The real Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, explained

This post contains spoilers from One Piece's Latest Arc.

Key Takeaways

• Zoro is not the vice captain of the Straw Hat Pirates; there is no official vice-captain in the team.
• The team works like a family, with different members leading in different situations.
• Luffy relies heavily on his crew, all of whom are important; they guide each other on the way to One Piece.

The Straw Hat Pirates are a Yonko team and certainly one of the strongest in the world One piece. This team hails from the East Blue and, from the get-go, has been making history like never before. Today, this pirate crew is expected to conquer the sea and their captain, Luffy, will become the Pirate King. Of course, everyone knows who the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is. However, there have often been misconceptions surrounding the position of the Vice-Captain among fans of the One piece.

The position of Vice Captain is an important one for many pirate crews across the seas, and the Straw Hat Pirates certainly have their own place in that position.

Myths surrounding the Vice Captain or the Wife of the Straw Hat Pirates

• Zoro was with Luffy before anyone else
• Fans mistakenly called Zoro the first husband

The first thing fans should remember when talking about Vice Captain and First Mate scenarios is that the two positions mean the same thing. Fans often have misconceptions about this place. Many fans believe that First Mate literally means the first person to join the team. Sadly, they couldn't have been more wrong., The First Mate was not the first person to join a pirate crew. The term First Mate is officially the person who acts as the vice captain of the crew. It simply means that First Mate and Vice Captain mean the same thing and are interchangeable terms. The Straw Hat Pirates don't have a first mate, unlike the Roger Pirates or the Red Hair Pirates.

It can be said that there is a widespread misconception among fans of One piece as for the position of Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Of course, most fans think that Zoro is the Team Vice. However, it can be argued that this is not true. Zoro has never been described as the Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates by Oda, so any fans who claim Zoro as the Vice Captain are, unfortunately, mistaken. This misconception comes in two ways. The first way this misconception was created was by fans simply thinking that Zoro was the Vice Captain because of the idea that every team in the One Piece universe has a Vice Captain. While it's true that many pirate crews in One Piece have Vice Captains, not all crews work the same way. The Straw Hat Pirates, in particular, are unlike any other crew found in One Piece, and in this particular pirate crew, Zoro does not serve as Vice Captain.

The second way this misconception came out was through revelations and more precisely, mistranslations in the manga and of course, in anime fansubs as well. In Arcipelago Sabaody, Urouge refers to Zoro as the first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates in some versions of the manga, including Viz. Meanwhile, some of the fansubs, which of course, were translated by fans, point to Zoro as the first mate here. But the actual translation is completely different. The actual word Urouge used here is ２番手, which literally means second best in the team. It's not wrong, because everyone knows that Zoro is the second strongest after Luffy.

Bartolomeo, another New World pirate, refers to Zoro as the Vice-Captain of the crew, but Bartolomeo makes it clear that Zoro is the Vice-Captain in his mind, and this is not a general statement that people agree with. all in the army. One piece the world. For the Straw Hat Pirates, in particular, Zoro does not serve the role of Vice Captain. This certainly doesn't mean that Zoro doesn't have a defined role. Zoro has an official role One piece which Oda himself officially described. This role is called 戦旦員 or Sentō-in, which literally means Warrior. Basically, Zoro is the Straw Hat Pirates' fighter, and his role is no more than that.

In fact, Oda even clarified himself that Zoro is not the vice-captain or first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates in response to a question about the color spread in chapter 1031 of the One piece. There, two numbers of different groups drew Oda's picture, and this is what he said.

Hello, Odacchi! Looking at the cover page of Chapter 1031, it looks like Bepo is number 2 of the Heart Pirates, right!? I was surprised because I thought Penguin, Shachi and Bepo tied for 2nd place! Are you saying that Bepo (along with Sulong?) is the strongest of them all? PN Pudding-ya

O: That cover, huh? Similar to Zoro, not all of them have the title of first mate (Vice Captain). I chose number 2 as I see it. Generally, Shachi and Penguin are more reliable, but these two—who saw Bepo's Sulong form—are no match for Bepo in terms of fighting power…! I agree with him.

The real Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates

The Straw Hat Pirates do not have a Vice Captain

Now that it is known that Zoro is not the vice-captain or first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates, one might wonder who the person is that holds that position. The obvious answer to this is that there are no Vice Captains or First Mates in the Straw Hat Pirates. This group works like a family, which means that different people have different roles and there is no specific leader except Luffy. Luffy is the only captain of the team, and the rest is his family. Of course, there are different situations where different characters lead. For example, Jinbe, Sanji, and even Nami, in most cases, are more reliable than Zoro in making decisions.

Jinbe usually has the most experience, as does Robin. Both of these are very reliable in many situations. Sanji is the prime candidate for strategy, and is often cited as the strategist of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is usually taller than Luffy. Zoro is very reliable in battle, and has a special value in the team and, like the others, has proven himself as a leader many times. When it comes to research, and many other things, Robin can be seen as a team leader.

Straw hats are all the same

It is clear that the Straw Hat Pirates have many reliable leaders, each skilled in their own way. The Straw Hat Pirates are a close-knit family, and, therefore, do not work like any pirate crew in the One piece World. They have no hierarchy, and different situations require different characters to take command, which sometimes even results in characters controlling Luffy because he simply doesn't know how to navigate situations- a thing.

The truth is that Luffy is a captain unlike any other. He made it clear that without his team he would not be able to make it through the first half of the Grand Line. Luffy gets a lot of character from his crew and he relies heavily on them. There is a team to lead him to One piece and Luffy leads them and protects them in his own way. A family that will never be seen again in the One piece the world, which is why this family values ​​each member. Fans should remember that Luffy holds them all in equal measure, and they are all loyal to him.

One Piece is available to read on Viz Media. The series can be read by fans officially and for free on Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date of the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1129, is October 13, 2024.