This article contains spoilers up to the Water 7 arc of One Piece
It's hard to find many One Piece fans who don't adore the Straw Hat Pirates. This lovable batch of characters have all been accompanying Luffy on his journey to becoming the King of the Pirates for hundreds of chapters and episodes, but because of how vastly different they all are in their personalities and fighting styles, it means that every fan will have their own personal favorite. While the Straw Hats can fall out with one another every so often, none of them have ever abandoned the crew to eventually become villains, but it seems as though they were going to be a lot more antagonistic if Eiichiro Oda went through with his original plan.
Considering how grand and ambitious One Piece is as a story, it means Oda would have had a lot of planning to do before he officially started drawing, and when it comes to the Straw Hats specifically, he's revealed some pretty revealing information about how they were originally intended to be completely different from how fans know them today. Though it's a good thing that the immensely talented author decided to make them a lot more friendly and heroic as time went on, these comments do make it easy to wonder what the Straw Hats would have been like if they were truly evil, especially considering this almost turned out to be the case.
The Straw Hats Were Originally Going To Be Villains
They Would Have Joined Luffy After Being Defeated
- Similar to classic JRPGs
- Oda decided the idea wouldn't have been that realistic
- Most of the Straw Hats ended up being a lot more agreeable
Back in 2018, Eiichiro Oda was interviewed as part of a Japanese media channel to speak a little about the popularity of One Piece and where it was headed in the future. While this interview is packed full of intriguing questions and answers, one that is especially revealing is when the interviewer asks Oda why the story had been moving at such a rapid pace, especially after the timeskip.
While Oda admits that it's primarily because the characters he created now have a will of their own which he finds hard to control at times, he pauses for a moment before going more in depth about how he intended the Straw Hats to come across before the story began. According to Oda, he wanted Luffy's future crewmates to be villains who would only join along for the adventure after being defeated and seeing the errors of their ways. In fact, he even likened this idea to a video game where it's become a very common trope, especially in JRPGs.
"Initially, I thought about making the crewmate-gathering process like those video games where the villains join your party once you defeat them." - Eiichiro Oda
He goes on to admit that this just wouldn't have been all that realistic, considering most people probably wouldn't feel inclined to become a servant to the person who just destroyed their livelihood and reputation, which honestly makes a lot of sense. While some of the Straw Hats may have acted a little hostile towards Luffy when first meeting him, they all quickly warmed up to their captain after spending a few hours riding with him along the sea, but with that being said, there are some members who Oda still made an attempt to present as villains when they first showed up in the story.
Robin And Franky Were Minor Antagonists At First
It Seems Oda Didn't Throw Out His Original Idea Entirely
Though it's clear that Oda eventually decided to take a different approach when it came to how Luffy would gather his crew, he didn't scrap the idea of the Straw Hats being villains entirely. Robin and Franky specifically are two members who actually started off as minor antagonists in their respective story arcs. For Robin, she was originally an accomplice to the insidious tyrant known as Crocodile. Back then, Robin cared very little about going on any grand adventures, considering she had become a cold-hearted and cruel individual due to all the suffering she experienced with the destruction of her home island, Ohara.
In the case of Franky, the cyborg was simply obsessed with looking good in front of his family, so much so that he would end up causing many problems for the Straw Hats, especially Usopp, as they navigated their way through Water 7. It's not until the very end of that story arc that Franky decides to buddy up with the Straw Hats and to join them as a fellow nakama, though getting to this point was certainly far from easy.
While these two may not have been major villain s, they still made it no secret that they were directly opposed to Luffy and his crew for one reason or another, at least to begin with. That being said though, Luffy is a captain who is simply impossible to hate, which is just one reason how he has managed to collect a crew of so many powerful individuals without needing to bribe them with money or treasure.
Luffy's Tricks For Picking Up New Crewmates
There Are Many Reasons Why He Is So Talented At Calling People To His Side
- Luffy has an infectious optimism which inspires others
- His power makes him a captain others can rely on
- Being a member of the D clan fascinates some of the Straw Hats
The most obvious reason why Luffy has a knack for convincing people to join his crew is simply his endless optimism. Most people in One Piece tend to look at the world in a pessimistic light, considering it's not all that nice of a place to live when the World Government and Marines are constantly carrying out their own selfish deeds. However, Luffy has this childlike enthusiasm that convinces others to look at things with a more positive mindset, convincing them to pursue their dreams, no matter how difficult it may seem at first.
"Without You, I Won't...I Can't Become The Pirate King" - Luffy to Sanji
Another major reason Luffy has been able to command such authority is because of how powerful he is as a combatant. Luffy doesn't care about being honorable or proper in a fight, he simply uses his rubber body to throw out giant punches and kicks to overwhelm anyone who is treating others unfairly. In the case of characters like Nami and Robin, Luffy was able to use his power to free them from their captives, giving them the opportunity to live a free life along the open seas.
There's also a rather more peculiar reason why some Straw Hats expressed an interest in Luffy, and it's because he's a member of the D clan. Oda has been very secretive about what the initial actually means, but it's become clear that it's something that scares the World Government to their core. The whole reason that Robin decided to save Luffy from the sand whirlpool in Alabasta was because he was a member of the D clan, but it also became a topic of fascination for Jinbei, who joined the Straw Hats a little later in the story. Needless to say, there's a plethora of reasons why Luffy is seen as a worthy captain, and it's allowed him to become one of the most powerful pirates in the world who the World Government is utterly petrified of.
Source: Edomonogatari
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
