Family is a major theme in One Piece, whether it’s birth family or chosen family. Learning about a character’s relatives often gives us some context for how they are in the present day. This commonly manifests in the theme of Inherited Will, where the ideals of past generations are carried by those in the present. Though like family, this concept is not purely bound by blood. In fact, some characters oppose the ideals put forward by their forebears, also giving context for their character. However, some major pirates in the series have no real mention of their own parents, giving little insight into how exactly they inform their character, if at all.
Buggy
The Star Clown
- Current Affiliation: Cross Guild
Buggy is a veteran pirate who is fairly weak in the grand scheme, but tends to succeed due to both his ability to convince others to work for him, and his ties to more established pirates of note. Most of said ties stem from his time in the Roger Pirates as a cabin boy. Here, he became frenemies with Shanks, a relationship that seemingly continues into the present day.
Yet while Shanks has had his history as a Celestial Dragon established, there is no real mention of Buggy’s parents. Whoever they were, they seemingly were either unable or unwilling to stop their boy from joining an infamous pirate crew at the age of nine. Prior speculations led people to believe Rocks D. Xebec was secretly Buggy’s father, with fans drawing parallels between the expression in their wanted posters. That said, the only child of Rocks revealed thus far is Marshall D. Teach better known as Blackbeard.
Brook
The Soul King
- Current Affiliation: Straw Hat Pirates
Brook is one of the oldest pirates still active in the present day, at the age of 90. He is both a skilled fencer and a musician for the Straw Hat Pirates. His longevity is attributable to the Yomi Yomi no Mi, which allowed him to resurrect after perishing alongside his former crew, the Rumbar Pirates, many years ago. His past is something of a distant memory, but it is known he led a certain kingdom’s battle convoy. He also appeared to know Manmayer Gunko, who would later become a member of God’s Knights, and performed music for her when she was a child.
However, a fact that remains unknown is the identity of either of Brook’s parents. As more of Brook’s past gets revealed, this fact may or may not change. That said, it seems as though it will factor into the primary story an insignificant amount, as his own parents, barring certain methods of longevity, have likely passed on at this point, and do not currently seem to inform his character in any way.
Edward Newgate
Whitebeard
- Current Affiliation: None (Passed as Captain of Whitebeard Pirates)
Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate was a former member of the Rocks Pirates, a motley crew of infamous pirates assembled by Rocks D. Xebec, with the goal of making him king of the world. He later became the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, and was something of a friendly rival to Gol D. Roger, who previously feuded with Whitebeard’s former captain. He served as an ally to Monkey D. Luffy during the Summit War, where they both teamed up to rescue Portgas D. Ace and considered him family, despite none of them sharing any blood.
Whitebeard is an interesting case, as a lack of knowledge about his parents is used to define his character. He grew up as an orphan in Sphinx, an island too poor to pay the Heavenly Tribute used to gain government protection. As a result, he became a strong man with a yearning for family. This influenced the eventual creation of the Whitebeard Pirates, where crewmates were nominally his sons, and most often referred to him as “Pops.” This is a reflection of Whitebeard’s greater character: a protector, mentor, and father figure, who, despite his longtime history of piracy, was generally beloved by those who knew him.
Jinbe
Knight of the Sea
- Current Affiliation: Straw Hat Pirates
Jinbe was formerly a soldier of Ryugu Kingdom, as well as a member and eventual captain of the Sun Pirates. He even served, for a time, as a member of the government-sanctioned Shichibukai, before voluntarily resigning out of a refusal to fight Whitebeard. He eventually joined the Straw Hat Pirates as their helmsman, due to a growing respect for Monkey D. Luffy, whom he befriended in Impel Down. While much is known of his past, little of his personal life has been given attention outside his career, including his parents. He is said to have grown up in an orphanage alongside the likes of Arlong, Fisher Tiger, and Macro, as well as having been a prodigy at Fish-Man Karate, a technique he still uses in the present day.
Due to the genetic makeup of fish-men, even basic facts about the identity of Jinbe’s parents are unclear. Fish-men derive genetic traits, such as the fish they resemble, from ancestors, meaning that Jinbe’s appearance as a whale shark fish-man is only shared with a distant unspecified ancestor. Additionally, due to the genetic overlap between merfolk and fish-men, it’s not even necessarily clear if Jinbe’s own parents were fish-men. This element of Jinbe’s personal life has likely been jettisoned, to give more of a focus to his efforts to advocate for fish-man as a pirate.
Kaido
The World’s Strongest Creature
- Current Affiliation: Beasts Pirates (?)
Kaido was the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, who acted as an arms dealer in an occupied Wano Country. He was defeated by Luffy, and fell into a volcano, but his own physical resilience leaves fans questioning if he really is dead after the fact.
Kaido is a character largely defined by the pursuit of power and violence. This stems from a sort of might makes right mentality informed by his past, where he was valued for his strength, but also frequently treated as a commodity.
Before becoming a member of the Rocks Pirates, and a test subject in Punk Hazard, Kaido was a child soldier for the poverty-ridden Vodka Kingdom. This kingdom relied on plundering to make its fortune, something a young Kaido had proven to be very valuable for. However, he was to be donated to the marines in exchange for Vodka Kingdom getting to join the Levely. Kaido broke free from this fate, as he never got killed or even restrained by the marines for very long. At present, Kaido’s own parents remain a mystery, likely to not detract from the greater theme of alienation that defines his character.
Eustass Kid
Captain Kid
- Current Affiliation: Kid Pirates (?)
Eustass Kid was the captain of the Kid Pirates, and a fairly prominent member of the Worst Generation. He has twice brokered an alliance with the likes of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Heart Pirates to deal with a mutual enemy, despite them also serving as rivals to him. Kid was defined by a level of brutality, including a reputation for civilian casualties, which saw him frequently run afoul of many powerful enemies. This may have proved his undoing, as the crew was recently obliterated at sea by the likes of Shanks, Dorry, and Brogy, due to justified concern that he would wreak havoc on Elbaf.
Kid’s past is somewhat documented. He was a resident of Kutsukku Island, a four-town island which, like Sphinx, was too poor to pay for the Heavenly Tribute. Kid was childhood friends with Killer, his crewmate who would also become part of the Worst Generation. The pair shared a childhood crush on a girl named Victoria, who lost her life due to gang violence. They avenged her by obliterating the gang deemed responsible, alongside the likes of Heat and Wire, who would also become their crewmates.
What remains unknown in all of this is the existence of Kid’s parents. He is not mentioned as being an orphan, so it is possible he grew up with them. That said, due to his own generally indignant attitude towards the world and any form of authority, it is not clear if this was necessarily a move for the better.
Boa Hancock
Pirate Empress
- Current Affiliation: Kuja Pirates
Boa Hancock is the current ruler of Amazon Lily and the captain of the Kuja Pirates. Hancock is commonly considered the most beautiful woman in the world, and has no issues flaunting this to her advantage. The Kuja culture believes strength equals beauty, and seems to cede the position of ruler to the most beautiful (ie strongest) member of the Kuja. Amazon Lily is based on the Island of Women, and most of its residents have no experience with men. Hancock, however, has developed misandry as a result of the experiences she and her sisters had as child slaves to the Celestial Dragons.
Despite her hatred of men and the government, Hancock became the sole female member of the Shichibukai, in an effort to protect her people from subjugation. Hancock befriended and eventually nurtured a crush on Luffy, due to his genuine willingness to help her. Hancock’s own parentage has never been made clear besides some details surrounding how new Kuja are brought to the island. Kuja must go abroad to conceive children, due to the lack of men on the island. Once they give birth on the island, their children are always daughters. It is likely Hancock’s mother participated in this ritual.
Dracule Mihawk
Hawk Eyes
- Current Affiliation: Cross Guild
Dracule Mihawk is one of the two true leaders of Cross Guild. He is known for being the world’s strongest swordsman, and seems to be the final obstacle in Roronoa Zoro’s journey. Due to the extent of his power, he is often bored by most enemies, and has even trained Zoro, who hopes to one day cut him down, in the effort to nurture a viable competition. He was a Shichibukai prior to the system’s abolition, but before then was known as the marine hunter, and is said to have a grudge against the institution.
Mihawk’s past beyond this grudge, which stemmed from a supposed betrayal, remains a mystery. This includes his parents, who are entirely unknown. This limited amount of information may coincide with a desire to mythologize Mihawk in-narrative, something that knowledge of worldly connections does little in service of. More may be known of Mihawk, including the origin of his grudge, if he becomes a more active antagonist, but whether this in any way includes his parents is not something that can be confirmed or denied at present.
Crocodile
Desert King
- Current Affiliation: Cross Guild
Crocodile is the co-leader and founder of Cross Guild. He formerly organized Baroque Works illegally as a Shichibukai, which attempted to conduct Operation Utopia, a conspiracy which would insert him as the ruler of Alabasta. This was dismantled by the Straw Hat Pirates, who took him out along with his top subordinates. Ironically, he would later form an alliance with Luffy, who helped him escape Impel Down and later fought alongside him, even aiding in saving his life during the Summit War.
Crocodile’s past before his ascension to Shichibukai is known as follows: he was once a pirate who once wished to be King of the Pirates but lost motivation for his dream after losing to Whitebeard. His parents remain an unknown fact, likely due to both Crocodile’s established concerns about privacy, and them not being essential to his arc.
Gol D. Roger
The King of the Pirates
- Current Affiliation: None (Formerly Captain of the Roger Pirates)
Gol D. Roger was captain of the Roger Pirates up until he disbanded the crew and turned himself in for execution. Roger traveled the world with his crew successfully finding the One Piece and him achieving the title of King of the Pirates. Prior to his death, Roger fathered a son named Ace, with his lover, Portgas D. Rouge, who died in childbirth. Roger later requested his son be adopted by his longtime rival Monkey D. Garp, in a failed attempt to remove the stigma of himself from his son. This arrangement led to Ace becoming brothers with Garp’s grandson, Luffy.
Roger’s own past beyond his pirate career seems widely unknown, likely due to him being a lore character whose own adventures are a tale from another time rather than focused on in the present. This lack of parents seems to be a standard for most characters who existed solely in the past, unless said parents were somehow important to how said characters developed. Luffy was unaware he even had a father before Garp told him, and it is likely Roger may have had a similar level of estrangement from his own parents.
That being said, Roger’s “family” has a greater level of representation in the series through the Will of D. While not every person who carries D. the initial shares blood, many modern-day members of the clan have only kept the initial because it was passed down to them by their parents. Roger himself is one of a few people in recent times to have uncovered its actual meaning, but this has yet to be fully elaborated upon. Either way, it seems as though either one or both of Roger’s parents had the D. initial and passed it down to their son.
