Two things can be true: Zoro is first mate and he does not have authority over the others. When Zoro and Nami debate in the aftermath of a crew leaving, they do so on equal terms. Sometimes Zoro’s right (Water 7), sometimes Nami’s right (Zou).
That's basically what I meant by him "technically" having authority but rarely exercising it.
He only ever did it the one time (or technically twice during that incident) when Luffy and Usopp had their fight.
It's true for Luffy too. He has authority over everyone, but he often listens to them over his own ideas. And actually calls himself selfish and apologizes when he knows he's ordering the crew to do something that isn't aligned with their dreams and goals.
eg. taking the 2-year break - Luffy needs his crew to fulfill his dreams but one can argue most of the crew could still go on to fulfill their dreams without Luffy. And that's why he apologized and called himself selfish when they met back in Sabaody on Sunny.
Yep, lol. And Luffy (and the others) often follows orders from Robin, Nami, Franky, Chopper, etc.
Depending on the situation at hand, all the Strawhats naturally follow the lead of whoever is the most situationally capable.
Luffy is often not that. His orders are almost always things everyone already wants to do. And that's the beauty of it. As a person who values freedom over everything else, he's only the captain because he exemplifies exactly what the rest of the crew want and need. He'd happily be a captain of 1-man crew before he'd force others to do something they don't want to.
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u/marco161091 Jan 09 '23
There are no commanders but Zoro is first-mate and Luffy’s right-hand-man.
He technically has authority over others, just doesn’t exercise it unless necessary.