Yes, Sogeking Is Usopp! Here’s Why Luffy Still Doesn’t Know It!
Out of all the Straw Hat Pirates crew members in One Piece, Usopp is known as the comical relief and by far its most cowardly member. Now, while Usopp’s cowardice might not be a reflection of his true powers, we certainly did not see much of the latter because of the former. That is why we have ventured on a journey to discover how strong Usopp is in our earlier articles, but this article, while still focusing on Usopp, will give you a completely different aspect of his story. In this article, you will find out who Usopp’s Sogeking persona was and why Chopper and Luffy are the only ones who still do not know that Sogeking and Usopp are one and the same.
Monkey D. Luffy is, as well as Chopper, the only crew member that never realized that Sogeking was Usopp all along, although it was obvious from the start and everyone else saw through Usopp’s mask immediately. This is simply because the two of them are very unobservant, and they do not notice even such obvious things. Later, everyone simply stopped talking about it, so it never came up.
The rest of this article will focus on the character of Usopp in One Piece. We will tell you about his Sogeking persona and how it came to be, but also why Luffy and Tony Chopper remain the only two characters that did not see through Usopp’s obvious disguise. This article might contain a smaller number of spoilers, so do be careful while you’re reading.
Who is Sogeking in One Piece?
When Luffy tells him that they are going to separate from the Going Merry because it has become irreparable, Usopp does not accept this decision and decides to leave the crew by challenging Luffy to single combat with the Going Merry as a reward. The beginning of the clash between Luffy and Usopp is very interesting, as Usopp overpowers Luffy. His former friend nevertheless beats him in a single blow because he was already very weak before the fight.
After his defeat, Usopp is left alone on the Going Merry and gets kidnapped by the Fanky Family, who want to use him as bait to lure Luffy out. Usopp will therefore explain to Franky that he is no longer part of the crew because of the conflict over the Going Merry. Franky will be touched by this story and will be taken with a surge of affection towards Usopp.
Later, Usopp refuses to help the crew save Robin, but he returns moments later with the Sogeking mask, claiming to be a friend of Usopp and wanting to save Robin. Only Chopper and Luffy don’t recognize Usopp when he’s wearing his Sogeking mask. Once they arrive in front of the large door of Enies Lobby, Sogeking participates in the fight against the two giants.
Once the latter is defeated, Sogeking notices their tears and tells them that they had no reason to fight for the World Government because their leaders, whom they believed to be imprisoned, are actually on Little Garden Island. The two giants then decide to join the cause of the crew. Once through the court island, Sogeking climbs onto the courthouse’s roof with the rest of the crew.
Shortly after, on Luffy’s orders, he sets fire to the flag of the World Government at the top of the tower of justice. Once inside the Justice Tower, Sogeking goes on his own to find one of the keys to free Robin from his marine granite handcuffs. He faces Jabura, who will defeat him in a few moments. Sogeking would not have survived without the intervention of Zoro, who falls from the floor above with his opponent, Kaku.
During this two-on-two, Sogeking is handcuffed to Zoro by an unfortunate accident. They will then ask Chopper to find the key, allowing them to free themselves. Once freed, Sogeking must again fight against Jabura, who was on the verge of killing him, if Sanji had not intervened. Later, Sogeking is on the roof of the Justice Tower and shoots all the Marines to cover Robin and Franky on the Bridge of Hesitation.
He then sends all the keys recovered from CP9 agents. Once on the Bridge of Hesitation, the entire crew must deal with the Buster Call as well as the elite Marine unit as Luffy finishes his fight against Lucci. Once he is defeated, Luffy is no longer able to move. It is Usopp who will talk to him in order to motivate him to move, unfortunately in vain. Usopp will be one of the first to hear the voice of Going Merry come to save them.
Usopp is present as Sogeking during the Going Merry’s funeral. Once back at Water 7, Sogeking leaves alone, given that he is no longer a crew member. All the while, he is looking for lines to say to his former companions to rejoin the crew. He will nevertheless be surprised by Sanji, who warns the others of his intentions. Everyone is excited that Usopp can return, save for Zoro’s remark that he won’t be allowed to return to his teammates until he apologizes.
Once Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hats’ new ship, is about to set sail, the crew only waits for Usopp. However, they will be forced to weigh anchor because Vice Admiral Garp tries to stop them. Seeing the boat leave, Usopp gets worried and rushes to apologize, in tears. Luffy will then reach out his hand to him so that he can come back among them.
How come Luffy and Chopper never found out that Sogeking was Usopp?
Were it up to Usopp, the crew wouldn’t really get far with the disguises. The appearance of Sogeking and its timing were so obvious that everyone who saw him knew it was Usopp all along, despite Sogeking vehemently denying it. Nico Robin knew Sanji knew, Zoro knew, Nami knew… it was quite obvious! The mask was horrible, and the overall appearance couldn’t even fool a blind man. But it did fool Luffy and Chopper. Sogeking was Usopp’s friend, and when he first saw him, Chopper asked him whether he knew where Usopp was. On the other hand, Luffy just accepted that fact and didn’t bother much with pondering about it.
As the story continued, Sogeking proved to be an ally, and Luffy, and Chopper simply did not mind his presence when the time came, Usopp simply removed the disguise and appeared once again as Usopp. At that moment, Luffy and Chopper still had absolutely no clue that Sogeking and Usopp were one and the same; it wasn’t because they were stupid, but rather because they were unobservant.
They don’t notice things very well, and it is more that they do not really care and accept things as they are than anything else. Later on, as Usopp returned to the crew, no one talked about Sogeking anymore, so time passed. Sogeking slowly fell into oblivion, and – believe it or not – Luffy and Chopper remain the only two Straw Hats members that still do not know Sogeking’s true identity.
