Q: Did the Quincy in the Wandenreich migrate there from the World of the Living by converting into Reishi? Or were there Quincy who were originally born in the Wandenreich and then migrated to the World of the Living?

Kubo: Originally, Quincy were born in the Wandenreich, while a certain number of them migrated to the World of the Living, where their population grew.

I don’t know how long everyone here has been following One Piece, but as someone who’s been reading it weekly for over 10 years now, I’ve encounter a huge number of theories regarding Usopp – I’ve even contributed myself to them. What in particular caught my attention, lately, is just how many of those theories about Usopp turned out to be true. They just didn’t come true for Usopp, but rather another, BIG character: Loki.

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1.   “Elbaph is Usopp’s arc”

Ever since Sanji had his Whole Cake, people have been theorizing that other (main cast) Straw Hats will get their arcs too – none more so than Usopp. Not only has he done very little in the story, since his big moment in Dressrosa arc, but Usopp’s involvement in the Elbaph arc has been teased ever since Little Garden (Chapter 116). It was part of his journey of becoming a “Brave Warrior of the Sea”.

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Now, while the massive Elbaph arc has many characters it focuses on (Brook, Harald, Xebec, Shuri, etc,), it is undeniable that Loki has the biggest, and overarching focus (behind Luffy).

2.  “Usopp Will Unlock Conqueror’s Haki”

Tying into his dream of becoming a “Brave Warrior of the Sea” is the idea that Usopp will unlock Conqueror’s Haki, physically representing him achieving that dream. Conqueror’s users are all strong-willed people, and to have someone like Usopp – a coward and a weakling who, despite his shortcomings, never backs down – unlock it as proof of his bravery makes perfect sense.

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This arc even puts a focus on Conqueror’s Haki, as it is necessary to counteract the immortality/invincibility of the Holy Knights, and their kin. While it’s not confirmed when exactly Loki unlocked it, his encounter and fight with his father, Harald, makes it clear that we are to take this moment as the big reveal of Loki possessing “the qualities of a King”.

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3.  “Usopp Will Get Mjölnir”

This might be a weird one for a lot of people, but back in the day, this was a rather popular theory. We all theorize the ways the Straw Hats could get stronger: for Zoro it’s a new sword, for Luffy it’s a new gear, and for Usopp some people had the idea that it’s going to be the thunder-hammer Mjölnir.

Art by u/shnobro

“Why Mjölnir, though?” you might ask. However, the answer is simple: It’s because of the many hammers Usopp uses in his fights throughout the series. I know it’s easy to forget, with his fighting style now being all about plants, but he surprisingly used hammers a lot, pre-timeskip:

1. In Arlong Park arc it was just a regular hammer he used to knock Chew out.
2. In Alabasta arc it was a fake “5 Ton Hammer” he used on Mr.4.
3. And in Thriller Bark arc it was another fake “10 Ton Hammer” he used on Perona.

Naturally, the next logical step was him getting actually powerful hammer.

It made perfect sense because we always knew Elbaph arc is going to be heavily inspired by Norse mythology, and Mjölnir is the hammer of the Norse Thunder God Thor. In some iteration (like the Marvel Cinematic Universe) the hammer even has an inscription on it that only lets those worthy of wielding it, wield it, which PERFECTLY ties into Usopp’s journey of becoming a Brave Warrior of the Sea.

Then came Ragnir.

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While not sharing the name, it is clear that this (sometimes) thunder-producing hammer is meant to be One Piece’s equivalent of Mjölnir, and it is wielded by a character that is an amalgamation of Thor and Loki.

4.  “Usopp’s Weapon Will Eat a Devil Fruit”

My personal favorite theory regarding Usopp is about his weapon, Kuro Kabuto, consuming a Devil Fruit.

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The first time we’ve heard and seen that it is possible for an inanimate object to eat a Devil Fruit was in Alabasta arc, in Usopp’s (and Chopper’s) fight versus Baroque Works, leading many to believe this to be a sort of a foreshadowing of what’s to come. His weapon doesn’t even need any special Vegapunk experiment to do so because Kuro Kabuto is a sentient weapon, that we’ve even seen eat stuff, so this would’ve been an easiest explanation ever.

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My personal favorite idea was that it would’ve had eaten Orochi’s 8-Headed Snake Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, after his demise, leading to Usopp wielding a weapon that can shoot 8 times the projectiles it could before. Then came Ragnir, an inanimate hammer that ate a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit by the name of Ratatoskr.

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Conclusion

Now, I’ll preface this conclusion that there is still a possibility for some, if not all, of these theories to come true for Ussop – there is still a chance he gets Conqueror’s Haki, gets Mjölnir, for his Kuro Kabuto to eat a Devil Fruit, etc. Hell! It’s even possible for Oda to turn this arc around on Usopp and give him his big character arc. However, we are not here to debate that.

What I wanted to talk about here is how we, as fans, are capable of so accurately predicting these ideas, yet we fail to accurately predict them for the correct characters. Just like how people used to so adamantly push the notion that Zoro is going to kill Kaido, even going as far as to say he will cut off his horn, just for it to happen exactly as they predicted, only with Luffy, we now have the same situation with Usopp and Loki.

I think we sometimes have wrong expectations for characters, and wrong idea of what the character is supposed to be. Usopp is primarily a comic relief character with a heart of gold. His role in the story is not to have big fights, like Zoro and Luffy do, so why would we expect him to suddenly become that character? He serves a completely different role in the story and, in my opinion, he serves that role well.

I think this is evident the most in the latest chapter where, as all of the heavy hitters and big fighters (Luffy, Loki, Gyaban, Zoro, Sanji and Hajrudin) are having their battle moments to shine, Usopp instead gets a much less flashy characters moment, where he gets to showcase that heart of gold of his.

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Translation: Faced with her own weakness and insignificance as a human, Orihime Inoue, desiring the strength to protect those dear to her, unleashed the full power of all six Rikka in exchange for her very soul, manifesting the "Ultimate Shield." It is an act of ultimate rejection capable of "rejecting" battle, pain, suffering—and indeed, the entirety of an unwanted world—yet it leaves no place for Orihime Inoue to remain within that world.

It's so peak.

"Saikyo Jump October issue's special insert "Bessatsu Benetame Jump" features BLEACH! The theme is art! Dive deep into painting techniques using BLEACH as a model! The Saikyo Jump editorial team provides their own unique commentary! Saikyo Jump October issue goes on sale September 4th (Fri)! Check the official account (@SAIKYO_JUMP) for details too!"

Ichigo got his grippers out.

"Tite Kubo-sensei, the original creator and chief supervisor, has newly drawn the character designs, revealing the new form of Ichigo Kurosaki that he named──"

"Awakening the Hollow blood slumbering within himself, Kurosaki Ichigo, who has undergone "Half-Hollowfication," releases his Bankai, the ultimate form transformed together with his Zanpakuto."