Even the strongest members of the Straw Hat Pirates needed mentors to reach their full potential in One Piece. Some had guidance before the series began, while others trained during the time skip. Many had multiple mentors of varying influence, but the best ones shaped their students’ skills, knowledge, and growth.

For example, Luffy learned from Shanks, Garp, and Rayleigh, but only one stands as his greatest teacher. Notably, Brook isn’t included—his past before joining the Rumbar Pirates remains unknown, making it unclear who, if anyone, mentored him in music or combat. While his captain, Yorki, might have played that role, there isn’t enough information to say for certain.

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9

Haredas is a Great Teacher to Nami

Haredas Manga Debut Chapter 533; Anime Debut Episode 418

During the time skip, Nami gets to fully study the weather and master manipulating it because of the help of Haredas and the Weatharia Scientists. They specialize in controlling the weather to cause various phenomena to move the artificial sky island, Weatharia. Haredas is a well-respected scientist in the world of One Piece. Outside Devil Fruits, no one else in the world has been shown to control the weather to quite the extent the Weatharia Scientists can.

While he’s the perfect mentor for Nami, Haredas doesn’t exactly change Nami’s world view. Instead, she tries to rob the island several times and is quite rude to the people there. Haredas is impressed by her, and she changes the fashion sense of Weatharia. However, he also thinks she’s extreme. Nami learns a lot while in Weatharia, but it all has to do with her specialization as a navigator and not her person.

8

Heracles is Usopp’s Only Real Mentor

Heracles Manga Debut Chapter 524; Anime Debut Episode 420

Considering Yasopp left Syrup Village when Usopp was very young, the only person who can be considered Usopp’s mentor is Heracles. He’s a friendly person and the only reason Usopp survives the Boin Archipelago. Most of his advice pertains to living on these dangerous islands. Heracles intentionally went to the Boin Archipelago as a botanist so he could study the strange plants there. Heracles strong enough to manage on the Archipelago just fine, but he isn’t strong enough to leave the island on his own.

Heracles isn’t a sniper, so he can’t help Usopp figure out how to fight directly. Instead, he teaches Usopp about all the plants on the island so Usopp can figure out how to use pop greens in his slingshot. The two of them become friends easily. The biggest thing he teaches Usopp is to be more confident in himself. This has been an ongoing journey for Usopp since he set sail, and Heracles contributes to it. He’s easily flattered into teaching Usopp, but Usopp still has to figure many things out for himself.

7

Fisher Tiger Was Jinbe’s Captain

Fisher Tiger Manga Debut Chapter 521; Anime Debut Episode 415

Arguably, Fisher Tiger isn’t a mentor figure to Jinbe. However, he was Jinbe’s captain and the one who taught Jinbe how to be a pirate. Jinbe ran both the Sun Pirates and the Fish Man Pirates in the same way that Fisher Tiger did his own crew. He also keeps Fisher Tiger’s ideals alive through his actions to protect his people and ensure his fellow fishmen have a home. Jinbe does this while still making peace with humans, despite all they’ve done to harm him and his people.

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Fisher Tiger is one of the most important people in Jinbe’s life. Jinbe only became a pirate because he followed Fisher Tiger. Without being a pirate, he would never have been able to become a Warlord and offer that modicum of protection to Fish Man Island. Although Jinbe can no longer keep the Sun Pirates going, he still does what he can to bring freedom to his people. Jinbe idolizes Fisher Tiger even after all these years. He inherited the position of captain from him, too. Jinbe has reached a peace with humans that Fisher Tiger never could, just like he would have wanted.

6

Clover Set Nico Robin Up to Dream

Clover Manga Debut Chapter 391; Anime Debut Episode 275

Nico Robin had a sad childhood. Her mother left her when she was young, and her aunt mistreated her. However, the Ohara Library and the various researchers were always kind to her. Clover especially took Robin in. He let her become an archaeologist. Without being allowed to study, Robin would never have found her dream to reveal the real history of the world. Clover was among the researchers studying the Void Century illegally, and he tried to keep Robin safe by protecting her from that research. While he didn’t keep her away, Robin’s ability to read poneglyphs is essential to both helping her achieve her captain’s dream and has a deep importance to the world.

Clover and Nico Olvia were a teacher and student duo with a deep respect for each other. Both sought poneglyphs to learn from, despite how dangerous and illegal that was. Because Olvia was targetted by the government, Clover wanted to protect Robin from them. He gave her a safe place and kindness that she didn’t get anywhere else. She carries on his legacy through her own dream now. Being wanted by the government for being able to read poneglyphs has hurt Robin, but her ability also gives her a path forward.

5

Dracule Mihawk Finds Roronoa Zoro Entertaining

Mihawk Manga Debut Chapter 49; Anime Debut Episode 23

Dracule Mihawk is everything Roronoa Zoro is aiming for. The only way for Zoro to accomplish his dream is to defeat Mihawk in combat, and Mihawk acknowledges Zoro’s potential to do just that during their first meeting. Considering this established relationship, Mihawk is a strange choice of mentor for Zoro. However, as the Greatest Swordsman in the World, there’s no one else who has the skills for Zoro to live up to. Mihawk trains Zoro because he wants Zoro to reach his potential and give him an entertaining fight.

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While this mentorship only lasts the length of two years, Mihawk is a pivotal person in Zoro’s life. He’s the reason Zoro swore himself fully to Luffy and promised to never lose again. He has always represented the heights Zoro has yet to reach, too. The two of them are on very different paths right now, but they are guaranteed to meet again in the future. There’s no animosity between the two of them. Without Mihawk, Zoro would have a much harder time mastering haki, too.

4

Tom Made Sure Franky Kept Creating

Tom Manga Debut 352; Anime Debut 248

Tom built one of the greatest ships in the world, and that cost him everything. Despite being persecuted by the government for making the Oro Jackson, he’s still incredibly proud of his work. Tom took in both Franky and Iceburg and taught them how to be shipwrights. They each follow a different aspect of his legacy. Iceburg continues to improve Water 7 as its mayor. Franky has built the ship that will carry the Pirate King to the end of the world. Plus, Franky also took care of Pluton’s blueprints for years.

Tom was executed to protect Franky after Franky was framed for attacking Water 7. He wanted Franky to always be proud of his work, even after what happened. Franky nearly died trying to free Tom from Cipher Pol. Franky planned on staying at Water 7 with the Franky Family out of guilt for what happened to Tom. However, he’s ensuring the Thousand Sunny, his ship of dreams, will live up to the same test the Oro Jackson did. Technically, Tom’s death hasn’t been shown, so there’s a chance he’s alive. However, that’s incredibly unlikely.

3

Red Leg Zeff Wants Sanji to Chase His Dream

Red Leg Zeff Manga Debut Chapter 43; Anime Debut 20

Before meeting Vinsmoke Sanji, Zeff was the captain of the Cook Pirates. After losing his leg and crew, he set aside his dream of finding the All Blue to retire to the Baratie. He gave up a leg to ensure Sanji would live when the only thing he knew about Sanji was his love of cooking and dream of finding the All Blue. Zeff wants that dream to stay alive, so he took Sanji in and then encouraged him to join the Straw Hats.

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Zeff is Sanji’s father. He raised him, teaching him to cook and fight. He also imparted his ideals to Sanji as well. There’s no one that Sanji admires more than Zeff, and there’s no one that has shaped Sanji into who he is more than Zeff has. Even now, Sanji dedicates his actions to his father, both through his epithet and his dedication to Zeff’s protection. Sanji will capitulate to the Vinsmoke family to keep Zeff safe. However, Zeff just wants Sanji to find the All Blue and be happy.

2

Rayleigh Doesn’t Want Luffy to Be Roger

Rayleigh Manga Debut Chapter 19; Anime Debut Episode 8

Rayleigh has complete faith in Luffy’s ability to become Pirate King. He sees the same qualities in Luffy as those that led him to follow Gol D. Roger. Luffy gives Rayleigh hope for the next generation. Even before meeting Luffy, he heard about the younger pirate from Shanks. Luffy is everything Rayleigh hoped he would be. He’s very proud to call Luffy his student in front of the world. More than just teach Luffy, Rayleigh did a lot to keep Luffy safe and made sure he could inform his crew of his plans.

Luffy respects Rayleigh and looks up at him. Rayleigh has prior experience of teaching, which probably only helped him teach Luffy the three kinds of haki. Luffy sees Rayleigh as both a friend and a mentor. Rayleigh has accomplished Luffy’s dream, and that contributes to Luffy’s view of him. Rayleigh’s lessons are why Luffy has made it so far into the New World. This is especially good considering Rayleigh says Luffy’s progress is a reason for him to live.

1

Doctor Kureha Taught Tony Tony Chopper to Be an Excellent Doctor

Doctor Kureha Manga Debut Chapter 134; Anime Debut Episode 80

Kureha is one of the greatest doctors in the world, and she says she’s given all that knowledge to Tony Tony Chopper. As the oldest human in One Piece, she has more experience than most other doctors ever will. While Hiriluk gave Chopper his passion for helping people, Kureha gave Chopper the knowledge of how to go about that goal. Chopper is an incredible doctor who pulls off incredible feats that no one else has shown, like curing Queen’s virus in the middle of a battle.

Kureha calls Chopper her son because she raised him after Hiriluk’s death. She cares for him deeply and only lets the Straw Hats recruit him after they meet her standards. She wanted the best for him, so she made him join the Straw Hat Crew as he clearly wanted. Kureha even wears his bounty on a shirt during Reverie. Kureha made sure Chopper’s send off from Drum Island included accomplishing Hiriluk’s goal, so he could see his father’s dream through.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda