If there's one thing to be said about One Piece's Straw Hat Pirates, it's that they're a colorful cast of characters. Luffy has managed to get some crazy allies, such as a former pirate hunter, a talking reindeer, and even a skeleton, but one of his earliest that's stuck with him through thick and thin is the long-nosed Usopp.
Usopp is many things, a sniper, a craftsman, a liar, and a coward, but overall he's a member of the Straw Hat crew that's proved his worth time and time again. Yet over the course of the series, there's been a lot that's happened to and revealed about this goofy sharp-shooter that doesn't always add up in retrospect.
10 Playing With Spiders
Usopp is afraid of a lot of things, and given all the weird and wild things the Straw Hats come across on their voyage, it's hard to blame him for it. However, one of the things he's surprisingly not afraid of at all, are spiders. This is especially funny and a bit strange considering that both Nami and even Sanji can't stand them.
Usopp also reveals at one point that he used to play with spiders, having them fight each other, and thus knows how to handle them without being bit. Given Usopp's fraidy-cat nature, it's a bit weird that arachnophobia isn't checked off his long list of fears.
9 What's Up With His Nose?
One of Usopp's most recognizable traits is his long nose. Usually, just another cartoonish thing about him, Usopp's nose isn't just long, but surprisingly pretty durable and sometimes seems tough as actual bones. It's pretty clear Usopp's nose isn't exactly normal.
It's actually strong enough to support the rest of him (like when Vivi pulled him out of the water by it) and was once cracked and bent all crooked during a fight with Mr. 4. It's most likely just a funny stylistic choice, but in-universe Usopp's nose is physically stronger than most.
8 A True "Sniper King"?
Being the son of Yasopp, the Red Hair Pirate's marksman, Usopp has seemingly inherited his father's sharpshooting talent. While he uses a slingshot, rather than a gun like his father, Usopp has pulled off some incredible shots from far distances, some of them near-impossible.
Before his use of Haki came into play, Usopp's accuracy as a sniper was near perfect, unmatched by most, and able to defy distance and wind resistance. All that's known about this impeccable shooting is that it's Usopp's raw talent, which is both amazing and confusing given his lack of training before the time-skip.
7 Invincible Low Self-Esteem?
Low confidence and self-esteem are usually considered weaknesses, and Usopp is by far the most pessimistic of the Straw Hat crew. Usopp has often questioned his own strengths and his usefulness to the crew, and the fact that he's often a coward doesn't do him any favors, yet his negativity ends up being a strength somehow.
His insecurities in himself made him completely immune to Perona's Devil Fruit powers (since his negativity couldn't go lower) and his over-the-top terrified reactions actually won him the day against Sugar and Trebol. Usopp's either incredibly lucky or his negative traits are actually one of his superpowers.
6 He's A Bad Liar, But Fools People Anyway
Back on his home island, Usopp was a notorious liar, constantly "crying wolf" (or "pirate" in this case) for a quick laugh. Usopp's ability to make his lies believable has always been a little shakey, but there's a lot of instances where Usopp's tall tales are believed even with a lack of evidence.
While there are those who catch on pretty quickly to his lies, Usopp can fool a surprising amount of people with very little. He managed to convince Luffy and Chopper with his obvious Sniper King disguise, despite everyone else knowing it was him along, and he even once convinced a kingdom of dwarves that he was the descendant of their hero, Norland.
5 Why Did It Take Him So Long To Get A Wanted Poster?
Despite being apart of the Straw Hat Pirates for so long, it took Usopp quite some time to become as notorious as his crewmates. This ended up being one of Usopp's strengths for a while since he wasn't technically wanted by the world government and could sneak around without getting recognized. Though it's weird that it took him as long as it did to get a true bounty poster.
At first, one would argue it's because he was recognized only as Sniper King, but considering that he wound up being in two different wanted posters for Luffy and Zorro, the question is why couldn't he have gotten one before? Eventually, Usopp would get himself a bounty poster, under the name "God Usopp" after the Straw Hats' clash with Doflamingo.
4 How Did He Escape the Boin Archipelago?
After Luffy and his crew were scattered to the winds by Bartholomew Kuma, Usopp ended up on a strange set of islands called "The Boin Archipelago." There he discovered many strange things, the powerful Pop Greens that he would go on to use as ammunition, got fat, and trained with a mysterious warrior named Heracles until coming back post-timeskip. The one thing that's not explained is how Usopp and Heracles escaped the Boin Archipelago.
The Boin Archipelago is revealed to have a personality of its own, that being giant carnivorous plants that devour everything they can get in their mouths. Given the nature of these "islands" and how difficult it and the creatures on it are to escape from, Usopp and Heracles would've had to do something really crafty to free themselves from it, but how they did it is left unknown.
3 Some Of His Tall Tales Actually Came True
At the beginning of One Piece, Usopp would often tell stories to his friend Kaya to help her feel better. These stories were all just tall tales that Usopp made up, before he met Luffy and company he hadn't even left Syrup Village before. Miraculously enough, Usopp would later come to find the stories he told Kaya would eventually become true.
Through a string of bizarre coincidences, Usopp and the Straw Hats would come face to face with some of the fantasy creatures from Usopp's stories, such as a giant goldfish, the kingdom of the dwarves, and a big mole (in this case it was Ms. Merry Christmas) to name a few. Usopp couldn't possibly have known that these things would one day really happen to him, making them the oddest set of coincidences ever.
2 He Can Make Weapons But Sticks With A Slingshot
While he may not be the kind of shipwright or craftsman that Franky is, Usopp is pretty capable when it comes to making things. This isn't just exclusive to his slingshots and their ammunition, but he can even make weapons like Nami's Clima-Tact. So then why is it that he sticks to a simple slingshot as his go-to weapon?
Usopp's creation of Clima-Tact is proof that his craftmanship with weapons is actually really good, so it's not a leap to say he's capable of making something powerful than a slingshot. While Usopp's favorite weapon has proved to be reliable and its ammunition is powerful, it still seems like the guy is underutilizing his talent.
1 How Has He Survived This Long?
Usopp's not the strongest member of the Luffy's crew, he's also not the bravest or most capable, but he's been able to pull through for them all the same. One of his talents though seems to be his inexplicable and comical propensity to take a savage beating.
Usopp has received grave injuries (like broken bones, losing teeth, and stab wounds) and has suffered beatdowns that most in his shoes would probably not have survived from, and yet he gets back up despite all that. Poor Usopp should probably have a high tolerance for pain at this point, but if nothing else, he's actually the luckiest pirate alive.
About The Author
