Of all the Straw Hat Pirates in One Piece, Usopp is known as the comic relief and by far its most cowardly member. While Usopp's cowardice may not reflect his true powers, we certainly haven't seen much of the latter because of the former. That's why we've embarked on a journey to discover Usopp's strength, as we believe it's very important. In the rest of this article, we'll tell you if Usopp gets stronger as the series progresses.

Eiichiro Oda has stated that no matter how the Straw Hat Pirates' roster has evolved over the years, he always wants Usopp to be the weakest member. Usopp has always been comic relief and, most of the time, a coward, though both have changed. He gained significant power after the two-year time skip and is now a formidable fighter in his own right.

The rest of this article will tell you all about Usopp's abilities and give you a general overview of his powers and abilities, as well as their development. Some spoilers may be present, but Usopp is a rather intriguing character, and we want to give you as much information as possible; that's why we've warned you in case you're not fully aware of all the events of the series.

When does Usopp get stronger?

Usopp is the Straw Hat Pirates' sharpshooter and one of the weakest and most cowardly members by comparison. Oda wants to permanently make him the weakest member of the crew to maintain balance in the story and because Usopp is the closest the crew member has to a normal human being. Since the beginning of the series, he has been inferior in power and strength to the other characters and needs his weapons to strengthen himself. Although he was a coward before the time skip, after the time skip, he has changed, becoming more mature, reckless, and confident.

And so, the crucial moment when Usopp became more powerful and a more formidable character is the time skip. The two-year time skip, during which the Straw Hat Pirates disbanded, was a crucial moment for many of the characters in One Piece. They changed, grew, and became much stronger since each one underwent some form of training. Thus, they were much stronger when Luffy reunited the group. Now, we know what the members did and how they actually trained, but the results of this training were quite visible, and in Usopp's case, we will present the details of this change.

Usopp lacks superhuman abilities like Luffy or Sanji. Before the time skip, he bluffed to hide the fact that he could only lift 5 kg at best, being, along with Nami, one of the weaker members without any fighting skills; the duo often improvised with whatever was at hand during fights. After the time skip, however, he is strong enough to hold Luffy and Robin in icy water without sinking.

He frequently sustains injuries during conflicts, but his endurance is astonishing; he continues to fight even after sustaining severe injuries. He continues to fight for Luffy even after Mr. 4 smashed his face and Miss Merry Christmas threw him against numerous walls. Even though the Franky Family severely injured him, he continues to fight for Luffy in Water 7. He survived the assaults of CP9 and the Marines in Enies Hall despite still being injured. Usopp's endurance improved significantly after the time skip. In fact, during Punk Hazard, despite being punched by a huge child, nearly being choked by Caesar Clown, and suffering his own explosive attack, he managed to get back up and walk away with only minor injuries.

Usopp, along with Sanji, was one of the most tactically adept members of Luffy's crew, partly due to his lack of courage. Even though they were stronger than him, he could lie blatantly with enough confidence to scare some gullible individuals. He frequently used these skills to develop a successful battle strategy. Usopp confronted Smack and threw a wine bottle at him, which he caught, setting him on fire so he could kill him with a hammer later.

He uses a dial on the Puffing Tom to generate smoke to surprise CP9 and successfully retrieve Robin until Blueno reaches them. Usopp deduced from Perona that she needed to use a distraction to change her appearance from a fearful runaway to a haughty ghost and deduced the location of her real body. Usopp further uses his tactical abilities after the time skip to set traps that allow him and Chopper to defeat Daruma, a fast enemy who also uses tunnels.

His marksmanship skills also improved, as did his use of Haki, but these things weren't detailed in the story but were shown and explored over time, so we don't really have anything to pinpoint here. Usopp simply became stronger and better over time when it came to these skills. In this regard, the time skip was really crucial for him, as Usopp not only became a braver person and a better fighter, but he also became more skilled and powerful.

Will Usopp become stronger than Sanji?

As mentioned, Eiichiro Oda has stated that no matter how the Straw Hat Pirates' roster evolves over the years, he always wants Usopp to be the weakest member. This means that for Usopp to become stronger than Sanji, the Straw Hat Pirates' cook, something drastic would have to change in how Usopp is perceived as a character. In this respect, Usopp likely won't become stronger than Sanji, both because Sanji has a better start and has also grown as a character, and because Oda won't change his basic premise.