Forum:List of Possible New members of the Straw Hats (based on opinions, but well-reasoned ones)

Jimbei: He turned down the offer for the moment, but there is a high possibility that might still join later -- so far, except for him and a giant beetle, everyone that Luffy has asked to join his crew has joined.''' Margureite: Possible, but unlikely, I believe -- she did say the Straw Hat crew looked 'fun/interesting' however; in addition, she has been established as a haki user, which would be fitting on the crew. Aokiji: '''Would be kinda fitting, but highly unlikely; I'd say about the same probability as Smoker, Tashigi, or Sengoku -- pretty much zilch. That said, Aokiji, Smoker, Tashigi, & Sengoku are all very disillusioned with the World Goverment now, due to the breakout at Impel Down being covered up. The fact that in the new One Piece movie Z he is chasing the Straw Hats seems to make him even less likely of a candidate for joining, but you never know; Oda Echiiro is a tricky author -- he loves to throw plot twists at his readers.''' Princess Vivi: After the timeskip, who knows what she's been up to -- however, her realm (Alabasta) is significantly farther back along the Grand Line - in Paradise, in fact - so unless she has already gone ahead, it is unlikely she will be another member. Bon Kurei: Still alive after the timeskip, has an established alliance with the Straw Hats, would make the perfect spy, but is otherwise indisposed -- either he would have to break out of Impel Down, or the Straw Hats would have to come & get him -- both scenarios are unlikely. Kinemon [the Samurai in the current arc]: would make a secondary swordsman, but he can cut fire with his sword -- (does that include magma?) -- and his position as a samurai is rather unique so far, unless you count the zombie which had Brook's shadow on Thriller Bark. Coby: '''Knows Luffy & Zoro well, and the other straw hats as acquaintances -- was appalled when, during the War of the Best at Marineford, Akainu killed a marine who ran away. In addition, he seems sickened by the thought of further fighting due to his haki, and his own - apparently pacifist - nature.''' Helmeppo: Same as Coby. Boa Hancock: '''Not a chance, unless something major changes with regards to her Shichibukai position being used to keep Amazon Lily & the Kujas safe from invaders. (Not to mention that she would probably kill Sanji & Brook (again) for being perverts.)

MR. 2 IS ALIVE?!??! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the strawhats don't need a spy,they have robin who can bloom eyes or ears anywhere solid

I would have to hope for Vivi. maybe she got worried for Luffy after she saw the news paper. remember how she sort of noticed luffy's message in it. she could of figured it out and traveled so that she could meet up with them in two years somewhere in the new world. or i'd have to say that Kinemon is also a possibility right now like you said, but there would definatly be copitition between him and zoro. well at least on zoro's side. and i'm sure jimbe will join once they defeat big mam and secure fishman islands safety, but i'm also hoping for some new characters to join who we haven't met yet.

Vivi isn't gonna join... she's far too weak,but yeah jimbei's gonna join after they defeat bigmom

Aokiji can't join, at least not yet, as his bounty would be far to high. It would easily surpass Luffy, Zorro and Sanji as he is a former admiral and that's likey why Jinbei promised to join later and didnt join after they beat Hody. I think Oda wants the current Strawhats to become far stronger than they currently are before allowing the likes of Jinbei and Aokiji to join. I think the Punk Hazard arc still needs to reveal a lot more characters before we can clearly have a likely candidate for joining the crew. On the good side we have Luffy, Zorro, Sanji, Law and Smoker as seriously powerful fighters and on the other side there's only Vergo and Ceasar to fight them. I think Oda will still bring in Donquiote and his crew to do a full out challenge on all the Strawhats and it wouldnt be surprising if someone like Monet ended up joining as Robin did after the Alabasta arc. Also, Oda may not get super strong pirates to join the Strawhats, remember that Luffy's original was to build a crew that could beat Shanks crew and we know that all the core members of that crew are seriously boss if we look at what happened when they arrived at Marineford, I suspect that the second half of One Piece will deal greatly with Nami, Ussop, Chopper, Brook, Robin and Franky developing they're own strength. I think a few of them will even develop haki (I'm guessing Nami and Ussop) and the core Strawhats will gain serious strength. I have a feeling (and this is only a guess) that Punk Hazard is goner be a longer than anticipated arc, like Alabasta was when the Strwhats kept island hopping. I think it'll end with the introduction of Big Mom, but I don't think the Strawhats will fight her. I have a feeling that Ceasar's candy production has something to do with her. So far we know that she's willing to destroy a whole island for candy, we also know that the kids go irrationally nuts if not given candy either. The kids have become giants due to they're consumption and Big Mom also looked like an abnormally large person, without being a giant. Law wants to knock off one of the Yonko by planning the kidnap of Ceasar and that might have something to do with him controlling Big Mom or Donquiote using him to do so. Also Luffy was keen to take out this particular Yonko, some have guessed Shanks, but I dont think Luffy's mind is on Shanks right now and he did challenge Big Mom at the end of the Fishman island arc. I think Luffy will eventually beat Donquiote and his crew setting Big Mom free (like he did for her assumed daughter Lola) and earn her gratitude in the process. This was all a long and random tangent only to say that I think a lot more characters are yet to be added into this story, but my bets are on Monet or that 3 eyed girl in Big Mom's crew.... Sorry for the tangent....

Shadow of the Mind: Hey, if it ends in a valid point, it ain't a tangent. Unless it involves trigonomentry. (Sorry, that was bad.) Anyways, I realized after thinking it over for a while, that supposedly there will be an old enemy joining the Straw Hats, and the oldest enemy of the crew is Buggy. (Well, Morgan, technically, but there's no way he'd join -- he was just an ass.) Buggy has mellowed considerably, and, don't forget, he has already been to Raftel with the original Pirate King's crew. In addition, Buggy grew considerably in his control of his abilities while in Impel Down, and I wouldn't be at all suprised if he has grown even more during the timeskip. That said, he does -- or did, at least, before the timeskip -- still have his own crew. On the other hand, his situation is similar to what caused Franky to join the Straw Hats -- he got involved with them, and it got to the point where he wouldn't have been able to deal with it all on his own, or with the help of the people who currently associated with him. Remember how the government specifically said during the phone call to the ship which escaped from Impel Down "Buggy the Clown -- a member of Gold Roger's crew. We will be watching you far more closely now." (Or something along those lines. I'm too lazy to go search for and watch the episode it happened in, just so I can give an exact quote.) Basically, the government is now after Buggy, and unless he's improved A LOT, he's screwed. Plus, kinda like how Zoro and Sanji have nicknames for each other, which they hate being addressed with, Buggy hate's being called 'Big Nose'. And his behavior is terribly comic, while also being comically terrible.

tl;dr: I think Buggy has a chance at joining, because the goverment is after him due to the incident at Impel Down, and the Straw Hats are, so far, the only pirate crew since Roger's to blatently piss off the World Government, and have both the strength and the kintama to back themselves up -- (points to those who get what I mean -- especially if you don't have to look up kintama) -- remeber, Roger turned himself in, because he wanted to die quickly, instead of through a disease.

Shadow of the Mind: Hmm... just realized that, by the logic I just posted regarding Buggy, Arlong could also be a potential crew member -- he has a history with the Straw Hats, but, seeing as how Hacchin was able to move beyond his past, and that Arlong originally hated humans because of the way they treated fishmen, and that Luffy basically saved all of the Fishmen Kingdom from an oppressive @-hole, with no regard for his own safety or any profit/reward, he might actually be regarded as 'not so bad' in Arlong's eyes now. Then again, as I said before, only Eiichiro Oda knows what will happen. (And half the time, I think he's just winging it. He said he originally planned for One Piece to last 5 years... year 15 and counting now, with no signs of stopping. This is definitely one series which is a memory which I will make sure future generations enjoy.)

I'm pretty sure the whole "former villain joining" thing has been a stubbornly repeated rumor for a long time, like, before Brooke or Franky. Don't put stock in it. Jinbe joining is pretty much a done deal at this point, unless Oda decides he should have an apprentice or something that joins instead. After that, there should still be one more person if the 10 crew members thing still holds true. I'm holding out for a Logia, it's still the only fruit the crew doesn't have yet.