Who is Chopper in ‘One Piece’? Explained
Few series can mix the absurd and the sincere as deftly and skillfully as One Piece. You’ll get to know a character who initially seems to be comic relief, and before you know it, you’re knee-deep in a puddle of tears. Perhaps no character embodies this better than Tony Tony Chopper—my son, my best boy.
We meet Chopper in the Drum Island arc. He’s in the news because Drum Island is going to form the ending of the second season of Netflix’s live-action One Piece adaptation. It’s an easy-to-spoil spoiler, but Chopper ends up joining the Straw Hat crew as the ship’s doctor.
But whereas all the rest of the Straw Hats are human, Chopper is a reindeer—so how the live action will portray Chopper has long been a hot topic of speculation among One Piece‘s fanbase, especially since Chopper’s a fan-favorite character. Chopper ate a Devil Fruit called the Human-Human Fruit. So even though he was born a normal reindeer, he gained human-level capacities to speak and think. And since Devil Fruits are Devil Fruits, Chopper also has several transformations he can use in battle.
There are so many reasons to love Chopper: he’s funny, he’s cute, he’s kind. And his story will break your heart.
Why Chopper is the best boy
When pitching One Piece‘s charms to newcomers, one of my first go-to lines is, “The pirate ship’s doctor is a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit.” There’s so much ridiculousness in that one description of Tony Tony Chopper’s character, it feels like a distillation of One Piece-ness. Despite his chibi looks, Chopper is in fact a very good doctor. He really knows his stuff.
Those chibi looks are an important part of Chopper’s character, too. Chopper’s Japanese voice actress, Ikue Otani, also provides the voice for Pikachu. Yes, the Pikachu. In other words, Chopper is One Piece‘s epicenter of cuteness. He’s incapable of hiding behind doors correctly, he loves cotton candy. Chopper is precious.
But the real hook is that Chopper’s backstory, the Drum Island arc, will make you cry. I won’t spoil the Drum Island arc for those who do know what happens, but suffice it to say that where you initially see a silly transforming reindeer, mangaka Eiichiro Oda finds a profound story about the kind of trauma which makes it difficult to trust people. In fact, Chopper’s backstory helped me learn about and process how my own trauma affects my relationships.
So Tony Tony Chopper is many things. But at the end of the day, he is my son, my special little guy.
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