Did you know that the blue tassels that are hanging out from the sides of Buggy´s hat
are actually his hair tied together in two ponytails?
There you go.
Even if you decide to stop watching this video right now, I hope that this at least blew
your mind a little.
I´ve talked a lot about One Piece and have analyzed a lot of characters.
But one thing that I never would have guessed would be so interesting to discuss within
this series in particular is Buggy.
When you guys rose to my challenge last week and chose him for the next video, I didn´t
expect Buggy to be able to teach us as much about One Piece, as it turns out that he actually
does.
Not only is Buggy a perfect representation of the story One Piece itself, but he also
teaches us a lot about what the actual One Piece might be.
And speaking of the challenge, you guys did an amazing Job.
What better time to take a closer look at the warlords, then right now, where they might
become super relevant to the story again?
Also, since last week´s challenge was a crushing defeat for me, since you managed to get 2000
likes in just 7 HOURS, I think we have to raise the bar a little for the next one and
see if you can still make it.
So, if you manage to bring this video to 3000 likes in the first 24 hours, the next warlord
video will be out by next Tuesday.
But now, grab yourself a big cup of your favorite hot or cold beverage of choice, we have to
talk about Buggy.
Buggy the Clown has earned his epithet for a reason.
His character design is centered around the varying theme of a circus clown mixed with
that of a pirate.
Most of the time we can see Buggy wearing makeup as well as his quite clowny white gloves
and pointy shoes.
The rest of his outfit is that of a pirate admiral with a big marine-like coat and a
pirate hat.
If you ask yourself why anyone would freely choose to dress in that way, the answer to
that is Buggy´s most prominent clown feature.
His big red nose.
Because this nose is not just another part of his costume, but his real, actual nose.
It doesn´t come as a big surprise then that Buggy has always been very sensitive about
this and most likely is the main reason for his insecurity that drives his character.
This goes so far that Buggy at one point even destroys an entire town, when kids make fun
of his nose.
BUT, he has made the most of his unique looks and embraced the, at first look a little quirky
looking clown theme.
However, if we are all completely honest, I think we can all admit that Buggy´s design
is actually pretty cool.
And if One Piece teaches us one thing, it´s that whether someone looks weird or badass
is mostly determined by that character’s personality and strength.
While he was actually introduced as a quite shallow villain very early on in the story
by Oda, his popularity with the fans and Oda himself lead to Buggy slowly but steadily
getting a more and more refined character built.
So much so that his backstory is as far from shallow as it gets.
Born somewhere on the Grand line, Buggy served as an apprentice on the ship of the pirate
king himself.
While at first it appears as if he didn´t enjoy his time there at all, we slowly but
steadily learn that he had a much closer relationship to his crew than we all initially thought.
We now know, that during his time on the Oro Jackson, he highly respects and admires Rayleigh
and Oden.
And just like Shanks, Buggy must have had a very close relationship with Roger, since
we can see him crying at his captain´s execution.
And speaking of Shanks, while at first it seemed like Buggy detested his fellow apprentice,
it more and more looks like they actually also had a quite close relationship.
Not only do the Marines describe their relationship as a 'brotherly bond', but even Whitebeard
states that he remembers the two always being together.
Seeing the two arm in arm on board of the Oro Jackson really rounds this impression
off.
And as we know, Shanks even invited buggy to join him after Roger´s death.
Buggy however decided to leave the world of the Yonko´s and Pirate King´s behind and
tries to make a name for himself, outside of the New World.
So, despite his quite exciting and unexpected backstory, we first meet Buggy in the East
Blue in Orange Town as one of the first major antagonists of the crew.
But what really is it about the clown that makes him into such a fan favorite?
While the initial impression with Buggy is often that he is a weak and incapable pirate,
that is actually not the case.
On the contrary, Buggy is quite smart.
He has an eye for opportunities and understands to influence and deceive those around him.
A good example for this is Buggy recruiting dozens of strong prisoners from Impel Down
into his crew and joining the ranks of the Shijibukai.
All after having to join Luffy on his way into the depth of the prison and onto the
battlefield at Marineford.
Plus, we know that he is a very capable chemist, developing his own variety of weapons, like
the Buggy Balls.
And while Buggy certainly is not comparable to other members of the Roger pirates in terms
of fighting strength, he is by no means weak.
Having fought alongside and against many legendary pirates, even if a bit reluctantly, surely
has left its mark on him.
Also, Buggy wields a quite formidable devil fruit power, that not only allows him to float,
but also avoid attacks of the likes of Zoro and Mihawk.
A defining trait of Buggy, that he partly shares with Luffy, is his dumb luck.
No matter how dire the situation looks, Buggy always manages to pull his head out of the
sling somehow.
No matter if it´s escaping Smoker, being struck by lightning, being slashed by Mihawk
or even be frozen by Aokiji.
Buggy somehow always makes it out of these situations alive and sometimes even for the
better.
The truly charming part about his personality, however, is the weird mix between comic relief
and serious character that he brings to the story.
His purpose in the story seems to alternate between simply making the reader laugh or
actually impacting the plot in meaningful ways.
On the one hand, Buggy is often very hysterical and tends to cause confusion by misunderstanding
or miscommunicating when talking to others.
On the other hand, however, we know of Buggy´s insecurities and how he has to overcome them
in order to become a better person.
Slowly he has become more and more relevant to the actual plot of the story.
This weird mix has led to Buggy getting a quite significant amount of character development
over the course of the story, despite his initial design.
In a way, I think you could argue that it´s the same recipe that Oda has used with Shanks.
A character that was introduced as a simple and comic character at the beginning of the
story that slowly turned out to be more and more of a big deal.
A really big piece of evidence that Buggy is an important character to Oda, is that
he has a dream.
Buggy also wants to become the Pirate King.
And once again Oda takes a twist on that dream with his character.
While for Luffy, the Pirate King is the person with the most freedom, and for Blackbeard
the one with the most power, for Buggy the Pirate King is the one with the most fortune
in the world.
He thinks of treasure in terms of gold and silver.
But nonetheless, he also has a dream that he strives to fulfill.
So, if you ever wondered, why Buggy is such a popular, character, it’s because he has
gained a lot more depth over the course of the story, than we all could have anticipated,
when we first got to meet him.
Now, what does all of this have to do with One Piece and more importantly with THE One
Piece.
Well that´s where we have to look at Buggy´s character Arc.
You see Buggy´s arc over the course of the story can be summarized as a sort of personification
of the story.
When we meet him in the East Blue in Orange Town he is the first major antagonist to Luffy,
Zoro and Nami.
He starts out as a quite stereotypical, predictable and purely comic villain that our heroes have
to take down.
But then, just like the story itself, Buggy starts to become a bit more serious.
He gets new and new layers of background and personality.
Bit by bit he turns more and more complex and slowly starts to get a political gravity
as well when becoming a warlord.
I think you agree with me when I say that this is exactly what happened to the story
of One Piece as a whole.
Starting of as a pure adventure in a world of tropical islands and treasures, and of
friends and villains.
One Piece soon got a more heavy tone and Oda gave his story more and more depth, character
and complexity.
Both Buggy AND the story are heavily influenced by the main character, Monkey D. Luffy.
And for both, Marineford was a central turning point for the reader´s perception of them.
During the Orange Town arc, Buggy turns a little bit kinder after being defeated by
Luffy.
But the paramount war is the arc Buggy truly changed the most as a character.
Not only does he end up helping Luffy multiple times, even if it initially is out of self-interest,
but he also grows as a pirate.
Rising into the ranks of the warlords, Buggy went from a completely comic character to
a tactician that has united countless strong pirates under his banner.
And even people, like Mr. 3, who are aware of the façade he is putting on, still decide
to stick with him.
Do you see how drastically different that is from early Buggy?
He truly embodies the development of One Piece.
BUT, we´re not done yet.
Because Buggy not only teaches us a lot about the story of One Piece, but also about the
One Piece itself.
The treasure left by Gol D. Roger and the reason for the great pirate era.
You see, despite serving under Roger himself and wanting to become the pirate king, Buggy
has no interest whatsoever in finding Raftel and the One Piece.
Why is that?
I think what this clearly tells us, is that Buggy has at least a good idea, what the One
Piece is all about.
And even though there is nothing he loves more than finding treasure, he doesn´t want
anything to do with it?
I think the clear explanation for that, is that the One Piece, at its core has nothing
to do with gold or silver.
Is it possible that there are some piles of jewelry horded on Raftel?
Sure.
But Buggy seems to know that the true value of the One Piece lies with something else.
Something, that carries such heavy implications and consequences, that any sort of material
add-ons would lose their meaning.
As Whitebeard stated, finding the One Piece will “shake the world to its core”.
And while Buggy has developed as a character, taking on the consequences of discovering
Roger´s treasure is something that only very few people could do.
After all, Buggy shows us really well, what treasure means to other people.
He talks about this with Shanks on board of the Oro Jackson.
For Buggy it means gold and silver.
But for Shanks it means something than that.
Similar like to Roger the One Piece will be something with a unique meaning for him and
like his straw hat has to Luffy.
So, there you have it.
Buggy actually teaches us a lot about One Piece.
And I think the way things are going at the moment, we can say for certain that he will
become relevant to the story again soon.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
Make sure to smash that like button for a fresh video next week.
And Subscribe, if you aren´t already part of the crew.
Also, let me know YOUR title for Buggy that´s better than “the clown” and I´ll present
the best one or two in the next video.
If you wonna learn more about the characters in One Piece, you can simply click here to
keep watching in whatever comfortable position you´re in right now.
Otherwise I see you around next time.
AND until then, have a wonderful week.