Has Luffy's Dream Become Tainted? (May Contain Manga Spoilers)

[Tama83]

Recently, I inadvertantly learned that Luffy's (adopted) older brother Portgas D. Ace dies during the Marineford arc when he makes a heroic sacrifice to protect Luffy from an attack by Admiral Akainu (I think that's his name) intended for Luffy.

In other words, after almost 13 years, Luffy has now experienced what Zoro, Nami, Chopper (to a certain degree) and Robin have had to go through: the loss of someone close to him (in this case, closer than his crew). Moreover, the one who took Ace's life was a Navy admiral; that is, a servant of the World Government. Hence, in this sense, the World Government was responsible for Ace's death. What this means is, even though Luffy had "saved" Ace from being executed, in a tragic twist of irony, Ace ended up dying anyway: something that the Navy will likely attribute to as the execution going as scehduled (in the eyes of the world's general public), but I digress. The point is, in the end, after two story arcs, and after so many hardships (especially in Impel Down), Luffy couldn't save Ace after all. Instead of being executed, Ace died trying to escape Marineford when he threw himself in front of Luffy and a Navy officer. As a result, the "Rescue Ace" (consisting of the Impel Down and Marineford arcs) saga has come to a tragic end.

According to the One Piece wiki on Wikia, Luffy is apparently shown to be having a "mental breakdown". Either way, considering that the World Government was essentially responsible for taking his brother away from him, does this mean that Luffy's dream to become "King of the Pirates" will become tainted (i.e., either with hatred for the World Government and/or vengeance)? If not necessarily this, will the story otherwise ultimately start getting "darker and edgier" (as TV Tropes calls it), if not moreso then it already has been? All of this is in stark contrast to the usually whimsical nature of the story, and with Luffy now having lost a loved one (for real; no "fake outs" this time), it looks as though anything can happen at this point.

[mooseegg1982]

You make an interesting point. I am excited to see where it goes from here.

[Maikeru-sama]

No, Luffy's dream the entire time has been to become Pirate King.

Before dying in Luffy's arm, Ace told him that he believed in him and that he could accomplish that task.

Personally, I think by Oda-sensei killing Ace off, he is showing readers just how difficult, treacherous and emotionally devastating the road to becoming Pirate King is.

[Tama83]

I never implied that Luffy's dream was otherwise. I've no doubt he will try to become King of the Pirates. What I am asking however is, now that the World Government has taken his brother from him, will it cause Luffy's dream to become tainted? That is to say, Luffy will now doubt keep trying to be the King of the Pirates, but will he now have a personal grudge with the World Government, and try to seek revenge along the way or something like that?

[Maikeru-sama]

No, because Luffy was going to encounter members of the World Government as he sailed through the Grand Line and New World anyway.

And if you think about it, what is the biggest "middle finger" Luffy can give the World Government and Blackbeard? It would be to become Pirate King.

If you remember, just before Ace was killed by Akainu, Akainu was taunting Ace, saying Shirohige was a failure because he never became Pirate King.

So, Luffy becoming Pirate King would definitely be the biggest slap in the face to the World Government and Blackbeard.

JMO

[Tama83]

Okay, I think I understand now.

However, it still remains to be seen if Luffy will understand, and thus won't lose sight of his goal, and why he wants to accomplish it (whatever the actual reason might be). Keep in mind that Luffy (as far as I know anyway) has never experienced losing someone close to him...until now. Moreover, the way his crew/nakama/whatever sees it, Ace likely died at least in part to Luffy's "Idiot Hero"/"Too Dumb To Live" tendencies (though whether or not his crew actually blames him for that remains to be seen), which may or may not have caused him to lose against Magellan in Impel Down, and which has been a part of the manga (and of course, the anime) almost since day one; something his crew kept warning him about all throughout his journey.

So, while we understand that Luffy accomplishing his goal would be enough of a "revenge" against the World Government, we still have yet to see if Luffy will. In any case, the next time Luffy says he's going to "buttobasu" someone from the World Government (including the Navy), it may or may not take on a whole new (and possibly "darker and edgier") meaning.

I can just picture it (spoiler tags just in case):

Luffy fights Admiral Akainu, and after he uses his "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka" on him, he then says in most serious voice ever: "Are wa, Ace no tame ni... (That, was for Ace...)", or some other variant thereto.

Incidentally, I wrote a little Japanese in those tags. You'll have to excuse any mistakes.

[FunnyManRocco]

Either way the World Government is his enemy, that won't change. I still think that Blackbeard should and might hold most of the blame. It was Blackbeard's dream that put Akainu's fist through Ace. Of course thats just my personal bias, because as far as "One Piece" I can understand the concept of 'absolute justice' which some of the Marines follow. Akainu was just following his orders and his belief. I also feel Luffy will change, but also feel he is too innocent to fully corrupt himself into destroying the WG because of selfish reasons. Taking out Blackbeard is enough, maybe with beating Akainu on the side. I doubt he would kill either of them though.
(Note: I used "Marines" instead of "Navy" only because of the subbed episodes I've seen, and have never paid attention to the correct translation, apologies)
And all of this is just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt, so-to-speak.

[Hellsartist]

He lost his crew (though atleast they still live) and now he lost his brother, things are certainly taking a dark turn quickly.

[Zirums Hero]

I don't really think that Luffy's dream would be tainted at all. He doesn't have the mentality to throw the blame on a group of people who are not involved with said situation.

He has yet to snap just by hearing the words "world government"

example:
*clenches fist* "ARGH! The world governement, how I hate them!"
But it doesn't seem likely.

He may claim more of a vengeance against Akainu or Blackbeard or both, since they were more heavily involved in the death of Ace.

Luffy will simply have to continue to the new world and hopefully get stronger to protect his crew so he wouldn't lose them like he lost Ace. But I agree, the One Piece storyline may get more edgier in the New World. I'm just excited to see what'll happen.

[bazinga]

No. Luffy will probably hold some anger towards Akainu and he has already showed his anger towards Blackbeard but it won't taint him. Luffy is too innocent and I do not see him going out of his way to exact revenge on anyone. His ultimate goal is still to reach One Piece, amass a crew stronger than Shanks's crew, and become Pirate King. It is very possible that he will defeat Akainu and Blackbeard in the future, almost inevitable really, but he won't kill them because Luffy doesn't kill anyone.