@shinpfn:
And let´s face it, sometimes Usopp has to be helped. But on that he is not diferent than Chopper, Nami or Robin. What people does not seem to see is that Usopp will fight when the time comes, will stand, will try, will look badass as everyone else, AND WILL LOSE.
In the past, I would have agreed on the Nami bit, but after re-reading and watching Nami v. Doublefinger in the anime for the first time, I'm going to have go retract my earlier opinions and state that Nami is just as helpess as Usopp, yet she still manages to get stuff accomplished without getting shot full of holes or doing something silly.
Nami is the "everywoman" but she represents a different sort of character; the academic, student sort of reserved person, not the hands-on jack-of-all-trades Usopp is. In this, it strikes me odd that an academic with some real world experience could go toe-to-toe with monsters like Califa and Doublefinger while Usopp, who is more real worldly and stronger, gets kicked around.
I won't make the argument that Usopp is weak because of his upbringing; in his initial appearence, he stood up to the Kuro Neko Pirates without having been put in a life-threatening situation ever before in his life.
So, it's only a bit more painful for those who sympathize with Usopp to watch Nami squeeze a victory out of a superior opponent while Usopp doesn't even get a [decent] chance in the battlefield.
@Deicide:
I don't think Usopp did a step back to before Alabasta. He did not run away even once during all the EL raid. Indeed, he stood against Jabura and called Lucci to fight. Yes, he lost to Jabura and that pissed me of. Yes, I still wanna see Usopp fight against overwhelming odds and win. But that's what we got, and things have not ended yet. Remember that he mentioned "Kabuto's secret", and we have not seen that yet. This arc is not over, and I do believe that Usopp's act will still come in the following two or three chapters (which should be the end of the next Volume of OP).
He hid in Oimo's hair, which was probably the worst character-wise sort of action for Sogeking to take. Personally, I would have rather had Usopp (not Sogeking) run away because at the very least it's humourous. Losing to Jyabs wasn't that depressing for me because I knew Usopp didn't have a chance; falling for Jyabs' trick was what pissed me off.