Luffy's journey in One Piece is both his dream & his destiny

One Piece tells the tale of Monkey D Luffy who is on a journey to become the King of Pirates. However, alongside this, becoming the Pirate King is also his destiny as most people who cross paths with him have compared him to the first and only pirate king of the Grand Line, Gol D Roger.

Additionally, Luffy's dream is also to achieve something that was revealed only in front of his crew. His crew was shocked after hearing his words which could indicate that Luffy's dream, other than becoming a pirate, is something ridiculous.

So, fans have been wondering if Luffy's journey to become the pirate king is his dream or destiny, as both are being fulfilled as the plot of the series progresses. The answer to this could be that Monkey D Luffy is fulfilling his dream, but his destiny is also getting fulfilled without him knowing.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.

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One Piece: Why Luffy's journey is both his dream and destiny

Shanks lending his Straw Hat to Luffy (Image via Toei Animation)

Monkey D. Luffy is the main protagonist of the series and the captain of the Emperor crew, the Straw Hat Pirates. He was inspired by Shanks to become a pirate of the sea and soon enough, his dream of becoming a pirate developed into becoming the Pirate King.

So, after Shanks leaves him with his straw hat, Luffy sets out on a journey to return Shanks his hat and become the Pirate King of the Grand Line. He started by gathering a crew of talented people who swore their loyalty to him.

When Ulti forced Nami to claim that her captain, Luffy, would never become the Pirate King, the former didn't satisfy the latter. The former also remained persistent about her captain achieving this grand title in the future. The battle between Zoro and King soon became a one to prove whose captain would become the Pirate King and Zoro won, proclaiming that his captain would achieve this title.

So, Luffy's dream was to become the pirate king and his crewmates became the guarantees of this dream. However, there was another dream Luffy had which he announced in two instances.

Luffy announcing his dream (Image via Shueisha)

First, when he was little, and was living with Dadan, Ace, and Sabo. The latter two claimed to be the strongest pirates of the Grand Line, whereas Luffy claimed to be something else, which, according to Ace and Sabo, was something ridiculous. Similarly, at the start of the final saga before the Straw Hats had landed on Egghead, Luffy announced his dream to his crew which had the same reaction.

Surprisingly, when Roger announced his dream in front of Oden and Witebeard, the latter also described the dream of the Pirate King as ridiculous. So, fans speculate that the dream of Roger and Monkey D. Luffy could be the same. Moreover, Shanks explained to Rayleigh about Luffy as someone similar to their captain.

So, could Luffy's journey also be a way to fulfill his destiny, as most people who meet him see a great pirate in him? The idea of him being the JoyBoy of the modern age is pretty much true, as claimed by Zuniesha after he awakened his devil fruit. JoyBoy could be the first pirate king who left behind the One Piece for future generations and only Roger has seen it yet.

Monkey D Luffy as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Moreover, the Buccaneers called Luffy the Sun God Nika as his devil fruit based on this personality. Nika also held a significant importance in this race so Luffy (Nika) was definitely special for them. So, which one is Luffy's journey, his dream or his destiny?

The answer to this is both, but not the way fans think of it. Luffy chose to fulfill his dream of becoming the Pirate King. Because he did so, he could have been predestined to his destiny, which is also to become the Pirate King. This could be seen from another perspective.

Luffy not realizing he actual devil fruit powers (Image via Shueisha)

Luffy has been continuously beating every strong pirate throughout his journey. However, he could not be aware of what he is destined to be because he is too focused on fulfilling his dream. Interestingly, he still has no idea about how legendary of a devil fruit he had eaten, as he seemed to be thinking of it as the same Logia-type gun devil fruit, as seen from his attacks during the Egghead arc.

This could be the reason why he hasn't fallen yet because if he had realized his destiny was to become the pirate king, he would have stopped giving his all. So, Monkey D Luffy is fulfilling his dream in One Piece but his destiny is also getting shaped by every step he has taken towards becoming the next Pirate King.

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