YamaLu

Luffato is the het ship between Monkey D. Luffy and Yamato from the One Piece fandom.

Canon
Luffy and Yamato are allies united by their desire to remove Kaido from Wano and open up the country’s borders to the world, a dream desired by the late Kozuki Oden. Yamato had known of Luffy for some years prior to meeting him, as she had met his brother, Portgas D. Ace. Although Luffy was initially hostile, he quickly came to trust Yamato and accepted her as an ally. The two, along with other members of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance helped liberate Wano.

Whilst Luffy had no idea who Yamato was, Yamato knew of Luffy and had developed a huge interest in him after hearing Ace's stories. She sees Luffy as her chance to sail the world like her hero, Kozuki Oden, had also done and believes that Luffy is destined to, not only liberate Wano, but to change the world as foretold by Oden in his journal. As a result, especially upon hearing the death of Ace, Yamato desperately awaited Luffy’s arrival on Wano and immediately joined his side against her own father, Kaido, once he finally appeared.

Luffy was initially restless with Yamato. Whilst she saved him from his initial battle with Ulti, and could not detect any hostility from her, he nonetheless became agitated due to the urgency of why he was on Onigashima. This resulted in the two clashing with Yamato trying to tame Luffy. Eventually, Luffy gave in and chose to listen to what Yamato had to say. Upon discovering her intense admiration for Kozuki Oden, someone Luffy had come to respect, and the fact she was willing to form an alliance, Luffy happily accepted her as an ally to defeat Kaido, and the two stormed the castle together. Luffy was also initially confused by the fact that Yamato identified herself as Kozuki Oden and took on the male aspects of her hero, due to her intense adoration, but quickly accepted it and has started to refer to Yamato as male.

The two also share a sense of respect for each other. Yamato quickly accepted Luffy to lead the charge and would listen to his order to save Momonosuke. Luffy even vouched for Yamato to his allies as well. When Yamato explained to Luffy how her explosive handcuffs stops her from leaving Wano, Luffy chose to remove them for her so she could be free at last. When Yamato faced her own father, Kaido, on the roof of Onigashima, she proudly declared to him that Luffy was the man Kozuki Oden was waiting for and that he will defeat him. She engaged her father in a fierce battle on the roof until Luffy returned and when Kaido defeated Luffy yet again, Yamato resolved to face death by his side. After Luffy finally defeated Kaido using Gear 5 and passed out from exhaustion, Yamato caught him and praised him for his actions. After Kaido's defeat, according to Wano's prayer customs, she did not eat or bathe until Luffy woke up. Even though she greatly desired to join Luffy's crew and had explicitly stated she would, she changed her mind after the Admiral Ryokugyu attacked Wano. When she saw that it was Shanks' Haki that drove off the Admiral, she realized that Wano needed someone to protect it from future invaders. She told Luffy that like him, she too could not adventure freely if she had worries at the back of her mind and she could not turn her back on Wano's people. Though Luffy seemed disappointed he accepted her decision and left Momo and Wano in Yamato's hands. Before Luffy departed Wano, he told Yamato, Momo and Kin'emon that should they ever decide to be pirates he would come for them immediately, much to Yamato's delight.

Fanon
The ship quickly gained significant popularity, however this was mostly due to the attractiveness of Yamato’s character design and his great intrigue in Luffy. Whilst the ship is still popular, the ship has created intense debate about whether Yamato is trans or cisgender. Although this debate still persists, because it has been clearly established in Vivre Cards that Yamato's sex is female and it is not clear if Yamato took his male identity just to emulate Oden.

Luffato is strongly rivalled by YamatAce, the pairing between Yamato and Portgas D. Ace, as the two spent a lot of time together before the former left and joined the Whitebeard Pirates. Conversely, Luffy’s ship with numerous women, particularly Nami and Hancock, still supersede Luffato by quite some margin. Nonetheless, Luffato has developed a sizeable popularity despite it being a relatively new and developing pairing.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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