One Piece: 5 Facts To Know about Ikkaku, the Only Female Member of the Heart Pirates

Law’s Heart Pirates are certainly an interesting bunch, even if we consider the fact that most other pirate crews from the series are actually quite interesting as well. We have talked about Law and his adventures here on Fiction Horizon, but the members of his crew were rarely in the spotlight. This is going to change with this article, as we have decided to tell you more about Ikkaku, the only female member of the Heart Pirates. This article is going to explore her character by telling you five interesting facts about her; these facts will reveal more about her and her role in the story of One Piece.

Fact #1: Ikkaku is the only female member of the Heart Pirates

We know that the pirate crews of One Piece have a very diverse membership in general; Luffy’s is a great example of this. But, there are other groups which are much less diverse and while that doesn’t mean a bad thing, it just goes to show that female characters don’t really become pirates all too often in the series. Ikkaku is, thus, the only female member of Trafalgar D. Water Law’s Heart Pirates, which definitely accounts for a pioneering role in the series and gives her a very special place among the characters of One Piece. This is the main reason why we are talking about her in the first place.

Fact #2: She is not very fond of the Straw Hat Pirates

Although the Heart Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates forged an alliance to fight Kaidou and Big Mom in Wano, Ikkaku wasn’t really a supporter of this. Namely, she thought that the assistance provided by the Straw Hats would be useless, and she – along with a group of like-minded pirates – voted against the alliance. They were eventually outvoted, but this is a very important fact that illustrates just how low of an opinion she had of Luffy and his crew. This was, of course, a mistake on her part, but it is an important fact related to her.

Fact #3: She, along with her friends, saved Luffy’s life in Wano

On the other hand, while she dislikes Luffy, she also saves his life in the series, which is an exceptionally important moment in the series. Namely, in Wano, Luffy was fighting Kaidou when, at one point, the Emperor managed to knock Luffy down and send him into the ocean. As a Devil Fruit user, Luffy was unable to swim and was about to drown. This is when Ikkaku and some of her crew members entered the scene. They saved Luffy and brought him onto the submarine, where they saved his life. So, maybe all that hate wasn’t all that after all?

Fact #4: Her birthday is a reference to her name… possibly

More avid fans of the series might know that Ikkaku’s birthday is on December 7. And while this is a fact in itself that shouldn’t really have much symbolic value, it could have some in Ikkaku’s case. Namely, her name also contains the phrase “ik-kaku”, which can mean 12-7, and if you look at these numbers, you’ll notice that they are – in fact – Ikkaku’s birthday. This has not been confirmed as a fact, but it is a very interesting theory that we wanted to share.

Fact #5: Her name means “narwhal” in Japanese

What is fact, though, is the meaning of her name. Ikkaku, written in Katakana as イッカク, is actually the word for a narwhal in Japanese (animals are often written in Katakana in Japanese, especially those that are not that often seen in everyday life), so if you would read the term “イッカク”, you’d probably think that it was referring to a narwhal. But, it is also a name, and not one that is uncommon in anime (if you remember, Bleach also has a character with that name – Ikkaku Madarame), so Oda did nothing wrong here.

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