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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 the world feel small. You can’t ignore any detail or forget about any character because they could prove vital later on.

When he is first introduced, Buggy the Clown feels like a memorable but unimportant villain who is just there to establish the weird world of One Piece. He’s a clown pirate who can break himself up into tiny pieces to fight, making him nearly unkillable. He is there as an obstacle to be overcome but ultimately doesn’t do much even when he returns in the Loguetown Arc. He screams, looks scary, and then is pushed aside as the Straw Hats approach the Grand Line.

But then you find out that he was a member of Gol D. Roger’s crew and has known Luffy’s mentor Shanks since they were both kids. And he becomes one of the Emperors of the Sea and the leader of one of the most powerful military organizations in the world (albeit as a figurehead controlled by other, more powerful people). Oh, and all those places that Luffy visited early in the manga? Buggy was there decades ago. He keeps coming back and has shown a hidden depth that makes him one of the most surprisingly important characters in One Piece.

Oda could have left Buggy in the East Blue and it would have been fine, but the mangaka loves digging into his own work to find unexplored corners and mine them for nuggets of story. And it isn’t just Buggy the Clown who benefited from Oda’s love for playing the long game in One Piece. Nico Robin is first introduced in Chapter 114 during the Alabasta Saga but her backstory, which shows just why she is one of the most tragic figures in One Piece history, isn't finished until close to Chapter 400. Koby and Helmeppo are minor characters in the first 100 chapters of One Piece before going away, getting trained by Luffy’s grandfather, and coming back as powerhouses in the Marines in the Post-Ennies Lobby Arc. You can’t ignore anyone in One Piece because they can become your new favorite character while you’re not looking.

Normally, I’d say this makes the world feel small. Encountering the same characters and places over and over again is what took some of the magic out of Star Wars for me, but Oda manages it better than anyone else. Because the world of One Piece is still huge and strange and fun to explore even as characters come back. These throwbacks to early chapters never feel like cheap nostalgia – they’re evidence that the world continues to move while Luffy isn’t looking. They grow and change and develop in surprising ways and I love watching it happen.

At this point, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if, at the end of One Piece, Buggy the Clown was the one who got Roger’s treasure and became King of the Pirates because that seems like the kind of thing that would amuse Oda. And you know what? I wouldn’t even be mad; it would be a fitting end to a story where you never know who is going to become the next hero (or villain).

THE ONE PIECE IS REAL...ly important to Popverse! That's why we've put together the key articles to keep your fandom of the manga-turned-anime-turned-live-action-show alive:

• How to watch One Piece One Piece in chronological and release order (All 1,100+ episodes plus the movies!)
• When the next episode of One Piece is coming
• The One Piece English cast shared the life lessons they've learned playing the Straw Hats for nearly 20 years
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect hero for the dark times ahead
• Every difference between the live-action One Piece and the original manga
• One Piece Gear 5 Form: Everything we know about Luffy's latest transformation
• Wondering what ethnicity and nationality the One Piece pirates are? Here is what Oda himself has to say
• Ranking the One Piece anime's arcs, from best to worst
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• The English cast of One Piece explain what they love about Eiichiro Oda's storytelling - "He's a genius!"