Legend of the Strawhat

Monkey D. Luffy's journey to becoming the next pirate king has been followed by the fandom for over 24 years. One Piece has a vast universe and a lot of uncleared events, items, and stories that allowed the fans to create infinite theories. One of these subjects that recently become more and more attractive to fans is the straw hat that Luffy wears. Although the straw hat symbolizes an important meaning to Luffy, the hat itself seems to be not very valuable. Until Oda, creator of One Piece, recently hinted in the One Piece manga that the hat could have a deeper meaning than what it seems to be so far.

The Promise and Importance of the Strawhat

The straw hat is always very important for Luffy. It is given to Luffy right after Shanks, the man who inspired Luffy to become a pirate in the first place, saved his life from a ruthless sea monster. The hat itself symbolizes the promise he gave it Shanks years ago when Luffy was still a child. The promise is that one day he will become a pirate, gather a crew that is every bit as strong as the Red-Haired Pirates, and become the king of the pirates. The hat also represents Luffy's pirate flag, the name of his crew which is the Strawhat Pirates, and even his reputation as he is known as Mugiwara (Strawhat) Luffy. Nonetheless, the hat itself seems rather unimportant or has very little value to another person other than Luffy.

Previous Owners of the Hat

As the story continues, it is revealed that Shanks was not the original owner of the hat. Instead, he obtains the hat very similar to Luffy; it has been given to Shanks by non-other than the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger. Shanks was a crewmate of the Oro Jackson, the infamous ship of the Roger Pirates, from the moment he was born. The hat is owned by Gol D. Roger originally when he started his piracy journey to turn the world upside down. From that point on, fandom started to have their suspicions about the hat that may have much more important than it appears to be, especially considering the fact that the hat is owned by two yonko (emperor of the sea) and only known king of the pirates.

Endgame

 Episode 885 of the One Piece anime has excited the fans even more, as it reveals that in the holy land of the Mariejois, a dark tall figure with a crown on his head, walks into a room that has a giant straw hat in the middle of it.

Although there is a lot of uncertainty, it is speculated that the giant straw hat was a relic from the void century that was originally wielded by the first Joyboy, the greatest enemy of the World Government. Furthermore, considering the last three owners of the hat too, it is argued that the hat itself carries the will of D. Clan, a mysterious last name in the One Piece universe that is entitled as the ''sworn enemies of the gods''. Altogether, it is obvious that the hat carries importance more than it is appearance indicates, giving the One Piece fandom another topic to speculate.