Buggy Arc- Part III

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Now we’re entering into the climax of the Buggy Arc, wherein the idea of treasure was brought up is really hammered home and laid out. This is what will define treasure for the rest of the series., Nami’s character is even further cemented and she even has a little mini arc of her own. Buggy’s personality and what is important to him is set in place. And we end with looking at Zoro being suicidally hardcore and what that means.


We begin by Buggy boasting that they are known all over the world for their raids. It’s something easy to believe, but at the same time, you would think that if was really such an overall threat, Zoro would have heard of him. Reinforcing his character point, however, is this part here.



Respect. That’s what Buggy is about. Having it and maintaining it at all costs. We will into greater detail about this later, but for now suffice to say, this can act as a reminder. In any case, Buggy calls out Mohji to track them down. Mohji asks if he can take Zoro’s head and Buggy says he can do what he wants.

Then we cut to Zoro dragging Luffy’s cage through the town in front of the Pet Food shop which Shushu guards. Luffy pokes the dog in the eyes playfully and gets bitten and soon Nami shows up.



Give it up, Nami. It’s not something you can get out of so easily. But more importantly, Nami gives them the cage key—though stealing it was reckless and even she says it prevented her from stealing treasure. We all know that treasure is a huge deal for Nami so why did she do it?



Gratitude, which, as we’ve established is a theme; also that not all actions=consequences are bad. In fact, quite a few of them go Luffy’s way mostly due to gratitude. Zoro has this to say:



Zoro… Zoro pls. The harder the task doesn’t always equal to greater the reward, and Nami giving you the key has nothing to do with you hauling the cage out of there while almost rupturing a spleen. He’s kind of a meatheaded dumbass in other words.

Shushu, probably in revenge for the eyepoke eats the key, causing Luffy to freak out and try to strangle him comedically get the key back. In steps Boodle to tell him to knock it off. Who is Boodle, you ask?



This guy! Whose hair looks like a poodle and probably hence the name. Boodle is revealed to be a good guy, giving Zoro a place to sleep off his injuries in his own house and bringing food for Shushu—which doesn’t seem to be a big deal until you realize that he’s risking his own life to do so. There’s no telling what may happen if he’s found by the capricious Buggy.
Boodle talks about Shushu and the store he guards, stating that it once belonged to the owner who died and that the store has precious memories for Shushu as well as the mayor. Boodle says that while most people believe that Shushu is waiting for his owner’s return, Boodle is convinced that the dog knows his owner is dead. Nami asks why he’s guarding the store then, especially considering how dangerous it is.



Because this place is a treasure.
It’s a treasure because
A) it contains precious memories
B) The owner left it to Shushu to take care of.

In many ways it’s not very different from the straw hat or wado ichimonji.
Boodle goes on to say that Shushu won’t be moved from the spot and would probably starve to death if Boodle didn’t go out to feed him.

Let’s take a look at Nami’s expression here:


As always, expressions are flawless. She can only smile fondly at this story because, as we know, she knows how it is to protect a precious place filled with memories from rampaging pirates. This is the softer side of Nami.

They hear a roar and of course it’s Mohji and Richie. Boodle and Nami skedaddle out of there leaving Luffy alone in the cage who doesn’t really seem concerned even by the roar, instead just asking Shushu to give up the key. Mohji tries to intimidate Luffy and Luffy calls his hair weird. Mohji boasts that he can tame any animal including Shushu and fails spectacularly—then gives up on the taming. We’ll see this exaggerated boasting with the failed follow through as a characteristic for the Buggy pirates.


Mohji wants Luffy to tell him where Zoro is, Luffy refuses, Richie knocks Luffy out of the cage. Nami and Boodle freak out while watching from behind a corner. Luffy, despite going straight through a house is perfectly fine and has this to say:



Which, yeah, is a pretty typical Luffy statement. But as we’ll see it forms an interesting basis to Luffy’s character.


Moving into chapter thirteen, which is importantly titled “Treasure”, Nami and Boodle freak out at Luffy being unharmed and wtf kind of person is he? Boodle asks Luffy why he’s fighting the pirates…



Note, he just chose the goal a moment ago. Well so what? The so what comes from the fact that, although he wanted to become Pirate King, he really had not a huge idea how to go about it except eventually finding the One Piece. In other words, without Nami they could have bummed around in the East Blue for a while. But Luffy’s nature is to make up goals and solutions as he goes, and it’s this flexibility is what makes him a tough opponent as we’ll see later.

At any rate, back to Shushu, Mohji and Richie. Richie is hungry and trying to enter the store. Shushu guards it as only a dog can by biting the lion on the leg as he has memories of his owner and the store itself. A tiny dog is biting the leg of a lion. In other words, he is putting his life on the line for the sake of something that’s important to him. Even as he gets knocked around he fights as hard as he can.

Luffy goes to tell Zoro that Mohji is looking for him, and, what’s so great about these next few panels, even with some cut out, is that they tell the situation almost completely without words. Luffy walks around the corner to see the Pet Shop on fire.








Yeah. Luffy is not going to let Mohji get away with something like this. Mohji is surprised that Luffy is unhurt. Luffy says that he’s rubber. Mohji essentially says you’re dead now and sends Richie after him and Luffy is completely unphased by this and pretty much ground pounds the lion. Mohji is freaking out at this point because who wouldn’t be and, upon finding out that Luffy ate a Devil’s Fruit:



Actions=Consequences in a big way. There is no amount of sorry Mohji can do for willfully taking away something so irreplaceable. And how serious is Luffy about this? Despite the fact that Shushu is a dog and it wasn’t any treasure belonging to Luffy?



Very damned seriously . Even as a kid we haven’t seen him this angry. He cares about the important treasure of others, and though he may not be able to bring it back, he won’t allow Mohji to take such destruction so lightly. He grabs Mohji and punches his face into the ground.
We then cut to Shushu, Nami and Boodle, looking over the charred remains of the pet shop.


Nami is reminded just how much she detests pirates. Of course if we hadn’t already known, this would further reinforce the clue that she’s been through some terrible shit. Terrible pirate caused drama and it enrages her.



Luffy returns and we can tell by Nami’s face that she’s being cruel and hard and means to be. The key is of course, Mr. Pirate. This is headcanon, but I could see Nami inwardly cursing herself for being taken in by Luffy’s simple looks. He is a pirate and this is what pirates do.



She’s yelling at him again. Naturally. She’s furious and hurt and doesn’t care. For someone as self contained as she usually is, it’s obvious this is something that really gets to her. Luffy doesn’t seem entirely sure why she’s acting like this either.



But it doesn’t matter. At the threat of a fight he says this.



Again, headcanon, but I believe that Luffy knows Nami fully intends to fight but he’s not the kind to hold back. So he’s warning her that it’s a pretty stupid idea to fight him over something he didn’t even do. Even while Nami rages, Boodle tries to hold her back until he puts the box of dog food (which had been in Richie’s mouth) in front of Shushu:



I love how he’s talking to him, too. Sitting there casually and smiling. He’s treating Shushu, who is just a dog, as he would any other person. And even though it is just a box, it is still part of Shushu’s treasure. It’s something that Nami sees, as well and is shocked by it:



What is this? Her perceptions of Luffy are being changed again. Which aside from a typical shock which happens when people encounter Luffy, shows that while Nami is certainly biased, she doesn’t immediately discount this kind of evidence of something more.



This, though small, is something we’ll see crop up again in the series, just as subtly. I’ll bring it up later near the end, but it’s something to keep in mind. Shushu fought well. Guarded his treasure. Even though he lost.
Shushu takes the box and goes on his way. Though not before giving Luffy a little nod, and then this:



I mostly love Luffy’s smile here, but it’s sort of contingent with what he said above. He doesn’t know happened but he can guess. Of course he doesn’t know what’s going through Shushu’s mind exactly, but he knows what he means because he knows Shushu’s personality.



I love Nami’s expression here. It’s a mix of oh my god, what just happened here. He’s talking to a dog. He’s understanding the dog and the dog understands him. Also probably traces of that was a pretty nice if dumb gesture and I’m not sure how to feel about it.


Cut to Buggy who is pissed that Luffy got away and says he’s going to destroy the whole village. As we move into fifteen, Mohji tries to tell Buggy about Luffy’s ability but passes out before he can. Meanwhile, Shushu arrives in the villagers refugee camp, battered and bruised. The villagers are surprised he’s alone and worried that something must have happened to the chief.
And again, another important bit of Nami characterization.






She comes up to him and, without hesitation, apologizes. She’s both admitting she was wrong and that she understands just what he did for Shushu and that it was a big thing. This means that despite Nami knowing that Luffy fully intends on being a pirate, she judges him on what he does rather than what the title pirate says he is



This, too, shows what a good person Luffy is and how much he understands people. He doesn’t know the details of Nami’s outburst but they don’t matter. He knows she doesn’t mean it and that she reacted out of fear. But also that those sorts of things said to him don’t really matter because they aren’t true. I like Nami’s smile here, too. It’s definitely a fond one, though a little concerned, and you can almost hear her thinking, just who is this guy?

Meanwhile, Mayor Boodle is tensing in the background, leading to another important aspect of Luffy’s character. Let’s just take the whole page, shall we?



Luffy inspires people to fight for themselves. This is not the first time it’s happened as it’s evident that he inspired Coby to try and untie Zoro—But here, too and again. He inspires them just by fighting his hardest for what is important. If a dog will fight and a boy will fight, a man must fight, too for what he treasures the most.

Boodle talks about how their old village was destroyed by pirates, so they moved to a new land which was completely barren. Together they worked hard and rebuilt, turning the place into a successful harbor village.



This pretty much stands on its own as reinforcing everything we’ve heard and discussed. Village and villagers are his treasure. Though in this case, the treasure is something which they’ve also worked hard to attain.


Annd then Buggy blows the shit out of it. Or at least out of a row of houses.



Nami is shocked and maybe even a little traumatized by this. You can see it in her face and even moreso when you know what her own situation is like. Luffy is temporarily worried about Zoro’s safety but of course he’s okay while Nami just looks slightly horrified at him BEING okay despite the fact he just got blown up. Boodle reiterates he’s going to fight and not let some pirate ruin everything they worked so hard for. He runs off to confront Buggy and Nami tries to stop him.



This is the second time Nami has told him to calm down. That he’s being too reckless. She also got mad at Luffy earlier for putting ideas into his head. Though you can see Boodle’s passion here and his willingness to put his life on the line to protect his treasure, this scenelet speaks more of Nami. Especially when she has this expression directly afterward.



That expression says a lot. Leaving her arc for her arc, I will say that this reflects her own fear of her own village. She is not afraid of dying, but she is afraid of those good people who protect the village acting recklessly against a force much stronger than them—probably to certain death. But she can also see how much this means to Boodle and doesn’t try to stop him further from going forward and doing what he must.



Really not much to say here except I continue to love their expressions, especially Luffy’s analyzing face. I think he’s watching Nami more than he’s watching Boodle. It’s difficult to say what Zoro is watching as he has no real idea what’s going on and just woke up. (also he’s hot)



It’s like she’s shocked by the depth of his passion for this. I think it’s partly because, for the most part even though her village was willing to fight their oppressors, they were more restrained, hiding their own grief. Luffy’s expression is awesome, too. Basically he realize they are not tears are not primarily motivated by fear or sadness but of having enough and going off to fight. A great deal of passion.

Zoro comments on how this seems like it’s getting more fun and Luffy agrees with a laugh. And of course it’s more fun. They are both free and able to fight and fighting for a reason that has to do with passion. Nami yells at Luffy for being so seemingly casual about this and Luffy says:



Again, much like Shushu, Luffy is protecting a man who is already going off to fight. He is going to struggle to hold onto his treasure. Nami asks where Luffy’s confidence comes from angrily and Luffy doesn’t really answer, just says that he wants to steal the map and their destination is the Grand Line.



We don’t see this high fiving often, though the two prominent times have been with Nami, so it’s a really interesting gesture and we’ll certainly touch on it when it comes up again. Here , though, this part is significant since it shows Nami is conceding the fact that she believes Luffy is a good guy. She won’t change her values, but she will at least work with him for something mutually beneficial.


Boodle yells at Buggy to come down, Buggy has no idea who he is, and Luffy, Zoro and somewhat Nami, go to meet Buggy and start the fight as we move into fifteen. This chapter is largely focused , for our purposes, on Buggy’s character and another definition of treasure.

We see Boodle once again yell for Buggy and Cabaji the swordsman volunteers to take him on because Boodle counts as a “small fish”. Though Buggy tells him:


As if he doesn’t want anyone else to steal his thunder. Especially not his subordinate. He assumes that Boodle wants to fight and possibly defeat Buggy for the sake of fame. In other words, he thinks that obviously Boodle wants to do the same thing he himself would do. Boodle yells that he’s going to protect the village which is his treasure – Which causes Buggy to mock him.



Aside from the traditional view of treasure, which we’ll get to in a second, Buggy’s words are actually interesting. For something to count as treasure, the owner must have a sense of dignity and pride.
Dignity and pride to protect a hat, to utilize a sword that carries the will of another, to protect a village that took forty years of hard work.

Though Buggy knows what treasure is, the only things that he counts as treasure is what falls under his own definition. We’ll get to that in just a second but first, Buggy says Boodle’s words are meaningless and Boodle counters with:



Just the general statement of, you don’t know what you got until it’s gone…or until you seriously risk losing it. Also it’s sort of a case of oops!Buggy, which we will see throughout the encounters with him. He intends one thing and the situation turns so something unexpected and oddly beneficial happens.

At any rate, Boodle tells Buggy to come down. Buggy refuses and sends his hands down to strangle the mayor. Boodle starts hitting his own neck (and Buggy’s hand) to try to get the hand off and Buggy yells at him for it because it hurts. Buggy is not really a fan of pain. He asks who Boodle thinks he is that he should be talked to with such disrespect and then states his own goal.



Buggy’s treasure right here. Things that are sparkly. Gold, jewels, gems. But look at it more closer what does it mean? I sincerely doubt Buggy likes the bling bling. No. It’s more about what the bling bling is all about. To have money means to be rich, to be rich means to be powerful. Therefore, to have all the money means to be richer and more powerful than anyone else. It’s a short cut to the kind of respect he craves.

Buggy tells Boodle that if he likes the village so much he can just go marry it he won’t mind turning to dust with it via a Buggy Ball. Boodle demands that Buggy come down and fight him. Buggy brushes him off, saying whatever and Boodle demands again. He is not going down without a fight. Even if he loses as long as he says he got to fight for it. Buggy is not interested, but fortunately, he doesn’t have a choice but to be:



Kick his butt, Lu. <3

Buggy says that they came of their own free will to fight and they are all so dead. Nami informs them that they can fight if they want but she’s just after the map and some treasure. Luffy says he knows and leaves it at that, which again shows that he’s more than willing to let people do whatever they want. Boodle, however, is angry. He tells them not to interfere because:



And bam! Right in the face, though without heat. We’ll get to the why of that in a bit since Luffy states it pretty clearly. Luffy does let people do what they want—so long as it doesn’t interfere in what he wants to do and right now it’s to fight Buggy. As for why, he says it’s because Boodle would just get in the way, but Zoro sums it up better.



In other words you made the first leap, that’s good, but there’s no point in wasting your life senselessly when someone else can better do the ass kicking and protecting the treasure for you. The thing of the biggest importance is the treasure itself. Also I love how Zoro can read Luffy’s actions even now, just because they think on the same straightforward wavelength.
I also love Buggy’s wtf face.



He’s like. What the hell am I actually looking at here.
Luffy calls Buggy a big nose which pisses Buggy off so he fires a Buggy Ball at Luffy which makes Nami and Zoro freak out but:



Luffy is not a person to take a step back from anything. Once he’s set his course he’s going to sail it. And Buggy is pissed, probably because of the nose insult but also likely because Luffy isn’t intimidated at all. He Gum Gum no Fuusens the cannonball back at them which blows up the roof they were standing on and it’s the second time Buggy’s weapons have been turned against him.

Though most of his crew was knocked out from the blast, Buggy and Cabaji are unharmed since they used their own crew as shields with Cabaji using Richie (hinting at some sort of rivalry or at least callousness between Cabaji and Richie) This is not the first time there is nakama abuse and certainly not the most egregious, but it sets up an interesting parallel for a much later arc.

The fight commences Cabaji attacks first which Zoro blocks:



This shows Zoro’s dedication to being a swordsman. He will take these battles thank you. Luffy tells him that he would be able to handle it and Zoro should rest because he’s injured, but Zoro doesn’t answer. Instead gets kicked around by Cabaji, who, despite speaking of honor as a swordsman, displays none of it. Not only does he spit fire in Zoro’s face but kicks him in the wound more than once—which shows the Buggy Pirate creed of cheating to win.

Zoro’s really taking the beating as well, not because Cabaji is strong, rather because Zoro is injured. Much like Helmeppo and the Marines, he’s constrained by circumstance. At first Luffy flinches when Zoro is kicked but then he watches with a kind of quietness.



When Luffy gets quiet, you know something is up. Why is Luffy stone faced. Does he have that much confidence in Zoro’s abilities? While I think he does have some confidence, I’m not sure if even Luffy is sure that Zoro will be able to get up and win this fight. But ultimately, as Zoro said last chapter, don’t tell me how to fight. This is Zoro’s choice to fight like this. He is putting his life on the line for his ability as a swordsman, so Luffy can do nothing but look on. He’s obviously not going to be happy, but being sad or worried is just going to be speaking down to Zoro’s choice and Zoro’s abilities. The most he can do is watch Zoro prove himself.
At any rate, Zoro has had just about enough of the cheating. As Cabaji cycles in for another attack, Zoro wallops him a good one. And then Zoro proves that he’s both a badass…and kind of a raging idiot.






He doesn’t just go the hard way, he actively makes things harder for a challenge. That’s how dedicated to this thing he is. I mean we’ll come to see that plenty of times later but he’s just brimming with confidence and stupidity… but also in his own way showing how little he thinks of Cabaji’s attacks.


Luffy of course thinks this is the coolest thing since meat on a bone (almost)



It’s in seeing this that Luffy’s confidence in Zoro is 110%
Though first, Zoro’s back…



Unf.
Moving on.



You and me both, Nami. But it’s a phase. The sight of Zoro bleeding heavily will shortly be: “Oh, it must be a Tuesday”
Also, we see a reiteration of something we’ve heard before.



Seem familiar?

Ayep. Furthermore, Cabaji says that Zoro can use his injury as an excuse when Cabaji defeats him and Zoro counters:



Essentially he means that if he does lose, he, obviously won’t become the strongest. But let’s unpack this a little. What does it mean by “someone like you”? To find the answer, we just have to look at all Cabaji has done.

He’s used a nakama as a shield. He goes right for the weak points and distracts with fire and has no qualms about cheating. In essence, he’s not a man of much spirit or honor in terms of being a swordsman and if Zoro can’t beat someone so petty than he can’t call himself a swordsman.

There is a little section here with Nami and Luffy, which I will get back to in part IV. Back to the fight, while Luffy was watching Zoro struggle, he was stonefaced and quiet. Buggy’s expression on the other hand:



It’s difficult to say where he got his crew, but if it’s like the other times we see him get crew, it can be assumed they have a much inflated opinion of themselves and their abilities. Buggy sailed under Roger. Aside from Zoro having a reputation, he knows what true strength and sheer grit looks like. There is no doubt that he doesn’t. In this way, he can very much see Zoro as a threat. (and again, not the first time this happens) which is why, without any prompting, he does this:



Yeah, Buggy doesn’t want a chance for Zoro to win. At all. Cabaji has no compunctions about allowing this to happen either. IN fact he looks gleeful. Easy way out, let’s go!
Fortunately. ..




Zoro is not alone.




Yay, nakamaship! X3 Their grins. Zoro’s dimple. Just the confidence. Iyaan~~
-coff-
I’m okay.
Cabaji actually has an interesting line here.



Even without the captain’s help. It’s an interesting parallel because Zoro got his captain’s help, too. But in following with what we’ve learned so far, while Buggy’s help was to secure Cabaji’s victory and perhaps save his own hide (or at least his own respect) Luffy’s help was so that Zoro could continue working on his own ambition without outside cheating interference. He is there to make sure that Zoro, too, can do what he wants.
The fight continues. Zoro says he’s tired and then just solely for this shot:



Hee. /chinhands/ But he’s right. It’s not insulting or degrading really. Cabaji’s skills as a swordsman at least rely on trickery and deceit and very little swordplay. When it comes to that kind of think he’s just not Zoro’s level.



Buggy’s expression. Luffy’s expression. Buggy is pissed and a little worried. True it’s hard to infer tone from text but generally speaking someone’s name like this expresses concern. Which, this is the first time we’ve seen concern for subordinates. Alvida certainly didn’t have any. Neither did Morgan. Buggy, however, is a different sort of pirate.
And also, just Luffy’s expression. He’s so enraptured by this guy. Zoro is the coolest swordsman in the world and no one can tell Lu any different.



Honey, you are in the East Blue. You aren’t the world’s greatest anything if you haven’t even hit the Grand Line yet. Just a tadpole in a pond. Though mostly this line for Zoro’s reply.





And even Zoro arced here a little! Yes he decided to be a pirate the moment he went with Luffy, but here, it’s said as this is who he is, as assuredly as him being a swordsman. Maybe even a little pride. He is a pirate and identifies as one and is proud of it.



Hee. Cheek squishes. Also Zoro’s ultimate trust in Luffy’s strength even here. I’m ging to sleep. And Luffy’s confidence in his own strength that he is going to finish this off.
And here we end part III



Themes
There’s a scattering of themes throughout. Action=Consequences, gratitude and so forth. But the emphasis on this section is:

Treasure. What it is. What it means.

So what is treasure?

To quote Buggy again: The owner has to have a sense of dignity and pride before calling it a treasure!

Shushu’s treasure: full of memory, a momento of someone well loved and long gone who had worked hard.

Boodle’s treasure: Something they had worked hard to achieve. A place they were proud of. A place they called home.

Buggy’s Treasure: Gold and jewels, and perhaps hand in hand with that, respect and power.

We’ve already touched on the fact that these physical treasures can easily be taken away and now have seen it. We’ve seen Shushu’s treasure destroyed and Boodle’s treasure near about. (And we will see Buggy’s be stolen)which ties into the theme of the world can be brutal and harsh. And it’s even the crux of Nami’s rage. Pirates come in and steal or destroy what people treasure. Just like Buggy did.

But the point here is, that if you treasure something and it’s at risk, you don’t sit around and let it go, you fight for it, you put your life on the line to protect your treasure. In this way, ambition can also be considered a treasure. An internal treasure that no one can take away unless you allow it. So in this way:


Zoro’s treasure: Wado Ichimonji, his ambition to become greatest swordsman
Luffy’s treasure: the straw hat, his ambition to become pirate king.

Nami’s treasure: (based on what has been revealed so far) her own moral code of not being a pirate (though what she really means is not like those pirates who have hurt her and others)
Buggy’s treasure is tied into his ambition as well, it seems. So why is it coded bad? Buggy’s idea of treasure relies on taking it for others. It’s not a keepsake of another’s will. It’s not fond memories. Not even something he worked for other than worked at stealing. He is taking other people’s treasure and claiming it as his own and building his ambition on the backs of others. Which we will definitely see again.


Characters

There is not much new to say about anyone that hasn’t been said, so I’ll mostly be talking about Buggy and Luffy, though using the aspect of treasure.

Buggy: We see even more that he is a cheater. But why is that? In what ways does he cheat and why?

The first way is to show his power. Or his definition of power which roughly equals to destruction. He blows up the town to show his strength. He shoots a cannonball at Luffy to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind just who is the better man here. Also a strong man didn’t need to dirty his hands with fighting someone so weak or even paying attention to him. But for the most part he tries to stay behind his cannon and his bara bara abilities because the second reason he cheats is because…

He doesn’t want to lose. At all. Losing would mean a loss of respect but also there’s a kind of sense of fear there. Buggy knows he’s stepped in it and wants to avoid the consequences so he will cheat to get his way. This obviously doesn’t works the way he hopes.

Now, it can be said that a captain’s personality can be reflect in their crew since they follow the man for a reason. So looking at Mohji and Cabaji, who don’t have too much in the way of personality and adding them to what we know of Buggy, we can definitely say that he’s a bully and capricious by nature. There was no reason to burn down the pet food store, but it happened.

Cabaji considers himself a great pirate when we can see he’s really not when he’s taken down by one hit from Zoro. And Buggy considers himself great and his crew great, despite the fact that a bounty hunter who had been approached by a premier bounty hunter organization (Baroque Works) had never freaking heard of him.

All in all, though there is more to Buggy than meets the eye, it’s probably not in the direction he thinks it should be.

Luffy:
This chapter is really the foundation of what makes Luffy a protagonist and the “hero” of the series and it all is wrapped up in treasure. The world of One Piece can be harsh, especially where pirates are involved, destroying the livelihoods and treasures of civilians. That’s the way of a pirate’s life. But Luffy changes that status quo because he protects the treasures of others when they can’t fight any more and when he can’t protect, he gets retribution, as with Shushu. He was already going to fight Buggy before, but now he’s, in part, doing it because Boodle fought so hard for it. He’s even protecting Zoro’s treasure in his ambition as a swordsman by curbstomping Buggy’s hand.

We’ll see him do it again and again almost every arc, protecting the treasure of others, performing retribution when he can’t and perhaps, most importantly: Inspiring others to fight for their own treasures just by fighting hard himself. Like Boodle. Like Coby. They fought because Luffy did.

To go with the old saying: If you give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish he’ll eat for a lifetime. Though Luffy doesn’t give and he really doesn’t teach. But he inspires men to realize that there are fish in the water and to tentatively reach for a fishing pole.