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One Piece, Eiichiro Oda's record-breaking masterpiece, revolves around the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Strawhat Pirates.
At the start of the series, three Strawhats, namely Luffy, Zoro, and Nami, seemed to have more important roles to play than the others. One Piece fans even dubbed them with the unofficial term "Original Trio".
- The sub-groups within the Strawhat crew
- What does the Original Trio represent
- The Original trio throughout the One Piece series
- Final thoughts
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1059.
There are several sub-groups in the Strawhat Pirates
Despite the relatively low number of members, the Strawhat Pirates are one of the strongest crews in the One Piece series. Power-wise, they have always been divided into three groups: Monster Trio, Mid Trio and Weak Trio. However, with Jinbe joining the crew, some fans have argued that this structure is possibly going to change.
Strawhats also include many duos. Luffy-Zoro as the captain and his close and trusted right-hand man, the two with comparable powers and the greatest bond.
Zoro-Sanji, as the two men who cover the captain's back. Usopp-Chopper as the two fools, Usopp-Nami as the two coward weaklings. Fans really enjoy the way One Piece author Eiichiro Oda depicts all these sub-groups within the crew.
All the Strawhats have a great bond between themselves, but a widely shared opinion among fans is that Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji, the first five who joined the crew during the East Blue Saga, are more relevant and emphasized than the others.
Indeed, the only one who receives a comparable focus to theirs is Robin, mostly for her ability to read Poignee Griffe.
Even among the so-called "East Blue Five", fans noticed that, at least at the start of the series, three characters were more enlightened than the others. They are the three original members of the Strawhat Pirates: Luffy, the captain; Zoro, a swordsman who acts as Luffy's right-hand man; Nami, the navigator.
Together, they are unofficially known as the "Original Trio" or the "Romance Dawn Trio".
The importance of the "Original Trio" throughout the One Piece series
The connection between Luffy, Zoro and Nami and the core aspects of the series
"Gol D. Roger, the King of Pirates. The man who obtained everything. Wealth, fame, power..."
One Piece starts by telling readers about the incredible achievements of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, the man who obtained everything the world could offer. Among Roger's accomplishments, three aspects are emphasized: wealth, fame and power.
As some fans have noticed, each of the three first original Strawhats seems to have a strong connection with one of these aspects, to the point of representing it.
Nami, a woman who seeks gold and richness more than anyone else, is linked to wealth. Luffy, who will be the most famed in the world once he achieves his dream, embodies fame. Zoro, the man who will defeat even the most powerful opponents to fulfill his ambition, represents power.
To this day, this parallel has yet to be officially confirmed, but it seems strongly feasible.
The Original Trio throughout the One Piece series
In the first part of the series, the Original Trio was really the fulcrum of the story. A testament to this, the Alabasta Arc, one of the most important and most appreciated arcs in the entire One Piece series, started because of the Original Trio.
Luffy and Zoro were fighting to see who was the strongest between them, then Nami interrupted them. The plot moved forward and the arc started.
In that issue, everything revolved around Luffy, Zoro and Nami. The other Strawhats seemed to be a mere addition to these three. Something similar appeared again during another of the greatest and most iconic moments in the entire series, which was Blackbeard's introduction.
Oda could have had Luffy alone meet Blackbeard, or could have had Luffy meet him along with all the Strawhats. Neither of these two was Oda's choice. Instead, the author chose that in the very iconic moment of the revelation of one of the main villains of the series, the protagonist Luffy had to be together with Zoro and Nami. No one more and no one less had to be present on that important issue.
Luffy, Zoro and Nami seem to be the quintessential protagonists in Eiichiro Oda's mind. The fact that they strongly resemble the three pirates in Oda's original sketch can't be a mere coincidence.
It seems very feasible to think that the author had in his mind the concept of three pirates, two boys and a girl, and from that he created Luffy, Zoro and Nami. Starting with them, he conceived the other Strawhats.
While in the initial part of the series Luffy, Zoro and Nami really appeared to be the core of the crew, Oda recently focused the most on Luffy, who had the most panel time by far, leaving the other Strawhats as side characters.
Only Zoro managed to have a decent amount of screen time and some crazy moments. Nami showly shifted to a much lesser role, seemingly left in the background now.
Nami's relevance slowly faded in favor of Sanji's, until he "robbed" her of the place of the third most relevant Strawhat. However, even the cook isn't doing so well, as he recently has been suffering for his status being overshadowed not only by Zoro, as it usually happens, but by newcomer Jinbe as well.
Interestingly, with the blatant similarity between the two crews of the future and the former Pirate King, many members of Strawhats and Roger Pirates share clear parallels.
With Luffy being linked with Roger, Zoro appearing to be the new Rayleigh and Sanji possibly being the counterpart for Scopper Gaban, some One Piece fans speculated that Nami could parallel Crocus, albeit in a female version.
This theory isn't based on roles, because while Crocus is the doctor of the Roger Pirates, Nami is the Strawhats' navigator. It relies on the fact that, despite being a relatively weak fighter, Nami is one of the most important individuals in the Strawhat Pirates.
With both her navigational skills and her smartness, she saved the crew many times, which proved to be essential for the success of their journey.
Final Thoughts
Judging by the latest arcs, the concept of Original Trio seems to be a thing of the past. The interactions between Luffy, Zoro and Nami as a trio have become rare and lost their preeminence.
Moreover, while Luffy and Zoro have been under the spotlight for their combat skills, Nami, who is not even remotely as powerful as them, lost her importance when the series started revolving more around battles.
However, this is not the end of the matter. Luffy, Zoro and Nami were depicted together in the eye-catches of the anime for the Wano Arc, and portrayed again as a trio in the special cover Oda created to celebrate chapter 1000 of the One Piece manga.
Furthermore, in chapter 1058, it was seemingly hinted that Nami possesses Conqueror Haki, one of the most rare and dominant abilities in the series.
The scene is ambiguous and leads to believe it was nothing more than a joke like many other gags and funny scenes Nami was involved with throughout the series. However, even the reveal of Zoro's Conqueror Haki was partially hidden through an unclear gag involving Brook, Queen and Kaido.
At any rate, if that power really lies dormant in her, that could be great news.
Obviously, Nami would never be able to reach a comparable level to Luffy and Zoro, who are incredible fighters who also unlocked the advanced stage of that ability. But if she possessed at least the basic level of Conqueror Haki, it would increase her potential as a fighter.
Better yet, it would create a nice parallel, as the members of the Original Trio would be the only Strawhats to be gifted with that iconic power.
