One Piece's Straw Hats, who lack Haki, have a good reason for it, and it stems from Oda's foresight

Modified Aug 31, 2024 18:07 GMT

One Piece: Every Straw Hat will not have Haki (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece's Straw Hat crew is one of the most iconic casts of characters within the anime fandom. Each member has a unique role in the story, like Nami being the navigator, Chopper being the crew doctor, Franky being the shipwright and Robin the historian/archeologist.

Their overall power levels compared to the Straw Hats' opponent crews have become a significant point of debate within the fandom. While the trio of Luffy, Zoro and Sanji has been established as some of the strongest pirates in the story, the same cannot be said about the rest of the crew.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series.

One Piece: All the Straw Hats having Haki will make their struggles pointless

Luffy as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Luffy, Zoro and Sanji have been thoroughly built up throughout the story in terms of combat prowess and character arcs. While the three make up most of the Straw Hat Crew's combat ability, the rest of the crew lags behind by a significant margin.

However, the other members have their own specializations, which Oda might utilize later in the story. One of the biggest complaints among fans regarding the power levels of Nami, Franky, Brook, Chopper and Robin is their inability to use Haki.

Robin as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

It's important to note that the crew's major hurdles will be the Blackbeard Pirates and the Gorosei. Although members like Nami, Franky, Brook, Chopper and Robin lack Haki, they have received powers that could rival a Yonko's if properly developed by Oda.

Nami has Big Mom's Zeus, along with her weather-related abilities. Franky has access to much of Vegapunk's technology, including lasers similar to Kizaru's. Robin's power to create and manipulate appendages while also altering their size has provided the crew with substantial firepower to compete with crews like the Blackbeard Pirates.

Franky as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Brook, with his ice swordsmanship, bears striking similarities to Nusjuro's swordsmanship. It's possible that Oda doesn't want them to have Haki to hone their current abilities, preparing them for the final battle that's likely to occur towards the end of the story.

One Piece has always been about overcoming struggles, and giving the entire Straw Hat crew access to Haki would strip away their "underdog" factor. That would make them too overpowered to face any challenges before their respective final fights.

Oda might be setting up a training arc in the Elbaf arc, focusing on capitalizing on their existing abilities instead of granting them Haki..

Final Thoughts

One Piece chapter 1125 will be released on September 8, 2024, and will begin the much anticipated Elbaf arc.

The Elbaf arc is guaranteed to be one of the most important arcs in the story so far, so the rest of the crew may get considerable training and power-ups on the Island of the Giants.

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