The Straw Hat Pirates and their Dreams

One Piece is a full tapestry of plot threads, and so many intersect and return that I often feel discussion of the series is at once too broad and too specific. While the series’ meandering nature and endless side cast creates endless theories and discussions, I want to write my first article on the series in a more specific manner. One Piece’s greatest hallmarks are its tragic backstories and lengthy flashbacks, but in the main cast they’re contrasted by something powerful: their dreams. In this article I’ll introduce the Straw Hats to those unfamiliar with them, and I hope that I can bring a new perspective to those unfamiliar with the series.

Monkey D. Luffy

Luffy wants to be king of the pirates, like the legendary Gol D. Roger before him. Despite what that title and history might suggest, Luffy doesn’t have a personal connection to Roger, and doesn’t want to wield real power. When asked by Silvers Rayleigh, Roger’s right-hand man, in chapter 507, “Do you think you can do it? … Do you think you can conquer such powerful oceans?” Luffy replies, “I’m not going to conquer anything. The one who is most free is the pirate king!!!” This moment connects Luffy to the mythical past revealed in One Piece’s most recent arcs, and really shows Eichiro Oda’s commitment to One Piece’s rejection of power.

But becoming King of the Pirates isn’t just about conquering the strongest enemies, it’s about finding the One Piece. Although we are almost twenty-five years since the story’s beginning we still don’t know what the One Piece is, it definitely has huge implications for the world government, and when it is found, it will turn the world upside-down.

Roronoa Zoro

Zoro wants to be the world’s strongest swordsman. This goal is constantly tested, as in every arc Oda makes sure there’s a powerful swordsman for him to face. However, nothing makes it clear how difficult Zoro’s goal is better than his duel with Dracule Mihawk, the current greatest swordsman. Zoro gets his ass HANDED TO HIM. He loses so badly that he bears a massive scar across his entire body from that fight onwards. However, what’s important for Zoro’s character is what he declares afterwards, that he’ll never lose another fight again.

Originally, Zoro’s dream was an extension of his childhood rivalry with Kuina. Kuina was a student under the same master, and she was always better than Zoro, but she died an untimely death after they swore that one of them would become the world’s greatest swordsman. At her funeral, their master (who is also Kuina’s father) tells Zoro that “human beings are fragile things”. Zoro will spend the entire series proving them wrong, but after his fight with Mihawk it’s for a single purpose: serving his captain and his crew no matter how impossible the odds.

Usopp

Usopp’s dream is to become “a brave warrior of the sea”. This dream is the least concrete of the Straw Hats, and you could easily argue that Straw Hats, and you could easily argue that he’s already reached his goal. Time after time, Usopp starts a scenario with his signature cowardice and obvious lies before pulling through and succeeding when he’s needed most. Despite this, Usopp still seems to not believe that he’s the warrior he wants to be, and that might be because of his past.

As a child, Usopp constantly waited for his pirate father, Yassop, to come home to him and his sick mother. Usopp coped with being abandoned by his father through lies. He constantly told his dying mother that pirates were coming, meaning his dad was coming home, he told tall tales to a sick village girl, Kaya, and when pressured in the pirate world he continued those lies. Turning those lies of being a powerful fighter into reality is the core of his dream, and it seems that his course is leading him closer and closer to his father, where he might discover the strength he’s had his whole life.

Sanji

Sanji’s dream is to find the All Blue, a mythical place where a fisherman could find fish from anywhere in the world, meaning they could serve any kind of seafood imaginable. Oda often has the narrative joke that Sanji’s real dream is something to do with beautiful women (something I’ll write a blog about someday), but I feel the All Blue dream represents his character far better than his main gag. Other chefs look down on Sanji for his dream like he’s a kid believing in Santa Claus, but despite all that Sanji still believes.

This element of Sanji’s dream being a childish one fits into One Piece’s assertions that nothing is impossible, and that any dream no matter how foolish, is valid. While the All Blue is almost never brought up, Sanji as a character who is looked down upon for being his earnest self is a continuing theme. One that comes to a beautiful head in the Whole Cake arc, where Sanji realizes the value he has, and that as much as he needs the Straw Hat crew, they need him too.

Nami

Nami’s dream is to map the entire world. This dream in the context of the world is insane. To do this, Nami would have to scout the North, South, East, and West blue, and chart every possible route on the Grand Line, meaning she’d not only have to sail the globe multiple times over, but she’d have to do so on the most dangerous seas in the world (and EVERY sea in the One Piece world is dangerous). This dream has been pursued offscreen, so it’s almost certain that Nami finishing her goal will be something it’s implied she’ll do with the series’ ending.

While Nami is a character with a lot of narrative depth, her dream and role as a navigator doesn’t play an enormous role in the story proper. The main connection between Nami’s dream and the larger narrative is that before meeting Luffy, Nami was forced to use her cartography skills for Arlong, the man who murdered her mother and held her village for ransom, and now she is free to pursue life to her fullest, unburdened by tyranny. Luffy helping Nami was much more than a hero saving a damsel in distress, it was Luffy making the world a better place by allowing Nami to truly thrive.

Tony Tony Chopper

Chopper’s dream is to cure all diseases. I have absolutely no idea how Chopper is going to do this within the series, and I have no idea how that would be possible in the world even if it’s significantly easier than it would be in the real world.

What’s probably going to happen is that Chopper will work with the Straw Hats to “cure” the “disease” of tyranny and reduce suffering and illness in the world by overthrowing those gatekeeping access to food, clean water, and medicine.

Nico Robin

Robin’s dream is to discover the hidden history of the world: what happened during the Void Century. As implied by the name, the Void Century is a 100-year period that is a complete mystery to the public, and one that’s forbidden to be researched. For researching this time, Robin and people she loved faced terrible consequences.

Robin and her story are most directly tied to One Piece’s themes. Her life is a testament to the World Government’s evil and the way their tyranny restricts people both externally and internally. In continuing to pursue this goal, Robin defies some of the World Government’s most precious laws, and the oppressive effects they had on her life. As One Piece nears its ending, it’s clear that the World Government’s tyranny, the void century, and the One Piece itself are all deeply tied. Fans are just as eager to see this mystery uncovered as Robin.

Franky

Franky’s dream is to build a ship that sails the world. This ties into his backstory as the apprentice of Tom, the shipwright who built Gol D. Roger’s ship. In this backstory, Franky was obsessed with creating weapons, but the young man didn’t understand the nature of creating machinery. As Tom put it later, no matter what, when someone creates something, you puff out your chest and own it. Building a ship that can sail the world not only means Franky lives up to his master’s legend, but it also means that he created a masterpiece he can be truly proud of.

Brook

Brook’s dream is to return to an old friend waiting for him at the start of the Grand Line, Laboon. While the nature of Brook’s connection to the whale is a part of his backstory which I’d like to keep vague due to the power it had on me when unspoiled, suffice to say that long ago Brook promised he’d cross the entire Grand Line and visit Laboon from the other side. As mentioned before, the Grand Line is incredibly dangerous, making this a rather difficult endeavor. Brook has spent a long time traversing the seas, but Laboon is still waiting for him. With the help of the Straw Hats, Brook might one day reconnect with his long-lost friend, a moment sure to bring tears to the fans’ eyes.

Jinbe

Jinbe’s dream is to create a world where fish-men and humans can coexist. While this part of the worldbuilding isn’t established until the Sabaody Archipelago arc, it’s revealed that the world government oppresses fish-men, even using them as highly valued slaves. Because of this, fish-men have feuded with humans and the world government for a long time, but the recent history has seen moves towards the positive. In the recent past, Jinbe became close allies with one of the four pirate emperors, Whitebeard, who vowed to defend Fish-Man Island as his territory. Furthermore, there have been diplomatic efforts to have fish-men included in the world-government. These dueling ideas of independent piracy and coexistence with the mostly evil World Government are at the core of Jinbe’s story, and his ending might show a way for the two to coexist.

With that, I hope you can have a deeper understanding of One Piece’s characters, and if this is your first exposure to them I encourage you to watch this wonderful series.