Monkey D. Luffy is one of the most notorious pirates in the world ofOne Pieceright now. Known to be one of the most prodigious pirates ever,Luffy started his journey from the East Bluewhere he immediately made himself known as a big fish in a small pond. While he started as a nobody in the sea, by the end of the saga, he had already defeated the likes of Alvida, Arlong, Don Krieg, and even Buggy. He earned himself a bounty of 30 million berries by the end of it and rightly so, becoming the meanest man in the East in the process.
Luffy’s notoriety and infamy only continues to grow with time. In the Grand Line, he immediately took down one of the Shichibukai in Crocodile and earned a 100 million berry bounty. Shortly afterwards, he invaded Enies Lobby and defeated the CP9, earning himself a 300 million berry bounty and afterOne Piece’sParamount War, this award was increased to 400 million. Shortly after the two-year time skip, Luffy defeated another Shichibukai in Donquixote Doflamingo and earned a 500 million berry bounty. Following the events of Whole Cake Island, which took place a week after Doflamingo’s fall, he earned a 1.5 billion berry bounty, and just a few more weeks later, he took down Kaido, one of the Yonko, and earned a 3 billion berry reward on his head. Despite everything, there is an argument to be made about whether Luffy’s bounty should have been higher. After all, he did all the heavy work in the Wano Country arc, yet his bounty is the same as that ofTrafalgar Law, and Eustass Captain Kid.
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The Government’s Perception
The events of Wano were huge for the world government to process. Shortly after Luffy’s small victory over Big Mom in Whole Cake Island was made public, it was common knowledge that Kaido and Big Mom were soon going to meet. The World Government hoped for the two to destroy each other, however, in a shocking turn of events, the two joined forces instead. The combined force of the two Yonko was met by the Worst Generation, which included the likes of Luffy, Zoro, Killer, Kid, and Law. To the world, this was a fight between the Worst Generation and the two Yonko that would define an era. Even more specifically, it was seen as a fight between the three Worst Generation Captains in Luffy, Law, and Kid, and the two Yonko Captains in Big Mom and Kaido.
To the world, it was the collective effort of the three captains that brought down two of the Yonko, however, the truth couldn’t be far from that. In actuality, it was Kid and Law who teamed up to bring down Big Mom. Meanwhile, Luffy single-handedly fought Kaido and, through a series of power-ups, brought him down in battle. If anything, Luffy’s bounty should be significantly higher than that of Kid and Law’s yet they all share the same reward. This is simply down to the fact thatthe World Government doesn’t know the specificsof how the battle went down. To them, it was the three Worst Generation Captains who brought down the Yonko. This is further backed up by the fact that their bounty collectively is 9 billion berries which is just above Kaido and Big Mom’s 8.9 billion berry collective bounty. Had the Government known that Luffy was the one who defeated Kaido all by himself, his bounty would most certainly have been higher. Interestingly, the lack of knowledge on the events of the war isn’t the only reason why Luffy’s bounty is lower than what it arguably should’ve been.
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The Attempt To Cover Up Knowlege
It is no secret that the World Government has recently found out that Luffy is indeed the user of the Gomu Gomu no Mi. They also know that this fruit is legendary, as they tried to procure it nearly 12 years before the current timeline. Thanks to Shanks, this fruit was stolen from right under their noses and Luffy ended up eating it. In One Piece chapter 1044, it was revealed that this fruit is one that has been evading the World Government for centuries and thatits real name is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Luffy’s fruit was also revealed to be a mythical Zoan and one bearing the name of a God in Nika. Furthermore, in the Wano Country arc, it was revealed that Nika was a figure who slaves prayed to once, and, in return, he brought them happiness and liberated them from their misery and captivity. As such, Luffy is the natural enemy of those of the World Government.
His Devil Fruit is most likely one the powers of which they faced long ago in the Void Century. As such, making Luffy’s true identity public knowledge would only do them more damage. This is evident from the fact that the World Government wanted the “D” name to be removed from his bounty poster. Furthermore, they wanted Luffy’s image, where he resembled the Sun God Nika, to be removed from the poster as well. Evidently, they wanted Luffy’s identity to be kept hidden and giving him a huge bounty that would eclipse the likes of Shanks and even the likes of Big Mom and Kaido would only attract more attention towards him and make it clear that he is someone special.
Along with that, it also makes narrative sense forLuffy’s bounty to be 3 billion berries. Luffy has not yet reached his peak as a pirate, even though he has now ascended to being a Great Pirate. He’s likely to receive more bounties in the future and, for that reason, his bounty is kept relatively lower. In actuality, Luffy having the legendary Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika and awakening its powers, along with being the number one foe of the World Government alone should give him a much higher bounty. However, keeping that information hidden is what the World Government intends to do. For those reasons, Luffy’s bounty is 3 billion berries at the moment.
