Among the entire vast narrative of the One Piece anime and manga series, the time-skip period is one of the most intriguing parts of the series, especially for the Straw Hat Pirates. While many got serious upgrades like Haki and power boosts, a few of them had a massive downfall afterward, which is barely noticeable at first glance.
With that in mind, let’s jump into the events after the Marineford two-year time-skip for the Straw Hat Pirates. Here’s every member of Luffy’s crew that we feel had serious downgrades after the eventful training during the period of separation.
TITLEOne PieceCREATORSEiichiro OdaRELEASE DATEOctober 20, 1999IMDb RATINGS (as of August 2, 2026)9/10WHERE TO WATCHCrunchyroll
5. Nami’s Weather Powers Soared, Yet Her Screen Time Shrank
Nami from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Nami actually leveled up hard after the two-year gap, trading her old Clima-Tact for the Sorcery version and eventually absorbing Zeus into her arsenal, letting her drop lightning strong enough to flatten a submarine. But the New World rarely lets her carry a fight solo.
She still gets treated as the crew’s weather calculator first and a combatant second, even when her Thunder Breed Tempo could probably handle more than fodder duty. Growth without a stage to show it off barely counts. She’s the lowest downgrade here because her toolkit genuinely improved – it’s her spotlight that shrank, not her strength.
4. Brook’s Immortal Powers Wasted As His Screen Time Faded Away
Brook from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Brook walked out of the timeskip with astral projection, soul-freezing cold, and a Devil Fruit that already cheated death once. On paper, that’s one of the scarier toolkits on the ship. In practice, fans have pointed out he’s one of several Straw Hats, alongside Nami and Robin, who started fading into background gags and musical numbers post-timeskip.
A skeleton who can literally leave his body deserves more than comic relief duty between arcs. He ranks above Nami because his abilities are flashier and scarier, which makes the underuse sting more.
3. Robin’s Devil Fruit Sat Sidelined For Nearly A Full Decade
Nico Robin from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Nico Robin‘s Hana Hana no Mi got scarier on paper after the timeskip, capable of building giant limbs and full-body clones instead of just extra hands to grab enemies. The problem is Oda barely lets her use any of it. For roughly a decade of story time, she’s mostly handled research and translation while her Devil Fruit sat on the shelf.
A power with awakening potential shouldn’t spend that long doing archive work instead of fighting. Robin edges out Brook because the drought lasted longer and her fruit’s ceiling is arguably higher, making the waste more noticeable.
2. Usopp’s Fighting Growth Stalled Right After His Best Arc
Usopp from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Usopp trained hard during the two-year timeskip, but the real proof came later in Dressrosa, where he pulled off the God Usopp moment and awakened Observation Haki, finally feeling like he belonged next to Luffy and Zoro. Then the growth just stopped.
Ever since Dressrosa, he’s still fighting with the same slingshot and Pop Green seeds, no new Haki, no new gear. Oda has said he wants Usopp to represent ordinary human limits, which is fair, but it still reads like a stall after such a big leap. He ranks second because he’s the only one on this list who was actively trending upward, only for that curve to flatten out completely right after his biggest moment.
1. Chopper’s Monster Point Got Tamed Into A Cute Mascot Role
Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece | Credits: Toei Animation
Pre-timeskip Tony Tony Chopper was a walking countdown timer, a doctor who might turn into an uncontrollable, mind-melting monster if he pushed the Rumble Ball too far. That danger was the whole point, along with the actually monster-like design. However, after the timeskip, he can slip into Monster Point on command with zero risk for a time period, which sounds like an upgrade until you notice it killed all the tension his transformations used to have. Even the design turned goofy.
He looks cuter, sure, but the fights that made him terrifying got softened into something closer to background muscle. He tops the list because his downgrade isn’t just less screen time; it’s a structural loss – the exact thing that made his power scary got removed.
RANKINGSTRAW HAT PIRATE1Tony Tony Chopper2Usopp3Nico Robin4Brook5Nami
What are your thoughts on our picks? Do you think we missed any of the characters? We’d love to know your picks and opinions in the comments below.
The One Piece anime series is currently available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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