One Piece: Who is the father of Makino's kid? Explored

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece series is renowned for its complex plot and intricate worldbuilding, based on the interactions between countless different characters. The narrative focuses on the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as they explore the globe in search of the One Piece treasure, while also developing several side storylines.

The subplots often interweave with the main storytelling, which delineates the One Piece world as an ever-evolving, lifelike environment. This also helps to keep every character relevant to the story, including minor characters who rarely appear in the manga. Despite their objective lack of screen time, Oda manages to hint at their development through even the most seemingly insignificant details.

For example, this is the case with Makino, the girl who raised Luffy. Makino is so fond of Luffy that she could be considered an adoptive mother or older sister for him, as well as for his sworn brothers Ace and Sabo. After the two-year timeskip, it was revealed that Makino has now a child. However, the identity of the infant’s father remains unknown.

The identity of Makino’s lover has become a puzzling enigma for One Piece fans

Who is Makino in One Piece?

A friendly, proactive young woman with brown eyes and dark hair, Makino lives in Luffy’s hometown, Foosha Village. There, she owns the Partys Bar. This location is especially dear to One Piece fans, as it’s the location where a younger Shanks used to cheer and celebrate with his crew.

More importantly, this is the place where Luffy consumed the Gum-Gum Fruit, later revealed to be the fabled Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika. When Shanks and his comrades left Foosha Village, Makino took care of Luffy. She also looked after Ace and Sabo, bringing new clothes for them.

When Luffy left the village, Makino stated how much she would miss him. Upon hearing the newspaper reports about Luffy’s deeds, she never ceased to support the young pirate. Following the conclusion of the Paramount War, Curly Dadan blamed Monkey D. Garp for Ace’s tragic death during the conflict.

Makino with Luffy and Ace, who at the time were children (Image via Toei Animation)

Consumed with guilt, Garp let Dadan hit him without reacting, until Makino stopped the latter by reminding her that the old Marine was suffering more than anyone else. As Dadan responded that Luffy was suffering even more, Makino remembered her time with Ace and Luffy and burst into tears.

During the two-year timeskip, Makino had a child, which she was seen holding on the cover of One Piece chapter 614. More specifically, this page was part of the cover story “From the Decks of the World,” which showed the reactions of people from all over the globe to the news that the Straw Hat Pirates had finally returned.

As the narration progressed, Makino was seen commenting on Luffy’s exploits, as well as expressing her discouragement for the news about Sabo. She agreed with Woop Slap that, despite the difficult predicament, Garp would come back from Blackbeard’s Pirate Island and noted that her child was beginning to recognize Luffy’s face on the newspaper.

Oda teases the truth, but doesn’t reveal it

Makino with her child (Image via Shueisha)

One Piece author Eiichiro Oda has not yet revealed who is the father of Makino’s child. On the argument, the mangaka only expressed himself in the SBS of volume 63, where he stated the following:

“Yes, Makino-san became a mother. She looks very happy. The father is maybe that person… yeah, probably that person.”

Needless to say, such an enigmatic statement didn’t satisfy the fans’ thirst for curiosity. Until recently, the most popular assumption speculated that the father was none other than Shanks. Charismatic and powerful, the captain of the Red Hair Pirates is a genuine icon of the One Piece franchise.

There’s no doubt that the Red Hair Pirates are very familiar with Foosha Village and the Partys Bar, which is one of the many reasons why fans have always shipped Shanks and Makino together. To be fair, they seem to be on good terms, and, in terms of age, Shanks is is only a few years older than Makino.

With this in mind, perhaps Oda’s cryptic words were intended to validate the most prevalent theory, although without openly confirming it. Supposedly, as one of the Four Emperors, Shanks shouldn’t be able to move around freely, as the Navy would track his whereabouts and actions to ensure he is not up to something big.

Shanks attending a certain wedding (Image via Shueisha)

After the Paramount War, Garp was in Foosha, which is another reason why Shanks would probably not go back to the village. Interestingly, another cover story shows Shanks attending a wedding on a certain island. Neither the location nor the newlyweds are revealed.

Makino wasn’t seen, and, judging by his apparel and behavior, Shanks wasn’t the groom. Still, with the current information, no one can say for sure. It’s something that One Piece author Eiichiro Oda left ambiguous, probably on purpose.

While most fans believe Shanks to be Makino’s lover, others believe that the father of the bartender’s child is Sabo. Oda said that the father is “that person” before Sabo was officially revealed to be alive, which may explain the mangaka’s reticence in spoiling the truth. Sabo is also on good terms with Makino. However, there’s a substantial age difference, as he is quite younger than her.

In a drawing recently published by Eiichiro Oda to promote One Piece Film: Red, the mangaka depicted Makino and some members of the Red Hair Pirates with Luffy and Uta. Interestingly, Makino is not shown with Shanks but depicted alongside Benn Beckman, who is drinking next to her.

Makino is visibly blushing, which may suggest that she is not indifferent to Benn’s charming presence. Then again, it’s also possible to interpret the drawing differently. Perhaps Makino is close to Benn simply because she just served wine to him, and, while her cheeks are clearly red, she isn’t looking at Benn as she blushes.

Hence, even this illustration neither confirms nor disproves any theory about the identity of Makino’s lover. In any case, so far, there’s no reason to believe that the mystery around the father of Makino’s son will be relevant for One Piece’s main plot. Granted, considering the amount of theories on the subject, this only serves to underline Eiichiro Oda’s ability to keep his readers enthralled even with the most minor details of his masterpiece.