So I recently bought my first physical Manga issue ever which was the Volume 1 of One Piece and naturally I decided to read it. While reading the first chapter I pondered the question “What If Luffy actually did join the Red Hair Pirates?” What would it be like?
Then I did the same for Zoro and then I did the same for Nami and it quickly snowballed into “What If Each Straw Hat Was a Member of a Different Pirate Crew?” So I decided to actually make a post about which Crew would each Straw Hat fit the best in.
Don’t think this as of “What if Luffy never met his crew” but rather an Alternative Universe where Straw Hats are just Members of other Pirate Crews.
1-Luffy
For Luffy I think this is a bland, but very fitting, choice but The Red Hair Pirates. They are the reason why he wants to be a Pirate and this whole journey started with them and Luffy wanting to join them. This would fit perfectly as Luffy originally wanted to sail as an apprentice on their ship. His and Shanks’ relationship could mirror that of a Kid Shanks and Roger. He could even eat the same fruit since he stole it from them anyway. It’s also funny to mention that both Luffy and Buggy ate their fruit accidentally because of Shanks.
It’s hard to imagine Luffy’s dynamic with the crew beyond this but I’d assume he’d eventually be a high ranking officer of the Crew, maybe even the Vice-Captain. I’d imagine that Luffy would symbolically be Shanks’ “Left-Hand Man” as Shanks had sacrificed his left arm to save Luffy and since his left arm seems to be his dominant one that would make Luffy his real Second in Command.
2-Zoro
Zoro is a bit tough to pick but I think another Yonko, Kaido of The Beasts Pirates, would be great. Zoro has the qualities of a King and is extremely competitive and driven as he searches for that World’s Strongest Swordsman title. This aligns very well with Kaido’s Crew meritocracy as well as Kaido having the title of “World’s Strongest Creature”. He could be a Tobi Roppo, replacing Sasaki as he seems to be the least interesting one, gunning for that Top Position of The All-Star and rising in rank. Or he could just be the “King” of the crew.
Since he is part of Beast Pirates naturally a Zoan fruit would come with it. This is perfect since Zoan fruit would not interfere with his swordsmanship as it only enhances his strength. Tiger Zoan would be vanilla picks since Tiger is Zoro’s Animal Counterpart according to Oda, a White Tiger Zoan (Mythical or just regular) specifically would be great as it’s often shown to oppose the Azure Dragon to indicate Zoro wanting the top spot. Also, Tigers have strong Jaws so you know that grip will be stronger now.
But there is also a another possibility as Oda has said that If Zoro were to eat a Devil Fruit, it would be Kaido’s Devil Fruit but there is a twist where it’s actually his sword that eats it. So I think his sword eating a Devil Fruit would also be a nice way to go, even better have all three of his swords eat Devil Fruits, a Tiger, Shark (Saw-Shark the same as Arlong) and Dragon.
But I’d still prefer the White Tiger Fruit for Zoro himself to eat.
3-Nami
Nami’s two most prominent characteristics are her love for money and her weather/navigation related abilities. Unfortunately, there are no crews that would fit both. I was thinking Kuja Pirates since she is a woman but that is so surface-level and not creative at all. Other choice was Fallen Monk Pirates since they originated from Sky Island much like the one Nami trained during the time-skip. I eventually settled on Black Cat Pirates. As their name suggests they have cat aesthetic going around and Nami fits right in with her “Cat Burglar” epithet. Even if she doesn’t look like a cat she could still have a wardrobe change to resemble one of Who’s Who’s crewmember or even go as far as eat a Black Cat Zoan (not a fan of this).
Kuro is also known as the second smartest man in East Blue right behind Ben Beckman so Nami, being the intelligent woman that she is, would fit right in as his Vice-Captain. And since the crew isn’t that strong she could also be a serious powerhouse of the crew. The two of them also seem to share the love for money as Kuro was planning on stealing Kaya’s inheritance and we all know about Nami and money. Naturally she would also be their Navigator.
4-Usopp
Usopp is a perfect member for The Buggy Pirates! Both He and Captain Buggy are legends and Gods amongst men!
But in all seriousness Usopp is just like Buggy, in fact I would go as far as say Usopp is the Buggy of the Straw Hats Pirates. Usopp’s and Luffy’s relationship reminds me a lot of Shank’s and Buggy’s without the hate involved between the two.
I can only imagine all of the dumb shenanigans the two of them would end up doing. Naturally, Usopp would be the Vice-Captain of the crew and try to take over as a Captain all the time. And since Buggy has the Chop Chop Fruit making him immune to cuts, Usopp being a sniper would be the perfect counter to him.
Usopp also fits in the crew as it originally was based on a Circus Performers (Clown, Unicyclist and Lion Tamer) and Usopp would fill his role as a Trick Shooter/Human Dartboard or literally any other job as Usopp is a grade “A” scammer. He wouldn’t need to get a Devil Fruit but for the sake of fitting better, I think Pocket Pocket Fruit would be perfect since it’s the one that Oda said Usopp would have if he was a Devil Fruit user.
He could store Buggy in it to hide him all the time or just his legs so Buggy can freely float around without having to worry about his legs. He can also tinker with Muggy Ball to make it stronger and even add it to his own arsenal of Pop-Greens. I know Blamenco currently has the fruit and I want to avoid changes like this BUT Blamenco is such a small character that I think it doesn’t matter if he has it or if he doesn’t even exist.
5-Sanji
Another obvious, but very fitting, choice would be Big Mom Pirates for Sanji. I like the idea of the Monster Trio being each part of a Yonko crew and competing with each other. Especially Sanji and Zoro since Big Mom and Kaido have history together as they both were members of the Rocks Pirates. Sanji is a natural fit with Big Mom Pirates as he is one of the best chefs out there while her entire crew is food based. He made the cake that knocked Big Mom out!
Naturally, he would be married to Pudding although she might need to be aged up depending on the timeline. Alternatively, he could marry another one of her daughters. Of course his Germa 66 connections would eventually be known by Big Mom before she marries off one of her daughters to him. As for his position in the crew, I’m not sure he would be one of the Sweet Commanders since it seems those position are reserved for her children but if not he would be one of them. Other than that he would take over Streusen’s position as the head chef.
