Luffy vs. Don Krieg

Major Chapters: 63-66
- Other Confrontations: 54, 55, 60
Manga Volumes: #8
Victor: Luffy

The Build Up

Don Krieg is the leader of the 50-ship, 5,000-man fleet known as the Pirate Armada, and from the very beginning of his introduction he strikes a bad note with Luffy by saying that he (Krieg) will be the Pirate King. This naturally means a confrontation, one which Luffy says he can't stay out of this. Throughout the battle at Baratie, Krieg continues to taunt, infuriate, and attack Luffy, but when the Don uses his poisonous MH5 on his own man, Luffy breaks down and charges.

The Action

While Gin lays dying of the MH5, Luffy orders him to "live to spite him"! Though Sanji says that he'll die, Luffy states boldly that he won't die. Then he charges, enduring a few iron stakes to his torso, and continuing to go on. Krieg wraps himself up in his Kenzan Cape ("Kenzan" being a term for Japanese flower arranging), a cloak covered in enormous spikes, to escape the impending blow.

Luffy, though, looking for all the world disinterested PUNCHES straight through the Kenzan, knocking the 'invincible' Don to the ground without ceremony. As he pulls the stakes out one-by-one, he demands: "Whose grave is this, again? Mine or yours?" He goes on to say that even if Krieg has dangerous weapons and a spiked coat, this isn't his place to die! In a show of defiance Krieg bashes Luffy with one of his shields, but ends up grounded again.

Krieg pulls out his ultimate weapon, the Mighty Battle Spear, which can both cut and combust. After a few blows, that gets halved in power when Luffy breaks off its blade and calls it a "bomb on a stick." Krieg persists in attacking Luffy, who flips nimbly into the air by grabbing onto a mast, and sends a chunk of that down at Don Krieg when he seems defenseless -- he'd just swung his spear. Krieg being Krieg, he whips out a FLAMETHROWER and torches the mast, but that gives Luffy opportunity to deliver a Gatling Gun to the Wootz steel armor the Don wears.

One more Bullet and a Bazooka crack Krieg's prized armor, another Bazooka breaks it off entirely. But as Krieg falls to the sea, he drags Luffy down with him in an iron net, confident of victory. Luffy disregards the situation and delivers a Gomu Gomu Ootsuchi (Giant Mallet/Sledgehammer) that knocks Krieg out before falling into the sea.

The Aftermath

The immediate result of Luffy and Krieg's fight was that the rubberman had to be saved by Sanji from drowning. Another outcome was Gin's resolve tightening, even near-death, to follow Krieg in his dreams. When Luffy awakes afterwards, Sanji notes that Gin would meet him again on the Grand Line.

After an incident with Zeff, soup, and a few heartwarming flashbacks, Sanji ends up joining the crew. That is, somewhere between Zeff asking him to and Yosaku bursting onto the scene half-eaten by a pandashark!