7 past Characters who could’ve joined the Straw Hat Pirates

The story of One Piece almost never follows a linear trajectory. Unexpected encounters with different types of characters often decides what the Straw Hats are or aren’t going to do next.

In that sense, Oda is always quite careful when deciding which new character is going to be the next Straw Hat because depending on his decision, the story may very well take a different kind of detour. Or rather, the characters that go on to become Straw Hats are written differently than the other characters, but there have been many times when the fanbase were quite positive about a certain character joining the crew, but they never did.

So taking that into account, let’s talk about a few One Piece characters who could’ve become Straw Hats as well as what they would’ve brought to the table after joining the crew. We exclude Yamato for know, as she has been a quite recent character and will include her in the next list.

Well then, shall we begin?

7-Rebecca

When you consider the ridiculously enormous cast of characters from Dressrosa, Rebecca ranks toward the lower end of the spectrum, not because she was a bad character, but because despite all the screentime, the resolve, and her motivation from her backstory. She didn’t do anything impactful for most of the arc.

Not to mention, even at the end, she discarded the role of the Queen and let her aunt Viola be one.

So, what if instead of letting her character arc end at that point? How about we imagine an alternate scenario?

She reconciles with her father and makes the decision to go explore the world with Lucy.

A gladiator princess becoming a Staw Hat and then going on to do neat Straw Hat stuff? Now that would be a sight to see. Furthermore, the Reverie would have had another topic of interest concerning how King Riku’s granddaughter would’ve literally become the part of the most infamous up and coming Pirate crew in the world.

6-Gaimon

Despite having only appeared for a single chapter in the entire series aside from a few cover stories. The One Piece community still adores this character to this day. He is a man of a few words; a man whose greed led him stay but also helped him find a place where he belongs.

Luffy even asked him to join the crew? To which of course, he declined.

But imagine if he took Luffy up on his offer?

He would’ve shed tears when listening to Chopper’s backstory considering how he spent the past 20 years bonding with animals. Heck, Franky could build him a new treasure chest, and his Post time-skip transformation would have been a real delight to see.

When you think about it, Gaimon and Brook are kind of similar in the sense that they were left alone after their crew either left the island or left the world. However, in Gaimon’s case he really did find a place where he could belong, but as for Brook, he spent 50 years of his life in loneliness.

But still if he were with the crew, he would’ve empathized the most with Brook’s suffering.

5-Perona

Introduced as one of the Mysterious Four in the Thriller Bark saga. Perona was among the main antagonists of this arc. She had a considerably unusual quirk that definitely did a number on our beloved Straw Hats except of course, the greatness that is “Usopp.”

However, since she was also sent to a foreign island because of Kuma’s power (Similar to how all of the straw hats were dispersed in Saboady)

The idea that she may become a future straw hat quickly became quite popular in the community. Not to mention, her two years’ worth of interactions with Zoro further contributed to her becoming one of the fan favorites.

She would’ve fit right into the crew, and her broken abilities would’ve brought in a number of unprecedented gags when dealing with Hody Jones in Fishman Island and completely breaking his spirit with her devil fruit.

4-Boa Hancock

As the woman who scorned men for understandable reasons, but then fell in love with Luffy. Boa Hancock is not an easy person to deal with unless you are Luffy.

She is a Warlord of the sea as well as the Queen of a well reputed nation.

However, just like how Jinbe decided to leave Fishman Island and join Luffy in his journey, if Boa Hancock were to do the same. Luffy’s bounty after Whole Cake Island would’ve been drastically higher.

The Straw Hats would’ve been even more terrifying.

Other than that, there would an overabundance of gags too.

3-Smoker

Smoker has always known that there is more to Pirates than what appears to be on the surface. He has also always been on the list of those antagonists that Luffy genuinely likes.

So just like how Aokiji left the Marines to form an alliance with the Blackbeard Pirates. Smoker could also go the similar route and become the part of the Straw Hats.

Another thing to note here is that even though the Straw Hats are a bunch of extremely unique dreamers. There is still no Ex-Marine in the crew, so if Smoker were to join it’ll only add to the uncanniness of the crew and would also further complicate what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of the people of the One Piece world.

However, as it is with the previous candidates. Him joining the crew in the traditional sense is highly unlikely. Besides, Oda is also setting up for a great change within the Marines. There’s Coby, Fujitora and this organization called Sword who constantly question what is right and what is wrong, and will become active participants in the Dawn of the World.

2-Pedro

Now, this one is rather sad.

Remember when Pedro asked Gol D. Roger to take him on the journey?

Well, Roger told him that Everyone has their own turn.

Of course, years later Pedro left on a journey of his own but ended up losing 50 years’ worth of his lifespan by Big Mom.

Then in the current storyline, when the Straw hats come to Zou, Pedro realizes that these are the people who will bring the world to its Dawn, but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time left. So right there, he decided that he will sacrifice himself for the sake of the Dawn of the world, and fast forward to the Whole Cake Island arc, he did exactly that.

Now imagine if Big Mom never took his lifespan, he wouldn’t have been so adamant on sacrificing himself and could’ve definitely become a Straw Hat to help Luffy bring about the Dawn of the World.

1-Bentham

Now, this one is self-explanatory.

Bentham is among the most loved One Piece characters, and for a really long time, the fandom wanted this fellow to join the crew, some still do. He has the goofiness element down and had also learnt the true meaning of friendship in an arc that explicitly focused on the idea of friendship within the “Straw Hat crew”.

He would’ve drastically contributed to the overall crew dynamic, especially when you consider his contributions in Impel Down.

Seriously, out of all the characters in One Piece, Bentham is the one who gives off the strongest Straw Hat material vibes. It isn’t even about his strength or skills. It’s just about him being an “irrationally” good friend, and that’s all it took for him to become a fan favorite.

Honorary members

Nefetari Vivi

Some say that Vivi is already the member of the Straw Hat pirates, while some doubt it because even though Luffy and the others told her that she’ll always be a Straw Hat.

She never really joined the crew in the traditional sense.

So how about we combine both of those analogies and give Vivi the status of a “Straw Hats Ambassador”?

Plus, after we find out what happened to the Alabasta kingdom during the Onigashima raid. She might even have to temporarily travel with the crew once again when the Straw Hat pirates head toward the final war.

Only this time, she won’t just be a Princess but also a Straw Hat.

Honorable mention

Bartolomeo

I know, I know.

Everyone wants more Bartolomeo screentime.

However, we have to understand that Oda never wrote him as a Straw Hat material instead he was specifically written off as a Straw Hat pirates fanboy. So even though we could think of hypothetical scenarios with all of the above characters. It just won’t work with Bartolomeo. His dynamic just can’t work if he is the part of the crew.

Still, as a fellow Straw Hat fanboy, he deserves an honorable mention.

Let us await the upcoming battle when Bartolomeo will show the world whose Boss.

Conclusion

Throughout the story, there have been plenty of times when Luffy asked a random individual or even a tree to join the crew. However, since the Straw Hats are the ones who will bring the world to its Ultimate Dawn.

It’s not as simple as being a fan favorite to land on the list.

However, Pedro and Bentham were by far the most well suited to join the Crew.

That’s all folks!

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