How Did Luffy Get His Scars In One Piece?

Luffy is well-known for his features. He looks much simpler compared to other anime protagonists who have notable features on their faces. For example, naruto’s blond hair and orange jacket, Yugi’s wild and colorful hair, Goku’s very spiky hairdo, and so on. But Luffy, has this very simple appearance of a countryside boy, with black hair and eyes that were drawn so simply. But his character is what made him distinctive, and so popular, along with these two notable scars: one just below his right eye, and a large one on his chest. 

Luffy got the scar on his right eye when he was a kid when he tried to stab himself with a dagger just to join Shanks’s crew. The scar on his chest was made by Akainu. Using a magma-augmented punch to Jimbe, who was holding an unconscious Luffy, the eruption of the attack went straight to Luffy’s chest.

This article will show you more specific details as to why Luffy gained such deep wounds that would turn into his signature scars. As you read through the article, take note that the first one was somewhat of a funny scene, whereas the other one was quite serious. If you haven’t reached the Marineford War, it’s best to watch the arc first before you read the part where Luffy got the scar on his chest.

How Did Luffy Get His Scar On His Face? 

Luffy got his scar on his face years ago before the start of the series, when he was just a little boy. Always abandoned by his grandfather, Garp, he is often left to the hands of either the Mayor of Foosha Village or the Mountain Bandit Leader Dadan. During Luffy’s stay in Foosha Village, Shanks and his crew stopped by on that island to refill supplies, and just to have a good time with the villagers.

Shanks and his crew had a good time with the villagers, and had a good reputation with them, thanks to Shanks’s fun-loving character. Luffy was inspired by how happy Shanks’s crew was, how they sing and dance when drunk, and how good their relationship is. This is where Luffy got his inspiration to become a pirate, instead of following Garp’s goal to turn him into a strong Marine. 

Luffy then made friends with Shanks and his crew to the point where he kept on insisting they take him as part of his crew. Since Luffy got annoyed with Shanks’s repeated rejection, probably because he is still too young to become a pirate, Luffy then started to show off a dangerous stunt. He then told the whole crew that he is fit to become a pirate because he is strong already, which is why he stabbed himself near the eye with a dagger. 

The wound was deep enough for Luffy’s young and delicate skin at that time, though he was already trained by Garp by leaving him in dangerous places to survive on his own. But still, it did not cause Luffy to become immune to it since it was still a kid, which is why it was too deep to heal as a scar. At least Luffy now looks a bit like a pirate because he now has a notable scar on his face. 

How Did Luffy Get His Scar On His Chest? 

Compared to the funny scene about how Luffy got his first scar, the scar on his chest was a mark of a painful experience for Luffy. If you already know the events that occurred in the Marineford War, just seeing Luffy’s scar will tell you everything about that arc, including the death of his brother Ace.

We are not going to dive in through the whole war, as it is very long enough that it might cover this main topic about Luffy’s scar. Just take note that before Luffy got his scar, he got traumatized due to Ace dying in front of him. The trauma was severe enough to make him paralyzed and unconscious with his mouth wide open from crying moments after his paralysis. Another reason why Luffy got paralyzed was perhaps due to forcing his body to the point where he asked for another dose of Ivankov’s adrenaline hormone, which can cut his lifespan if abused enough. 

But despite Luffy’s sorry state, it did not stop Akainu from killing him just because Luffy has the reputation of being the son of Monkey D. Dragon – the revolutionary leader that’s also considered as the most wanted criminal. Akainu’s desire that time is to wipe out Ace and Luffy, who he considers as a generation of criminals due to their parents’ reputation. 

Gladly, Luffy was protected by his friends, along with the remnants of Whitebeard’s crew. First, Jimbe blocked Akainu while holding Luffy, and took it away. However, Akain was able to keep up at the bay area of Marineford and punched Jimbe so hard with a magma-enhanced punch. The attack was too strong that an eruption burst out of Jimbe, and hit Luffy on the chest. The attack on Luffy’s chest caused severe damage to it that added to his risk of dying. Buggy was then pressured, to save his reputation, to fly using his Devil Fruit Powers to grab Jimbe and Luffy while fleeing from Akainu.

Gladly, Law came into the scene with his submarine, the Polar Tang. Law told the alliance of the war to bring Luffy and Jimbe over so then he can tend to his wounds. Buggy tossed them to the submarine. Law did not bring the submarine down yet because this was also the time when Shanks and his crew arrived, causing him to bring the Straw Hat over to Law, as Shanks ordered Buggy to do. Had Law not intervened and operated on the injuries of Luffy and Jimbe through surgery, the two would have died from Akainu’s attack.

That major damage was a deep burn wound due to the intense heat and explosive impact caused by Akainu’s Magma Devil Fruit Ability, as it pierced right through Jimbe. If the damage is analyzed, the explosion caused a major tear through Luffy’s skin, as well as some parts of the flesh on his chest. Though most strong characters in One Piece are extremely resilient against punches and cuts, damages that cause explosions can still cause large to fatal damage to their bodies. That’s why rather than a straight X-shaped scar, it looks like a thick X-shaped scar with jagged sides. 

The scar is formed into an X because the center of the wound is where the direct damage occurred, and then burst like the eruption caused by the Magma-enhanced punch. This is exactly why the scar is has a center, and then goes out in all 4 diagonal directions, getting thinner like how an explosion’s impact weakens the end of its overall radius. Had it be a cut, it would look like a line, similar to Zoro’s scar when Mihawk cut him on the abdomen, or a bigger version of Luffy’s other scar. 

What Episode Does Luffy Get His Scars? 

It was never revealed in the anime how Luffy got his scar when he was a kid. But there was a special episode in the anime called “Episode of Luffy”, where it showed his moments as a kid when he was with Shanks at Foosha Village. The part where Luffy stabbed himself under the eye was shown in the first parts of the special episode. But in the manga, this was shown in Chapter 1 when Luffy was shown as a kid.

As for the scar that he got in the Marineford Arc, it was in Episode 487. After the intense attack done to Jimbe and Luffy, the funny scene of Buggy being pressured to save the two happened, perhaps to calm down the younger viewers with a bit of comic relief. The last part of this episode is where Law arrived and announced that he is a doctor that wants to save Luffy and Jimbe.

Does Luffy Lose Arm?

Luffy never lost an arm in the Marineford War. However, he was badly injured from all the attacks that he sustained throughout his battle in Impel Down and the Marineford War. The damage that Luffy attained was both physical and mental, due to the trauma that he experienced when he was Ace receive a hole in his got, as well as die in front of him. 

However, there was a scene during the War where Luffy suddenly saw a vision that his hands might get chopped off by Mihawk’s sword if he continued his Gomu Gomu No Rocket attack. It was never mentioned if he awakened Observation Haki, but that vision caused him to stop his attack by hitting his hands to the ground. This sudden move by Luffy even surprised Mihawk, who was actually about to cut his hands off.

If there was someone in the Marineford War who lost an arm, it is Diamond Jozu, Whitebeard’s 3rd Divison Commander. His right arm got frozen hard by Aokiji. Aokiji was able to freeze the right arm of the large Jozu when he was caught off-guard when Marco got pierced by two laser beams on the chest by Kizaru. Jozu then fell over, causing his now-frozen and brittle right arm to hit the ground and smash it to pieces.