The Underdogs (Luca)

"We underdogs have to look out for each other, right?"

- Giulia to Alberto and Luca

The Underdogs is the friendship between Luca Paguro, Alberto Scorfano and Giulia Marcovaldo from the Luca fandom.

Canon
Luca and Alberto met as sea monsters while he was looking for human things underwater, and both kids started a quest of doing their own Vespa. Sometime later they went to the human town and met Ercole, a bully that was about to throw Luca to the water fountain, but Giulia appeared and stopped him in time. Then she takes them for a ride on her bike while she was selling fish. She explains the main reason why she saved the two from Ercole when she tells them that she sees Luca and Alberto as fellow underdogs, and how they have to look out for one another. Alberto asked about the Porto Rosso Cup, the thing Ercole was talking about before. She said is a competition about swimming, eating and riding bike. While Alberto wasn't so sure about the human girl, Luca believes that she'll be able to help them in their mission to obtain a Vespa and convinces Alberto to give her a chance. Just as Giulia gave them a chance when the two volunteered to be part of her team. After testing Luca with his riding skills, it was decided that Luca rides, Alberto eats and Giulia swims. She asked where are there from, and the two tell her that they are runaways.

Giulia invited the two kids to her house and both met her father, Massimo. Both kids got scared since he said he would kill anything that swims, including sea monsters even though Giulia keeps telling her father that they don't exist. While having no idea that she has already befriended a young pear of them. After the two young sea monsters learn that Giulia and her father need to sell fish in order to get the money they'll need to enter the Porto Rosso Cup, they offer to help them get the fish. Now they have a job helping Massimo, the Marcovaldo family allow the two boys to stay in their house during their stay in Porto Rosso, and the two are happy that Giulia allows them to use her "hideaway" as their place to sleep under the "fish". Last night's rain nearing gets the two exposed as sea monsters when Giulia goes to wake them up, luckily for them her eyes were closed during her "trumpeting" and this gave the two enough time to dry themselves off before she sees them. Luca and Alberto knowing fish and where to find them allows Massimo to gather more an enough fish for Giulia to sell for the money they'll need for the race. The three friends run into Ercole went they go to enter the race, and while Alberto wanted to walk away from the local bully Giulia becomes impressed with the way Luca helps her to stand up to him. Now that the three are able to be part of the race, Giulia begins their biking and eating training for it, while the two observe Giulia working on her swimming and weren't so sure on the human's way of swimming.

After Massimo began to have Alberto help him with the fishing while Luca helps Giulia with delivering it, the human girl begins to come between the two sea monsters as Giulia helps Luca to learn more about the human world, and reveals the true names and facts of what Alberto has told Luca. This is why Alberto slowly began to dislike Giulia while Luca becomes closer to her and the wonders of her world; as it has Luca wanting to learn more about it. Alberto's jealousy and feeling that Giulia is taking his place as Luca's best friend, he tries to get his friend back during the down hill part of Luca's biking training by having the two ride on the bike together, like the way they rode on their hand made Vespas on the island they became friends on. Luca on the other hand wasn't happy with Alberto's actions and the two begin to fight as Luca tells Alberto that he knows nothing about the human world and that he wants to attend Giulia's human school. Alberto tries to talk Luca out of it by reminding him that they are sea monsters. Luca didn't care and after Giulia finally catches up to them, the two try to act normal to maintain their secret from her. Alberto's stunt has Giulia stating that she'll never allow him near her bike again before she turns attention onto Luca, who asks her if he can go to school with her. Feeling that there is no other way to change Luca's mind, Alberto reveals himself as a sea monster to provoke Giulia into a frightened state to prove his point to Luca, but it back fires when Luca began to act that he never knew Alberto's secret and as he tries to approach Luca to ask him why he did so, Giulia defends Luca from the sea monster.

Luca felt terrible for what he did to Alberto and after he and Giulia return to her house, she learns that he too is a sea monster like Alberto. Giulia was shocked by this, but her reaction to Luca is different to the one she earlier had with Alberto. She tells Luca that the town he and Alberto chose to come to is the worse place for sea monsters and asks him to leave for his own protection. Knowing that the town's people will try to hunt and kill Luca, like the way they have tried to do so with Alberto. Even though a part of her didn't want Luca to leave, from the happiness he and Alberto have made her feel through their friendship, Giulia didn't want to see them get hurt. Taking Giulia's advice, even after revealing his true reasons for coming to Porto Rosso, he goes to find Alberto on the island. Where he learns that Alberto was abandoned by his own father years before they met and how Alberto believed that Luca would have stayed by his side. Feeling sorry for Alberto, as well as guilty for what he did to his friend, Luca decides get Alberto the money for the Vespa by entering the race on his own, like Giulia had done before they met. This surprises Alberto as he watches Luca return back to the human town. When Giulia learned that Luca has returned and plans to do the race, she tries to talk him out of it knowing that the first part is swimming and didn't want to see her friend place himself in danger. Luckily Luca thought that part through by using Alberto's dive suit for the swimming part and during the eating part, Giulia helps him by showing Luca who to use a fork to eat pasta. When it began to rain during the riding part, Giulia becomes worried for Luca as the falling water will reveal Luca's secret and Ercole targeting her friend didn't help matters, but things begin to look hopeful when Alberto arrives with an umbrella while stating that he is coming to help Luca. Until Ercole had enough of Giulia's friends and decides to kick Alberta, causing him to drop his only protecting from the rain and gets exposed as a sea monster. Seeing Alberto in trouble Luca goes to save him, while Giulia makes it her mission to keep the two safe from Ercole who wants to kill Luca and Alberto for the sea monster catching reword. When the two were close to the sea to make their escape, the sight of Giulia being knocked down after she knocks herself into Ercole, to keep him from harpooning her friends, gets the two young sea monster to place their escape on hold so they can tend to her. Ever since they met Giulia, she did want ever she could to look out for the two boys, while Luca and Alberto's concern for Giulia in that moment has them returning the favour by looking out for her. Them choosing to help their human friend and standing up to Ercole, who is more of a monster then what the town have viewed sea monsters as, gets Massimo to convive the whole town to expect the two boys and for them to be commended as the winners of the race; since they unknowingly crossed the finish line before they went to Giulia's aid. The two winning the race, as a whole team in the town's eyes, and the people of Portorosso expecting sea monsters is what allowed both of Giulia's long waited goals of finally winning a race and ending Ercole's evil rain of terror to be complete. She thanks Luca and Alberto for their help and friendship.

To celebrate their victory, the three ride the old Vespa they bought with the prize money as they bring it over to the Marcovaldo house. With summer coming to an end and Alberto seeing Luca wanting to help Giulia pack for school, he decides to sell the Vespa so Luca can attend school with Giulia. At first Luca assumed that Alberto would be joining him and Giulia, but Massimo has invited Alberto to move in with him and he knows that Giulia will be able to look out for Luca as they tend school together, while staying in the care of her mother. This helps Luca to feel that Alberto will be okay without him, just as Alberto knows that Luca will be okay without him, and that they'll always be friends, with the promise of Luca teaching Alberto want he has learned from Giulia and her school. The end credits shows that Luca and Giulia keep in touch with Alberto through phone calls and letters to one another, along with Luca continuing to learn about the human world beside Giulia while Alberto has found a new family and home. Thanks to Luca for getting him off the island and Giulia introducing him to her father, who has taken a shine to Alberto just as she has taken a shine to both of the boys.

Deleted Scenes
In one of the earlier versions of the film's story plot, Giulia was going to be a sea monster hunter who befriends Luca and Alberto. This earlier version would have had Luca and Giulia forming a type of romance with one another while Alberto reminds Luca that the human girl and her father are monster hunters, the reason that this layout was scraps because the film's makers wanted it to be about friendship.

In another deleted scene that is one of the earlier versions of the two young sea monsters meeting Giulia for the first time, she discovers their secret a lot sooner than she did in the canon film. Giulia was interested in taking photos and that is how she meets the two when she travels to Alberto's island and when they met Luca and Alberto, they tell her that they have been shipwrecked on the island for a long time and she offers to give them a ride into town. Once the two realise that their human over story was too many hole in it, they dive into the sea to escape and Giulia goes after them in an attempt to save them, but ends up being saved by the two boys after her shock of seeing their true forms causes her to breathe in some water. At first Giulia wanted to send pictures of their sea monster faces to a kid magazine she reads, until she begins to realise that exposing them will place them in danger. She decides to keep their sea monster nature a secret, while still bring them to town for a short time and plans to watch their backs encase other people discover their secret.

Fanon
This friendship is the most popular ship from the fandom, since it is the main friendship of the movie. Some people like to ship it as a poly couple, since they say Giulia and Alberto might be in love with Luca, and Luca can't choose between both, or they ship Luca x Alberto and say Giulia is their best friend and the main shipper. Other people decide to leave them as the best friend squad they are, since there was no romantic emotions showed through the movie, and it was never confirmed if someone of them was in love with other one. Until the film's creators revealed in the deleted scenes that the film almost led to a romance between Luca and Giulia, but they cut those earlier plots out to ensure that the film will be about friendship. From beginning to the end of the story, as one of the earlier plots did have Giulia knowing Luca and Alberto's secret before the two when to the human town while the young human girl watches their backs.

This friendship is wholesome, especially if you see it from Alberto's side, since he was scared Giulia could take away Luca from him, like his father went he abandoned him. But he realized Luca will always be by his side, and that Giulia will always support them even after knowing they both are sea monsters.

When it comes to fanworks of the trio, fans commonly focus on the "years later" AU, the three spending time together near or in the sea and portraying them as other known trios. Who have a similar energy to them. Along with there being times when Giulia been turned into a sea monster like Luca and Alberto, so she won't be the "odd one out" of the group. Even though many others like the way she is a human girl who is friends with a pair of sea monsters.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

FACEBOOK
 * Walt Disney Studios - Luca - Underdogs in Facebook

NEWGROUNDS
 * The Underdogs! (Luca) by Treeho in Newgrounds

Trivia

 * The ship's title comes from Giulia viewing Luca and Alberto as well underdogs when she saves them from the local bully, tells them that underdogs like them need to stick together and later uses it to serve as their team name in the race.
 * Most official and concept art of the 2021 Pixar film commonly features the three friends together.

Variations

 * Luberto refers to the ship between Luca Paguro and Alberto Scorfano