One Piece: The Real Vice Captain Of The Straw Hat Pirates, Explained

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This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Latest Arc.

The Straw Hat Pirates are a Yonko crew and certainly one of the strongest in the world of One Piece. This crew hails from the East Blue and, ever since setting sail, has made history in unprecedented ways. Right now, this pirate crew is projected to conquer the seas and have their captain, Luffy, become the Pirate King. Of course, everyone knows who the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is. However, there have often been misconceptions surrounding the position of Vice Captain among the fans of One Piece.

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The position of Vice Captain is important for many pirate crews across the seas, and the Straw Hat Pirates certainly have their own take on this position.

The very first thing that fans need to keep in mind when speaking of the Vice Captain and First Mate scenario is that both of these positions mean the same thing. Often, fans have a misconception surrounding this position. Many fans assume that First Mate literally means the first person joining the crew. Sadly, they couldn't be more wrong., First Mate isn't the first person to join a pirate crew. The term First Mate is officially the person who serves as the Vice Captain of the crew. This simply means that First Mate and Vice Captain mean the same thing and are interchangeable terms. The Straw Hat Pirates do not have a First Mate, unlike the Roger Pirates or the Red Hair Pirates.

It is safe to say that there is a widespread misconception among the fans of One Piece when it comes to the position of Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Naturally, most fans assume that Zoro is the Vice Captain of the crew. However, it is safe to say that this isn't actually true. Zoro has never been described to be the Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates by Oda, so any fan claiming Zoro to be the Vice Captain is, sadly, misinformed. This misconception comes in two ways. The first way that this misconception was formed was by fans simply assuming that Zoro is the Vice Captain because of the idea that every single crew in the world of One Piece has a Vice Captain. While it is certainly true that quite a lot of pirate crews in One Piece have a Vice Captain, not all crews function the same. The Straw Hat Pirates, especially, are far different from any other crew seen in One Piece, and in this particular pirate crew, Zoro doesn't serve as the Vice Captain at all.

The second way this misconception developed was through statements and, to be more precise, mistranslations in both manga and, of course, anime fansubs as well. In the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, Urouge refers to Zoro as the First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates in certain translations of the manga, including Viz. At the same time, some of the fansubs, which are, of course, fan-translated, also refer to Zoro as the First Mate here. However, the real translation is something completely different. The real word used by Urouge here is ２番手, Which literally translates to the second best of the crew. This isn't inaccurate, because everyone knows that Zoro is arguably the second strongest after Luffy.

Bartolomeo, another pirate in the New World, also refers to Zoro as the Vice Captain of the crew, but Bartolomeo clearly states that Zoro is the Vice Captain in his mind, and this is not a generalized statement that is accepted by anyone in the One Piece world. To the Straw Hat Pirates, in particular, Zoro does not serve the role of the Vice Captain at all. That is certainly not to say that Zoro doesn't have a specified role. Zoro has an official role in One Piece which has been specified by Oda himself officially. This role is called 戦闘員 or Sentō-in, Which literally translates to Combatant. Essentially, Zoro is the combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates, and his role doesn't extend beyond that.

In fact, Oda even clarifies himself that Zoro is not the Vice Captain or the First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates in response to a question about the color spread from chapter 1031 of One Piece. There, Oda drew the Number Twos of various groups, and here is what he had to say.

Hello, Odacchi! Looking at the cover page of Chapter 1031, it seems like Bepo is the No. 2 of the Heart Pirates, right!? I was surprised because I thought that Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo were all tied for No. 2! Are you saying that Bepo (with Sulong?) is the strongest between them? P.N. Pudding-ya

O: That cover, huh? Similar to Zoro, not all of those characters have the title of first mate (Vice Captain). I selected the No. 2s as I saw fit. Usually, Shachi and Penguin are more dependable, but those two—who have seen Bepo's Sulong form—are no match for Bepo in terms of fighting power...! I acknowledge him.

Given that it has now been established that Zoro is not the Vice Captain or the First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates, then, one might wonder as to who is the character who holds this position. The clear answer to this is that there is no Vice Captain or First Mate in the Straw Hat Pirates. This group functions like a family, which means different characters have different roles and that there is no particular leader other than Luffy. Luffy is the sole captain of the crew, and the rest are his family. Of course, there are different scenarios where different characters take the lead. For instance, Jinbe, Sanji, and even Nami, in most situations, are more dependable than Zoro in making decisions.

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Jinbe is usually the one with the most experience, just like Robin. These two are very dependable in many situations. Sanji is the leading candidate when it comes to strategies, and is often even described to be the strategist of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is often more level-headed than even Luffy. Zoro is most dependable when it comes to combat, and has his own importance in the crew and, just like the others, has proven himself to be a leader on many occasions. When it comes to exploration, and many other things, Robin can be seen as the leader of the crew.

Clearly, the Straw Hat Pirates have many dependable leaders, all of whom are capable in their own ways. The Straw Hat Pirates are a closely knit family, and, thus, do not function like any other pirate crew in the One Piece World. They do not have a hierarchy of command, and different situations require different characters to take command, which sometimes even results in characters taking control over Luffy because he simply doesn't know how to navigate a certain situation.

The truth is that Luffy is a captain unlike any other. He clearly mentions that without his crew, he wouldn't even make it through the first half of the Grand Line. Luffy gets many qualities from his crew and he relies upon them heavily. The crew exists to guide him to the One Piece and Luffy guides them and protects them in his own way. This is a family that will never be seen again in the One Piece world, which is why this family places equal importance on every member. Fans should always remember that Luffy holds all of them in equal importance, and all of them are equally loyal to him.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1129, is set to be October 13, 2024.

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Um the first mate of a pirate crew was not necessarily the second in command of the ship...the first mate of a pirate crew was the one in charge of leading the boarding parties... so in that respect Zoro is the first mate...

You should look up color spread for chapter 1031, oda draws all the characters that he says act as vice captain in the following sbs. Also states they are the 2nd strongest on their respective crews. Multiple situations have happened that show zoros as vice captain such as always fighting the other crews first mate, or the Kuma encounter where he was going to sacrifice himself, or after usop leaves. No oda don't ever like to acknowledge the crews second strongest but he also like to imply luffy sanji and zoro are all equal. You want find him saying luffy the strongest yet it's supposed to pretty clear to the reader or watcher.

I see Zoro as second in command not because of wordings or what others have said. I place him as First mate based on actions. In Water 7 when Usopp leaves the crew, it is Zoro who reminds Luffy that he must be strong as a captain even though he is sad and is close to breaking down over Usopp's leave. That is Vice captain-material right there!

um zoro is the most loyal in the crew he believes in luffy like no other yes the others do believe in him a lot but not on the level of zoro, zoro is luffy's best friend and if there were a Vice Cap spot than tht spot would go to zoro since he the second strongest is

the Shs are all equally loyal and no Zoro isn't Luffy's best friend. No way you're loyalty-scaling them...

Yeah didn't Netflix confirm this in the live action where zoro said Yeah I'm your first mate or something like that

You're 100% misinformed Zoro has been labeled first mate in the show countless times, has the second highest bounty and is often shown leading and/or passing judgement as a first mate would. You have obviously never seen the show!

After cake island they literally had Zoro and sanji play fighting over who was the new second strongest but it was established that Zoro was still first mate. I would have accepted an article about Nami being the actual first mate, I think their is some possibility to explore. But your repetitive nonsense Ai written article? Nope.

Show me 5 of those "countless times" where Zoro has been called first mate in One Piece. Oh and also point the chapter number where it was established that "Zoro is still first mate after WCI." I'm waiting.

The bounty has nothing to do with who is the first mate.

And Oda has said it himself that ther is no first mate in Luffys crew.

This article needs a report button cause it's wrong. It's clearly stated zoro is number 2 on the ship and liffys first mate.

Report for actually being correct? Please post the chapter number, or the sbs where Oda calls Zoro first mate. I'm waiting

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