It’s harder than people realize for Luffy to attack and land a clean hit on a woman. Here’s when it last happened and why it won’t happen anymore.
Now that One Piece Chapter 1078, “Escape Limit,” has revealed that York the Greedy is the traitor among the Vegapunks, fans are wondering how she’ll be dealt with. Some are suggesting that Luffy should punch her out as he would any other enemy; however, given that she’s a cute girl, that might be a bigger ask than people realize.
It’s been a long time since Luffy landed a dolid punch on a woman. This isn’t for a lack of trying, it’s just that the story won’t seem to let him do it — which some have attributed to the author’s personal code of ethics. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if the series ends with Luffy never hitting a woman again.
Would Luffy Hit a Woman?
Of course, it’s not as though Luffy is chivalrous enough to avoid punching women altogether. The first episode of the anime has him send “Iron Mace” Alvida flying with a Gum-Gum Pistol to the gut. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman; if somebody starts a fight with Luffy, they should expect a punch to be thrown their way. The last time Luffy canonically landed a solid hit on a girl was Nefertari Vivi in Alabasta when the two got into a heated fistfight while arguing about how to save the kingdom. After this, things get a lot more debatable.
There may be a few more women Luffy has struck since Vivi, kind of. One could jokingly put forth Crocodile based on the theory that he used to be a woman, but that hasn’t been proven yet. He kicked Charlotte Joscarpone of the Big Mom Pirates, but only in the anime. He also punched Vegapunk Atlas, but not hard enough to damage her; that, plus she’s technically a 65-year-old man. If any of this counts for anything, then the last girl Luffy managed to hit was on Egghead.
Besides these instances, Luffy has had trouble landing a successful blow to a woman’s face or body. He might have grabbed and slammed them down, but landing a clean hit is another story. All his attacks have been dodged, blocked, intercepted, or stopped short of landing. This applies to every woman who has faced Luffy directly in a major battle, including the Gorgon Sisters, Monet, Big Mom, Ulti, and Yamato. Not even Uta, the main antagonist of One Piece Film: Red, could be punched by Luffy, though that was more about not wanting to fight an old friend than chivalry. Whenever Luffy goes up against a woman these days, it’s a safe bet things won’t get serious.
Would Luffy Hit a Woman in the Future?
In all likelihood, Oda writes like this these days to keep Luffy’s hands as clean as possible. It was one thing in the early days of the series when nobody knew how big One Piece was going to be; back then, the characters could do what they wanted. Now that it’s Weekly Shōnen Jump’s flagship series and the single best-selling manga of all time, Luffy needs to set a better example and be a little more of a role model. It would be unbecoming for the main character of such an acclaimed series to build up a reputation for beating women.
As for York, it’s unlikely that Luffy will hit her either. It might even turn into another Kanjūrō Kurozumi-like scenario where he has little to do with her downfall if anything. If that means taking any sort of beating, it probably won’t be by Luffy’s hands. The same goes for any woman opposed to Luffy and his friends in the future. This should hold whether it’s Catarina Devon, Miss Buckingham Stussy, or even Imu if anyone believes that they’re a woman. If they get whatever is coming to them, it probably won’t be because Luffy punched them.
