One Piece

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

In a world of endless oceans and exotic islands, a Golden Age of Piracy has arisen following the demise of the infamous "Pirate King", Gold Roger.

Pirates from across the globe are searching for Roger's treasure, One Piece, said to be hidden in the Grand Line, the most dangerous stretch of ocean in the world.

And one of them, Monkey D. Luffy, is determined to become King of the Pirates. And NOTHING is going to stand in his way.

The Fragmented Canon
One Piece is a highly popular, long-running shonen manga that has been adapted into an anime series. It is considered to be one of the "Big Three" shonen series, along with Bleach and Naruto, though its popularity in the West is significantly less than either of those two.

This is largely due to translation problems; the anime dub by 4Kids Entertainment is notorious for its poor quality and massive amounts of editing, and the Viz Media translation of the manga follows much of the same lines. As a result, compared to Naruto and Bleach, both of which were brought over with largely direct translation and thus made incredible amounts of cash, One Piece bombed in the West, and 4Kids eventually dropped the franchise. Funimation has recently picked up the rights to the anime dub (and even handled new Cartoon Network episodes for a while before that network dropped the show), and is releasing "Uncut" dubs on DVD, which attempt to be much more faithful translations.

The result is that One Piece can practically be said to have four or five different versions of canon. The anime and the manga are inherently different even in the original format, due to different media standards and the need for filler episodes. In addition, there is the Viz Media manga, the 4Kids anime dub, and the Funimation dub (and the Funimation dub can be divided between TV releases, which attempt to maintain some consistency with changes made by the 4Kids dub, and the Uncut releases, which do not). The differences between the versions range from characters' ages to characters' names to some story arcs being outright excised.

Basic Canon Summary
Regardless, the basic story of One Piece remains the same throughout. A teenage boy named Monkey D. Luffy, inspired by the Age of Piracy he lives in and a certain pirate captain he met when he was younger, aspires to become the Pirate King and find Gold Roger's legendary treasure, One Piece. To this end, he sets out to compile a crew (first mate, navigator, sniper, cook, doctor, archaeologist, shipwright, musician, and possibly others yet to come) and sail the Grand Line, a legendary sea that runs like a belt around the One Piece World, and which only Gold Roger himself has ever fully traversed before.

The story follows Luffy as he gathers said crew and traverses the Grand Line, having innumerable adventures along the way and meeting many colorful friends and foes (and "colorful", here, is not used lightly). Many of them- as well as Luffy and several other members of his crew- have consumed "Devil Fruits", strange fruits from the Grand Line which, when ingested, give the user fantastic and often superhuman abilities at the cost of being forever unable to swim (a dangerous restriction on a world that has an even higher water-to-land ratio than Earth). Opposing the pirates of the world is the World Government and its military arm, the Marines (A.K.A. Navy depending on which translation you ask).

The story is divided up into Arcs, usually named after and centering around the island the Straw Hats are currently on or the opponent they are currently fighting.

The Strawhat Pirates
WARNING! POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ OR WATCHED ANY OF ONE PIECE, IT IS SERIOUSLY RECOMMENDED YOU DO SO FIRST (there's a link or two at the bottom)!

The story's stars are Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, currently numbering nine. In order of joining, they are:


 * Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy: Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, which were named after his ubiquitous straw hat (which appears on their Jolly Roger). 17 years old; thick as a brick but occasionally piercingly perceptive. Ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber-Rubber Fruit), which turned him into a "rubberman": he can stretch any part of his body to amazing extents. Dreams of becoming King of the Pirates and finding the One Piece treasure.
 * Roronoa Zoro: translated as Zolo in the 4Kids dub and Viz Manga. First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates. 19 years old; former pirate hunter who joined Luffy's crew after Luffy saved him from being wrongly executed. Incredibly tough swordsman who uses an interesting three-swords-style of fighting (two in his hands, one held in his mouth) and who is legendary for his fighting ability. Second only to Luffy in a fight. Tends to sleep whenever he can get away with it; has absolutely no sense of direction and is notorious for getting hopelessly lost. Probably the heaviest drinker on the crew, though it doesn't come up often. Dreams of becoming the world's greatest swordsman.
 * Nami: Navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates. 18 years old; former "pirate thief" who only stole from pirates, but who tagged along with the Straw Hats after an encounter with a certain band of pirates and who officially joined the crew after the events at Arlong Park. Massive money-hoarder and skinflint; also occasionally prone to vicious mood swings, but this has been happening less and less lately. Naturally talented navigator with the ability to sense changes in the weather and an affinity for drawing maps. Initially had little combat ability but later gained a weapon that allowed her to manipulate small-scale atmospheric conditions, creating mirages, rain, and even miniature lighting storms on command. Dreams of creating a complete map of the world.
 * Usopp: Sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates. 17 years old; notorious coward and habitual liar. Despite this, has been known to summon up massive reserves of will and/or courage in a pinch, and is a devoted member of the Straw Hats. Joined the Straw Hats after helping them fend off an attack on his town by the Black Cat Pirates. Extremely capable slingshot sniper with a massive array of ammunition and an endless bag of tricks. Has developed a "super-hero" alter-ego, Sogeking, who may or may not be an alternate personality. Also, notable in that Usopp has no bounty while Sogeking does, which has allowed Usopp to evade attention at least once before. Dreams of becoming a mighty sea warrior like his father, and of visiting Elbaf, land of the Giants.
 * Sanji: Cook of the Straw Hat Pirates. 19 years old (20 in the anime, due to Japanese broadcast laws on smoking); worked at the Baratie floating restaurant before Luffy convinced him to join his crew. Hopelessly girl-crazy and willing to do practically anything for the female Straw Hats; due to his personal code, can never harm a woman and will take vicious offense to anyone who attempts to within his knowledge. Is never seen without a cigarette in his mouth, except in the 4Kids dub and the Funimation TV releases. Third-strongest fighter in the crew; only fights with his legs due to not wanting to harm his hands, the most important body part for a chef. Dreams of finding "All Blue", an ocean containing fish from every corner of the world.
 * Tony Tony Chopper: Doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates. 15 years old. Blue-nosed reindeer who ate the Hito Hito no Mi (Human-Human Fruit), which turned him into a hybrid capable of speech and taking on multiple forms. Usually prefers to stay in his "half-and-half" form. Learned to become a doctor in the Drum Kingdom and joined up with the Straw Hats after they helped secure that kingdom from its corrupt former ruler. Highly timid and naive simply because he doesn't know any better; is completely incapable of hiding his emotions and tends to imitate the behavior of others, Usopp in particular. Regardless, a highly capable doctor, and also a force to be reckoned with in combat due to his ability to change forms. This is enhanced by the "Rumble Ball", a drug he developed that enables him to take on other, more specialized forms than his basic three. Dreams of becoming a doctor who can cure any disease.
 * Nico Robin: Archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates. 28 years old. Former member of the criminal organization Baroque Works, who chose to join with the Straw Hat Pirates after they toppled that organization in the kingdom of Alabasta. Has a troubled past due to her affiliation with the "Demons of Ohara". Robin is undeniably the coolest and most stoic of the crew under pressure or stress, and also one of the more intelligent members due to her history as an archaeologist. Ate the Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit) at a very young age, which has allowed her to "bloom" controllable duplicates of her body parts (arms, legs, eyes) on practically any surface. Dreams of finding and deciphering the world's true history.
 * Franky: Shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates. 34 years old; joined the Straw Hats after teaming up with them for the events at Enies Lobby. Due to an accident with the sea train when he was younger, is a cyborg with numerous weapons built into him and armoring along the front of his body (the back is entirely unarmored, since he did the rebuilding himself and couldn't reach there). Is powered by cola, which he stores in a fridge-container in his stomach. Franky is a master shipwright capable of incredible feats of engineering and also incredible heights of ego; he can probably be best described as "boisterous". Dreams of building a ship that can sail full around the Grand Line.
 * Brook: Musician of the Straw Hat Pirates. Ate the Yomi Yomi No Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit), which resulted in him coming back to life after he died only to find his body had deteriorated to just his bones (and for some reason, his afro). Prior to death 50 years ago, was 38. Due to just being bones, is incredibly lightweight, capable of feats like astounding long jumps and running on water. Despite image as a "gentleman", has terrible manners and is more than a slight pervert. Dreams of meeting the whale Laboon, who his former crew left behind 50 years back when they entered the Grand Line.

In the PPC
The Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology has a surprising interest in the One Piece universe due to its large amounts of proxy technology. Recently, they have tasked part of the Testing & Application Division on investigating two things in particular: the "Den-Den Mushi", which is a type of snail that can be used as a long-range communications system, and the "Dials" of Skypeia, which are strange seashells that are capable of a surprising variety of things.

Links
http://www.onemanga.com/One_Piece/0/01/ - online translations of the manga on OneManga. Beware: the translations are inconsistent and occasionally poor in quality early on due to the different teams doing the translations. Still, it's well worth the slog-- once you get to Arlong Park the quality starts picking up, as does the plot.