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While the main appeal of One Piece is its grand, incredible adventure rather than power scaling and fights, its shonen roots inevitably spark typical manga debates. It is a fascinating world where Devil Fruits, Haki, lineage, and technology help determine its strongest characters. But for One Piece's Straw Hats, the identity of their weakest is a sore subject. While there is debate about the absolute weakest Straw Hat in One Piece, with common assumptions being Nami and Usopp, Eiichiro Oda spoke a long time ago to shut down this debate. As relayed by Sandman on X as an inside scoop, it turns out Usopp was confirmed the weakest Straw Hat between Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark. Eiichiro Oda Confirmed the Weakest Straw Hat Nearly 20 Years Ago While it's difficult to argue with the creator's words, it might be difficult to accept Oda's assessment from 2007, before the series underwent a timeskip and its characters undertook massive developments. Usopp's status as the weakest Straw Hat in One Piece was confirmed before Brook and Jinbe's introductions, but each of them are also still notably stronger. "One Piece fans can feel close to Usopp because the characters around him are too strong. Hopefully, he'll continue to be the weakest Straw Hat whoever joins the crew in the future. And I hope that Chopper will forever be fooled by his lies." -Eiichiro Oda To some extent, this is by design; after all, Usopp's propensity for tall tales to compensate for his weakness is part of his charm, and he's able to tank remarkable physical damage from enemies. Even after Usopp's training at the Bowin Islands, his skills were predominantly honed as a sniper, a role no other Straw Hat can fulfill. Usopp's lack of noteworthy physical abilities makes it difficult to match him up against the other remarkable members of the Straw Hats in One Piece. His other claim to fame among the early crew days was as a shipwright before Franky's arrival, but even then, his ingenuity still sets him apart in battle and in creating iconic gear for his crewmates. Usopp Is a Long Way from the Top of One Piece's Most Iconic Pirates While closer comparisons like Nami put Usopp at a milder disadvantage in terms of physical prowess, even that was aided by Usopp. Usopp may not be able to wield a staff in battle with Nami's proficiency, but it was his design that brought the Clima-Tact to life, before its current Homie form incorporating Zeus. Factoring out the obviously stronger characters like Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Jinbe with their broader use of Haki, Usopp is still upstaged by Devil Fruit users like Robin, Brook, and Chopper's various forms. Without Haki or Devil Fruit, Franky's cybernetically-enhanced strength, lasers, and transformations put him above Usopp as well. Usopp's "Dressrosa Shot" moment against Sugar is one of, if not his absolute most famous moments where he unlocked Observation Haki. It was here he nailed his shot from an unfathomable distance so great no Straw Hat could hope to replicate it.
