Chopper's Scarred Heart

oh my God I love Rick and Morty he's not a dog he's not a Tanooki but he is a fluffy friend he's the doctor with a name so nice you say it twice it's the cutest reindeer in the world and the best little guy ever it's the one the only Tony Tony Chopper we've met two main doctors in our one-piece travels not including the bird and honestly I'd trust Chopper a lot more I'm sorry Laura but I can't say I'd want a guy with death on his hands anywhere near me I've said to a few friends that I could not believe how cute of a character Chopper is usually a tiny character like this balances on the edge of being endearing and annoying because cute things while being cute tend to get old fast but no no not for the doctor Tony Tony Chopper Chopper comes as a wonderful surprise because there is not an annoying bone in his little body which really speaks to how Oda can twist any real-life element into whatever fantasy he wants since I don't think rain ideas are particularly cute they're cool and all but there's something intimidating about a four foot tall creature with antlers as big as you the average reindeer in the one piece World also seems to look suspiciously realistic no huge rabbits or goofy snakes with hats here but of course this could just be to emphasize the point of how different Chopper looks from his herd rejects Society become Chopper over the years Chopper has indeed gotten smaller and rounder and he's certainly become more of a mascot for One Piece he tends to be in most group Arts even though he's not relevant to the art I mean just look at Chopper in This Woman's Day art look at his support girl shirt so true Chopper thank you for being an ally but contrary to popular belief Oda didn't actually switch his design around due to editor or company pressures in a 2022 interview Oda admitted he has a policy of not wanting to draw mascots but and I quote I also changed Chopper to a mascot character after hearing the Anna anime voice oh Tani iko's voice was too cute for those who don't know this is also the last who voices Pikachu and I'm sure we can all agree her voice is indeed cute either way the fact Chopper's design was changed purely because Oda wanted to match his cute voice to his cute form is honestly really adorable and even though Chopper does look a bit more mascotish I would certainly argue that he's no less of a character he's been given less to do that much is true but he honestly acts the same as he did pre-time Skip Chopper has always been the center of cuteness in one piece for both the real-life audience and the characters in one piece's world Chopper being a character we all go oh at is an aspect that hasn't changed and just like pre-time skip his cuteness isn't the only thing about him so round a design aside he really hasn't become as flanderized as people think he has I feel like this has accidentally become a chopper defense video but I feel I should say this will not be about slamming his time skip so since I do actually enjoy watching Chopper's Fates and experiences in the current day one piece but that's something we'll be getting around to later because to begin with I would like to look into how chop has been built as a character the meanings of his animal nature mixed with his human mind how he's lived through and grown from the trauma he's experienced as a young child and what the straw hats truly mean to him in terms of friendship and family but before we do any of that it's sponsor time while we cannot all be pirates in our current day and age we could still be Pirates online and we can do that safely with Atlas VPN if you're not a tech nerd like me and have no idea what a VPN is a VPN makes it so all your internet searches browsing and history is completely protected it's sure to hide your IP address and it keeps you safe from spying especially from the pesky FBI agent in your computer who's watching you look up zoro's big fat boobies as we speak but Atlas VPN isn't just a VPN it also protects you from pop-up ads and malicious malware it can also give you access to any country's version of Netflix or Disney plus I mentioned Disney plus specifically because did you guys know that the entirety of bleach is on Australian Disney plus and with that list you yes you can take advantage of atlas's huge discount you can get a three-year subscription from 1.83 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee even better than that if you use my link in the description below you get an 82 discount for premium subscription snatch that deal while it's hot and thank you so much atlasvpn for sponsoring this video I won't let you down it's back to the doctor Tony Tony Chopper in my opinion Chopper is a character with a lot of emotional intelligence well not in complete terms of Chopper's own emotional intelligence but in how he's been written and what he's meant to be we've seen time and time again in one piece the stubborn character that refuses to let people in a person who travels alone and needs their walls broken down to be vulnerable the biggest examples I can think of in terms of this are Zorro and Nami is special actually Nami but the two of them were both lone wolves both had a cage over their hearts due to previous pain and both found it hard to completely trust another person until Luffy came along this style of character a character who believes they need no one else and no attachment due to past trauma is a pretty common occurrence throughout anime and media in general and it certainly always makes me happy to see a cold heart melt due to the light someone can bring but I bring them up because Chopper isn't that in fact Chopper is on the other side of the coin in regards to this character Trope Chopper instead brings up the question what if someone were willing to let people in but they've been so hurt and scarred they find it absolutely terrifying to lend their heart to others it's a sad question to ask and to explore this idea you need a character with a pure heart well you don't need it per se but the wholesome character Chopper is written to be certainly accentuates just how upsetting a situation it is everything about out Chopper screams that he wants acceptance he wants care and he wants love and it also screams that he wants to give it right back such things as saving baby snowbirds from being crushed in Castle doors to being unable to hide his Joy at being complimented to becoming a literal doctor prioritizing the Health and Care of another person overall Chopper's heart is why his story is so painful because it's one thing to be a loner by choice it's another to want to give love with nowhere to put it and even more than that it's another thing to want to give love but being so hurt that you're scared to Robin is somewhat similar in this regard the parallels between these two probably the thing that makes them such a sweet Duo there's plenty of connection with their lack of family their labeling of monsters and their want for care but what happens to Robin when she finally finds a family to give her love to she takes it to the extreme readying herself for sacrifice just to keep her Newfound family safe because of just how much love she has to give and Chopper does exactly the same but I'll save that for future points for now I think what we need to focus on is Chopper's past and how this has turned him into the timid reindeer that he is one thing I've said before about one piece and one thing I really really like about one piece is how we can see the long lasting effects of trauma within a character these characters are not just traumatized for the sake of it there's no weird torture Pawn happening here but every single one of them has gone through something awful for us to understand what that does to a person Nami is aggressive and hostile because she lived a life that didn't allow it to be anything else Robin is quiet and morbid due to the Grim experiences she'd gone through as a child Sanji is emotional and sacrificial thanks to the abuse his biological family had put him through law is anxious and fastidious on account of doflamingo's manipulation of him using his disturbing past as a way to groom him into something he wasn't this can go on and on but the point is one piece presents the very real instance that everyone processes trauma differently but what I like the most here is one piece openly states that your trauma does not shape you into someone unlovable honestly if you want more of a deep dive regarding how love can help a person in One piece's World I fully recommend watching my lore video but Chopper also completely embodies this notion in fact I think before law was introduced and further explored Chopper was the best example of just how a scarred heart restricts one and how they see themselves and how fear has them become distant the Baddie herself Dr kuroha even tells us this while speaking with nami she explains the scars on Chopper's heart will be the hardest to heal is when we get into where these scars came from we find Chopper has been put into a really unfortunate situation of not having a home and due to this never having a place in the world after all even Robin could blend in with the common person if they didn't know of her face or Powers but such a thing could never exist for Chopper once we discovered Chopper's Origins it revealed this originally didn't have anything to do with his devil fruit but with the feature of his blue nose Chopper is of course Meant To Be Inspired from the story of Rudolph's Red-Nosed Reindeer with as silly as that song Or story is Rudolph found acceptance from being different due to his bright red nose being useful it's kind of a weird message that you can only have worth if What Makes You Different Makes You useful but I don't think there was that much thought put into it listen I am not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the emotional intricacies of Rudolph the goddamn Red-Nosed Reindeer but who knows maybe Oda thought the same thing because what I I will say is Chopper was never given that opportunity to be useful for his herd while Rudolph had a cool bright shiny nose Trevor had a dumb stupid [ __ ] little blue nose can't do anything with that so instead he got bullied as a calf from what we know Chopper was always pushed to the back of the herd as a baby and even as an animal his own herd didn't care for nor protect him from there Chopper discovered and ate the human fruit in which his physical appearance changed even more drastically no longer resembling that of a reindeer at all looking the way he did he was no longer ostracized but completely kicked from his herd forced to be on his own as a child this information we've been given is important because it's not just the fruit that was the reason for Chopper's rejection but the fact he was born this way Chopper essentially was born with an abnormality he already experienced desertion from his herd for how he originally existed and if the fruit were the sole reason for his banishment that'd certainly be less emotion here I'd even think of it as a disappointment this way Chopper cannot blame his lack of family on a single moment nor decision the fruit itself cannot be the main cause for his exclusion and it's these details that show us the real emotional depth and intelligence one piece is insanely good at presenting why because otherwise the fruit is an excuse for how Choppa is being treated and that's not the point of choppa's story Chopper's misfortunes started from birth with the abnormality of his blue nose and this Cuts intensely deep considering the reflection it can provide us with the real world in terms of societal Norms one piece has always been about the outcasts The Misfits and The Unwanted even if it's something as small and inconsequential as a blue nose Chopper has still been born different from the rest but this isn't a personality issue like sanji's past or an effect through life like Robin's devil fruit Powers this is Chopper being alienated due to a birth defect even though there's nothing wrong with with him he still functioned like a normal reindeer he still walked talked and acted like a normal reindeer yet he was singled out anyway his blue nose honestly isn't even a defect it's just different but from birth he never experienced protection care nor acceptance because of it the devil fruit was the eventual reason for Chopper's expulsion but he saw this as an opportunity to live amongst people with his newly obtained human fruit unfortunately much like his herd Chopper was rejected for being abnormal he learned very quickly that even amongst humans different equals bad and his big fairy stature only scared people due to being unable to understand what he was Chopper wasn't quite animal enough to be a reindeer and not quite human enough to be a person even after causing no harm to anyone even after approaching the village only to make friends he was shot at he cries in confusion as he's chased and hit by bullets and I cannot imagine that error that Chopper would have felt during this moment imagine gaining human sentience imagine feeling the pain of being kicked from your herd and with your newly formed human brain you think humans will accept you just to be called a monster and shot at with a Chopper's sentience the first emotions he felt were pain and fear and the biggest emotion he would have felt is loneliness amongst animals he was a monster and amongst people he was a monster there was no place for him there was none of his kind until encountering Dr hidalock Dr hidalock is an interesting man because I honestly think he is a fantastic doctor he just entered the wrong medical field this man needed to be a psychiatrist not a medical doctor but no matter he did fantastic work otherwise kind of straight away there was a connection between hiralak and Chopper because hiralak was in that same area of not quite having a place to call home he loved his country and he loved his work but he wasn't accepted amongst his peers or his patients for as long as he lived he was hunted down by weapon's men for years he was forced out by patience due to his unconventional medicine and he lived alone for who knows how many years already just by being outcasts there was a connection between these two and this is probably why hidalock didn't fear Chopper upon first meeting so discarding his gun hidalock promises he poses no threat to Chopper and strips off butt naked to gain the trust of this reindeer he'd only just met speaking of hidalock discarding his gun I think a detail I really like amongst the straw hats is none of them have a gun in a traditional sense yes Frankie is quite literally a walking weapon but he certainly doesn't own anything that realistically resembles a gun and neither do any of the straw hats apart from sanji's at one time for some reason no idea where the hell he got that from either way I felt the reason usop never got given a gun was due to Chopper existing on their a crew it's quite possible Chopper's fear of Guns is gone but the symbolism of what this Weaponry means to him is a painful one I found it to be a nice little detail to guarantee Chopper's comfort and safety amongst the straw hats but then we could also throw that all away when the Gang has a Tarantino moment and strong world with literal Bazookas what the [ __ ] was going on in this movie anyways what I'm saying is Dr hirulock became the first person Chopper could trust and the first person Chopper could although apprehensively lend his heart to Dr hidalock is also the man who gave Chopper his name his hat and most importantly his sense of wonder hit a luck was a grand Man Who Loved the might of pirates and the freedom Roger represented and would commonly boast to Chopper about how amazing Pirates are due to hit a look Chopper gained a Fascination in not only Pirates but the world as it existed hit a luck encouraged Chopper to see the world with his own eyes to grow into a man who could sail the Seas and was honestly the most supportive of a parent he could ever have it's incredibly wholesome the amount of Firsts they had together in terms of connection and relationship one of my favorites being hidalock's comment after their first fight huh doctor um [Music] thanks to hit a look Chopper is essentially showing us the perspective of the world and relationships Through The Eyes of someone who's never experienced such things before Chopper has never had connection before not with anyone or anything and there's something about Chopper's story that makes you feel grateful for the relationships friendships and connections you have I know that sounds cheesy but that's what I got through his time with hidaluck because you don't really think about how lucky you are to have someone you can banter with until it's put into a perspective like this it's such a small thing but it is incredibly Charming in its concept we also see this idea following chopper with Dr kudaha her love very extreme but because of hit a look we know this is an indication of closeness between them and then of course this tough love is transferred into choppa's relationship with the straw hats where we regularly see Chopper banter with and get angry at his crew a reflection of his time was hit look and Coulda has ways of medicine I suppose angrily bandaging Zoro up again and again can count as a love language it's no stretch to say hidalock was the most important person in Chopper's life but the sad part is hidalock fully knew that he knew Chopper had no one else but him and when you're a dying man due to an illness with no cure it'd only be cruel to stay as the only person in Chopper's life this is why once Chopper was healed he kicked him out believing it easier to have Chopper hate him instead of telling the truth of his own declining Health unfortunately poor little Chopper had the idea that because he was healed there was no reason for hidalock to want him anymore and we get this genuinely heartbreaking scene of Chopper desperately doing what he can to stay by hiralak's side [Music] foreign [Music] if we go back to that Rudolph analogy I was talking about and how weird it is that Rudolph needed to be useful to be accepted this does actually follow into Chopper's own character it sounds crazy every time I compare Chopper to this Christmas Fable but hey one piece is a weird series and again I genuinely would not be surprised if Oda thought these same things much like Sanji and usop Chopper's self-worth did indeed start stemming from whether or not he could help and be beneficial to the people around him Chapa had the idea that he needed to be useful to hit a lock in some way to gain his love back that hidalock only kept Chopper around to heal him so when hurting himself didn't work he searched for something that would work this is when Chopper discovers hirelock's illness and finding opportunity in such an awful situation Chopper had the grand idea of being the one to heal hidalock this way he's done something for him and there'll be reason for hidalock to love him again so of course our little hero says out on his journey to find the magic mushroom that can heal all as discovered in hidalock's books where he encounters and needs to walk through a herd of reindeer the symbolism of this scene is beautiful Chopper now brawling against and turning his back on his animal roots to fight for the man he sees as family he no longer wishes for the acceptance from his herd instead looking for the acceptance from hidalock and this is a statement for how hidalock gave him the family his herd never could upon getting the mushroom Chopper shows back up at hidalock's door completely battered and bruised in an honestly disturbing way hidalock is so overwhelmed by Chopper's sacrifice and is so moved by Chopper's love for him that he falls to his knees and thanks Chapel with his whole heart after this he eats the mushroom claiming he feels better already chop is overjoyed and feels hidalux care once more before he leaves for what Chopper didn't realize would be the last time after some final words to Kuru her she storms hirulock's home to understand what had happened and it's here we are presented one of the most stomach dropping heart-shattering reveals I've genuinely ever seen in terms of emotional pain and just overall shock foreign comes from just how much hidalock was trying to protect Chopper how hidden luck doesn't want Chopper to feel guilt nor Stop Believing in the Brilliance of a skull and crossbones on the pirate flag so instead of allowing the mushroom to kill him or allowing the illness to take his life he sacrifices himself in front of weapon with his final breath he dies for what he believes in protecting Chopper's heart all the while and yells an absolutely gorgeous line don't eat [Music] it I don't know if Chopper heard this line but he embodies hidalux belief by keeping his flag and flying at the top weapon's abandoned castle years later he also begs kuroha to teach him medicine his mistake in giving hit a lock the poisonous mushroom one of the reasons for wanting to be a doctor but overall just wanting to follow in hiralak's footsteps and respect his memory of being a man of medicine so with all that being said let's go back to modern day Chopper how has this all affected him kuruha adopted him and took Chopper in as her own giving Chopper a home although an unconventional one and an education in medicine unfortunately Chopper is still extremely timid around people and is still called a monster by the townspokes that live beneath him yet it's quite possible this is why kudahar never took offense to being called a witch within the village as she knew how painful and personal it was for Chopper to be called a monster so essentially together these two became the scary witch and the big monster that lived in the castle good at her being labeled as such something I believed helped give Chopper a home and a family and then finally Chopper meets Luffy and Chopper is astounded by what Luffy has been through to get his crew up the mountain immediately there is a reflection of hidalock in Luffy with how far he's willing to go for those he loves Luffy embodies the ideals and values that hidalock found so amazing in Pirates regarding how they live so freely and passionately for themselves and their crew so being a pirate was not the only thing that attracted Chopper to Luffy but the passion for those he loves was unlike anything he'd ever seen since hidalock from here we see Chopper fight for the castle as weapon returns and we see Chopper wanting to honor hidaluck's name but I feel that's not the main point of this moment the main point is Luffy's reaction to his Transformations and Chopper's reaction right back Luffy being the weirdo he is thinks Chopper is the coolest thing ever already that's enough to get Luffy to like you but Choppers determination to keep peterlock's memory alive is something that Luffy respects a great deal Luffy didn't even know who hidaluck was yet for Chopper he will happily fight for the Jolly Roger that Chopper is so desperate to protect from the get-go Chopper had the soul of a pirate and this was probably something Luffy could see but of course even if you like Chopper at this point it's hard for Chopper to like you considering he still has a fear of humans after all he's been chased at shot at and labeled as a monster by them yet as Luffy uses his rubber powers in front of Chopper Sanji says something that no doubt Comforts Chopper like no other it's a Navidad no no no no [Music] after all this and after seeing Luffy fight for Chopper's own will he's still unsure how to feel about Luffy and the straw hats if you stop and Luffy call him a monster although not maliciously and Luffy chases chopper down as he demands him to be on his crew Chopper doesn't realize how weird and fun this is until he's sitting alone and he seriously considers Luffy's offer with a lot of conflict finally he decides he can't join the straw hats because he's too afraid to leave the island or travel with humans but Luffy explodes in his usual Luffy way to reaffirm Chopper like no other foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] I cannot elaborate just how much Chopper needed this needed someone who would not accept no for an answer and absolutely demanded Choppa be part of his family because with a heart like Choppers that's full of fear and covered in scars he needed absolute confirmation that Luffy and the straw hats would love and accept him and with Luffy's nature of wearing his heart on a sleeve of demanding something once he wants it how could Chopper not cry at meeting someone who demands him as part of their crew and family with their whole heart after all this is just how Luffy got both Nami and Sanji on his crew and just like how he hadn't even tried sanji's cooking before recruiting him Luffy had no idea Chopper was a doctor until after he was on the crew this ham is in the point that Luffy doesn't care about ability he mostly doesn't care what your skills will bring to the crew all he really cares about is the person you are and the heart you you have but even if this is the case Chopper still felt he needed to be useful Chopper doesn't seem to understand that the straw hats won't just abandon him even if he fails at something or if he can't pull his weight the most prominent moment to show this isn't skypeia where the Mary has been damaged because of an attack from a sky priest when usop sees the damage Chopper apologizes over and over again in hopes usop won't be mad but usop reassures him with how he answers [Music] it's a bigger than um me Trump is shocked at usop worrying for his well-being over the Mary and with how Chopper had been treated previously by both animals and people this moment is something that really solidifies Chopper's feelings in being a welcomed part of this family over his travels it's these little moments that begin to heal chop his heart and that's the whole idea of any sweet or comforting moment with chopper his emotional wounds were not healed the second he joined the straw hats as what he suffered had a long lasting effect on his psyche this is why during water 7 he's scared to unleash monster point we knew full well the straw hats will still love and accept Chopper we know the straw hats don't care for the monster within Chopper because they'll forever see their crewmate but Chopper doesn't know this he's still traumatized from being labeled as a monster by humans and him revealing monster Point left him in a vulnerable position but was also a huge step in him trusting his crewmates to accept him as a monster which is exactly what happens because what do we see after the time skip Chopper has figured out a way to control monster point but that's not the idea of this Fishman island scene monster point is still a monster Chopper still has that label associated with this form and he says something to Zorro that outwardly shows the mental healing job has been through since being with the straw hats [Music] [Music] if we go back to just how terrified Chopper was of this label of how Chopper wanted to be anything but a monster and just be accepted this is the healthiest development I could think of he's no longer scared to show all the size of himself to his family and I genuinely felt as proud as Zorro probably felt during this scene but that doesn't mean Chopper is totally healed Chopper still thinks he needs to push himself to the extremes for his crew and it doesn't help that it was Caesar goddamn clown who made him believe this during winter Caesar essentially pressured Chopper into needing to do more for the straw hats that Chopper's Rumble ball needed to last longer and he needed to sacrifice his health for his crew I'm sure any Straw Hat wouldn't agree with that especially considering Luffy doesn't believe in sacrifice as a necessity nor thanks yet trouble listens to Caesar anyways and becomes baby old man Chopper which is probably the funniest side effect to anything I've ever seen my man turned into a hydrogen baby anyways I feel like blaming Caesar a lot here but really we've seen Chopper does want to be a man that he can be proud of it was most notable during long ring long land where Zoro tells Chopper to stop crying because that's not what men do and while I don't think that's the healthiest thing to say it does give Chopper a sense of strength and stability in himself in the end what Chopper saw was his crew giving their 110 percent pushing themselves to extremes to keep everyone safe while striving for their own dreams and Chopper realized he should be doing the same this Caesar moment was a combination of peer pressure and Chopper kind of needing those harsh words to strengthen his will overall the most important aspect of Chopper holy and truly is his heart not just the way it skills but the way it cares and loves there is no one more qualified to be a doctor than Chopper because he has boundless love overflowing from his little heart we see it for usop and Robin in water 7 we see it for the children in Punk Hazard and we see it for Sanji during whole cake Island and I would just like to say yes Chopper did actually do something in whole cake Island because without him and carrot we would have had no Discovery nor navigation of the mirror World which was pretty important but overall Chopper was in whole cake Island to be there for Sanji since being abandoned by your blood family and treated as an outcast from birth is pretty much choppa's own story as much as Chopper reflects Robin with the both of them accepting the monster they've been designated as Tripper also entirely reflects Sanji in rejecting their blood family for their found one and what would you know these two characters with similar stories probably have the biggest hearts on the crew after all one represents kindness and the other represents care together Chopper and Sanji are probably the most giving characters one piece has which is an amazing example of how love can shape a person for the better to wrap this up because I have been talking about chopper for way longer than I thought I could what makes Chopper Tony Tony Chopper as I've said throughout the entirety of this video and as I will say again it's his heart something that's been broken and put back together again by the family Chopper has found hidalock was the one who picked the pieces up healing Chopper's heart being proof that he was an amazing doctor one who healed the hearts of the country he loved kureho was the one who bandaged all those pieces together taking Chopper in as her own and loving him to the point she couldn't bear to watch him go but just like hit a luck and in her own way she encouraged Chopper to see the world and pushed him to the family she knew he needed and finally the straw hats especially Luffy are the ones who've been mending Chopper's heart ever since with each moment they have with anyone words of warmth or togetherness as a crew Chopper's metaphorical scars vanish one by one because of them Chopper can openly give to the people around him he can openly care for friends and strangers and he can exist as he is without the worry of being abandoned the straw hats have nurtured Chopper's heart in allowing it to overflow with the love it holds have no longer put Chopper in this position of being caged by fear and thanks to them we've gotten our lovable little doctor Tony Tony Chopper and with that thanks for watching this ended up being a longer video than I expected I honestly didn't realize I felt so much for Chopper until writing this out but I will say Chopper was one of the characters I liked immediately upon first meeting it's hard not to like him honestly considering he's probably one of the cutest characters to exist in anything ever as always let me know what you think I feel I missed quite a lot with chopper and I didn't get into as many scenes as I would have liked but I do think Chopper's original backstory is the main point of focus with him I guess you can tell me your own emotional intricacies with this little blue nosed reindeer just a quick reminder that I do have a patreon and if you would like to support me there I'd really really really appreciate it however I know not everyone can support me in that way and watching and sharing these videos does more than you can imagine for me if there's anything you'd like to see me cover one piece or otherwise please let me know and I'll see you in whatever I make next see ya [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: MelonTeee

Views: 492,625

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Id: nsv0koJAS4Q

Length: 35min 5sec (2105 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 19 2023