Article #2 - A look into the character of Usopp - quoted from tumblr
I just found this ask/answer on tumblr. It talks about Usopp and people likeing him and or disappointed in him. IT gives a good detailed synopsis of his character.
It didn't allow me to post the exact pic of the text so I had to copy it. Nor did it give info of who and where it came from.
-begin article-
Anonymous asked: I love Usopp a lot of the time but I have my moments where I can be disappointed in choices he makes. I'm disappointed by Sanji's constant chivalry and nosebleeds but I still love him pretty much all the time. Lately, there's been a lot of posts since Usopp's running away tactic that defends Usopp but puts down people who were disappointed. I mean, if you're not disappointed, cool, but I was. Don't put down my feelings on his choice in the fight. Am I crazy or just stupid for thinking that? :/
calgaras:
I have lots and lots of love for Usopp, and I really do think he’s one of the most well developed characters in the series. I don’t think he’s right all the time either, but what he does is extremely relateable and understandable. Take Water 7 for example: he was dead wrong about whether or not the crew should keep sailing with the Going Merry. Luffy had the same reaction that Usopp did when the shipwrights told him Merry couldn’t be repaired, and what did Iceburg say to him?
And Iceburg was right. It’s the duty of the captain to protect his whole crew, while still pressing forward to achieve his dream and the dreams of his crew. And jeopardizing the lives of the entire crew and all their dreams/futures because of an unwillingness to hurt the feelings of one of their own and make sacrifices where the needed to be made is not what a captain does.
So yeah, Usopp was dead wrong. But, I can still sympathize so much with where he was coming from. Usopp always had confidence issues with himself, and over time they just kept getting bigger and bigger. I think Aokiji’s appearance, where Usopp witnessed for the first time the entire Monster Trio being defeated with 0 effort, was a scary wake up call to him
For the first time Usopp realized that he couldn’t always depend on them to beat the big bad guys, that even if he fought and did his best, they could still all be crushed. And of course, Water 7 just drove home the idea that he wasn’t good enough to be a part of the crew harder than ever before
Usopp wasn’t just refusing to leave Merry because he was attached to it (and he WAS the closest one to it out of all of them), but because he was afraid that if the crew was willing to leave Merry behind when it wasn’t of use to them anymore they’d do the same to him one day. So he took a stand and fought to try to prove himself to both Luffy and himself. In a lot of ways it’s just like the fears Robin had about the crew, the first true family she ever had, becoming to resent her for the burden she placed on them and come to hate her, so she sacrificed herself rather than put them in harms way or give them a chance to reject her eventually.
So I disagree with Usopp sometimes, and sometimes I’m even disappointed in him. I was a bit disappointed in him when he ran away at first against Trébol and Sugar, but he came back and put his life on the line all the same. And you saw how badly he was hurt in that fight. If it had gone on any farther he probably would have died, and he knew that’s what would happen to him. And can you really look at a guy like that, a guy barely any stronger than the average tumblr user, and say to him, “hey, I know we only met a few hours ago, but could you go fight that guy who can throw ships like baseballs for us and probably die pointlessly in the process? We’d really appreciate it!”
Because that’s more or less what it was. Usopp was in far over his head. He was afraid for his life, and he was frustrated with the Tontatta putting all their hopes on him, something he admittedly fostered himself in them with his lies, and that’s understandable. Do I like that he ran away? Of course not. But I understand why he did it, because face it—every single us would have done the same, except we probably never would have come back. Usopp’s not a hero and he’s not a monster. He’s just a regular guy trying to do his best to overcome his own fears and limitations and find his place in the world, and I would hope that’s something everyone can relate to.
When it comes to whether or not you’re “crazy or stupid” for being disappointed in Usopp, those aren’t things that I would say to someone. If you can look at everything I’ve said here and still hold what Usopp did against him, then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’m not one to say things like, “if you don’t love Usopp and approve of everything he does you’re stupid and I don’t want to talk to you,” since we can’t really help what characters we get attached to for personal reasons, and I don’t agree with everything Usopp does myself. But the fundamental parts of who Usopp is are so important in my opinion, and I will say that if someone hates Usopp or thinks he’s a joke I will fight them on it, because to me that’s saying something more than just insulting a character in a manga.
Anyone who thinks Usopp is a joke and doesn’t deserve to be respected is saying that people who aren’t strong, who aren’t good at something, shouldn’t even try—that people aren’t allowed to try to be better and braver than they really are. I am 100% fine with Usopp being afraid to fight, even here and now after the time skip, because there will always be people stronger than you—better than you at whatever it is you’re trying to do—and the future and whether or not we can succeed in what we try to do in life is something that people will always have anxieties about. Whether it’s getting into a school you want, getting a job you’re aiming for, standing up to people who are assholes, defending something you believe in to people who mock you, working to make a relationship work through difficult times, or anything else that we want but feel scared or uncertain about, we all need to do things in life that we don’t always have the confidence to believe we can do. And Usopp’s character and everything about him tells the message, "it’s okay to be weak, it’s okay not to be the best, it’s okay to be afraid, and it’s okay to fail—what matters is that we keep trying. We can always improve ourselves, and we can always prove our own fears wrong and do what we were afraid we couldn’t."
All this is why I think that Usopp is possibly the most well developed and most inspirational character in the entire series. If Usopp doesn’t make someone smile, and if someone doesn’t need the type of inspiration that Usopp can offer and therefore doesn’t think too much of him, I can’t blame them for that. But Usopp means a lot to a lot of people, and in my mind both his fears and his actions come together to make a character that deserves to be respected by everyone.
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IF you know where this came from, please tell me so I can give credit for this nicely written piece.