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Popverse Jump: Buggy the Clown represents the best part of One Piece - no one's story is ever as simple as it seems

From throwaway villain to Emperor of the Sea, Buggy the Clown is evidence that Eiichrio Oda isn't afraid to play the long game with One Piece.

Buggy the Clown Popverse Jump header image One Piece — Image credit: Toei Animation/Popverse

Features by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Fri Apr 11 2025

One Piece is a sprawling mass of stories and characters, with an ever-growing Straw Hat crew to fall in love with. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and everyone else are iconic in their own right, and they might be why many people get hooked on One Piece, but I always point to a slightly less prominent character to explain why I can’t stop reading it. While Luffy is undoubtedly the hero of One Piece, Buggy the Clown is everything that makes the manga and anime great.

I can already hear the collective intake of breath as the anime fandom wants to tear me apart for this take, but there is more to it than just an admiration for Eiichrio Oda’s take on the terrifying clown trope. Buggy’s place in One Piece shows Oda’s wonderful ability to pull from the past to tie up loose ends without making

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Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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