Fake Straw Hat Crew

The Impostor Straw Hat Pirates are a group of pirates that are impersonating the original Straw Hat Pirates in order to benefit from their reputation. They first appear after the two-year timeskip.

Crew
The Impostor Straw Hats dress in the style of the original Straw Hats, but otherwise look virtually nothing like them, nor do they act the part.


 * Fake Luffy: A tall, fat, middle-aged man who shoots anyone who even remotely displeases him. He seems to enjoy the infamy that the actual Luffy obtained to the point where he justifies his cruelty by bragging about being the son of Dragon.
 * Fake Nami: A woman about Nami's height with an unusually large, oval shaped head.
 * Fake Robin: an old, short, ugly woman.
 * Fake Sogeking: A big man wearing a bogus Sogeking mask.
 * Fake Sanji: A man with an afro.
 * Fake Zoro: A man with a beer gut and swords resembling those used by low-ranking marines.
 * Fake Franky: A thin person with an unusually long neck.
 * Fake Chopper: A fox wearing a hat and a painted mustache.

Brook does not appear to have a doppelganger in the Impostor Straw Hats, no doubt due to his relatively recent addition to the crew. Having not been part of their more famous escapades, only those personally familiar with the Straw Hats would be likely to know him as part of the crew, if at all.

Recruits
Fake Luffy is using his namesake's reputation to gather a strong crew in order to take on the New World. He is said to have recruited about one hundred people, ten of which have high bounties. Among them are:


 * "Wet-Hair" Caribou: a former pirate captain and brother of Coribou. Famous for killing marines.
 * "Blood-Spatterer" Coribou: a former pirate captain and brother of Caribou. Famous for killing marines.

History
The impostors seem to have begun their charade relatively recently on Sabaody Archipelago, around the time when the real Straw Hat crew had decided to finally rendezvous, as word of their activities has only just reached the Marines. Their captain has been using Luffy's reputation to recruit pirates with bounties over 70 million beli into their crew. Due to the long absence of the original Straw Hats, most people believe the frauds despite them looking almost nothing like the originals, save for clothing. A number of people seem to be fairly surprised at the Straw Hats' supposed return, though some of them seem to be contemplating whether they should also join in their recruiting of new members. So far, at least three pirate groups have merged with this crew, including ten men with high bounties. The two most infamous pirates to join are the brothers "Wet Hair" Caribou and "Blood-Splatterer" Coribou, infamous rookies who have bounties of 210,000,000 and 190,000,000 beli respectively.

They were first seen on Sabaody Archipelago in the bar where Nami was drinking, trying to recruit people into their pirate crew. Their captain, the man impersonating Luffy, sees Nami and attempts to invite her over for a drink. Of course, he did this without knowing who she really is. Nami's dismissal angers him, so the fake Nami holds her at gunpoint, only to receive an unfazed reaction from her genuine counterpart. At that point, the true Usopp uses his new Pop Greens weapon to disable the fakes, and he and Nami leave the bar. Nami leaves behind a batch of thunderclouds which create a thunderstorm to shock them. Ignorant of their identities, the fake Luffy orders them killed.

Elsewhere, as fake Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper were walking along the streets, they came across the real Chopper, recognizing him as the Straw Hats' pet from his bounty poster. They decide to take him on in order to make their ruse more convincing, but an unknown group of people pursuing the real Robin suddenly kidnap the fake Robin, scooping her up into a large bag, under the impression that they have caught the correct person.

In his search for Usopp and Nami, the fake Luffy shoots two people who look vaguely similar to them. The real Luffy accidentally bumps into him and apologizes, but the fake Luffy calls out to him, unaware of the person's true identity.

Overall Strength
They seem to get their way by relying on the infamy of the actual Straw Hats, as well as recruiting other powerful pirates and dismissing those they deem weak.

The crews real fighting ability has yet to be seen. Some of them, including Fake Luffy and Fake Sogeking, have been shown using flintlocke pistols. They haven't shown much profiency with them; instead preferring to shoot indistriminately. The Fake Zoro is shown carrying 3 swords like his real counterpart, but has not been shown using them. They were blindsided by Usopp's pop green seeds, which grew a massive, flesh-eating plant to ensnare them, and were completely taken by surprise by one of Nami's weather attacks. Fake Luffy and Fake Sogeking at least were able to stand after enduring these attacks, although they took significant damage.

The fact that they were able to make it to Shabondy Archipelago suggests at least some degree of competence at navigating the Grand Line.

Trivia

 * Due to their naive personalities, both Usopp and Chopper believed them to be the real Straw Hats. Usopp in particular was shocked by the presence of Sogeking, despite the fact Sogeking is his own alter-ego.
 * The recruitment fliers have Luffy's first name misspelled as "Monky".