Alternate Reality One Piece ideas.

[Traab]

I was watching some analysis videos on One Piece when I came across a what if scenario that I found interesting. As we know, Garp really wanted luffy and ace to be marines, but what if, luffy never was inspired by shanks and eventually decided to become a marine? How could the story line happen in a way thats interesting. Would we still have the various characters involved somehow? So I thought I would start up a discussion on ideas on how things could be setup, and how they might or might not work.

First off, I thought it would be an awesome idea if the three adopted brothers each chose a different path. Luffy is the marine grandson of garp, Ace is the wannabe pirate king, and Sabo is a member of the revolutionary army. I see this Luffy as one who is interested in real justice. With two brothers, one a pirate, the other a revolutionary, (Not too mention being raised by bandits) he is able to see that just being a pirate for example, isnt an automatic "This guy is evil" label. So instead of a zero tolerance policy, he has more of a "what is this guy doing as a pirate" before he decides to take them down. He also hates corruption and abuse in the marines. He is absolute death on people who abuse their power because to him the marines are supposed to be this bastion of justice for the world to see and admire. As the story goes on, and his view of the marines gets tarnished by things like cover ups and dirty back room politics superseding the law and justice, (He is NOT a fan of the warlords as they are now, thinking they should get the decent pirates instead, not scum like doflamingo for example) he works towards moving up in ranks and reputation until he can be strong enough to set policy and turn the marines into what he has always wanted them to be.

That basic synopsis aside, what would be different about Luffy? Is it still possible he would get the rubber fruit? Would he start out the series as a standard marine with the techniques we see them using and some basic levels of haki? He could easily get devil fruit powers later, and indeed that would make for an interesting mirror of the original series. He starts out with haki and a mastery of that, then during his time skip he has to learn how to use his new devil fruit powers. Or he could decide he wants to be like Garp and be this impossibly strong marine through personal skill, not cheating devil fruit powers and has to learn to overcome people like kizaru and whatnot without those abilities to back him up.

As for his crew, which ones do you think he might be able to nab for his own personal marine crew? In fact, before we even start arguing over that, SHOULD he even get all most or even some of his original crew in this version? Its not like he couldnt have a crew of quirky marines who all have various goals after all. There are a lot of those in the actual canon so setting himself up with a handpicked crew that has few if any mooks could also easily work. Ah well, lets try to break them down a bit. Sanji, for example, would likely do ok there. He has never seemed to be very against marines in general, and every ship should have its own butt kicking cook. Zoro started out as a pirate hunter, and if luffy showed up as a marine captain and stops morgan who is a piece of trash, again, I could see him being willing to join up. Nami is a bit of a question mark, after all, marine captain luffy WOULD likely be more than happy to take down arlong. So you could fairly easily justify a reason for her to be loyal to him. But she WAS a member of his crew, willing or not, so it could go either way. Plus im not sure if he would even need or want a navigator at this point seeing as he would likely have one. Chopper is another one that could easily go either way. Drum island is an arc that could easily be skipped entirely, or happen for a variety of reasons up to and including chasing down warpol. Again, its something where this luffy could earn his respect. Primarily for not denigrating his pirate flag and his goal. After all, this luffy doesnt automatically hate anything connected to pirates. Robin is highly unlikely to join up. Her joining the straw hats was fairly twisty and complex with all her issues, luffy being a marine captain on top of it all? Yeah, I dont see it happening. Brook is a pirate, but come on, he hasnt been an active pirate for decades! Again its one of those scenarios where it could easily go either way depending on if youw ant to write an arc for luffy to head for thriller bark for any of a thousand reasons. Franky I have no clue about, Im not sure why but his joining up arc is the one I know the least about. I know he was a wrecker, and that cipher pol was after him over an ancient weapon plan I think. So I have no clue if he would ever willingly work for the marines. But probably not. Ussop, again i dunno. I dont recall if he had any reason to object to marines, other than his dad being a pirate, but its not like he couldnt go after his dreams while working for marines.


Anyone have anything to add? Changes to make? An interesting path a story along these lines could go?

[Tvtyrant]

What's his name from Alvida arc: the new ussop.
Zoro: didn't want to be a pirate anyway, probably fine.
Nami: only out to rob them, could go either way.
Ussop: I am guessing no, one of the few enthusiastic about piracy.
Sanji: not anti-marine, no problems here.
Chopper: seems fine, except he wanted to be a pirate due to his dad.
Robin: No. Water Seven arc wouldn't work at all if Luffy has Robin and is a marine.
Franky: adopted father killed by marines, hates them more than anyone.
Brooke: Seems fine.
Jinbei: Already worked for government, seems fine except escape from Impel Down makes no sense.

Luffy either rebels at Water Seven or Marineford, either way they are pirates by now. If Luffy doesn't rebel he probably has wimpy guy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Smoker, Smokers assistant, chopper and Brooke.

Smoker replaces robin, franky is a bit irreplaceable but they just rotate destroyed marine ships.

[Traab]

What's his name from Alvida arc: the new ussop.
Zoro: didn't want to be a pirate anyway, probably fine.
Nami: only out to rob them, could go either way.
Ussop: I am guessing no, one of the few enthusiastic about piracy.
Sanji: not anti-marine, no problems here.
Chopper: seems fine, except he wanted to be a pirate due to his dad.
Robin: No. Water Seven arc wouldn't work at all if Luffy has Robin and is a marine.
Franky: adopted father killed by marines, hates them more than anyone.
Brooke: Seems fine.
Jinbei: Already worked for government, seems fine except escape from Impel Down makes no sense.

Luffy either rebels at Water Seven or Marineford, either way they are pirates by now. If Luffy doesn't rebel he probably has wimpy guy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Smoker, Smokers assistant, chopper and Brooke.

Smoker replaces robin, franky is a bit irreplaceable but they just rotate destroyed marine ships.

Yeah Marineford would be a real sticking point for luffy. Honestly, the only way it could happen without luffy turning rebel is if it was kept from him until it was too late to do anything. Basically, he is about a weeks travel from marineford when suddenly the vid screens light up with sengoku yammering on about how ace is gol rogers son, that sort of thing. By the time he gets back, he probably fights garp for awhile who was likely waiting for him, knowing what the reaction would be, and maybe accepts that his adopted brother was a wanted pirate for a reason, beyond just who his daddy and adopted daddy were. Akainu taking over as fleet admiral would probably end up as more of a breaking point too be honest. I dont see this luffy being willing to put up with that kind of heartless "justice" for very long.

About rebelling though, there are ways to work with this. By the time luffy reaches a breaking point, he is likely a quickly growing hero himself to the general population. He is garps grandson, the captain who saved alabasta, who freed drum island, stopped shiki the lion, hell, he may very well have just happened to be in place to stop the impel down breakout that was taking place for some other reason. yadda yadda yadda. basically, most of the nonanti navy adventures that took place, with a few random ones thrown in, which means he cant be casually crushed, killed, or thrown in jail/out of the navy. Think admiral fujitori after dressrosa. He is very much so not in favor with his boss, but he cant be stripped of his title or whatever at this point. He has connections both inside and outside of the navy that protect him so long as he doesnt go TOO far over the line. Keep him away from the celestial dragons in other words. So there are ways he could get away with certain acts of insubordination without great consequences.

[Legato Endless]

I think if you spin Luffy's heroic perseverance along with his complete lack of subtlety, you get a guy who makes some very rapid gains early on in the marines. Especially since the marines award quite a bit of rank to combat ability (the giants who join the marines seem lightly implied to attain Vice admiral almost by default). But Luffy's lack of getting along with World Government will raise some issues. You can get relatively far in the marines despite being a maverick to official army positions if you're good enough in other respects. No one cares about eccentricity at all, and even heterodox views expressed by high ranking marines like Smoker, Garp and the like are tolerated to a degree.

I think the timing of events then becomes important. Is Luffy a major public hero before or after he inevitably punches out yet another marine who takes things too far, corrupt local royalty, a World Noble being a World Noble and the like. So his pursuit of justice can be rationalized as internal reform for a while, but eventually he either gets stuck in some assignment to remove his problematic politics. Either a cushy backwater somewhere or more intelligently in some series of missions to distract him. Luffy is comically ignorant concerning the world beyond his immediate sight, so he can remain ignorant of the bigger issues for quite awhile in a controlled environment. But eventually enough encounters with outsiders and the inevitable confession from a sympathetic subordinate detailing the marine's troubles causes a rebellion.

This then can go two ways, either Luffy joins the rebels and we get get a different family reunion with Dragon, or he becomes a pirate. This is a very different pirate than canon Luffy. There's no lust for freedom and the romance of adventure, this is a man interested in building an empire. Because you can't create justice on your own. He's not going to become anything as previously nebulous as the Pirate King, this is a guy aiming to become a World Emperor and eventually supplant the marines as a global purveyor of 'moral justice'. With his rebellion, his crew is partially formed by some previous marines who go with him, partially from some people he met on the outside who liked him but felt the marine thing was a deal breaker, and then he starts attracting other attention. The recent pirate alliance of like minded individuals happens much sooner for this Luffy because it's a desired goal and he's starting out as a pirate with a higher profile. Eventually we probably get a full world war, and it's more conventional than what's normally seen in the series as Luffy's allies will probably include some high profile movers and shakers in more respectable positions. Having allies with more diplomatic clout, a few actual nations formerly in the World Government may start rebelling. By then things have spun far enough that the setting becomes completely alien to the canon story.

[Traab]

I like the idea of the marine leaders sending luffy off somewhere to basically keep him busy. I will be honest, it kind of gives me a full metal alchemist vibe though. Like how mustang seemed to keep sending ed to places where he could be kept busy, yet also build up his reputation, and sort of away from the real corruption and horrible truth of the government and its actions as long as he could. I may be miss remembering, its been a long time since I watched the original series (never watched brotherhood) but I THINK thats what mustang was really doing. Plots within plots and all that.

But yeah, Here we have Captain Luffy, grandson of the hero Garp and he has a strong yearning for real justice and heroics and righting wrongs. Ok, we can work with that, send him to areas where he can clean up messes we have made. Blame it on rogue agents, luffy saves the day, the marines come off looking great from the reflected glory of the hero luffy saving this nation or whatever, everyone wins. So he takes care of people like axe hand morgan, or warlords who are going too far eventually. He is making the world a better place, but the higher ups are using him while keeping the truth hidden. "Oh this isnt our fault! How could we have known that doflamingo would turn out to be such an utter monster? Good work beating him, here is your next mission (far far away from mariejois)" And Luffy starts figuring this all out because it seems like bad guy after bad guy all says the same basic thing to him. "The world government supported my efforts all this time, and now they are using you as their pawn to pretend otherwise." Someone like doflamingo especially would be effective at utterly shattering luffys faith in the marines. He knows WAY too much about what goes on behind the scenes for it to be any other way. Sure luffy still defeats him, doflamingo is unquestionably evil after all, but the things he learns finally help rip away the shroud that has kept all this hidden from him. By that point he is probably a vice admiral and he also has the support from a number of nations he has personally saved. That plus his general reputation around the world from all the stories is what protects him when it becomes time to think of a way to deal with this hopelessly corrupt government.

[chainer1216]

I think it would play out much the same, with luffy being touted as a hero of the marines, freeing Zoro, protecting Ussops town from pirates, taking out the pirate Don Krieg, freeing Namis town and bringing low the corrupt marines taking bribes from fishman pirates, making a rival in Smoker and Tashigi, his first real hiccup would come from drum kingdom, he would have originally sided with the rightful king but upon seeing how he was, luffy'd join the citizens, gaining his first warning from the World Government.

Then he'd earn more acclaim from taking down the traitor Crocodile and taking aboard the fugitive Nico Robin. Skypea would go unchanged, though Luffys reaction to Belemy would have been more harsh.

And then Water Seven would happen and things would go pear shaped. Luffy and the most loyal of his crew would become known as trators and the story would progress much the same.

[Kantaki]

And then Water Seven would happen and things would go pear shaped. Luffy and the most loyal of his crew would become known as trators and the story would progress much the same.

The most loyal of his crew...
So pretty much everyone?
I mean we are talking about the guy who inspired loyalty in some of his enemies.

Also, Water Seven/Enis Lobby might still be salvageable.
Sure, the WG really wants those blueprints (and Robin), but I always had the impression Spandam had his own plans, so they could just blame him for the fiasco.

Sabaodi on the other hand?
There's no way Luffy would stay a Marine after that mess.
Can imagine the reactions to a Marine punching that annoying World Noble brat?

[GrayDeath]

YO`vedone it now I REALLY want to watch/read that!

[Traab]

You know, I just dont see him getting robin to join up. She is the only one of the straw hats who joins up with a preexisting bounty (aside from brook maybe, but his probably expired during the 50 year missing stretch). He might not bring her in, but he wouldnt be able to take her onto his crew. Plus the marine higher ups REALLY want her captured. I was thinking though, I can see luffy working for aokiji seeing as he is garps grandson and thats the admiral that garp basically took on and personally trained iirc. And the dude is both laid back, and smart. Its entirely likely the events of water 7/enis lobby would never take place as far as luffy knows because aokiji wouldnt let him anywhere near the shady stuff like that, knowing by now how he would react. Same for sabaodi. If there is a celestial dragon nearby, anyone who knows anything about luffy would be able to tell how that would end. So outside of it being a setup by someone who wants to get rid of luffy, I dont see him going that way.

[Fri]

Question. Luffy is a very goal and freedom driven person. Can we think a reason for him to enter grand line other than "someone told him to do that?" because just having all of his plot being "a higher up told him to do that" is really boring. I mean, smoker entered grandline to chase after luffy, and the best reason for marine luffy to do something without just "a superior told him to do that" is if he's chasing someone. But at that point he's still not really have anyone to chase, doesn't he.

[Tvtyrant]

Question. Luffy is a very goal and freedom driven person. Can we think a reason for him to enter grand line other than "someone told him to do that?" because just having all of his plot being "a higher up told him to do that" is really boring. I mean, smoker entered grandline to chase after luffy, and the best reason for marine luffy to do something without just "a superior told him to do that" is if he's chasing someone. But at that point he's still not really have anyone to chase, doesn't he.

Sure, to catch Buggy.

[Fri]

Sure, to catch Buggy.

That's pretty good. Is Buggy Luffy's arch nemesis in this AU

[Traab]

Question. Luffy is a very goal and freedom driven person. Can we think a reason for him to enter grand line other than "someone told him to do that?" because just having all of his plot being "a higher up told him to do that" is really boring. I mean, smoker entered grandline to chase after luffy, and the best reason for marine luffy to do something without just "a superior told him to do that" is if he's chasing someone. But at that point he's still not really have anyone to chase, doesn't he.

Well imo his original goal "Im going to be fleet admiral!" would be fairly similar to his king of the pirates goal. As for being freedom oriented, was that before or after he saw how awesome the pirate life with shanks is? Seriously, tell me because im not sure. Besides, he sees his grandpa, a vice admiral, with absurd amounts of latitude to do what he wants, even in the face of direct orders. The worst that happens to him is an unofficial butt chewing by his buddy sengoku. The admirals have similar levels of freedom to do what they want. So to get that freedom, he has to grow strong. As for wanting to go to the grand line, where else will he go to get stronger? Where else will he go to establish justice, law and order, etc etc etc than the new world where the most powerful monsters live and rule? He has mostly fixed the problems in the east blue and all that stuff. Taken down numerous threats on that side of the line. Now its time to move on to the next challenge. Sure he could bum around the areas he started out in, be the local big man and settle for what he is, but thats not luffy. He wants to be the best, so he has to BEAT the best. How better to establish himself as being good enough to be fleet admiral than to take down the yonko? "It took sengoku, 3 admirals, the warlords that showed up, and an army of mooks to handle whitebeard and his people. Im going to take down kaido/big mom/shanks with just me and my crew!" (Probably big mom or kaido considering they tend to be the most disruptive)

[Tvtyrant]

That's pretty good. Is Buggy Luffy's arch nemesis in this AU

I think that is very possible. Luffy gathers up a very small crew who maximize justice, and does a lot personally. Buggy likes big crews that create suffering, and is a weakling and a coward.

If you change the plot slightly Buggy and Luffy can chase each other across East Blue. With Buggy incorporating the crews if the pirates that Luffy defeats. Buggy goes onto the Grand Line with a fleet and Luffy right behind.