Discussion Which backstory is the saddest?

[hokageji]

See now I'm questioning my vote.

I'm the only one that voted for Ussop. . .

Looks like you are, care to explain why you think Usopp's was sad? The way I see it, he wouldn't be a liar if it were any different, no comic relief, no sogeking, no god usopp, no joining luffy and most importantly, no Going Merry... going merry's death was sadder than Ace's IMO..

 

[Ninja_Pirate]

Looks like you are, care to explain why you think Usopp's was sad? The way I see it, he wouldn't be a liar if it were any different, no comic relief, no sogeking, no god usopp, no joining luffy and most importantly, no Going Merry... going merry's death was sadder than Ace's IMO..

I think Going merry served her purpose ... and that's why they have to deal with it and move on.. in case of ACE moving on part was difficult because of the untimely death of Ace.. Also in case of ships I must say even Ships spirit can do later for the mental support ... for humans , though spirits can said to be with you ... but physical presence matters a lot ... both the cases were different and incomparable IMO

 

[kkck]

I never really cared for going merry's death. I mean, it was sad and all but it was massively overplayed. Suddenly a damn boat was alive and it had feelings and whatnot. And then ussop blatantly betrays the crew for that deathtrap. For me its a part of the manga I could do without, quite frankly I would have been happier if ussop hadn't rejoined the strawhats after that. Well, now I don't have as much dislike for ussop as I used to but that moment always makes me hate the guy.

 

[Freid]

I never really cared for going merry's death. I mean, it was sad and all but it was massively overplayed. Suddenly a damn boat was alive and it had feelings and whatnot. And then ussop blatantly betrays the crew for that deathtrap. For me its a part of the manga I could do without, quite frankly I would have been happier if ussop hadn't rejoined the strawhats after that. Well, now I don't have as much dislike for ussop as I used to but that moment always makes me hate the guy.

Yeah it kinda pissed me off how irrational Usopp was being back then, and I was hoping he wouldn't return. I never really liked him anyway. His cowardice has to be the most annoying trait of any of the Strawhats.

 

[hokageji]

I think Going merry served her purpose ... and that's why they have to deal with it and move on.. in case of ACE moving on part was difficult because of the untimely death of Ace.. Also in case of ships I must say even Ships spirit can do later for the mental support ... for humans , though spirits can said to be with you ... but physical presence matters a lot ... both the cases were different and incomparable IMO

Yes, it did serve its purpose, but it was unique and brilliant IMO. Here we are all emotional for an inanimate object's funeral. Oda mixed it up so well, Merry being the reason of split, becoming the reason of rejoining and saving the strawhats.

I don't intend to compare Ace's death and Merrys, just that I felt merry's death was sadder. Morever, the original comment was to signify Usopp's sad past isn't all that sad afterall..

---------- Post added at 11:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:56 AM ----------

Yeah it kinda pissed me off how irrational Usopp was being back then, and I was hoping he wouldn't return. I never really liked him anyway. His cowardice has to be the most annoying trait of any of the Strawhats.

Comeon, his cowardice is what makes the arcs funny.... he did see merry heal itself, loved and cared for it.. irrational it may be, but Luffy Usopp fight was extremely important for the storyline.

 

[kkck]

Him, being scared of everything was never that much of an issue for me. That is one of the things which make him funny and he usually ends up stepping up when the situation requires it (although I am not a fan in the least about how he basically did bail on the dwarfs before the god ussop thing). However at that point back at water seven he turned his back on everyone. He did see the ghost thingy but he had no reason to think it was merry. What we saw is ussop basically giving up on his friends over an useless piece of junk. Sure, there was sentimental value, but even that does not justify his behavior. The crew is supposed to be like his family, no ship is ever under any circumstance supposed to come close in value over that. There isn't even a proper principle involved here. Even if ussop had been right he would have still been an ass over the decision he made.

 

[Holt]

Tbh I understand the need for the events following the going merry thing and usopp's fallout. Still usopp acted very dumb IMO. He already understood how much the crew cared for merry and he acted like a kid with his sulking and crap.

 

[M3J]

Ace's death was never that bad for me; if it weren't for Luffy I wouldn't even feel anything at all, and I actually like Ace.

 

[sarutobi_sensei]

Can't decide between Brook or Robin or Nami.

Brook was alone for 50 years, longing to meet Laboon again. Not knowing anyone new, not being able to speak to anyone, circling around the same place for 50 long years.

Robin saw her home be destroyed, people and mother be killed, people trying to kill her and not trusting her. The same with Nami, she saw her adoptive mother be killed and was made a hostage, along with her village unable to help them until Luffy.

All the others are tragic, apart from Usopp maybe since he didn't really have it rough, but these 3 are the most and I can't decide about which of them.

 

[Ninja_Pirate]

I guess Usopp will win the poll .. if the poll would be "who's backstory was the least sad .... So strong opinions.. first time a whole thread agrees to a point made ...

However, I would like to put up a case for Usopp ...

I think given Usopp's ability, as he was not a DF user or good with swords or cooking or was not a burglar or navigator ... He was left alone by his father with a dying mother who he couldn't help ... I think we all have been in a situation where we want to do things but felt helpless and that makes his story sad for me ... His stories of his bravery was the only thing he had .. a person made of lies , no one loves to lie to save his ass... and finally he recognized it and played it just to survive , initial arcs he was all about that ... He never knew he had the innate ability of snipping which he figured pretty later in his life and now see where he is

About the Water Seven arc, he knew everyone loved merry ... but merry was gift from the special person and crew made little sad faces and said we have to move on ... No one tried enough to calm him down ... little efforts is all I have seen, and considering Usopp was emotionally weak with a weak will ass well (pretty good build up by oda) it was totally a genuine breakdown of him ... He thought it as his failure because he always kept repairing the ship ... HE FELT RESPONSIBLE RATHER THAN HURT AND SO HE HAS SHOWN HIS ANGER BY LEAVING THE CREW ...but actually he only left because he knew he is the weak link of the crew ...

I guess everyone remember when he said that "Merry is our Nakama, will you just leave back your nakama when he will be of no use to you" .. there he was not talking about merry but he was worried about himself as well ... Moreover if Merry wouldn't have been at Enies lobby to save everyone ... Merry wouldn't have gotten the funeral she deserved ... "sob sob" ... She was there in the junkyard ready to be left behind by SHs ...

Someone said that he only saw a ghost trying to repair and there was no reason for him to believe it was merry ... He had feelings towards Merry which was closest to his heart ... Luffy left Merry (may be with a heavy heart but he left) to Usopp and walked away talks a lot about the comparison of feelings of Usopp towards merry vs crew's feelings towards merry ,,,

He was being childish you say ... He was child from heart,,, he was portrayed as the most immature guy in the crew , his character was made like that by oda ... and oda did a brilliant job for Usopp ... Though he messed up the character a little bit after 2 years time skip with Usopp initially abandoning the dwarves and I seriously didn't like it ... I guess Oda felt the same to introduce sugar once again in the picture and make Usopp hero again (the flow of story would have been fine without that and Usopp's haki oda could have shown later in the story, that was not required until he downplayed the character during dwarves attack on factory)....

 

[Yoichi Hiruma]

Nami's, Zoro's, Robin's and Franky's

 

[kkck]

Dunno, for me they are all pretty tragic. Although at large I don't see a real difference between luffy, zoro, nami, ussop, chopper, sanji and franky regarding how tragic they are in regards to one another. The only ones that distinctly or specially tragic are robin's and brook's. Luffy lost his brother, zoro lost his... whatever kuina was to him, nami lost her adoptive mom, ussop lost his mom and his dad was not around, chopper lost the doctor and franky lost tom and presumably his parents before the flashback events. All tragic but robin and brook stand on a different league there. Robin saw his entire country disappear which was a victim of basically a genocide and spent on the run most of her life. Genocide escapee is just horrible. Brook lost his entire crew, which was basically his family, and he spent 50 years completely on his own in a boat full of the corpses of his friends (why he didn't give them a proper sea burial is beyond me though).

Of course, we can make a case that nami was basically a slave or that chopper was seen as a monster or that sanji ate at the expense of zeff's leg but none of those things come close to comparing to what robin and brook were put through. Zoro's is weird, he only seems to have lost kuina due to an accident which as far as we are concerned is tragic only in regards to how little it means to us as readers. She might as well have tripped while taking a shower or broken her neck from falling of her bed.

 

[Holt]

Nami watched her mum get killed right before her eyes and then had to work for the same person that did that and who was also extorting her village. I dunno but I don't see how she could be lumped in with the others.

 

[M3J]

Is Ace's death really part of Luffy's backstory, considering it's a recent event?

 

[Holt]

I guess it should be. Especially since sabo's was fake. Luffy also almost lost his way too. It was 2 years ago if that makes it easier to swallow. Maybe back story should refer to things that happen when the crew isn't generally involved?

 

[M3J]

I see backstory as somethin that made the person into what he/she was/is at the introduction. Like, Nami's backstory of being a thief who hated pirates was due to how she was raised and how Arlong killed her mom. Sabo's "death" would be part of Luffy's backstory, but not Ace's as we saw it happen in "real time." At least, that's how I see it.

 

[Holt]

Well I guess. But maybe he gets a pass since sabo's wasn't real (although his reaction was). Ace's death seemed to have more of an impact that sabos supposed one. Luffy already had a dream of becoming pirate king before he met sabo and ace. Aces death however deterred him from that dream till jinbei helped remind him of his Nakama. So perhaps luffy's real backstory should be the one with shanks and his crew which made him decide on his dream.
I don't personally consider Ace's death as part of luffy's backstory but he'll hardly have a case here otherwise.

 

[kkck]

Nami watched her mum get killed right before her eyes and then had to work for the same person that did that and who was also extorting her village. I dunno but I don't see how she could be lumped in with the others.

But that still does not even come close at all compared to what happened to robin and brook. Robin lost far more than nami (she lost her mother, home and country) and was at large persecuted by the entire world after that. Brook saw everyone he cared for die and spent 50 years in a dark empty boat. Both of them lost more and suffered longer.

 

[Holt]

But that still does not even come close at all compared to what happened to robin and brook. Robin lost far more than nami (she lost her mother, home and country) and was at large persecuted by the entire world after that. Brook saw everyone he cared for die and spent 50 years in a dark empty boat. Both of them lost more and suffered longer.

Perhaps but while that puts Nami beneath robin and brook, I believe that puts her above the others.

 

[kkck]

Ussop saw his mom die too. From disease but every bit as dead still. Luffy did not actually witness his brother die but it was still a huge loss. Zoro lost a friend so the situation is not as bad as any of the others. The self cannibalism bit has me undecided about sanji to be honest. I guess he did not suffer a direct loss though. Franky lost at least a father figure out of his own actions and that does not consider whatever happened to him before he got to water seven. Chopper lost what was by all intents and purposes a father to him.