The irony. I was away for my own suggested character.
Buggy
Love:
Buggy is a character who brings a lot of energy wherever he goes. He's just that right mix of wacky and murderous, like One Piece's very own Joker. It's this energy that I've very grateful for;
During the Strawhat seperation arc, I was struggling a lot. As much fun as Luffy is as a character, without someone to bounce off of and overreact to his reckless attitude, he can't reach his maximum entertainment ability. Amazon Lily, whilst introducing many new characters, Luffy's interactions with them were a little muted. When we arrived at Impel Down I was expecting more of the same; Luffy being the only vaguely interesting character to latch onto…and then we saw Buggy.
His dynamic with Luffy is great. There's very few characters who Luffy gets genuinely annoyed at, but Buggy manages to rub Luffy up the wrong way almost as much as Luffy rubs Buggy up the wrong way. Seeing the two team up to take down the Blugori was great, although it also sadly put to rest the theory that Buggy was actually far stronger than his Orange Town introduction would indicate. For me, Buggy saved my interest in Impel Down. The arc was desperately needing some comic relief and he(and later Mr. 3) would provide it by the shovelful.
Buggy has this strange dynamic, which the manga itself reflects. Whenever he's on screen he manages to steal the show. I actually feel the prisoners worship, whilst a little contrived at times, is an accurate representation at how I feel when Buggy makes an appearance. He's weirdly likable, even though he's a backstabbing snake in the grass, there's something about Buggy that just makes you want to root for him.
Actually, Buggy is also partly to thank for my love of Mr. 3. Prior to Impel Down I loathed Mr. 3, but just through his character interactions with Buggy he quickly rose up the ranks, securing a top three placement for me with his face off with Magellan. Buggy is SO charismatic, merely by being associated with him you can instantly gain likability. The two's interactions are great, and Mr. 3 being the more cautious and straight man to Buggy's wacky over the top egotistical man is a great dynamic that makes their friendship feel more real than even some of the Strawhats friendships. That's some impressive stuff.
Let us not forget his interactions with Shanks; Buggy and Shanks play off each other extremely well. I love the fact Buggy has held a one sided grudge against Shanks and see's him, one of the most dangerous men in the world, as his rival, whilst Shanks is oblivious to Buggy's annoyance and see's him as his friend still. Considering Buggy's somewhat of a coward, that he can still talk smack to Shanks is a great angle that really fleshes out Buggy as a character that feels real rather than one note.
Buggy's also hilarious in his own right; his entire conversation with Luffy about the Muggy Ball and getting depressed Luffy doesn't remember his special Buggy Ball, trying to crack the ice alongside the real fighters, the ridiculousness of turning his body into a car to make a get away in Loguetown, his anger at Harujadin leaving before immedietly calming down, him getting worried about the government sending him a letter and then getting angry when Mr. 3 read it first, his gag when Mihawk reflects his Buggy Ball back at him(heck, I may like the dub gag even better), and he's still the subject of one of my favourite gags in the series; namely Luffy declaring a chop chop man is freaky whilst an arrow points to him saying gum gum man.
Buggy's rise to fame has also somewhat mirrored Luffy's, and honestly he feels like a better counterpart to the main protagonist than any Supernova to me. We've seen Buggy go from a small time villain into a warlord and one of the most feared criminals in the world. That's pretty impressive. Also with ex villains like Alvida and Mr. 3 joining his crew, I'm kind of excited to see who joins his gang next.
Whilst not strictly a Buggy thing, I like that he's also the first crew to include an animal character in Richie, who alongside Mohji and Cabaji are adorable in their admiration for their captain.
Oh, and whilst not the last person to do so(hi Magellan), let's not forget Buggy nearly straight up KILLED Luffy, and were it not for the interference of Dragon, Luffy's adventure would have ended where's Buggy's captains had.
Loathe
Like many others, the difference between Buggy in Orange Town where's he's willing to kill his crew for small infractions to the coverstory where he seems to care about his crew immensely is incredibly jarring. Hell, he chokes and throws Mohji like he's nothing, and not long after is weeping with tears of joy that he's safe.
His interactions with Alvida are…well a little underdeveloped. Considering she's co-captain with him for a while, the two don't really spend a lot of time talking. That she was willing to abandon him to Impel Down, whilst Cabaji, Mohji and Richie all wanted to go save him says a lot. This is more of a flaw of Alvida than Buggy however.
His lack of giving a damn about Ace's execution felt weird since they partied together and Buggy even states he likes Ace to Luffy calling him a "swell guy". When characters like Mr. 3, who has no association with Ace and Crocodile, who also has no love for anything Whitebeard are saving Fire Fist, it's a bit odd Buggy didn't attempt anything major to aid freeing him.
I always questioned why Buggy, who apparently admired Gol D. Roger, decided to execute Luffy in the very spot his captain was killed. Hell, I'm surprised Buggy even wanted to return to Loguetown. I feel this was a bit of a missed opportunity to learn more about Roger from Buggy and paint him with a streak of sympathy whilst still allowing him to then go on and attempt the execution.
Actually Buggy's morality is a bit of a weird one that's bothered me in general. Whilst Mr. 3 is a coward, but when push comes to shove will roll up his sleeves Usopp style and do the right thing, Buggy thinks about doing the right thing but then puts himself first instead. He went ahead with Croc and Daz, not to help them secure the ship but to be safe. He could have helped free Ace, but preferred to stay away from the stands and promote himself instead, and he decided the best way to mourn Mr. 2's sacrifice was to party whilst everyone else is crying. Buggy is not a 'good' person, but he's also not a total villain. He's a shade of grey, which usually I'd be down with, but it makes him feel a little inconsistent at times.
Character: 4.5/5 Too entertaining to not rank high. Minus half a point due to that inconsistent feel he sometimes has.
Design: 4/5 The tassles of his hat are pigtails. That's ridiculous. I love it.
Viola to come soon.