One Piece‘s influence has transcended well past its initial manga format. The fictional story about pirates has completely changed the world of anime and manga as we know it today. Nowadays, it has even become one of the biggest titles in card games and merchandise, building the ground for any other anime flourishing in these different realms. Eiichiro Oda’s work has ultimately become the driving force of anime in the West, with an unmatched brilliance evident in its writing, storytelling, and, of course, the highly complex world and characters it has built.
After 26 years in the limelight, One Piece has naturally introduced a myriad of characters that some fans can’t even keep up with. After all, everyone knows that Oda constantly brings back characters who haven’t appeared since the very first arc in 1997 – but that’s just a testament to his attention to detail. However, one particular name seems to elude even the most avid fans: the cryptic Monkey D. Flora. If you haven’t heard of this name, worry not – she’s not a vital part of One Piece‘s lore. In fact, she hasn’t even appeared in One Piece. So, here’s all you need to know about this fictional character.
Who is Monkey D. Flora?
Well, first of all, let’s address the elephant in the room: Monkey D. Flora isn’t a canon character. In fact, she was entirely created by fans and exists solely in the realm of fan-made content. Some fans went so far as to craft fan-fiction and blog posts, depicting Flora as the hypothetical child of Luffy and Boa Hancock. According to her creators, Flora is depicted as an 8-year-old Kuja warrior in training. Within this fan-created narrative, she is imagined to be born from the relationship between Luffy and Hancock, making her the offspring of two of the most sought-after pirates on the high seas.
Naturally, this means that Monkey D. Flora doesn’t actually exist within the official One Piece universe. Instead, she’s a niche creation of One Piece fan lore – her existence holds no canonical influence whatsoever. As you may recall, we’ve already been introduced to all of Luffy’s family – well, for the most part. His only confirmed biological relatives are Monkey D. Dragon, his father, and Monkey D. Garp, his grandfather.
Moreover, we can consider Gol D. Ace and Sabo as his adoptive brothers, and Curly Dadan as his adoptive mother. Beyond these characters, no other family ties have been introduced for Luffy. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that potential developments won’t arise in the future, especially considering Hancock’s very one-sided romantic feelings for Luffy. However, any romantic relationship will likely remain inexistent and they might not play a significant role anytime soon, if at all.
Oda has been quite specific in the past about his intention not to delve into romantic relationships in the story and the author even voiced his desire to maintain the story at a Shounen level. Nevertheless, nothing is exactly set in stone, especially as the story reaches its final legs. After all, we’ve already seen an exception to this rule with Sanji and Pudding’s romantically ambiguous relationship. At the moment, though, it’s best to assume that Luffy’s primary focus will remain on his crew, and, of course, his wish to become the Pirate King.