Nami is fashionable and her style changes throughout One Piece.

She was first introduced wearing

a white-and-blue striped shirt, an orange mini-skirt and orange boots.[4] Throughout the series, Nami
is commonly seen wearing a shirt or bikini top, a skirt and high-heeled sandals. Nami often wears
blue tattoos throughout the course of the series; the first is a symbol of Arlong's crew [5] which is later
removed and replaced with a symbol of a tangerine and pinwheel on her left bicep. [6] Eventually,
Nami starts wearing earrings and has her hair, once just barely shoulder-length, grown down to the
middle of her back, while usually wearing bikini tops with blue jeans.[7] Concerning her ethnic
appearance, Oda revealed that he imagines Nami to be of Swedish nationality, albeit in a real-world
context.[8]
In the Japanese version of the One Piece anime series, and related media, Nami has been voiced
by Akemi Okamura.[9] In 2001, Okamura temporarily left the series due to her pregnancy; Wakana
Yamazaki acted as a substitute for episodes 70-78.[10] In the OVA Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!, Nami
was voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi.[11] In 4Kids Entertainment’s dub of the anime, Nami is voiced by
Kerry Williams.[12] In Funimation Entertainment's dub of the anime, Nami is voiced by Luci Christian.[13]
Nami first appears in the manga chapter "Nami" (ナミ登場, Nami Tōjō), first published in
Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on September 22, 1997.[4] She first appears as a thief who
robs treasure from pirates, and partners with Luffy and Zoro after joining forces to obtain a map of
the Grand Line from the clown-like pirate Buggy. As the crew defends the seafaring restaurant
Baratie from Don Krieg's pirates, Nami learns of a bounty on the fish-man pirate Arlong and departs
with the crew's ship and accumulated treasure, intending to buy back her home village Cocoyashi
from Arlong's control.
The crew learns of Nami's past from her adoptive sister Nojiko: Nami and Nojiko were orphaned
infants rescued from a war-torn kingdom and adopted by the Marine Bellemere, who raised them as
her own. As a child, Nami developed a love for cartography and navigation, dreaming of creating a
map of the entire world. One day, Arlong and his crew invaded Cocoyashi and demanded a
monetary tribute from the villagers. Bellemere used her entire remaining fortune to spare Nami and
Nojiko, and was killed by Arlong to set an example for the villagers. Arlong then kidnapped Nami
upon discovering her talent for cartography and forced her to chart maps for him, while promising
that the village would be freed for a price. Nami was driven for the following eight years to rob from
pirates in order to buy back her village. When Nami's loot is confiscated by a corrupt Marine, she
learns that Arlong has been bribing the Navy into ignoring his crimes, and she begs Luffy for help in
her despair. Luffy and the others successfully defeat Arlong, freeing the village as a result. Nami
rejoins the crew as they sail off to the Grand Line to pursue their dreams.