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There are many trios throughout the One Piece story that have become incredibly iconic, to the point where many consider this to be the ideal structure at the head of any pirate crew. Sure enough, most of the greatest crews in the series are set up in ways where the three most important members are often at the forefront of everything, and this typically also translates into the power hierarchy within it as well.
However, not every single trio is comprised of only the strongest members of the crew. The most notable example of this is the Romance Dawn Trio of the Straw Hat pirates, comprised of Luffy, Zoro, and Nami as the first official members. Despite being incredibly iconic, this trio may just be the most overrated grouping in all of One Piece, so let’s take a look at why this is the case.
The Romance Dawn Trio Is Not The Best Or Most Iconic
Not Even The Best Within The Straw Hats
|
Trio Name |
Romance Dawn Trio |
|---|---|
|
Members |
Luffy, Zoro, Nami |
Foundationally, the Romance Dawn Trio is arguably the most important in the entire story due to the fact that Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were the first official members of the Straw Hats, joining the crew in that specific order. In that sense, this trio can be seen as the groundwork for what the series’ central cast of characters would eventually look like since there would be no concept of the Straw Hats without these three characters.
However, many fans believe that the reasons why the Romance Dawn Trio is overrated are quite multifaceted. Firstly, one could argue that the crew had to start from somewhere, so the fact that the first three members were Luffy, Zoro, and Nami is pure happenstance. Moreover, there is a common sentiment among detractors which states that the only reason people hype this trio is purely because of the fact that these three were the first Straw Hats and not because they share some kind of unique bond between themselves.
Luffy has a great relationship with every member of his crew, particularly Zoro and Nami. However, the three of them together don’t really have a special bond that sticks out since many conflate that with the fact that they were the first members. In reality, the Romance Dawn Trio were only together for a meager 15 chapters before Usopp joined the crew as well, so it’s not like they had a ton of time with each other to solidify some sort of meaningful relationship.
Each member of this trio is an invaluable member of the Straw Hats; that much is confirmed. However, there’s nothing beyond the fact that they were the first members that gives fans an insight as to how important they may be to the overall story as a trio. In fact, they’re not even the most important trio within the Straw Hats, since that honor goes to the Monster Trio, which is comprised of Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji as the three strongest characters in the crew.
In the old Pirate King’s crew, there were two others who were especially strong, aside from Roger himself!
The reason why this trio works much better is because this sort of relationship is deeply important to the overall One Piece story, which repeatedly tells the fans that almost every notable pirate has two subordinates who are incredibly powerful in their own right. There is no better example of this than the Roger Pirates, who were the only crew in history to boast the title of Crew of the Pirate King, with Roger, Rayleigh, and Scopper being at the forefront.
Because of this, the concept of the ‘Wings of the Pirate King’ was introduced. This is essentially a concept which states that an aspiring Pirate King must have two ‘wings’ that will help them reach this status, something which Zoro and Sanji fall perfectly under for Luffy. In terms of the most important trio, none surpass the Monster Trio, as it is typically their efforts that lead to the defeat of the major villains in any given story arc and, narratively, they are destined to be the most important players in the entire story.
Does This Make The Romance Dawn Trio Entirely Useless?
Not That Simple
- There is still some merit in being the first members of the crew.
With all that said, it’s not like the Romance Dawn Trio is entirely a bad thing. Of course, there is still a lot of merit in terms of being the first official members of the Straw Hats, which gives Luffy, Zoro, and Nami a special status within the crew since they can be considered to be the foundation of what the crew would later become. The problem only lies when some fans make this trio out to be the most important in the entire story for purely this reason.
Each of the Straw Hats has a great relationship with one another, although fans have noted that they don’t get much more of that post-time skip, so it’s natural for each possible trio within the crew to work well. This is primarily why the Romance Dawn Trio works, and is a decent grouping overall, but simply can’t be compared to those like the Monster Trio that Oda has just spent more time on.
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