Franky was created by Oda with Kazuki Yao's voice in mind because of his hentai-like character portrayal of his two previous roles of Jango and Mr. 2 Bon Kurei.[17]
His character concept also comes from a pun. Depending on the context, the word "hentai" can mean porn, pervert, transform, or soldier.
Anime and Manga Differences
Franky's adventure in Baldimore is extended in the anime.
Franky's Darjeeling tea mode.
After Franky had learned where he had landed, he got frozen by the cold. The boy and old man who found Franky took him to the hospital where the doctors turned Franky into a gentleman by giving him Darjeeling tea since they did not have cola.
Later the boy tried to get his original personality back by putting Franky in the woods filled with cyborg creatures (he got the idea after misinterpreting what the old man said about regaining his wildness). It did not go as planned until a gorilla cyborg started pounding on Franky as he tried to resolve the fight peacefully. The tea he was drinking boiled as a result and Franky regained his personality albeit still low on power since the tea was cooling.
After beating up the animals, the boy led Franky to Vegapunk's abandoned lab. The two broke in which activated the alarm and the two were quickly confronted by a shadowed being.
Franky's name and appearance is probably based on and modeled after Frankenstein's monster, respectively.
Translation and Dub Issues
When transforming, Franky yells "Hentai" 変体 (change of form / alternate form) instead of the more commonly used transforming word "Henshin". This can be confused with the same sounding word, "Hentai" 変態, that can be translated as transformation or metamorphosis, but more commonly used to say something is perverted or a pervert. Therefore, this makes his enemies think that Franky says "pervert" or "perverted" when transforming. Furthermore, whenever someone uses "Hentai" in other context (such as a certain battle formation used by the Flying Fish Riders), Franky tends to show confusion as if it is talking about him. In the FUNimation dub, Franky yells "Convert" which rhymes with "pervert".
During the dub of Episode 397, when one of the Flying Fish Riders are explaining over the radio which Straw Hats are already at the Human Auction House, FUNimation's script had him use the word "exhibitionist" instead of "pervert" to describe Franky.
In Franky's bounty, his nickname is "Tetsujin", meaning Iron Man, but the furigana indicated that it should be read as サイボーグ, which is the katakana for cyborg. When Franky received his second bounty, the furigana was removed.
In the VIZ manga, there is a minor mistranslation in the Fish-Man Island arc where Franky says he is the one who developed Wapometal.
In the Japanese only game, Fighting for One Piece, Franky's name was misspelled and written as 'Flanky' in the introduction to the game.
Trivia
The jolly roger used by Toei Animation...
...and the one drawn by Oda in an SBS.
Franky's personal jolly roger (pre-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine.
Franky's post timeskip jolly roger.
Franky's personal jolly roger (post-timeskip) as detailed in the One Piece Magazine.
Luffy draws his ideal shipwright, which vaguely resembles Franky.
The Toei jolly roger has Franky' skull viewed from the side, modified to look crescent-shaped, with sunglasses. The crossbones consist of a normal bone in the upper right, with bulky bones going from upper left to lower right having star marks on them. Behind that is a linked circle of chains.
Oda's pre-time skip jolly roger has Franky's skull with his trademark hairstyle. The right half of the skull above the jaw is black instead of white, with three white screws above the eye socket. It has normal crossbones behind the skull, but on either side of the skull and crossbones, it has Franky's bulky Popeye arms with the star tattoos clearly showing.
Oda's post-timeskip jolly roger has Franky's skull with a buzz-cut and sunglasses. The crossbones are made up of a saw and hammer. Behind the crossbones is Franky's BF-37 logo and in the background is a large star.
Before the Straw Hats arrived at Water 7, Luffy drew a childish picture of what he wanted the future shipwright to look like. This bad drawing is similar in appearance to Franky.[22]
The first ship he built that managed to achieve his original goal of beating a Sea King was the BF-35 (the 35th 'Battle Franky').
Franky also wrote BF-36 separately on both of his shoulders, making him the 36th Battle Franky and implying that he can kill a Sea King. The latter is confirmed during Thriller Bark, when he revealed his Hakugeki Ho.
After two years of separation with the crew, he now has a huge cyborg body that has BF-37 on both of his shoulders, pointing out his new form making him the newest model, Battle Franky 37.
Franky bears a resemblance to the American cartoon character "Popeye the Sailorman". They both share similarly large tattooed forearms, are both 34 years old (pre-timeskip), and both rely on food for immediate energy and power (spinach and cola, respectively).
The name Cutty Flam is a possible reference to the sailing ships Cutty Sark and Fram.
Despite Franky having a trademark soundtrack when he is in action, it was not developed to be a theme originally for him. That theme, "Serious Battle" (真剣勝負, Shinkenshobu), consisting of three parts, can be heard in many episodes before Franky was even mentioned; in Episode 97 (when Luffy escapes from a Sandora lizard) and 114 (when Usopp uses his Usopp Pound). The other two parts are, a first one as one of Sanji's trademark themes, and a second one as Chopper's trademark theme. This is maybe because the theme was created so Sanji, Chopper, and quite possibly Usopp have a theme during action scenes, but the supposed Usopp's part ended up being as a theme of Franky many episodes later.
One of the shirts Franky wears in Opening 12 is the same shirt Luffy wears in the Dressrosa Arc.
In the 4th Japanese fan poll, he came out as the thirteenth most popular character. While this was fairly high, it still made him the least popular of the Straw Hats. Franky's real name, Cutty Flam, was also ranked in 100th place in the same poll
In the 5th fan poll, he came out sixteenth, dropping 3 places, but was overtaken by Brook as the least popular Straw Hat.
In the 6th fan poll, he ranked in 20th place.
Franky is so far the only Straw Hat to have never reached a Top 10 spot in any poll.
In One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, Franky's taunt action for his post-timeskip version allows him to cycle between different hairstyles. It requires the player to hold the taunt button for 3 seconds for it to take effect, which is a reference to him having to press his nose for 3 seconds to change hairstyles.
In the non-canon Ice Hunter Arc, when the crew comes across some sail-less pirates, Franky revealed he had knowledge of the Davy Back Fights; however, in the Adventure of Nebulandia (which is also non-canon), when Foxy challenged the Straw Hat Pirates to the game, Franky was the one inquiring for what it was.
SBS-Based Trivia
Franky's birthday, March 9, comes from Japanese transcription his first epithet's first and last syllables since 3-9 can be derived from sa-gu.[15]
When Franky is not working in his room within the Sunny, he keeps his tools in his swim briefs.[23]
Franky typically sleeps at 1:00 A.M. and gets up at 9:00 A.M.[39]
If the Straw Hat Pirates were not pirates, then Franky would be a pilot.[40]
If the Straw Hat Pirates had a 50-meter race, then Franky would come in ninth and second-last place. Oda clarifies that Franky would be ranked the lowest in a short distance race because he is the heaviest member of the crew.[41]
Originally, Franky would come in the last place, before the addition of Jinbe, whom Oda confirmed he would arrive at last place.
When Sanji is in his raid suit, Franky calls him "Black Rolling Destroyer".[42]
↑ 8.08.1One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 45Chapter 435 (p. 19) and Episode 320, Franky receives a wanted poster as well after assisting the Straw Hats in attacking Enies Lobby.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 55 (p. 126), Oda reveals where Franky keeps his tools.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 45 (p. 188), Franky's favorite foods are revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 103 (p. 136), Franky's favorite food from Wano Country is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 73 (p. 144), Franky's least favorite food is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 84 (p. 150), Oda reveals which Straw Hats eat ice and which do not.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 79 (p. 142), Franky's favorite dish to cook is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 99 (p. 60), Oda reveals what kind of fried egg Franky likes.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 106 (p. 24), Oda ranked the Straw Hat Pirates' tolerance for alcohol.
↑ 31.031.131.231.331.4SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 50 (p. 86), Franky's favorite type of island and season, specific number, specific color, specific smell and animal resemblance are revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 48 (p. 26), Franky's family status is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 99 (p. 60), Franky's new family status is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 56 (p. 144), The real-world country of Franky is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 59 (p. 96), Franky's thoughts is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 60 (p. 206), Franky's flower resemblance is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 67 (p. 182), Franky's bath time is revealed.
↑ 38.038.1SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 72 (p. 46), Oda explains what prefecture of Japan Franky represents and how Trafalgar D. Water Law calls him.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 74 (p. 126), Franky's sleep and wake up times are revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 76 (p. 42), Franky's non-pirate career is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 85 (p. 78), Oda explains what place Franky occupies in 50-meter race.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 94 (p. 172), Oda explains how Franky called Sanji in his raid suit.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 98 (p. 174), Oda reveals what Devil Fruit Franky would have.
