There have been many popular manga and anime over the years, but none have managed to achieve the worldwide popularity that Naruto, Dragon Ball, and One Piece have. Of the three, One Piece is the most popular (best of the best 👑), with almost 1,000 manga chapters and anime episodes, it is currently the best-selling manga of all time .
The series follows a young man named Luffy who wants to become the Pirate King, but he cannot accomplish such a thing alone. This is why he brings together a team made up of great pirates who complement and protect each other. They are known as the "Straw Hats" , and this article explains who they are and how they joined the crew.
Monkey D. Luffy wants to become Pirate King
Monkey D. Luffy may be young and silly at times, but he is also very kind and caring, and he happens to be one of the best fighters in One Piece. To be a captain, you have to be strong, but what makes Luffy a true leader is the fact that he is willing to do anything to help people in need , especially his friends 🤝.
Luffy wanted to become a pirate at the age of seven after meeting Shanks and the redhead's crew, and he later made a pact with his adoptive brothers , Ace and Sabo, to take to the seas when they could. both 17 years old. Luffy was the last to leave their home island, and when he got into his small boat, he immediately set out in search of ten pirates 🔎.
Zoro was impressed by Luffy
Every pirate crew needs a second, and for the Straw Hats, it's Zoro: a green-haired man who dreams of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world . When Luffy met Zoro, the swordsman was tied to a pole, where he was serving a 30-day sentence for killing a wolf that belonged to the son of a corrupt sea captain ⚓. The wolf was attacking a little girl at the time, and Zoro agreed to be tied up.
As a bounty hunter, Zoro rejected Luffy's initial invitation to join his crew, but this changed when he learned that Luffy had attacked the captain's son who had planned to execute Zoro instead of freeing him 🔪.
Nami owes her life to the Straw Hats
Nami was the third official member of the crew, and the Straw Hat Navigator first met Luffy and Zoro while stealing a treasure map from Buggy the Clown 🤡. During this arc, Luffy saves Nami from Buggy, an act which leads him to join the crew.
Later, during the Arlong arc, Nami "betrays" the Straw Hats by revealing that she was part of Arlong's crew all along, but it is later learned that she was forced to join the crew to save her village and herself. Once Arlong betrays her, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp decide to save her and her village, thus solidifying her allegiance to the Straw Hats 🦸♂️.
Usopp found his courage thanks to the mugiwaras
Usopp is quite cowardly at times, but when push comes to shove, he can stand up to some enemies. Luffy's young crew met Usopp at Syrup Village, and helped him defend his friend/love Kaya from Kuro, a pirate captain who was plotting to kill her and steal her inheritance 💰.
After Luffy and Zoro saved Usopp and Kaya from certain death, he decided to help them fight Kuro's crew, and this battle allowed Usopp to find the courage he needed to set sail and become a pirate like his father. When Luffy invited him to join his crew, he provided the Straw Hats with their Jolly Roger 🏴☠️ and their first ship.
Sanji goes in search of the All Blue
Before it was revealed that Sanji was a member of the famous Vinsmoke family , Sanji, the former sous chef of the sailor's restaurant Baratie . This is where the Straw Hats met their future cook 👨🍳.
Sanji eventually joined the crew after Luffy helped defend the restaurant against Don Krieg , an infamous pirate from the East Blue. When Luffy fell into the ocean after the battle, Sanji jumped in to save him. The other Baratie chefs then convinced Sanji to join the Straw Hats so he could fulfill his dream of finding the All Blue, a part of the ocean that contains every fish a chef could want 🐠.
Chopper remembers his mentor's wish
Chopper is the crew's doctor 💊, and he dreams of one day becoming a doctor who can cure any illness. He also happens to be a reindeer who ate a devil fruit which transformed him into a human hybrid.
The crew met Chopper on Drum Island, and when Nami invited him to join them, he refused due to his distrust of humans. Luffy defeats Wapol , the former king of the island who killed Chopper's mentor and desecrated his memory. Chopper again refuses to join the crew, but he changes his mind after remembering that his mentor wanted him to go to sea to see the world to expand his medical knowledge.
Robin and his betrayal by Crocodile
As a child, Robin witnessed the destruction of her home by the world government, and she has been on the run ever since 🏃♀️. The Straw Hats met Robin during the Alabasta Arc, where she was originally an antagonist as she was first the commander and second in command of Crocodile's criminal organization.
Crocodile ends up betraying Robin and leaves her for dead ☠, but Luffy ends up saving her life, which is why she arrives on the Straw Hats' boat at the end of the arc and asks to join them. Luffy accepts, making her the crew's archaeologist .
Franky helps the Straw Hats
Franky was the eighth person to join the Straw Hats, and this happened during the Water 7 Arc. This cyborg is the shipbuilder of the crew 🧱, and he started out as a "bad guy" who stole all the Straw Hats' gold.
Franky ends up getting kidnapped by CP9 one of the World Government's secret factions and when the mugiwaras follow CP9 to Enies Lobby to save Robin, Franky escapes and agrees to help them. Once everyone is safe, Franky reveals that he used the crew's money to buy Adam's Wood (the strongest species of wood in the One Piece world), which he used to build the Thousand Sunny 🌞 , the crew's new boat. He joined them to sail around the world on a boat made of this wood.
Brook wants to reunite with an old friend
Luffy wanted a musician for a long time 🎶, and he finally found what he was looking for when the crew met Brook during the Thriller Bark arc. When Brook was alive, he ate a devil fruit which boosted his soul to the point that he was able to resurrect himself but by the time he found his body, all that was left was a skeleton 🦴.
At first, everyone on the crew was terrified of Brook, except for Luffy who invited him to join the crew immediately, but he refused because he couldn't venture out into direct sunlight ☀, his shadow having been stolen. Luffy and the crew managed to recover his shadow, but he did not rejoin the crew until he learned that an old friend who had been waiting for his return was still alive .
Jinbe burns bridges with his grandmother
Jinbe was the captain of the Sun Pirates and a former warlord, and he befriended Luffy while they were both in the underwater prison known as " Impel Down ". Luffy was there to save his brother Ace, and the two escaped with other inmates to Marineford to prevent Ace's execution ⚔.
Later, Jinbe renounces his title and joins the Whitebeard Pirates , but upon Whitebeard's death, he allies himself with Big Mom, who agrees to protect the island from Fishmen. After the Nakamas stopped an attempted coup on the island, Luffy invited him to join the crew, and Jinbe agreed to do so after cutting ties with Big Mom, resulting in produced after the Whole Cake Island Arc 🍰.
