Setting sail with the Strawhat Pirates is a dream many One Piece fans share. Whether they want to be around from the beginning or join a favorite arc in the series, most people simply want to be a part of Eiichiro Oda’s world because of its fascinating characters.
Some fans may want to be a Strawhat pirate because they like the stretchy Captain Luffy, who is a popular choice for a good reason. On the other hand, a part of the One Piece fanbase is inclined toward Zoro, the loyal first mate that is badass personified. Then there is Sanji, who kicks his way into fans’ hearts. However, they all take a backseat to their first female companion, Nami, the glue that holds Strawhats together.
5/5 Nami’s Leadership Holds The Crew Together
While Monkey D. Luffy may be the Captain of the Strawhat Pirates and Roronora Zoro his First Mate, Nami is the de facto ‘mom’ in charge of the entire crew. Rarely does the First Mate or Captain truly challenge her when she decrees something. Most of the time, they complain and then proceed to follow whatever order Nami has given, which works well for the lazy leader. Her leadership skills keep the crew on their path and away from their ruin.
She is the navigator of the ship, capable of sailing them through weather and locations that would sink others without skills. Nami manages the crew’s money and allowances so that they don’t spend everything each time they get to port, but her money love is still sort of a tongue-in-cheek moment throughout the series. As the only other cook on the crew besides Sanji, Nami will provide meals for her fellow crew in his absence. All around, the Strawhats would not function as a family unit without Nami making sure they stay on task and get things cleaned.
4/5 A Strong-Willed Character Who Can Go Against Anyone
As a child, Nami took on the burden of freeing her village from Arlong’s reign. Also, the fact she often takes her own issues inward instead of burdening her friends would make most roll their eyes and say, of course, Nami is strong-willed. While these are very true, most folks that have been around for even a passing moment in the franchise know these facts. There is something a little less known and even glanced over by those that do know about it.
The truth is that Nami withstood the Conquerer’s Haki Blast from one of the four Emperors of the New World. When the crew shows up to handle things against Big Mom, Nami doesn’t go down by the Haki unleashed by Big Mom. Considering Shanks has used it against Whitebeard’s Crew to knock most of them out for a simple meeting, should say how strong-willed Nami really is. Luffy, Shanks, Gol D. Rogers, the previous King of Pirates, and so many other ‘Supreme Rulers’ used this Haki to knock out and even kill those with weaker wills. However, Nami didn’t go down by it despite being one of the physically weaker members of the Strawhat Crew.
3/5 Removing The Scars Of The Past For Memorable Artwork
Originally, Nami’s tattoo was a symbol of her being a part of the Arlong Pirates. Later, she stabs herself repeatedly in a moment of desperation to separate herself from being basically owned by the Fishman. This causes her to get a large scar on her arm. After removing the tattoo violently, she sees Dr. Nako to have the tattoo removed but later decides to replace it with a homage to her adoptive Mom, Belle-mere, and her father figure, Genzo.
The scars are only shown briefly after this time. The scars are shown next to the redone tattoo for a brief moment in both the Loguetown and Reverse Mountain Arcs. The scars matched the imaging when she acquired the updated tattoo. By the time the crew makes it to Whiskey Peaks, the scar that accompanies the tattoo is never shown again. The world may never know whether this is a design choice or a statement of Nami’s choice of beauty products.
2/5 A Woman That Was Franky’s Predecessor
Those who have seen the Water 7 Arc are familiar with the Strawhat Crew’s eccentric shipwright, Franky. He has replaced parts of his body with mechanical pieces originally out of necessity after grave injuries, but later, he did that to ‘improve’ himself.
He wasn’t the only planned cyborg for the series, nor was he the first. When Nami was first conceptualized, she was going to be a cyborg wielding a battleaxe. This was revealed in the One Piece databook released in 2010, which was called One Piece Green: Secret Pieces. This is the 4th databook going over some of the secrets that exist in the planning and designs for the One Piece series.
1/5 The Great Firstmate Fakeout
From Episode 1 of the Anime, fans have seen Nami running around and stealing gold. She is seen trying to steal from rich folks on a luxury cruise liner. This ship is then attacked by the Aldiva Pirates, and she’s seen interacting with Luffy. Many would say this makes her the first true Strawhat, as she was the first to hang out with Luffy before joining up.
This was never in the Manga. She was also never around when Luffy was dealing with Captain Morgan in order to gain Zoro as a crewmate, despite the Anime implying it. So, while she is one of the first of the Strawhats to follow Luffy, she is not the first Strawhat in full capacity, leaving Zoro as the original and true Firstmate.
