter if they asked, they will know it.

While this might seem rather harmless, the pirate world is full of schemes. A simple-minded approach would only get him so far.

Self-confidence is a double-aged sword; if used correctly, one would prevail. Otherwise, the only result is self-destruction if its misused. Did Luffy ever doubt himself? Probably not; did he ever doubt his chances of defeating certain individuals? Absolutely.

The good thing is, Luffys self-confidence did not cross the danger-zone. Well, at least for now.

Stubbornness and self-confidence are two elements that feed off each other. Has Luffy not been so confident, chances are, he would not have been so stubborn at times. While it might be clear that, as a captain, Luffy has to have a firm stand; Most of the time his stubbornness kicks in, it does for dumb reasons.

Nonetheless, this stubbornness has yet to show severe side effects on Luffy and the gang, but it's almost certain that if his methods don't change, it will come back and bite him.

Being calm at all times is the duty of a captain; if the captain gets flustered, the crew will almost certainly collapse. Luckily for the strawhats, Luffy rarely loses his cool regardless of the severity of the situation.

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Usually, Luffy just goofs around the ship with no real purpose; but when a captain situation arises, he steps forward and handles it in spades.

Recklessness is nothing new to the Shonen, but Luffy takes that to a whole new level. You would think that as a captain, the least he could do is rack his brain a little before acting. But Luffy is the kind that acts first and thinks never.

Frankly, when Luffy prematurely attacked Kaido, nobody knew what he was thinking- not even he himself. No matter what angle you look at it, it still comes down as a dumb and reckless decision.

Typical Shonen Protagonists are derived by many factors of which include Self-righteousness. They would go out of their way to serve justice, even when it's uncalled for. This type of mentality, while not necessarily bad, is unrealistic on many levels.

It's true that Luffy is a man controlled by his emotions, but it's not to the level of him going around, saving everyone just for the heck of it.

By this point in the series, it's pretty obvious that Luffy's brain game is a little flawed. He is borderline incapable of processing complex thoughts.

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We have seen instances of dumb Shonen Protagonists, but the knowing ones could count on one hand those who are dumber than Luffy.

Now, you might be wondering how an idiot like Luffy could even shape up the most basic form of self-awareness. And the truth of the matter is, nobody truly knows how he did it.

Luffy is well aware of his own position; he very well knows that he is a pirate and that he might as well be a 'bad guy'. But he couldn't care less, nor does he even try to sugar-coat it.

A little bit of optimism never hurts; in fact, it could even positively affect those around you and attract positive vibes. But as a wise man once said: "nothing good ever comes from the excess of anything".

For example, Luffy -on his quest to save Ace- never once thought of the possibility of Ace's demise. He just went out, fully believing that he could save his brother. And the results were horrific, to say the least.

NEXT:One Piece: 5 Reasons Why Luffy Should End Up With Boa Hancock (& 5 Reasons Why It Should Be Nami)

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Suliman is a writer, or so he likes to think. his hobbies are gaming, reading, writing...etc; all that you would expect from a self-proclaimed writer.

Link:
One Piece: 5 Times Luffy Proved To Be The Best Shonen Protagonist (& 5 Times He Fell Short) - CBR - Comic Book Resources