Monkey D. Luffy
Monkey D. "Straw Hat"
Luffy
(モンキー・D・ルフィ Monkī Dī Rufi?),
is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and the main protagonist. In
the beginning of the series, he accidentally eats the paramecia-type
Gum-Gum Fruit
(ゴムゴムの実 Gomu Gomu no Mi?), causing his body to gain the properties of highly stretchable rubber.
These properties are a result of Oda's desire for Luffy's fighting
style to be silly, so that no matter how tense a situation gets, the
reader can relax without becoming stressed out.
[title missing][page needed] In addition to his devil fruit ability, Luffy eventually learns to use
Haki. After his life is saved by
Shanks
when he is seven years old, Luffy decides to achieve the tantamount
goals of finding the series' titular treasure and succeeding
Gold Roger as King of the Pirates.
Ten years later, wearing Shanks' straw hat, he sets out to sea to
gather a crew and sail the Grand Line, where the One Piece is supposedly
hidden.
[ch. 7] He is voiced by
Mayumi Tanaka. In the
4Kids Entertainment English adaptation, he is voiced by Bella Hudson.
In the
Funimation Entertainment English adaptation, his voice is supplied by
Colleen Clinkenbeard.
Roronoa Zoro
Main article:
Roronoa Zoro
Roronoa "Pirate Hunter"
Zoro
(ロロノア・ゾロ?), named after
François l'Olonnais, is a swordsman who uses up to three swords, holding the third in his mouth. To fulfill a promise to his childhood friend and rival, "Kuina", he decides to become the world's greatest swordsman by defeating
Dracule Mihawk. Before meeting Luffy, Zoro has become a bounty hunter. Zoro is saved from his executioners by Luffy, who decides to follow his dream. He makes it clear that he would turn on his captain if he ever stepped between him and his dream, although he later says that he can not fulfill his dream if he did not help his captain fulfill his.
He is extremely poor at understanding geographical directions and gets
lost very easily. He also sleeps a great deal and loves to drink. After
the two years of intense training with Mihawk, Zoro has grown much more
powerful than before. In the anime adaptation, his voice actor is
Kazuya Nakai.
In the 4Kids English adaptation, his name is changed to Roronoa Zolo and "Pirate Hunter" Zolo, and is voiced by
Marc Diraison.
In the Funimation English adaptation, his voice is supplied by
Christopher R. Sabat.
Nami
"Cat Burglar"
Nami
(ナミ Nami?) is a navigator and thief who recognizes and analyzes even the slightest changes in the weather.
She is also an excellent pickpocket.
Her dream is to draw a complete map of the world.
Throughout the series, Nami fights using a three-sectioned bo staff.
Usopp later provides her with a version of this weapon capable of controlling weather, called the Climate Baton
(天候棒 Kurima Takuto?).
She is voiced by
Akemi Okamura. In the 4Kids English adaptation, her name is changed to Nami the "Navigator", and her voice actress is
Kerry Williams.
In the Funimation English adaptation, her voice is supplied by
Luci Christian.
Usopp
Usopp
(ウソップ Usoppu?), nicknamed "King of Snipers Sniper King"
(狙撃の王様そげキング Sogeki no Ō-sama Sogekingu?), is a liar, talented inventor, as well as a skilled painter and sculptor, and he fills the role of the Straw Hat's Sniper.
In combat, Usopp primarily uses slingshots to fire various kinds of ammunition.
During Usopp's early childhood, his father,
Yasopp, leaves him and his mother to join the Red-Haired Pirates.
Some time after this, Usopp's mother, Banchina
(バンキーナ Bankīna?),
falls ill. Usopp starts telling lies, stating that his father has
returned and will be taking them with him. His mother eventually dies,
but Usopp, in his sadness, continues to tell lies.
[ch. 41] Despite all this, he does not blame his father for leaving him, but takes pride in his heritage.
[ch. 25] In the anime series, his voice actor is
Kappei Yamaguchi.
Jason Anthony Griffith and
Sonny Strait provide his voice in the 4Kids and Funimation English adaptations, respectively.
In a 2007
Oricon
poll, Usopp was voted the 10th most wanted character to receive a spin
off amongst all respondents, and the 5th most popular amongst males.
In a review of Funimation Entertainment's second DVD release for Mania
Entertainment, Bryce Coulter notes that Usopp "brings lots of comic
relief to the series", but also comments that he "can be down right
annoying at times."
Sanji
"Black Leg"
Sanji
(サンジ Sanji?) is the Straw Hat Pirates' cook. He knows how it feels to starve from first hand experience,
so he will never refuse someone a meal.
He has a strong sense of chivalry, because of which, he will never harm a woman, even if he dies.
Sanji also seems to keep this code regardless of a woman's appearance.
His dream is to find the "All Blue"
(オールブルー Ōru Burū?), a legendary sea, containing every kind of fish in the world.
Sanji only uses kicks while fighting. He said that this is because a
chef's hands are his most prized possessions and should not be risked in
battle.
Sanji begins using a fire-based kick technique known as
Diable Jambe (悪魔風脚 (ディアブルジャンブ) Diaburu Janbu?), in which he heats his leg by spinning around rapidly to increase his attack power. Eventually, he can fly using CP9's
Skywalk technique and can use
Diable Jambe
without spinning around. According to One Piece episode 148, Sanji was
born in North Blue, but grew up in East Blue. He is voiced by
Hiroaki Hirata.
In the 4Kids English adaptation, he is voiced by
David Moo. In the Funimation English adaptation, his voice is supplied by
Eric Vale.
Tony Tony Chopper
Tony Tony "Cotton Candy Lover"
(わたあめ大好きのチョッパー Wata-ame Daisuki no Choppā) Chopper
(トニートニー・チョッパー Tonī Tonī Choppā) is a doctor and a blue-nosed
reindeer who gained human properties by eating the zoan-type Human-Human Fruit
(ヒトヒトの実 Hito Hito no Mi). Using a self-developed drug he calls Rumble Ball
(ランブル・ボール Ranburu Bōru), Chopper can assume more than the three forms provided by his devil fruit ability alone.
When complimented, Chopper acts really happy while either telling the
person who complimented him to stop trying to make him happy, or that
Chopper isn't very happy.
His voice actress is
Ikue Ōtani. In the 4Kids and Funimation English adaptations, his voice is supplied by
Lisa Ortiz and
Brina Palencia, respectively.
When creating Chopper, Oda stated that he wanted a mascot who is both cute and fearless.
An IGN review of the manga praised Chopper's character as one of the
best in the series and said that he was able to be both touching and
funny.
Oda said that the message he wanted to illustrate in regards to
Chopper's family situation is that a person who is not blood-related to
another person can still be considered as a member of one's family.
Nico Robin
"Devil Child"
Nico Robin
(ニコ・ロビン Niko Robin) is an archaeologist originating from Ohara
(オハラ), home of the world's largest and oldest library; she becomes an archaeologist at the age of eight and learns how to decipher the writings on the ancient stones called Poneglyph
(歴史の本文 (ポーネグリフ) Pōnegurifu),
which are scattered around the world. However, the World Government
destroys the island for housing archaeologists along with her returning
mother,
Nico Olvia
(ニコ･オルビア Niko Orubia), researching these stones.
As a result, Robin cooperates with various pirates and other outlaws,
eventually becoming a member of Baroque Works as its vice president,
nicknamed as "Ms. All-Sunday"
(ミス・オールサンデー Misu Ōrusandē) at the time, being briefly an antagonist to the Straw Hat Pirates before joining them. Like the scholars of Ohara before her, it is her dream to find and decipher the Rio Poneglyph
(真の歴史の本文 (リオ・ポーネグリフ) Rio Pōnegurifu), which is said to tell the world's lost history.
Her devotion to history and its preservation goes so far that she will
even risk her life to protect ancient artifacts and buildings. Robin ate the paramecia-type Flower-Flower Fruit
(ハナハナの実 Hana Hana no Mi), allowing her to create temporary copies of parts of her body on surfaces near her.
However, if her replicated parts are hurt, she feels the pain on her
actual body. Two years later, she can make giant copies of parts of her
body, and clones of herself. In the original Japanese series, Robin's voice actress is
Yuriko Yamaguchi.
In the 4Kids English adaptation, her codename was changed to Miss Sunday and she is voiced by
Veronica Taylor.
In the Funimation English adaptation, her voice was supplied by
Stephanie Young.
Franky
Originally named Cutty Flam
(カティ・フラム Kati Furamu), he eventually starts calling himself Franky
(フランキー Furankī) to hide his identity, gains infamy as "Cyborg" Franky
(サイボーグ フランキー Saibōgu Furankī), and becomes shipwright of the
Straw Hat Pirates. Abandoned by his pirate parents on the Grand Line island Water 7 at the age of ten, Franky becomes an apprentice to the master shipwright Tom along with Iceburg, who later becomes the island's mayor. When Tom is taken away as a criminal by the
World Government for building
Gold Roger's ship, the
Oro Jackson, Franky tries to stop them. In the process, he is severely injured and, to survive, rebuilds parts of his body using pieces of scrap metal, turning himself into a cola-powered
cyborg with super-human strength.
His dream is to build a ship, become its shipwright, and sail it to the end of the world. To that end, he builds the
Thousand Sunny, a
brigantine-rigged
sloop-of-war, and joins the Straw Hat Pirates. In the anime adaptation, his voice actor is
Kazuki Yao.
Patrick Seitz provides his voice in the Funimation English adaptation.
Brook
"Dead Bones"
(formerly "Humming"
) Brook
(ブルック Burukku), is a musician. Brook is a
living skeleton, resurrected by the paramecia-type Revive-Revive Fruit
(ヨミヨミの実 Yomi Yomi no Mi), which grants the user a second life. He is an excellent musician, who claims to be able to play any instrument, although he is usually seen playing the violin. He is also a skilled fencer, who uses a
shikomizue (a Japanese cane sword), in battle. Brook can hypnotize people with his music. His lightweight skeleton body allows him to jump extraordinarily high and to run across water. He has a very childish and energetic personality. When Brook's crew, the "Rumbar Pirates", enters the
Grand Line, they leave their pet whale "Laboon" behind at
Reverse Mountain, promising to return after sailing around the world.
Fifty years later, Brook considers it his duty to fulfill his former
crew's promise. After the timeskip, it is revealed that he can separate
his spirit to move individually of his body similar to Perona (at the
time being it is unknown if Brook's body can move or not in this state). He is voiced by
Chō.
The idea of a skeleton musician was first conceived by Oda in 2000.
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