#it's similar to how chopper's calling for a doctor gag is less a cowardice thing & more a result of the fact both of the people who raised

[fiapple]

okay, i know chopper & zoro's friendship is very much enjoyed, but i do think people also underestimate just how necessary it was as a means to flesh zoro out as a character. honestly, i'd argue it is in part due to the subltety of it, but chopper allows zoro to let his guard down in a way that is unique to their dynamic alone.

there's gonna be some paraphrasing here, but zoro is able to be soft with chopper. he is able to recognize the ways that chopper is vulnerable, & this allows him to be gentle with chopper. yes, he'll toughen up around chopper when there's trouble or he's giving tough-love, but his general demeanour around chopper is much less heavy than with the others.

&, like, the distinction there is clear even just from the moment chopper joins the crew. while luffy volun-telling people to join his crew is not itself atypical, zoro's response is generally focused on the thought-process informing Luffy's behaviour as it pertains to acceptance (ie. "you can't just decide for yourself" upon hearing no, or "she's not coming, if you really wanted her to join you should've forced her.") where as with chopper, he specifically latches on to how luffy is treating someone ("you don't ask someone to join your crew by saying 'shut up!'").

& with how much zoro is somewhat cold & overall very much driven by a thought-out internal logic, the distinction that exists within his friendship with chopper specifically becomes a very understated but very, very integral way of ultimatley humanizing zoro as a character. it's lighthearted & often played for chuckles, but that doesn't mean it is pure fluff narratively speaking. just... the ways in which chopper is zoro's little buddy first & foremost.