Straw Hat Pirates

Template:Infobox OPcrew The Straw Hat Pirates (麦わら海賊団, Mugiwara Kaizoku-dan), sometimes referred to as the Luffy Pirates (ルフィ海賊団, Rufi Kaizoku-dan) or the Straw Hat Crew (麦わらの一味, Mugiwara no Ichimi), are the main focus and protagonists of the anime and manga series One Piece, by Eiichiro Oda.

About

Each member of the Straw Hats all have at least one talent in which they are virtually perfect, and several (especially the captain, first mate and cook) have astonishingly inhuman strength. As outlaws, they all have bounties on their heads, and are wanted by the World Government. Some of their bounties (including the captain's) are remarkably high. The World Government and the Navy consider them one of the most dangerous pirate crews in the One Piece world, due to their spectacular evasion of the nearly unavoidable Buster Call on Enies Lobby.

Each member of the Straw Hats has a dream they want to achieve. These dreams are their reasons for joining Luffy's crew, and essentially the driving force behind their lives. Each Straw Hat's dream was inspired by tragedies (often deaths) in their childhoods that involved at least one person they idolized and cared for deeply. Some, like Chopper, Nami, Franky, and Usopp are fulfilling their dreams by accumulating knowledge and/or achieving a certain task while sailing the Grand Line. Others, like Robin, Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji are searching for a person, place or thing that can only be found on the Grand Line. Whatever the reason, each of the Straw Hats' dreams involves traveling the Grand Line, and each Straw Hat member refuses to die before achieving his or her dream.

They all seem to value their friendships highly as well. Despite their comic annoyance with each other from time to time, they also often enjoy their time together and love being a member of the crew. One of the major themes of the series is how committed they are to each other. If one single member is hurt by an outside force, the other members will become enraged and take drastic action to avenge their brethren. When Nami cried because of Arlong's cruelty and asked Luffy for help, he unquestioningly gathered the other members of his crew and destroyed Arlong's base along with every merman in it. After Usopp was cruelly beaten by the Franky Family, Luffy (as well as Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper) thrashed nearly every member of the organization and obliterated their base of operations. After Robin was blackmailed by CP9, they invaded Enies Lobby and caused the destruction of the island as well as the overthrow of CP9.

All the current Straw Hats have bounties over their heads with a total bounty of "667,000,050" Belli.

Straw Hat Pirates

File:Strawhat pirates.png

From left to right: Nico Robin ; Usopp (as Sogeking) ; Roronoa Zoro ; Monkey D. Luffy ; Sanji ; Tony Tony Chopper ; Nami ; Franky

Recruitment

In the beginning of the manga, Luffy claimed that he wanted at least 10 people to join his crew before entering the Grand Line. This was changed after Usopp told Luffy that after "the chef" joined them, they would rescue Nami and go to the Grand Line with just 5 people. New members have joined since then, but it has yet to be seen whether there will be 10 or more in all. Luffy also claimed in the beginning of the manga, that he will gather a crew strong enough to surpass his childhood hero Red-Haired Shanks.

Luffy doesn't seem to mind if someone he wants to recruit has a profession or not, asking anyone who is interesting or allowing anyone who wants to join to become a crew member. He allows Usopp to join, and later on names him the team's sniper, and considered Vivi a member even though she has no profession. He also offered Gaimon the chance to join his crew (which Gaimon tearfully turned down) when Gaimon said he had to look after the island. He then asked Crocus at Reverse Mountain to be the ship's doctor but declined the offer saying he was too old to be chasing youngsters around. Luffy has also offered a skeleton named Brook to join the crew when they go into the Florian Triangle. Brook eventually declined joining after initially accepting. Later in Thriller Bark, Luffy offered a talking tree entry into his crew in Chapter 447, though this is probably more of a gag (even though Luffy was probably being serious).

When Luffy asks someone to join his crew, it is often met with reluctance. People like Dr. Kureha declined, yet Luffy continued to insist regardless. Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Franky were all resistant to join the Straw Hat Crew but eventually changed their minds and joined anyway. A running theme seems to be that Luffy will ask someone to join his crew due to their skills and in the end someone close to them will join instead (Examples: Sanji's boss Zeff, Chopper's teacher Dr. Kureha and Franky's old friend Iceburg). Despite this, the people who eventually become Straw Hat members all have their unique above-average fighting abilities and at least one talent in which they are virtually perfect in.

If a Straw Hat crew member leaves the crew without Luffy's permission, Luffy becomes adamant in getting them back. So far only Robin, Nami, and Usopp have tried to leave the crew, but all eventually came back and rejoined. Usopp was the only one to willingly leave while Robin and Nami were blackmailed into doing so. Usopp was also the only crew member to have Luffy's permission to leave, though that permission came quite bitterly after a harsh fight between the two; he was allowed back after a tearful apology to the Straw Hats.

Current Crew Members

[Monkey D. Luffy]

"Straw Hat" Luffy is the captain and currently holds a 300,000,000 Belli bounty on his head. He started out with a 30,000,000 Belli bounty after beating Buggy, Don Krieg, and Arlong back in the East Blue Saga. His bounty rose to 100,000,000 Belli after defeating Sir Crocodile of the Shichibukai, in the Alabasta Arc. After defeating Rob Lucci of CP9 and declaring war on the World Government, his bounty tripled to become 300,000,000 Belli. He is highly known by the Marines and is wanted dead or alive.

Most of Luffy's enemies tend to be the leader of their enemies or the most powerful member, such as Arlong, Sir Crocodile, Enel, Rob Lucci, and most recently Gecko Moria.

Luffy's dream is to become the Pirate King by finding One Piece, the ultimate treasure left behind by the late Gol D. Roger, and raise a "super-crew" to back him up.

First Mate/SwordsmanRoronoa Zoro

"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro is the first mate and currently holds a 120,000,000 Belli bounty, for his aid in the destruction of Enies Lobby. Before that, he had a 60,000,000 Belli bounty on his head for defeating about 100 bounty hunters at Whisky Peak, and for defeating the Baroque Works agent Mr. 1 (a.k.a. Das Bones).

Zoro was the first of Luffy's pirates and takes his role as first mate very seriously. He will bolster Luffy when his captain wavers and challenges him if he believes Luffy is making a decision that will hurt his position as captain, his dream, or the crew. One example of this is when he threatens to leave the crew if Luffy accepts Usopp back without an apology being given after the sharpshooter abandoned them. Usopp had defied Luffy's authority as captain and simply allowing him back without acknowledging this would have undermined Luffy's authority and caused the crew to doubt his ability to lead.

Zoro's dream, shared with Kuina, is to become the world's greatest swordsman. To fulfill this dream, he must surpass every swordsman in the world, and intends to defeat the world's current greatest swordsman Mihawk.

Nami

"Catburglar" Nami is the navigator and cartographer, who currently holds a 16,000,000 Belli bounty for aiding in the assault on Enies Lobby. She was the only Straw Hat to complain about getting a bounty, though she said, "At least my picture is cute." It is also revealed that the photographer for her picture said he was a W7 reporter and they would pay her, causing her to willingly pose for the photo.

Nami's enemies, shown so far, have mainly been females, like Ms. Doublefinger and, most recently, Kalifa. They initially do not take her seriously, allowing her to outwit and defeat them.

Nami's dream is to draw a map of the entire world. She has already mapped all the areas that she has traveled, and it is possible that she will create a world map once the story is over.

Sogeking

"King of Snipers" Sogeking, otherwise known under his real name of Usopp, is the marksman/sniper, and currently holds a 30,000,000 Belli bounty (the same as Luffy's first bounty). His bounty was recorded as "Sogeking" because Usopp did not use his real name during the assault on Enies Lobby, although his disguise was obvious enough that anyone (except Luffy and Chopper) who had seen him before knew that he was Sogeking. His bounty is for participating in the attack on Enies Lobby, shooting the World Government flag, and sniping CP9's Spandam and his group of Marine footsoldiers while he tried to drag Robin to Impel Down. Usopp's marksman skills were clearly shown here, as he was sniping Marines on the Bridge of Hesitation from farther than any of their weapons could reach.

Though having only a few number of important fights, his enemies tend to have a projectile-based theme, like Choo or the Mr. 4 team as well as Perona. His fights also tend to have Usopp moving around a lot, including spending a small portion of his fight with Choo running, Ms. MerryChristmas dragging Usopp around with her "Molehill Highway" attack and chasing after Perona when she tried to flee their battle.

Usopp will also almost say or do something honourable or brave. This includes continuing to fight Choo even after Choo thought he was dead, giving a speech about Luffy even while enduring the "Molehill Highway" attack and continuing to fight Perona because he is the only one who can, despite how scared he is of her powers.

Usopp's dream is to become a brave warrior of the sea like his father, Yasopp, who is a member of Shanks' Red Haired Pirate Crew. After the Little Garden arc, he also developed a secondary dream to visit Elbaf and see the warrior giants he idolizes.

Sanji

"Black Leg" Sanji is the cook and currently holds a 77,000,000 Belli bounty for participating in the attack on Enies Lobby as well as closing the Gate of Justice, allowing the Strawhats to escape. On a side note, the Marines failed to take a proper photo (the photographer forgot to remove the lens cap on the camera) and had to use an ugly composite sketch of him, continuing the running gag of him not being recognized.

Sanji's enemies are usually those with a unique style of martial arts, such as Kuroobi with his Fishman Karate, Mr. 2 with his Okama Kenpo, Wanze with his Ramen Kenpo, and Jyabura with his Tekkai Kenpo. His enemies are typically almost on par with Zoro's in terms of power, though in most cases they are considered lower than Zoro's.

Sanji's dream, shared with Zeff, is to find the All Blue, a legendary ocean. It is assumed to be in the Grand Line, and waters from all over the four seas gather there, bringing fish from all over the globe, ideal for chefs who wish to gather ingredients. When he found out that Kokoro was a mermaid, he felt anguish that his dream of meeting beautiful mermaids was ruined. He was recently revealed to have the dream of consuming the Suke Suke no Mi (invisibility fruit), though this dream was ended by Absalom's eating the fruit. He has, however, stated that he no longer has a connection to that dream, due to Absalom's cowardice.

Tony Tony Chopper

"Cotton Candy Lover" Tony Tony Chopper is the doctor and currently holds a 50 Belli bounty because he was mistaken to be the Straw Hats' "pet" rather than an actual crew member and fighter. Chopper was upset when he saw his wanted poster, shouting that he fought like a man during Enies Lobby and deserved to be treated as such. This is the smallest bounty ever seen in the series, with the second smallest (Alvida's) being one hundred thousand times that amount at 5 million.

Most of Chopper's fights have him going against physically big enemies who also use their amazing talents as weapons, like Chessmarimo who had phenomenal archery skills, Kumadori, who could control every part of his body, or Dr. Hogback, who uses the zombies he created to fight for him.

Chopper's dream is to travel across the world, exploring with his friends and expanding his horizons. He also has an ambition to create/find a Panacea and become a doctor who can cure any disease - even the one held by an entire country.

Nico Robin

"Demon Child" Nico Robin is the archaeologist and chronicler, and currently has an 80,000,000 Belli bounty. She previously held a 79,000,000 Belli bounty from over 20 years ago, when she was eight. The World Government claimed the bounty was because she had sunk 6 Marine ships, yet in the Enies Lobby arc it is revealed as nothing more than a lie from the government, and the real reason behind her bounty is because of her ability to read Poneglyphs. The 6 ships she was accused of destroying were actually destroyed by Jaguar D. Saulo during the Buster Call on Ohara while he was trying to protect her. Her extremely small, and seemingly unneeded bounty raise (From 79,000,000 to 80,000,000) was so the World Government would have an excuse to update her wanted poster picture which, until the raise, was still of her 8-year old self.

So far, Robin has yet to have shown a true pattern in the enemies she faces, though those she has fought have greatly underestimated her and her powers. Several of her opponents are generally huge monster-like beings such as enforcer Yama and the massive spider-monkey Taleran.

Robin's dream is to find the Rio Poneglyph which tells the True History, continuing the research of her mother, Nico Olvia, and her old teacher and mentor, Professor Clover. She nearly did so when she found Shandora in the upper yard, but it turned out that Gol D. Roger and his crew had already taken it 20 years ago. She thinks it is at Raftel, the location of One Piece.

Franky

"Cyborg" Franky is the shipwright and currently holds a 44,000,000 Belli bounty. Franky received the bounty for helping the Straw Hats at Enies Lobby, as well as destroying the blueprints to the ancient weapon, Pluton.

As shown so far in the Enies Lobby arc, Franky's opponents (Nero and Fukuro), used superior speed to get the upper hand on him. Thus Franky had to grapple his speedy opponents and finish them with a powerful blow. One of Franky's more recent enemies was hokkeyru, who used superior speed as well.

Franky's dream is to create and travel on a dream ship that would experience countless battles and overcome extreme hardships to reach the end of the Grand Line. He has created the ship, named Thousand Sunny, and is sailing on it with the Straw Hats. It's his task to keep it in good condition. Another dream (or goal) he had was to get back at Spandam for framing his mentor Tom and having Tom executed. And with the help of the Straw Hats, Franky was able to do this by crushing Spandam with his own pet elephant Funk Freed.

Ships

The Straw Hats' first ship was the Going Merry, which was later destroyed. They subsequently acquired the Thousand Sunny.

Former Crew Members

None of the following are considered cannon as they have only happened in the anime, making them filler.

• Infantry: "Silver Fox Servants" 497 Foxy Pirates Crew (anime only)
• "Mustache Pirate": Brief (Movie 6 only)

"Temporary Pirates"

Through the series there have been people who have traveled with the Straw Hat Pirates for a short period of time.

Travelling Companions

• Koby (travelled with Luffy through the Axe-Hand Morgan arc): Koby left to join a naval base as a choreboy, and never was interested in becoming a pirate, having previously told Luffy of his dream to become a marine and catch "bad guys".

• Johnny and Yosaku (Baratie and Arlong Park arcs): They traveled to Baratie and helped Usopp transport Zoro to Cocoyashi Village, where Nami had taken the Going Merry. They stayed there once the crew headed to the Grand Line because they could no longer be partners to Zoro as he was now a criminal and as bounty hunters they could not be seen with criminals.

• Apis (Anime only; Warship Island arc): Traveled with and also helped by the Straw Hats to return a Thousand Year Dragon to its nest. Luffy even offered her to join the Straw Hats afterward, but she respectfully declined.

• Mr. 9 (Reverse Mountain to Whiskey Peak): Although minor, he had accompanied the crew by side with Vivi (better known as Ms. Wednesday back then) if only because he had to stick with his partner. He left the crew shortly afterwards as he attempted to capture the Straw Hats for the bounty hunters at Whiskey Peak.

• Nefertari Vivi & Carue (The entire Baroque Works Saga):(see "major allies" for details)

• Mr. 2 (Drum Island to Alabasta): As Usopp and Luffy were fishing (using Carue as bait), Going merry went through a foggy area, meanwhile, Mr. 2's ship, which was going back to Alabasta ran through the same area, and Mr. 2 got fished, as he realized he was holding on Carue, he just got surprised and left him saiyng he was huggin a strange duck without being introduced. He got rescued to Going Merry, and showed his abilities and Devil Fruit power, in the middle of his presentation, Vivi saw her father among the people Mr. 2 transformed. Just after he left, she realized he was Mr. 2, although she had a lot of info about his appearance.

• Portgas D. Ace (Anime Only; part of the Alabasta arc): Neither on the Straw Hats' side or against, he runs into them in Alabasta and meets the crew while searching for Blackbeard, attempting to recruit Luffy and his friends into the Whitebeard Pirates. During the meeting, he destroys some of the Billions' ships. In the original manga, he left after this encounter, but in the anime he tagged along with the crew for a short while afterward.
• Anaguma/Adelle Bascùd (Anime Only; Movie 4: Dead End Adventure): Sailed with the crew during the Dead End Race.

• Gan Fall & Pierre (Skypiea arc): The Straw Hats helped him free Skypiea from Enel, and he remained as god.

• Conis & Pagaya (Skypiea arc): Although not being all too helpful at first, Conis helped Luffy, Usopp and Sanji escape the White Berets. Conis and Pagaya return later to watch over the Going Merry while the crew take part in the survival game and to take care of Usopp and Sanji who had been wounded by Enel. Later, after Pagaya is near-fatally wounded by Enel's judgement, Conis returns to Angel island to warn the people of Enel's true intentions, fighting the White Berets in the process.

Major Allies

• Nefertari Vivi & Carue (The entire Baroque Works Saga): They were helped by the Straw Hats and together they took out Baroque Works. Though Vivi very nearly joined, she reluctantly decided to stay behind out of love for her country, and remains the princess of Alabasta. Vivi and Carue are the only characters outside of the Straw Hat Pirates that were featured on the coverpages of One Piece.

• Mr. 2 Bon Clay (End of Alabasta arc): He helped Straw Hats to safely leave Alabasta, disguising himself and his crew as the Straw Hats, fighting against the ships led by Captain Hina.

• Franky Family (Water 7 arc, Enies Lobby arc): The family had helped the Straw Hats during the assault of Enies Lobby to ensure they could face the CP9 in the Tower of Justice.

• Paulie, Peepley Lulu & Tilestone (Enies Lobby arc): Paulie, Lulu & Tilestone also helped the Straw Hats during the assault of Enies Lobby. Paulie saved the lives of the Franky Family and the two giants during the Buster Call, using his rope techniques to prevent them from falling off a cliff.

• Oimo and Kaashi (Enies Lobby arc): Originally working for the World Government as the gatekeepers of Enies Lobby, they changed sides when it was revealed by Usopp that the government had been lying to them for the past fifty years. They provided support to the Franky Family and Galley-La shipwrights in defending against the various Marines during the courthouse battle, and also helped carry them to safety when the Buster Call started attacking.

• Kokoro, Chimney & Gonbe (Enies Lobby arc): The Sea Train conductor Kokoro, her granddaughter Chimney, and Chimney's rabbit Gonbe also helped out in the fight on Enies Lobby. Kokoro drove the Rocket Man to Enies Lobby in pursuit of the Puffing Tom and later revealed her mermaid form to save the Straw Hats from drowning. Chimney and Gonbe located a secret passage that led Luffy to Spandam and Rob Lucci.

• Yokozuna (Enies Lobby arc): Though originally antagonistic to the Straw Hats, Yokozuna the frog assisted them once he learned that his friend Franky had been arrested. Upon arriving at Enies Lobby, Yokozuna bent the waterfall fence, turning it into a ramp that vaulted the Rocket Man onto the island. He then helped guard the Courthouse.

Crew Strength

Despite only having a small number of members, the Straw Hats are extremely strong. So far, they have defeated these pirates and other groups that are considered powerful:

• Lady Alvida's Pirates
• Axe-Hand Morgan
• Buggy's Band of Pirates
• Black Cat pirates
• Don Krieg's Pirate Armada
• Arlong Pirates
• Wapol Pirates
• Sir Crocodile and Baroque Works
• Bellamy the Hyena
• Enel and Skypiea's Priests
• Foxy Pirates
• Franky Family
• Over 2000 Marines on Enies Lobby
• Naval Captains of the Buster Call on Enies Lobby along with at least 3 warships
• CP9 (considered the strongest Cipher Pol in history)
• Moria Pirates

Anime Only

• Ganzack's Pirates
• El Drago Pirates
• Trump Sibling Pirates
• General Gasparde's Pirates
• Commander Jonathan and his men at the Navarone G8 Stronghold
• The Acchino Family