15 Years Later, One Piece Officially Butchers the Most Underrated Straw Hat With Horrible Design Update

One Piece has given Usopp another visual refresh, and the difference is surprisingly dramatic when placed beside his first post-timeskip appearance. The comparison comes almost exactly 15 years after the Straw Hat sniper returned to the anime with a radically changed physique, longer hair, goatee, goggles, and new outfit. Now, during the Elbaf Arc, Usopp’s latest anime design looks noticeably leaner, making the muscular version fans remember from 2011 feel like a distant memory.

The change has prompted a surprisingly heated discussion about whether Usopp’s physique was simply part of the series’ evolving art style or whether the character really has lost the physical development he gained during his two-year training period.

One Piece Gives Usopp a Major Design Change After 15 Years

The visual contrast between Usopp’s 2011 post-timeskip debut and his 2026 appearance is jarring at first glance. When One Piece introduced Usopp’s post-timeskip look in Episode 517 (“The Beginning of the New Chapter! The Straw Hats Reunited!”) back in 2011, he wore yellow rolled-up pants with red suspenders, a white wide-brim hat, and prominent sniper headphones. More importantly, his physique reflected two years of surviving aggressive, giant carnivorous flora on Greenstone. His arms were ripped, his core was sculpted, and his broader frame physically signaled his growth from a timid runaway into a battle-ready warrior of the sea.

In his current 2026 design during the Elbaf Arc, featuring a Viking-style outfit with a horned helmet, a patterned beard accessory, spiked armbands, and a purple top, that muscular definition has conspicuously thinned out. His shoulders and biceps appear significantly slimmer and smoother, lacking the deep muscle shading and vascular tone present in 2011.

Historically, Usopp started as a lean, tan-skinned teenager in Syrup Village. His post-timeskip physique was a core story beat, proving that his grueling survival period on the Boin Archipelago transformed him into someone who could hold his own alongside monsters like Luffy and Zoro. Seeing those hard-earned “gains” visually softened 15 years later strips away one of the subtle visual rewards of his character development.

Usopp’s New Look Sparks Fan Debate Over His Post-Timeskip Design

The viral side-by-side comparison thread on Reddit (via r/OnePiece) quickly became a hub for fans airing their grievances and theories regarding the sniper’s fluctuating physique. Many fans expressed genuine shock at how fast time has flown, marveling at the fact that 15 years have passed since the original 2011 post-timeskip reveal. Beyond the existential age crisis, the focus immediately shifted to his missing physique, with numerous comments pointing out that Usopp appears to have lost all his post-timeskip “gains” and muscle definition.

As with any anime discussion, humor took center stage. Fans joked that Usopp simply stopped maintaining his physique once he rejoined the Straw Hats, quipping that he had to fight for survival every day in isolation but quickly got comfortable back on the ship. Others brought up the tactical argument: as a long-range sniper using Pop Greens and slingshots, a bodybuilder build isn’t strictly necessary for his combat role, making a leaner frame functionally fine even if it feels like a cosmetic downgrade.

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More pragmatic viewers argued that the shift isn’t an intentional character nerf, but rather a reflection of One Piece‘s evolving art style and animation pipelines. Similar stylistic shifts occurred during Wano and Egghead, where line work and muscle contours were streamlined across the entire cast.

Whether you view it as a crime against his 2011 glow-up or a natural byproduct of Toei Animation’s modern art style, Usopp’s changing silhouette highlights just how long this journey has been. Over 15 real-world years, the animation and character designs of One Piece have evolved continually. Even if his post-timeskip muscles occasionally vanish under new art direction, the “God” sniper’s legacy remains as larger-than-life as ever.

Do you prefer Usopp’s muscular post-timeskip look or his current Elbaf design?

One Piece is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.