I’ve been seeing it suggested, even with the understanding that Chopper joined the crew as a doctor with above-average medical skills and has been repeatedly shown using various fighting skills against enemies, all skills he trained up during the timeskip, that at least for some it has been concluded that Chopper is the sort of character that ultimately only really has worth as a doctor, like curing a virus, as if he’s not a “true fighter” like how Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are, and that any of the stuff he displayed against Queen for example at best amounts to being “back-up which stalls for time” until someone like Sanji shows up. I think Chopper has good potential for being good at both, but what do you guys think?
Does Chopper only have worth as a doctor and not as a fighter?
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When you compare the two Chopper is much further ahead as a doctor than he is as a fighter and given he really is a healer type he's not going to use his knowledge as a doctor to be a better fighter.
If he did he'd be breaking bones, dislocating joints, injecting ppl with dangerous drugs, using all of his knowledge to deliver deadly and crippling blows like we see with other doctor/scientist types in other anime and manga.
Outside chance of Oda steering Chopper down that path as a fighter a little bit where opponents can at least make note that Chopper is attacking all of their vital points or every attack is a killing blow.
He does have his worth as a fighter though. He's still young. Plus Chopper really hasn't had a lot of fights to showcase his growth and Queen really wasn't the best match up as the crazy mad scientist cyborg dinosaur.
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Even just stalling against Queen isn't nothing. Monster Point was even able to stall Big Mom briefly during the escape from Tottoland. When Luffy had to lay out the out-of-control Franky-Chopper, he went straight to the Elephant Gun that was possibly the strongest move he'd shown at the time. He's definitely a threat to be taken seriously.
Chopper's not quite in the top weight class and doesn't need to be, but that doesn't make him any kind of a slouch in battle. To most of the world, Chopper would be a terrifying opponent to go head to head with one on one. The series has just gone past the point where we're dealing with "most of the world," which makes him look weaker than he is.
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I'm putting Monster Chopter around Vice-Admiral level, so if you consider those having worth as fighters I guess he has to.
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It depends entirely on how one defines a true fighter. He's not one of the crew's heavy weights, not in the way Luffy, Zoro or Sanji is. But he can hold his own in a fight.
The way i view it after the time skip Oda started focusing a lot more on secondary characters so there isn't time to give all Strawhats a fight, and when it happens those scuffles are given to the stronger fighters on the crew. He also seems more prone to finding alternatives to fighting, like Sanji "defeating" Big Mom with a cake. So i don't think it's that Chopper can't fight well, more that there has neither been the time nor interest to give him a traditional fight. Plus his role as a doctor creates plenty of opportunities for him to show off and have satisfying moments without fighting.
I can't speak for all Chopper fans, but while I'd certainly love to see him fight he's the one Strawhat where I'm more interested in him performing his role as doctor more than punching the baddies.
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@Zar:
I can't speak for all Chopper fans, but while I'd certainly love to see him fight he's the one Strawhat where I'm more interested in him performing his role as doctor more than punching the baddies.
Interesting, and what exactly singles him out as the one where there’s more interest in his occupation than his fighting skills, as opposed to having more interest in Nami being a navigator or Brook being a musician than as fighters for example?
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Chopper just tried using Monster Point for a half hour and came to the conclusion that it's raw size and strength was not good enough. He'll have a new form to show off by the next time he needs to fight. Possibly mink inspired.
@Zik:
and given he really is a healer type he's not going to use his knowledge as a doctor to be a better fighter.
If he did he'd be breaking bones, dislocating joints, injecting ppl with dangerous drugs, using all of his knowledge to deliver deadly and crippling blows like we see with other doctor/scientist types in other anime and manga.
That's exactly what he contributed to the Oars fight though. He said "attack these points then he won't be able to move!"
That was over a decade ago tho.
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Interesting, and what exactly singles him out as the one where there’s more interest in his occupation than his fighting skills, as opposed to having more interest in Nami being a navigator or Brook being a musician than as fighters for example?
Ideally I'd love for all Strawhats to show off their roles more, it's one of my current main critiques of the series. I'm very disappointed for example how rarely we see Nami navigate. Or draw that map of hers.
What I mean with Chopper is that during an arc's late stages I'm more interested in seeing him doing doctor stuff rather than fighting. Each arc there's basically a desire to see each character have an important moment during the climax, and that's most commonly satisfied with a fight. But it doesn't have to be. Some characters I always want a fight from (Luffy, Zoro), some I hope for one (Sanji), then there's the ones I enjoy seeing doing different stuff buy I want a fight occasionally (Nami, Usopp, Robin, Brook, Franky, Jinbei). Chopper is the only one where I feel he can satisfy my enjoyment just by doing doctor stuff and never having a fight (bar the final arc). I'd still love to see one, Chopper vs Gedatsu and Chopper/Robin vs Hogback were both really fun, but I don't feel like he needs it to grow as a character.
There's also the matter that his role as a doctor fits very well on the battlefield. When Nami is running around during an arc climax I don't expect her to have a navigation moment because it makes no sense, and Robin can't exactly confront an enemy in a battle of archaeology, so I expect them to have some support moment or fight instead. Their roles are more suited to be shown off during calmer periods (that said it can still be combined into a fight, like Robin vs Yama).
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Chopper just tried using Monster Point for a half hour and came to the conclusion that it's raw size and strength was not good enough. He'll have a new form to show off by the next time he needs to fight. Possibly mink inspired.
That's exactly what he contributed to the Oars fight though. He said "attack these points then he won't be able to move!"
That was over a decade ago tho.
That is right but Oars was a zombie.
I'm thinking more along the lines that we won't be seeing Chopper don some glasses and behave like Kabuto in a fight or throwing scalpels like Black Jack or ever getting anywhere as sinister as Kurotsuchi.
Which granted would be cool as a temporary personality change but Oda basically made Law the deadly doctor in OP.
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Don't think that focusing in his medical skills would necessarily make him less of a fighter. Sanji has had focus on both cooking and fighting.
It is surely an improvement that we are seeing more of his medical side.My main problem with Chopper-as-a-doctor is that his dream is utterly absurd. Chemically and medically speaking it would be impossible to find a medicine that can cure all diseases. They have so many different causes and definitions that only one medicine solving everything is a bit too silly even for an adventure manga. And I know that the secret medicine could be something like… optimism, beauty, hope, some emotion that helps people get through tough times, like Hiruluk's cherry trees.... But that's... a bit unsatisfying? Even Hiruluk wasn't completely cured after seeing the trees, he just got better for a while.
So I'm really not sure how Chopper's dream will be handled at the end of the manga. -
Speaking of which, do you guys think Vegapunk is a formidable fighter, perhaps even powerhouse in addition to his skill as a scientist?
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I'd say Chopper is more of a doctor, he repeatedly shows feats in that area rather than combat. For fighting, he does sometimes utilize his medical expertise, and obviously rumble balls stemmed from that, but in practice it's more the monster aspect of his character that comes into play. And mastering his monster point kinda combines the two. He can fight, but the actual combat isn't the appeal behind him so much as his knowledge to come up with ways to fight. He also has the best moral shutdowns, ie shaming Hogback and Caesar. But it's totally fine if he loses out on 1vs1's if it means he's doing overtime with the stethoscope. Everyone in the crew has something they excel at, and that's his.
Speaking of which, do you guys think Vegapunk is a formidable fighter, perhaps even powerhouse in addition to his skill as a scientist?
Wouldn't be surprised. Wouldn't expect him to be some admiral level force or anything, but he can probably casually kick an ass.
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Speaking of which, do you guys think Vegapunk is a formidable fighter, perhaps even powerhouse in addition to his skill as a scientist?
I’m more hoping he uses a variety of whacky inventions, similar to some of child emporor’s Inventions in the one punch man series
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Don't think that focusing in his medical skills would necessarily make him less of a fighter. Sanji has had focus on both cooking and fighting.
It is surely an improvement that we are seeing more of his medical side.My main problem with Chopper-as-a-doctor is that his dream is utterly absurd. Chemically and medically speaking it would be impossible to find a medicine that can cure all diseases. They have so many different causes and definitions that only one medicine solving everything is a bit too silly even for an adventure manga. And I know that the secret medicine could be something like… optimism, beauty, hope, some emotion that helps people get through tough times, like Hiruluk's cherry trees.... But that's... a bit unsatisfying? Even Hiruluk wasn't completely cured after seeing the trees, he just got better for a while.
So I'm really not sure how Chopper's dream will be handled at the end of the manga.I just assume Chopper is going to find the cure to death. Some theorize its possible.
You work backwards from there and it'll be easy to cure every disease.
That or he finds a way to make ppl immortal and decides not to spread it.
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@Zik:
I just assume Chopper is going to find the cure to death. Some theorize its possible.
You work backwards from there and it'll be easy to cure every disease.
That or he finds a way to make ppl immortal and decides not to spread it.
Oops, once again upstaged by Law, who literally has that power.
But joking aside, it could tie in with Im in some way, if he is immortal. Chopper could find out what made Im that way.
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Glad that episode 1000 reinforced Chopper's potential as a fighter and not just as a doctor.
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For me, the most interesting fights are those in which they use or are related to their unique skills, like Robin versus Yama, or Sanji vs Wanze.
Of course, those can't happen every arc, but when they do, they're awesome.
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chopper hasn't had a fight where he has to switch forms to gain an edge, he's either just been in a single form for his matchups, and unfortunately, kung-fu point falls a little flat.
