One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed a very interesting fact about his work. In a recent interview recreated thanks to One Piece fan and translator Sandman, Oda shared his headaches with one particular character, Monkey D. Luffy.
Oda commented half-jokingly and somewhat seriously that Luffy was the source of many of his problems. The author explains that he always needs to find a way to stop Luffy, otherwise he will solve everything too quickly and finish off the villains in the blink of an eye.
This is quite interesting, isn’t it? It shows that the characters sometimes seem to have lives of their own, something other mangakas like Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi have also mentioned. The characters speak, act, and even surprise their creators.
Oda shared in an interview in 2012: “Luffy is the character that annoys me the most. I have to stop him with obstacles, otherwise he will soon defeat the villain and solve all problems. My characters act as if they have their own thoughts. When I forced them to change for the sake of the story, my audience complained.”
Now, talking about Luffy himself, he got into the pirate life very quickly. From an unknown person to one of the famous and mighty Four Emperors, standing next to legends like Blackbeard and Shanks. Of course, with such a rapid rise, Oda had to put the brakes on Luffy, and this became very clear in the latest chapter 1105 of One Piece. There, Luffy was supposed to finish the job against Lucci, but things didn’t go as planned, and now Zoro is in a complicated situation on Egghead Island.
Even for an experienced creator like Oda, managing strong and charismatic characters like Luffy is not easy. They have their own will and path, and sometimes they even surprise their creators.
