If you are an anime fan, you might have probably heard of Luffy. Even if you don’t watch anime or read any manga, you must have stumbled upon this name before. There might be anyone who doesn’t know or hasn’t heard of Luffy. Many would instantly recognize the boy with a red jacket and a yellow straw hat to be Luffy.
Just like in the real world, Luffy is quite famous in his world as well. With his outspoken and easily trusting nature, he can quickly gain people’s trust and befriend them. Throughout his journey, he made many friends. However, there is one character who makes fans question if he is a friend or foe to Luffy. Yes, you guessed it right, it’s Buggy the Star Clown.
Their relationship is a kind of mystery to the audience, as one time they are aiming for each other’s throats, and the next they are fighting enemies together.
But you don’t have to worry about that, as we have prepared this article to shed light on exactly what’s going on between these two.
Who is Buggy?
Buggy the Star Clown or better known as Buggy was the captain of the Buggy Pirates. He was also the co-leader of the Buggy And Alvida Alliance and a former apprentice of the Roger Pirate. After the Battle of Marineford, he became a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the leader of the pirate dispatch organization Buggy’s Delivery. Following the downfalls of Kaidou and Big Mom, Buggy was recognized as one of the Four Emperors. This man surely had his hands full.
How did he meet Luffy?
The fateful encounter between Buggy and Luffy dates back to the beginning of the series, in the Orange Town Arc.
Orange Town Arc
Soon after Zoro joined the Straw Hat Crew, together with Luffy, they set out on their journey to the Grand Line. Because both had a very “GOOD” sense of direction, they were out on the sea, lost and starving. While they were struggling out in the sea, they came across a group of pirates who tried to steal their boat but were soon defeated. On questioning, Luffy and Zoro found out that the pirates had been robbed as well by a girl named Nami, a thief.
This is when Buggy was first introduced in the series. Turned out that the three pirates were the crewmates of Buggy. In Orange Town, Buggy’s pirate ship was docked near the town where Buggy and his crewmates were informed of Luffy. Upon hearing about Luffy, Buggy ordered his crewmate to shoot them down. The explosion caused everyone to stop in their tracks, even Nami who was being chased by pirates for stealing the Grand Line’s map from them.
From the smoke of the explosion, Luffy emerged and appeared before the pirates. To save herself, Nami and Luffy met her Boss and asked him to deal with the pirates. The pirates began to crowd themselves around Luffy and even knocked off his straw hat. This sent Luffy into a rage and he easily defeated the pirates and saved Nami. She introduced herself to Luffy as she was impressed by his abilities.
Buggy first had an encounter with Luffy when Nami turned him over to Buggy as her former boss. Impressed by his powers, Nami tried to partner up with Luffy. But after finding out Luffy was a pirate, she decided to turn Luffy in. She tied him up and handed him to Buggy who locked him in a cage.
Nami decided to infiltrate Buggy’s crew in order to steal their gold. The plan was working well until Buggy ordered her to kill Luffy. Because Luffy saved her from the pirates earlier, her conscience got the best of her and she decided to save him instead. Just then, Zoro came in and saved both of them.
A fight broke out between Zoro and Buggy. Zoro managed to cut him into pieces and wondered how easily Buggy was defeated. But to his surprise, Buggy had detached himself and separated them into sections making him invulnerable to sharp objects. Yet, even after being faced with such an indestructible foe, Luffy, Zoro and Nami managed to escape by firing cannons at Buggy and his crew.
Buggy and Nami were the two most important characters of the series, who were introduced in this arc. Although Nami was shown in the previous parts, she was officially introduced in this part.
What is Luffy’s Bounty? Before and After Wano Arc
Are they friends?
After their first encounter at Orange Town, Luffy and Buggy were once again united at Loungetown.
The Loungetown Arc
On their journey to the Grand line, Luffy and his crewmates stopped by Loungetown, which was the hometown of Gol D. Roger. He was born, raised, and even executed in the same town. To get supplies for their journey, The Straw Hats decided to go through the town. Zoro was getting himself swords whereas Sanji was busy getting food supplies. Usopp bought some more ammo and Nami was getting herself some fancy clothes.
Luffy on the other side was fascinated by the ground that was in a higher place than the rest of its surroundings. The high place turned out to be the same place where Gol D. Roger was executed. Admiring the view from the stand, Luffy noticed a woman calling him out. However, he was unable to recognize her. The woman was no other than Alvida, a pirate who Luffy defeated at the beginning of his journey. Alvida had consumed the Devil Fruit, Sube Sube no mi, which changed her appearance making her unrecognizable. Meanwhile, she had also joined Buggy and his crewmates.
Buggy and Cabaji ambushed Luffy on the stand and tied him up in shackles, and announced his execution. Buggy’s pirates took the town’s people as their hostages. Upon hearing about Luffy’s execution, his crewmates went to rescue him.
Just when Zoro and Sanji reached the stand, they were stopped by Buggy’s pirates and attacked. With them fighting with the pirates, Zoro and Sanji realized they wouldn’t be able to make it in time to save Luffy, as Buggy was already bringing his sword down to execute Luffy. Accepting his fate, Luffy bid farewell to his friends with a smile on his face as he was about to be executed.
Just in time, a bolt of lightning struck Buggy’s sword at the last minute and Luffy was saved without a scratch on him. Together with Zoro and Sanji, Luffy made his way to their ship. The ship was protected by Nami and Ussop from pirates who were trying to burn it down. Boarding their ship, the Straw Hat crew managed to escape from the Marines and continued their journey to the Grand Line.
On the other hand, Buggy and his mates, who were captured by the Marines, also escaped during the fighting and decided to go to the Grand Line as well, chasing Luffy.
How many Devil Fruit did Luffy ate?
Impel Down Arc
This was when Buggy and Luffy joined forces. Buggy was trying to escape from the prison and Luffy was trying to save his brother, Ace. Though having different motives they teamed up together.
Buggy was captured by the Marines and brought to Level 1 of the Impel down. He was trying to escape the prison when he encountered Luffy on his way. Luffy was there to save his brother, Ace, who was locked in level 5 of Impel down. On seeing the armband on Luffy’s hand, that led to Captain John’s Treasure, Buggy decided to help Luffy. Without a second thought, Luffy handed it to Buggy and together they embarked on their mission.
On their way, they made two more companions, Galdino and Bentham. Together they defeated the beasts of the prison and made their way out. During the battles, Buggy and Galdino used Luffy to escape from the beasts. Several times they left Luffy with the enemies in order to save themselves. However, they managed to safely escape from the prison only to go to Marineford to save Ace.
Marineford Arc
Ace was sentenced to death and taken to Marineford to be executed. After escaping Impel Down, Luffy made his way to Marineford to save Ace. Buggy also tagged along as he said he wanted to fight Whitebeard. Together they headed towards Marineford.
When they decided to slide the ship down the slope of the frozen wave, the ice broke and they fell into the frozen Marineford Bay. Everybody miraculously survived and Buggy was saved by Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Seeing Luffy and Ivankov battling Admiral Kizaru, Buggy got scared and tried to escape. However, the prison escapees misheard him and supported him in his fight with Whitebeard.
However, he allied with Whitebeard. He was confronted by Whitebeard himself to join forces, as the Marines were causing trouble to his crew as well. While Luffy and Whitebeard headed up to Ace’s execution platform, Buggy with the help of his crew and the escapees, distracted the Marines.
Buggy was not able to fight with Whitebeard as he was taken down by the Blackbeard Pirates. Ace was freed but was killed by Akainu when he jumped in to save Luffy. With all the battles and killings happening, Buggy got scared, so he tried to escape. As he was escaping, Luffy and Jinbe, who were severely injured, ended up with Buggy. He panicked seeing them injured, not because he cared, but because he had no idea what to do with them.
Luckily, Trafalgar Law told Buggy to hand them over to him, which he did. To end the war Shanks and The Red Hair Pirates arrived at the scene. There Shanks asked Buggy to return the straw hat to Luffy, which he agreed to only in exchange for a treasure map. But later he found out that Shanks lied to him and sent him into a flying rage. Buggy quickly calmed down, and along with other pirates decided to leave Marineford for his safety.
Even in the One Piece movie “3D2Y”, when Luffy and Hancock were fighting off Sebastian, Buggy was there to spectate the battle. He wanted to take credit for the victory. When Sebastian started to have the upper hand, Buggy got worried, not for Luffy but because he wouldn’t be able to take the credit if they lost.
Just from these incidents, we can be clear that Buggy and Luffy were not friends. Even though Luffy had such a friendly and kind nature, he was unable to make friends with Buggy. Although they might have teamed up on occasions, it was only for Buggy’s selfish needs. He just used Luffy to his advantage and never really truly cared for Luffy.
Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Buggy was not Luffy’s friend. Luffy did try to befriend him, but most of the time it turned out Buggy was just using Luffy’s kindness for his selfish purposes. However, they did share a similar relationship to Buggy had with Shanks- a love-hate relationship.
