They’re Literally So Stupid Like

What is Buggy's Endgame? A Post-1082 Analysis

Since the release of chapter 1082, we’ve gotten more insight into Buggy’s character than ever before, especially regarding his dreams and thoughts on past events. So, given our new information, I thought I’d revisit Orange Town Arc to see if 1082 re-contextualizes anything. What’s in the cards for Buggy as a character? What direction does Oda plan on taking him in?

To give you my answer, let me begin in a bit of a random place: the relationship between Shanks and Buggy. 

From the moment Oda first introduced their relationship in chapter 19, Shanks and Buggy already solidified themselves as character foils. Their first panel together is literally a fight over whether the North or South Pole is colder, which is pretty on the nose if you ask me (sorry… I had to). Their red-blue color contrast is also pretty self-explanatory; although green is technically red’s complement, red and blue are often used as visual “opposites.”

Beyond all that surface level stuff, though, what makes these two foils of each other are their opposing values. As a pirate, Shanks wants to “make time to see the world." He has no sense of urgency and no inherent desire to conquer the world — at least, not right away. Buggy, of course, calls this a “soft way of thinking.” Unlike Shanks, he views treasure as the sole purpose of being a pirate. And not just any treasure, but material wealth, gold and jewels which "make its possessor a king."

Shanks and Buggy’s contrasting viewpoints also embody the underlying themes of Orange Town Arc. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and Oda takes great care to emphasize this point, from Chouchou to the mayor.

Luffy's hat ends up taking center stage in Orange Town, however, which I think is a great decision. The straw hat is what tethers Luffy and Buggy to Shanks. It's a weighted symbol, one that helped shape both of their characters — albeit in antithetical ways. Thus, when it’s used as a tool to explore their relationships, it works really well.

Take Luffy, for example. In his youth, Shanks was a pillar of support, friendship, and sacrifice; the straw hat is his treasure because it reminds him of Shanks, but also because it symbolizes what Shanks gave up for him. He owes his life to Shanks, but he uses that gratitude to fuel his own ambition, and to hopefully reunite with Shanks one day as a great pirate.

Shanks allowed him to go after his dream. Luffy knows this well.

Now look at Buggy. He sees the straw hat as worthless, and it’s clear why he does: it’s a painful reminder of the dream that Buggy gave up on, a representation of everything he lacks in comparison to Shanks. And to add insult to injury, Shanks gave that straw hat away to what Buggy sees as an insignificant kid. Of course that would hurt. Seeing Shanks give up Roger’s legacy so easily, abandoning his potential to become Pirate King, when that’s all Buggy ever wanted in life… I mean, wow. It's an amazing role reversal. Buggy gave up on his dream for Shanks, but Shanks gave that dream to Luffy instead.

I think 1082’s context adds some much-needed character depth, and explains a lot of Buggy's rationale. We know Buggy does not value sacrifice or friendship like Luffy does, nor is he the type to go out on a limb for someone. He’s greedy, manipulative when it suits his interests… I could go on forever. So to see that Buggy once sacrificed his own dreams for the sake of Shanks’ — only to have it backfire — makes so much sense. Of course he became a bitter, cynical, and selfish adult. One of the people he believed in most broke his unwavering trust, and he never healed from that experience. (Not to mention that this happened directly after Roger's execution. His faith was already shaken, and it was just one heartbreak after the next.)

The impact of that betrayal only feeds into his greedier tendencies; Buggy is a character who keeps things close to his chest, figuratively and literally. He learned to fear trust, and it shows. All of his adult relationships (Alvida, Galdino, Crocodile, Mihawk) are strictly rooted in business and mutual, self-serving interests. Nothing more.

Just take a look at Buggy and Luffy's reactions to the Bara Bara no Mi story. Buggy can only focus on the things he lost, instead of what he had: a friend who was willing to jump overboard for him in a heartbeat. But Luffy, a character who values the people he loves, obviously has a different perspective. He concludes, “So Shanks saved your life?” Where Luffy sees hidden treasure, Buggy sees nothing but loss.

So why am I bringing this all up? Well, I don’t find it surprising at all that two of Buggy’s most prominent arcs — Orange Town and Impel Down — emphasize his struggle between selfishness and altruism. The internal conflict is played off as a joke in Impel Down, but Buggy has always been simultaneously comedic and complex. He actually parallels Luffy in that sense, but that's another meta for another day.

The position Oda has placed Buggy in is rife with potential. He's now closer than ever to the things which would fulfill his materialistic nature: the One Piece, Captain John’s treasure, and the title of Pirate King. Yet, at the very same time, he's closer to one of his most honest connections in life: Shanks. If there was ever a time for a character to be forced to make a fateful choice, I’d say it’s right about now. People have been wondering why Oda made Buggy a final contender for the One Piece. Why has he “failed upwards” for so long? Comedy aside, I think the answer is a lot simpler than we’re all making it out to be: Buggy’s story just isn’t over yet. 

Oda still has something he wishes to impart to readers, and he clearly believes it will be told best through Buggy’s character. Based on what we know about Buggy — his greed, his guilty conscience, his past with Shanks — I think that story will lead his character to some very interesting places.

Do I think Buggy is going to have a change of heart? Maybe, maybe not. In that regard, he’s already been in a gray area since Impel Down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he accidentally ends up allying himself with Luffy again during One Piece’s conclusion. But with the Cross Guild putting bounties on marines, a (potential) three-emperor interest in going after Blackbeard, and an open-ended Shanks-Buggy plot thread about going to Laugh Tale... Well, there's a lot of places this could go. Would Buggy be willing to give up the greatest treasure in dire circumstances? For Shanks? For the world? Will he become king, and then lose it all? Will he make a sacrifice that parallels Shanks' when they were kids? Who knows!

What do you guys think? Is Buggy going to play a larger role in One Piece’s third act? What is your ideal conclusion for his character in the story? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I think Luffy would've been. fun to parent

My gender : The noncommittal noise Snufkin canonly makes so he doesn’t have to answer people.

Poor quality doodles because art block is strong but SNUFKIN GAME

“Sorry there weren’t any! Goodbye 🎵”

I imagine moomin would not only a) learn a new skill just to make Snufkin a new scarf, but also b) break it in to make it more comfortable for him because this boy would never wear something even vaguely new

I think we should take more time to appreciate the cruel irony in so many of the bsd backstories, because Asagiri has this way of writing that's not just "oh sad things happened to this character." They're twisted, each in their own special way.

Atsushi: His whole life, he was treated awfully because he had the tiger. And yet, that tiger is what helped him survive that treatment, it's a manifestation of that will to live he grew because of his abuse. It's the source of all his strength and all his pain. The director told him to only hate him, never to hate himself, and yet, all his life, he blamed only himself for his misfortune. The one lesson the director wasn't trying to teach him is what he learned.

Dazai: At the beginning of dark era, Odasaku has one of the healthiest wills to live. And he reaches out to save Dazai from his own darkness, but he can't. But at the end of dark era...it's flipped. Dazai is begging Odasaku to stay, he's reaching out to stop him, he's telling him to find some meaning in life, that things will get better. Mr. "life is meaningless" himself is trying to tell his friend that life has value because he doesn't want him to go. It's right after he told Odasaku how he knows he's destined to lose everything he desires, and then Oda leaves him because he's lost his will to live. And when he dies, he sees himself as a man who failed to become good, to give up killing, yet Dazai sees him as a success story that people can change.

Chuuya: Chuuya's friends betrayed him because they thought he was betraying them by joining the Mafia. And then Chuuya joined the Mafia in order to protect the friends who just betrayed him.

Yosano: She only wanted to save lives. All she wanted was to help people, to heal them, and yet it was that kindness that ended up turning against her. Because by helping them, she also became the source of all their problems and all their pain. She saved their lives so much that all they wanted was to die.

I could go on for longer, but then this post would be very, very long. There's just something about the cruel irony in each of the backstories that make them all feel so tragic.

I got the most wonderful package delivered today. The first of many BSD orders I have pending.

I'm eagerly awaiting my copy of volume 25. It's on the way~!

(May 2022) Personally, I really like the theory of gojou losing 6 eyes (in a narrative sense).

Possible foreshadowing hasn't been incredibly subtle either. These are from the 2 openings and the Phantom Parade video (Avant by Eve, which is technically not canon but still a recurring theme). Vivid Vice especially had a bunch of foreshadowing for the Shibuya arc, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was slipped in there too.

Snusmumrik when restrictions signs: