@Elfman:
Yeah well this entire paragraph of pro Chopper propaganda exactly proves my point. If this is the best you could come up with than they wouldn't have missed him if he stayed at Drum island.
For a doctor Chopper didn't do a lot of doctoring. He's always grinding his medicine and wrapping bandages but he never saved a life. Kureha saved Nami and Law cut Mocha up to remove the candy. Robin even had to warn him to not touch the poisonous fish. If there is one gag character in this fight then it is 'keychain' Chopper who is only on board for the kawaii merchandise with his Kyuun spark.
_'In skypedia he fought three priests and lived to tell the tale…_So now he even gets points for surviving an arc as a main character? He had to be saved by Zoro and Gan Fall. Sanji almost wrecked Enel's ship and saved Zoro and Usopp in a badass manner.
Saving people from rubble really makes someone a great character, I think you convinced me with that.
Sanji deserves this win based on story feats a looot more and everybody knows it, but let's milk the nosebleed gag from 2 arcs ago again.
The anti nosebleed guys have been spending more time on the nosebleeds then oda did, so maybe it's time to drop it.
Mr Prince threw a wrench in Croc's plans, Sanji went aboard of the sea train and set everything in motion, he snuck off during Enies Lobby arc to open the gates of justice.
So that proves that Sanji even as a cook shows way more initiative and reliability to the crew then Chopper.
I'm breakin' my vow of silence here. Let's see if I can make it worth it.
People interpret characters and value them based on different things. Maybe I can get that. You seem to be gauging characters based on the coolness of their accomplishments. I could be wrong, and feel free to correct if I am, but that's how it seems to be. But sure, let's go with that.
As was mentioned, Chopper saved Nami's life at Drum. And every battle or situation since, he was the one who tended to everyone's war wounds, and made sure they were well enough to continue fighting well afterwards. You need to pull off a quick blood transfusion after some idiot nearly dies because he can't keep it in his pants? Chopper's the guy to do it. Who was able to figure out that the kids at Punk Hazard were being drugged by a substance that was actively killing them, and then spent nearly all of the arc afterwards being one of the only guys consistently focusing on keeping the kids alive and safe? Yeah, it was the little reindeer guy. But doctor stuff wasn't the only thing he was good for either. He stuck with Usopp and helped him to victory in Alabasta, even though they were up against trained assassins who, by pure numbers, had a huge advantage. He's the one who fought tooth and nail, nearly to the death, at both Sky Island and Enies Lobby, even though he was scared to death and getting the crap kicked out of him all the way. Because he's not some run-of-the-mill shonen ubermensch like Sanji is. It's easy to charge into fights, look cool, and perform amazing feats when you're a brute character with a joke attached to him, who can do impossible things with the same amount of effort that most people put into breathing. After a point, that just stops being interesting. Chopper might be tougher than your average reindeer, but still he routinely winds up against guys who by all means could roast him alive. But he sticks it through, even though he's not quite as strong, even though he's afraid, even though he's still more or less a child who's still experiencing the world for the first time, and even though he's constantly being belittled and underestimated by nearly everyone he meets because he's a reindeer and a monster. He sticks it out, he fights anyway, and he does the things only he can, because he's a man and a pirate, and that's just what pirates do.
And here's one thing that Chopper never did. He never left his friend to die because of some archaic concept of chivalry. Just because Chopper looks good as a plushy doesn't mean he can't be cool sometimes too.