If One Piece is a testament to anything, it’s that you can’t choose your family, but you can for damn sure choose your chosen family. Speaking anecdotally, after reading 100 chapters of the manga a week during the pandemic, I quickly came around to the fandom’s refrain that detractors who are scared off by its length need to get over it, because Eiichiro Oda’s long-running series is a masterpiece. But, more importantly, his colorful bunch of freedom fighters is Shonen Jump’s definitive found family, with readers feeling just as much a part of the crew.
But even chosen families have their favorites. And having loved the Straw Hat crew across both its manga, anime, and Netflix live-action series, the tierlist for which member of the crew is my favorite has become iron-clad, with little wiggle room for sliding up or down the ranks of my favorite members of the crew.
So ahead of the release of the second season of Netflix’s One Piece, which will be introducing some crew members who don’t even know they’re gonna be lifelong friends yet, I’m ranking my favorite members of Luffy’s merry crew from my least to my most favorites. Honorable mentions to Vivi Neferatani, the Thousand Sunny, and Yamato. Without further ado, judge me gently, fellow nakama.
For live-action only fans who don’t want to know who’s joining the Straw Hats in the manga and anime, here’s one of these:
Franky
As the closest thing to American representation in the Straw Hat crew, “Iron Man” Franky lives up to the name. For starters, he’s a manly man who turned his body into a cyborg. His favorite foods are hamburgers, fries, and cola, and well… that’s kinda it. If it weren’t for whatever he and Nico Robin have got going on in the manga’s color spreads, I’d be pretty hard pressed to get excited about Franky gracing the pages of the manga or anime unless he was egging the men of the crew on with their unbridled love of robots.
But don’t let his knack for exclusively wearing a speedo and a Hawaiian shirt fool you; he’s a lovable oaf of a man who more than earns his keep both as the crew’s shipwright and as a hype fighter in his fisticuffs with Senor Pink (trust me, it’s peak). But beyond that, he’s a character I mostly go, “Oh, yeah, he’s here” whenever he pops up.
Brook
Now listen, I cried just as hard as anyone when “Soul King” Brook was first introduced in Thriller Bark. But buddy boy is a very short walk away from Master Roshi from being the type of perverted character that makes you roll your eyes all the way out of your skull. He’s basically the worst impulses of Sanji dialed way up without drinking his respect women juice by asking flat out if he can see some panties.
My mom always told me never fall in love with a musician, so I keep my affection for Brook at arm’s length and have to routinely remind myself about his Thriller Bark introduction—like Kanye West fans reminding themselves that on-again-off-again Nazi made “Graduation”—whenever the Straw Hats’ afro’d skeleton starts to get a bit too cute for my liking. Though my feelings for the Straw Hat’s bard are more akin to that time Tywin Lannister talked to Arya Stark: careful, girl. I enjoy you, but be careful.
Zoro
I’m sorry, I just don’t really like “Pirate Hunter” Zoro. I get it, he’s the first mate; he fights with three swords; his getting lost without fail is a bit that never gets old; he’s voiced by Christoper By God Sabat. But I’ve just never really vibed with him beyond his surface-level cool factor. My affinity for Zoro, or lack thereof, isn’t helped by the feeling that the exploration of his character peaks pretty early in the series. We got close to something in Wano, but not close enough for my liking! He’s still a cool guy with a neat goal of getting stronger. His being the tough-love dad to Tony Tony Chopper is cute. His rivalry with Sanji (where they might as well kiss and get it over with) serving as the always-on-point wings of Luffy’s crew is endearing.
Unfortunately, outside of his generationally cool guy moments, dude is a bit too one-note for me. Of course, his live-action counterpart, Mackenyu, is doing a great job of reminding me of how much I liked Zoro in the early goings of the manga. With any luck, his ranking there will increase. But even with the OPLA crew, he’s my least favorite. Granted, that’s the same as liking ice cream and saying matcha is your least favorite flavor. But yeah, sorry about it, Zoro fans.
Jinbe
It might’ve taken a minute for him to officially join the crew, but Jinbe “The Sea King” has always been a solid, likeable dude. He was there when Luffy was at his lowest; he’s basically the second-closest thing we’ve got to Black representation on the crew (by Piccolo’s rules); and his being one of the small handful of adults on the squad makes for great crew dynamics whenever they all split up Scooby-Doo style on whatever island they’ll inevitably liberate from tyranny.
I like Jinbe because he’s got cool older-play cousin energy. He’s mild-mannered but about his business, doesn’t want to offend anyone, yet always has something funny to add, commenting on the crew crashing out. If you dislike the Straw Hat’s helmsman, we’re gonna have to throw hands.
See More
