Key Takeaways
- Luffy considers the Straw Hat Crew his family due to his negative experiences with his biological family.
- Oda assigned familial roles to the crew; Jinbe as father, Franky and Robin as parents, etc.
- Defining the Straw Hats by familial roles doesn’t change their existing bonds as a family.
For Luffy, the Straw Hat Crew is his family in One Piece. Having grown up without knowing his father, and with a Grandfather who constantly endangers him in hopes of making him into a model Marine, Luffy hasn’t had the best experiences with his biological family. Although he still loves and respects his Grandfather, Luffy seems to have grown closest to his found family; the Straw Hats.
Despite only knowing the crew for a short period, Luffy has grown closer to the crew than anyone else. Regardless of not being biologically related, Oda has assigned familial roles to each Straw Hat crew member. From Jinbe to Luffy, here’s a quick rundown of how the familial unit of One Piece’s Straw Hats would work if they were related.
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One Piece: 5 Best Characters Introduced In Cover Stories
A lot of characters in the series first appeared in this one-panel format.
What Would Each Straw Hat’s Familial Role Be in One Piece?
The Straw Hat Family Unit
The SBS or Shitsumon o Boshuu Suru, is a returning column where fans can ask Eiichiro Oda, the author of One Piece, any questions they have regarding the series. The answers to these questions can range from long detailed pieces of never-before-seen information to wacky and silly joke answers that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Things like the ages of the Straw Hat crew, or their height can be decided on a whim in these columns.
We’re not acquaintances, we’re not friends, we’re family.
Back in SBS Volume 48, a fan asked Oda a relatively simple question, inquiring what each of the Straw Hat’s familial role would be based on their dynamic in the crew. Of course, Oda, was more than happy to respond. He provided a list, stating that the family would consist of the awesome duo of Franky and Robin as the mother and father, Zoro as the eldest son, Sanji as the next son, followed by Ussop, Luffy, and then finally Chopper as the youngest. Nami would appear as the only daughter in the family and Brook would take on the role of Grandfather. After Jimbe joined the crew, the former Warlord usurped Franky’s position as father, relegating the cyborg to the position of “Pervy Grandmother,” much to the dismay of Franky fans.
The Straw Hats’ Familial Roles Build on the Dynamics of the Crew
One Piece Families are More Than Blood Relation
Overall, the placement of One Piece’s Straw Hats in a familial group helps recontextualize the relationships of the crew as a whole. For example, Usopp and Luffy are the closest middle brothers in the family, which echoes the goofy and friendly bond that the two share. On the flip side, Sanji and Zoro being placed as the two eldest brothers play up the rivalry the characters share, fighting for a spot as the “best son.” Robin taking care of Chopper, Jinbe’s tough love for Luffy, and much more are all a bit easier to see when viewing the Straw Hat in these terms.
While it’s nice to help contextualize the strange relationships in One Piece and the Straw Hat crew, the placement of the Straw Hats into strict familial roles doesn’t change anything about the bonds they share. For example, just because Franky was moved from the role of father doesn’t mean his relationship with Robin is non-existent. The two characters still share the same bond they did before whether Franky is the father or grandmother of the crew. Truthfully, the Straw Hat crew didn’t need to be defined by their familial roles, because they already are a family in their own weird One Piece way.
