Monsters have been part of storytelling for pretty much as long as there have been stories.
One of the oldest known stories today is the epic of Gilgamesh, who has to face a terrifying
demon in order to gain access to a forbidden forest. This hasn´t changed today and we
are still fascinated by these monsters. Maybe even more so than ever. They represent our
greatest fears and embody the dread we feel in the face of evil and catastrophe. Monsters
allow us to visualize these fears and help us deal with them more easily. This usually
plays out in either one of two ways: Option one, the Hero and the Monster fight until
one of them is defeated. This can for example be seen in stories like Harry Potter, where
the mystery and terror of the monster steadily grows, until it is finally defeated. Option
two basically twists this common expectation and upon confrontation, the monster turns
out to be an ally or not even a monster after all. A great example for this is King Kong,
a giant, terrifying gorilla that ends up protecting the humans on his island. The world of One
Piece is no different and is filled with countless evils and monsters itself, that the straw
hat crew either has to face in battle or ends up fighting alongside with. There is one very
special case in the story though, that takes a very different approach to the concept of
the monster. I think it is fair to say that Chopper is
one of the more overlooked members on Luffy´s crew. Which is surprising, because being a
reindeer, that ate the human human fruit and that ended up becoming a sweet-loving doctor,
in many ways makes him the most fantastical Nakama on the ship. And yet, despite of this
bizarre and extremely unique character concept, Chopper ended up getting less and less attention
by the readers as time passed. And as we will find out later, there is one big problem within
Chopper´s writing, that I believe takes a lot of tension out of his character. And it
is not what you think it is. Because for many people, it seems that Chopper has been turned
into a sort of cute mascot for the crew. But, even if Oda has deliberately turned Chopper
into an obvious piece of “kawaii” merchandise, he is still a well set-up and natural-feeling
character in the way he was presented in the story. As a matter of fact, I will argue that
Chopper has had the most complete character arc out of all the straw hats so far. Therefore,
in this video we are going to look at why our Cotton Candy loving reindeer is a great
example of excellent character writing, how his development arc is different from the
other straw hats and where Oda might have made one big mistake. So, who is Chopper and
what qualifies him to be a straw hat? We first get to meet Tony Tony Chopper on
Drum Island, shortly after entering the grand line. Chopper grew up as a reindeer in the
mountains of the island, where he was treated as an outcast by his herd and even his parents,
because of his blue nose. When he later ate the human human fruit and suddenly acquired
human-like intelligence he was banished completely from his herd. When trying to communicate
with the humans on the island he was called a monster, chased away and badly wounded.
He was finally taken in by the good-hearted Dr. Hiriluk who took care of Chopper and inspired
him to become a doctor. When Hiriluk´s health worsened significantly over time though, Chopper
set out to find a cure for his new found father figure. During his search he encounters his
old herd once more and is forced to fight the leader. He manages to win but is heavily
wounded in the process again. After he makes it back to the house, barely alive, out of
sheer gratefulness Hiriluk eats the mushroom Chopper found, well knowing it contains a
deadly poison. He later tragically commits suicide to not burden his son with being the
reason for his death. After this once again major blow of destiny, Chopper is then taken
in by Dr. Kureha, who tells him the truth about the deadly mushroom, but then goes on
to take him in and teach him real medicine in the isolation of her castle.
What this shows us right from the beginning, is that Chopper has basically been an outcast
for all of his life until he meets Luffy. He is a reindeer and a human and yet seems
to be accepted by neither. Both have shown him nothing but violence and hatefulness.
In the end Chopper grew up with the impression of being an abnormity. A monster that doesn´t
have a place in society. Considering that he is only 15 when joining the crew, I would
argue, that this counts as a truly tragic backstory.
As a result of this, we get introduced to Chopper´s character having a couple of clear
weaknesses: He has a clear lack of self-confidence, is very shy and has serious trust issues.
He also is terribly ashamed and afraid of his devil fruit powers. Giving a character
a set of well explained and compelling weaknesses is important in order to make the development
arc interesting and plausible. It helps the reader to identify and empathize with the
character and create a story that feels natural and close to reality. In Choppers case, one
could say that he starts off as a timid and naïve teenager that has gone through a horrendous
childhood. If monsters are the embodiment of our fears, Chopper maybe best embodies
our fear of not knowing who we are and where we belong. I would say, that this is best
symbolized by his monster point. Something he can´t control and fears.
After joining Luffy and the crew, he becomes the ship´s doctor, making him one of the
main characters of the story. His great medical knowledge puts the reindeer in maybe one of
the most important roles on board. But besides having to stitch together Luffy every other
island, Chopper also has a bunch of other abilities and powers that make him unique
in the crew: Being one of the devil fruit users on the crew, he is also the only Zoan
type on the ship. This gives him the ability to fight, even though his insecurity and lack
of combat experience seem to put him in the lower tiers of the crew in that regard. Amazingly
enough though, Chopper was able to use his medical knowledge to create his rumble balls
that allow him to control and expand his devil fruit transformation to a certain extend.
Something that even Dr. Vegapunk seems to have failed to achieve. Especially in Wano,
that has a heavy focus on Zoan type devil fruits, it will be interesting to see weather
this will play a major role in the story at some point. Lastly, being an animal himself,
Chopper is able to communicate with other animals, which on occasions has proven to
be quite useful to the crew over the course of their journey.
Closely connected to Chopper´s skills and history are also the value, that Oda has attributed
to his character. Over the course of the journey, we can clearly see that he values kindness
and friendship deeply. A feeling that intensifies when traveling with the crew. Having trained
under two kindhearted doctors, Chopper also strongly values science and believes in its
good nature. In accordance with this, he also holds the belief that a doctor's duty is to
help and save anyone. This set of values fit in smoothly with the rest of the character,
making his action seem authentic and natural. Furthermore, having a character with a clear
set of values is important in order to test these values in the confrontation with those
of an opponent. All of the straw hats are kind. And while this kindness is often tested
by the cruelty and evil they encounter in the world, in Chopper´s case in particular
it is his believe in science, that is challenged. Especially his encounters with Hogback and
Cesar are especially interesting, because they also value science but for different
reasons. Giving a character an opponent, who values the same thing, but from a different
viewpoint, usually makes for the most interesting conflicts and plot points.
Like any other major character, based on these values and his backstory, Chopper also has
a desire. A desire is something that the character sets out to fulfill over the course of the
story. In the context of One Piece, this is nothing else than the notorious dream, that
every straw hat has. Due to his medical education and his good heart, Chopper´s dream is to
make the world a better place by becoming a doctor that can cure any disease. Especially
in the new world, we have come across a wide range of diseases that would pose a real opportunity
for chopper to prove his skill. Finally, based on his tragic past and the
resulting weaknesses for Chopper´s character out of this, we now have to look at the psychological
need, that he has to satisfy over the course of the story. You can think of the psychological
need as a serious flaw that is hurting our character in some significant way and is holding
him back. The psychological need is something that any developing and interesting character
should have. It is something that, alongside the desire, drives the character´s arc under
the surface until he realizes it is a problem sooner or later. In Chopper´s case this need
is laid out very clearly by Oda in the story: Chopper needs to learn to accept and believe
in himself. His lack of confidence and identity not only hurt him emotionally, but also hold
him back in doing what he wants to do and keep him from being happy. When he joins the
straw hats on their journey, he also goes on his own journey to satisfy this need. This
is the premise for his character arc. I think we can agree, that this set-up makes a lot
of sense, considering his backstory and how his character was introduced to us.
And yet, Oda has made a grave mistake here. And that mistake, I have come to believe,
might be the reason that Chopper appears as uninteresting to many readers, compared to
the other straw hats. Because as we have learned, the psychological need is something affecting
the character himself in some significant way. This creates a clear path for development
and gives the character a goal that neither he, nor the reader might be aware of at the
beginning. What makes the character and as a result the plot surrounding him a lot more
interesting though, is a need that also affects and hurts those around him in some significant
way or form. A great example of how this might work, is for example Usopp´s insecurity.
Not only did it badly affect himself, but he also hurt those around him, when deciding
to leave the crew. You can call this the moral need of a character. And you will find it
in most of your favorite figures in any story. The big problem with Chopper is: He doesn´t
have one. Oda has written Chopper´s need in a way, that makes him struggle all with
himself. His timid nature keeps him from projecting his insecurities on others. This makes for
a decent person, but for weaker plot. Which is a pity, because initially Oda actually
gave Chopper this hostility towards people. But Chopper´s ill feelings towards Luffy
and Nami lasted only for a couple of chapters and it didn´t hurt either´s feelings. In
other words: Chopper lacks an Usopp-moment. A situation in which he actively hurt others
and as a result has to deal with the consequences. Instead Chopper´s struggle is all on the
inside. Now, as I mentioned before, Chopper is still
an amazing and well-written character. But I think, this lack of moral need in his development
arc is the main reason people tend to have a problem with him or downgrade him to nothing
more than a mascot, especially because most of the other straw hats have been given a
moral need by Oda. So now that we have looked at how Oda has
created Chopper, we of course also want to understand how his character has changed over
the course of the story. Developing and changing a character is essential, in order to keep
him relevant and interesting to the story and give the reader a sense of time flow and
impact in regard to the plot. That being said, change doesn´t always equal good change.
For example, simply making a character stronger or change his appearance will not give the
reader any sense of fulfillment. True change involves a challenging and changing of basic
beliefs. In other words, it means taking the initial weakness and need of the character
and then changing them by making the character go through certain actions and situations.
Chopper´s character arc therefore aims at changing his lack of self-confidence, his
trust issues as well as his naivety and shyness. There are certain categories of change in
storytelling and the one that applies best to chopper in my mind, is that of a child
changing into an adult. In other words, challenging his believes and finding his place in the
world. On his journey to define himself, he sees
almost anyone on the crew as a role model. The more time he spent with his crew, the
more accepted and valued Chopper felt, so much so that upon their reunion after the
time skip Chopper was finally able to completely leave his characterization as a freak behind.
The initial mix between his kind and undeniably cute personality and his existence as a kind
of biological abomination make this change the more interesting in my eyes. After the
time skip however, this “monster” Chopper is replaced almost entirely by the “Cotton
Candy Lover” Chopper. He is no longer portrayed as a frightening freak of nature and even
the literal monster point has been tamed down. Even if you might find monster Chopper cooler
on the surface though, sweet Chopper truly is the natural progression of his character
after fully putting the pain of his past behind him. There had always been an underlying sweet
element to “monster” Chopper, and his development across the series is an uplifting
story of him becoming comfortable enough with himself through the help of his friends to
allow the cotton candy to overtake the beast. What makes this monster story so different
from others, is that Chopper doesn´t have to choose between being human or being a monster
anymore. He was able to accept who he is and still find his place in the world, being accepted
by his friends. This becomes very clear on Fishman island, when Chopper transformed into
his Human point. Sanji points out how he doesn't even look human anymore to which Chopper responds
that he is a monster now. So, what can we derive from this? Chopper
has apparently been able to change his shyness and insecurity into confidence and positivity.
He is no longer fighting with his identity and has also found friends that accept him
just the way he is. I would argue at this point, that Chopper, as the only straw hat
so far has completed an entire character arc until the time skip. And that has two major
implications. On the one hand, I think it shows us, that Chopper is a great character.
Same as many others, I greatly enjoyed him up until the time skip and I hope you can
see now, why. On the other hand, though, a completed character arc, with no new psychological
or moral need has rendered Chopper meaningless in the New World. Until Whole Cake Island
that is. And here my hopes have been going up immensely. Because after leaving Zou to
go and safe Sanji together with Luffy, Chopper finally seems to have started a new development
arc. After completing his change from child to adult, I think, we can see clear signs
that Chopper is starting to change from an Adult to a Leader. At this point, a quick
warning, if you don´t want to be spoiled for Whole Cake island or Wano, skip ahead
a bit now. Ready? Okay. The first instance of this new arc, we can see in Chopper´s
relationship with Carrot, in which he takes the role of a big brother. This puts him in
the situation to guide and take care of someone for the very first time. But also, the way
he acts in Whole Cake Island, supporting Luffy smartly and being an asset much rather than
a hindrance, shows us that something is going on here. Chopper takes the initiative more
and more. The latest example of this is the amazing job he did in guiding the Yonko Big
Mom to Udon prison to break out Luffy, after her memory loss. I would go so far as to say
that Chopper´s new need might be that of lacking leadership qualities. And he is slowly
working towards gaining them. I definitely have high hopes for our reindeer and I truly
hope that he will get the character arc that he truly deserves. I think Chopper has so
much more potential than simply being a mascot. He is one of the best monsters in storytelling
after all. A cotton candy monster. Hey everybody. Thank you so much for watching.
Before you run off and get yourself some cotton candy, I would first love to hear your opinion
on Chopper. Do you think he is an interesting character or not? And why so? And where do
you see his character arc going in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
At this point I also want to thank my Patreon supporters. Your pledges mean a lot to me.
If you are interested in helping me make more and better videos, you can find the link to
my page in the description below. You will get free access to all of my artwork and early
access to my major videos. Thanks for your support!
Also, if you liked this video, don´t forget to like share and subscribe to be notified
for any future content of mine. Or dislike, don´t share and unsubscribe, it´s a free
world people. I hope to see you around next time and until
then, have a great week. … Oh yeah and don´t forget to turn your
notifications on! YouTube can sometimes be…forgetful. Bye!