One Piece: Why are the Straw Hat Pirates more successful than other pirate crews?

The Straw Hats are the central pirate crew of the One Piece series. Why are the Straw Hats more successful than the other Yonko crews? Let's find out together!

Although each member of the gang started out as ordinary people living their own lives, they eventually joined forces to form an incredibly important force, becoming one of the most influential forces in the world in a very short period of time. Although they are not the only team, they are certainly the most famous.

One Piece fans know that Luffy is driven by the dream of becoming the Pirate King and has been since he was a child. While this dream plays a central role in the character's storyline, Luffy is just one of millions of people in the One Piece world who want this, so let's take a look at why Luffy is different from the others and why the Straw Hats have been more successful than the other Yonko crews in becoming the most famous pirate crew.

The perfect formation of the Straw Hat crew in One Piece

When it comes to pirates in the One Piece world, none are more powerful and influential than the Emperors of the Sea pirate crew. These characters are under the command of some of the most legendary pirates in history, strong enough to hold their own against an entire army, which also makes hundreds of others yearn to work for them. That shows that the Yonko's influence is the greatest in the world.

However, each Yonko has their own way of organizing their pirate crew. There are some commonalities, such as the captain is usually the strongest member and there are a number of subordinates who are not as strong but act as commanders of divisions under their captain. This is especially true for notable pirate crews such as Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom. These pirates are legends of the past era who survived to conquer the New Era, and although they are very strong, they have a serious problem within their pirate crew.

While members like Marco, King, and Katakuri are strong, they are not even close to the strength of the captains. This is where the first flaw in the Yonko's crew structure becomes apparent, as the power gap between the captains and their strongest subordinates is too high, much like the case with the pirates mentioned above. One of the most notable aspects of the Straw Hats is that Zoro, Sanji, and Jimbei do not have much of a power gap compared to Luffy.

Second, the amount of freedom a pirate crew has is crucial to its overall success. The command structure of the Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Beast Pirates is extremely rigid, with the strongest member, their captain, having absolute authority and influence over every action of his crew members. Their word is absolute, and others simply cannot have any say in their captain's orders.

This is a major difference between them and the Straw Hats, as Zoro and the others often go against Luffy's orders or talk back to him for reasons that benefit the crew as a whole. This is important because it shows that the more freedom a crew has, the more successful they will be in their pursuit of becoming the Pirate King's strongest crew. The most important comparison that can be made here is with the Roger Pirates, whose structure is similar to the Straw Hats in the sense that the strongest members of the crew under the captain are not much different in terms of strength, as well as the fact that they also have a lot of freedom.

Freedom has always been one of the core elements of the One Piece story , which is why Oda was so careful when constructing the structure of the Roger Pirates, which is closer to the Straw Hats than any other, suggesting that Luffy's crew is destined to become the Pirate King's crew. However, even too much freedom can be detrimental, as can be seen with the Rocks Pirates, who are considered the strongest crew in history. Although they are extremely powerful and allowed to do whatever they want, because they do not follow any structure, the team has become disjointed.