This post contains SPOILERS for the One Piece anime and manga.
Summary
- Buggy the Clown has an interestingly mysterious past, which may connect him to Dr. Vegapunk.
- Several One Piece fans speculate that Vegapunk could be Buggy's father due to one major common factor.
- Vegapunk's role in One Piece has been crucial, but his family history remains a mystery, sparking fan theories.
Buggy the Clown, one of the Four Emperors, is a significant character in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. Oda introduced Buggy as an antagonistic figure in the Orange Town and Loguetown Arcs, but since then, we have seen a lot of development around this character. There were more layers to Buggy's character than we initially thought, and maybe that's why the character slowly started to grow on us.
The Captain of the Buggy Pirates has now become an influential figure in the world of One Piece, but even then, we don't know much about Buggy's past. Oda has revealed that he was a crewmate of Shanks on the Roger Pirates' ship, but there must be more to Buggy's origin. Of course, this mystery around Buggy leaves room for several fan theories and speculations, and interestingly, one such fan theory suggests that Buggy may be connected to Dr. Vegapunk.
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One Piece Fan Theory Suggests A Deep Connection Between Buggy And Dr. Vegapunk
Some Fans Think Dr. Vegapunk Is Buggy's Father
At first, fans thought that Buggy was wearing a red nose to flaunt his "Clown" persona, but it was later confirmed that it was, in fact, his real nose. Well, who else in the series had a red nose? Vegapunk. So, it's understandable why some fans think that Vegapunk could be Buggy's father. So far, we know everything that Vegapunk has been involved in since he started working with the World Government, but he must have had a life or possibly a family before he got entangled in all this mess.
Interestingly, fans believe that Vegapunk had Buggy as his son, whom he had to leave behind to keep him safe. That would not only explain Buggy's red nose but also why Eiichiro Oda decided to keep the Clown relevant in the story for this long in the series. Vegapunk knew that his ahead-of-the-time tech would make him and his son a target, so it was a wise choice to leave the boy behind and keep this relationship a secret from the world.
Of course, this begs the question: Does Buggy know that Vegapunk is his father? Some fans think that Buggy is unaware of this connection, which is why he never bothered to find his father. At the same time, some fans believe that Buggy does, in fact, know about Vegapunk. However, he hates the old man for leaving him behind, and maybe that is why Buggy always gets furious when anyone mentions his red nose. Regardless, if this theory does turn out to be legit, Buggy will have a much bigger role to play in the Final Sag a, and maybe, he will act as a "key to unlocking" some of Vegapunk's hidden tech.
Dr. Vegapunk Plays A Crucial Role In One Piece's Story
Yet We Don't Know If He Ever Had A Family
Dr. Vegapunk isn't properly introduced in the series until the Egghead arc; however, Oda has been teasing his influence on the world of One Piece since the very beginning. The genius scientist was mentioned in the Loguetown arc, and then, we heard about him in the Punk Hazard story arc. In fact, Vegapunk was a key figure in developing SMILE fruits, which ultimately fueled Daflamingo's ambition. Not only that, but Vegapunk was also responsible for creating a copy of Kaido's Devil Fruit, for leading the development Pacifista and Seraphim, and for inventing all the advance tech on Egghead Island.
On top of everything, Vegapunk held deep knowledge of the Void Century and the Poneglyphs, so this old man was not only crucial for every Pirate but also for the World Government. Oda referenced Vegapunk's work multiple times in the series, and the Straw Hats finally got to see the man in the flesh in the Egghead arc. The smartest man on the planet became an important ally of the Straw Hats and possibly one of the most beloved characters of this particular story arc.
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So far, we know Vegapunk was intelligent and had consumed the Nomi Nomi no Mi fruit; we know that he loved Luffy and the Straw Hats, and we know that he held great influence over the world; however, we rarely know anything about Vegapunk's family (if he ever had one, of course). Eiichiro Oda will possibly reveal more about this character as we move ahead in the story, but fans think that the mangaka has been foreshadowing Buggy's connection with Vegapunk from the very beginning.
Of course, this is a theory, and we can't be sure about it until Oda confirms it in the series; regardless, given the quirky nature of both characters and their similar appearances, the father-son connection seems quite plausible. If the theory holds true, as many hope, it would be heartwarming to see him reuniting with Vegapunk when Lilith successfully revives the genius scientist.
Source: Fan discussion/Reddit
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Main Genre
- Anime
- Seasons
- 21
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Number of Episodes
- 1122
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.72
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
