Usopp/History

Hope Born From a Lie


Usopp is the son of Yasopp, a pirate who joined "Red-Haired" Shanks' crew and sailed away, leaving behind his wife and son. Usopp began to lie that pirates were coming. He first began this practice when he started yelling to his mother that pirates were coming in the hopes that it would strengthen her spirits enough to keep her alive. After his mother died, he just continued to do so because of the pain of having lost both parents one way or another, leaving himself alone.

Many of the villagers made a show of chasing him and throwing things at him for running through the town, but they were used to his antics. Some villagers even used his daily run through town as a sort of alarm clock. Aside from his cries of pirates attacking, he also made up stories about adventures to entertain Kaya, a young girl he met who was sick and had to stay in bed all day.

Usopp called himself a pirate and took in three younger kids, Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman, as his "crew"; he dubs the group "Usopp Pirates".

Fight with the Felines, Becoming a Straw Hat
The Straw Hat Pirates made a stop at Syrup Village in search of a ship. Usopp was overjoyed to have real pirates arrive, and greeted them with a cleverly-conceived act designed to fool the pirates into believing he was the commander of his own huge pirate fleet. The ruse failed, and Luffy and friends proceeded into Syrup Village unhindered. Soon the Straw Hats made friends with Usopp when Luffy discovered he is the son of Yasopp, one of the pirates in Shank's crew.

When the Black Cat Pirates came to town, Usopp, along with Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and Nami, fought the pirates and their leader, Captain Kuro. Kuro had been spending three years posing as a caretaker for Kaya so he could set himself up to inherit her fortune. He plotted to kill her without anyone suspecting he was behind it.

Kuro allowed Usopp to flee because no one would believe him, which proved to be true when the villagers chose to not believe in Usopp's warnings. When trying to warn Kaya, she thought that Usopp was trying to kidnap her. Merry, armed with a gun, chased him off. Usopp then lied to his crew in order to protect them from harm. The Straw Hat Pirates were aware of the situation however, and decided to lend aid on the side of Usopp and Kaya, and they prepared with setting up traps.

Miscalculations in the Black Cat pirates landing area (because Usopp assumed the area where Kuro met Jango was the arrival point, unaware that the real landing point was on the other beach) caused for Usopp and Nami to initially fight the pirates alone, as Luffy got lost and Zoro was tricked by Nami into the oil slick trap they set up earlier when Nami realized the pirates landing point was where their rafts and her treasure are and did not want anyone to claim it.

Just before the two are killed, Zoro and Luffy arrived and fought Kuro's crew. Jango hypnotized the crew to increase their strength but accidentally hypnotized Luffy along with them. Jango was forced to hypnotize Luffy to sleep again, but he accidentally caused the crew to be knocked out by the ship's stempost that Luffy was holding in the air at the time he fell asleep.

When Jango summoned the ship's guards, the Nyaban brothers Buchi and Sham, who fought against Zoro, Zoro prevented Usopp from helping him by taking a hit from his Lead Star to keep him from getting dragged into the fight. Kuro then appeared disgusted by how Black Cat pirates were getting beaten by children, and he gives his crew five minutes before he kills everyone.

Kaya later intervened, having heard from Merry about the truth after Kuro nearly killed him earlier. She held Kuro at gunpoint and tried to get him to remember the fun times they had. However, Kuro revealed that he never cared about her. He only wanted her money and was simply waiting for this day where he can kill her, causing Kaya to drop the gun in shock. Usopp tried to attack Kuro to defend Kaya, but Kuro injured Usopp badly in retaliation. Kuro was then attacked by Usopp's crew who had arrived. Kuro simply brushed off their attack. Usopp later ordered his crew to take Kaya and flee. The three took Kaya into the forest. Kuro sent Jango after them. After defeating the Nyaban brothers, Zoro took Usopp to follow them and stop Jango.

Eventually, Usopp and Zoro caught up to them, but only after Jango defeated the boys. Kaya was instructed to write a will for Kuro or else the Usopp pirates would be killed. She chose to write the will to protect them. Usopp proved himself less useless than he may seem, and he aided Zoro in defeating Jango and rescuing Kaya and the boys with his sniper skills.

Afterwards, Usopp decided that news of a real pirate attack might be too upsetting for the villagers and would affect their peace of mind since pirates don't normally come to an out-of-the-way village. So he ordered everyone to keep it a secret, with which Kaya and his crew agreed. Usopp was grateful to the Straw Hats and now had the confidence to disband his fake pirate crew and sail out on his own to be a real pirate. But his luck proved to be even better than he knew when Luffy invited him to join his crew. With a new friend and crew member (and the good-as-new ship provided by Kaya, the Going Merry), the Straw Hat Pirates left Syrup Village to continue their voyage to the Grand Line.

Battle for the Baratie
The crew met Johnny and Yosaku, Zoro's former bounty hunter companions, and they set sail for the Baratie restaurant in search of a cook. After damaging the Baratie, Luffy began his job as a waiter to pay for the damage he did for Zeff, the owner, and tried to convince Sanji to join his crew. Gin, a member of the famous Don Krieg's crew, returned to the Baratie with his also-starving captain, to whom Sanji once more gave food. However, Don Krieg betrayed the cook once he regained his energy and attacked the Baratie, despite the cooks' best effort to stop him. Here, it was revealed that Chef Zeff was a great pirate known as "Red Leg" Zeff who traveled Grand Line for a whole year.

Gin explained the catastrophe the fleet met in the Grand Line when they encountered "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk, and Don Krieg attempted to take control of the Baratie. Mihawk returned to finish the job with the Krieg Pirates, but Zoro challenged him to a duel in order to achieve his dream. Unfortunately, he met a most devastating defeat at the hands of the swordsman. Mihawk left after defeating Zoro, so Don Krieg continued his invasion on the Baratie and had Pearl, one of his stronger crewmates, attack, forcing Sanji to reveal his fighting skills. Meanwhile, Johnny and Yosaku left with Usopp and the wounded Zoro to go after Nami.

Destruction of Arlong Park
Sometime after Yosaku left to inform Luffy that they found where Nami is heading, Usopp, Johnny, and Zoro arrived at the island at which Nami was docked. Zoro was captured by the fishmen after Usopp and Johnny ditched him, and it was revealed that Nami was part of Arlong's pirate crew the entire time. When a group of fishmen attack Cocoyasi Village, Usopp came to the rescue. After Zoro escaped with Nami's help, she tried to prove her loyalty to the Arlong Pirates by appearing to kill Usopp. Later, upon seeing Nami's sorrow and fear for her village, the Straw Hats headed for Arlong Park. The Straw Hats faced the fishmen themselves as the villagers watched from the sidelines. While trying to pull Luffy out of the cement, he accidentally knocked over Chew. Frustrated with this, Chew charged after Usopp who ran away. Chew noticed the townsfolk and considered killing them, only to be set on fire by Usopp. Usopp announced to Chew that he is his opponent, only to run away again.

Usopp spent a long time running, hoping to exhaust Chew, but to no avail. He instead used ketchup and faked being struck down, so Chew turned back towards Arlong Park. Usopp chose living over fighting, and began to rub himself with dirt to make a convincing argument that he did, in fact, fight. Remembering how much Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Sanji risk their lives everyday, and how much Nami needed him, he got up and screamed at Chew that the battle was not over.



After receiving powerful punches and kicks, Usopp tricked Chew and hid in a nearby cluster of trees. Chew began to shoot down the trees in search, and Usopp screamed in fear, accepting that this is the new life he chose. When Chew found him, Usopp set him on fire, and then proceeded to smack Chew in the face with a hammer repeatedly until he fell unconscious, making Usopp believe that now he was a true pirate.

He returned just as Arlong was overpowering Zoro and Sanji and helped provide a distraction long enough for Sanji to free Luffy from the rock trapping his body underwater. After Arlong was defeated, the Straw Hat pirates joined the festivities that Cocoyasi Village threw in celebration for their new freedom. As the crew celebrated, Nami reflected on her hometown and decided to officially join the Straw Hat Pirates. They left Cocoyasi Village and set sail again for their next trip. As a result of defeating Arlong, Luffy gained the highest bounty in East Blue. Usopp laughed upon seeing the back of his head in Luffy's wanted poster.

Arrival at Loguetown
The crew arrives at the last large town before the entrance to the Grand Line, Loguetown, the place where Gold Roger was both born and executed. They went to stock up on supplies and go sight-seeing. He bought his sniper goggles here. He was also tested by Daddy Masterson and learns of his meeting with Yasopp.

Miraculously saved from death by an unnatural green gust and a lightning bolt to Buggy, the Straw Hats rush out of Loguetown. Nami and Usopp arrives at the ship and find Mohji, Buggy's crewmate, trying to burn their ship. They easily defeat him before Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji arrive and get aboard.

Traversing Reverse Mountain and Meeting Laboon
The Straws Hats arriving at Reverse Mountain through the storm after fleeing Loguetown. They are nearly blown off course and into the Calm Belt but eventually reach the entrance of Reverse Mountain and manage to climb its uphill rapids despite some tricky close calls thanks to Nami's navigation. As they come down they hear a noise and notice something is blocking their path. They identify the blockage as a huge whale which is threatening to crush the Going Merry. Luffy manages to keep the ship from crashing into it, but seeing the bow broken off enrages Luffy and he attacks the whale. The whale swallows the Going Merry and her crew, except for Luffy who manages to escape onto the whale's back.

Inside, the remaining Straw Hats suddenly find themselves in what looks like an outside setting with a house in the middle of the water where they meet an old man named Crocus. They later reunite with Luffy and two people inside known only as Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday (who apparently are plotting to kill the whale), and it is revealed that the strange setting is in fact the whale's stomach. Crocus reveals that the whale's name is Laboon and that he is trying to ram into the mountain. Crocus begins to explain to the Straw Hats why the whale is covered with scars and continually rams the mountain.

Crocus later explains to the Straw Hats about how a regular compass will not work past Reverse Mountain and that they need a Log Pose if they want to travel the Grand Line. Crocus explains how the Log Pose works and mentions the final destination of the Grand Line, Raftel, where One Piece may lay as the only person to reach there was Gold Roger. Luffy reveals a Log Pose he found after they dumped the Mr. 9 pair, but it is broken so Crocus loans them his. The Mr. 9 pair spies on the group from afar until they are knocked into the ocean by The Unluckies for failing their mission to kill Laboon. They reacquaint themselves with the Straw Hats again and beg them to take the two to their hometown, Whiskey Peak, to which Luffy agrees. With that they bid Crocus and Laboon farewell and set off.

Pirate-Loving Town of Whiskey Peak
Usopp and the crew arrive at Whiskey Peak, a town of pirate-lovers who hold them a feast and get drunk together with Sanji, resulting in both of them missing the fight against Baroque Works. He was woken up when they are ready to set sail. Luffy's crew manages to become targets of Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai, and they decide to help Princess Vivi. They also meet Miss All-Sunday, the number two in Baroque Works, and assistant to Crocodile. While she attempts to offer them an Eternal Pose to an island near Alabasta, Luffy breaks it instead of allowing an enemy to decide their destination.

The Honor of Elbaf
Reaching their second island on the Grand Line, Little Garden, meant a somewhat of a change for Usopp. The island's inhabitants, the giants Dorry and Brogy, fought in never-ending battle of pride and honor, which are more important than their own lives - a battle of men, as Usopp defined it, which amazed him. According to him, they are exactly what he wanted to be, the greatest warrior of the seas; to a point where he says that one day he will die with pride, and his last words will be "I am Usopp, the great warrior of the sea!".

Usopp was moved to rage when he had discovered that the sake which came from their ship, which they gave to Dorry and Brogy, exploded and interrupted the battle, and even attempted to attack Mr. 5, knowing the risk, joining the battle against the Baroque Work Agents stationed in Little Garden. Usopp frees Luffy from Miss Goldenweek's control, while mounted on Carue, and also figured out the weakness of Mr. 3's Devil Fruit powers, and set into motion the plan that saved Zoro, Nami, and Vivi in time, thus he helped Luffy defeat Mr. 3's team and Mr. 5's team. He still wishes to visit Elbaf, the island the giants came from.

Adventure on a Doctorless Island
While looking for a doctor, the crew meets the pirate Wapol, who attacks them, but only makes Luffy send him flying. They arrive at last to an island only to find out they are not welcome. The Straw Hat crew manages to gain the trust of the people that attacked them, and are taken to the village, except for Zoro and Carue, who guard the ship. Luffy and Sanji must take Nami to the island's sole doctor who lives on a mountain-top. Vivi and Usopp discover the past of the island, and the truth about the pirate Wapol from Dalton. The doctor is discovered to be on the other side of the island, and Usopp, Vivi and Dalton rush to find her before Dalton has to leave them upon hearing of Wapol's return to the island. During the avalanche, Usopp is rendered unconscious, forcing Vivi to strike his face repeatedly so he does not freeze to death. After waking up they quickly found a shirtless Zoro who got caught in the avalanche while taking a cold swim in the icy water.

Later after arriving back in the village, Vivi, Usopp and Zoro deal with the king's army in order to save Dalton. The villagers along with Zoro, Vivi and Usopp start their ascent to the castle through a rope way, and arrive after Luffy defeated Wapol. Though Usopp reacted negatively like the villagers upon seeing Chopper for the first time, Chopper announces his intentions of joining the Straw Hats to Dr. Kureha, who does not take it too well; but after escaping from the castle, she has decided to give the whole Straw Hat crew a farewell gift.

War in Alabasta
The crew saw a Sea Cat as they neared Alabasta. Starving for food, they try to capture it but Vivi stop them since it was considered a sacred animal. As they pass through some steam from an underwater volcano, Luffy and Usopp caught an okama while fishing. As they waited for his crew to catch up, he entertains them with his Devil Fruit ability to copy other people's appearances, one of which was Vivi's father. When the man's crew caught up, he was revealed to be Mr. 2 Bon Kurei of Baroque Works. Knowing his abilities, they made an 'X' mark on their right arms to know when he was posing as one of them.

The crew landed in Nanohana where they encounter Smoker and Tashigi. A powerful pirate named Portgas D. Ace appears, and is revealed to be Luffy's older brother. Ace fights Smoker while the Straw Hats run for their ship. Ace catches up to them and gave Luffy a Vivre Card before departing. They docked their ship near the once 'green city' of Erumalu where they see the extent of the country's suffering as Vivi explained how Baroque Works was using Dance Powder to cause it. After tackling some of the dangers in the desert, they reach Yuba where they meet Toto, a friend of the royal family. They find out that the Rebel Army has moved out of Yuba and headed to Katorea, and the rebel leader Kohza, Toto's son and Vivi's childhood friend, is determined to attack.

The crew travels to the city of Rainbase to take down Crocodile and Baroque Works, but run afoul of Smoker and Tashigi. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Smoker are trapped by Crocodile. Chopper distracts Crocodile while Sanji frees the rest of the crew, but find themselves trapped yet again. After escaping from Rain Dinners, Usopp and the crew together with Vivi crossed the desert to Alubarna, where the final battle will take place.

Crocodile, however, manages to catch Luffy, beginning the first round of their battle. The crew, excluding Luffy, proceeded to the Alubarna. As they reach the destination, they split up to distract the Baroque Works agents to engage their battle separately. Usopp went with Eyelashes where he was followed by Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, who easily defeated them and assumed Usopp's form, stealing Usopp's sniper goggles in the process. After Mr. 2 left to go after Vivi, Sanji caught up and Usopp explained the situation before leaving to back up Chopper. The battle of Usopp and Chopper vs. the Mr. 4 team then began. Things look hopeless for Usopp and Chopper as they continue to suffer from every attack that the Mr. 4 team makes.

When Miss Merry Christmas tells them that Luffy is dead, Usopp refused to believe it, claiming that Luffy will become the next Pirate King. When she laughs at this, Usopp tells Chopper that a real man never lets his friend's dreams be laughed at and must fight for it no matter what. When Miss Merry Christmas caught Usopp and tried to make Mr. 4 hit Usopp's face, Usopp shot a kemuri boshi to blind Mr. 4. Usopp escapes from Miss Merry Christmas and Chopper caught her on his horns. Mr. 4 smashed her face after Usopp imitated her voice to use her teamwork command against her. Then Usopp and Chopper used the UsoCho Hammer Suisei to defeat Mr. 4. When Mr.4 team was knocked out, Lassou dropped one last explosive ball which explodes near to Mr. 4 team.

Later, the Straw Hats hurried to locate the bomb before it goes off. Vivi figured out where the bomb was, and had Usopp call the Straw Hats together with a flare. She found it inside of the clock tower, but the Mr. 7 pair of Baroque Works were there. Vivi defeats them but realized the bomb cannot be stopped so easily. It has a timer, and right before it blows up, Pell shows up and takes it into the atmosphere, where he sacrifices himself to save Alubarna. The Rebel and Royal armies continued to fight even after the bomb went off. It wasn't until it rained and Crocodile was revealed to be one behind the drought that they stopped. Tashigi and Smoker both were rewarded for taking on Crocodile, but neither one of them believed it was right since the Straw Hat pirates did all the work. Luffy rescued Nico Robin and Cobra from the collapsing tomb where he fought and defeated Crocodile.

He was then brought to the palace to rest. When he awakened, a banquet is thrown for the pirates. They were then invited to enjoy the hot spring steam-room inside the palace. Later that night, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei contacted them, telling them he prevented their ship from being taken by the Marines. The next day, the day of her speech, Vivi was to make a decision on whether or not she will stay on the crew. Meanwhile, Bon Kurei and his crew helped the Straw Hats escape from Hina so they could get to Vivi, who declined joining them for the sake of he country. Regardless, they all showed their 'X' mark to signify that they will still consider her as one of them. After escaping from the Marines, Nico Robin (Miss All Sunday) appears from inside of the Straw Hats ship. She manages to persuade the crew to let her join since she had nowhere else to go.

Rumble in Jaya
Nami's Log Pose begins to point to the sky, after that, a big ship falls from sky and the crew finds a map in of an island named 'Skypiea' on a 200-year-old ship. They compete with the monkey-like Masira's salvage crew while they search for more clues on how to get there. The Straw Hats decide to go to Jaya island to look for information on Skypiea. The Straw Hats meet with Montblanc Cricket on another part of Jaya; Cricket is a descendant of Montblanc Noland, an infamous "liar" who told of a gold city on Jaya, and Cricket was outcast for looking for artifacts of the gold city. He may be the only person who knows how to get to Skypiea.

Cricket explains how the Straw Hats can ride a dangerous vertical current called the Knock-Up Stream to get to Skypiea. However, they first have to catch a South Bird to point them toward the point where the stream will erupt from the ocean. While the Straw Hats are looking for a South Bird, Bellamy and his crew attack Cricket's house, and steal the gold artifacts he'd collected over the years from his salvage work. When the Straw Hats return and see what happened, Luffy decides to take a side trip back to Mock Town. The Going Merry is refitted by Masira and Shoujou to be more flight capable, and the Straw Hats catch a ride on the Knock-Up Stream for Skypiea.

Adventure in a Sky Island and Taking Down a God
The crew starts here by entering through Gate of Heaven. At first they are recommended by an old woman to pay their entrance fee, but are also told that they may enter even if they don't pay. As they carried by a sky shrimp, they landed on a place that's surrounded by clouds. They met their Conis, a Skypiean. As their conversation continues about the waver, the White Berets interrupt them and casting them a case of illegal entrants. However, the ship has been carried by the shrimp together with Zoro, Nami, Chopper, and Robin. Luffy decided to follow them as Usopp wants to reject. Conis go with them to guide them to the boat terminal. As they proceed, they encounter a trap where a lightning attack sent by Enel nearly killed Conis though Gan Fall got her and Luffy out of the way in time before he departed with Conis. Unfortunately, after they got a boat, the group met one of the priests who was named Satori.

As Luffy and Sanji fought the priest, he manage to find their boat. As his friends defeated their enemy, they proceed at finding their other crew mates. Later, they over cross the Shandia Warriors in their way. They finally reach the sacrificial altar and reunited with their comrade. The crew has sleep for a new adventure tomorrow. Usopp heard a hammer sound building their ship, he saw Klabautermann mistaking it as a ghost. He woke Zoro but was ignored.

In the morning, Usopp, Nami, and Sanji together with Gan Fall remained in the ship. Gan Fall demonstrated the use of impact dial. Enel appeared and had a little conversation with Gan Fall. After the conversation, Enel took out Sanji, followed by Usopp. As he and Sanji awoke, they followed the Maxim using Usopp's belt to save Nami. While inside they secretly disassemble Maxim's parts. When they are planning to escape with Nami, Sanji sacrificed himself in order to protect his friends.

Nami falls down the arc while Usopp stays on top, hidden, so he can retrieve Sanji. He climbs down the ship carrying an unconscious Sanji with him and the two of them fall to the ground. He is seen later cheering Luffy and Nami to reach Enel. After the battle rang, all of the Skypiean with the crew started a celebration party.

Usopp trades his rubber bands (a substance foreign to the sky people) for a variety of dials. Next day, they collected gold from the ruins; a group of Skypiean bring a large gold post mistaking them to a cannon. They start to run until they reach their ship. They manage to return to the Blue Sea with the help of Pagaya and Conis.

The Davy Back Fight
Usopp and company come across a mysterious pirate ship after trying to escape a giant wave. Soon, they arrive on an island inhabited by strange animals. Going Merry is captured by the Foxy Pirates. After Tonjit re-unites with his horse, they are soon attacked by Captain Foxy and his subordinates, who challenge Luffy in a Davy Back Fight, a contest of pirates where the stakes are members of the crew. The first round of Davy Back Fight involves a race around the island with tiny boats. He teamed up with Robin and Nami. With only Luffy, Nami, and Porche's boat remaining, it's an all out war to the goal, but after Foxy exposes his Devil Fruit powers, Porche wins and takes Tony Tony Chopper from Luffy.

The second round prepares to start. Without Chopper, Sanji and Zoro must face the Foxy Pirates in a ball game, but are hampered by their blatant cheating and the crooked referee. The remaining Straw Hat Pirates watch Zoro and Sanji play from the sidelines. After the bickering rivals Sanji and Zoro manage to overcome the opposing team by working together, Usopp, filled with tears, chastise Zoro for fooling around and scaring him.

Usopp volunteers to be Luffy's coach and gives Luffy the afro for his fight against Foxy. Luffy and Foxy face off in the final game: a battle of brawn aboard Foxy's ship. The Straw Hat crew watch aside as Luffy continues to battle Foxy with the odds not in his favor, and the fight continues inside Foxy's ship. They have not seen the battle when they fight inside the ship. Luffy manages to finally defeat Foxy by using his ability against him. After getting back his crewmembers, the Straw Hats leave in search for a shipwright.

A Breaking Ship, a Breaking Crew
After the Going Merry narrowly escapes being hit by a "sea train", the crew meets an old woman, Kokoro, and her granddaughter, Chimney. Kokoro gives Luffy a map to Water 7. Luffy, Nami, and Usopp buy boats driven by sea monsters called "yagara". Luffy, Nami, and Usopp get strange greetings from the residents and they get to experience the roller coaster-like channels of Water 7. They find out that some pirates had been beaten at the hands of some powerful craftsmen; the Galley La Company. Luffy has their gold exchanged for cash. After, they meet a man who resembles Usopp, Galley La's carpenter employment foreman, Kaku. Two of the suitcases of money are stolen by the Franky Family.

Paulie makes his debut when he retrieves Usopp's stolen money as he runs from debt collectors. Kalifa shows Luffy, Nami, and Usopp around Dock No.1 and tells them how Iceburg founded the Galley La Company. Kaku returns from the Going Merry and tells them that their keel is irreparably damaged. Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper follow Usopp's bloody trail to the Franky House where they find him passed out in front. The four of them challenge the Franky Family only to find out that their real target, Franky himself, is gone and has taken the money with him. Once they are back on the ship, Luffy has to finally tell Usopp that the Going Merry can no longer be repaired and that they've chosen to get a new ship without him.

You could just cut off those members that are useless. There's no way I could catch up to you monsters, you don't need any weak members, right? Usopp believes that Luffy has abandoned the dignity of their ship and says he's leaving the crew. That night, he challenges Luffy to a duel. Usopp fights Luffy in order to decide who keeps the Going Merry; he fights harder than he's ever fought before. Luffy actually seems to pose no threat but all the while, he's remembering what great friends they used to be, sailing together on the same ship. Even after taking a harsh beating, Luffy defeats Usopp. They leave Usopp and the ship behind.

An incredibly high tide called the "Aqua Laguna" is coming and Chopper and Sanji rush to warn Usopp. Usopp attempts to repair the ship enough to withstand the Aqua Laguna. While making his repairs, he and the ship are kidnapped by the Franky Family. In Franky's underground hideout, Usopp tells him his story and Franky is finally touched. In return, Franky tells him a little about Tom's contributions to Water 7. Usopp believes that the person who repaired the Going Merry in Skypiea was really the Going Merry itself.

Franky says that the ship was inhabited by a spirit who enters ships who are dearly cared for. The spirit repaired their ship just enough for them to reach the next island. The doorbell rings from the sea side and the Galley La foremen enter. The foremen let go of the Going Merry so she would be destroyed at sea. A man hands Nami a letter he found from Sanji. It informs her that Usopp, Franky, and he are on board the train that had just departed.

Sanji fights his way through another train car and finds Usopp and Franky. Sanji ignores Usopp and pretends they never even met, considering his former crewmate "dead to him" for what he did. However, Sanji boots Franky in the face when he learns his identity, since the beating Franky and his Family gave Usopp happened while Usopp was still part of the crew, evening the score. Usopp separates from them but later, when Sanji and Franky are spotted, a man named Sogeking comes to their rescue. He was wearing a mask and a cape, using the alias "Sogeking" (sogeki means sniper, so Sogeking ("そげキング" Sogekingu) is a portmanteau meaning "Sniper King"). According to his stories, Sogeking is from an island of snipers, Sharpshooter Island, that can be found in your heart, and Usopp has even written a theme song for this identity. Sogeking makes his grand entrance. Franky and Sanji aren't fooled by his costume but they try to humor him. They devise a plan first, then detach the last two cars and fight their way through the rest.

Sogeking then meets Robin. Sogeking talks with Robin and tells her that the crew knows about her reasons for leaving. After hiding under Robin's cloak for a few episodes, Sogeking finally shows himself. They stumble into the room with the CP9 and meet with Sanji and Franky. Sogeking produces a smokescreen. The four head into another car, detach it, and escape. It's not long before Blueno pulls their car back, though. Franky knocks down the wall so they can escape but ends up on the enemy car. Robin willingly follows Blueno into his improvised door and Sogeking and Sanji are left alone. For a while, Blueno explains a little of Robin's past involving the Buster Call. Luffy and the others finally catch up to Sanji, Usopp, and the rest of the Franky Family as they near Enies Lobby. Paulie sits down with the group and talks about their plan. Luffy does not bother to follow the plan, and slingshots himself beyond the gates before the train stops.

Enter Sogeking
He helped Franky and Sanji in order to rescue Nico Robin but they fail to do so. After being in the detached cart 4 and 3 with Sanji, they were found by the Franky Family and finally reunited with Luffy. When they confronted CP9, Sogeking unveiled a new weapon, a long staff with a more powerful slingshot attached called "Kabuto".

Later Sogeking misses getting on the king bull and is left behind. When he was about to make a move, the floor was flooded of Oimo's tears and together they discussed about Dorry and Brogy. After learning the truth that they were only used by the Marines, the two giants decided to help Sogeking and the three Galley La workers. Sogeking was sent flying by Kashi to reach the Courthouse's roof.

As they wait for the bridge to be activated, they line up at the roof and convince Robin to accept their request by allowing them to save her. Sogeking complies with Luffy's request to burn the World Government flag, effectively declaring war on the World Government. At this time, the bridge has only been half activated. Kokoro volunteers her help by using the Rocketman. The Rocketman ramped at the bridge and together with the Straw Hats, they jumped. As they landed on the Tower of Justice, Fukurou appears and declared that a key is needed to uncuff Robin's cuff which each of the CP9 holds one. They decided to fight individually and search for an agent.

I'll do whatever you cannot do. And you do whatever I cannot do!!!

He confronted Jabra and was easily defeated. He shortly after switched places with Sanji. Later, as he analyzed what Sanji had told to him, he immediately went to the roof of Tower of Justice and sniped Spandam and the Marines to prevent Robin for being captured. When the Marine battleships begin to fire cannons at the Tower, Usopp jumps, rather than use the stairs where falling debris could potentially crush him, and he has to be carried by Zoro and Sanji to their escape ship in the tunnel. While in the tunnel, they nearly drown and are saved by Kokoro who was a mermaid. There, their escape ship is ready. When he saw Luffy losing to Rob Lucci, he took off his mask and shouted at Luffy to defeat his enemy.

In the anime, he saved Zoro by shooting Shu, who rusted Zoro's Yubashiri but suddenly, their escape ship exploded due to Marines fire power. As Luffy had already defeated Lucci, their current problem was their escape ship. Usopp heard a voice telling them to jump into the sea. When they realized that it was the Going Merry, they jumped out into the sea and finally escaped. Soon as the crew had escaped from Enies Lobby, Usopp put back on his Sogeking mask and neither Luffy nor Chopper have realized that they are one and the same.

With the Going Merry, everyone has managed to escape Enies Lobby safely. However, after escaping, Iceburg arrives in a Galley-La just in time to pick up the Straw Hat Pirates as the Merry suddenly breaks apart. Luffy then gives the Going Merry a viking funeral by burning it as the crew tearfully says goodbye. Usopp then finally accepted that the ship was beyond salvation.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
Back in Water 7, Usopp sat on Kashi's shoulders bummed out. Kashi offered to take Usopp to Elbaf but Usopp seems to reject it because Usopp was later seen peeking through the window of the temporary headquarters with Yokozuna watching the whole Luffy and Garp situation. Usopp tried to find a way to re-enter the crew, Sanji caught him rehearsing but did nothing.

Sanji informed Luffy about Usopp's rehearsal, and a delighted Luffy wanted to go get him. Zoro, however, believed that Usopp's behavior was disrespectful to Luffy's rank as captain and threatened to leave the crew if Luffy allowed himself to be pushed around. Eventually, the crew agreed with Zoro, and decided to only allow Usopp back if he acknowledged his wrongdoing and apologized. After waiting for the Thousand Sunny to be completed, the Straw Hats (with the newly added Franky) were forced into a hasty departure without Usopp.

Usopp was, however, already on his way through town to the Scrap Island with the intent of rejoining the crew. He spots the Straw Hats making a fast getaway from Garp and his Marine ship. Usopp tried to communicate with his crew but all except Chopper ignored him. Eventually, the sight of his friends sailing away drives him into a heartfelt apology yelled to the ship. With this, Luffy tearfully pulls him to the ship and proclaims his crew is again complete.

Usopp has now officially rejoined the crew after 106 chapters of absence. He escaped the Marines along with the rest of the crew thanks to the Thousand Sunny's Coup de Burst.

Thriller Bark Arc
After sailing for some time on the Thousand Sunny, Usopp and the rest of the crew came across a mysterious barrel floating on the ocean. Upon opening it, a flash shot up from it. After braving a storm that mysteriously came after wards thanks to Nami and Franky, Usopp and the rest the crew found themselves in the Florian Triangle. Usopp, having not heard from Kokoro about the ghosts within the area, became very frightened. He and the rest then came in the presence of a ghost ship.

This ship apparently belonged to a skeleton named Brook who through by chance initially accepted Luffy's offer to join the crew. Usopp was especially frightened by Brook and by this time, he had donned all sorts of equipment used for exorcism such as garlic and crosses due to the circumstances. Just as Brook was about to perform before Usopp and the rest of the crew after dinner, a ghost appeared and some clanking sounds were heard These sounds were caused by the gates of the island that suddenly appeared, Thriller Bark, closing. These events prompted Brook to head to the island before Usopp and the rest of the Straw Hats' eyes.

With Luffy's resolve to go to the island, Usopp could not do anything about it. At that moment, Franky then decided to show the crew a little present, the Mini Merry II. This pleased the crew very much that Usopp decided to join Nami and Chopper for a test drive. However while sailing on the little boat, Usopp and his companions accidentally bumped into the moat of Thriller Bark and fell from the Mini Merry II into it. There, the three met the Cerberus which chased them until they hid in a tree. In the tree, the three met Hildon who decided to take them to meet Dr. Hogback.

After riding a carriage with Hildon through some woods filled with all sorts of stitched-up creatures, Usopp and his companions were left in the middle of a cemetery. There, they were attacked by some Zombies. Usopp was luckily able to drive these creatures away with flame star so he and his companions can escape. In response however, the Zombies called Usopp a pyromaniac. Usopp and his companions then came across Hogback's mansion and met with the good doctor and his maid, Cindry.

After dinner with the good doctor in which the three asked about Brook, Nami decided to take a bath. For this, Usopp and Chopper were put in charge of guarding her from intruders from the outside. In the middle of the bath however, Nami was attacked by an invisible thing. Luckily, Usopp came in the bathroom and drove it away, after thanking Nami for "letting" him see her naked. Later after the incident in the bathroom, Usopp and his companions found out that the paintings and taxidermy in the dining room were all Zombies. Fortunately, the three escaped through a secret door before the Zombies could catch them.

Beyond the secret door, Usopp and his companions found themselves in a room filled with Cindry's pictures. Through a newspaper article that Nami found, the three learned that Cindry was an actress that died ten years ago. Just as they were about to leave, the three stumbled across a treasure chest. Inside however, was a horrific Jack in a box that frightened the three out of the room.

As the three were running through the hallways of the mansion from more painting Zombies, a mysterious bodyguard decided to chase them. They discover Hogback's lab, while he's doing a new zombie named Mario. But the Bodyguard, who talk exactly like Brook, catch them. The Bodyguard is named Ryuma and, while he can talk like Brook, he has the body of a Legendary Swordsman. He proves that stopping Usopp's team with an odd technique.

For the moment, Usopp, Chopper and Nami are unconscious inside Hogback's Lab. Eventually, they manage to escape and overhear Moriah's plan. However, they are caught and make a run for it but eventually run into a bunch of zombie bodyguards. Nami is captured during this battle and soon Franky and Robin show up to help Chopper and Usopp to defeat the zombies. They eventually get back to the ship where they find Luffy, Zoro and Sanji sleeping. Usopp tells a lie to wake them up and the rest of the crew explains the situation to them. Luffy then tells the Straw Hats to prepare for the counterattack.

As the crew ventured back onto the Thriller Bark, Usopp eventually ended up facing Perona and her personal zombies because he was the only one able to resist her powers and, therefore, defeat her. Usopp defeated the majority of his opponents and the fight soon boiled down to Perona, apparently invincible, bombarding Usopp with attacks with him only able to flee. When her only remaining zombie Kumashi was about to land the killing blow, a terrified Usopp, knowing that if he lost to Perona, all hope of survival for himself and his friends would be lost, was about to give in to despair and cried out to Sogeking to save him. In that split second, Usopp donned Sogeking's mask and defeated Kumashi. Sogeking then proceeded to converse with Usopp as "they" ran from Perona, helping him to figure out how to defeat her. Sogeking disappeared at this point, but Usopp used the hints he gained to uncover Perona's weakness and defeat her.

After finishing the battle with Perona, Usopp then joined up with the rest of the crew to combat the rampaging giant Zombie, Oars. After recovering from the initial assault, Usopp scored several hits on the monster, but to little effect. After Oars incapacitated Zoro, he attempted to crush Nami and Usopp but they were saved by Luffy in his Nightmare Mode.

Luffy, so empowered, was able to nearly defeat Oars and knock Moriah unconscious. Usopp aided Franky in fixing the Thriller Bark's freezing systems to lock Oars into place so Luffy could land the finishing blow. After Oars was defeated, Moriah woke up and used his most power attack - Shadow Asgard, in an attempt to kill everyone once and for all. Usopp did not participate in the battle, but stood at the front lines to show his support for Luffy even as he was screaming his head off. Luffy, using his Gears, finally defeated Moriah, freeing all the captured shadows.

Immediately after, Bartholomew Kuma reported that Moriah's failure to kill Luffy and that he was badly wounded. Kuma was ordered to kill everyone on Thriller Bark and evacuate the wounded Moriah. However, instead of outright killing everyone as his orders said he offered everyone a deal - let him kill Luffy (who cannot fight back now) and he will leave everyone alone. Usopp, along with the other Straw Hats and everyone else on the island told Kuma no way, forcing the Shichibukai to set off a bomb made out of deflected air that badly wounded everyone. However, before he could finish off Luffy, Zoro rose again and vowed he would not let Kuma touch Luffy. Kuma accepted Zoro's offer to just kill Zoro, though Zoro survived. Kuma then left, praising Luffy for having such good friends.

Soon after, Usopp joined everyone in a celebratory party at Thriller Bark (save for Zoro, who was still recovering from his wounds) lead by Brook and his piano. Luffy finally revealed to Brook that he is friends with his old friend Laboon as Usopp and Sanji backed him up on his claim. Brook stopped partying, cried, and revealed a Tone Dial which had the last song the Rumba Pirates ever performed together on it for Laboon. Brook stated that since he has new friends in Luffy and the others, he will follow them around the world and get back to Laboon that way, where he will give the Dial to Laboon. Brook then asked if the Straw Hat crew's invitation was still good and Luffy assured him it is. Usopp joined the others in a shocked response. They then continued the celebration.

Brook later asked him and Franky to build a memorial for the Rumbar Pirates to finally put their souls at peace. Usopp and Franky, working together are not only able to finish this memorial, but it was also beautifully done. They then help Brook bury his Rumbar Pirate friends and hold a small ceremony, in which a recovered Zoro also laid to rest his broken sword.

Strong World
On board the Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats read news of attacks on East Blue. Luffy says they will return to East Blue to protect it when Shiki's ship appears overhead. After warning him of the storm ahead, he comes down to meet them. There he reveals he has a Devil Fruit power to make any inanimate object he touches ignore gravity and float. After learning it was Nami that delivered the warning, and that they are headed to East Blue, Shiki offers to take them there and uses his power on Sunny. Together the two ships travel to the floating island seen before where Shiki suddenly kidnaps Nami. Sanji along with the others try to rescue her, but by controlling the Thousand Sunny using his power, he escapes them, as well as scattering them among the fragments of the island.

Sanji and Usopp find themselves on an island surrounded by a cherry tree forest. Sanji wails for Nami and Robin, with Usopp urging him to shutup. Due to Sanji's loud outbursts it attracts the attention of many of the giant monster animals dwelling nearby. The two escape by jumping on some nearby hanging vines but discover they are hanging off the whiskers of a giant Toramata Tiger. Usopp is about be attacked by it but Sanji jumps in and delivers a powerful kick to its head, knocking the animal out. This however attracts the attention of a herd of Cowball's. The battle with them causes the ground to break and the two to fall below into a lake connected to another floating island.

Sanji and Usopp happen across a village, where everyone appears to have small wings on their arms, learn that Shiki also takes all the men and young women to his royal palace, leaving the village with only the very young and old with strict monitoring around the clock. They soon meet up with Zoro and Chopper. When the rest of the crew shows at the village, Robin informs them of Shiki's plan. They learn there that Shiki is planning to let loose the animals on the island into East Blue in a gambit to force the surrender of the World Government. They also learn that to prove the power of the animals he is planning a demonstration using a village on the floating island.

Shiki then arrives sometime later and confronts the Straw Hats who are there. Usopp attacks with Fire Bird Star, but Shiki dodges it with ease. Despite some initial success in the others fending him off, Usopp and the Straw Hats are defeated, and Nami is coerced into rejoining Shiki by him agreeing to leave them, and her home town be. Usopp, the only remaining crew member conscious tries to stop her, but Shiki knocks him out.

Xiao reappears and gives them the Dial Nami left them. Her mother, who earlier had expressed relief about the animals being sent to East Blue, apologizes for saying how happy she was for Shiki leaving for East Blue. They then play the message, and after hearing only the first bit of it, Luffy is angered to the point that he will not listen to the rest (the rest of the crew does, however).

Back at Shiki's place, Nami is found to have in fact been attempting to blow up the plants protecting his palace, but was overcome by the poison. Shiki traps her near the plants and heads off to meet the pirate captains gathering. The Straw Hats arrive at his palace and burst down the gates and make short work of the guards outside. While preparing a toast to the commencement of the operation, the Straw Hats march into the main meeting room brandishing various firearms and a new wardrobe.

After a short confrontation, where Shiki calls them simply a suicide squad, and reveals hundreds of men around them. They unload their firearms in the room, defeating most those gathered much to Shiki's dismay, then split up to defeat the rest. Luffy chases after Shiki, with the others helping fight off his minions and soldiers. Usopp and Chopper go off to try and rescue Nami. Chopper tracks her smell to the forest where she is slowly dying from the poison toxins. They find her but are hit by some explosives that destroy the surrounding trees. They quickly grab Nami and escape from the horde of giant animals that begin their onslaught towards Shiki's fortress.

Usopp and Chopper begin their search of the fortress for the science laboratory to retrieve the antidote. Shiki shows up and stops them, surrounding them with his Devil Fruit abilities. Luffy then appears and stops Shiki, as the two escape with Nami in tow. They find the laboratory and break in, finding a group of IQ Plants. Dr Indigo appears, laughing at them. Chopper says he recognizes him as a scientist from the smell of chemicals on him. Usopp demands him to hand over the antidote, but he refuses. Zoro shows up and challenges Indigo for the antidote. He easily finishes him off and retrieves the antidote for them.

When Nami awakens Usopp consoles her, explaining that the antidote is working on her and everyone is all fighting for her sake. Nami then orders the two to backtrack to the royal palace. There, Usopp and Chopper threaten one of the remaining scientists to have Shiki move the island into a storm cloud. After Shiki is defeated by Luffy, Usopp along with the other Straw Hats escape using Thousand Sunny, using Shiki's pirate sail as a parachute. Usopp is seen much later on the ship as Nami recovers.

An Incident with the World Nobles
Leaving Thriller Bark, the crew met up with a mermaid named Keimi and a talking starfish called Pappug after Luffy attacked a Sea King in the belly. Keimi offered to sell them Takoyaki in gratitude, only to have Pappug tell her she should instead give it for free.

Keimi requested that they save a friend of hers named "Hachin" upon learning he was kidnapped by the Macro Pirates, with the help of the Flying Fish Riders in Grove 44 of Sabaody Archipelago. To receive some Takoyaki, The Straw Hats agreed to save her friend. Unfortunately, Keimi did not seem to understand the possibility it could be a trap, and they came under attack from the Flying Fish Riders. They then retreated under the orders of their boss, Duval, upon recognizing a certain person in their crew.

The Straw Hats then continued into the base. Reaching a floating town of sorts, they find a prison in which "Hachin" is prisoner. After several pathetic attempts to prove otherwise, "Hachin" was revealed to be really Hatchan, formerly of the Arlong Pirates, making the Straw Hats very reluctant to save him. Knowing that Hatchan was a past enemy of her new allies, Keimi, with Pappug decide to rescue him themselves and end up captured by Macro, the leader of the Fishman Pirates. The Straw Hats decide to rescue Keimi as well as Hatchan, after Nami assures them it's not a problem for her.

Reunited with Hatchan, Keimi was glad to have found such strong allies. Soon the leader of the Flying Fish Riders, Duval appeared, and revealed why he has a grudge against the Straw Hats: his face resembles Sanji's wanted poster. He tried to drown Sanji, who is rescued by Keimi. Duval then tries sinking the Thousand Sunny but Usopp and Franky activate its latest weapon, the "Roar Cannon", destroying much of the Flying Fish Rider's base. Sanji promptly rearranges Duval's face with a barrage of kicks, which ironically turned him into a good-looking narcissist and grateful towards Sanji.

The crew reach the Sabaody Archipelago, they witness an enslaved pirate being shot for trying to escape by the World Nobles. The crew met Shakuyaku, who was an old friend of Hatchan, for help in search for a mechanic called Rayleigh, although he is in the further parts of Sabaody. Shakky warned the crew of nine pirates with bounties exceeding 100,000,000. Keimi is later kidnapped to be enslaved and sold, prompting the Straw Hat Pirates to attempt to rescue her.

During the attack on the Auctioning House, Usopp was pushed off of a flying fish and landed on Saint Roswald's head, smashing the nobleman's face into the floor and effectively knocking him out. Usopp, along with the rest of the Straw Hats and the Kid and Heart pirates, assaulted the incoming marines to make their escape. The Straw Hats, with Silvers Rayleigh returned to Shakky's Rip Off Bar in Grove 13 to rest.

There, Rayleigh reveals he was First Mate in Gold Roger's crew to the surprise of the Straw Hats. He also explained that Roger was not captured by the Marines, but rather gave himself up. This was due to an incurable illness he caught, and spent the last four years of his life fighting the disease, taking Crocus as the crew's doctor. In three years, Roger and his crew conquered the Grand Line, and he became known as the "Pirate King". While he enjoyed the wealth and fame he amassed, he knew what it all meant as he was to die anyway. So a year before his eventual death, he disbanded the Roger Pirates, with many members disappearing. On his last meeting with Rayleigh, he told him he wasn't going die, and gave himself up to the Marines. The Marines claimed to have captured Gold Roger, and his execution in Loguetown was to make an example of him, but Roger said his last words, and started the "Great Pirate Age". Usopp asked if Roger had intended to start the Great Pirate Age, and Rayleigh replied because Roger was dead, he could not answer that question and it was up to the people who were alive create their own era.

Rayleigh later congratulated the Straw Hats for making it as far as they did, Soon Robin asked if Rayleigh knew the True History. Rayleigh confirmed that he did, but told her that the Roger Pirates may have misinterpreted the translation of the Poneglyphs and that she should go out and see for herself. Still, he offered to tell if she still wanted to learn their conclusions. Robin declined. Usopp, not one to miss an opportunity to ask a question of one to had finished the Grand Line, asked where the ultimate pirate treasure: One Piece was located. Furious, Luffy berated Usopp for asking such a question, believing it would not be fair on the several numbers of pirates that risked their lives to find it. Luffy also threatened to quit being a pirate there and then, if his crew persisted in asking Rayleigh the location of One Piece, or asking if the One Piece even existed, rather than go on a boring adventure, Usopp then apologized.

After telling his tale, Rayleigh agreed to coat the Thousand Sunny free of charge, and gave the Straw Hats pieces of a Vivre Card to locate him as he would be moving the ship to a safe location due to the admiral's imminent arrival on the archipelago. Unfortunately, it would take at least three days to coat the ship, so the Straw Hats had to survive the situation they had caused in the meantime.

Destruction of the Straw Hat Crew
As the Straw Hats said their goodbyes to Shakuyaku, Keimi, Pappug and Hatchan they went on to find a good hideout, Usopp noted Franky was honored to have met Rayleigh, and said he did not know he was the "elder respecting" type. Soon afterward, a man who appeared to be Bartholomew Kuma confronted the Straw Hats. Usopp was crucial in defeating the fake Kuma when he accidentally hit his weak point.

After the Pacifista was defeated, Sentoumaru and another Pacifista arrive to confront the Straw Hats much to his horror. Usopp and the others attempt to flee but things just went from bad to worse by the arrival of Admiral Kizaru who cripples Zoro. He and Brook try to fight the admiral, but their attacks merely go through his body.

To Usopp's horror, the real Bartholomew Kuma arrives and Usopp watched in shock as Kuma made Zoro vanish. He found himself trapped between the Pacifista and Kuma, helpless to escape or fight. Kuma teleports the Pacifista away and one by one, sends each of the Straw Hats away until he himself dissapears along with them.

Straw Hat Separation Adventure: Greenstone
After he was sent flying by Bartholomew Kuma, Usopp landed several days later on one of the islands in the Boin Archipelago called Greenstone, the forest of thieves. Before being attacked by an over sized stag-beetle, he was saved by a local named Heracles. After a quick introduction, he was saved again by Heracles from a man-eating plant. He is now the fourth of the Straw Hats to be featured in a cover story and is seen fighting gluttony and "I'll-Die-If-I'm-On-My-Own Disease" while hungrily watching Heracles eat ramen. Usopp then became really fat.

Usopp is still eating when a News Coo brings him a newspaper about the war. After hearing about Ace and his death, he runs frantically through Greenstone to find a way off the island, despite the constant warnings of Heracles. He fights a giant beetle and some man-eating plants and gets injured. Heracles gives him some medical help, he is seen standing next to the fallen Usopp. Heracles starts to explain that it is impossible to escape the island since the more dangerous species living there reside on the the outer rim, making it very difficult to reach the shores by anyone stranded from within, only to realize that Usopp has disappeared.

Showing a lack of fear, Usopp races to the ocean, only to be stopped by the appearance of a sea hippo. As it starts to feast on the sweet-smelling plants that lured it there, its weight causes the collossal "island" to close, revealing that the four islands of Boin Archipelago are not true islands but a "giant island-like flower floating on the ocean". As it closes, a fissure opened in the very center of the 'island' like a mouth. Heracles reveals the carnivorous nature of the Boin Archipelago by saying "The island has started eating its meal!".

Usopp falls with the sea hippo, but is saved by Heracles, asking why is he so active all of the sudden. He replies with tears in his eyes that he needs to see Luffy so he can comfort him in times like this, otherwise he could not honestly say he is a Straw Hat Pirate.

He later reads the article about Luffy infiltrating Marine Headquarters and says that he gets what Luffy is saying by praying at Marineford. Roused by the message, he runs off, deciding that he needs to lose weight, gain muscle, and get stronger. After Heracles catches up with him, Usopp reminisces about his time under Luffy's captaincy and admits that he just planned to stand around and watch while Luffy became Pirate King. However, as things are, he sees that Luffy is not invincible and for that reason, he decides to lend him his "super power" to become the Pirate King. He decides to grow stronger to help Luffy and asks Heracles to teach him everything he knows about fighting techniques, learning about the nature of the forest such as Pop Green, so that he may grow strong and become a true Sniper King.

The story continues two years later.