The Straw Hat Grand Fleet in the Dressrosa Arc

When the Straw Hat Pirates land on an island, each crew mate ordinarily only has one or two major one-on-one battles. That’s enough to deal with the enemy leader and their top men. The rest of their enemies are relatively inconsequential grunts. However, on Dressrosa, there were 14 Don Quixote Pirates to worry about. Donquixote Doflamingo stood above three Staff Officers, who, in turn, commanded three or four additional Officers. Even if Luffy had all eight of his then-eight crew mates, several would be forced into multiple intense fights. Four of Luffy’s crew mates left the island partway through the Arc due to unforeseen circumstances. By that point, the Donquixote Pirates were only down by one defector. Even allies like Trafalgar Law and Kyros wouldn’t have been enough to compensate for the Straw Hats’ severe five-against-thirteen disadvantage.

This is where the Grand Fleet’s future representatives became important. These seven men would have been enough to give Luffy and his remaining crewmates enough people to fight the Donquixote Pirates in one-on-one battles. Of course, the match-ups weren’t so straightforward. Some characters, like Orlumbus and Ideo, could only contextualize the power of their respective opponents (Lao G and Dellinger) rather than beat them singlehandedly. On top of that, Nico Robin acted in more of a supporting role and wasn’t responsible for defeating any of the Donquixote Pirates’ top officers. Keeping the match ups even was left up to Sai, Cavendish (as Hakuba), Kyros, and Trafalgar Law. Regardless, the rest of the representatives proved their worth as fighters who could take opponents the main cast would ordinarily be responsible for — Sai beat Lao G and (in a way) Baby 5, Leo beat Giolla, Hajrudin beat Machvise, Bartolomeo beat Gladius, and Cavendish beat Dellinger. The weaker representatives will likely redeem themselves once the fleet returns.

Why the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Didn’t Show Up On Whole Cake Island

Following the Dressrosa arc, each arc has had an intense conclusion. This led many fans to conlude that the Grand Fleet would return to play the pivotal role foreshadowed in Chapter 800. It always made sense for a few reasons. First, Luffy was challenging an overwhelmingly powerful individual and their legions of minions. While the Straw Hats still only needed to worry about a handful of enemies, the size of their army was big enough to make challenging them alone a foolish endeavor. It seemed the Grand Fleet’s arrival was the only way for Luffy and his crew to win and bolster their reputation by defeating the biggest names in One Piece’s world.

Fans first expected the Grand Fleet to return on Whole Cake Island, and it may have made the most sense, too. This arc saw Luffy down to five or six of his crewmates dealing with the Big Mom Pirates – which has over 100 members. Big Mom also had non-family members working for her, like Tamago and Bishop Bobbin. No matter how this crew could be sliced up, there were too many people for the Straw Hats and their handful of allies to take on. However, since the plan was only to retrieve Sanji and get out, fighting the full force of Big Mom’s crew was unnecessary. Even if the Grand Fleet showed up to help, Luffy wasn’t yet strong enough to beat Big Mom, so it wouldn’t have made a difference. While this could have been the kind of battle where the Grand Fleet was welcome to intervene, it wasn’t meant to be.

Why the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Didn’t Appear in Wano

Some fans also anticipated the Grand Fleet would assist with the Raid on Onigashima. The Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance only had 5,400 soldiers to battle the Beast Pirates, who stood 30,000 strong. This included over 500 Zoan and Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit users, ten artificially produced ancient giants (the Numbers), a few Worst Generation members, and even Big Mom. Moreover, winning this battle became an obligation as Wano’s fate was on the line. This would mean the Raid would eventually end with two Emperors’ defeat. This would count as a pivotal moment in the One Piece world. The Grand Fleet would have been ideal for reducing the five-and-a-half-to-one odds to less than three-to-one.

However, Onigashima was another place where outside help was unnecessary. The Alliance’s side boasted quality over quantity, especially among the foot soldiers. On top of that, several Beast Pirates became traitors due to a combination of mistreatment, Tama’s Devil Fruit powers taming the Gifters, and the subordinates of said Gifters following their turncoat leaders. Kaido was also betrayed by his son Yamato, X Drake, Scratchmen Apoo, and at least some of the Numbers, thus further depleting his assets. Near the end of the fight, the Alliance had 8,000 men to battle the Beast Pirates’ 12,000, though the latter side eventually surrendered with the defeat of all their highest-ranked officers.

This was also another arc where the Straw Hats only needed to focus on a set number of fighters that happened to match their numbers perfectly. In an ideal world, this would have been Kaido, his three All-Stars, and the Tobbi Roppo (or the “Flying Six” in some fan translations), but they didn’t even need to worry about that many people; X Drake joined their side, Big Mom beat Page One, and Inuarashi beat Jack. This opened up Brook, Chopper, and Usopp to assist the Raid in ways beyond beating a significant opponent. Narrowing the focus of the Raid like this may oversimplify things, but it still shows that the Straw Hats weren’t nearly as outnumbered as some people might have felt.

Why the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Likely Won’t Appear in the Egghead Arc

Many assumed the Egghead arc would be a low-stakes cooldown arc where the Straw Hats would have time to prepare for the next big leg of their journey (like what the Zou Arc was for the Dressrosa and Whole Cake Island Arcs). However, that slowly changed as the arc progressed, and the Straw Hats faced more opponents. They started by going up against CP0, moved on to the Seraphim, and are now battling several Marine Vice Admirals led by Admiral Kizaru and St. Jaygarcia Saturn of the Five Elders. Additionally, St. Saturn has ordered a Buster Call on the island to be carried out by 20 battleships. The Straw Hats also started this arc with few combat-ready allies – the only other fighters they have are Jewelry Bonney, a malfunctioning Bartholomew Kuma, and a couple of the Vegapunks. Nico Robin might also be out of commission for the remainder of the arc. This unfortunate turn of events led many fans to theorize that the Straw Hat Grand Fleet would be revealed as the mystery arrival from Chapter 1105.

However, even this situation still contains some hope for the Straw Hats. As with the Whole Cake Island Arc, escaping the island without beating everyone on it is a viable win condition; their priority is protecting Dr. Vegapunk by getting him out of the line of fire. At this point, the best way to accomplish this would be by regaining control of the Pacifista Mk. III’s. Their firepower, combined with the assault of the Sea Beasts, should be enough to clear enough ships from Egghead’s waters for the Thousand Sunny to get away. The only reason they stopped helping on this front was because St. Saturn took control of them. Seizing control of the Mk. III’s back from St. Saturn should allow them to continue with the older version of their plan that relied on them. This is before accounting for factors like the Iron Giant, Bonney’s untapped Devil Fruit potential, or the surprise guests at the end of Chapter 1106. Once again, this is an arc where the Grand Fleet’s assistance would be appreciated but ultimately unnecessary.

What Would Make the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Come Back Into the Story?

It’s easier to understand why the Grand Fleet won’t show up at the first sign of trouble if One Piece’s arcs are viewed as self-contained stories. For all the times these arcs tie into other arcs and introduce overarching story elements, many of their themes, characters, and plot twists are based on events within the arc itself. Some surprise guests may appear on the island, but only by a handful, and they are unlikely to cheapen or undo the progress of those already involved in it. In this sense, the Grand Fleet returning in any of the arcs following their introduction could have come off as an inappropriate Deus Ex Machina. The arcs are best served by the Straw Hats and their allies already on the island (or involved in the story) resolving the overarching conflict for themselves. This trend will continue as long as the Straw Hats’ story arcs center around individual islands or countries.

The win conditions also make a difference. If the goal is to win, it must be handled as well as possible with the available resources. This works out as there are often just enough opponents to preoccupy the Straw Hats at each juncture of an arc or saga. The primary antagonists of the arc are comprised of several enemies with numbers comparable to the number of active Straw Hats. Any minor enemies or obstacles that would hinder the Straw Hats’ progress are often relegated to the friends they made within the arc or saga.

This likely means any arcs revolving around fighting the Blackbeard Pirates or the Red Hair Pirates (or Cross Guild) won’t see the Grand Fleet intervene either. While Shanks and Blackbeard each have countless pirates working under them, the only ones the Straw Hats must concern themselves with are the 11 primary members of each crew; others will likely come along to assist with the rank and file, depending on what the arc calls for. Furthermore, neither the Elbaf Arc nor any arc revolving around the conflicts of one island or country should necessitate the involvement of the Grand Fleet.

Will the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Help the Straw Hat Pirates Fight the Marines?

At this point, the only group large enough to justify outside help for the Straw Hats is the full force of the Navy. Many fans have predicted that the Straw Hats will eventually wage a full-scale war against the Marines and, by extension, the World Government. There are too many named naval officers to mention at once. However, plenty of them ought to be faced in one-on-one combat by each of the Straw Hats personally – Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, Admirals Kizaru, Fujitora, and Ryokugyu, Inspector General Sengoku, Vice Admirals Tsuru and Smoker, Captains Tashigi and Koby, and whatever Bogard is. There are still plenty of other World Government soldiers for the Straw Hats to fight, like Commander-in-Chief Kong and Director of Investigation Kuronuma. This is to say nothing of the absentee Vice Admiral Garp (even if he’s eventually rescued from the Blackbeard Pirates) or the Vice Admirals surrounding Egghead. Besides these people, there are still countless Marines who must be beaten to win against the Marines.

Many predict that the Straw Hats’ final battle against the Marines and the World Government will be aided by all the allies they’ve made along their voyages, even liberated nations. This should include the Grand Fleet, but it poses a new problem. The Fleet is supposed to stand out in a pivotal event. However, they can’t do that if they’re merely lumped together with the rest of the Straw Hats’ allies. The only way for them to stand out in a pivotal battle against the Marines is if a more disadvantageous version of the Egghead Incident happened on another island. This would mean the Marines side would have an Admiral or two, more Vice Admirals than Straw Hats (or combat-ready allies), and maybe one of the Five Elders; such measures could be prompted depending on how the Straw Hats fare on Egghead. If such a battle were to unfold, the Grand Fleet’s intervention would be warranted.