LuNami

"Of course, I’m coming with you! I feel responsible. Besides, do you think you can travel the sea of the New World without your navigator?"

- Nami to Luffy.

LuNami is the het ship between Monkey D. Luffy and Nami from the One Piece fandom.

Canon


Luffy and Nami are exceptionally close crew mates, Luffy being the captain and Nami being his navigator. Their relationship is argumentative and can often be violent on Nami’s side, but they also value and trust each other immensely. Nami has shown she has unwavering loyalty to Luffy whilst Luffy, himself, perhaps trusts Nami more than anybody else on the crew. They first met when Luffy fell from the sky in Orange Town and the two quickly found themselves on the same side in their fight against the Buggy Pirates. Soon after, Nami decided to join his crew after he wished for her to do so. She would stay with him until the Baratie Arc where she betrayed Luffy, stealing his ship and money to return to her home island and back to her real crew, the Arlong Pirates. Following the defeat of the Arlong Pirates and Nami's rescue, she returns to Luffy's crew and has continued to sail with him ever since.

Up until the Arlong Arc, Nami loathed pirates and scolded Luffy for being one. However, he was unfazed by this and pestered her to join his crew regardless. Initially he did not want to work with her but once he found out she was a navigator he changed his mind. Nami agreed to join him after she was won over by Luffy’s genuine sincerity, as seen with his interaction with the dog, Chouchou, and how much he valued his straw hat as his one and only treasure, an unusual thing to find in a pirate. When Luffy fought against Kuro, Nami noted how much anger he had towards him for his view on piracy and the value of his crew, which seemingly endeared her more to him. During the early parts of their adventure they quickly grew to be good friends, despite the fact Nami never truly committed herself to the crew. It was because of these things that, when she did betray Luffy, she did so in tears and hoped that he would still consider her his friend. The revelation of Nami’s betrayal did not anger Luffy at all, as he fully believed Nami had a good reason to do what she did. He immediately commanded both Zoro and Usopp to follow her whilst he dealt with the events at the Baratie, even though they argued to leave her behind. When faced with their disputes he told them firmly that Nami is the only person he would accept as his navigator. Later, when Luffy arrived on her home island, he rebuffed Nami’s attempts to make him leave, simply going to sleep or for a walk. Even when Nami’s foster sister, Nojiko, tried to explain to Luffy Nami’s past, as a means to discourage him, he chose not to listen to her because nothing would change his mind about trying to get her back. At one point, he even threatened to beat up Johnny, one of his own friends, for claiming Nami had killed Usopp.

Their bond truly became cemented when Luffy bore witness to the situation Nami was in. Nami had been mentally and emotionally abused by the fish-man pirate, Arlong, who had killed her adoptive mother and imprisoned her to draw maps for him since she was a child, which is why Nami loathed pirates until she met Luffy. Despite her strong will, determination and fierce independence, Arlong betraying the deal they had made many years ago caused Nami to have a mental break down, as the realisation that she, or her village, would never be free of him sunk in. In a frenzy, she stabbed herself in the arm multiple times to try and cut out Arlong’s tattoo until Luffy stopped her. Screaming at Luffy to leave, she started to become overwhelmed at the situation she was now in and, for the first time in her life, turned to Luffy and tearfully asked for his help. Luffy, who was now furious at what had been done to his navigator, put his straw hat on her head, the thing he considered his one and only treasure, as a sign of his promise that he would free her from Arlong. The significance of which cannot be understated, as Luffy chose to entrust his treasure to Nami as she had now chosen to entrust her future to him.



Luffy would go on to defeat Arlong, but would do much more for Nami. At the climax of their fight, both he and Arlong ended up in the room Nami was imprisoned in as a child. Luffy became furious as Arlong revealed details of what he had done to her, expressing his view of her as a tool whilst disingenuously claiming he is her friend. At one point, Luffy picks up a pen and notes that it is stained with her blood and quickly came to the realisation that this room could not exist if he wanted Nami to be free again. As a result he began to destroy everything within the room. Nami, who was watching on from the outside, realised what Luffy was doing after she saw a desk fly out of her room and teared up before quitely thanking him. Luffy managed to destroy all of Arlong Park as he defeated Arlong, and emerged from the ruble to proudly declare to Nami that she is his friend, which prompted her to joyfully cry. During the celebrations she goes up to Luffy and puts the straw hat back on his head now that he had fulfilled his promise to her. The experience with Arlong, and what he had done to Nami, would effect Luffy quite a bit, as he came to hate all members of his crew, which is something rarely seen by Luffy. When he found out that the person their new friend, Camie, wanted to rescue was Hatchan, a former crew member of Arlong, he refused to help despite having promised to do so. However, he would eventually save the fish-man only after Nami told him she wanted to help.

After she returns to the crew the two became extremely close friends. They carried on their argumentative relationship but there was never a question that Nami would ever betray Luffy again. She has come to see him as the most reliable person in her life, which has been most apparent when a fellow crew member has gotten into trouble, such as when Nico Robin was taken away by CP9 and she tearfully begged Luffy to save her. When Sanji was taken by the Big Mom Pirates she ran up and hugged Luffy after being separated from him for a week, not being able to do anything about Sanji and feeling guilty for letting him be taken away. Her dedication to Luffy was made clear when, after Sanji had assaulted and insulted him, she walked up to her former crew mate and furiously slapped him for his actions. Luffy has a high degree of trust and faith in Nami, which was made most clear when he defended her from the accusations she had killed Usopp back on Cocoyashi Village. He also allows her to take full command of the ship when it comes to sailing the seas and will follow her orders as much as possible. When Inuarashi praised Nami's skills, Luffy happily chimed in how amazing she is. Nami seems to be very proud of her role to Luffy, and sees it as her personal responsbility to allow Luffy to go wherever he wishes.

Luffy's trust in Nami is further emphasised by their shared relationship with his hat. Nami is the only crew member to have worn or held his hat multiple times, which has been seen on Drum Island, Jaya and Skypiea. The most significant moment came when they fought against Arlong, where she recalled, after Luffy put his hat on her head, how it is his one and only treasure. She has also fixed it and modified it for him numerous times, such as when it was damaged by Buggy when they first met in Orange Town, and when she stitched Ace's vivre card inside it to keep it safe. Nami is also the only person that Luffy has divulged the full details of why he loves his hat and who gave it to him. An aspect of his hat is his goal to become the Pirate King, a dream Nami is a firm believer in. One example was when she angrily slapped Sanji for insulting Luffy's dream. When faced with a Sweet Commander of the Big Mom Pirates, she proudly and defiantly tells him that his status means nothing to her because her captain will become the king of the pirates. In another instance, after being brutally assaulted by Ulti, one of the Tobiroppo of the Beast Pirates, and on the verge of being killed, she was given the choice to contradict Luffy's claim and be allowed to live, however, in tears, she defiantly told Ulti that Luffy would indeed become the Pirate King.



After they were separated on Sabaody, and following the events at Marineford, Nami’s relationship with Luffy became a notable highlight. When she discovered that Luffy fought to save his brother in a major war without her, or the rest of the crew, and ultimately lost, she became distraught and guilt ridden. She cried profusely as a result but this was allegedly a ruse to trick the Sky Islanders she was stuck with to let her go after she was caught trying to secretly leave to reunite with Luffy. However, after she broke free from her prison and made her escape she began to cry and internally apologised to Luffy for letting him down. When Haredas, one of the Sky islanders, pointed out that she had started to cry again she became embarrassed and punched him. Later on, when she realised Luffy has told her and the crew to wait two years before they reunite she was the only one to be furious at this decision. In a conversation with Haredas, she ultimately decides to become a better navigator for him, and openly states that it is her personal responsibility to look after Luffy and make sure he does not die when travelling the seas. She vents to Haredas how stupid Luffy is and that she needs to be there for him, with a smile on her face. Whilst she says all this she remembers what Luffy did for her regarding Arlong and felt she owed him so much.

Beyond the incident with Arlong, Luffy has shown he is protective of Nami and will try to aid her if the situation calls for him to do so, as he promised Genzo, the closest person to a father Nami has, that he will never allow her smile to be taken away. After she fell sick, Luffy became frantic at the possibility of her dying and chose to stay in her room to try and cheer her up. When it came to getting her to a doctor, Luffy carried her on his back as he climbed up the side of a mountain bare-handed in an extreme blizzard. The fact he is made of rubber made this task all the mroe gruelling. He was notably more upset when he failed to save her from Bartholomew Kuma than he was when his other crew members were sent away by him. Even though he is protective of her, and has saved her numerous times, he also believes in her strength and abilities and never stops her from partaking in fights or completing tasks she has been assigned, regardless of how dangerous they might be. This approach has enabled Nami to grow exponentially and become a formidable combatant in her own right.

Nami has shown she has absolute faith in Luffy’s strength, something she has proudly talked about multiple times. Whenever Luffy is around she gains a boost in confidence and trusts him to keep her safe, even if he can be an idiot. When she was kidnapped by the Yeti Cool Brothers, she informed them that they are in great danger because Luffy would come to rescue her, which eventually came to pass. Even in the face of Charlotte Cracker, a Yonko commander, she proclaimed to him that Luffy will become the Pirate King and thus his status was utterly meaningless to her. Nami showed her belief in Luffy when he was seemingly defeated by Kaido and the Emperor declared his victory to everyone, further adding that he had in fact killed Luffy. In response, Nami tearfully rejected his claims, stating it was impossible that Luffy was dead, and fearlessly called Kaido a liar. Kaido took note of her response, commenting that her spirit, as well as some others, still does not break. When Kaido attacked her and Marco deflected the attack, Nami laid on the floor sobbing and calling out "Luffy...".



However, despite this confidence she has in Luffy, Nami is just as equally worried for him when he is hurt or puts himself recklessly in danger. This was shown when he fought Arlong and was caught in the collapse of the building; when he arrived back from underwater unconcious after he, Zoro and Sanji searched for treasure; and briefly whilst he fought Hody Jones on Fish-Man island. She became extremely distressed when he refused to fight back against Sanji and took a vicious beating, and again when he had gone off to fight Charlotte Katakuri, a Yonko commander, by himself. Her worry for him was made worse when he told her to break all the mirrors on the Thousand Sunny which would trap him alone with Katakuri. After being told by Kaido that he had killed Luffy, Nami cried tears of relief when Marco told her he was in fact still alive after he sensed his presence in his new Gear 5 form. This care for Luffy has even gone into the little things as well, such as when he was cold in the middle of his fight with Wapol and she gave him her jacket to wear, or making sure he has food to eat and giving him something to drink when he chokes. At one point she lets Luffy drink a cup of tea that was made for her by Sanji.

A major feature for Nami is that she also plays the role as one of Luffy’s closest confidants and advisors. Whilst he listens to everybody’s take on numerous situations, Nami has shown to be the most prevalent and effective. She is often the one that stops Luffy doing reckless things and tries to discourage him from going into danger when it is not needed. Notably, she has been present at all the alliances Luffy has formed on his adventures, such as with the Franky Family & Galley-La, with Trafalgar Law, and with Capone Bege. She was also present when he formed the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai alliance. On most of these formations she has offered up her own opinion to him as well. Nami has also been a capable negotiator for Luffy, as she was responsible for forming a deal to take Princess Vivi back to Alabasta that instigated the entire Alabasta saga. Furthermore, she successfully negotiated 300 million berries for Luffy when they cashed in the treasure they had stolen from Skypiea, which allowed them to buy a new ship. Luffy has normally given in to Nami’s requests and was even willing to defy his new ally, Trafalgar Law, and save the children on Punk Hazard because Nami wished to do so.

As far as romance is concerned, there has been almost no indication of any between them. However, Nami did notably blush when Reiju performed a very intense mouth-to-mouth with Luffy, whilst Carrot did not. The only other person to blush was Brook who was openly jealous of Luffy. At the end of the Fish-Man Island arc, Nami, who is normally aggressive and hostile to intimate contact with men such as Brook or Sanji, was not at all fazed that Luffy had wrapped his neck around her entire body. When it comes to Luffy, although he is uninterested in women, he has given a comical reaction to seeing Nami naked on two separate occasions, whereas he was unfazed at seeing a naked Boa Hancock. Oda clarified in an SBS that the reason Luffy reacted differently to Nami was because Usopp was with him and he is a “bad influence.” A common feature of their relationship is Nami’s understanding of Luffy’s great appetite, as she told Jinbe he would not be able to wake Luffy up without food. On another occasion, she rounded up meat for him to eat before they boarded a train to save Nico Robin, and on Punk Hazard she feeds Luffy a piece of meat and laughs when he bites into it. Luffy's love for meat is intense and he has always refused to share it except for one occasion, when Nami was upset as they left Alabasta, and to try and cheer her up he offered her a piece. Just like Luffy's love for meat, Nami also loves treasure, however, she has willingly shared a piece of her treasure, which was with Luffy and Lola at the end of the Thriller Bark Arc.

Quotes
"Luffy… you’re okay, aren’t you? I’m sorry!! Even though you’re always there to support us… Even though it’s times like this when you need us most of all…!!"

- Nami, distraught, after finding out that Luffy lost his brother.

"Don’t you dare make my navigator cry!"

- Luffy scolds Arlong after he punches him.

"You think you’re hot stuff just because you’re a Yonko’s right hand man… But Luffy’s the man who’s gonna become Pirate King!! In other words… his hunger is absolutely limitless!!"

- Nami defiantly tells Charlotte Cracker that Luffy will become Pirate King.

Fanon
LuNami is one of the most popular ships in the One Piece fandom and is ranked as number one in The 15 Greatest One Piece Non-Canon Ships. It's rival ships are SaNami, ZoRobin and LuHan. A big part of the One Piece fandom that enjoys the Luffy x Nami pairing usually ship LuNami alongside SanPu, Zoyori, ZoSan and Frobin. On top of this, fans may also ship NaLu from the Fairy Tail fandom due to the similarities they have with Luffy and Nami and the overall similarities the series has with One Piece.

Unlike the other popular ships, such as Sanji x Nami and Luffy x Hancock, neither Luffy or Nami have shown any romantic interest in the other. Critics of the pair also point out that Luffy lacks any romantic awareness and has shown no interest in women at all, making the possibility of him being with Nami unlikely. However, supporters of the ship point to the depth of their relationship and how prominent both Luffy and Nami's relationship is within the series.

One of the reasons why the ship is extremely popular is due to the romanticisation of Luffy and Nami's roles within the crew, with Luffy being the captain and Nami being the navigator. Some fans observe that Nami arguably plays the most crucial role in fulfilling Luffy's ability to be a pirate, and by extension becoming the Pirate King, as she is the one who makes sure he can go wherever he wants across the seas in the search of adventure and the One Piece.

Due to Luffy's dream of becoming the Pirate King, fans of the ship believe Nami is the most suitable candidate to be the "Pirate Queen" via marriage to the Pirate King. This is due to her love for money and her desire to live a luxurious, or royal, lifestyle.

Fans of the ship often point out that the One Piece films frequently display a "hero saves the heroine" narrative, with Luffy playing the hero and Nami the heroine.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


 * FAN ART


 * TUMBLR


 * TWITTER


 * YOUTUBE
 * StrawBerryLoveStudio on YouTube — a LuNami themed MEP studio

Trivia

 * Across the numerous chapters, volumes and Color Walks of One Piece, Luffy and Nami have graced multiple covers together:
 * Nami is the only Straw Hat Luffy has ever appeared alone with on a chapter color spread. The first time is on the cover for chapter 1 and again on the cover for chapter 175.
 * Luffy can be seen fighting with a turtle for a fish as Nami watches on, laughing, on the cover of chapter 13.
 * On the cover of chapter 18, Nami teaches a monkey about navigation whilst Luffy sleeps in the background.
 * On the covers for chapters 49, 246 and 595 Nami is in possession of Luffy’s straw hat. On the cover of chapter 379 she is wearing it.
 * For the cover of chapter 284, Nami playfully teases Luffy who is asleep.
 * On the cover of chapter 317 Nami is washing Luffy’s vest.
 * Towards the end of the Animal Theatre chapter covers, Luffy was paired with Nami on the cover of chapter 574 where he lies unconscious after she had struck him in a game of Whack-a-mole.
 * On the cover of chapter 921, Nami wore a similar crown to the ones Luffy wore on the covers of chapters 676 and 784. On the cover of chapter 100, Nami can again be seen wearing different crown.
 * For the cover of chapter 733, the Straw Hats are building two snowmen. Luffy and Usopp build a snowman wearing Luffy's straw hat. Meanwhile, Brook and Sanji build a snowman that looks like Nami, wearing Brook's Soul King crown hat. Luffy wore Brook's crown over his straw hat on the cover of chapter 604.
 * On the cover of chapter 699, the Straw Hat Pirates can be seen all dressed up as knights with the exception of Luffy and Nami. Luffy is sitting at the center dressed as a king and Nami leans on the arm on his throne in an orange dress.
 * In a tribute to Naruto, the cover of chapter 766 shows Luffy eating ramen that Nami had just served him as she looks at him with a smile.
 * Nami shows Luffy a leaflet for a pirate festival on the cover of chapter 779, whilst he eats pizza in a chair with the same print as Nami's clima-tact.
 * On the cover for chapter 784, Nami holds onto Luffy in fear as a zombie approaches her.
 * In the cover of chapter 851, Luffy sits like a king with the Straw Hats surround him. Nami is closest, sitting on the arm of his seat.
 * Chapter 949's cover features a banana theme, with Brook and Nami wearing banana themed clothing. The crew is surrounded by huge bananas, and Nami holds up part of the peel of the banana Luffy is eating.
 * Nami can be seen hitting Luffy for not brushing his teeth correctly on the cover of Color Walk 2.
 * In the volumes 40, 91 and 96, Oda provided illustrations showing Luffy and Nami together along with Chopper. The illustration in volume 40 features Nami holding a branch of tangerines. Luffy is shown taking a bite out of one of them. Tangerines hold a lot of personal meaning for Nami.
 * Luffy and Nami have also appeared together on the official cover pages of the Shonen Jump magazines that publishes One Piece. These covers are designed by Oda himself.
 * For One Piece's first cover of Shonen Jump magazine (1997, issue 34), Luffy appears with the members of the Red Haired Pirates behind him, as well as Nami, who can be seen in the background amongst them.
 * On the Shonen Jump magazine cover (2000, issues 36-37) Nami rests her arm on Luffy's head.
 * Nami can be seen grasping at Luffy's vest as they run away from a giant snake on a Shonen Jump magazine cover (2001, issue 41)
 * On the cover for Shonen Jump magazine (2005, issue 43), Luffy and Chopper have been overstuffed from eating so much fruit. Nami stands behind Luffy with a big smile whilst she carries a fruit basket on her head.
 * Luffy, Nami and Chopper appear together for a Shonen Jump cover (2018, issue 18).
 * Luffy, Nami, Chopper and Nico Robin appear together, with Luffy, Nami and Chopper playing a game with Robin hosting. (2019, issue 44)
 * In a Super SBS, Oda gave an autographed sketch to one of his editors to celebrate the birth of his editor’s daughter. In it he drew Luffy holding up a baby that had similarities to Nami, whilst Nami stands next to him cheering. The rest of the Straw Hats stand in the background celebrating.
 * Due to Luffy's rubber body, he is impervious to almost all physical attacks. During his appearance in the Enies Lobby arc, Luffy's grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, explained that he is able to hurt Luffy because "there is no protection against a fist of love." Eiichiro Oda also added in an SBS that Nami is able to hurt Luffy because she can hurt his spirit. This SBS was published before the concept of Haki was explained later in the story.
 * For the release of 'One Piece Novel HEROINES', which focuses on the main female characters of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda produced a quick sketch of Nami wearing Luffy's straw hat and posing with a heart.
 * The original concepts of Romance Dawn had Luffy meeting the first two initial designs of Nami. In version 1, he meets a girl named Silk and helps her defeat Crescent-Moon Galley. In version 2, Nami is instead called “Ann”, and is saved by Luffy when she is imprisoned on a pirate ship. He helps her defeat Spiel, who tried to kidnap her pet, Balloon, before going their separate ways.
 * On the third anniversary of Tokyo Tower, Oda sent a commemorative sketch of Luffy and Nami.
 * The Usopp Gallery Pirates sections in the manga have featured a few fan made sketches depicting Luffy and Nami. Lots of these sketches are received with positive comments, including one where it refers to Nami as Luffy’s sister. However, it’s important to note that comments of the gallery are done by 'Usopp', not Eiichiro Oda as himself.
 * A romantic comedy spin-off manga called One Piece in Love, written and illustrated by Daiki Ihara and approved by Eiichiro Oda, stars two characters named after Luffy and Nami who have a crush on each other.
 * Luffy and Nami have been voted the most popular male and female One Piece characters, respectively, numerous times in the official polls by Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 * Whilst in the anime Luffy has told both Zoro and Nami why he values his hat so much, in the manga he has only told Nami.
 * In the seventh opening of the anime, called "Crazy Rainbow," Nami can be seen wearing Luffy's straw hat as he recklessly jumps into the water as she, and the rest of the crew, panic.
 * In the second Nissin Hungry Hays commercial, the scene where Luffy puts his hat on Nami's head is recreated . In the third commercial, Luffy can very briefly be seen trying to give a sick Nami a tangerine.
 * The main antagonist, Tesoro, from 'One Piece Film: Gold,' was reminded of the fervor he once to save Stella, his lover, when he saw Luffy's effort to save Nami. Eiichiro Oda depicted the scene in the story boards he drew for the film. The director of the film, Hiroaki Miyamoto told in an interview: "The climactic battle scene is where the storyboards were significantly revised. As a result of brushing up based on the corrections that Mr. Oda provided in the form of names, the tempo from the end of the battle between Luffy and Tesoro to the end was significantly increased."
 * In the manga, Luffy and Nami first met in Orange Town. However, in the anime they met in episode 1 where they both briefly make eye contact with each after Luffy drops down from Alvida's ship next to her. Nami would see Luffy again on Shells Town before properly meeting him in Orange Town.
 * Despite appearing until chapter 8, Nami is featured alongside Luffy on the very first chapter cover.
 * In the One Piece film, Strong World, co-written by Eiichiro Oda, the film ends with Nami trying to stop Luffy from hearing a recording she made for the crew when she was kidnapped by Shiki. The rest of the crew heard the recording, but Luffy didn't. Nami looked at Luffy in disbelief and said the “message was intended for even the dumbest guy like you to understand.” While Nami tried to take the dial back, Sanji, who is in love with her, smiled to himself and commented on Nami's recording: “All I could hear was a love confession..."
 * Nami and the other Straw Hats can be seen wearing shirts with Luffy printed on them in a promotional material for One Piece Film: Red in collaboration with Japanese fashion line, Uniqlo.