Every Straw Hat Pirate’s Backstory Explained

Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapters #1183-#1186.One Piece has dominated the world of anime for almost 30 years now, and much of that, of course, is owed to its central protagonists, the Straw Hat Pirates. Not only has every member developed wonderfully across every new story arc, resulting in any one of them being able to carry comedic and dramatic scenes alike, but with how they’re all plenty capable of delivering on action at every turn, there’s never a moment when a Straw Hat isn’t the highlight of the story.

The Straw Hat Pirates are easily the best characters in all of One Piece, and much of their depth comes from the great backstories each of them has been given. No matter how big or how small they may be, each Straw Hat boasts an emotional backstory that still informs their characters to this day, and understanding each of them is critical to understanding not just the Straw Hats’ characters, but what makes One Piece so special as a whole.

Monkey D. Luffy

As the hero of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy was the first Straw Hat to get a backstory, and it was originally fairly simple. As a child, Luffy admired Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates and dreamed of becoming a great pirate like them, and when they left, Shanks gave Luffy his straw hat with the promise that Luffy would return it when they reunited. Ten years later, with nothing but a rowboat and the power of his Gum-Gum Fruit, Luffy finally set out into the world to fulfill his dream of becoming the King of the Pirates.

That wasn’t the end of Luffy’s backstory, though. Years later, it was revealed that after Shanks left, Luffy started living on a mountain with his new brothers Ace and Sabo, only for it all to fall apart when Sabo was killed by a Celestial Dragon when he tried to leave the island. Luffy would eventually learn that Sabo survived and joined the Revolutionary Army, but the event was what truly pushed Luffy and Ace to become strong, and it solidified their bond for years to come.

Roronoa Zoro

Roronoa Zoro grew up in Shimotsuki Village as the second-best student of the kenjutsu dojo, the best being the master’s daughter, Kuina. While Kuina was better than Zoro, she feared it wouldn’t be long before Zoro surpassed her because girls couldn’t be as strong as boys, but Zoro refused to accept that and made her promise that they would become the world’s greatest swordmasters together. Unfortunately, Kuina would later die after falling down some stairs, so it fell on Zoro to fulfill their dream alone, even taking Kuina’s sword to create his signature three-sword style.

Nami

Nami’s backstory in One Piece began with her family being killed by pirates, leading to her and a girl named Nojiko being adopted by a Marine named Bell-mere. For ten years, Nami lived in peace with her family and dreamed of mapping out the entire world, but when Arlong invaded her village, Bell-mere was killed trying to protect her. Nami, to the surprise of everyone, then joined Arlong as his navigator, but it was just a condition for freeing her village from Arlong after paying him 100 million Berries, thus kickstarting her life as a thief until she met Luffy and the Straw Hats.

Usopp

Usopp is the son of Yasopp, a pirate who left to join Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates. When Usopp’s mother was sick on her deathbed, Usopp would constantly lie about pirates coming to the island to lift her spirits, and after she died, Usopp kept lying about it every day to cope with his loss until lying became second nature to him. Usopp’s neighbors grew to hate him for it, but a few kids did look up to him, and he also developed a friendship with the sickly Kaya as he told her stories of being a brave warrior.

Vinsmoke Sanji

Sanji’s original backstory in One Piece was fairly simple: while working as an apprentice chef on a cruise ship, the ship was attacked by the infamous “Red Leg” Zeff, and a sudden storm sank the ship and stranded them on a rock. While Sanji thought Zeff was hoarding most of the food for himself, Zeff had actually given Sanji what little food they had and ate his own leg to survive, doing so because Sanji shared his dream of finding the mythical All Blue, and when they were finally rescued, Sanji pledged his life to being Zeff’s sous chef.

There were always hints of there being more to Sanji’s past, however, and it all finally came to light in the Whole Cake Island arc. Sanji was the third son of the Vinsmoke Family, the royal family of the Germa Kingdom, and he suffered constant abuse from his father and brothers due to having a kind heart and not inheriting his brothers’ super genetics. The only one who openly loved Sanji was his sickly mother, and Sanji even started cooking to try to make her feel better, but unfortunately, it did nothing to stop her from dying.

Later, Sanji’s father, Judge, had given up on the idea of Sanji getting stronger, so he locked him in a dungeon, put an iron mask around his head so he couldn’t see his face, and even faked his death for the citizens of Germa. By that point, Sanji had finally given up on his family, and with help from his sister, Reiju, Sanji ran away from the Germa Kingdom during a battle in the East Blue, eventually ending up on the ship where he met Zeff.

Tony Tony Chopper

As just a regular reindeer, Tony Tony Chopper was ostracized by his herd for having a blue nose, and he was then outright banished when he ate the Human-Human Fruit and gained speech and human intelligence. Chopper then tried to live with the humans of Drum Kingdom, but they attacked him and drove him out because he was a monster, and it wasn’t until meeting the kindly quack doctor Hiriluk that Chopper met someone who would be nice to him.

Hiriluk took Chopper under his wing and taught him medicine until he abruptly kicked Chopper out of his home, with Chopper learning it was because Hiriluk had a terminal illness. Chopper’s attempt at helping Hiriluk led to him accidentally poisoning him, and while Hiriluk killed himself to both stick it to the tyrannical Wapol and keep Chopper from feeling guilty, Chopper still became the apprentice of the more competent Kureha so he could become a doctor who could cure any disease.

Nico Robin

Nico Robin’s mother, Olvia, abandoned Robin on Ohara to research the Void Century around the world, leaving Robin to suffer abuse from her extended family for feeling like a burden, and from most of the townsfolk for being a Devil Fruit user. Robin’s only friends were the archaeologists who took her under their wing and Saul, a giant who washed onto shore one day, but everything came to a head when the World Government came to Ohara to uncover their illegal research into the Void Century.

A Buster Call was declared to destroy Ohara and kill the archaeologists, including Robin’s mother, whom she was finally reunited with, and with help from Saul, Robin escaped as the sole survivor of Ohara. Unfortunately, the World Government made Robin a scapegoat for Ohara’s crimes, so Robin spent the 20 years constantly running from people out to kill her, and while it made Robin want to kill herself at times, she stayed alive both to learn the truth of the Void Century in the place of Ohara and to cling to Saul’s assurance that she would find friends one day.

Franky

After Franky was abandoned by his father, Queen, Franky was adopted by Tom, the legendary shipwright who built Gold Roger’s ship, and when Tom was set to be killed for that, Franky helped him build the Sea Train for Water 7 to earn a pardon. Before the pardon could be given, however, the Cipher Pol agent Spandam, wanting to steal Tom’s blueprints for the ancient weapon Pluton, took the battleships Franky built in his spare time to make it seem like Tom and his apprentices attacked a judiciary ship, earning everyone a death sentence.

Tom, still owed his pardon, got everyone off the hook for the attack, but Tom was still killed for working with Roger, and Franky almost died trying to stop the Sea Train from taking Tom away. Franky barely survived and fixed his body by turning himself into a cyborg with random scrap, and he then took it upon himself to protect the blueprints for Pluton and Water 7 as a whole, all while suppressing his dream of building a ship that could sail around the entire world.

Brook

Brook is probably the Straw Hat with the most foreshadowing for their backstory. A decade into One Piece’s run, Brook was revealed to be one of the pirates who left Laboon with Crocus at Reverse Mountain. While they planned to come back for Laboon in three years, the entire crew was killed during a battle in the Florian Triangle, and while Brook’s Revive-Revive Fruit let him return to life in his skeletal body, the damage to his ship, combined with having his shadow stolen by Gecko Moria, stranded Brook for 50 years and kept him from returning to Laboon.

Many years later, Brook’s backstory was further expanded upon in the Elbaph arc. Following vague comments about Brook once being a knight, it was revealed that he was once a knight for the kingdom of Esperia and a close friend of the royal family, and he didn’t hesitate to fight for them when they declared war on the World Government. During the battle, though, Imu used his powers to corrupt Princess Shuri into killing her father, and the trauma of watching it all was so great that Brook spent decades convincing himself that Shuri had suddenly turned evil.

Jimbei

Jimbei was once a soldier of the Neptune Army, and along with Arlong and many other fishmen of his generation, he left Fishman Island when his brother figure, Fisher Tiger, became a pirate and attacked the World Government to free slaves. For years, Jimbei and the Sun Pirates continually fought against the Marines and freed slaves whenever they could, but when they tried to bring a girl named Koala back to her home, Fisher Tiger was attacked in an ambush and died because he refused to take a transfusion of human blood, even though he knew hating humans was wrong.

Jimbei then took command of the Sun Pirates, and he became a Warlord in exchange for the Government freeing Arlong from prison. Arlong went back to his villainous ways, and Jimbei not stopping him due to their past friendship led to Arlong invading Nami’s village and killing her mother. Later, after Otohime’s death, Jimbei was one of many fishmen touched by Fukaboshi’s speech about seeing Otohime’s dreams of equality realized, and Jimbei decided to keep fighting for a world where humans and fishmen could live in peace.

Which Straw Hat Pirate Has The Best Backstory In One Piece?

Across almost 30 years, One Piece has given every Straw Hat Pirate a rich and emotional backstory, and that begs the question of which one has the best backstory. The entire idea of that is obviously subjective, but if one were to judge them, Zoro and Usopp’s backstories, as effective as they are, would fall short because of how relatively small they are, and Jimbei’s backstory is also a bit lacking because the story that tells it isn’t really about him.

Nami, Chopper, and Franky all had great backstories from day one, and One Piece did a lot to revitalize Luffy and Brook’s backstories years after the fact with how much later arcs expanded on them. With that being said, the Straw Hats with the best backstories have to be Sanji and Robin; Robin’s backstory has a perfect balance of darkness and emotion while providing incredible context to her character, and Sanji’s works not only for the same reasons, but for the incredible amount of buildup and for how it sparked a great character arc for him that’s still being developed.

Regardless of which Straw Hat Pirate someone thinks has the best backstory, the key unifying factor for them is emotional writing that’s hit with incredible catharsis as the characters have their pasts challenged in the present. To this day, backstories and flashback arcs are the peak of One Piece’s emotional writing, and nowhere is that better shown off than with the backstories of the Straw Hat Pirates.

First Film

One Piece: The Movie

Cast

Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi

Created by

Eiichiro Oda

Character(s)

Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)