Favorite One Piece Character (revised with Poll)

OmegaRed said:
Monkey D. Luffy

Followed by,
Franky
Usopp
Sanji
Nami
Roronoa Zoro
Nico Robin
Tony Tony Chopper

Taihaku said:

Wow that's almost like...opposite my list. You don't like chopper? He's so cute and naive but in a good way :).

Virgil said:
lol, only one person likes Franky

poor Franky...

OmegaRed said:

LOL. My bet is that anyone that would have voted Franky probably voted Luffy instead. I think this poll would be more interesting if it was, "What is your favourite character asides from Luffy?"

neenalie said:
i voted luffy but if i could rescind the vote, i'd vote for zoro, just to make the gap between my two favorite characters and the rest larger.

normally i'm the type to prefer the side characters in a cast. prolonged exposure to the protagonist always ends up putting me off him/her. yet oda is brilliant and somehow i've come to love and continually love the two "most important" characters, despite myself. as the story continues, i'm not annoyed or bored of their quirks, but rather, they become more real to me in their personalities.

my favorite characters (SPOILERS UP TO 530):

LUFFY: the most lovable and hilarious protagonist i've ever seen. i liked him from the very first episode when he said "you're a coward, i don't like you" to coby. it struck me as hilarious because luffy is all the common shonen archetypes but he takes them and becomes more. he's unique in how he only helps people he cares about and hates being a hero yet is kind when appealed and doesn't want sad backstories to love his nakama; how he is hilariously idiotic yet says the right things at the right times; how he's defiant and doesn't give a fuck but acts like a child at the same time so it's like seeing an badass wisely 7-year-old give you the finger. 500 episodes later, i still love luffy because i've seen him win and win and win to the point of hubris only to lose and lose and lose and lose his friends and his brother and nearly his life, and i saw him say he's weak which was wtf, and then bounce back like the luffy i love. i still love him 500 episodes later because oda doesn't think character development is something you do in 10 chapters. anyways i reckon anybody still reading this is doing so because they like hearing things about luffy, so: remember gomu gomu no baka against enel? and mizu luffy against crocodile? and his zoro/sanji impressions? and his CHOPPA impression with robin's hands? when he told fat alvida that she was, in fact, fat? remember when robin told him she wanted to die and when the scene panned to him, in this tense moment, he was picking his nose and said "what are you talking about?" hahaha. i could go on and on about luffy's crowning moments of awesome so he's my favorite OH GOD I'M ENDING THIS SHIT.

ZORO: he fills the quiet badass archetype in the crew. it's really easy to like zoro: he's hot, he's strong, he fights with three swords. but that only elevates any character to like - what makes you love him? well, along with robin, i think zoro got the best character development in the crew. when zoro first joins he's a vigilante, and like a vigilante would, he tells luffy that he will kill him if his dream is ever compromised. okay, cool. then baratie happens and zoro almost dies by mihawk and he tells luffy he's never going to lose another battle. "got a problem with that, pirate king?" okay, shit, amazing. then thriller fucking bark happens and zoro exchanges his life for luffy's. he tells kuma that his head might not be worth as much as luffy's right now, but this head would have been the world's best swordsman, so is it enough? he's begging on his knees. okay, WHAT THE SHIT THIS CHARACTER. this is the zoro who's too proud to turn his back on mihawk and who threatened to kill luffy for getting in the way of his dreams and who swore never to lose. here's zoro telling kuma, in a calm self-depreciating manner, that he isn't worth that much right now but he will be and he wants to throw that future away for the future of the pirate king and crew. of course then zoro survives and drips blood and says "nothing, nothing at all" and it's just his best moment ever. now what's the icing on the cake? zoro's really funny too. his getting lost is the most popular gag with fans. he's so serious and proud that it makes his moments of complete fail hilarious in comparison: wandering in squiggles with the south bird pointing south, offering st. charlos directions, calling sanji Pirate A and Number 9, his idiotic limb severing ideas, his scary faces, doing an epic pose while turning to wax, etc.

WHITEBEARD: i cannot in good conscience leave him off my favorite characters list (though i know i said i had two). i think it's literally impossible not to respect and like whitebeard, not if you were watching/reading without bias. quakes people's faces. hugs sons who stab him. takes blame for ace's brashness with a stern face. chose family over one piece. died the most stunning, impressive death i have ever seen in manga and anime. it's weird because when i first saw him, i thought he seemed really grumpy and halfway invalid, and i thought it was granted that he would be one of the final villains. whitebeard is gone and i love luffy and zoro over him, but i doubt there will ever be a character in one piece who i respect and am impressed by more.

edit: i didn't realize how long this was. i'm ashamed.