Backstory Special: Buggy and Shanks' past

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Though we have pretty much covered as much of Buggy’s personality as we’re going to have right now, it pays to look into his past, specifically because while we’ve seen Buggy juxtaposed to Luffy, Nami and have even looked at the other villains who could be considered his peer—this is a good opportunity to look at his direct peer, that is, Shanks. This backstory will explore not only the foundations of Buggy but the foundations of Shanks, and bring up some interesting questions.

Buggy begins to tell his story to explain why he not only detests Shanks, but has a great reason to, and the very first shot is this.



Right from the outset, they are arguing about something. And right from the outset we can see that, despite their faces, the subject of the argument isn’t very important. It’s certainly a heated argument, no doubt, and the first argumentative type of relationship we see. Other examples of this would be Zoro and Sanji, and Dorry and Broggy.



This caption to show:
1. The serious nature of their shuffle, since they’re really going at it.
2. Just how young they are compared to who we see.
3. Peeking at Roger’s crew and wondering who might show up again. B|a




This guy we will definitely see again. But who would have thought we would after several hundred chapters? In any case, this is an example of Ray’s personality back then. (and we will refer back to it when the time comes) He is annoyed by their petty squabbling and isn’t afraid to smack them over the head for it.

Some things to note, this is old school piracy and Ray is an old school pirate. There’s definitely a sense of commander/subordinate, and Ray does not hesitate at all to assert his dominance simply because he’s annoyed at the stupidity of the fight.
Also Shanks wearing sandals. <3



A few interesting things here…

Firstly, for me, and perhaps others who follow narrative conventions, it’s easy to assume from the first panel that whatever they were arguing about, Shanks was right just because he is coded as the ‘good guy’. Though here we see that the fight is more pointless than even we initially thought and who is right doesn’t really matter—and perhaps is unknowable with their level of technology.

Secondly, there’s very much a sense of, ‘don’t just whine and bark at each other but do something about it’. And ‘it’s a really stupid thing to be arguing about over constantly, guys’
So from the outset there is a definite vibe of hated rivals.
Except…is it?



Maybe not so much. We see them about to attack the ship we talked about in the last installment. There is no sense of rivalry here. Shanks is wearing an easy going sort of grin and Buggy’s just all fired up for attacking the ship and procuring the booty. If they were rivals in a traditional sense, they would be against each other more and in direct competition. Aside from Shanks’ relaxed posture here:



First, how effing cool does Shanks look right here? Really cool. He’s a badass swordsman already.

But they are not rivals in the traditional sense, as I said, since Buggy wants treasure and Shanks is just kind of blasé about it. He’s looking forward to the fight, that much seems fairly obvious. But really, as we’ll see here and later, rather than physical rivals, they have different ideologies. Beating at each other is just to vent frustration rather than a means to an end.



As you can see, the differences are right here. Shanks says that treasure is not all there is, but Buggy disagrees point blank. He is serious about treasure, yo… and is likely the main reason he became a pirate to begin with.

Though note also what he says, Shanks and the others on the crew don’t take treasure seriously enough. They don’t know what a pirate really is. Aside from pointing out the differing ideologies, what does he mean they don’t take treasure seriously enough? While it’s difficult to say for certain, perhaps it’s somewhat similar to Zeff when he was a pirate. He would take the treasure, but not the food. As we see later, they do get some treasure—but perhaps leave some behind?



To somewhat amend my point of last chapter, the fight seems to suggest that they are against another pirate ship. I’m talking about the one guy on the far left who is lifting a staff and has a skull and crossbones. Though of course that doesn’t mean the world is any less brutal because it is a pirate ship.

At any rate, while on the ship, Buggy finds a treasure map with a huge treasure horde.



This reveals two things.

Firstly, that Buggy is okay with shorting his nakama. Granted we don’t know how much he fought or even if he did, but everyone fighting for the treasure map should split the resultant treasure if everyone was working together.

Secondly, Buggy assumes how his crewmates will react. The key word here is “who wouldn’t” rather than “those guys”. It’s also, I suspect, an excuse to not share



From here we see the start of something. Buggy is convinced this treasure will bring the end to his problems. But no matter how big that treasure is (and the fact that he doesn’t obtain it regardless) It’s not as big as all the treasure in the world. In other words, Buggy is never going to be satisfied. There is no treasure big enough to take care of all his problems—because as we’ve seen, even though he’d had a fair amount of treasure in Mayor Boodle’s town, he wanted more and he constantly got distracted trying to defend it.



Aw yeah, real pirates know how to party. We’ll see parties at the end of almost every arc and while we’ll explore them later, this is definitely a tradition carried through by Shanks and by Buggy. When you have a victory, you party.



Here you can see Buggy is not partying with them. Likely because he wants to keep his map a secret. But in order to keep it all to himself, he’s missing out on having fun with the others and enjoying himself. Also note, Shanks is a-okay with Buggy knowing about this treasure they found.
Plus the fact that, despite their rivalry, Shanks wants to drink with Buggy and spend time with him. North and South pole bedamned come party!



And they do. And I just love the character portrayed here in just their body language. Buggy all the confident bad-ass—as well as closed off, maybe even to subconsciously protect the treasure he’s hiding. Shanks all loose and relaxed, tipping the chair back and just enjoying himself. It’s their personalities in a nutshell.




And here is Shanks’ ideology. While Buggy’s was to attain happiness by having all the treasure in the world, Shanks just wants to see and explore it as a pirate. Read: as free. But also note, if I have to. He’s content with sailing with Roger as long as he can.
Also. Just. Young Shanks. /chinhands aggressively at/




Buggy is an ass about the dreams of others—and we see shades of Luffy right there. Shanks does not appreciate Buggy mocking his dream like that.



Buggy sees himself as better than Shanks, obviously. Maybe because he views himself as smarter or more clever or just because he knows what a true pirate is like. But mostly note, he doesn’t want Shanks to be there because he is nakama. He merely wants to use Shanks’ strength to get what he wants. But Buggy also wants a crew that is just like him and accepts his way of thinking and ideology. Like Shanks and like Luffy.



And here is the proof that rather than being rivals, they have rival ideology. But Shanks isn’t hating on his path or what Buggy wants—and is in no way mocking him. Because, it can be implied, a pirate’s life is going down the path you think is best and having the freedom to do so.
Also it’s just such an atmospheric moment. The moon. Buggy’s expression. There’s just a sort of quiet bittersweetness about it all.

Buggy thinks it’s funny to hear Shanks talk about pirates and reminds Shanks that, if they do it this way that means they’ll be enemies when they meet on the seas.



Of course Shanks knows it and accepts it. He very much understands that actions=consequences and though it’s kind of a hard thing fighting someone who you sailed with, if that’s what happens, it’s what happens. Buggy, of course, doesn’t get it.

But on another level entirely, Shanks didn’t just set out to sea knowing that crewmates who go separate ways will become rivals if they should meet again. How did he learn this? Given his hidden expression, you can deduce he’s seen some shit—or at the very least been through some shit. So what happened? Some old crew mate under Roger? Who knows.

At any rate, Buggy asks about the weird treasure that Shanks says they found and Shanks says it’s a Devil’s Fruit and whoever eats it will gain certain powers but be unable to swim. First note this:



Whether Roger is the one who told everyone or not, the fact is that the consequences of eating a DF are something probably anyone knows. But also that he is willing to share this treasure rather than hoard it—to whomever wants to accept the consequences of eating it. He’s giving people the freedom to choose their own fate.

Of course, Buggy doesn’t want to eat it because, as he thinks to himself, whoever ate that wouldn’t be able to get at treasure on the sea floor.
But more importantly and tied into Shanks’ statement:



It’s a freaking expensive fruit. What does that say? Well, it says that Roger, and it’s implied, Shanks, are just kind of ‘eh’ about that sort of money sliding through their fingertips. Perhaps because it isn’t needed. Perhaps because Roger is leaving the avenue open for anyone interested and interesting enough to eat something like that.



First of all, Buggy really knows his treasure. He even knows the ranking system for it. I wonder what that is or if he made it up himself. Also you can see he’s already made up his mind to sell it.



So he pretends to eat it as we figure out a few panels down. But important is, if we’re following the captain reflects the crew and vice versa—we can see that Roger and those who sail under him respect guys who take dangerous risks like that. After all, aside from not being able to get underwater treasure, being a hammer in the water is no small thing on the sea.

But also, he pretends to eat it. He tricks them. It ties back into hiding the treasure map, maybe thinking of course they wouldn’t have given it to him if he’d just been going to sell it. But, and just my guess, is if no one else had wanted it, I don’t see why Roger wouldn’t have just let him have it if he asked. But he didn’t and so Buggy has to trick them.



And he went to a lot of damn effort to do it, too. I mean a lot. All night just so he could sell this fruit and get more money on top of the gamble of the map.
Also, note in the right panel—if Shanks knew about how much the fruit was worth, it’s not a stretch to say that they knew it, too. Yet Buggy wants to eat it and so they are letting him do so. Money is no big deal—or perhaps it is better to say that crewmates (and nakama) trump treasure.

As for the people themselves…
In the forefront, Wolverine?
Right behind him, the love child of Haruta and Marco. Tell me I’m wrong.
And the last guy really seriously looks like he could be Zoro’s dad. Because of the stance, the haircut and the dimples. It’s my analysis and I’ll headcanon what I want to.



So essentially, Buggy is the kind of person who takes what he needs from others without a care to give something in return. He seriously lacks gratitude.
Think about it, he is a pirate trainee, which implies that he was let aboard with little to no skills and taught how to be a pirate. Granted he probably worked hard but I doubt unduly so. Also he either doesn’t care or perhaps doesn’t consider the fact that leaving and going on the seas means that he may have to fight them again.



Shanks expression appreciation post. You can definitely tell that despite their differences, Shanks likes Buggy. He’s curious what he’s doing and glad to see him. And then I love the ‘oh my god your face what is it?’ expression before he walks away in shades of Luffy and comes right back. Also he’s a nice enough guy to stick up for his friend, thinking he stole food (which is probably not the first time) but just telling him the consequences of it rather than telling on him.

At any rate, Buggy freaks out from having eaten the thing and …



…then freaks out at Shanks for making him eat the thing and loses the map in the process. He dives for the map without thinking and of course is a hammer now.



Note how most of the guys either thinks he’s joking around or just have no idea what he’s doing. Maybe he’s even faking it since he can swim so well.



And Shanks just dives right in to save him, even disregarding the hat which, he told Luffy, was his favorite. And of course Buggy in the ultimate delivery of ingratitude, hates Shanks because he blames him for it all—

But really, of course, the fault was Buggy’s and action=consequences. If he hadn’t hidden the fruit with the intention of keeping it secret from others, he wouldn’t have swallowed it. If he hadn’t swallowed it, he wouldn’t have lost out on the map AND the fruit. Also, the others would have known what was going on when he was drowning and been a little more proactive in rescuing him.

But also, interesting here, is that actions don’t HAVE to equal consequences. If they did, Buggy would have been drowned. But Shanks dove in to save him because he knows Buggy well enough to know when he’s freaking out. Moreover, he values Buggy’s life, even perhaps over his own treasure, despite the fact that Buggy shows a lot of animosity.

Themes

Other than the usual ones we’ve hilighted, the biggest theme and purpose is to showcase the two forms of piracy.

Firstly there is Buggy’s which can be seen as a more ‘traditional’ form, at least in terms of what is shown in terms of media like Pirates of the Caribbean.

The main goal of this sort of traditional pirate is treasure and personal gain above all—even above others in the same crew. It’s a continual quest for power and getting stronger, not through hard work and perseverance, but by attaining treasure, usually by stealing it from others, and using the strength of others to accomplish their own goals. You can see this in Alivda who was using her men all for herself, as well as Morgan who certainly counted on the strength of both the Marines under him and the Marine establishment in general.

Then there is Shanks’ view of piracy which was undoubtedly heavily influenced by Roger himself—since the rest of the crew has the same mindset. It’s even perhaps based off of historic pirates who could be vicious and cruel but as you can see, even in the concept of matelogues were far more nuanced than simple in it for yourselves.

This is a sort of ideological piracy where freedom is valued heavily, but so are the people you sail with, so are your nakama. This is the kind of piracy where you know what you’re getting into and accepting it. Though it’s brutal and no doubt selfish to some extent, since just because an ideological pirate may be all for themselves, they can be exceedingly brutal to others as we’ll see.



Characters

Buggy: As a direct comparison to Shanks and even on his own merit, Buggy is manipulative and cunning, but also selfish and ungrateful. But he’s friendly with Shanks when they are just hanging out, other than being callous about his ambition. This is because, unlike Luffy or even his own crew, Shanks is a peer and he respects his strength and fighting ability. And we’ll see that again with Buggy not too far ahead.

But also interesting to note—is that while Buggy despises people paying attention to his nose and commenting on it, he nonetheless puts a great deal of effort into adopting the clown persona.
I mean look at the direct comparison.


Young Buggy:



Adult Buggy:



He really went all out with it. Of course it’s just guesswork on my end but I suspect that at some point he discovered clowns were terrifying and because he had the nose, made it less hilarious and more of an overall sinister look. Though he still can’t stand when people call direct attention to his nose since perhaps he feels that they are only looking at how doofy he seems rather than how sinister he wants to be.

Shanks: Though can get mad at stupid stuff, gets over it fairly quickly and not one to hold a grudge. We can see that he’s been easy going for a while, even when he was a kid and probably no more than fifteen. He lets slights go and treasures hanging out and having fun with people above treasure. Also his goal is to simply see the world. But from what we have seen of Shanks and from what we see here, he is not a person who stands idly by when someone he cares about needs his help. He risks losing his favorite hat, Roger’s hat—But more than that as we’ve already seen, he sacrificed his own arm, even as a swordsman, for the sake of another. He’s a man that knows the consequences of actions and knows the sad parts of a pirate’s life as well as the happy ones and accepts it—which is probably why he’s so easy going.


Rayleigh: Kind of an irritable guy, all told. We don’t really see too much of him, but comparing him directly to Luffy he cracks them on the head just because they’re being annoying and arguing over stupid things. He has a finite amount of patience, in other words, especially for no account kids who need to see the world rather than bicker over it.


Roger: OF course we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since the first chapter, but look at he negative space of him—How he influences his crew, how his crew follow him. There’s a definite sense with Shanks that he’s well loved and respected and allows his crew to be just as free as he would like to be. He doesn’t particularly care for treasure. But will likely perhaps attack another pirate ship simply because it is one? It’s difficult to say on the last, that’s mostly just guesswork, but as Roger comes up we’ll try to make sense out of him by how the people who knew him the best react.