Summary

  • One Piece teases the appearance of Luffy's mother in an extra story in chapter #1057.
  • The mysterious woman seen in a flashback with Shanks could potentially be Luffy's mother, though there is no official confirmation.
  • The timing of the flashback doesn't align with Luffy's past, but it's possible that Shanks had visited Foosha village before and knew Luffy's mother, further deepening the connection between the rivals for the Pirate King title.

One Piece may have already addressed one of the biggest mysteries in the long history of the series, teasing the appearance of the mother of the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. While Luffy's relationship with his father, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon, is also the subject of a lot of speculation, the mother of the future Pirate King is an even bigger mystery, which is why it's disappointing she seems relatively unimportant to the story.

While Dragon and his Revolutionary Army have been serving a bigger role in the series' Final Saga, One Piece's author Eiichiro Oda stated Luffy's mother would never be introduced, as he is not interested in exploring that part of the story. However, in an extra story appearing in chapter #1057 as a tie-in to One Piece Film: Red, a mysterious woman holding a baby appears in one , leading fans to speculate that she could be Luffy's mother.

One-Piece extra story in chap[ter 1057 showing Uta's memories of her childhood as she writes one of her songs

The woman appears in a flashback of Shanks, singing a lullaby to her baby. This inspires the powerful Yonko to sing to his own baby daughter, Uta, who then grows up to become a world-famous singer. There is no official confirmation that the figures seen in the extra story are baby Luffy and his mother, but considering that Eiichiro Oda rarely does something without a specific purpose, many fans have speculated that this could be the case.

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A Subtle One Piece Detail May Have Revealed Luffy's Mother

One Piece created by Eiichiro Oda, chapter #1057

While some argue One Piece has too many mysteries, the mystery of Luffy's mother has been on fans' minds for some time. Luffy was born in the village of Foosha, a remote province of the Goa Kingdom in the East Blue Sea. His father is one of the most wanted men in the world, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, which openly antagonizes and tries to overthrow the tyrannical World Government.

However, after his birth in One Piece, Dragon left Luffy in the care of the future Straw Hat's grandpa, Monkey D. Garp, a legendary hero of the Navy who trained Luffy to become a great Marine in the future. Nothing was ever said about Luffy's mother, not even her name. Later, when the kid was 6, his life changed forever after meeting Red-Haired Shanks and his pirate crew, who were stationed in Foosha for some time. That encounter inspired Luffy to become a pirate, much to Garp's despair, and he finally set sails for his adventure after turning 17.

Shanks and young luffy face giant sea king

The timing of the extra story in chapter #1057 does not match with what is known about Luffy's past history, as the two rivals for the title of Pirate King even closer.

The Identity Of Luffy's Mom In One Piece Is Still Unkown

Unfortunately, The List Of Candidates Are Pretty Thin

Luffy looking concerned as Usopp is flipped upside down in the rain in One Piece.

Unfortunately, for fans wondering about Luffy's mom, the story provides few hints, if any, about possible identities. In of concrete details, there's basically nothing aside from the fair assumption that she hooked up with Dragon and eventually gave birth to Luffy. Beyond that, everything else is just fan theories with some minor circumstantial evidence, but nothing concrete to suggest they were intentionally planted by Oda.

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One of the most plausible theories for some time was that Luffy's mom was Garp's kid, and not Dragon. While this would have made sense and certainly sounded plausible for a long time, One Piece officially debunked the theory that Dragon was Garp's son-in-law. In a flashback showing Garp training, Garp specifically says that he can't believe his son was a revolutionary.

Though that theory would have made sense with One Piece lore until it was debunked, other fan theories get far more wild. The most famous theory is that Luffy's mom is actually the villain Crocodile. This theory relies on the idea that Crocodile is actually a trans man. Though this theory has its fans, it's on incredibly shaky ground and would even be contradicted by the possible appearance of Luffy and his mom in chapter #1057.

As extremely unlikely as the Crocodile theory is, a similar theory about a character's mom actually has a lot more evidence in Jujutsu Kaisen.

There are some more likely theories, such as the idea that Luffy's mom is a celestial dragon, but the ultimate answer seems to be that Luffy's mom is so unimportant to the plot, that she's not really a character at all. Oda has been rather emphatic in his idea that a mom is the antithesis of adventure, and though he may have changed his mind recently, or could have even been teasing fans, it still remains more than likely that Luffy's mom simply has no place in the story.

One Piece May Never Fully Reveal Luffy's Mother

Screenshot from One Piece anime show young Luffy eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit.

As is often the case with One Piece, whenever a mystery seems about to be solved, many new ones spring up. Oda once stated (in the SBS for volume 78) that he considers "mother" to be the opposite of "adventure", and that's why so many of his characters have dead or missing mothers.

Considering that, it's not likely that Luffy's mother will have a role in the story and, if it's actually her in chapter #1057, this one could remain her only appearance. One Piece fans can still hope to learn more about her when more details about Luffy's relationship with his father Dragon is explored more in the Final Saga.

One Piece franchise poster
Created by
Eiichiro Oda
First Film
One Piece: The Movie

Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history's longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix's 2023 adaptation.

Video Game(s)
One Piece: Unlimited World Red, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece Odyssey
First TV Show
One Piece
Cast
Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi