One Piece is an anime series with the most extensive collection of characters in media. Each character has a different personality, some being forgiving and some rude.
Most of these characters are inspired by Monkey D. Luffy, the main protagonist of One Piece. His unwavering motivation and thirst for adventure have inspired other One Piece characters to be just like him or at least be someone worthy of standing next to him. Some famous examples include Mononosuke, Jinbe, and many other characters.
But there is a green-head in One Piece who might not want to be like him but is a big Luffy fan. That character is Bartolomeo, the fastest person to pledge loyalty to the Straw Hats as soon as they meet. But why is he such a fanboy for Luffy?
One Piece: Explaining Bartolomeo's obsession with Monkey D. Luffy
Bartolomeo was impressed by how Luffy survived his execution during the Loguetown arc when the latter was about to die at the hands of Buggy. This caused him to become an eternal fan of Monkey D. Luffy, and Bartolomeo followed Luffy until the Marineford arc when he came out as a pirate and entered the New World.
Before coming out as a pirate, Bartolomeo was a mafia boss. After watching Luffy go through the loss of Ace, he decided to get back the Fire-Fire fruit during the Dressrosa arc in One Piece, where he met Luffy.
During the Loguetown arc in One Piece, Buggy tried to execute Luffy on the same platform Roger was executed on. But Luffy was saved because lightning struck, which fans speculate to be that of Dragon's (Luffy's father) doing. Among the hundreds of people who were standing here to witness this spectacle, a mafia boss named Bartolomeo was also present.
He was awestruck by this incident and became a fan of Monkey D. Luffy. He followed him until the Paramount War arc, when he gave up his title as a mafia boss and entered the New World with his crew, named the 'Barto Club,' as a pirate. As soon as he heard the news of the Fire-Fire devil fruit being offered as a prize during a competition in Dressrosa, he immediately went there.
He planned to offer this devil fruit to Luffy as a gift and get closer to him. But he met his idol here at Dressrosa, who was competing under the name 'Lucy.' Although Sabo came out as a winner and ate the devil fruit, Bartolomeo never gave up on getting closer to Luffy when he was so close to him.
He not only helped Luffy when he was on his way to fight Doflamingo, but he also aided some Straw Hats who were in difficult situations. Although these efforts were not as helpful to him since the Straw Hats hardly remembered him, he was confident enough to offer the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
Although Luffy resisted the formation of such a big group, Bartolomeo lured him in by suggesting that they pursue freedom as a grand power rather than seeking fame. This caused the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, a fleet of seven pirate crews that serve directly under Monkey D. Luffy.
