Nami’s betrayal is one of the most irksome developments in the early days of One Piece, but why did the Straw Hat navigator do it?

After sailing the harsh seas of the world of author Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, the bonds between the Straw Hat Pirates are now almost unbreakable. They know almost everything about each other, and they are willing to sacrifice even their own lives if it means helping their crew mates. Each of them also has a dream ambitious enough to make most people laugh. Even so, none of them think of their dreams as absurd, especially when it comes to Luffy becoming the Pirate King. However, despite their seemingly unbreakable bonds, there were also moments that tested their friendships — and the first one to betray their pirate crew was none other than their navigator, the Cat Burglar Nami.

Nami is technically the third member to join the Straw Hat Pirates. She witnesses the pirate crew at their lowest, though that doesn’t stop her from joining them. According to her, she doesn’t mind helping them if Luffy and Zoro return the favor. However, she ends up stealing Buggy’s treasure and goes on the run. After Zoro and Luffy defeat Buggy and his crew, Nami officially joins their journey. Just as they’re about to recruit Sanji, Nami makes a heartbreaking decision: she takes the newly-acquired Going Merry and the stolen treasure from Buggy, then sails back to her hometown alone. That said, there’s a reason that Nami betrays Luffy and the others.

Updated on January 26th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: With the fairly recent release of Netflix’s live-action adaptation, fans have yet another piece of One Piece media to sink their teeth into. Nami’s storyline is covered in intimate detail, especially in the TV show’s later episodes, further cementing her role as a Straw Hat Pirate and one of Luffy’s closest confidants. However, viewers were shocked when Nami betrayed Luffy, but at least she had a very good reason.

Hints Of Betrayal Were Dropped Before The Incident

Prior to joining the Straw Hat Pirates, Nami openly declared her hate for the criminals roaming in the seas. When she learned about Luffy’s occupation, she instantly revoked her offer to join him. She only changed her mind after the persistent rubber-man agreed to help settle the score with Buggy. Even then, she immediately tied up Luffy and presented him as an offering to the red-nosed pirate. She told Buggy that she had betrayed her captain — in exchange for her freedom, she handed over Luffy. Luffy was then imprisoned and even almost blasted by Buggy’s strongest cannon. In addition to that, she explicitly told Luffy that their relationship was purely based on business.

The main reason Nami plotted such a vile plan was to steal Buggy’s treasure. She has a very unhealthy relationship with money, which turns out to be for a heartbreaking reason. Nonetheless, the earliest version of Nami is nothing short of self-centered. She doesn’t let anybody get between her and her treasure, and she is also willing to deceive any pirate if it means raking in money. In fact, Nami has prioritized her treasures over her crew mates on more than one occasion.

There Was A Catalyst For Nami’s Betrayal

While Nami initially didn’t intend to join the Straw Hat Pirates, she started appreciating them after witnessing Luffy and Zoro’s genuine kind-heartedness. During Usopp’s arc, Nami was captivated by Luffy’s desire to help the long-nosed brat. At that point, she had somewhat integrated herself among the Straw Hat bunch. Nami even put herself in danger as the pirate crew prevented Kuro from assassinating the sickly Kaya, which was even more exciting when Netflix’s version of One Piece turned it into a horror story. Luffy further won Nami’s trust after he pulled off the stint with Gaimon, the man who was stuck in a treasure chest. Knowing that the old man could no longer climb to fetch his treasures, Luffy ended up getting them instead. However, Luffy refused to bring them down — not because he became greedy but because all the chests were empty.

Nami arguably enjoyed Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp’s companionship, and it can even be argued that she had become a full-pledged Straw Hat by then. However, what really caused Nami’s change of heart was their journey toward the floating restaurant of Baratie. While contemplating their dilemma about food, the motley crew of four encountered Johnny and Yosaku. The pair of bounty hunters brought them to Baratie, where they could find a good candidate for a cook. Given that the duo were bounty hunters, they carried with them a bunch of bounty posters, including that of the Fish-Man Arlong. When Nami stumbled upon this poster, her expression turned grim.

Nami Didn’t Want To Endanger Her Newfound Friends’ Lives

Nami’s betrayal earned the ire of numerous One Piece fans. After all, the series made it seem like Nami had already changed her ways as she sailed with the Straw Hats, and she didn’t seem to be merely pretending. This raised the question of why she pulled a fast one on her friends. Clearly, it had something to do with Arlong. There are multiple possible interpretations of her reaction to Arlong’s poster.

The first interpretation is fear. As someone who worked for the Arlong Pirates for the past eight years, Nami was well aware of what the Fish-Men pirate crew was capable of. She also knew how strong their leader was. When she was suddenly reminded of her adversity, all her built-up fear of the Fish-Man came rushing up. Another possibility for her reaction is anger. Arlong later revealed that, despite working for them for such a long time, Nami hadn’t given up trying to assassinate him. That said, the poster only reminded Nami of her mission. Since she was already very close to achieving her goals, it became a reminder for her to stop dilly-dallying and resume her operations.

In reality, however, it was likely a mixture of the two. Nami knew how capable Arlong was, which is likely the reason why she decided to abandon her newfound allies. She didn’t intend for them to get caught in her business and suffer any unnecessary consequences. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t angered.

After stealing Buggy the Clown’s treasure, she knew that she was very close to fulfilling her end of the deal with Arlong. Since Arlong supposedly kept his promises bound by money, One Piece‘s beloved Cat Burglar believed that he wouldn’t back out of their agreement. As she didn’t want to endanger the Straw Hats, Nami reluctantly believed that betraying Luffy and continuing alone was the best and safest course of action.

Nami’s And Arlong’s Betrayals Helped Establish One Piece’s True Pirate Themes

From the very start, One Piece was billed as a shonen pirate adventure, but it took time for all the pirate elements to arrive in the story. The pirate theme was mostly cosmetic at first, such as red-haired Shanks’ overall appearance and his role as the captain of a ship of deadly ruffians, and Buggy the Clown seized whatever he wanted in Orange Town as Luffy’s first serious enemy. Still, whether or not it’s realistic to history, pirates in fiction are associated with betrayal, selfish scheming, and reckless greed, not just sail ships and stylish outfits. Pirates are meant to act like pirates, not just like generic shonen villains. Over time, One Piece introduced such themes, such as with Sir Crocodile, but the first major example was when Nami betrayed the tiny Straw Hat Pirates crew. This also helped show that pirates are pirates on both sides of the dividing line between heroes and villains. At the time, it was really more like antiheroes vs villains, in fact.

Even if One Piece is a shonen action/adventure story at heart with broad themes like the power of friendship, it needed more than cosmetics to call itself a pirate story. In the East Blue saga, the true pirate themes arrived with Nami and her mortal enemy Arlong betraying people, including each other, with backstabbing and slippery scheming being their preferred tactics. First, Arlong muscled in and seized Coco Village for himself as a true pirate, and then Nami deceived, used, and betrayed Luffy’s small crew to accomplish her own selfish goals. Nami wasn’t meant to be a true villain at the time — she was just a desperate person who knew the brutal laws of the world, and despite claiming to hate pirates, she acted just like one. Once Arlong gleefully reneged on his deal with Nami, the pirate theme was fully in place. This wasn’t just another shonen action show or a Dragon Ball clone — it was a high-seas adventure where untrustworthy scallawags are everywhere.

In the long run over the course of 1,000+ episodes and chapters, One Piece really does skew more toward being a moderately conventional shonen action anime with a pirate cosmetic. Still, in certain story arcs such as Arlong Park and Alabasta, the characters embody the roguish “I take what I want” attitude of fictional pirates, complete with sly dishonesty and a scheming mindset. Pirates are opportunists, after all, not honorable warriors challenging people to fair fights to prove themselves. Stylized pirates in fiction are shady outlaws to the bone, not just shonen villains with a Yohoho, and that’s what makes Nami’s betrayal of the Straw Hats so meaningful in early One Piece episodes/chapters.