(I use several pages from the One Piece manga in this piece. Manga pages are read from right to left.)
One Piece is overlong, probably sexist, definitely homophobic, occasionally transphobic, and completely ridiculous. It's also a compelling adventure story with great characters, an imaginative setting and mythos, meticulous story planning, and some truly incredible moments of action and drama. I adore it. I could go into pretty exhaustive detail on my favorite parts of each One Piece story arc, what's great about each character, and why the series is so remarkable (if sometimes problematic), but I'll spare you (mostly). The short version: One Piece is set in a world where a hegemonic World Government is constantly at odds with pirates and revolutionaries, and people can gain superpowers by eating magic Devil Fruits. Monkey D. Luffy is a young pirate with a body made of rubber (thanks to a Devil Fruit) who wants to be King of the Pirates, a vacant title for the poast 20 years or so. Luffy and his crew run afoul of dozens of ill-intentioned pirates, government agents, and other evildoers in this quest. But enough big picture stuff: today I'm going to get deep into one character in particular, Usopp, the cowardly, boisterous sharpshooter of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Usopp is probably the weakest and least "special" member of the Straw Hats. He doesn't have powers from a Devil Fruit like Luffy, Robin, or Brook, he isn't a great fighter like Zoro, Sanji, or Franky (at least not at first), and he isn't singularly brilliant like Nami or Chopper. Usopp is clever and handy, and his marksmanship is excellent, but he's so much more normal than the rest of the Straw Hats that at times he doesn't seem to fit in. And yet he does.
Usopp, After Gaining Some Weight
Usopp is the heart and soul of the Straw Hat Pirates crew, after Luffy. He's been there almost since the beginning, and his dream "to become a great warrior of the sea" is perhaps the least ambitious of any of the crew. But his determination to become stronger, his dedication to supporting his friends, and his overcoming so many obstacles (while still remaining humorously cowardly) make him one of the best characters in the entire series.
So, as a means of celebrating my favorite character in one of my all-time favorite manga series, I'm going to discuss some of Usopp's finest moments. This means I'm going to spoil the hell out of certain parts of One Piece. But it's all in service of helping to explain why One Piece is an all-time great adventure story and why Usopp is such a great character. So let's get to it:
Honorable Mention
This is Usopp's first big solo fight in One Piece (I'm not counting his slingshot strike to knock out Jango on Syrup Island), and in true Usopp fashion he wins with silly tricks. Chuu is a Fishman with prodigious water-spitting powers, able to shatter walls and clear rows of trees with the force of a cannon. Usopp plays dead as a distraction, then sets Chuu ablaze after soaking him with rum, then hits the Fishman repeatedly with a hammer until he's unconscious. Not the most dignified victory, but a win nonetheless. And Usopp's first big step on his way to becoming a great warrior of the sea.
Honorable Mention
I probably could've made this entire list just parts of the Water 7 / Enies Lobby saga. Usopp's character undergoes a huge turn in Water 7 that starts with him leaving the crew and culminates in Usopp rededicating himself to Luffy's dream of becoming Pirate King and his own dream of becoming a true warrior of the sea.
In summary: Usopp leaves the crew under emotional circumstances, getting into a shouting match over the fate of the crew's ship, the damaged-beyond-repair Going Merry, and then losing a duel with Luffy (Usopp Vs. Luffy almost made the list). Usopp dons a mask he finds and takes the alias "Sogeking" to accompany the crew to Enies Lobby, unable to officially return to the crew out of shame. The Sogeking guise fools the gullible Luffy and Chopper but not his other crewmates. After the events of Enies Lobby, Usopp accepts that the Going Merry is done for (in another moment that I considered for this list), but still needs to find a way to return to being a Straw Hat Pirate.
Usopp temporarily leaving the crew is a dark moment, and Usopp renaming himself Sogeking is a confusing moment, but his apology is triumphant. Usopp shows real maturity in letting go of Going Merry, and apologizing for everything he said and did would've been unthinkable for the old Usopp the Liar. After the events of Water 7 and Enies Lobby, Usopp is more honest and adult, and the Straw Hats are better for it. And goddamn, if that wasn't one of Usopp's five greatest moments, then what the hell made the list? Glad you asked:
The Five Greatest Usopp Moments in One Piece
Number Five
I considered making this entry several spots higher, but ultimately decided against it because: A) Usopp was using his Sogeking alias at the time; B) Usopp shoots the flag under Luffy's direct order; and C) it doesn't represent a moment of growth or triumph for Usopp himself. But with all that said, it's one of Usopp's most spectacular attacks (SECRET MOVE: FIREBIRD STAR!) and a defining moment of the entire series. That scene acts as the Straw Hat Pirates' declaration of war against the World Government and is one of the most important points of One Piece's plot. And Usopp is the one that pulled the trigger. Or, uh, the slingshot.
Number Four
In a way, this fight represents a better version of Usopp vs. Chuu (mentioned above) and Usopp vs. Trebol (which I'll get to a little later). Many Usopp battles involve him acknowledging his own human weakness while standing up to monsters, giants, or super-humans. Then, in spite of himself, Usopp continues fighting anyway, (probably) gets his ass kicked, and pulls a victory out of nowhere. In his and Chopper's signature fight in the Alabasta story arc, Usopp gets smacked in the face with an iron bat a few times, then talks back to the rude Ms. Merry Christmas, and stands his ground for the next attack, only to slip out of his shoes before the killing blow. Ms. Merry Christmas takes the iron bat to the face from Mr. 4 instead, and Usopp and Chopper's combo attack defeats Mr. 4 shortly thereafter. Trickery and a possible accident seals the victory for a bloody, battered Usopp. Yep. That sounds about right. This isn't my favorite Usopp fight (we'll get to that soon), but it's Usopp's first really good one.
Number Three
My vote for Usopp's greatest moment during the turbulent Enies Lobby saga. Usopp, still using the Sogeking alias, takes the mask off in front of Luffy and the terrifying CP9 super-agent Rob Lucci. And if that wasn't enough, Usopp calls Luffy by name and even taunts Lucci to spur Luffy back into action. Usopp doesn't have a major fight during Enies Lobby (I don't count his clash with Luffy at Water 7 or his shooting of Spandam at the Enies Lobby big bridge), but his giving up the Sogeking charade to inspire Luffy to victory is huge. Luffy vs Lucci is one of the most epic fights in One Piece history, and it doesn't end with a Straw Hat victory without Sogeking taking off the mask.
Number Two
Perona is one of the most unusual One Piece minor antagonists - she has Gothic Lolita fashion sense and uses ghost powers from a devil fruit that allow her to create illusions, explosions, or surges of negative emotions by summoning ghosts. She's able to complete break the wills of everyone in the Straw Hat crew with those negative ghosts (Zoro even says "I apologize for treading the same ground as everyone else" after feeling their effects), making them helpless to fight back... except Usopp. Usopp's extremely negative outlook and fear of everything around him grants him immunity to the negative ghosts (Perona and her ghosts become negative instead of Usopp, and it's hilarious), and Perona and Usopp fight on more or less equal terms.
This is one of my favorite fights in the entire series. It has high comedy, some truly weird gimmicks, and an amazing finish. Usopp chases a defenseless Perona while Perona's bodyguard Kumacy chases Usopp; Usopp defeats Kumacy only to battle against a gigantic Perona illusion; Usopp fakes having awesome physical strength using an Impact Dial gadget and distracts Perona with rubber cockroaches (really); and then finally makes Perona faint in terror with an enormous balloon hammer. Then Usopp delivers his best one-liner in the entire series: "Nobody can defeat me in a battle of negativity and lies!" Fuckin' epic. Usopp's greatest moment from the first half of the series.
Number One
The Rise of God Usopp
Usopp has an amazing role in One Piece's relatively recent Dressrosa arc (March 2013 to September 2015), where his actions represent the turning point in the struggle to overthrow the evil king-slash-pirate-slash-slaver-slash-government-sanctioned-bad-guy Donquixote Doflamingo and also garner him new notoriety in the One Piece world. Some summary: Doflamingo, a powerful pirate, overthrew Dressrosa's monarchy 10 years earlier. One of Doflamingo's underlings, Sugar, used her Devil Fruit powers to turn hundreds of residents of Dressrosa into toys, cursed with obedience to humans and for all others to forget their past lives. The fruit also stopped Sugar's aging process. Sugar's power is super weird: a woman and her son completely forget their husband and father, yet interact with him every day, except now he's a large, sentient toy dog. The Straw Hats are in town to thwart Doflamingo's Devil Fruit factory operation and to free several slaves, but end up taking on his entire crew. They're assisted by a toy soldier and a civilization of fairy-like beings called Tontattas.
Usopp's key role in the plan feeding Sugar a Tatabasco Ball, which is a brutally spicy edible that looks like the grapes Sugar is always eating. Unfortunately, Usopp and the Tontattas helping him are found out, and Robin is temporarily turned into a toy (which has the dark implication of EVERYONE IN THE WORLD FORGETTING ROBIN EVER EXISTED. THAT'S WILD.). Usopp gets his ass kicked by Trebol, one of Doflamingo's top lieutenants (Trebol has mucus powers and is just weird and gross), and it looks like all is lost. Sugar force-feeds Usopp the Tatabasco Ball, but the horrible fire-breathing expression he makes afterwards terrifies Sugar into unconsciousness.
Sugar's powers trap her in childhood, but her toys turn back into their true forms if she's knocked out. Usopp inadvertently freed thousands of enslaved, forgotten people and undid 10 years of criminal cover-up by the Doflamingo Family.
What follows is long and complicated, but Usopp was the turning point in the most epic One Piece storyline yet. Doflamingo even sets a 500-million Beri bounty on Usopp (Luffy's is only 300 million), resulting in the amazing expression above. This causes hundreds of the freed slaves to (possibly) regard Usopp as a sacred being. I'm not kidding - after Dressrosa is over, Usopp's wanted posted even says "God Usopp." Usopp even has an epic rematch of sorts against Sugar, with an epic slingshot missile incapacitating her again before she can turn Luffy and his ally Trafalgar Law into toys. It was beautiful. Usopp is the greatest.
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Yeah this is a quick filler post that I've had in the oven for a few months, and only now got around to finishing. Tomorrow I'll post my 2019 Gaming Goals (which is 95% written) and then call it a year for this blog. Be back soon!
very cool!
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