One Piece Elbaf Finale Hints at 3 New Crew Members for Luffy
One Piece is in the thick of the Elbaf arc’s final stretch, putting the spotlight on the Straw Hat Pirates as they prepare to clash with Nerona Imu and his Holy Knights. The story is also using Elbaf as the official runway into the Great War, a setup that’s been framed by One Piece Chapter #1146. As that “endgame” atmosphere settles in, Eiichiro Oda is also thinking about the crew’s completion—building toward the addition of a final member while pushing Luffy’s team even further toward their next level.
Right now, there are three main contenders for that last slot, and Oda has been seeding reasons for each of them to join. Vivi is the most established candidate, with Oda having positioned her long before Elbaf as someone who could rejoin the Straw Hats. Alongside her are the Accursed Prince Loki and, more recently, Princess Shuri. By the time Elbaf wraps up, the series should make it clear which of the three actually boards the ship permanently.
One Piece Chapters 216 and 1130 Lay the Groundwork for Vivi’s Return
Vivi remains one of the most important figures in One Piece’s broader narrative, and Oda has explicitly set her up to come back to the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece Chapter 216. That chapter was released on January 28, 2002, in WSJ Issue #9. In it, the story confirms that Vivi wants to travel with the crew again, and that if she does, Luffy and the others won’t hesitate to treat her as a crewmate once more. In the final saga, her situation has worsened dramatically: at the Reverie, her father, King Cobra of Arabasta, died. With CP0 actively searching for her and Imu wanting to “claim” Vivi for himself, she has effectively run out of safe options. For the moment, she’s hiding with Wapol and Big News Morgans.
“I’m going to stay here. But, if we ever see each other again, will you still call me your ship-mate?”—Nefertari Vivi, One Piece Chapter #216
Oda also reinforced the reunion angle later on through One Piece Chapter 1130, which was released October 21, 2024, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #47. In that chapter, Vivi sends a message to Monkey D. Luffy that lays the groundwork for the two to meet again, and it also builds a strong case for her as the final Straw Hat. Still, it’s not guaranteed that Vivi gets back to the crew before Imu reaches her—so the “Vivi joins before the worst happens” route isn’t certain. In fact, an alternative outcome where she can’t rejoin in time is just as plausible, which leaves room for other potential additions beyond her.
Meanwhile, the story is also preparing a new “godly” presence for the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit lineup, with the Harley mural in One Piece Chapter 1138 hinting that something new is coming to the class.
Elbaf’s Setup Makes Loki and Shuri the Other Two Biggest Straw Hat Options
Beyond Vivi, Elbaf is also where Oda has placed other characters into the orbit of the crew’s possible final member. The first is Loki, the Accursed Prince of Elbaf. While Loki was initially framed as a potential world-ending threat in One Piece Chapter 1130, he’s already shifted into something much more complicated: he’s formed a friendship bond with Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, and he’s actively fighting to protect Elbaf alongside them. Luffy even directly asks Loki to join the crew in One Piece Chapter 1152, released June 23, 2025, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #30.
“Loki, join my crew, man! If he joins me, then you can’t complain if I free him, right, Hajrudin?”—Luffy, One Piece Chapter #1152
Even so, Loki’s path to joining isn’t simple. The major obstacle is that if Loki leaves Elbaf, there may be nobody left to protect it. Loki was also given that duty personally by his father, King Harald, before Harald’s death—meaning joining Luffy would require him to abandon the responsibility he was handed. However, if Luffy and the crew succeed in defending Elbaf and securing it for good, that could remove the burden Loki carries and let him follow his own convictions, potentially allowing him to join the Straw Hats.
The other major candidate is Princess Shuri, who has also been positioned as a potential Straw Hat member. Shuri is tied to the Esperia Kingdom, born with a Celestial bloodline linked to the Manmayer family, a detail confirmed in One Piece Chapter 1186 on June 28, 2026, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #31. Eventually, Nerona Imu takes control of Shuri and drags her to the Holy Land of Marijoa, where she’s brainwashed and turned into a Holy Knight.
In the Elbaf arc, Shuri is effectively the princess Luffy and the crew have to rescue, and the narrative strongly implies that they’ll do it one way or another. Once Shuri is freed from Nerona Imu’s control, her options are expected to collapse: Esperia is already confirmed destroyed, as Brook reveals in One Piece Chapter #1183. With no home left to return to and the World Government still looming over her, Shuri’s realistic “next destination” becomes the only people she might travel with—namely the Straw Hat Pirates and Brook. In fact, during the most recent flashback involving the Esperia Kingdom, Shuri even expresses that she wants to sail alongside Brook as pirates. That moment appears in One Piece Chapter #1185 on June 15, 2026.
Shuri: I thought you wanted to be a pirate, Brook?
Brook: My onus comes first. Dreams are a secondary matter.
Shuri: Ah, okay. Well then, when you leave, I’ll go with you.
—The exchange in One Piece Chapter #1185 shows Shuri wanting to become a pirate with Brook.
Only One New Member Can Join Permanently After Elbaf
Even though there are three candidates floating around for the final Straw Hat, only one can actually join the crew permanently after Elbaf. The reasoning ties into how Oda has been structuring the upcoming confrontations: the story has already lined up ten underlings that Luffy will need to face as he prepares to take on the other Emperors. For example, the Blackbeard Pirates are said to have ten Titanic Captains, and that means Luffy will need ten powerful underlings of his own when the inevitable Straw Hats vs. Blackbeard showdown arrives. Shanks is also framed as having ten strong followers who fight alongside him. Luffy currently has nine, leaving space for just one additional crewmate to bring his side up to the needed number.
Because of that, the final permanent addition could be any of the three candidates, but the odds favor Vivi as the most likely, with Shuri behind her. Loki, even if he’s arguably the strongest of the three, has the biggest narrative drawback—he’s tied to keeping Elbaf safe, and that responsibility reduces the chance that he can leave to join the Straw Hats outright. With Elbaf already in its climax and clearly moving toward its conclusion, the series should soon confirm which character Oda ultimately chooses to make the last official member of Luffy’s crew.
All the new One Piece manga chapters by Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
