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Wondering what ethnicity and nationality the One Piece pirates are? Here is what Oda himself has to say
The Straw Hats are a surprisingly diverse bunch.
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The world of One Piece is remarkably different from our own, and yet sometimes it feels remarkably familiar. Familiar enough that we might try to see reflections of ourselves in the characters, especially the Straw Hats. Though they weren’t created to mirror real-life nationalities, Eiichiro Oda seems to have taken some inspiration from people around the world when creating Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and the gang.
Wondering where your favorite Straw Hat Pirates would have been from if they were born in our world? Here is what Oda himself had to say on the potential nationalities of One Piece characters.
What is the nationality of each One Piece character?
When Oda was designing the different members of the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece, he probably didn’t have any real-world nationalities in mind for them. However, it is something he has had to give some thought to over the years because of questions that come in from fans. Manga readers will probably have noticed a question-and-answer section at the end of most volumes of the One Piece manga. These are typically referred to as the SBS section, which stands for Shitsumon o Boshu Suru (I’m Taking Questions).
During one SBS section, a reader asked what nationalities each of the Straw Hats would be if they were real. Oda gave a quick rundown, based entirely on the character’s appearance.
The hypothetical real-world nationalities of each of the Straw Hats are:
- Monkey D. Luffy – Brazilian
- Roronoa Zoro – Japanese
- Nami – Swedish
- Usopp – African
- Sanji – French
- Tony Tony Chopper – Canadian
- Nico Robin – Russian
- Franky – American
- Brook – Austrian
- Jinbe – Indian
We’re not sure how much merit this list has these days, however. Taz Skylar certainly didn’t try to do a French accent in the Netflix live-action adaptation, after all. It is also slightly awkward that all of Africa gets reduced to a single “nationality” here, but it does please us to no end to read Brook’s lines in the manga with a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. And Tony Tony Chopper as a Canadian reindeer-man hybrid works shockingly well.
THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together guides to help you watch through all the One Piece episodes out there, pick out the differences between the One Piece manga and live-action show, and even understand Monkey D. Luffy's Gear 5 form.
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