One of Usopp’s most important stories in One Piece season 2 will begin a defining arc for his character, but viewers shouldn’t expect the payoff any time soon. As well as introducing the first five Straw Hat pirates of One Piece‘s cast, Netflix’s debut season also worked hard to outline each character’s core motivation.

Luffy told anyone who will listen that he aims to be Pirate King, Zoro’s flashbacks established his desire to become the world’s greatest swordsman, Sanji wistfully mentioned finding the All Blue, and Arlong’s defeat will allow Nami to pursue her dream of mapping the globe.

The only character without a clear purpose heading into One Piece season 2 is Usopp. Played by Jacob Romero Gibson, Usopp joined Luffy’s crew to live out his wild piracy fantasies for real, but precisely what he hopes to achieve on that journey remains unclear after One Piece season 1’s ending. Usopp has no intention of earning a prestigious title, becoming the world’s best sniper, or creating an enduring body of work. One Piece season 2 will address that point, but it’s a story Eiichiro Oda’s manga took more than 20 years to resolve.

One Piece Season 2 Will Set Up Usopp’s Dream: Visiting Elbaf

Elbaf Is An Island Of Giants In One Piece’s World

Among the various islands Luffy’s crew will visit in One Piece season 2 is Little Garden, where the Straw Hats will encounter Werner Coetser’s Dorry and Brendan Murray’s Brogy, two giants who are as big as they are friendly. Despite being stuck on Little Garden, Dorry and Brogy identify their homeland as Elbaf, and since Usopp becomes particularly close with the pair, the sniper declares his dream to be reaching the land of giants.

From that point forward in the One Piece story, the thought of stepping foot on Elbaf is Usopp’s biggest personal goal as a Straw Hat pirate – his equivalent of becoming Pirate King. Making that declaration fully cements Usopp’s status as a Straw Hat crew member. Before then, it almost feels like he’s a passenger along for the ride, but having a personal focus begins to prove that Usopp is more than just cowardice, trick shots, and comic relief.

Finding the resolve to reach Elbaf hints at a mettle that very gradually reveals itself over the course of One Piece. Getting that same moment in live-action will be crucial for Jacob Romero Gibson’s Usopp in One Piece, and will arguably serve as his standout moment in Netflix’s second season.

Usopp Took Over 20 Years To Reach Elbaf In One Piece’s Manga – How Long Will Netflix Take?

Are You Ready To Feel Old?

The One Piece manga’s Little Garden arc was released in 1999 and extended into 2000. Usopp and the Straw Hats finally arrive at Elbaf in chapters published in late 2024 – a stunning quarter of a century later. Even by One Piece standards, that is an awfully long time for audiences to wait on the payoff to Usopp’s dream.

Translating that gap to Netflix’s live-action adaptation is not an exact science, but an estimation is possible. One Piece season 1 covered the first 95 or so chapters of the manga, and the group’s arrival in Elbaf occurs around the chapter #1130 mark. At that rate, Netflix’s One Piece would finally fulfill Usopp’s wishes in season 11 or 12. Given the approximate two-year gap between seasons, audiences will be living in the 2040s when live-action Usopp finally claps eyes on the island of giants.

It is, of course, highly unlikely that live-action One Piece will last that long. Netflix’s aversion to long-running shows, the cast and crew needing to commit to a single project stretching over 20 years, the actors aging out of their characters – the obstacles are numerous. If, somehow, live-action One Piece did reach such a milestone, however, the scene where Usopp sees Elbaf for the first time would be a monumentally satisfying moment for anyone who watched One Piece season 2 and witnessed the birth of his dream.

Weirdly, Usopp Is The Straw Hat Most Likely To Get Their Dream Fulfilled In Live-Action

25 Years Is A Long Time, But Other Straw Hats Must Wait Longer

Usopp’s One Piece dream may have taken the best part of 25 years to resolve in the original manga, and Netflix’s live-action show might be looking at a similar expanse of time to do the same, but in an odd twist of fate, the sniper has a better chance of seeing his dream realized than any of the other live-action Straw Hats.

At the time of writing, Zoro has not yet defeated Dracule Mihawk for the title of World’s Greatest Swordsman, and Sanji has still not found the All Blue. Other Straw Hat goals, like Nami’s aspiration to chart the entire globe and Luffy becoming Pirate King, are intrinsically baked into One Piece‘s endgame. Usopp reaching his personal finish line before any of his fellow crew mates means that no matter how remote the odds, he has a better chance of doing the same in live-action, even if Netflix’s cast have a few more wrinkles when it happens.

The only way that might change is if Netflix’s One Piece alters the source material and the Straw Hats meet their destinies sooner, which could mean Usopp reaching Elbaf doesn’t take 25 years after all. On the other hand, if live-action One Piece ever reached a point where Netflix canceled the show and Luffy needed to become Pirate King quickly in order to give the story some kind of narrative resolution, storylines like Usopp reaching Elbaf and Sanji finding the All Blue risk being swept under the rug completely in favor of focusing on Luffy as the lead.