One Piece: Luffy Wants Another Crew Member But It Won’t Be Easy to Recruit Him

The Elbaf Arc of One Piece is finally setting up the major fight as Luffy and the others head towards the Sun World to join the battle. Because the Holy Knights caught the Giants completely off guard and targeted the children first, they are utterly helpless against them. It also doesn’t help that the Holy Knights have inhuman regenerative abilities just like the Five Elders. The only one who could fight them off was Gaban, but he got taken out of the battle thanks to Gunko’s cunning trick. After defeating Sommers almost effortlessly, Gaban targets Gunko, but he witnesses his son’s murder through Future Sight and surrenders the fight.

She deals a few fatal blows to the man, but Gaban gets medical help almost immediately. Chopper takes him to the Underworld, where Luffy and the others are, which makes things easy for him to treat the retired pirate and let his Captain know about the current situation. The Holy Knights didn’t anticipate that a Yonko would want to be involved in this conflict, but Luffy would never stand by and let this injustice happen. That’s especially the case when the Giants are considered allies of the Straw Hat Pirates. However, before joining the fight against the Holy Knights, Luffy tries to recruit Loki, only to end up getting rejected right away.

Luffy Already Trusts Loki Enough to Offer a Place in His Crew

Ever since Loki found out the Holy Knights are attacking the Sun World, he’s been extremely desperate to break free from his shackles and help his people. However, Hajrudin’s prejudice runs deep, and he’s not willing to listen to a word his half-brother says. On the other hand, Luffy and Loki click almost instantly because of their similar personality. Luffy can sense that Loki isn’t what the Giants make him out to be; otherwise, he would never offer the Cursed Prince a place in his crew.

In the latest Chapter 152, seeing that Hajrudin wasn’t willing to let Loki fight for Elbaf’s sake, Luffy offered Loki to join his crew so the former wouldn’t have anything to complain about. He realizes that Elbaf doesn’t want Loki, so it would be better for the Prince to join his crew. Additionally, Luffy is naturally intrigued by powerful people, and he can tell Loki is a force to be reckoned with. Considering all these options, it’d be weirder if Luffy didn’t ask Loki to join the crew.

The reaction was quite expected, not just from Loki, but also Luffy’s wings, who all vehemently refused him. Loki doesn’t like the idea of serving under someone, while Zoro knows the Giant can’t fit in the Thousand Sunny. Besides, Loki eats way more than Luffy, so there’s no way Sanji can keep making all that food every single day. Not to mention, Loki is the Prince of Elbaf, a country that doesn’t have a royal heir even 14 years after the King’s murder. Considering all these options, it may be impossible for Loki to join the crew after all.

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It May Be Too Late to Get Another Straw Hat Member

The story is currently in the second arc of its Final Saga, and there’s not much time left before Luffy makes his way towards Laughtale. Throughout his journey, he has met several incredible people and asked many whom he trusted to join him. However, while everyone craves adventure, not all of them are free enough to abandon their responsibilities and travel the world.

That’s been the case with Gaimon, Vivi, Ace, Kin’emon, Yamato, and many more. Even though Loki is an intriguing and powerful character, having him on the crew is a far-fetched dream. Besides, Luffy is meant to have a small but talented crew that will help him attain the title of the Pirate King. In the East Blue Saga, he stated that his crew should have around ten members.

However, with the story being in the final phase, having another crew member would seem kind of random, especially when they join almost at the end of the journey. Each crew member has a significant role to play, so the crew is basically complete. The story has to focus more on the mysteries and the World Government instead of having another major character join Luffy’s journey when there’s simply no room to properly develop a new Straw Hat with the depth Oda usually gives.