How Luffy got his scar in One Piece, explained

One aspect of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece anime and manga series has always been how unique his character designs are. Although anime and manga in general are known for their, to say the least, interesting character designs, Oda is truly known for going above and beyond in this regard.

While not every single character in One Piece has a unique, over-the-top design, Oda typically likes to at least give each character one distinct feature. Sanji has his swirly eyebrows, Tony Tony Chopper is a reindeer, and Franky is never seen in anything but his trusty speedo and unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.

However, one post-time-skip character design which many fans seem confused about is Monkey D. Luffy. More specifically, many are confused about where the scar Luffy is seen with post-time-skip came from. Follow along as this article fully breaks down exactly how Luffy got his scar in One Piece.

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Admiral Akainu’s targeting a mentally broken Luffy in One Piece’s Marineford War arc leaves him physically and psychologically scarred

One Piece’s Marineford War arc was centered around Luffy’s desire to go rescue his adoptive brother, Portgas D. Ace, after being turned over to the Marines by Blackbeard, which he did in order to earn a spot amongst the Schikibukai. Blackbeard then used this newfound power to enter Impel Down legally, before illegally breaking out with the world’s most heinous criminals as part of his crew.

Nevertheless, the Marineford War arc sees Luffy constantly fighting to free Ace at the cost of his own body, truly not caring what happens to him as long as he can save Ace. He even takes hormone injections from Emporio Ivankov, despite being clearly warned that doing so in his current state would shorten his life by years.

However, this was exactly what Luffy needed, as One Piece fans saw him eventually free Ace from his execution stand on the back of said hormone injections, along with some other help. With the two now free, they fought their way back to where the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies were gathering, seemingly home free.

Unfortunately, this was not the case, with Admiral Akainu pursuing them and attempting to provoke them back into battle, a tactic that Ace unfortunately succumbs to. A distracted Luffy is then attacked by Akainu, forcing Ace to step in between the two and sacrifice himself to save Luffy. He dies shortly thereafter in Luffy’s arms, mentally breaking the young pirate to the point of stunned, unconscious silence.

One Piece fans then see Jinbe, Ivankov, and other allies of Luffy’s carry him to safety and away from the Marineford battlefield. However, Akainu gives chase, eventually managing to land a hit on the back of Jinbe, who was carrying Luffy at the time. Akainu’s Magma-Magma Fruit tears through Jinbe’s body, going completely through Luffy’s chest on the other side, taking both completely out of action.

Thankfully, the two’s other allies and the arrival of Shanks ensure the pair’s survival, with both being taken back to Amazon Lily to rest and be treated by Trafalgar D. Water Law. Luffy eventually chooses to heal and train before returning as a pirate after calming down following a mental breakdown following the realization of Ace's death. Thus, the series’ time-skip is born.

Flash forward 2 years later in series time, and Luffy is now seen with a massive X-shaped scar on his chest from Akainu’s attack. While Jinbe is strangely unscarred from the same attack, this could be due to Luffy being fully human, whereas Jinbe is a Fish-man. Fish-men are said to be inherently stronger and more durable than humans are, lending further credence to this explanation.

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In summation

While many fans argue that Luffy’s scar comes from a duel with Zoro much earlier on in One Piece, this is far from the truth. Fans have seen Luffy without his shirt several times since then, with no sign of a scar until the series returned from time skip. Furthermore, the events in this arc are non-canon due to it being an anime filler arc, meaning it doesn’t account for why Luffy has the same scar in the manga as well.

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