Who Is Luffy's Mom? 5 One Piece Theories That Actually Make Sense

Well over 1000 episodes into the anime and 110 volumes of the manga — not to mention the live-action Netflix series — and "One Piece" still has its share of enduring mysteries. But there's one puzzle that many fans believe could have serious implications for the protagonist once it's solved, not to mention loads of storytelling potential: the mystery of wannabe pirate king Monkey D. Luffy's mom's identity.

Throughout the anime's many sagas, the story reveals that Luffy's father is Revolutionary Army Supreme Commander Monkey D. Dragon and his grandfather is Marine hero Monkey D. Garp. But when it comes to the identity of Luffy's mother, the series has, at least so far, remained mum on the subject.

With "One Piece" in its final arc, a story that creator Eiichiro Oda has been dreaming of since he was a kid, the question of who gave the Straw Hats' captain life continues to inspire a fair share of fan theories. Although Oda has repeatedly suggested that Luffy's story doesn't have room for his mom, and some fans believe she wouldn't add anything to the shōnen tale, it's still fun to speculate about her identity. It's no surprise then that the internet is rife with wild theories, with some fans pointing to Dragon's revolutionaries and a few even claiming Luffy's stepmom is his DNA donor. There's even an absolutely bonkers viral meme theory that posits Crocodile was Luffy's mom before undergoing a gender reassignment to hide her identity. But amid the wilder theories about Luffy's mom are a few with some evidence to back them up.

As someone who lives his life hopping from one island to the next defeating the bad guys along the Grand Line, Luffy has very little in common with those uber-snobby elites the World Nobles, AKA the Celestial Dragons. Perhaps it's because of this juxtaposition that so many fans are fascinated with the idea that Luffy's mom may have been a Celestial Dragon all along.

It's kind of a Romeo and Juliet situation. Although the pirate captain is something of an orphan at the beginning of his story, "One Piece" reveals Luffy's father and paternal family tree all share the middle initial "D," signifying their inheritance of the "Will of D" and descent from the Enemies of the First Twenty. As such, that would make Celestial Dragons their natural enemies — which makes the idea of a star-crossed romance between both sides that much more enticing.

The fan theory posits that Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon, fell in love with a Celestial Dragon through a chance encounter, with their romance leading to a forbidden child. After Luffy's mother gave birth, her people executed her for this betrayal, forcing Dragon to narrowly escape with their child. As Dragon took to the revolution to fight them, Garp shuttled Luffy off to East Blue, where he would, ostensibly, not pose a problem for the World Government.

Kind of the opposite of the Celestial Dragon theory, some fans believe that the reason Luffy's mom isn't around could simply be because she's just a rando without anything to add to the story. "Someone minor and small who doesn't matter, same as Goku's mother. She might appear very briefly for a moment then thats all," theorized one fan on r/OnePiece. Another fan theorized that even if Luffy's mom was what we might consider ordinary, she would stand out for her strong sense of justice.

It's a theory that may be backed up by comments Oda himself made in a December 2009 issue of "American Shonen Jump" — at least if her appearance is any indication of her station in life. In addition to confirming that she's still alive as his story unfolds, the "One Piece" creator said that if he were to one day introduce Luffy's mom, she would be strict, with a tough appearance to match her personality. "There's no way that she's a beautiful mother," Oda revealed. "She's got this typical middle-aged woman's permed hair."

As most fans of the franchise know, the anime more or less faithfully follows the entire original timeline of the "One Piece" manga, notwithstanding a few side trips that weren't in the shonen book series, like "One Piece Film: Red," which brought the characters to the big screen for the first time. Generally speaking, that means if a character appears in print, he or she is probably bound to eventually show up in the animated version as well. That also means some fans think it's only a matter of time before a former Revolutionary Army commander named Ginny appears in the anime — a character some of them think is secretly Luffy's mom.

Introduced in Chapter 1095, Ginny is a former slave from Porco who was forced into the God Valley Native Hunting Competition the better part of four decades ago. After leaking word of the event to the outside world, Ginny escaped by helping to ignite a famous pirate battle, only to later be captured by the World Government, get married off to a World Noble, and become a test subject for a freaky disease.

Somewhere in the mix, she also gave birth to the eventual pirate captain Jewelry Bonney. As a tough character with at least one pirate kid already, it's easy to see why some folks find Ginny a good candidate for Luffy's mom. To make this thesis even more intriguing, the timeline fits, even if Dragon and Ginny would have had to have been teen parents.

One of Dragon's most distinctive traits is the geometric tattoo that's stamped vertically down the left side of his face. But that tattoo hasn't always been there, and no explanation for its existence is present in the "One Piece" universe as of yet. According to some fans, the timing of its appearance, falling sometime between his pre- and post-Luffy era, may be a clue to the identity of Luffy's mother and the story of their time together.

As one fan pointed out on a Fanverse forum, the ink wasn't there when Dragon first joined the Revolutionary Army. "Dragon getting that Tattoo is related to an event that happened between 15-21 Years before the story and is not fully tied to the revolution," the user theorized. Given Luffy's age of 17 to 19 years old, depending on where you're at in the story, that means there's a pretty solid chance Dragon picked up his tattoo around the time he met Luffy's mother, witnessed his child's birth, and/or said goodbye to them both. FIgure out the meaning behind the tattoo, the theory contends, and you're likely to learn the identity of Luffy's mom at the same time. 

One of the more obvious solutions to Luffy's mom's absence is that she's not in her son's life because she simply isn't around anywhere anymore. This would also offer a fairly straightforward explanation that fits Oda's desire to focus solely on Luffy's adventures unburdened by the maternal fretting of his loving mother.

Although there are plenty of theories about how this death may have played out, the end result is the same, whether her death was part of some epic romance with Dragon or simply, as one Redditor put it, "Just a random, unimportant woman who died in childbirth." One version of this theory posits that Luffy's mother was a member of the Kuja tribe of Amazon Lilly on the Island of Women. Unable to raise her son, she died from a version of the same Love Sickness that struck Empress Boa. In the words of one fan, "It was love sickness ... the only love stronger than for a partner. Is for your child. She couldn't raise luffy, and became sick after giving him away."

But there's a major problem with this theory; if Luffy's mom is found to have shuffled off this mortal coil, this would mean Oda changed his mind. After all, in his 2009 interview in "American Shonen Jump," the creator revealed, "I think she's alive," before adding, with a laugh, "I'm still thinking hard about this."