One Piece Flashback Proves Luffy's Dad Is Not the Deadbeat We Believed
Monkey D. Dragon won't be winning father of the year, but One Piece reveals he might have been better than we thought.
One Piece's final saga has been throwing some wicked curveballs at the Straw Hat Pirates since Luffy and company left Wano Country. As Monkey D. Luffy fights against the World Government with his allies at the moment, Eiichiro Oda has taken a break from the present to explore the past. In a surprising flashback that covers Kuma's earlier years, Oda takes the opportunity to show Luffy before One Piece began, but also reveals that Monkey D. Dragon wasn't as much of a hands-off parent as many might have believed.
Warning. If you have yet to read the latest chapter of One Piece's manga, Chapter 1101, you might want to steer clear as we'll be diving into spoiler territory. Monkey D. Dragon, aka "Rebellious Dragon", might resemble Luffy but his physical similarities are about the only things that would ever make you think the father and son were related. As Luffy spends most of his swashbuckling career having a ball while fighting against other pirates and military men alike, Dragon is aiming to bring down the World Government with the help of Luffy's brother Sabo. Dragon doesn't appear to have any Devil Fruit powers to call upon in battle, but he's shown time and time again that he's not a character to be messed with.
Monkey D. Dragon: Parenting From The Sidelines
During this latest flashback scene of the final saga, we witness Kuma standing side-by-side with Dragon, as Luffy trains for the day when he will set sail and assemble his crew that anime fans have come to know so well. Kuma notices that Dragon has been keeping an eye on his son, but Luffy's father notes that based on his dangerous occupation, "children are a vulnerability for any parent". As noted earlier, Dragon hasn't been there much in Luffy's life, but his reasoning that his revolutionary exploits would put his son in the crosshairs was valid.
The last time we saw Monkey D. Dragon in One Piece's manga, he was listening to the story of Sabo and the truth behind the death of King Cobra, ruler of Alabasta. Dragon is still attempting to take down the World Government, but with the revelation that an all-powerful foe is pulling the strings in Imu, Luffy's dad is going to have a tough road ahead, even with Sabo backing him up. While far from confirmed, One Piece is surely aiming to have a family reunion before the curtain call.
Do you think Dragon had a bigger hand in Luffy's life than we all thought? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Grand Line.