Let's leave aside powerscaling for a moment and talk about the narrative.
A confrontation between Chopper and Queen has been built up for quite a while:
- In Udon Chopper neutralised Queen's Mummification virus and helped Luffy win over the Udon prisoners
- On the Live Floor, Zoro retrieved the antidote to Chopper and trusted him to handle the situation there
- This includes the confrontation with Queen.
- The Vice-Captain of the Strawhats trusted in Chopper to prevail
- After Chopper received the antidote from Zoro, Queen tried to kill Chopper but was thwarted by Zoro
- Chopper then proceeds to neutralise Queen's Magnum Opus (the Ice Oni virus)
- Chopper wins over Queen's subordinates
- Chopper then proceeds to bitchslap Queen
Whether Chopper defeats Queen or not, Queen is Chopper's main opponent in this arc. Their conflict may be resolved without any combat β Chopper triumphs with his medicine besting Queen's plague β but Queen has already tried to kill Chopper (and Chopper did bitchslap Queen), so I doubt this. Perhaps Chopper receives assistance to subdue Queen (Queen also has quite the formidable grudge against X-Drake), but the idea that Oda will jettison all the buildup for a confrontation between Chopper and Queen, so Chopper can then fuck off to fight Perospero or a Number is the height of delusion. It has no basis in the actual narrative present in the manga and is merely a contortion to satisfy some headcanon powerscaling.
Chapter 1007 was named "Tanuki san". It was Chopper's eponymous chapter. All the other Strawhat chapters have begun their final confrontation against their arc opponent:
- 1000: the beginning of Luffy's confrontation with Kaido
- Luffy smacks Kaido down with a Red Roc
- 1005: the beginning of Robin's confrontation with Black Maria
- Robin bitchslaps Black Maria
- 1007: the beginning of Chopper's confrontation with Queen
The claim that the confrontation highlighted and focused on in Chopper's dedicated chapter is all a ruse seems outlandish. All the other examples of Strawhat eponymous chapters we've seen have been pretty consistent in the pattern they follow. The Strawhat began their final confrontation with the arc antagonist and landed a solid hit on them.
This pattern is likely to be discarded in the future (some of the Strawhats already seem to have begun their final confrontations with their arc opponents), but it would still be pretty surprising if the confrontation highlighted in an eponymous chapter wasn't against the main opponent for the Strawhat in focus. If Oda did not intend for Chopper to be Queen's main opponent, I just can't imagine that he would have maid the highlight of Chopper's chapter Chopper bitchslapping Queen. From a narrative standpoint, it's absurd.
Queen has been set up as an opponent for Chopper (and/or Drake) much more than he has been set up as an opponent for Sanji. Hell, Zoro and Queen have a bigger grudge in the manga than Sanji and Queen do. To ignore what is actually happening in the narrative to force a traditional matchup seems incredibly foolish to me. According to traditional matchups, Zoro wouldn't be fighting Kaido, so they have a pretty poor track record.
I have very little regard for powerscaling arguments to determine a character's matchup. If you claim that Queen is not Chopper's arc opponent, then present an argument from the narrative. If all you have is headcanon powerscaling ("but Chopper is too weak, he can't fight a Yonkou Commander"), then you have no credible argument.
Until further notice, Queen is Chopper's arc opponent.
@PeperLevi,
@Paperchampion23.