One Piece: Are Kalifa and Alpha sisters? Explored

One of the most engaging stretches of post-time-skip One Piece has been the series’ still ongoing focus on the origins and backstory of Bartholomew Kuma. While Kuma was a beloved character heading into the flashback, he has arguably become a fan-favorite following the reveal of the tragic circumstances of his life.

Another reason why One Piece fans have been so enthralled with Kuma’s flashback is due to how much significant lore information and worldbuilding is present within. This also applies to the appearance of younger versions of previously introduced characters, as well as the introduction of brand new characters whom fans have never seen before.

One such character to fall into the latter category is Alpha, a World Government agent with Cipher Pol 8, who is tasked with leading Bonney’s “medical team,” following her surgery. While a sensible and inconspicuous enough purpose for inclusion, some One Piece fans are asserting that Alpha may be related to another Cipher Pol agent, Kalifa.

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One Piece’s Alpha not confirmed to be Kalifa’s sister, but there’s strong evidence suggesting it to be the case

Are Kalifa and Alpha sisters?

Given how recently Alpha has been introduced in One Piece, it should come as no surprise that there is no official confirmation on whether or not she is Kalifa’s sister. It’s unlikely to be revealed or confirmed anytime soon if this is the case, given author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s typical writing style for the series.

That being said, there are some key similarities between the two, which do suggest they have some sort of connection, whether familial or otherwise. The most obvious and apparent similarity is in their facial features and overall build. They generally look very similar to each other, in a way that is typically suggestive of being related to one another.

Furthermore, their names are also very similar when one looks at the literal writing of Alpha in Japanese, as many One Piece fans have pointed out. Alpha’s name can be written literally as Alufa, which bears heavy similarity to the name Kalifa. It’s also worth mentioning that there are no other characters in the series with a name similar to the two of them.

There’s also the fact that both are Cipher Pol agents for the World Government, with Alpha working for CP8 and Kalifa for CP9, initially, before being transferred to CP0. As seen with Spandine and Spandam, nepotism is quite popular within the World Government’s Cipher Pol intelligence agencies, further suggesting Kalifa and Alpha to be sisters.

Interestingly, some One Piece fans have instead asserted that Alpha is actually just Kalifa in disguise, or before she joined CP9 in their efforts to obtain the Pluton blueprints. However, this seems unlikely, given how close to current events Alpha’s introduction is coming. By this point in the series’ timeline, Kalifa should already be in Water 7, having infiltrated Iceberg’s Galley-La Company alongside Kaku and Rob Lucci.

While it’s never explicitly mentioned when Kalifa joins the Galley-La Company, a vast majority of fans agree that she’s likely already in Water 7 by this point. With this in mind, it seems most likely that Kalifa and Alpha are sisters if they’re at all related. However, this is still speculative, considering what fans currently know about both characters.

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