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. Their fate is unknown after the attack by Sentoumaru and the defeat of their captain as well as the revelation of the captain's true identity.

Crew
The Impostor Straw Hats dress in the style of the original Straw Hats, but the similarities end there. They look nothing like originals, let alone act the part right, and have none of their skills. Of all their members, Fake Luffy believes Fake Robin to most resemble the real one, despite being far shorter. As most people are under the common belief that the true Straw Hat Pirates died two years ago, these frauds took advantage of situation and pretended to be them returning to power to benefit from the real crew's reputation. They met their end and disbandment when the truth came out.


 * Fake Luffy: A tall, fat, middle-aged man who shoots anyone who even remotely displeases him. He also flaunts his fake reputation and supposed heritage to justify his acts of cruelty. His real name is Demalo Black, a pirate with a bounty of 26,000,000.
 * Fake Zoro: A man with a beer gut and swords resembling those used by low-ranking Marines.
 * Fake Nami: An older woman, slightly shorter than Nami, with an unusually large, oval shaped head.
 * Fake Sogeking: A big man wearing a bogus Sogeking mask with a beard.
 * Fake Sanji: A thin man with an unruly hair.
 * Fake Chopper: A fox wearing a hat and a painted mustache (a pet, as opposed to a doctor).
 * Fake Robin: An older, short, ugly woman. Her real name is Cocoa.
 * Fake Franky: A thin person with an unusually long neck, and tiny arms.

Brook does not appear to have a doppelganger in the Impostor Straw Hats, no doubt due to his relatively late addition to the crew and the Imposter Straw Hats working off of public information. Having not been part of their more famous escapades or publicly announced as a member, only those personally familiar with the Straw Hats would likely know Brook's connection to the crew. In addition, Brook's current musical activities and world stardom would make impersonating him impossible.

Recruits
Fake Luffy is using his namesake's reputation to gather a strong crew in order to take on the New World, and will only accept captains with a bounty of at least 70,000,000. They have already recruited about one hundred people, ten of which have bounties. Among them are:


 * "Wet-Haired" Caribou: a former pirate captain and brother of Coribou. Famous for killing Marines, and a bounty of 210,000,000.
 * "Blood-Spatterer" Coribou: a former pirate captain and brother of Caribou. Famous for killing Marines, and a bounty of 190,000,000.
 * "Gashed" Albion: a former pirate captain with a head and torso wrapped in bandages, a bounty of 92,000,000.
 * Lip "Service" Doughty: a former pirate captain with large lips, a bounty of 88,000,000.

History
The impostors seem to have begun their charade relatively recently on Sabaody Archipelago, coincidentally 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 70,000,000 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 (mostly Pirates) 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, rookies who have bounties of 210,000,000 and 190,000,000 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 real Usopp uses his new Pop Greens weapon to disable the fakes, and he and Nami leave the bar. Nami leaves behind a batch of thunder clouds 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. The fake Luffy attempts to pick a fight with the real Luffy over the perceived insult, but he and his crew are easily subdued by Luffy's Haki. After recovering, he hears from the others that Fake Robin (real name revealed to be Cocoa) was kidnapped. He decides to abandon Fake Robin, which drives Chopper away in tears, and gather every pirate he's recruited at Grove number 46 and teach all three of the people who challenged him a lesson. Nearby, a couple of Marines eavesdropping on their conversation see Chopper run by, taking this as proof that they are the real Straw Hats. They report this back to their superiors, and full action is mobilized to stop the fakes under the assumption that they are the real Straw Hat pirates.

At Grove 46, Fake Luffy gives a rousing speech to his recruits, emphasizing that their purpose is to fight and die to make him Pirate King. Meanwhile, the fake Zoro and Sanji are sent by Fake Luffy to find Chopper, only to run into the real Luffy. They bring him back to their boss. The fake Luffy tries to make an example of Luffy, but is interrupted by Sentoumaru, accompanied by several Marines and Pacifista units. The Pacifista easily decimate the gathered pirates, and Sentomaru smashes the fake Luffy with the broad side of his axe, having the Pacifista expose the fraud as a low-level pirate by the name of Demalo Black, much to the fury of the recruits. The remaining recruits then bear witness to the return of the real Straw Hats, who easily destroy the Pacifista and leave.

Crew strength
Typical for a band of frauds and impostors, the Straw Hat Crew's fake counterparts seem to be a relatively weak group. In fact, their recruiting of other powerful pirates and dismissing those they deem weak (in short, any pirate captain who has a bounty of lower than 70,000,000) by relying on the infamy of the actual Straw Hat Crew (along with the high bounties that the real crew obtained), mirrors what Bellamy and his crew had done in Mock Town during the Jaya Arc. Fake Luffy has made it clear that he intends to use their power rather than his own, further supporting that his own group is weak by comparison.

The fact that they were able to make it to Sabondy Archipelago suggests some degree of competence, provided of course that they aren't from the Archipelago or somewhere close by to begin with. By impersonating the original Straw Hats, they benefit from the bounties the Straw Hats accumulated; The only one with a known bounty is their captain at 26,000,000 which is a relativly small amount for a grand line pirate.

The eight impostors' real fighting ability has yet to be fully demonstrated, but seem to be lacking in comparison to the genuine ones, and in comparison to even slightly competent fighters in general. Some of them, including Fake Luffy and Fake Sogeking, have been shown using flintlock pistols. They haven't shown much proficiency with them, instead preferring to shoot indiscriminately. The Fake Zoro is shown carrying three swords like his real counterpart, but they are cheap swords and he has not been shown using them. The Fake Zoro has been shown to have low endurance, as the chase after Chopper left him winded.

Compared to the real Straw Hats, both before and after the timeskip, their abilities are clearly inferior. They were blindsided by Usopp's pop green seeds, which grew into a massive, flesh-eating plant to ensnare them, and couldn't even manage to defeat the plant. They were also 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 real Luffy was able to knock the four that confronted him (impostors of Luffy, Sogeking, Franky, and Nami) unconscious with a single burst of Haki, suggesting that they do not have strong wills.

All of the fakes at the bar failed to recognize the real Nami by her tattoo, suggesting a lack of observational skill, and did not even register to the two (formerly weakest) real Straw Hats as a legitimate threat even after making direct threats. Luffy likewise dismissed their intimidation as unwanted attention, and simply dealt with them in the most efficient and effortless manner possible.

Despite the impostors' lack of fighting skills, their stolen reputation has enabled them to gather a crew of 100 pirates consisting of three different crews. Ten of these pirates have bounties, the highest two averaging to 200,000,000. The Marines determined that an alliance between the Straw Hats and these pirates would be catastrophic, which suggests that at least some of the recruits are competent fighters. However, even the recruits are nothing compared to the real Straw Hats, being easily felled by a Pacifista while the real Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro were all capable of defeating the cyborg with ease.

Other Information
The crew (save for the fake counterparts of Sanji, Zoro, and possibly Robin) have an attitude similar to that of the Bellamy Pirates, bullying those they believe to be inferior to them. Their lack of any true skills, merely throwing the weight of their reputation around to get what they want, also mirrors the behavior of the World Nobles.

In addition, the impostors do not hold comradeship in high regard, treating each other and their recruits as assets, not friends or family. After the fake Robin was kidnapped, their captain ignored the loss and simply pressed on, more concerned with his revenge. Fake Luffy was also willing to sacrifice fake Nami to Ussop's Pop Green to protect himself. Regardless, his crew seems to be loyal, despite knowing his cruelty and cowardice.

As for the recruits, they appear to view the main crew, particularly the Fake Luffy, as their way to greater infamy, not unlike the way the escapees from Impel Down that Luffy and Buggy brought out with them saw the latter during the the Marineford War.

Upon the truth coming out, the remaining members of the "original eights" scattered, when their captain was defeated, in fear that the recruits would kill them. They started to foam in the mouths in shock when the real Luffy revealed himself.

Trivia

 * Due to his naive personality, Chopper believed the fakes to be the real Straw Hats. Usopp was not initially fooled, though he was shocked when confronted by Sogeking, his own alter-ego. Luffy was not fooled by his counterpart or the others accompanying him, but was fooled by the fake Zoro and Sanji, though he did question if they were in disguise as well.
 * The recruitment fliers have Luffy's family name misspelled as "Monky" in their first appearance, but it is corrected later on.
 * Currently, two of the eight impostors (Fake Nami and Fake Luffy) have made the mistake of boasting about their supposed bounty to the originals (Nami and Luffy respectively) themselves.

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