Befitting its status as a story about pirates, One Piece has always done a great job of incorporating multicultural elements into its narrative. In addition to many characters having Western names, the story often uses historical and cultural elements of other countries to build its narrative, and that does a lot to give the series its wholly original feel.

One Piece does a lot to incorporate international elements into its story, and that’s especially true with the Straw Hat Pirates. While there aren’t nations and ethnicities in the same vein as in real life, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has used his SBS question-and-answer column to assign each of the Straw Hat Pirates the nationalities they would have if they existed in real life.

Some of their nationalities are fairly obvious based on how the characters are written or drawn, but some are less tied to their characters; regardless, each statement of their nationalities does a lot to flesh out both the characters and One Piece, as a whole.

Jimbei Would Be From India

One Piece’s 10th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Helmsman

The first Straw Hat’s nationality to note is One Piece‘s Jimbei would be Indian in real life. Considering how much of Jimbei’s physical appearance and other character traits appear to be influenced by Japanese culture, Jimbei being Indian in real life can certainly come off as surprising to some. However, Jimbei’s hardly the only Straw Hat whose character doesn’t reflect their real-life nationality, and overall, it still serves to flesh out the Straw Hats and One Piece, as a whole, in a lot of ways.

Brook Would Be From Austria

One Piece’s 9th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Musician

According to Oda, One Piece‘s Brook would be Austrian in real life. With Brook’s overall design and demeanor, many fans would have guessed that Brook would be English, but that was decidedly not the case, according to Eiichiro Oda. With Brook being a musician, it’s possible that his being Austrian in real life is a reference to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart being Austrian, but it’s unknown if that’s explicitly the case at the time of writing.

Franky Would Be American

One Piece’s 8th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Shipwright

One of the least surprising nationalities revealed in One Piece is undoubtedly the reveal that One Piece‘s Franky would be American in real life. The constant use of star imagery in Franky’s designs very clearly harkens to the American flag, and his hammy personality and muscular character design also fit into the stereotype of Americans being muscular and goofy in anime and manga.

More tellingly is how Franky’s original character design is based on Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, as the fact that Franky would be referencing an American film makes it easy to assume that he’s supposed to be American.

Nico Robin Would Be Russian

One Piece’s 7th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Archaeologist

On the surface, the reveal of One Piece‘s Nico Robin being Russian in real life might not make a lot of sense, but there is some logic to it. A large part of Robin’s character, both before and after joining the Straw Hat Pirates, is her skill with espionage, so her being Russian could reference the idea of Russian spies from both movies and real life. Additionally, Tequila Wolf, the island Robin was sent to by Bartholomew Kuma, appears to be heavily based on Russia, and that could have also been a means of tying into her real-life nationality.

Tony Tony Chopper Would Be From Canada

One Piece’s 6th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Doctor

Another Straw Hat with a fairly obvious real-life nationality is One Piece‘s Tony Tony Chopper being Canadian in real life. For starters, Chopper is a talking reindeer, and in real life, reindeer are commonly found in Canada and other Northern areas of North America. Not only that, but Canada is known for its snowy climates, and with Chopper’s homeland of Drum Island being a Winter Island, it makes sense for that to serve as a reference to Chopper being Canadian.

Sanji Would Be From France

One Piece’s 5th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Cook

According to Eiichiro Oda, One Piece Sanji would be French in real life, and that’s very easy to explain. With Sanji being a professional chef, his attacks repeatedly being named with French words, and his constant flirting with women, Sanji’s character hits a lot of stereotypes of French people in media, so there wouldn’t be any other nationality that would make sense to assign him.

Interestingly enough, Taz Skylar, who plays Sanji in the live-action One Piece series, is a Spanish actor raised in England, so at the very least, the series was consistent enough to have Sanji be portrayed by a European actor.

Usopp Would Be From Africa

One Piece’s 4th Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Sniper

Another unsurprising real-life nationality for a Straw Hat Pirate is the reveal that One Piece‘s Usopp would be African in real life. Usopp is consistently drawn with a dark skin tone and thick lips, both of which are common traits of people with African heritage, so it makes perfect sense for Usopp to be African.

Oddly enough, Eiichiro Oda has never specified which country in Africa Usopp would hail from; Jacob Gibson, who plays Usopp in the live-action series, is Jamaican, so that does do something to tie Usopp down to a specific part of African culture, although it would be more to the Caribbean than Africa, directly.

Nami Would Be From Sweden

One Piece’s 3rd Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Navigator

Another Straw Hat Pirate’s real-life nationality that isn’t wholly reflected in their character is One Piece‘s Nami being Swedish in real life. Nothing about Nami’s character ties into Swedish culture in any significant way, but red hair is more common in Northern Europe than other regions of the world, and Nami’s pinwheels greatly resemble windmills, a symbol of Dutch culture, so there are certainly things to tie Nami to Europe.

It could also be that Eiichiro Oda simply felt like assigning Nami a random country in Europe, and just like with other characters, that does wonders to flesh out both her and the overarching story.

Roronoa Zoro Would Be From Japan

One Piece’s 2nd Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Fighter

Another Straw Hat Pirate with an unsurprising real-life nationality is One Piece‘s Roronoa Zoro being Japanese in real life. Between his attacks constantly referencing sushi and Buddhism and his love of sake, Zoro has always been deeply associated with Japanese culture, so the idea of him being Japanese in real life is incredibly easy to justify, especially during the Wano arc when the story started heavily leaning into it. Very fittingly, Zoro is also played by the Japanese actor Mackenyu in the live-action series, so his being Japanese is impossible to deny.

Monkey D. Luffy Would Be From Brazil

One Piece’s Original Straw Hat Pirate, the Ship’s Captain

The last Straw Hat Pirate’s real-life nationality to discuss is One Piece‘s Monkey D. Luffy being Brazilian in real life. While there isn’t a lot about Luffy’s character to tie him to Brazil, he’s usually drawn with a slightly dark skin tone, and his sandals and vests are often seen as trademarks of Brazilian clothing, so there is something of a link there.

Luffy’s actor in the live-action series, Iñaki Godoy, is Mexican, so the general area of Luffy’s nationality is at least consistent, but whatever the case, it’s great that One Piece would try so hard to add an international element to its cast, even if it’s largely trivia-based.

How Does One Piece Live Action’s Cast Compare To Oda’s Vision?

How the Netflix series compares to the anime and manga

The real-life nationalities of the Straw Hat Pirates are interesting to think about, and that’s especially true in reference to the people portraying them in the live-action Netflix series. Right off the bat, Mackenyu matches his character’s nationality the best out of anyone in the live-action One Piece due to being Japanese just like Zoro. Iñaki Godoy and Jacob Gibson also do a good job of matching Luffy and Usopp, as while the two of them are Mexican and Jamaican instead of Brazilian and African, their casting is at least consistent with the general idea of the characters’ original nationalities.

Taz Skylar, who plays Sanji in live-action, also matches his character well, as while Skylar isn’t French like Sanji, being a Spanish actor raised in England maintains the character’s European roots. So far, Emily Rudd is the only outlier, as she doesn’t seem to have Swedish heritage to match Nami’s nationality, and with Netflix reportedly looking for a Hispanic actress to portray Robin and either a Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian actress for Vivi in season 2, it can be assumed that not every Straw Hat will have their canon nationalities maintained in the live-action One Piece series.

Even if the Straw Hat Pirates’ canon nationalities aren’t perfectly maintained in live-action, what matters most is how the characters are depicted in the live-action series. Some small deviations in characterization aside, everyone portraying the Straw Hat Pirates in the live-action One Piece does a great job of adapting the original characters from the anime and manga, whether it’s in how they convey their personalities or through their various quirks and mannerisms. As long as the actors maintain that, then it shouldn’t be an issue if their nationalities don’t perfectly align with the canon nationalities of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Further supporting that idea is Eiichiro Oda’s involvement with the live-action series. Unlike other live-action anime adaptations that have come out, Eiichiro Oda is heavily involved with the live-action One Piece, so anyone cast as one of the Straw Hats can be seen as the absolute best person for bringing Oda’s vision to life according to Oda, himself. That idea should render any sort of criticisms about the nationalities of the Straw Hats’ actors compared to canon largely moot, and putting that out of the way should serve to make One Piece all the more enjoyable, no matter the medium.