Luffy's dream is to become the "Pirate King". He is portrayed as the carefree and sometimes airheaded captain of the Straw Hat pirates and is the son of Monkey D. Dragon, brother of Portgas D. Ace, and the grandson of vice-admiral, Monkey D. Garp. His trademark Straw Hat (from which he gets his nickname "Straw Hat Luffy") was entrusted to him by the pirate captain "Red Haired" Shanks, who inspired him to become pirate, when he was still a child.

Zoro is a skilled swordsman, able to use one, two and three swords in varying attack styles, and even no swords, although he is most proficient with the fictional sword style Santōryū (literally: three sword style), clutching his third sword in his mouth. Zoro is somehow able to speak with his sword held in his mouth; Eiichiro Oda has stated that it is his heart that allows him to do so. Though not a samurai, he maintains his own code of honor. His goal is to become the greatest swordsman in the world, by beating the current greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk.

i's dream is to draw a perfect map of the world, a task not yet accomplished by anyone due to the harsh nature of the oceans in the Grand Line. The first map Nami plotted was the island Cocoyashi village at the age of 8.

She is by far the hottest member of the straw hat crew, as well as the most attractive woman in the One Piece world. She is very much enjoyed in her bikini that shows off her body.

Sanji is the Straw Hat crew's chain-smoking chef, whose dream is to find 'All Blue', a legendary ocean which contains all the fish in the world. He takes great pride in the meals he makes and considers them works of art. Sanji is also a very skilled fighter, who uses a fictional martial arts style called 'Red Leg' that makes use of only kicks. Sanji states that this is because a chef's hands are his prized possession and should not be risked in battle. He was trained by the once infamous pirate Red Leg Zeff, who was a chef himself and once battled in the grand line. In battle, he typically manipulates things from off-panel and then appears in the front lines at a very crucial moment. This has led to a running gag in the series centering around Sanji never being recognized by the Straw Hats' enemies, a joke culminating in the release of his first wanted poster. Sanji was born in the North Blue, but grew up in the East Blue. His left eye is always covered by his hair and almost always remains unseen.

As an archaeologist, Robin values ancient artifacts and buildings and will risk her life to protect them. She becomes extremely angry with those who destroy these ancient relics. This is best demonstrated during her fight against the Skypeian Yama, who destroyed many of the ruins they were surrounded by to hurt Robin. Robin is consistently portrayed as the wisest and most sensible member of the crew. She has vast knowledge of the One Piece world, and usually keeps her head during surprising situations, allowing her to logically analyze them without losing her cool. This is in direct contrast to the other Straw Hats, who often overreact comically or melodramatically to unexpected happenings and hold irrational ideas and conclusions. Even if the rest of the crew are subjected to extreme facial expressions at the same time, Robin would continue to keep the same calm face.

Franky is a cyborg who makes his first appearance in the city of Water 7 as the founder and leader of the Franky Family, a group of ship dismantlers and delinquents. Even though he is not technically part of the crew during the Water 7 Arc he joins with the Straw Hat crew to fight the World Government and CP9. With Nico Robin they are both held by CP9 who holds him for Tom's work on the Gold Roger's ship. With the help of the Straw Hat pirates, Franky defeats Spandam and helps the pirates escape from the marines. With their escape he is reluctant to join the crew because he doesn't want to leave his friends and home behind. His dream is to build a ship capable of sailing to the end of the Grand Line. He partially accomplished this when he constructed the Straw Hat pirates' second ship, the Thousand Sunny. He is currently sailing with the crew to completely fulfill his dream.

Usopp's dream is to become a brave warrior of the sea, like his father Yasopp of the Red Haired Pirate Crew. After meeting the giants Dorry and Broggy, Usopp was inspired to travel to Elbaf one day and meet the proud warriors there.

Usopp is easily scared and always makes up excuses to avoid going on dangerous outings, excuses which are simply ignored by his crew-mates. Despite his timid nature, he will do anything to help his friends,if it means standing up to a far more powerful enemy. In battle he uses various tricks to deceive his opponent, such as calling out the name of a previously used attack but doing something completely different.