The One Piece: Have Fans Been Missing the Clues All Along?

Straw Hats One Piece

The epic saga of One Piece has been sailing the shonen seas for 27 years and counting ever since the manga launched in 1997. In all that time, the series has kept some intriguing secrets from fans, most of all the true nature of Gol D. Roger’s One Piece treasure, which awaits its discoverer on Laugh Tale in the New World. Fans are eager to know what this object is and why it matters so much, but there’s also the treasure of friendship to consider.

Fans can rest assured that “the friends we made along the way” is not actually the One Piece treasure. It would fit a shonen series like this one to make the sentiment of friendship the real gift of sailing the high seas, but friendship is something Monkey D. Luffy finds on his own, not at Laugh Tale. Still, while there’s no doubt the One Piece is an item of massive importance, Luffy doesn’t actually care that much what it is, because he really does care about the treasure of friendship. Whether or not the One Piece item changes his life, Luffy already has what he cares about most.

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The Treasure of Friendship Changed the Straw Hats’ Lives For the Better

Brook cries and holds his head in One Piece.
Nico Robin during the events of One Piece's Enies Lobby arc is looking worried.
Roronoa Zoro has a sword in his mouth in One Piece. Nami wearing Luffy's straw hat and wiping away tears in the One Piece animeBrook cries and holds his head in One Piece. Nico Robin during the events of One Piece's Enies Lobby arc is looking worried. Roronoa Zoro has a sword in his mouth in One Piece. Nami wearing Luffy's straw hat and wiping away tears in the One Piece anime

The power of friendship and nakama is central to One Piece‘s narrative, because without it, none of the heroes would have gotten very far. Time and again, Luffy befriends new people whom he meets and changes their lives for the better with his positive influence, which is the main way he grows the size of his crew.

Some of these friends are left behind at the islands Luffy visits, such as Princess Nefeltari Vivi choosing to stay behind at Alabasta when Luffy’s crew departed after the downfall of Sir Crocodile. Luffy also left behind Princess Rebecca at Dressrosa and left behind Momonosuke at Wano, though those people’s lives were forever changed by Luffy’s presence. And that goes double for the Straw Hat crew members.

“The friendships we made along the way” is not literally the One Piece, but on a thematic and sentimental level, it practically is. Luffy wants to be king of the pirates and have a crew of his own, and he won’t accomplish that by acting selfish and untrustwothy like typical pirates are. Being Pirate King means having a crew of trustworthy and loyal friends, and even the strongest pirates like Captain Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger understood that.

In the case of the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy changed Roronoa Zoro’s life by essentially giving his life back. When the two met at Shells Town, Zoro was already trussed up as Captain Morgan’s prisoner, and he probably would have starved to death there. Luffy’s overtures of friendship convinced the swordsman to reconsider and become a pirate himself, thus saving his life and giving him a new purpose.

Luffy’s power of friendship also saved the life of Nico Robin, who was ready to discard her life out of shame and guilt as the “devil” child of Ohara. Years ago, she survived a Buster Call after her people delved into forbidden research, and her life has been difficult and miserable since. At Water 7, Robin handed herself over to the World Government, but at Enies Lobby, Luffy and his friends refused to let their new friend disappear.

Luffy’s persistence inspired Robin to declare her intent to live, and she rejoined the Straw Hats for more adventures. Luffy’s power of friendship also saved crewmates like Nami, who had no way to save Coco Village on her own, and Brook, who would have sailed the foggy seas alone for many more years if Luffy hadn’t recruited him.

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For Luffy, the One Piece is the Means to an End

monkey d luffy from the one piece anime

It’s true that finding the actual One Piece treasure has been Luffy’s stated goal for many years now, and there’s no doubt that once Luffy actually finds it at Laugh Tale, the world will be forever changed in ways fans can’t even predict. However, Luffy’s stated goal is not his true intention, because finding the One Piece treasure is actually just the means to an end for him.

No one knows what the One Piece is or what it does, so no one can form serious plans around its discovery, which sets it apart from the likes of the Pluton, one of the Ancient Weapons. Such a weapon can destroy almost anything, so any seeker of the Pluton knows what they’re in for, but the One Piece is different. That means Luffy is after something else.

Luffy’s real goal is to become pirate king, become famous, and enjoy his boundless freedom, which are open-ended goals that he can accomplish by finding the One Piece treasure. Luffy can’t form serious plans about what to do with the One Piece when he finds it, but that doesn’t actually matter much. Finding the One Piece is the means to an end, with Luffy’s ends being more sentimental than anything Kaido, Big Mom, or Sir Crocodile could ever think up.

Luffy strives for personal greatness, fame, and the joy of having a crew of his own, and the treasure of friendship factors into it all. It’s clear that Luffy recruits people like Sanji and Franky not just to make a crew strong enough to find the One Piece, but also enjoy the friendships. Luffy does gain some other things along the way, such as new ships like the Going Merry and new Gears to use in battle, but friendship is what he wants most of all.

This clearly sets Luffy apart from his worst rivals and enemies, who have the opposite attitude. One major example is Sir Crocodile who, like Luffy, set his eyes on a major treasure and pursued it with all his might. Crocodile’s quest to find the Pluton drove him to turn Alabasta against itself in a civil war, all so he could find the Poneglyph that described the Pluton. To Crocodile’s dismay, the Poneglyph said nothing about the Pluton, making his greedy quest a dead end, so Crocodile turned on Nico Robin out of frustration and to tie up a loose end.

Similarly, Big Mom and Kaido seek the One Piece for power and glory, and it’s likely that they would sacrifice or exploit any crewmate to get the job done. For them, crewmates are tools to use, not personal treasures to cherish on their journeys. In their eyes, treasures like Pluton and the One Piece are tangible goals in themselves and little more.

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Luffy Probably Won’t Care What the One Piece Is or Does

A buff Monkey D Luffy from One Piece.

Since the physical One Piece treasure is evidently just the means to a sentimental end for Monkey D. Luffy, then his quest will simply change course when he finds the One Piece treasure, not end. Other pirate crews would view the capture of the One Piece as the ultimate victory and probably retire from the pirate life, but Luffy feels differently.

The One Piece is the key to him becoming famous, free, and surrounded by adoring friends, so he will probably care very little what the One Piece is or does. That leaves the question of what Luffy will do with that fabled treasure when he arrives at Laugh Tale and sets foot where Gol D. Roger and Kozuki Oden once stood.

For now, One Piece fans can only theorize on what the One Piece is and does, but there are some strong guesses, which may affect how the story ends. Luffy’s own goal of being free, famous, and surrounded by friends will be realized regardless of the One Piece’s own fate, but all this may still influence Luffy’s next course of action. Before Luffy can reach his open-ended, sentimental endgame of being the popular pirate king, he must decide what to do with the treasure he finds.

There’s a strong chance that the One Piece pertains to the centuries-long struggle against the villainous World Government. It might be an Ancient Weapon or a way to neutralize those weapons, or it might be hard evidence of the Great Kingdom’s existence in the previous era, thus inspiring the entire world to revolt against the government that wiped out that wonderful lost civilization.

In scenarios like those, the One Piece would be the final key to winning the war, so Luffy will likely just hand over the One Piece to the Revolutionary Army and let them use it for their own purposes. In practical terms, handing the Revolutionary Army such an item would make Luffy a hero of the entire globe, and for the sake of freeing everyone from the World Government’s oppression, Luffy would feel pretty great about that. But most of all, his quest is a personal one, so the friendships he made along the way remain the #1 treasure in his mind.

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Robin, Chopper, Brook, Franky and Jimbei are depicted as they look in the One Piece Egg-Head Arc poster.
One Piece (1999)

TV-14
Animation
Action
Adventure

Follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew in order to find the greatest treasure ever left by the legendary Pirate, Gold Roger. The famous mystery treasure named “One Piece”.

Release DateOctober 20, 1999
Creator(s)Eiichiro Oda
CastMayumi Tanaka , Akemi Okamura , Laurent Vernin , Tony Beck , Kazuya Nakai
Main GenreAnimation
Seasons1
StudioToei Animation
CreatorEiichirô Oda
Production CompanyToei Animation
Number of Episodes1K+
Streaming Service(s)Crunchyroll , Hulu , Funimation , Adult Swim , Pluto TV , Netflix

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