Of the entire Straw Hat crew, the inarguably strongest members are Luffy, Zoro and Sanji. They are almost always the first to jump into a fight and only grow more excited when faced with tougher opponents, their overwhelming strength earning them the nickname "Monster Trio." Here are the group's very best moments in One Piece.
Zoro and Sanji Use a Drained Luffy to Slingshot Cannonballs
In Chapter #429, after the crew narrowly avoids capture from the marines on Enies Lobby, they escape onto the Going Merry, which found her way to them in the nick of time. The marine battleships are deadlocked in whirlpools after Sanji is clever enough to open the Gates of Justice, but as the crew makes their quick escape, Spandam orders the cannons to be fired to sink their vessel.
To stop the Merry from taking any more damage, Zoro and Sanji decide to use the nearly exhausted Luffy as a slingshot to rebound the fired cannons back at the marine battleships. Surprisingly, this method works, despite the physical abuse their captain is put through. Usopp calls the cook and swordsman demons, but they can respond with some effective peace signs. It's a hilarious moment tucked into a very tense getaway.
The Crew Finds The Monster Trio with Their Shadows Stolen
After catching a glimpse of the special giant zombie, Oars, Usopp and Chopper reconvene with Robin and Franky and are desperate to come up with a game plan with the rest of the crew. In Chapter #458, they return to the Thousand Sunny to look for the Monster Trio, but it seems the zombies had a little fun with these dopes before leaving the ship.
Normally, a person won't wake up for 24 hours after having their shadow taken from them, and even Franky's fists don't seem to be doing the trick. Luckily, Usopp knows exactly what to say to wake up their strongest fighters. The sniper cries out, "There's a beautiful female swordmaster carrying lots of meat!" Right on cue, all three of them wake up with pained but determined expressions. It's a short but hilarious little moment, reminding us that our strongest fighters all have one-track minds.
The Monster Trio vs Pacafista
Things are desperate for the Straw Hat Pirates, as after leaving Shakky's Bar, they are met with a deceptively familiar foe. The Pacafista is overwhelmingly powerful, requiring all of the Straw Hats together to take it down. They slowly chip away at it, managing to evade its lightning-fast light beam attacks by a hair until they manage to make it malfunction. Finally, it's up to the Monster Trio to deliver the final blow. Sanji strikes at it with his burning Flambage Shot, Zoro tears through it with his Nine Sword Style Ashura form, and Luffy crushes the Pacafista with a massive Gum-Gum Giant Rifle. It's an excellent chain of attacks, demonstrating the Monster Trio's power and teamwork while also giving the audience a false sense of safety, oblivious to what's coming next.
Monster Trio vs The New Fishman Pirates
There's a lot to be said about the level of trust the Straw Hats have for each other. It's part of what makes them so downright likable; the audience can put their faith in them because of how much they put their faith in each other. In Chapter #636, when Luffy sees the kraken Surume crushing Shirahoshi on the orders of Hody Jones, he steps in. Hody has Surume's brother as a prisoner, and the only thing keeping him alive is the kraken following the extremist's orders. Luffy understands this, as he knows what it's like to want to protect a brother, and so he just asks Surume to trust him.
Luffy then casually walks toward Hody as two of the New Fishman Pirates' lieutenants stand in the way. However, Luffy doesn't stop to fight them and just keeps walking forward. Sanji and Zoro then appear beside their captain, defending him so that he can give Hody what's coming to him. Luffy demonstrates that he can put his faith in others to save the people he cares about to Surume, allowing the kraken to do the same.
Zoro and Sanji Will Catch a Glimpse of Pirate King Luffy
Luffy may not be physically present in this scene, but he is still very much a part of it. In Chapter #1022, the Beast Pirate All-Stars, King and Queen, are making short work of the samurai and gifters who betrayed them. Marco is barely keeping up with them on his own and Zoro is in the process of recovery. Finally though, when the moment calls for it, the two "wings" of the King of Pirates emerge, striking at both King and Queen with disastrous effect. What's especially great about this action panel is what the duo says afterward. Zoro reminds Sanji, "Once they conqueror the enemy in front of them…" and Sanji finishes it off by saying "....We're going to catch a glimpse of Luffy as the King of the Pirates."
It seems that throughout Onigashima, the crew has been referring to Luffy as the "future" Pirate King or that he will become King of the Pirates. This serves as reaffirmation throughout this arc in particular of what makes that dream feel so attainable. It'll be exciting to see Luffy's wings react when they find him fighting Kaido with a dragon of his very own in the form of Momo.
