Monkey D. Luffy
"I've set myself to become the King of Pirates... and if I die trying... then at least I tried!"
-- Monkey D. Luffy
Monkey D. Luffy, also known as "Straw Hat Luffy" and commonly as "Straw Hat", is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, One Piece. He is the founder and captain of the increasingly infamous and powerful Straw Hat Pirates, as well as one of its top three fighters. His lifelong dream is to become the Pirate King by finding the legendary treasure left behind by the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. He believes that being Pirate King means having the most freedom in the world.
He is the son of the Revolutionary leader Monkey D. Dragon, the grandson of the Marine hero Monkey D. Garp, the sworn brother of late "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace and Revolutionary Chief-of-Staff Sabo, and the foster son of Curly Dadan.
By the time Luffy and his crew left the East Blue for the Grand Line, they had defeated all the strongest pirate crews of the eastern seas, with Luffy himself defeating all their captains. This earned him the highest bounty of the East Blue at Beli 30,000,000. He has since gained a worldwide reputation for causing trouble, challenging the Shichibukai, the Marines, and the Yonko, additionally committing felonies and actions which were deemed threatening by the World Government. Furthermore, in the majority of these confrontations, he has emerged as the victor. He has gained a reputation for being "reckless" and, in some cases, "insane", after causing an incident in Enies Lobby, assaulting a World Noble at Sabaody Archipelago, entering and escaping from Impel Down (while indirectly causing a large-scale riot in the process), and joining the Battle of Marineford. He is, therefore, infamous for being the only known pirate to not only deliberately attack the three most important government facilities, but also escape from all of them alive after facing incredibly powerful opponents in each one. The additional fact that he punched a World Noble with full knowledge of the consequences, as well as his heritage, has caused Luffy to be labeled as a "Dangerous Future Element", earning the wrath of Fleet Admiral Sakazuki and Marine Headquarters.
At the beginning of the Levely Arc, Luffy's achievements were compiled, greatly inflating his infamy, which was already immense to begin with. This includes his relationship as a sworn brother to both the late commander of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates and the son of Gol D. Roger, Portgas D. Ace, and the Revolutionary Army Chief-of-staff, Sabo; the fleet that unofficially formed under him; the infiltration operation of Big Mom's territory, Totto Land, where he defeated the Sweet Commanders Charlotte Cracker and Charlotte Katakuri, attempted an assassination on Charlotte Linlin herself, while destroying her castle (unintentionally), and created a prompt alliance with Germa 66, the Sun Pirates, and the Fire Tank Pirates before escaping after the assassination failed. Though his capabilities were slightly exaggerated by the press, his achievements were great enough for him to be officially titled the "Fifth Emperor of the Sea".
These acts, among other things, have given him his current bounty of 1,500,000,000 Beli. Having had a bounty of 300,000,000 Beli prior to his arrival at the Sabaody Archipelago, Luffy is one of eleven rookie pirates who simultaneously reached the Red Line with bounties over 100,000,000 Beli, a group which would go on to be referred to as the "Worst Generation".