Theory What to Look for in a Woman - The Female Straw Hat Patterns

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Hello, everyone! To those of you who knew me from the Oro Jackson days, good to see you again! To those who didn't, nice to meet you!

I used to have a ton of theories on that good old ship, but sadly I was unable to find the time to move any of them over here with how busy I was at the time. I also just had far...far too many to migrate them all. I was able to archive all of them, though, so if anyone would ever like to see any of those, please just let me know!

Looking forward, though, I've decided that rather than simply rehash all of my old content, I'm only going to revive the ones that are A) still active (haven't been debunked or made irrelevant) and B) have had new information arise since I originally posted them.

Now sadly, my absolute favorite theory, that Monet's wings were taken from a Birdfolk (linked here), was savagely debunked, so I won't be revisiting that one unless something rebunks it later. Instead, I've decided to start my voyage upon this new vessel with my second favorite theory: the Female Straw Hat Patterns!

Some of you may recall that this was originally posted in three parts on Oro Jackson, as I was analyzing every female character I could think of, but it shouldn't become nearly as long this time, so I'm going to consolidate them into one solitary theory. If you're interested in these theories in their original, segmented incarnation, feel free to give them a look here (1) (2) (3) god willing that those links work.

For some background, these ideas are an offshoot of the theory that launched a thousand theorists (or at least this one in particular), beck's Scaling the Red Line, wherein it was speculated that the recruits of each sea (East Blue, Paradise, and the New World) followed a specific pattern: a male seen as a monster and introduced bound in some way, a female villain who betrays her captain, a male leader of a group of troublemakers, and a perverse gentleman introduced carrying something steaming. I adore this theory, but I have always had one problem with it: aside from being a villain, all of the aspects of the female pattern are delayed in the narrative. They betray their captains (at the end of their saga), leave the Straw Hats (some arcs after joining), and end up in a race-against-time situation (in their respective retrieval arcs). beck also noted that at a certain point they wear the Straw Hat, but Nami didn't wear it until pretty late in her story. Robin wore it pretty much immediately, but the argument was that Tashigi would be the next female recruit and that she'd wear the Straw Hat...eventually. I don't mind using the Straw Hat as a visual key for recruitment, but it doesn't match beck's conclusions, so for all intents and purposes, it doesn't support the theory in its current state. The only aspect that Tashigi fits aside from being a villain is the fact that her dream is academics based, but the rest of the theory is pretty much just speculating on how her hypothetical arc would go, not establishing a real precedent for new recruits.

In my opinion, the patterns should be something that can either be identified visually upon their introduction (an aspect of their character design or the composition of their introductory panel) or an action that they take while still considered an antagonist. I also don't want to hold tight to the villain aspect myself, as I think that Oda may want to subvert expectations, so I'm open to the idea that the female recruit doesn't have to strictly speaking be a villain, though I'll go into more detail on that later.

First, we need to establish what the patterns are and how Nami and Robin set them up. They are as follows:

1. The Looking Down Pattern

In their introductory panels, both Nami and Robin are sitting at an elevated position, allowing their legs to dangle, while looking downward at Luffy. This one is the most self-explanatory, as the potential new recruits should theoretically mimic this pose. They don't necessarily have to do it in the panel with their name card, but that does net bonus points.

2. The Hair Pattern

Refer back to the previous image: both Nami and Robin have short hair in their original appearance, approximately shoulder length, which grows longer post-timeskip.

How this applies to candidates met post-timeskip is difficult to tell, but they will presumably either A) be introduced with short hair, or B) be introduced with long hair and shown in a flashback to have had once had short hair.

3. The Cage Pattern

Before becoming allies, both Nami and Robin trick Luffy, resulting in him being put in a cage. This one is the least immediate, as Robin didn't do this until well into Alabasta, at least two arcs after her introduction, but it still occurs before any definitive friendship is formed (or at least the friendship is part of the deception, as it was for Nami). This could be subverted with a female character personally placing Luffy in a cage through force or otherwise, but Luffy being deceived first is preferable. It may also help for Luffy to be endangered in said cage, preferably with some kind of time limit, as Buggy nearly fired a Buggy Ball on Luffy and Crocodile left Luffy and friends to drown as the room he was in filled with water.

It's also worth noting that both Nami and Robin save Luffy from certain death situations, wherein Nami extinguishes the fuse on the Buggy Ball cannon and Robin later retrieves Luffy from a sand dune created by Crocodile.

This can definitely be seen as a pattern in and of itself, but I think this is more or less the point where they pretty definitively betray their captains and become allies, so I personally want to focus on their actions that occur before this point, but I would be remiss not to at least mention it. Consider it pattern 3.5 I guess. What it means to "save Luffy" can potentially vary, but maximum points go to betraying the arc villain by directly protecting Luffy from being killed by them.

Now let's look at our potential candidates. Like I said, I'm not going to go over every single female like I did originally, I'm only going to go over the ones that I think are at all likely based on these patterns. They have to either fulfill one of the patterns or be a clear subversion or inversion of them. What I mean by that should become clear soon.

[I originally meant to post this all at once, but I didn't realize that this forum had a picture/character limit, so I'll be posting all of the character analyses one or two at a time within the thread. I'll try to get them all up ASAP, so please bare with me until then.]

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

That said, I'm going to start off by immediately talking about someone who fulfills no patterns: Vivi. She's the only exception because she's considered an honorary Straw Hat, being Straw Hat 5.5 according to Oda and grouped with the Straw Hats in the Vivre Card Databook. She is introduced with long hair which only gets longer post-timeskip, is never depicted above Luffy or even in a similar pose as far as I can find, and never tricks him into a cage.

One could argue that Luffy ends up in the cage on Alabasta because of her, but that's awfully roundabout and completely unintentional. Now, she does technically fit the Saving Pattern, as she helped break Luffy out of said cage where he was about to drown, but most of the credit there really goes to Sanji. Still, she was a major contributing factor, and Luffy thanks her for her part.

The only thing Vivi really has going for her aside from being introduced as an antagonist is...well, quite literally being a Straw Hat. But I don't see her being given a new number, I think she's 5.5 forever even if she comes back, so I wouldn't personally count her as the New World female. If anything, she establishes a completely different pattern, but that's an issue for another day.

Our next candidate is beck's choice: Tashigi. Of the three patterns, she really only qualifies for the Hair Pattern, but to her credit, she fits the most perfectly out of everyone we're going to be discussing today, as she is introduced pre-timeskip with short hair that grew out to be long post-timeskip.

Some people argue that her black hair disqualifies her due to being the same color as Robin's, but I don't think that's a good argument since she has a distinct character design aside from that, wearing her hair differently and having glasses.

Another point in her favor is that she does protect Luffy and the Straw Hats while they're unconscious after defeating Baroque Works, but I don't know if that's really on the same level as "saving" them in a life or death situation. It certainly isn't betraying her captain, as I'm pretty sure Smoker either agreed with her decision or insisted on it.

My main point against Tashigi despite being an amiable character to the crew whose hair perfectly mirrors Nami's and Robin's is that the narrative just doesn't really seem to be building to her inclusion in my opinion. Perhaps that will change later, but as it stands right now, her character is so heavily tied to Smoker's that I just don't see her breaking off from him any time soon. That could easily change any time, mind you, but as it stands, the narrative seems to be building towards other characters more heavily right now. Personally, I will always take narrative pacing above patterns, it's just that the ones the narrative is pointing at fit the patterns in their own way, giving them an extra boost above Tashigi for the time being.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Our next candidate fits two of the patterns, but neither of them quite perfectly: Hancock. Her hair has always been and presumably will always be long, so that one's out, but her first introduction to Luffy saw her taking a very familiar pose from atop quite a long stretch of stairs.

She isn't sitting over the edge of a roof or a banister, but the camera angle and her crossed legs are nearly identical to Robin's introduction. Aside from the fact that her feet are able to touch the ground rather than dangling, the other issue here is that this is not her name card scene, but the importance of that is debatable, as we'll definitely see with other strong candidates.

More interesting, though, is her spin on the Cage Pattern. Of everyone who imprisons Luffy, she is the only one who does so without the need of trickery, force, or Luffy's own unconsciousness. No, instead Luffy directly asks her to, and she hesitantly accepts; upon Luffy's request, Hancock personally delivers him to Impel Down.

Of course, Luffy isn't actually interred in Impel Down, as he's able to more or less run freely through its halls, but it's undeniable that Hancock is the one that put him there. Impel Down is also definitely the point where Luffy gets the closest to death he ever has been up to this point, with a race against Magellan's poison, so we can call that another point in her favor. Still, others further on fit the pattern much more closely, Hancock's instance is just a particularly interesting subversion.

She also saved Luffy from Smoker at Marineford, though it's debatable if Smoker was actually going to kill Luffy. Still, a rescue is a rescue, so we'll give her a point for it.

Hancock is a fairly popular choice from what I've seen, and given that she has lost her Shichibukai status, it's not hard to see her doing something like, say, placing Amazon Lily under the Straw Hat flag for protection, but I'm also just not sure she'd really be a good fit as a direct subordinate for Luffy given her loyalty to her people. I suppose people could have said the same thing about Jinbe, but her situation is certainly different. Personally I feel like she'd work best as a Fleet Captain rather than a crewmate proper, but maybe she'd leave one of the Kuja on the Thousand Sunny to keep an eye on Luffy in her stead. After all, one of them, Sweet Pea, did wear the Straw Hat at one point, just like beck said.

Obviously I'm not saying Sweet Pea is going to join the Straw Hats, she has had almost no bearing on the narrative since her introduction, but her involvement in the plot was directly tied to another Kuja who did establish herself quite well as a potential ally: Marguerite.

Marguerite actually fulfills all three patterns, but much like her empress, does so imperfectly.

She is introduced with short hair, a style she has retained post-timeskip, so if new female Straw Hats must be recruited with short hair, then she has left the door open for that.

While speaking to Luffy in the forest after he escapes from the Kuja prison, Marguerite sits atop what appears to be a large tree root, her legs dangling over the edge as she looks downward at Luffy. Though it doesn't receive the same focus as Nami or Robin's instances, Marguerite's pose does resemble theirs, as if Oda wanted to evoke the imagery more subtly so as not to blatantly recreate the exact scene.

And on the subject of the Kuja prison...

Marguerite was the one who found him unconscious and covered in deadly mushrooms (which by the way also counts as Marguerite saving Luffy's life, though it was from his own stupidity rather than an antagonist), and was the one to decide to bring him back to the village where it was discovered he was a man. Who literally put him in the cage is up for debate, but it would be no exaggeration to say that Marguerite was responsible. That said, she most certainly did not trick him into the cell, as he was simply unconscious from the moment Marguerite found him until he woke up within. A point in her favor, though, is that the Kuja did attempt to kill him while in the cage by firing arrows at him, but that's not exactly a race against time. It could go either way, but it's definitely worth noting.

Still, a short-haired girl responsible for imprisoning Luffy who then formally introduces herself to him from atop an elevated position? Even if they're somewhat skewed from the original examples, that's all three boxes checked. That said, as it stands, there is yet to be a narrative precedent for her return, but Hancock's exile from the World Government seems like a step in the right direction to me.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Another choice that at least somewhat matches all three patterns is one that was very popular a few years back: Rebecca.

Her weakest point, that her official introduction takes place on a level plane with Luffy, still sees her in a pose not too different from Nami and Robin's, which is to say...she's sitting. Hey, she could be sitting with her legs crossed or even be standing, so it's not nothing. A much stronger point is what immediately follows said introduction...

Though she doesn't put Luffy in the cage itself, she does trick him to coming to the cage where he is captured by those within to be held down so she can attempt to kill him. Naturally, he escapes easily, especially since she was so reluctant to actually go through with it, but that doesn't change the fact that she lured him to a cage to be captured. A subversion of the original to be sure, but certainly a fitting example in its own right.

Though she only technically fits the first two patterns, she does have one that we don't need to worry about technicalities for, the Hair Pattern.

In her youth, Rebecca had the same sort of short hair that we've come to expect in our recruits, which has since grown into a lovely braid. The problem here is that Rebecca's entire arc is centered around her not wanting to fight, a goal which she definitively achieved by the end of Dressrosa, so I think it would be exceedingly cruel of Oda to throw her back into conflict. Not that he wouldn't do that, just that her character arc wrapped up fairly neatly whereas Nami and Robin both still have their unresolved dreams. It's not that I can't see how she would be reintroduced, it's that I don't think there's a narrative need to do so. I'm sure Oda could come up with a perfectly compelling reason, I'm just satisfied with her arc as it stands.

While we're on the subject of the Riku family, there used to be a lot of buzz about Rebecca's aunt, Viola, potentially joining the Straw Hats. I never quite saw it myself, but Viola certainly does fit a couple of our patterns in her own way.

The most obvious is the Hair Pattern, which she fits in exactly the same way as Rebecca, formerly sporting short hair which grows out over the years.

She also fits the Looking Down Pattern, but she misses a couple of key points.

Similarly to Rebecca, she is simply sitting on a chair rather than on an elevated platform, but she is looking at someone who is on the ground, so she is able to look down at them in much the same way Hancock did. She's even doing this pose during her name card scene. The problem though is who she is looking at: Sanji. No matter how subtle the reference or subversion, for me there can be no clearer denial of the pattern than the complete lack of Luffy. Of course, that's just my interpretation, as aside from that the visual is nearly spot on, so others may consider it as clear an indicator as any. The main key, in my opinion, is that Viola just wasn't that important in the grand scheme of the Dressrosa arc as either an antagonist or ally. She contributed, certainly, but the narrative didn't frame her as a key player in the same way that Rebecca was. I just don't think she received enough focus for Oda to have been setting her up as a possibility, and any reason she could have for potentially joining, Rebecca would probably receive at the exact same time. If a princess of Dressrosa is going to join, it's probably going to be the one who had a major character arc.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Of course, Robin didn't have anything close to a complete arc when she joined the crew. She was a major antagonist during the Alabasta arc, showed signs that there was more to her character to be explored and that she had knowledge that may be relevant to the story (the ability to read the Poneglyphs, which up to that point hadn't even been on the cast's radar), and then just kind of appeared on the Going Merry. Of all of the other villainous females I can think of, there's only one who had subtle hints that there was more to her to be explored who also happened to possess knowledge that as of right now isn't relevant, but easily could be later.

My old Oro Jackson shipmates, you were all probably just waiting for me to bring her up.

Everyone's favorite astronomer: Monet.

Much like Vivi, she was the first female villain encountered in her respective sea (technically first female encountered at all, since Fishman Island isn't technically in the New World), but unlike Vivi, she does in fact fit all three of our patterns...to an extent. In my original post on Oro Jackson, I said that she fit the best out of everyone, but I'll admit that I was probably just being...a tad biased.

She definitely fits the Hair Pattern, as she is shown to have had short hair in a flashback, and obviously has some of the longest locks in the series in the present.

She doesn't fit the Cage Theory quite as well, or even nearly as well as many of our other candidates, but it wouldn't be wrong to say that she imprisons Luffy, and in fact is involved in his entrapment three times.

The first is when she reports on his arrival to Punk Hazard to Caesar Clown, which results in his imprisonment in a literal cage.

Though Caesar is the one that caught Luffy here, Monet's scouting was definitely a contributing factor, albeit indirectly. The more important factor, though, is Robin pointing out the similarity of the situation to that in Alabasta, drawing a clear parallel between the two instances. In fact, of all of the cages Luffy is put in on this list, this is the most similar to Buggy's and Crocodile's, as Caesar flips the cage to the outside to expose Luffy and co. to his poison gas, Shinokuni. Even if the circumstances that led to it are different, the situation itself is more spot-on here than any other, and I think that counts for something.

If that isn't enough, though, Monet later captures Luffy within her Ten-Layer Igloo, a veritable snow cage. She doesn't trick him into it, but she most certainly imprisons him within a confined space.

In the end, Luffy decides that the quickest way to escape is down, not knowing that just below him is a garbage dump, effectively trapping him the most thoroughly that he ever has been given its depth.

Again, not a trick, especially since it wasn't her intention, but she did back him into a corner where his only way out was to trap himself further. If she had any idea that Momonosuke was down there and had the ability to fly, she probably could have done something to ensure he couldn't escape, but aside from that, as far as she knew, she caught him in the most inescapable cage that Luffy had ever been in.

It's the Looking Down pattern that I find the most interesting for Monet, though, as while she does not fit at a glance, she most certainly does. For one, her very first appearance is looking down at Luffy from atop a burning building in secret.

Although this is the instance that made me first suspect she fits the pattern, it isn't the one that convinced me. No, that honor goes to her name card scene.

She's sitting atop a perch, an elevated ledge by its very nature, with her legs dangling off the edge while looking down at Luffy during her name card scene. While it's definitely a subtle subversion, it definitely fits the pattern.

Hm? She isn't looking at Luffy? Luffy isn't even in the scene? Au contraire. She is most certainly looking at Luffy. She's reading about him and the Straw Hats in the news.

If we're to make concessions for Rebecca leading Luffy to a cage or Hancock looking down from a thrown, Monet matching her pose while looking at Luffy's image rather than the genuine article has to at least be considered as well. If Oda's intention is to obscure the pattern while still adhering to it, then he could not have done a better job than this.

Now, I'm sure some of you are considering what I said earlier about the narrative taking precedent to pattern, and I'll admit, Monet has been absent for the better part of a decade now, but I think enough of her character was left unexplored that there is every reason for her to come back (and potentially save Luffy from something). I won't talk about that here, though, as the theory of Monet's survival is not at all my own and a completely separate issue from the one we're discussing right now. If you're not already familiar, feel free to read up on it here. Side note, I mentioned that I got my start in theorizing because of Scaling the Red Line. Technically true, but I found Scaling the Red Line because I was looking for more information on Monet after reading There's Something About Monet, so they're both to blame.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

But I'm sure you all want to hear about more relevant girls, ones that actually stand a strong chance of joining based on the narrative as its been presented rather than just hypothetical patterns. Well don't worry, everyone's favorite Sanji Retrieval Arc ladies give us more than enough to work with.

Since she isn't currently contributing to the plot, let's start with Pudding.

Of the three patterns, the one she fits the most subtly is the Looking Down Pattern, wherein after her wedding is ruined and Big Mom begins her gluttonous rampage, Pudding flies on her magic carpet, Rabiyan, to Luffy's aid.

If being elevated and looking down at Luffy is the only factor in question, then this works just fine, even if it is pretty subtle. There are a few potential problematic factors here, though, not the least of which being that Pudding is not an antagonist at this point, with this moment signaling her transition to being an ally. Beyond that, this is not only not her name card scene, it also isn't in any way, shape or form her first meeting with Luffy. Her pose also doesn't really fit, since her legs are tucked in atop Rabiyan instead of hanging off the edge, but maybe that's just another subtle way to obscure it? Doubtful, but not impossible.

A bit of a better match would be her hair, though she still just barely misses the mark. Though she has always had long hair tied up in twin tails, the twin tails of her youth didn't even reach her shoulders.

In other words, despite always having long hair, it definitely was shorter than it is now and was worn in such a way that it appeared short at a glance. It's not perfect, but the visual of having short hair remains in tact.

It is the third pattern where Pudding truly shines, however. Of everyone on this list, she is the only one who actually purposefully deceives Luffy with the intent of leading to his capture.

Her's is the longest play of all of them, to be sure, as similarly to Nami she pretends to be on Luffy's side while tricking him, but unlike Nami who personally hogties Luffy while he's not looking, she doesn't reveal her betrayal until some time after he's been caged. It's also a bit less direct, since Luffy actually managed to escape the original trap of the Seducing Woods, but the end goal was for him to be captured anyway, so while the journey was a bit roundabout, the outcome was as intended. In a way, you could say that Pudding's method borrows from both previous examples, as she directly lies to Luffy the way that Nami did and has a more indirect trap set up the way that Robin did.

The "race against time" aspect is also a bit more subtle, since it was less waiting for a fuse to reach its end and more like waiting for an appointment, as Big Mom was planning to kill Luffy at some point after the wedding. I suppose you could count Opera counting down to fire crossbow bolts, but that was intended to be torture, not execution. Either way, an escape needed to happen sooner rather than later, as the alternative was death, which is the consistent theme here. The fact that Luffy was in the cage because he was deceived and the imminent threat to his life both mirror the traps laid by Nami and Robin more closely than anyone else's, even if the imprisonment itself on Punk Hazard was slightly more reminiscent of them.

To address pattern 3.5, Pudding never strictly speaking saves Luffy's life, but she does definitely help him out of some tight spots. For one, she keeps him from blowing his cover on Cacao Island, which probably would have brought Big Mom down on him that much sooner...

...and then again when she swoops in to guide the crew through the Seducing Woods to escape from Big Mom.

This stopped the Seducing Woods from moving around and rearranging the path, allowing the Straw Hats to reach the Sunny unimpeded. They weren't on the verge of death or anything like in other more salient examples, but they probably would have been sooner or later if Pudding hadn't stepped in, so feel free to count it if you wish. She also helped make the cake that stopped Big Mom's rampage, but similarly to Vivi's rescue on Alabasta, that was arguably more of a Sanji rescue than anything else. Again, though, make of it what you will.

On the whole, Pudding is another one that fits all three patterns at least a little bit, but by far she fits the Cage Pattern better than anyone else, and given her character arc on Whole Cake Island, seeing her make the transition from Big Mom's loyal doll to conflicted rebellious teenager, she is simultaneously one of the best developed candidates and one that has a lot of room left to explore. It's also really easy to see how she'd be brought back into the story without needing to make wild assumptions, since she's a member of the Big Mom Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates are at this very moment an active threat. Pudding could easily have been on board the Queen Mama Chanter without us knowing, or she could potentially fly to Wano from WCI on Rabiyan. She might even have been instructed to come to Wano because of the alliance between the Big Mom Pirates and Beasts Pirates. While we don't know the specifics, it wouldn't be surprising at all if we saw Pudding again in Wano given Big Mom's presence there.

But what about someone who we already know is in Wano and has been contributing to the plot for three whole arcs in a row? Maybe someone whose backstory we more or less watched unfold before our very eyes rather than wholly in a flashback like everyone else?

Already considered a shoo-in by many, let's look at Carrot.

Now, I say she's considered a shoo-in, but I think just as many people don't see her as a viable option, and I imagine that's in part because she isn't a villain. The one pattern everyone has definitively agreed to, and she doesn't fit it. In my opinion, though, that's the sort of thing that backs up my suggestion that the final batch of recruits doesn't have to be perfectly aligned to the pattern, that they'll do something to alter it, whether it be a subtle change or they only technically fit.

In Carrot's case, she technically fits the role of "villain", or at least antagonist, because when she first met the Straw Hats she thought they were invaders. Her first moments of meeting them were, for all intents and purposes, as an enemy. Sure, it was extremely short-lived, but that subtle hint may be all we really need.

Getting back on track, Carrot definitely does not fit all three patterns. She has, at this point, never been involved in incarcerating Luffy, with her closest example of "capturing" him being violently tackling him for eating her food. Maybe that quick instance is what makes her a "villain"?

Needless to say, she doesn't fit the Cage Pattern at all. She also only vaguely fits the Looking Down Pattern, although I would say she does so better than Pudding. On the page just before her name card scene, she has her first meeting with Luffy from atop Wanda's crocodile-boar, Wany.

Elevated? Check. Legs hanging off the edge? Check, albeit on separate sides. Still technically considered an enemy at this point in the narrative? Check. It isn't perfect, but the bare essentials are there. If Oda is trying to be subtle with only one character mimicking Nami and Robin's pose, Carrot certainly wouldn't be a bad choice. Not that he necessarily needs to though, considering how well she fits our third pattern.

As I said, Tashigi is the only one met pre-timeskip with short hair whose hair grows long post-timeskip, and Marguerite is the only one met pre-timeskip who kept their short hair to potentially have it short upon recruitment. Everyone else either has always had long hair or only had short hair long before meeting the Straw Hats. Carrot, however, has an extremely interesting subversion that I think blows everyone else out of the water. Not only was she met with short hair, she has the potential to gain long hair without needing to wait for a two year timeskip.

Sure, she only has it for a limited time, but at her peak strength, Carrot has easily the most impressive mane in the series, allowing her to effectively switch between visually matching both the pre- and post-timeskip Straw Hat girls in a way that, aside from Tashigi, no other character is really capable of at the moment. The fact that she's still able to join as a short-hair while Tashigi's chance has passed puts her leagues above everyone else in this regard in my opinion. At least, of the characters that we've discussed thus far.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

See, these are all of the characters that I thought had strong chances before we even finished Whole Cake Island. In fact, when I made the original theories, we hadn't seen Carrot's Sulong form yet. We hadn't even heard of the term, just that the Mink's apparently had some kind of secret weapon and somehow were more formidable in moonlight. If I'd known about this at the time, I would have put her much higher on the list than I did. Anyway, since we arrived at Wano, we've met a couple more interesting girls that I think are definitely worth talking about.

Let's start with the more central of the two: Momonosuke's sister, Hiyori.

First introduced under her pseudonym of Komurasaki, she is presented as a cruel and miserly woman, wringing innocent men for all of the money they're worth and tossing them aside like so much trash once they can no longer pay for her services.

A villainous characterization if I've ever seen one. Of course, it turned out that she only took advantage of vile men to move their blood money towards a more worthy cause of raising funds for the revolt against Orochi, so the parallel to Nami, who stole money (from pirates) to give to Arlong (to buy her village's freedom), is a fairly obvious one. While we were still under the impression that she was wicked, though, we were introduced to her not on an elevated platform per se...

...but on platform shoes which elevated her to be looking down on everyone. This is certainly the most subtle example here, as she's the only one who isn't sitting, but she is undeniably looking down on people, both literally and figuratively, in her name card scene. Aside from being standing, though, she also isn't really looking down at anyone in particular, certainly not Luffy, who by this point has been thrown into Udon Prison. Also, this probably goes without saying, but Hiyori was not related to that, so while she kind of fits the Looking Down pattern in the loosest of senses, she doesn't fit the Cage Pattern at all.

She does fit the Hair Pattern, though, at least as well as a handful of other girls. In her youth, she had a tomboyish short haircut, which has obviously grown to be quite long in the present.

That said, since she fits the pattern in exactly the same way as a number of other competitors while Carrot's method is wholly unique, I'm still going to say that Carrot has the edge here. I suppose you could argue that as Komurasaki she was introduced wearing her hair "short", in that all of it was tied up above her shoulders similarly to the concession we gave to the younger iteration of Pudding, but personally I think that's being exceptionally generous. Still, she doesn't strictly speaking not fit the pattern, and she's easily the most relevant female character to Wano's story, so I would be remiss not to at least mention her.

However, there is still one more girl in Wano who, while she hasn't really established herself as a key player yet, has definitely given us reason to believe we haven't begun to see her role in the story fulfilled: the prospective bewitching kunoichi, Tama.

I'll say right now that she does not fit the Cage Pattern, only having the most tangential relation to Luffy's imprisonment. Luffy steals food from the Flower Capital to bring to Okobore Town to feed Tama -> Ashura comes to Okobore to steal the food -> Jack comes to Okobore to capture Ashura -> Kaido comes to Okobore to tell Jack to capture Luffy -> Luffy attacks Kaido and gets captured. No trickery from Tama, she has next to no involvement in the event, I cannot in any good conscience say she fits the Cage Pattern.

She does however fit the Hair Pattern quite nicely, given that she is introduced with short hair.

Also, though her hair is tied up giving the impression that it may be longer, we do see her with her hair down, and it is in fact still quite short.

We cannot know what the future holds for her or her hair, but given that her dream is to become a "bewitching kunoichi," it wouldn't be at all surprising for her to have longer hair at the time. Whether Oda plans to incorporate that into the story any time soon is definitely up for debate, I'm sure he could find a way, but for now, I think her having short hair is enough.

What I find particularly interesting though is the way that the Looking Down Pattern applies to her. Depending on how you look at it, Tama has both an inversion and a subversion of the pattern. I'll start with the inversion, since it's harder to take at face value.

In Tama's introduction, she doesn't look down at Luffy at all, but quite the opposite. Thinking that Luffy is an enemy, Tama immediately surrenders to him, and in doing so, raises her hands and looks up at him.

I was hesitant to count this one, and even now I'm not sure it means anything, I just think it's interesting that a character in the opposite position (someone who clearly isn't an enemy that thinks Luffy might be one) is completely stretched out (her limbs aren't folded at all, unlike Nami or Robin's when sitting) and by the nature of her height has to look up at Luffy instead of down. Everything about the situation is inverted, so for her name card scene to be an inverted hint would make at least some sense, if a lot more heavily obscured than everyone else's.

If that's too much of a stretch, and I can definitely understand if you think so, there is still another instance where Tama fits better while still having a unique spin. After delivering the stolen food to Okobore, Luffy sends Tama back to Amigasa Village on the back of Speed, a Beasts Pirates Headliner who fell under the influence of Tama's animal-taming Devil Fruit.

Though Tama is quite definitively not an enemy, Speed technically still is, towards Luffy at least. She deliberately defies anything Luffy has to say, and is otherwise only amiable because of Tama's power. Tama is her top priority, but otherwise her loyalties still lie with Kaido. In other words, Tama in this scene is perched atop a female villain whose stature allows Tama to be elevated above Luffy so as to be looking down and is positioned with her legs dangling off the side. Roundabout, for sure, but all of the ingredients for the parallel are present in a way that no other female character can quite match.

Tama does also wear the Straw Hat, so even if she isn't a villain, that's still a point in her favor that pretty much no other candidate has.

The main problem with both Hiyori and Tama is that while they have been relevant emotional focal points for Wano so far, neither of them has really strictly speaking done much of anything yet (though Tama's ability has come in handy at least three times). Still, Wano is far from over, with the confrontation against the Big Beasts Alliance only just about to begin, and both of them have been foreshadowed to continue to be relevant to the narrative (Hiyori obviously having direct personal investment in the revolt against her parents' murderers and wanting to be the one to deal the finishing blow to Orochi, and Tama being targeted by the Beasts Pirates for her ability to control animals). How exactly they'll be incorporated into the rest of the arc is anyone's guess, but there is still plenty of time for them to make wider contributions. I may go into a deeper dive on the two of them later, but from what we've seen of them so far, I certainly wouldn't object to getting to travel with either of them.

Before I review everything we've talked about, I do want to make one more small observation. Like I said, Wano is not over yet. Tama and Hiyori can contribute more, Pudding can turn out to be at Onigashima with Big Mom, Carrot can do something to officially earn an invite, heck, even Monet could spontaneously appear from literal nowhere for some absurd reason (please, Oda?). But there is one other thing that could just as easily happen as well.

We could be introduced to another female villain.

We just saw this week that one of the Beasts Pirates' Flying Six is probably a woman, given that one of them is wearing heels, so she could easily have short hair, take an elevated seat to look down on others/Luffy, or even trick Luffy into a cage.

We also can't forget Speed, who has short hair and has already technically betrayed Kaido and got severely hurt for her indiscretions. She's got plenty of reason now to defect. Or what about Ginrummy, who has shown disgust with Jack's revelry in his attempts to kill Zunesha?

Sure, she has long hair, but the seeds of dissent have already been sown in her narrative, and in her first appearance she was seen elevated above and looking down on the Straw Hats from atop a crocodile-boar.

Luffy may not have been there at the time, but whose to say she won't do something similar on Onigashima? I mean, sure, she might be dead from Zunesha destroying the boat she was on, but One Piece characters survive worse things all the time. Anyway, although there's basically nothing to go on yet with anyone from the Beasts Pirates, Wano isn't over yet as I said, so I for one am gonna be keeping an eye on their female members, particularly Ginrummy for any suspicious choices in seating arrangement.

Until then, though, I think we've got a pretty solid list of candidates. Let's review them real quick:

Vivi- fits none of the patterns, which is potentially fitting as many have accepted her staying in Alabasta as permanent deconfirmation.
Tashigi- fits the Hair Pattern by being introduced with short hair that grew out over the timeskip, but matches neither of the other two. She also cannot join the crew with short hair anymore unless Oda decides to reset her character design, which I doubt he'll do, or if having her hair tied up counts, which is slightly more likely.
Hancock- fits the Looking Down Pattern fairly well by having a seat far above Luffy, and has a unique variation on the Cage Pattern, but misses the Hair Pattern with her consistently long hair.
Marguerite- fits the Hair Pattern by having and retaining short hair, the Looking Down Pattern in the scene where she formally introduces herself to Luffy, and the Cage Pattern by being directly involved in his imprisonment on Amazon Lily, although she did not trick him.
Rebecca- fits the Hair Pattern when her flashbacks are taken into account, the Cage Pattern by luring Luffy to a cage where he is trapped (just not literally in the cage itself), and just barely fits the Looking Down Pattern by having a similar pose to Nami and Robin's, though this is a weak example, as honestly she's really just sitting and not even looking down.
Viola- fits the Hair Pattern the same as Rebecca, and the Looking Down Pattern the same way as Hancock (except she's looking down at Sanji, taking a point away), but doesn't fit the Cage Pattern at all.
Monet- fits the Hair Pattern via flashback as well, just barely takes the Cage Pattern by capturing Luffy by force and by being involved in a cage scenario more similar to the one in Alabasta than any others, and uniquely matches the Looking Down Pattern with a picture of Luffy rather than the man himself (though she does also look down directly at Luffy in her very first panel).
Pudding- barely fits the Hair Pattern by always wearing her long hair short, even shorter in flashback, sneaks into the Looking Down Pattern by flying in on Rabiyan, and perfectly mirrors the Cage Theory by taking aspects of both Nami's and Robin's examples (feigning friendship like Nami, setting up an elaborate trap like Robin).
Carrot- fits the Hair Pattern just as well as Tashigi and Marguerite by being introduced with short hair, but edges out Tashigi by being able to join while a short-hair and Marguerite by having the ability to grow her hair out during certain circumstances in battle. She also fits the Looking Down Pattern by being introduced to Luffy from atop a large crocodile-boar, but misses the Cage Pattern completely. She also only counts as an enemy-turned-ally by the slimmest of margins.
Hiyori- again, fits the Hair Pattern from flashbacks, but not really anything else. She kind of fits the Looking Down Pattern with platform shoes in her introduction, but she isn't in a seated pose and Luffy isn't there, so if this counts, it's extremely subtle.
Tama- has short hair right now, so she fits the Hair Pattern just fine even if long hair is a far flung vision for her, and ekes her way into the Looking Down Pattern by positioning herself atop a particularly tall female villain that happens to be shaped like a horse. She doesn't really fit the Cage Pattern at all, and just can't be called a villain as things stand, though who knows, maybe she'll somehow be shanghaied into the Beasts Pirates because of how useful her power would be for them.
Ginrummy- kind of sort of fits the Looking Down Pattern from atop a crocodile-boar in her first panel, but nothing else to go on for now. If she didn't die from Zunesha's retaliation against Jack, she could still come back and find a way into all of the patterns, but that's all speculation for now.

Of all of these, I'm still going to go ahead and say that Pudding (easily plays the Cage Pattern the straightest), Carrot (plays the Hair Pattern straight in a way that others don't), and Monet (manages her more subtle patterns better than most and has the most unique take on the Looking Down pattern) are the front runners for me given these patterns and other, more relevant narrative implications. Marguerite and Tama are my second-stringers with how well Marguerite fits all three patterns and Tama's interesting takes on the two she fits, while also still having time in the current arc to give us more reason to view her as a viable option. I don't personally view Tashigi, Hancock, Rebecca, Viola or Hiyori as strong contenders myself for various reasons, but these are just my interpretations of the facts, so as I said, you all are free to draw your own conclusions from the data I've presented here. Ginrummy or any other Beasts Pirates members are obviously out of the question because of a lack of presently available information, but given the current status of the story, this could change at any time, so it's worth keeping an open mind or eye. Vivi, as I said earlier, may be a special case to be discussed some other time.

But what good was all of this, in the end? I've just introduced three patterns that only one character truly encompasses completely and accurately, Marguerite, and she hasn't been important since her first appearance about 450 chapters ago now. Because we only get one female per sea, my three front runners can only be considered as so if we assume only one of the three patterns is even real in the first place and the ways everyone else matches are just a coincidence. How did this help in any way other than just creating three possible, mutually exclusive branches? Is there a way to reconcile this discrepancy?

Stay tuned, and you may just find out.

Until then, everyone, thank you for reading.

-Tokiro Oumaga

NeutralWatcher · Apr 15, 2020

Welcome to WG. Enjoy your time here. Nice theory. I think Carrot might be the next candidate for next SH based from last chapter.

Jew D. Boy · Apr 15, 2020

Welcome aboard!! I remember reading some of your theories on OJ, but this is next level!! Great analysis, can’t wait to read the next one (and for my money, Carrot and Tama seem to be the most likely, but you laid out a solid case for each lady listed) :cheers:

Yo Tan Wa · Apr 15, 2020

I read it completely to do justice to your theory, bt you assumed these three patterns all on your own, and went with it with all possible candidates and also went on somehow make em fit the pattern subtly or to some extent for all of em, i mean what would that accomplish?
Nevermind, my point being Oda isn't limited by these 3 patterns, that he has to follow em, i dont think they are even important when it comes to recruiting new female characters, plus knowing Oda i am sure he would be more willing to go with a character with unique n different traits.

Anyway welcome to WG, i hope you heed to my advice and rather focuses on Characters how they could fit in the team and add to the story as whole, what there reasons could be for joining and their Dreams, and importance in the longer run. Rather than Hair or lookin down poses.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Yo Tan Wa said:

I never said Oda was limited to these, I said that I noticed similarities in Nami and Robin's introductions. If that's "assuming on my own," then all theorizing is just assuming on your own.

And I for one don't think this is a waste of effort at all. I had a ton of fun doing it, and I've already seen that other people have had fun reading it. So long as people are having fun, it's not a waste.

Yo Tan Wa · Apr 15, 2020

Tokiro Oumaga said:

Alright, i had to say what i felt. Don't feel offended by it, take it as criticism if you may.
Tho i accept i used some strong words, apologies for that, bt like i said i said what i felt. Anyway, have a good day.

Master OF Haki · Apr 15, 2020

Tokiro Oumaga said:

Hello, everyone! To those of you who knew me from the Oro Jackson days, good to see you again! To those who didn't, nice to meet you!

I used to have a ton of theories on that good old ship, but sadly I was unable to find the time to move any of them over here with how busy I was at the time. I also just had far...far too many to migrate them all. I was able to archive all of them, though, so if anyone would ever like to see any of those, please just let me know!

Looking forward, though, I've decided that rather than simply rehash all of my old content, I'm only going to revive the ones that are A) still active (haven't been debunked or made irrelevant) and B) have had new information arise since I originally posted them.

Now sadly, my absolute favorite theory, that Monet's wings were taken from a Birdfolk (linked here), was savagely debunked, so I won't be revisiting that one unless something rebunks it later. Instead, I've decided to start my voyage upon this new vessel with my second favorite theory: the Female Straw Hat Patterns!

Some of you may recall that this was originally posted in three parts on Oro Jackson, as I was analyzing every female character I could think of, but it shouldn't become nearly as long this time, so I'm going to consolidate them into one solitary theory. If you're interested in these theories in their original, segmented incarnation, feel free to give them a look here (1) (2) (3) god willing that those links work.

For some background, these ideas are an offshoot of the theory that launched a thousand theorists (or at least this one in particular), beck's Scaling the Red Line, wherein it was speculated that the recruits of each sea (East Blue, Paradise, and the New World) followed a specific pattern: a male seen as a monster and introduced bound in some way, a female villain who betrays her captain, a male leader of a group of troublemakers, and a perverse gentleman introduced carrying something steaming. I adore this theory, but I have always had one problem with it: aside from being a villain, all of the aspects of the female pattern are delayed in the narrative. They betray their captains (at the end of their saga), leave the Straw Hats (some arcs after joining), and end up in a race-against-time situation (in their respective retrieval arcs). beck also noted that at a certain point they wear the Straw Hat, but Nami didn't wear it until pretty late in her story. Robin wore it pretty much immediately, but the argument was that Tashigi would be the next female recruit and that she'd wear the Straw Hat...eventually. I don't mind using the Straw Hat as a visual key for recruitment, but it doesn't match beck's conclusions, so for all intents and purposes, it doesn't support the theory in its current state. The only aspect that Tashigi fits aside from being a villain is the fact that her dream is academics based, but the rest of the theory is pretty much just speculating on how her hypothetical arc would go, not establishing a real precedent for new recruits.

In my opinion, the patterns should be something that can either be identified visually upon their introduction (an aspect of their character design or the composition of their introductory panel) or an action that they take while still considered an antagonist. I also don't want to hold tight to the villain aspect myself, as I think that Oda may want to subvert expectations, so I'm open to the idea that the female recruit doesn't have to strictly speaking be a villain, though I'll go into more detail on that later.

First, we need to establish what the patterns are and how Nami and Robin set them up. They are as follows:

1. The Looking Down Pattern

In their introductory panels, both Nami and Robin are sitting at an elevated position, allowing their legs to dangle, while looking downward at Luffy. This one is the most self-explanatory, as the potential new recruits should theoretically mimic this pose. They don't necessarily have to do it in the panel with their name card, but that does net bonus points.

2. The Hair Pattern

Refer back to the previous image: both Nami and Robin have short hair in their original appearance, approximately shoulder length, which grows longer post-timeskip.

How this applies to candidates met post-timeskip is difficult to tell, but they will presumably either A) be introduced with short hair, or B) be introduced with long hair and shown in a flashback to have had once had short hair.

3. The Cage Pattern

Before becoming allies, both Nami and Robin trick Luffy, resulting in him being put in a cage. This one is the least immediate, as Robin didn't do this until well into Alabasta, at least two arcs after her introduction, but it still occurs before any definitive friendship is formed (or at least the friendship is part of the deception, as it was for Nami). This could be subverted with a female character personally placing Luffy in a cage through force or otherwise, but Luffy being deceived first is preferable. It may also help for Luffy to be endangered in said cage, preferably with some kind of time limit, as Buggy nearly fired a Buggy Ball on Luffy and Crocodile left Luffy and friends to drown as the room he was in filled with water.

It's also worth noting that both Nami and Robin save Luffy from certain death situations, wherein Nami extinguishes the fuse on the Buggy Ball cannon and Robin later retrieves Luffy from a sand dune created by Crocodile.

This can definitely be seen as a pattern in and of itself, but I think this is more or less the point where they pretty definitively betray their captains and become allies, so I personally want to focus on their actions that occur before this point, but I would be remiss not to at least mention it. Consider it pattern 3.5 I guess. What it means to "save Luffy" can potentially vary, but maximum points go to betraying the arc villain by directly protecting Luffy from being killed by them.

Now let's look at our potential candidates. Like I said, I'm not going to go over every single female like I did originally, I'm only going to go over the ones that I think are at all likely based on these patterns. They have to either fulfill one of the patterns or be a clear subversion or inversion of them. What I mean by that should become clear soon.

[I originally meant to post this all at once, but I didn't realize that this forum had a picture/character limit, so I'll be posting all of the character analyses one or two at a time within the thread. I'll try to get them all up ASAP, so please bare with me until then.]

I'm so glad you came here, I'm a big fan of your theories.

Tokiro Oumaga · Apr 15, 2020

Yo Tan Wa said:

Apology accepted! You have a good day as well!

Chrono · Apr 15, 2020

Welcome aboard :happinesspunch:

DeathTheClover · Feb 10, 2022

I know I’m ridiculously late to this theory discussion, but a lot has happened in Wano since it’s original start. Specifically with the introduction of Yamato’s character. It would be interesting to see her being analyzed here along with these other candidates. Is there anyway this discussion can be picked up again after 2 years or is this just a dead thread now?