Franky One Piece Guide - Manga Insider

About
Latest Posts

Haissam is a huge manga fan, often reading ahead to see what happens in his favorite series like One Piece and HxH. Honestly, if given the choice to read manga or a best-selling novel, it's a no-brainer, he'll be reading the former! He's also an avid gamer who often feeds his nostalgia by playing games from the beloved PS2 era, and he's a sucker for a good platformer.

Cyborg “Iron Man” Franky

Born in South Blue, with his given name “Cutty Flam,” he worked with the best Shipwright in the world, “Tom,” as an apprentice. After his collision with the sea train, he had to use scrap metal to reform his broken body and turn into a cyborg to ensure his survival.

Upon returning to Water 7, he dawned on the mantle of the “king of the Water 7 underworld,” He worked as a dismantler while taking in ruffians and hooligans and providing them a better life by creating the Franky Family.

Franky is a shipwright (one of the best) by profession with an affinity powered by cola stored inside his stomach. He is 36 years of age. He enters the scene as a villain and an enemy of the Straw Hats, later turned ally.

Currently, Franky is aligned with the Straw Hats as their crew member, taking care of the ship “Thousand Sunny Go” while aiding them in their adventure to fulfill his dream of creating a Ship that would circumnavigate the world.

Appearance

Franky is a handsome man with a chiseled jawline, long eyelashes, and light blue hair, usually stylized with very noticeable sideburns.

He has a three-pointed cleft chin, and he supports his masculine cool look with a nice pair of shades, but this member of the crew changed drastically after the time skip, so his appearance will be discussed in this article accordingly.

At a Young Age

Franky, when he was young, started working for Tom. He was of small stature, having blue spiky hair and goggles mounted on his head. Young Franky had long eyelashes and mostly wore a button-down shirt kept open with nothing underneath and just underwear (Speedo). He also had an ordinary human’s chin and nose.

Before Time Skip (BF-36)

Franky’s hair changed from spikes to a more stylized, pompadour style. He is more than 7ft tall, which is unnatural for him but achieved because of the modifications he had to make to his body.

He has large forearms and small biceps with the forearms supporting tattoos of blue stars. BF-36 was on his body, representing him as the 36^th battle Franky. His nose, which is angular and made of iron, is the only part of his body that does not have replacement skin on the front.

He wore a Hawaiian shirt (unbuttoned), a gold chain, and a speedo instead of pants, because of which others call him a pervert. He has more hair on his arms and legs than the rest of his body.

After Time Skip (BF-37)

Franky received an extreme makeover after the time skip. He pressed a button that exploded one of Vegapunks Labs, which caused his skin to get burned. Later on, Franky got his hands on Vegapunks blueprints for bionic enhancements for further modifications.

He became even taller at approximately 7’10ft tall; he supports a buzz cut at default but reveals that his hairstyle is changeable to a fresh look by pressing his angular iron-nose for 3 seconds. The rest of his face is more or less the same apart from the eyes that resemble humans but are robotic lenses crafted to look like human eyes.

His body, however, changed. He has two significant stitch marks across his well-built torso, suggesting that he sewed his skin back on to hide all the implants made into his body and appear human. To my surprise, the forearms are now large light blue metal cubes with half a star on each and traces of hair.

When he joins his forearms in his signature pose, it creates a full star. His hands are red, large, and studded, with smaller yellow colored hands inside them, which can pop out and use them for more intricate work.

Large red balls have replaced his shoulders with BF-37 written on them, which join his arms with metallic joints. He now comprises light blue socket joints instead of elbows.

His legs are smaller than the rest of him, but to support the rest of his body weight, he mechanically engineered them with metal lining all over. He wears a Hawaiian Shirt unbuttoned, of course, and a speedo. The less he covers his body, the more accessible the cyber implants can be.

Personality

“But no matter what weapons you may hold, just being alive isn’t a sin!”

Franky is manly, rowdy, free-spirited, and over the top with a soft spot for emotional stories. His entire persona exudes masculinity and has a solid loyalty to whatever group he belongs to or supports. He is adventurous, loves the thrills, and is constantly partaking in roughhousing or taking charge in unexpected situations, truly adding his touch to the crew’s dynamics.

Creative

Franky has always been creative, with a strong sense of ingenuity. When he was young, he built battle Frankies. He even designed and built his entire body from scrap at death’s door. The “Thousand Sunny Go” is a tribute to his intellect by incorporating amazing styles and unique designs housing fantastic quality of life features and other additions like the solder docking system or the Coup de burst.

He found Vegapunks lab. He shivered with excitement because he found innovative tools and ideas he could use because of his engineering skills and made those plans come to fruition to change his body by modifying it into an even more advanced cyborg.

Altruist

Franky is always rooting for the underdog. His personality shows how he cares for others. Franky became the king of the water 7 underworld, not only to make amends for his part in the death of Tom but also to help all those who had nothing provide a place to belong.

He even gave himself up on the train when Robin was being transported to Enies Lobby so that Sanji could save Nico Robin. When he listened to the Tontattas about their lives, he tried his best to help them while not wavering his resolve even for a second in Dressrosa.

Big Brother

Even though he is wild and free-spirited, Franky is very responsible for playing the role of big brother. He had to be forced to join the Straw hats crew because his guilt would not let him remove the heavy burden that kept him in Water 7, where he was with Tom.

We can also see his sense of responsibility in Dressrosa, where he took charge and allowed Luffy to leave to fight for Ace’s devil fruit while Franky finds and destroy the Smile factory. Before all of that, he was head of the Franky Family, taking care of his subordinates who called him Aniki (Big Brother)

Emotions

Franky is very emotional and starts breaking into tears whenever he hears a sad story. He loves supporting those in pain because of his powerful sense of obligation. Franky often befriends and helps those persecuted wrongfully, like Nico Robin or the Tontattas, which leads him into troublesome situations.

He is quick to break out his guitar and start singing in emotional moments, but it often embarrasses him at the thought of others witnessing his emotions. This happened many times, most notably when he was about to leave Water 7.

Abilities and Fighting Style

His current bounty of Beli 94,000,000 does not do him justice; he possesses superhuman strength because of his bionic modifications. It is so much that Bf-36 could stop a moving elephant even when he was low on cola energy.

Currently Bf-37, Franky is back with a more substantial move set than ever, with his weak point being his back since it comprises more flesh and blood.

He couldn’t alter his own back because of problems with reach, even though it is strong enough to withstand several hits and even bullets, but with all that said, Franky is not someone who backs down from a fight, he takes them head-on.

He defeated Fukurou and Senior in a head-on battle while carrying all their hits in a battle of strength and wits, still coming out on top.

Tactical Skills

Franky’s fighting style is also tactical, he does not shy away from deceit showing that he is well versed in psychological warfare; we can observe this at various points, when Frankytricked Spandam to get free from the chains citing that he would explode but using the Coup De Boo instead, to help robin meet with Luffy and his crew, at the same time Franky used the ocean to turn Chopper back to normal after Chopper started rampaging because of his monster point or when in Dressrosa against Senior, Franky told Senior that he heard an old lady having trouble crossing the road, he used the compassionate nature of senior against him to get free from his suplex hold.

Move Set

BF-36

Franky has a decisive move set comprising various mechanical abilities like Strong Right. He can extend his punch with momentum at an enormous distance and even control its movement by manipulating the chain with which it connects back to him.
Weapons Left is one of his signature abilities. This move allows him to shoot bullets out of his left forearm with a multi-barrel machine gun, his fingers can shoot shots, literally allowing him to finger gun, and his entire hand moves aside where his arm would allow a cannon shot to be fired.
Coup De vent is one of his most potent moves requiring a lot of cola energy. Franky uses both his arms to compress air and then releases it to form a cannon-like blast with a strong force that can bring down steel structures.
Fireball is one move used by Bf-36 where he blows a flamethrower from his mouth.
Nail Gun is a move where Franky could shoot nails accurately from his mouth.

BF-37

Since Bf-36 was unplanned, his move set was impressive for the time, but his design could still improve using Vegapunk’s designs. Franky created an even more decisive move set joined with the improved abilities of the previous version.

Nipple lights are one of the newly added features to his body. The nipples emanate a bright flash of light used as a flashbang to confuse and blind his foes.
He houses missiles inside both shoulders of Bf-37 and his body acts as a missile launcher, able to damage several enemies.
Franky Radical Beam is his most vigorous attack until now created by using Vegapunks blueprints. Franky made a working mega beam able to wreak havoc, which he shoots by creating a circle by joining his hands.

General Franky

Made with special metal alloy and by joining various other machinery to create a robust robot that is relatively impervious to damage and can deal with heavy solid blows while also using a sword as a weapon. His most vigorous attack is the General Canon (Coup de Vent on steroids).

Warning! this might get into spoiler territory for those who haven’t seen the Enies lobby or later arcs.

From Villain to Nakama: The Journey of Franky

History

“Who’s the troublemaker? You or us?”

Cutty Flam’s parents, who were pirates, abandoned him when he was 4 because he was a troublemaker. He eventually made his way from South Blue to water 7, where he started working with Tom as a shipwright and changed his name.

Cutty Flam would keep busy making inventions and machines, which he referred to as battle Frankies. He was later revealed to be invited on the Oro Jackson by Oden, whom he refused because of his distaste for pirates and his parents Leaving him.

When Franky was 12, the world government-held Tom (Franky’s Mentor) responsible for creating Oro Jackson (The pirate king’s boat); they agreed and set him free due to his part in creating the seat train “Puffing Tom.”

Spandam used the battle Frankies to attack water 7 because he wanted the blueprints for Pluton (The Ancient Weapon) passed down from Shipwright to Shipwright of Water 7, even though Toms Workers fended off the attack, Spandam held Tom accountable, Franky then revoked his connection to the battleships but Tom punched him stating “A shipwright can never stop loving their creations.” While Tom was being transported via Seatrain, Franky tried to stop the train in its tracks by standing in its way and shooting it.

His efforts were in vain. He found himself bruised, battered, and barely getting on a stowaway ship full of scrap iron, where he used the components which were there, along with his engineering skills, to turn himself into a cyborg to ensure his survival.

On his return to Water 7 after several years, Franky met with Ice Berg (Tom’s other apprentice and Mayor of Water 7), who informed Franky that the world government is looking for the blueprints of the ancient weapon Pluton.

Ice Berg hands Pluton’s blueprints to Cutty Flam, who then changes his name to Franky upon Ice Bergs’s suggestion and dawns on the mantle of King of the Underworld, creating the Franky Family.

The First Encounter

After defeating Baroque works, being chased by the Navy, and their adventure in Sky Island, their ship “Going Merry” (The Straw Hat’s First Ship) received heavy damage. The Straw Hat crew got ahold of gold to fix their beloved ship. Still, while talking to the Galley-La Company (Shipwrights) about repairs, the Franky Family stole the money.

Franky beat Usopp, and so he was hated by the crew and the fanbase because he hurt Usopp and stole 200,000,000 Beli, which added to the cause of the big fight between the Straw Hats. Luffy and Franky got into a scuffle, but Galley-La Company (Shipwrights) workers stopped it.

Cp9 -an undercover group for the World government- later captured him along with Nico Robin because of his believed connection to Pluton.

The Leap of Faith

“Existing Isn’t A Crime!”

At Enies Lobby, after hearing about Nico Robin, Franky arranged a meeting between The crew and Nico Robin. Spandam held them captive and aided in the Straw Hats’ quest to help her. Franky destroyed the ancient weapon “Pluton” blueprints and put his trust in the Straw Hat crew who would save Nico Robin from the government.

A New Adventure

After an emotional farewell in Water 7, he joined the straw hat crew as their Shipwright to fulfill his dream of creating a ship that could circumnavigate the world. He joined the straw hats in their adventure through thriller bark. It was Franky’s first adventure as a crew member. He helped everyone retrieve their shadows and defeat Oars the giant by building crazy structures with extreme speed.

Farewell to the Crew and the Two-Year Gap

When entering the New World (the second part of the Grand Line) for the first time, the crew encountered a massive problem at Sabody. The Straw Hats were being chased by a Navy Admiral and a Pacifista because Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon.

During the chase, Franky blew away the pacifista with a “coup de vent,” but the entire crew was powerless in front of their enemies. Then Bartholomew Kuma’s made his entry. Kuma’s power sent the team flying in different directions.

Franky found himself in a snow-filled city and that the location where he landed contained Vegapunks lab. After receiving a cryptic message from Luffy via the newspaper, which meant taking two years to get ready for the New World.

He used Vegapunks lab and designed to recreate his body into a much more vital force to be reckoned with, creating BF-37 to help the straw hat crew in their journey while furthering his ambition.

The New Era

Joining the crew again at Sabody, he descended the ship to Fishman Island. Franky started taking care of and improving the “Thousand Sunny Go” even before the rest of the crew arrived.

In Punk Hazard, Franky played an essential role by stopping the capture of Cesar by Baby 5, albeit accidentally, which resulted in the Straw Hat’s crew capturing Cesar, he had the “Thousand sunny Go” prepped for departure and even helped the marines in Punk Hazard by fixing their ship in which they were to take the rescued children.

He played an integral part at Dressrosa by destroying the Factory and taking charge when Zoro ran off after his sword, Sanji left pursuing Violet and Kinemon left to find Kanjuro. Currently, he is involved in a plot made by the pirate-mink-samurai-ninja alliance to defeat Kaido in the Wano Kingdom.

Meaningful Relationships

Tom

Franky has utmost respect and admiration for his mentor Tom, whom he sees as a father figure he never had. Tom often appreciated his creations and gave Franky the love he needed to succeed as a shipwright.

He stayed in Water 7 all this time to ease his guilt for allowing the government to take away his beloved mentor. Tom always urged Franky to love his creations and do everything with a “Don.”

Ice Berg

The other apprentice of Tom, Ice Bergs’s relationship with Franky, is that of an older brother, constantly squabbling, but underneath all the arguments, there is deep love and trust between the two. Franky referred to Ice Berg as “Baka-Berg” and Ice Berg referred to Franky as Baka-nky.

He has since forgiven Franky for his battleships being used against water 7 and knew that Franky taking control of the underworld at water 7 was his way of making amends for his part in Tom’s death.

The Straw Hat Crew

Franky used to refer to the entire crew with nicknames apart from Nico Robin Luffy as “Straw Hat,” Nami as “Nee Chan,” Brook as “Skeleton,” and so on. He acts as a big brother to the crew, free-spirited most of the time but rising to the situation whenever required.

After the time skip, he used the correct names of all the crew members and is very popular with the younger members, mainly Tony Tony Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy, because of his increased cyber modifications and bionic abilities.

Being with the Straw Hats is helping him grow and fulfill his dream while also allowing him to be a part of something great.

This is merely my observation, but he never called Nico Robin a nickname because Tom was concerned for the Ohara survivor and mentioned her name, which made it stick in his mind.

Kokoro

When Franky worked with Tom’s workers, Kokoro served as a matronly figure to him and Ice Berg. Kokoro felt sad for Franky when she heard of his death by the sea train.

She decided to aid the Straw Hats in their plan to retrieve Nico Robin and Franky from Enies lobby by driving the uncontrollable sea train Rocket Man. She even helped enlist the help of Yokozuna, Tom’s former pet.

Yokozuna

When Franky was a child, he became good friends with Tom’s pet frog, Yokozuna. Franky taught him how to wrestle and do the breast stroke. He is very loyal to Franky and is known to challenge the Sea Train consistently to get stronger so that he won’t lose any more of his loved ones like Tom or Franky.

He joined the Straw Hats at enies lobby and helped keep the enemies at bay when the pirates were fighting Cp9.

The Franky Family

Franky created a family filled with misfits and ruffians who had nothing. He provided them a way to survive with work, like dismantling and bounty hunting.

Franky served as their Aniki, taking care of them, helping them settle their disputes, and even reforming most of their characters by turning them into better people and changing their lives drastically. He has much love for the group and all of his subordinates love him.

Fun Facts

If he uses any drink other than cola as fuel, his personality changes.
He takes it as a compliment when people call him “Hentai” (pervert-as in, not human)
He has an uncanny resemblance to Popeye, The sailor man.
As told by Oda, if he were to eat a Devil’s fruit, it would be that of Baby 5, The Weapons Fruit.
He shares the same birthday as Mi Hawk and Shanks.
He is in all the Pirate Warrior games apart from the first.
His catchphrase is “Super” said with a varied amount of vigor.

Franky One Piece Guide: FAQs

Question: Why is Franky not Liked by the One Piece Fan Base?

Answer: With such a diverse cast filled with in-depth characters, Franky recently was on the 28th spot, lower than the rest of the crew. This is partly because many western fans did not like his post-time skip look.
While some do not see him as fantastic and in-depth as the others, but Franky has a cult following and is an integral part of One Piece holding a special place in the heart of most fans.

Question: What is the Current Bounty of Franky and is it Underrated?

Answer: His current bounty is 94,000,000 beli and underrated, but we will most likely see an increase to his bounty post Wano arc and the rest of the crew.

Question: Who are Franky’s Parents?

Answer: It is currently unknown, but there are many theories, some credible and some very wild, but we will know when and if oda reveals it to us.

Question: Does Franky Know how to Make Pluton?

Answer: Many fans believe Franky has the blueprints of Pluton memorized, but it is still uncertain and Oda has not revealed it to us. He had ample time to memorize them when it was under his care. We will know more once Oda reveals it to us.
One-piece has been going on for a while now and will probably continue for many years. It teaches us about achieving dreams, working hard, growth, and having ideals with amazing characters as examples to showcase these goals.
Franky shows us to be manly, have honor, and use our brains while also working hard and not being afraid to be emotional.
Oda filled one Piece with epic moments and even with its lows, I believe that no show can come close to the highs of one Piece. I would urge the readers to try it out or jump back into it to enjoy great Franky moments along with the rest of the crew.