15 Nami Facts You Might Not Know as a One Piece Fan

One Piece primarily revolves around the Straw Hat Pirates led by our protagonist Monkey D. Luffy, and Nami is one of the central characters of the animanga series. Eiichiro Oda’s excellent character writing, along with Nami’s beauty, intelligence, and resourcefulness makes her popular among fans.

While fans know a lot about their beloved cat burglar Nami, there’s a chance they might be unaware of some interesting facts about the One Piece character. So, we have penned down a list of unknown facts about Nami-swannn, including her likes and dislikes, background, and personality.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece manga and anime. We suggest you watch the anime or read the manga first to avoid ruining your experience.

1. Nami’s Birthday is a Clever Wordplay

In case you are not aware, Nami celebrates her birthday on July 3rd. There is a reason why her birth date fell right on the said date, and it was a clever move from Oda sensei. Oda has a habit of creating the birthdays for his characters based on their name.

As such, July 3rd can be written as 7/3 (in US format), and Na = 7 and Mi = 3 in Japanese. So, the birth date and month combined form our beloved Nami-chan’s name.

2. Nami Could’ve Been a Cyborg

This interesting fact is going to blow your mind. Before Franky, Nami’s earlier designs suggest that she could have been a Cyborg in the story. You read that right, an earlier sketch of Nami included her having a prosthetic left hand as well as a prosthetic right leg.

She needed a robotic arm to carry the big battle-axe in this concept art. Whilst the Nami we have in One Piece right now is uber-cool, the earlier concept would have made her look badass.

3. Nami’s Devil Fruit Powers

Nami is not a devil fruit user, and that’s a known fact. But when Oda was asked if Nami was a devil fruit user, which devil fruit she would have eaten? Well, he replied with an unexpected answer. Oda replied that Nami would have gained the powers of Goro Goro no Mi.

For those unaware, this is none other than Enel’s devil fruit, one of the strongest devil fruits in One Piece. If you are wondering why Oda sensei elected this devil fruit particularly, it is cause Nami has always been associated with lightning powers. So, this devil fruit is just perfect for her.

4. Nami Cosplay and Oda Connection

During Jump Festa 2002, model and actress Chiaki Inaba cosplayed Nami from One Piece. But, little did she know that her performance would lead to a surprising encounter. Yeah, Eiichiro Oda met Inaba after her performance and was captivated by her charm. Then, they started dating and decided to tie the knot on November 7, 2004.

So yeah, Oda found his real-life Nami and is blessed with two daughters. It’s an incredible story, right? The manga’s creator penned a fictional character, that character came to life through this amazing cosplay, and him finding his soulmate in the process.

Another extraordinary fact, but yeah, Nami’s character sure had a butterfly effect on Oda’s life.

5. Nami Works on Her Dream Every Day

Nami-san’s true dream is to make a map of the vast world of One Piece. We have seen every other crewmate work on their goals during the free time the crew gets in between arcs. However, we have only seen Nami work on her dream map a couple of times.

So, a fan decided to take this matter to Oda sensei in an SBS. Oda gave us a satisfactory answer to questions about Nami’s actions to achieve her dream in SBS Volume 90.

When a fan asked if Nami was drawing the map properly? Oda responded, “Of course she is. Her routine every day is to draw maps after dinner.” He further explained as Nami gets busy with her navigator duties during the day, she is full of determination to work on her map every night after dinner.

6. Nami’s Phone Number

Oda did yet another wordplay for Nami, but it was specifically intended for the hardcore Nami fans. Some persistent Nami fans wanted to get Nami’s phone number from Oda. Getting tired of all these requests, Oda, the comedic genius he is, gave away Nami’s phone number 7373-737373 to shut them down.

Well if you look closely, this is the same case as Nami’s birthday date. Because the string of repeated 7 and 3 translates as “Nami-Nami Nami-Nami-Nami.” Now, don’t go calling this number!

7. All of Nami’s Favorite Foods

We all know Nami has a huge obsession with money, but the author has also revealed her likings when it comes to food. Nami’s favorite food is mikans. This is the case since Nami’s adoptive mother, Bell-mere, and her sister, Nojiko, like the same food. This must be the reason why Oda mentioned that Nami smells like mikans and money.

Nami also likes Oshiruko, a dish from Wano Country that was revealed recently, and she likes fried eggs, sunny side up, cooked with orange sauce. She also enjoys other fruit varieties but Orangette is her least favorite dish.

8. Nami is the Emergency Chef of Straw Hat Pirates

Everyone knows that Sanji is the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates. But there are times when Sanji is missing, such as during the events of Zou and Whole Cake Island arc. So, now you must wonder, who cooks food for Luffy in those situations? Nami comes in clutch in those situations as she also shares a passion for cooking with Sanji.

The only time we see Nami cooking is during the Straw Hat’s journey to Totto Land. She cooked food for the crew based on Sanji’s recipe and everyone loved it. However, as expected from Nami, she tried to charge the crewmates a ludicrous price of 5,000 berries per meal. Nami sure likes to make money when she can and roasted duck with mikan sauce is her favorite recipe.

9. Nami’s Character is a Fusion of Two Early Designs

There is an interesting fact behind how Nami’s character design and personality came to be. As you might know, there are two additional versions of Romance Dawn by Oda sensei. They were adapted as special One Piece filler episodes titled “Romance Dawn Story” and “The Romance Dawn Special.” If you have watched these episodes, you might have already met Silk and Ann from these specials.

Oda penned Silk and Ann for the alternate versions of Romance Dawn but later borrowed their design and personalities to complete Nami’s character in the story. Now that Nami’s character is well-liked by fans around the world, we can say that Oda’s idea to merge these early characters worked in the end.

10. Jolly Roger for Nami

All the pirate crews have a cool Jolly Rogers in One Piece, but what if I say Nami also has a personal Jolly Roger? Yeah, that’s the case here. The Jolly Roger you see pictured above was made by Oda for Nami’s character. The left one is Nami’s pre-time skip Jolly Roger, and the right one is after the two-year time skip.

It has the iconic orange hair of Nami along with her bandana, bangle, and log pose. Both of these Jolly Rogers personify Nami’s character as well as her obsession with money well with the tongue sticking out pose.

11. Nami Invited Chopper Before Luffy

Everyone knows that when it comes to the addition of new members to the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy is generally the one who invites everyone to his crew. But something special transpired on the Drum Island.

During the Drum Island arc, Nami essentially invited Chopper to join the group (before Luffy got a chance) by asking him if he would want to go on adventures with them. Nami always had a special place for kids in her heart, and this is why Chopper must have won over her instantly. That makes her the only crewmate to have invited a character to join the crew besides Luffy.

12. Nami’s Debut in the Anime is Different from Manga

The introduction of Nami’s character was notably different in the One Piece manga compared to the anime. While Episode 1 of the anime showed Nami infiltrating Alvida’s ship and meeting Luffy while escaping with the treasure, these events did not happen in the manga.

Nami made her first appearance in manga Chapter 8, titled “Nami,” and it happened after Luffy had already recruited Zoro as the first crewmate of the Straw Hats Pirates. It’s a common misconception among many fans that Nami was Luffy’s first crewmate. But Zoro was the first person Luffy met, so he will always be his first mate.

13. Nami’s Real-Life Job

In an SBS interview, Oda mentioned that if the One Piece world was based on today’s real-life world, Nami would originate from the country — Sweden. He further added that if the Straw Hats didn’t go with the choice of becoming Pirates, Nami would now be working as a childcare worker.

I mean, Nami has always had an affinity towards children, so this job would suit her personality, right?

14. What Nami Will Look Like When She Gets Old

Nami is the most popular female character in One Piece, and it’s natural for fans to pester Oda with questions about her. In one such case, Oda answered the question of how would Nami look through different ages with two possible pictures in alternative timelines of One Piece.

The first half represented the good ending for Nami where she remained a timeless beauty as ever. The second one was kind of a bad ending for her where she aged pretty fast and lost her cool. So, you can see the different possibilities of Nami in her old age above, as envisioned by Oda sensei.

15. Real Reason Behind Nami’s Chic Bounty Photos

Ever wondered why Nami always has the best photos (posing like a model) in her bounty posters in One Piece? There is a photography department in the Marines in the story led by a character named Attach. It is said that he pretended to be a local reporter and took Nami’s photos this way. She was not just fooled once but twice for both of her wanted posters.

Having said that, what is your favorite fact about Nami from this list? Let us know in the comments below.