One Piece: The mystery of the Oykot Kingdom, explored

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece establishes an enthralling fictional world based on a myriad of different characters, places, and subplots, all interwoven with each other to form a cohesive whole. Given One Piece's compelling lore and the sheer length of the franchise's serialization, it's almost inevitable that some questions remain unanswered.

Among the many unresolved mysteries, one of the most intriguing concerns is the Oykot Kingdom. This country is known for being where Bell-mère found Nami and her adoptive sister, Nojiko, about 20 years before the present narration. As it's well known, Nami plays a paramount role in One Piece.

The second person to join Monkey D. Luffy after Roronoa Zoro, Nami is the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates and is portrayed as the female heroine of the story. Even then, her origins were never properly explained, adding to the mystery surrounding the Oykot Kingdom.

The Oykot Kingdom is linked to Nami's backstory in One Piece

Bell-mère adopted Nami and Nojiko after finding them in Oykot

Bell-mère with Nami and Nojiko (Image via Toei Animation)

In One Piece, it is never revealed where Nami came from or what her real parents were. Neither the manga nor the supplementary sources, such as the various databooks, disclosed any information on the subject. All that is known is that the slightly older Nojiko found the infant Nami and that a low-ranked Marine officer named Bell-mère eventually took care of them.

So far, One Piece only focused on what had happened from then onwards, not delving further into the origins of the franchise's main female character. When Bell-mère found Nami and Nojiko, she was on the brink of death as a result of a tremendous battle that occurred in the surrounding area.

This happened in the Oykot Kingdom, a country in the East Blue. As some pirates stormed the place, the Navy sent one unit to fend them off. Bell-mère was among those Marines. The ensuing fight was a devastating bloodbath, which resulted in the death of countless people from both sides, as well as the utter destruction of the nearby area.

Bell-mère saving Nami and Nojiko (Image via Toei Animation)

Grievously wounded, Bell-mère was lying on the ground. Surrounded by rubble and corpses, she was going to let herself die. However, suddenly, a two-year-old Nojiko appeared holding an infant Nami. Moved, Bell-mère found the motivation to stand up again. She decided to save the two little girls she brought to her hometown, Cocoyasi Village, and adopted.

In the coming years, Bell-mère raised Nami and Nojiko as if they were her daughters, caring about them even at her own expense. When Arlong and his Fish-Men invaded Cocoyasi Village, threatening to kill its inhabitants. Bell-mère sacrificed herself to protect Nami and Nojiko, further proving her profound, unconditional love for them.

A strange incident in a mysterious place

Bell-mère finding Nami and Nojiko in Oykot (Image via Shueisha)

What happened in the Oykot Kingdom leaves many more doubts than answers. The manga provides very little information, to the point where the name and location of this country were only revealed by the Vivre Card databook.

The name of the pirate crew that attacked Oykot remains unknown to this day. While a pirate attack on a random country is anything but unprecedented, the reaction to the attack raises several questions. Despite the struggle faced by the Marines sent to protect the Oykot Kingdom, no backup was sent to assist them.

As a result, the Marines and the pirate crew annihilated each other. What's even weirder, Bell-mère survived the battle but never reported to the Marine Headquarters that she was alive, let alone that she had found two surviving children. On the contrary, she quit the Marines. This was particularly odd, given that Bell-mère was explicitly highlighted as a very proud member of the Navy.

Perhaps the Oykot Kingdom was hiding something important for the World Government, which the pirates accidentally discovered. Thus, Imu and the Five Elders decided to silence everything with a ruthless move.

The moment that changed Bell-mère, Nami, and Nojiko's lives (Image via Shueisha)

They sent some Marines to kill the pirates. Still, they deliberately refrained from giving the necessary reinforcements, leading to the mutual annihilation of Marines and pirates, as well as the destruction of the country.

This would explain why Bell-mère decided to cut ties with the Navy. It's also interesting to note that, for some reason, Bell-mère didn't want Nami to know the circumstances in which she found and decided to adopt her and Nojiko in Oykot. In fact, Bell-mère told Nami that she had found her somewhere under a bridge.

The Oykot Kingdom's intriguing ties to the lore of One Piece have also been emphasized even in the live-action adaptation of the story. In Netflix's One Piece Live-Action, Nami was seen reading a map labeled "The Sea King of the Great Oykot."

The map showed the northern side of Oykot, which had the shape of a serpentine monster, resembling a similar map featured on the cover of One Piece chapter 937. This may mean something, as every scene in the show, especially with regard to changes from the source material, was made in agreement with Eiichiro Oda, who personally worked on the project as one of the show's executive producers.

Is there something behind Nami's birth?

Bell-mère loved Nami and Nojiko as her own daughters (Image via Shueisha)

It may be a coincidence, but the name of the Oykot Kingdom where Nami was found is Toyko spelled backward. It's easy to imagine that, being a Japanese author, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda would link the name of Japan's capital city to something truly important in the context of his masterpiece.

As the series's female heroine, Nami is important enough to fit into such a profile. Sooner or later, Luffy will become the Pirate King, and Nami may very well be the Pirate Queen beside him. She is regularly portrayed wearing a crown and behaving like a queen on Luffy's side.

In aesthetics and demeanor, Nami resembles the young girl in Eiichiro Oda's pre-One Piece stories and sketches. In One Piece, she is the second person to join Luffy, only preceded by the latter's right-hand man, Roronoa Zoro. This makes her the first woman to accompany Luffy on his travels.

A moment of Nami's life with Nojiko and Bell-mère (Image via Toei Animation)

Allegedly, Oda had thought about focusing a movie on the events that took place in Oykot before Nami's birth but reconsidered the idea. While this doesn't necessarily say much, it implies that the author has something specific in mind for Nami's origins.

The reason why Nami was abandoned, and the identity of her real parents remain unknown, and it's hard to imagine that Oda connected them to a random war in a random country. The mangaka typically ties every subplot to the main storyline, so there might be much more than meets the eye.

Granted, it's entirely possible that Bell-mère simply wanted to change life, leaving the Navy and devoting herself to the care of Nami and Nojiko for no particular reason other than her love for the two little girls. Love is something spontaneous that doesn't necessarily need a reason.

Bell-mère was proud to be a Marine (Image via Toei Animation)

As soon as Bell-mère met them, Nami and Nojiko became her reason for living. Headstrong and independent as she was, Bell-mère wouldn't probably like to entrust the well-being of her beloved adoptive daughters to someone else, even if it was the Navy, the organization of which she was proud to be a member.

Likewise, Nami's backstory revolved around the idea that Nami, Nojiko, and Bell-mère were living a happy life, seeing each other as family. They knew that they weren't blood-related, and didn't care about that in the slightest.

With this in mind, perhaps the subtext of this narrative is that there's no particular hidden meaning to search for, as Nami's real family doesn't matter because she sees her adoptive family as the real one.

After the battle in Oykot, Bell-mère cut her ties with the Navy (Image via Toei Animation)

Looking forward to seeing how things stand, fans are understandably curious to discover whether or not there's some secret behind Nami’s origins. It's interesting to note that every other one of the first five original members of the Straw Hat Pirates is closely related to at least one major figure of the One Piece world.

Luffy is the grandson of "Marine Hero" Garp and the son of Revolutionary Army leader Dragon. He also has a personal connection to "Red Hair" Shanks and may even be a direct descendant of Joy Boy.

As for Zoro, he is "Hawk Eyes," Mihawk's disciple and sworn rival, and is officially confirmed to be a direct descendant of Ryuma, an unparalleled swordsman implied to be one of the most powerful fighters in the One Piece world's history.

Usopp is the son of Yasopp, a high-ranking member of Shanks' crew. Sanji is a former prince of the Germa Kingdom and is the son of Vinsmoke Judge, a scientist who was part of the MADS group along with Dr Vegapunk.

Nami during One Piece's Egghead Arc (Image via Toei Animation)

Of the so-called "East Blue Straw Hats," only Nami doesn't seem to have such prominent relationships. Considering her pivotal role in the series, this seems strange and only fosters the idea that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has a big reveal in store for her character.

Oda loves to connect every minor detail to the greater picture, so even Nami's biological family may be important, just as it was with Vivi's Nefertari Family. Introduced as the monarchs of a remote country, the Nefertari were progressively revealed to have major connections with the main plot.

What's certain is that "Cat Burglar" Nami still holds many mysteries to uncover, starting with her uncanny ability to sense, understand, and predict the weather. Hopefully, the final saga will reveal everything about Nami's character, including what happened in the Oykot Kingdom before Bell-mère found her.

One Piece: The mystery of the Oykot Kingdom, explored

The Oykot Kingdom is linked to Nami's backstory in One Piece

Bell-mère adopted Nami and Nojiko after finding them in Oykot

A strange incident in a mysterious place

Is there something behind Nami's birth?

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