Straw Hat Pirates

The Straw Hat Pirates, also known as the Mugiwara Pirates, the Straw Hat Crew, or simply the Straw Hats, are an infamous and powerful rising pirate crew that originated from the East Blue, but have various members from different areas. They are the main focus and protagonists of the manga and anime One Piece, and are led by the main protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. The "Straw Hats" are named after Luffy's signature hat that was given to him by Red-Haired Shanks, and are first referred to as the Straw Hat Pirates by Smoker in Alabasta. The crew sailed on the Going Merry, their first official Straw Hat ship, up until the Water 7 Arc. During the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Franky and Iceburg built them a new ship which was named the Thousand Sunny by Iceberg even though the members fought over different names. The Straw Hats currently consist of ten members whose combined bounties equal 3,161,000,100.

Following the events on the Sabaody Archipelago, all nine members were separated from one another. For two years, they trained in relatively isolated locations, becoming stronger for the sake of helping each other. They then reunited and have since become an active and massive force in the New World, adding the former Shichibukai Jinbe to their crew. They have even managed to take one of Yonko Big Mom's living weapons, Zeus, into their crew, as Nami's willing servant and the crew's new weapon.

Jolly Roger
The crew's Jolly Roger is a cartoon-like depiction of a traditional skull and cross-bones with the skull wearing Luffy's trademark straw hat. Due to Luffy's morbid drawing skills, Usopp was the one who drew the flag. In addition to being on their flag, the jolly roger has also been shown on the sails of the Going Merry and the Thousand Sunny.

Crew Members
As a result of Luffy's choice in who joins the crew, the Straw Hats are notable for being one of the most varied, if not bizarre, pirate crews in the One Piece world.

Their ranks have members vastly different from one another. These include a doctor who is a shape-shifting reindeer that can be mistaken for something else depending on his form, such as a gorilla when full human or a tanuki when in his usual mid-form; a cyborg for a shipwright who has very eccentric behavior and wears almost nothing except shirts and swim briefs; and a lively, undead, perverted skeletal musician. If their former lives and activities are considered, it only adds to the crew's collective strangeness: the captain who has a family consisting of infamous and dangerous people; their combatant was a former bounty hunter; their cook is a fugitive prince from a family of royal assassins; their sniper is a compulsive liar whose father is a member of a Yonko's crew; and their navigator is a burglar who specialized in stealing from pirates. Their archaeologist also worked for a criminal organization formerly run by a Shichibukai and she is also a skilled assassin and the sole survivor of Ohara. The crew's helmsman is a Fish-Man who was not only a former Shichibukai and captain of the Sun Pirates, but also a former prisoner of the Great Prison, which is where he met Luffy. The crew has even captured a living weapon and Homie; formerly under the control of one of the Yonko, and have it willingly become a servant for the crew.

The Straw Hats have four Devil Fruit users: Luffy, Chopper, Robin, and Brook. The majority of them are also fairly young, with three members still being teenagers and four members being thirty or older, although two of the four oldest members are just as childish as the others. Unlike most crews, they consider their ships to be crew members.

During the Dressrosa Arc, the crew temporarily split in half, with one group staying to finish business on Dressrosa and the other heading on to Zou in order to protect Caesar Clown and Kozuki Momonosuke. The group heading to Zou (Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Brook) was referred to as the Curly Hat Crew (ぐるわらの一味), named after Sanji, the de facto leader of the group ("Twirly Hat Pirates" in the Funimation Sub). This same group forms the core of the Sanji Retrieval Team (サンジ奪還チーム) during the Whole Cake Island Arc, but with some personnel changes: Luffy has resumed leadership, Sanji is missing at Whole Cake Island, and the minks Pedro and Carrot are accompanying them in their quest to "retrieve Sanji".

Nefertari Vivi is the crown princess of Alabasta, who along with her pet duck Karoo ended up traveling with the Straw Hat Pirates for most of the Alabasta Saga. She was asked to become a member of the crew by the other Straw Hats after spending a lot of time with them, but ultimately, she decided to remain in Alabasta in order to fulfill her royal duties.

In the game, Legend of the Rainbow Island, a young boy named Dias joins the crew. At the end of the game, however, he leaves the crew. His overall inclusion in the crew's history is considered non-canon, as it is part of a video game.

At the end of the Dressrosa Arc, the crew becomes the leader of an alliance called the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, which involves seven groups who sided with Luffy in the conflict between himself and Doflamingo, becoming subordinate to the Straw Hats, while maintaining their status as individual crews with their own free will.

Cavendish, Bartolomeo, Sai, Ideo, Leo, Hajrudin and Orlumbus asked to become Luffy's subordinates by offering him a cup of sake. Luffy refused but said they would still be bonded by their fight against Doflamingo and they would help each other out at any time. However, the captains decided to drink the sake anyway, pledging to come to Luffy's aid whenever he needed them, while Luffy was not obligated to do the same. The Straw Hat Grand Fleet, consisting of 5640 people, was then formed, and a party ensued as their fleet departed from Dressrosa.

Protected Territories
While the Straw Hat Pirates have not shown any interests in taking control of territories like the other big name crews, they have managed to become friends and allies with the leaders of several island nations. Aside from this, Bartolomeo and his Barto Club (of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet) have been visiting and helping islands under the protection of the Yonko (specifically Shanks) while burning down the flags of their protectors in an attempt to sell them Straw Hat merchandise and spread the word of the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * Fish-Man Island's ruling royal family has shown interest in wanting to declare their island a territory of the Straw Hat Pirates and after news of their fight against Big Mom was made public, they decided to declare that their island was under the protection of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Crew Strength
The Straw Hat crew has left nothing but sheer miracles in its wake.

Despite having a small number of members, the Straw Hats are an extremely powerful crew with amazing potential, as stated by Kuzan when he first met them, eventually growing to the point of being capable of challenging Yonko-class crews like the Big Mom Pirates. Their captain has continuously defeated people who are renowned for their incredible strength such as Crocodile, Gekko Moriah and Donquixote Doflamingo of the Shichibukai, the highly feared tyrant Enel from Skypiea,, the infamous Rob Lucci of the CP9, and two of the Big Mom Pirates' mighty Sweet Commanders Charlotte Cracker and Charlotte Katakuri. The crew itself has done things which most would think impossible and completely insane like defeating an entire organization (such as Baroque Works, CP9 and the Donquixote Pirates,) punching a World Noble, breaking in and out of the judicial island, Enies Lobby, and crashing the tea party of a Yonko as well as escaping her territory. In fact, after the incident that occurred at Enies Lobby, the World Government has labeled them as a very dangerous crew since their actions endangered the balance of the Three Great Powers.

All of them have at least one talent at which they are virtually perfect at and each member is, more or less, a formidable if not downright fearsome fighter in their own right. While all of them have amazing strength in one way or another, four of them have astonishingly inhuman strength: the captain, the combatant, and the chef (dubbed by some members of the crew as the "Monster Trio") as well as the helmsman, who is a Fish-Man, a race that has been stated to be physically stronger than humans as well as a former member of the Shichibukai.

So far, five of the ten current members are shown to have awakened their Haki. Luffy is shown to use all three types; Zoro, Sanji and Jinbe have wielded two types; whilst Usopp has recently manifested just one type (Usopp's Kenbunshoku Haki shown in Dressrosa when he sniped Sugar).

On our journey across the islands, all of us became stronger without even noticing.

Each member, in the beginning, has some fairly high fighting abilities, but as they progress, each member has had to become stronger due to each opponent they encounter either being significantly stronger than the last or having required them to develop new skills or techniques to combat new opponents.

Two of the Straw Hats greatest attributes are their charisma and unpredictability. With their extremely friendly personalities, they manage to make all the right friends in all the right places, which eventually accomplish their goals (though it was never their original intention). These friends and allies have proven to be useful depending on the location or objective, and thus the Straw Hats seem to have no regrets fighting for their sakes given the circumstances, and vice versa. Due to this, and the Straw Hats reputation and impressive bounties, there are many laymen who believe the crew is made up of hundreds, if not thousands of members. They also tend to act upon their emotions, throwing normal logic out of order. By using the freedom granted by their status as pirates, they tend to act erratically, either helping people or picking a fight, simply because it is something they wish to do. Both these attributes have been shown to destroy the carefully laid plans of criminal masterminds with large influential organizations, which took them years to cultivate, like those of the three former Shichibukai (Crocodile, Gekko Moriah, and Donquixote Doflamingo), the former 'God' of Skypiea, Enel, as well as the Yonko (Big Mom and Kaido).

Overall, their most unique strength is the fact that the Straw Hat crew, on many occasions, are extremely lucky, being able to achieve many things that would be considered impossible feats. This includes various wild escapes from Marine captures and ambushes; confronting, defeating, and escaping Shichibukai and World Government led organizations with no casualties; managing to reach Skypiea via the Knock Up Stream without losing anybody while simultaneously escaping the Blackbeard Pirates, and even escaping Big Mom's tea party due to a bomb going off. In fact, some of these lucky accomplishments are considered miraculous in hindsight.

I'll do whatever you cannot do. And you do whatever I cannot do!!!

While each member can hold their own by themselves, what makes the Straw Hats truly strong is their teamwork, which has become more important as the series has progressed. When one of them is incapable of doing a task, another can help out in their place instead. This helps the crew very much in facing odds that may be too much for them if they work separately.

When at sea, the Straw Hats tend to be relaxed, playing with each other, training, reading or whatever else they may do to occupy themselves. They can maintain this attitude even in the unstable waters of Paradise, New World or even in their descent down to (and ascent from) Fish-Man Island. However, whenever a crisis pops up, like storms, tidal waves, large sea life or falling ships, the crew instantly snap out of their relaxed state and swing into action. They all seem to know their place and will do what they should in the circumstances. Most of the time though, they tend to sail at a casual pace, without rushing.

After the two-year time skip, even though they have been dormant for some time, the Straw Hats are talked amongst pirates on a legendary level. Even Sentomaru casually comments that pirates are not like what they used to be. He calls the impostors of the Straw Hats a wasteful trash when Demaro Black boasts of his lineage in front of him, prompting Sentomaru to take him down with a single blow of his axe, and then saying that the real Monkey D. Luffy would never have done so.

The crew has gained legendary status since they first set sail, on par with all the other major crews of the world, even Yonko crews like the Blackbeard Pirates and Big Mom Pirates. They are currently the only known pirate crew to openly wage war against the World Government and have practically gotten away with it. It still stands that they are the only pirate crew to have escaped from every branch of law enforcement that the government could throw at them; the Shichibukai, Cipher Pol, Impel Down, and Marineford have all failed in their attempts to hold down the crew (with the captain penetrating and escaping from the latter twice by himself). Perhaps as a testament to their strength, they are the only known crew where every single member has a bounty on their head.

When news of them resurfaced, the entire Marine organization was thrown into a frenzy to stamp out their revival whilst the rest of the pirates cheered on. It is possible that their fame had led many to join the ranks of piracy, for when the fake Straw Hats started recruiting pirates, many flocked to join up, and were also greatly shocked when the "Monster Trio" gave a show of a small fraction of their power.



By the end of their two-year-long training, it could be presumed that the Straw Hats have grown exponentially in individual power, as some of them took their self-imposed training under the tutelage of prominent figures of the sea like Silvers Rayleigh, Dracule Mihawk, Emporio Ivankov, and Monkey D. Dragon. Each member of the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji) have shown to be able to defeat a Pacifista in a single attack, whereas it took the combined efforts of the entire crew to barely beat one before. Luffy easily destroyed a Pacifista with a single Haki-embedded Jet Pistol as well as Zoro and Sanji, the latter using his Diable Jambe, both dealt crippling blows to a Pacifista with raw strength. Zoro and Sanji each used attacks that likely would have been sufficient to destroy the Pacifista on their own had they not been trying to outdo each other.

Another example of the Monster Trio's strength is that they were able to defeat a sea monster such as the Kraken (a creature several times larger than the Thousand Sunny itself) without much of an effort underwater, where all their strength is greatly decreased. Afterward, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Brook defeat all the troops stationed in the Ryugu Palace with ease. The crew also easily took out the 100,000 lower members of the New Fish-Man Pirates which consisted of about 70,000 Fish-Men and 30,000 humans with Luffy alone taking out about 50,000 people with a single burst of Haoshoku Haki. Even the weaker members, Nami and Usopp, became strong enough to take down the fighters of the Donquixote Pirates; (who are both Devil Fruit Users) Buffalo and Baby 5, all by themselves.

In addition to their strength, the Straw Hats have established unofficial, and temporary alliances with other pirates, non-pirates, and sometimes Marines and royalty when fighting against powerful enemies, but they gain a permanent friendship with their allies when they came to their aid and support them on several occasions whenever they cross paths. In the Punk Hazard Arc, the Straw Hat Pirates entered into an official alliance with Trafalgar Law and his Heart Pirates with the goal of defeating Kaido. During the Zou Arc, the Straw Hat Pirates and the Heart Pirates extended their alliance to join forces with the Mink Tribe and the Kozuki Family of Wano Country in order to help bring down not only Kaido, but the Shogun of Wano as well, making the alliance even more powerful.

Following the battle with the Donquixote Pirates, the Straw Hats' allies who participated in the battle organized themselves into seven divisions and formed the Straw Hat Grand Fleet which numbered a total of 5640 members, giving the Straw Hats significantly larger amounts of manpower similar to the Whitebeard Pirates.

Reputation
Over the course of their journey, the Straw Hats' reputation continues to grow. This reputation can go to enemies and allies alike. In the eyes of their allies, the Straw Hats are regarded as saviors, heroes, or even the only crew that can overcome odds that were deemed impossible by others. Alabasta, Zou, Ryugu Kingdom, Sakura Kingdom, and Dressrosa regard the Straw Hats as saviors and heroes for their actions. Their reputation influences others such as Koby who dreams to become a Marine officer in hopes to challenge Luffy someday, Kureha takes the Isshi-100 under her guidance, and Neptune decides to continue his deceased wife's legacy by attending the Levely.

In the eyes of the World Government and Marines, the Straw Hats are labeled as notorious pirates. From their declaration of war and defeating CP-9 at Enies Lobby to their involvement in the chaos in Totto Land made the government considers the Straw Hats as a serious threat. Some enemies respect the Straw Hats such as Smoker due to a common enemy they share, notably Caesar Clown. Admiral Fujitora originally planned to capture the Straw Hats at Dressrosa but later decided to let them go and even thanked them after what they did to defeat Donquixote Doflamingo.

In the eyes of other pirates, they labeled the Straw Hats as the craziest pirates of their lifetime. Capone Bege stated that no pirates are as crazy as the Straw Hats after witnessing Zoro's attempt to strike down Saint Charlos. Eustass Kid and Trafalgar D. Water Law were amused to see Luffy and his crew assault the World Nobles at the human auction house. After the timeskip, the Straw Hats have become influential enough that Neptune believes using their flag will keep his island safe from pirate attacks.

Bounties
We'd never have tried anything here... if you hadn't attacked us first!!

Though they are pirates in name, the Straw Hat Pirates do not engage in the stereotypical activities of pirates. They are all kindhearted for the most part and only fight in self-defense, or in vengeance for their friends. In fact, before the Enies Lobby Arc, when CP9 initiated the conflict by blackmailing Nico Robin and detaining her, the Straw Hats mostly fought only other pirates (with the exception of Luffy and Zoro, who took down the dreaded Axe Hand Morgan and several of his unwilling subordinates, Sanji, who beat up Fullbody and possibly some other unfortunate Marines prior to becoming an official Straw Hat, and Jinbe, who had numerous skirmishes during his time as a member of the Sun Pirates). It seems they were considered dangerous to the World Government and given bounties simply because they called themselves pirates.

They are considered villains by the World Government and the general public who aren't familiar with them. While this is a hassle for them, like most other pirates, the majority of the Straw Hats see their bounties as a form of achievement, a sign of how much fame and recognition their actions have produced. Nami notes that, as pirates, they are used to taking the blame and being portrayed as the villains. Their current bounties now total up to 3,161,000,100.

Relationships Amongst the Crew
Don't you dare insult my captain in front of me. He would never think about betraying us! No matter how much easier it would make things! (...) But no matter what he has to do...what hardships he has to overcome...he puts his absolute faith in us...and we reciprocate in kind! So we gladly risk our lives, since he does the same without a second thought!



Each member of the crew values their friendships very highly. Despite their usual comic annoyance with each other from time to time, they very much love being together as well as being a member of the crew. So much so, that they tend to forget their worries and burdens, as shown with Nami, Robin, Franky, and Brook.

One of the major themes of the series is how committed they are to each other, to the point where they are willing to give up what is important to them, such as their lives, and even their dreams, for one of their crew members. If one single member is hurt by an outside force (physically or emotionally), the other members will become enraged and take drastic action to avenge their friends. Previously, they have gone as far as to take on an entire organization, make enemies with the World Government, and even attack the World Nobles.

Examples of their camaraderie include: During their fight with Bartholomew Kuma, Sanji, Zoro, and Brook threw themselves in front of their friends to keep Kuma from getting to them. After Luffy was overwhelmed with grief over Ace's death, not only was he able to overcome his pain by remembering that he still had his crew, but the others struggled to return to him for support when they realized how hurt Luffy would be. Upon receiving his message to wait two years, they all reminisced on how Luffy changed their lives for the better and resolved to use that time to hone their skills in order to be more useful to him and protect each other better from any danger.

If any of them encounter a person that the crew dislikes either because of a past event or simply because that member is against what that person is doing, then the rest of the crew will hold a deep grudge against that person and will express the desire to attack them and will not show them any mercy. When Vivi (despite not being a crew member) showed her hatred of Crocodile, the rest of the crew, especially Luffy, all had the intention of taking him down without even knowing him. When Brook told the Straw Hats of how Moriah stole his shadow, Luffy immediately asked where he was so he could get Brook's shadow back despite just meeting the skeleton, while the others were all behind him.

A common trait shared among the crew is that they all enjoy beating up their enemies and refuse to show mercy no matter how much they apologize. This trait seems to be the strongest for Luffy. Even after beating up the person they despise, they still hold a very deep grudge against them and refuse to show any empathy or kindness towards them, even if they claim to have changed or if they have tried to do anything to make up for what they have done. The most notable example of this is how every member of the Straw Hats show a very deep hate-filled grudge against Caesar for what he did back at Punk Hazard and even after Luffy defeated him, they all still abused him by punching, kicking, and yelling at him for as so much as talking back at them, showing how merciless the crew can be.

The Straw Hats are a group that works towards their personal morals and convictions, with each member of the crew being ready and willing to help out the other, even if they have misgivings. For example, when Nami and Chopper both expressed their wish to help out the kidnapped children on Punk Hazard, and the poison gas victims on Zou, though the others did warn them of potential troubles that may occur if they do so, they unhesitatingly helped them regardless. However, if one crew member acted out against the wishes of the rest, the others will do everything in their power to steer them back towards themselves, just like how they went out of their way to rescue Robin, after she attempted to sacrifice herself for the Straw Hats without their consent in the Water 7 Saga.

Dreams
Each member of the Straw Hats has a dream they want to achieve. These dreams are their reasons for joining Luffy's crew, and essentially the driving force behind their lives. Each crew member's dream was inspired by tragedies (often deaths) in their childhoods that involved at least one person they idolized and cared for deeply.

Some, like Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Jinbe are fulfilling their dreams by accumulating knowledge and/or achieving a certain task while sailing the Grand Line. Others, like Luffy, Sanji, Robin, and Brook are searching for a person, place or thing that can only be found on the Grand Line.

Whatever the reason, each of the Straw Hat's dreams involves traveling the Grand Line, and each Straw Hat member refuses to die before achieving their dreams. However, their determination does not extend to sacrificing or abandoning their comrades for the fulfillment of their dreams.

Members' Dreams

 * Luffy's dream is to become the Pirate King and gather his own pirate crew to back him up. To become the Pirate King, he must find Gold Roger's famed treasure, One Piece, which is implied to be on Raftel. As for a crew, he has brought together nine people so far who have caught his attention. Luffy is also looking to meet up with Red Haired Shanks again and return his straw hat to him, but will only do this after his crew has surpassed Shanks' crew in strength.


 * Zoro's dream, shared with Kuina, is to become the world's greatest swordsman. To fulfill this dream, he must surpass every swordsman in the world, including the world's current greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk. Zoro nearly gave up his dream in an attempt to convince the Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma to refrain from killing Luffy despite that the first time they met Zoro threatened to kill Luffy if he got in the way of his dream, proving his loyalty towards his captain as well as the rest of the crew, as he believes that he cannot be the world's strongest swordsman if he cannot protect his captain's dream (Luffy, likewise, believes that the Pirate King should have the best swordsman on his side).


 * Nami's dream is to draw a map of the entire world. She has already mapped all the areas that she has traveled, and it can be assumed that she will create a world map once the story is over. Also at the beginning of the story, she was also trying to get 100,000,000 in order to buy and save her hometown, Cocoyasi Village, from the clutches of the Fish-Man pirate Arlong; while her savings were confiscated after stealing 93,000,000, in the process of stealing from pirates, she met Luffy, who defeated Arlong and freed the village.


 * Usopp's dream is to become a brave warrior of the sea like his father, Yasopp. Although he implies that he has accomplished this dream (before he leaves the crew), but eventually realizes on his confrontation with Luffy that has yet to achieve it, Usopp has a second dream. After the Little Garden Arc he hopes to visit Elbaf and see the warrior giants he idolizes, and during the Post-War Arc Usopp develops yet another dream, to be the true Sniper King, after he got Luffy's message to get stronger in two years.


 * Sanji's dream, shared with Zeff, is to find the All Blue, a legendary ocean. It is assumed to be in the Grand Line, a place where all waters from all over the four seas gather, bringing fish from all over the globe. During the early-Arlong Arc, Sanji had stated that he wanted to visit Fish-Man Island someday to see a Mermaid, which has been fulfilled; sure enough, the chef broke down crying upon seeing all the mermaids and implied that meeting the mermaids was on an equivalent level to finding the All-Blue. He also wished to consume the Suke Suke no Mi but unfortunately for him, Absalom destroyed that dream as he had already eaten it. However, upon seeing Absalom's detestable actions, Sanji changed his mind about his desire to consume it. As with Zoro, Sanji nearly gave up his dream of locating All Blue when he prioritized protecting Zeff from the death threats of his father and the Big Mom Pirates.


 * Chopper's dream is to become a great doctor that can cure any disease, much like his father figure Dr. Hiluluk's ambition, as well as to travel across the world, exploring with his friends, and expanding his horizons.


 * Robin's dream is to find the Rio Poneglyph which tells the True History of the One Piece world including the Void Century, continuing the research of her mother Nico Olvia and her old mentor Clover. Robin had an opportunity to learn about the Void Century after talking to Silvers Rayleigh, but decided to continue her journey. Recently, she learned about the Road Poneglyphs, which point to Raftel and the Rio Poneglyph.


 * The Going Merry's dream as the crew's ship was to sail with the Straw Hats forever which it revealed to the crew upon its demise. Due to its destruction, the Going Merry's dream appeared to go unfulfilled. However, Merry's spirit inhabits the Straw Hats' new ship, the Thousand Sunny, and therefore its dream can live on through it.


 * Franky's dream is to create and travel on a dream ship which would experience countless battles, can overcome extreme hardships and can reach the end of the Grand Line. He has created the ship which the Straw Hats are riding and it's his task to keep it in good condition. Previously, one of his dreams was to beat Spandam to pieces, fortunately, this was fulfilled toward the end of the Enies Lobby Arc.


 * Brook's dream is to return to Laboon, whom his former crew, the Rumbar Pirates, had left behind at Reverse Mountain for his safety, with the promise to return after crossing the Grand Line. He wishes to fulfill that promise to Laboon, as well as that of his former crew-mates, who died at their journey, to deliver their final song recorded in a tone dial before their death.


 * Jinbe's dream, which he inherited from his former captain, Fisher Tiger, is the coexistence of humans and the undersea dwellers. He initially resigned from Neptune's Royal Guards to join Tiger in his quest for equality, and then allied himself with the World Government by becoming a Shichibukai, and with two Yonkos (Edward Newgate and Charlotte Linlin) in order to protect the citizens of Fish-Man Island from being attacked. However, as stated by the Sun Pirates, those actions were mostly for the benefit of others, as they encouraged him to follow his new desire to help Luffy become the next Pirate King.

The X Mark


The X Mark is something the first six Straw Hats (Luffy to Chopper), as well as Nefertari Vivi and Carue, had on their left forearms.

During their adventure in Alabasta, they had to face a very tricky opponent, Mr. 2, with his Devil Fruit Power, which can make him look like any one of them. Zoro came up with an idea to counteract this power.

They made a black X mark on their left arms, as a symbol of their belonging to the Straw Hats. To prevent this being copied by Mr. 2, it was covered by a bandage and only revealed as proof of identity. The intention being that the band appeared to be proof, but in fact, concealed the true sign. Luffy then stated that the X mark was a symbol of their friendship.

The X mark came into play three times in Alabasta:
 * 1) When Carue reached Alubarna to deliver a message to Vivi's father, Nefertari Cobra, Chaka noticed his bandage and, thinking Carue was wounded, tried to examine it. Carue promptly slapped his hand away.
 * 2) When Vivi is heading toward Alubarna, the capital city of Alabasta, she met Usopp but she was not sure if he was him or not. As she asked him to show their recognizing symbol, he showed the bandage, but without uncovering the X mark. Vivi understood that he was Mr. 2 disguised as Usopp and ran away.
 * 3) When the Straw Hats were leaving Alabasta, they could not say goodbye to Vivi in a proper way, to avoid the princess being recognized by the marines as their crewmate. So, they stand with their backs facing Vivi, raising their left hands and showing their X mark. Vivi and Carue replied in the same way too, as a symbol of their unbreakable friendship.

Post-Timeskip
As promised, every Straw Hat at that time returned to Sabaody Archipelago. Roronoa Zoro was the first to arrive, and the next was Franky, then Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, Sanji, Nico Robin, and finally Monkey D. Luffy. During their two year hiatus, they have undergone significant changes in combat skills and appearance.



These changes include:
 * Luffy has gained an X-shaped scar on the chest caused by Akainu in Marineford. He also now wears a yellow sash, similar to Zoro's. He has mastered his control over his "Gear Second" and "Gear Third" abilities as well as gaining the use of the three forms of Haki. He is able to generate explosions with the impact of his new attacks. It was also revealed that thanks to his battle with Magellan, Luffy is now virtually immune to most, if not all types of poisons, although he can still be affected by powerful poisonous substances like Caesar Clown's Shinokuni gas. It has recently been revealed that during his time on Rusukaina, he developed a "Gear Fourth", gaining a powerful new form similar in appearance to his previous "Nightmare Luffy" form. As of his fight with Charlotte Katakuri, Luffy's mastery of Kenbunshoku Haki has gone beyond its limits and has now developed the same ability to see slightly into the future as Katakuri has (although unlike Katakuri, Luffy has very little control over this new ability and can just barely use it).
 * Zoro has gained a scar over his left eye similar to Rayleigh, as well as having gained more muscle. He now also wears a green robe, instead of a shirt and pants, and a red sash. He has grown much more powerful, developing enhanced versions of his old techniques, as well as a new Santoryu Secret Technique and mastering his flying sword slash techniques. It has been implied that his Ittoryu, Nitoryu, and possibly even his Kyutoryu techniques have been improved also. He has learned how to use Busoshoku Haki and Kenbunshoku Haki.
 * Nami's body has noticeably matured further, and she has allowed her wavy hair to grow out, and she has obtained technology from Weatheria, including many Weather Balls. She has upgraded her Perfect Clima-Tact to the Sorcery Clima-Tact. With her new Clima-Tact, she is now capable of creating larger and more varied weather patterns, even using it for regular daily uses like showering, and has also mastered her "Mirage Tempo" ability to the point of being able to make herself perfectly invisible and undetectable by most people. She is also now capable of creating Sea Clouds that can be used in the normal ocean, something that was originally not possible two years ago. Recently, her Clima-Tact has once again been upgraded into a new form by Usopp and Franky. With this newest upgrade, Usopp has added all of the Weatheria technology not used in the previous Clima-Tact (save for one part) and combined it with the growth capabilities of his "pop greens", creating a new, extendable Clima-Tact for Nami to use. More recently, Nami has acquired and captured the living thundercloud and weapon, Zeus; and has made it her new servant, with it now living inside of her clima-tact, making her already upgraded weapon all the more powerful.
 * Usopp has developed a muscular body and has grown a faint goatee, wearing a white hat with longer hair tied back, using plants called "pop greens" as weapons and claims that he has become a braver warrior. He now uses a smaller version of his Kabuto slingshot, and has also replaced his pair of goggles. He can still use his old arsenal, and can even make his new slingshot "grow up" into a living carnivorous plant that can shoot large amounts of rubble as ammunition. Recently, it has been shown that he has now awakened the ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki (although his control over this ability is still relatively new).
 * Sanji's goatee has grown significantly thicker, as well as having a soul patch with it, and a few mustache hairs. His hair now covers his right eye, showing his left and revealing that his left eyebrow swirls in the same direction as his right. He is now able to activate his Diable Jambe technique on both his legs and is now much faster and can do so without having to spin, as well as generating large amounts of flame through fits of rage (by remembering his painful stay in Kamabakka Kingdom), entering a seemingly new form where his whole body is encompassed with fire, his kicks setting fire to anything he hits. He has developed an ability to swim at very high speed using only his legs, a flying ability similar to CP9's Geppo, and he has apparently learned Ivankov's Spectrum technique. He has also learned how to use Haki, displaying the use of Kenbushoku Haki when searching for Kin'emon's body, and utilising Busoshoku Haki when fighting against his father, Vinsmoke Judge.
 * Chopper's hybrid (half-man, half-reindeer) form has a lighter fur tone compared to two years ago, and in his animal form he appears as a fully grown reindeer. Another change is that he is wearing some kind of helmet over his hat, giving him the appearance of wearing an oversized baseball cap. He developed a new form named Kung Fu Point, and has reinforced his Horn Point, his Guard Point has grown dramatically in size and his Heavy Point has a greater amount of muscles and fur. All of his 7 transformation points have been renewed and reinforced and he is able to freely transform into 6 of them without a Rumble Ball, requiring it only for the Monster Point form. He now has full control over his Monster Point, although he can only be in that state for three minutes before his body becomes weak for a couple hours as a side effect.
 * Robin no longer has bangs and her hair is much longer but still with straight styled hair. It is pulled back with a pair of sunglasses resting at the top of her forehead with small strands of hair falling from the upper left and right corners of her forehead. Her skin tone is much lighter than before (as light as Nami's skin tone), suggesting that not only was her previous darker tone a tan from spending so much time in sunny regions, (especially Alabasta, due to its desert climate), but also that she has spent much of the past two years getting little sun at all, either due to a climate of less sun, or because she was inside buildings or underground for much of the time. She has mastered her Devil Fruit powers to the point of being able to generate thousands of parts (generating gigantic limbs) of her body and even able to bloom her entire body, thus cloning herself. It has also been recently shown that she has mastered her powers to the point where she can now sprout her hands in the air instead of on a solid surface.
 * Franky has used the technology from Dr. Vegapunk's research lab to develop a bigger and more advanced body (adding a "BF-37" tattoo to symbolize the latest and greatest model, Battle Franky 37), his bulky arms with oval shape were replaced for square ones, and he installed a device in his nose to control his hair. He now usually goes with a shorter, buzz-cut hairstyle, but can revert to his old style or change to a new one. His arsenal has increased in firepower as well; he now has rocket launchers and a laser cannon (similar to that of Pacifistas and Kizaru's Devil Fruit) at his disposal. His shins now contain tank treads, and his nipples can now act as flashlights. He can also fight inside a giant robot that he developed.
 * Brook, who has replaced his gentleman-style outfit with rockstar clothing, has gained notoriety as a famous musician with the title of "Soul King". He has learned the true nature of his Devil Fruit, allowing him to put his body back together if the pieces get separated and to separate his soul from his body (acting like a real ghost by astral projection, though he can still be seen by others in his soul form) and can "bring the very cold of the underworld" improving his Fencing Style with freezing effects. He also improved his musical ability, imbuing it with the power of his own soul, and that of his Devil Fruit's ability, to the point where he can even hypnotize people and make them see illusions. His swordsmanship has also improved, as he can now use "flying sword slash" techniques, and he is now strong enough to cut through one of the dragons on Punk Hazard, whose body and scales are said to be stronger than steel, implying that he can now cut through steel as well.

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