The best characters introduced in the title stories in one piece

Cover stories are somewhat overlooked when considering their precise importance to the narrative One piece. These one-panel entries, which serve to show cards to characters not immediately relevant to the story, can fill in holes in the main story. One can forget that the original versions of plots like Koby working his way through the Marines and Buggy meeting Alvida started out as cover stories. Sometimes cover stories will go a step further and help debut certain characters that become relevant to the primary story. Here are some of the best characters that have been introduced using this method.

5 Babur

Debut: Caribou's Kehihihihi in the New World, Vol. 15 (Chapter 690)

This sweet old lady is first seen nursing Caribou back to health after she ends up on an island in the middle of a storm. Considering his own cruel nature, it's no surprise that he was still willing to rob the woman who may have saved his life. However, she is hospitable to him and tries to get him to flee the island, saddled with meat pies for his journey. Caribou discovers that the revolutionaries are decimating Scotch, one of Kaido's subordinates stationed on the island.

Caribou later discovers his resemblance to the late Gaburu, Babur's grandson, whom he seems to think is the same person as him. He also discovers that Baburu's house has been ransacked for harboring him. Caribou eventually reunites with his crew, including his brother and co-captain Coribou, who notes their grandmother's wishes for them to get along. In a rare act of kindness, Caribou leads his crew to act like revolutionaries and ultimately defeat Scotch. However, Caribou himself ends up being arrested by X Drake, leading to his eventual imprisonment in Wano.

Despite his own penchant for subterfuge, Baburu pulls a blind eye when she visits Gaburu's grave and reveals that she knew they were different all along. However, Baburu's involvement in the cover story showed a different side to Caribou and set him off to return in a more heroic (though equally selfish) way in Wano. Although Caribou will likely be a full-fledged villain upon his return, the story still added to his character.

4 Vending machines

Debut: Enel's Great Space Operations, Vol. 4 (Chapter 433)

These robotic creatures bear more than a resemblance to Chopper and are only slightly less adorable than the Reindeer Man. Enel first discovers one of them (First Lieutenant Spacey) defeated by the Space Pirates, an intergalactic crew of aliens resembling various animals. Using his electrical abilities to revive a defeated automaton, he discovers that they were on the moon to get revenge. Their creator Dr. Tsukimi was killed by suffocation with a dumpling when he was shocked by an explosion on the moon. Although only a machine, the automatons were deeply affected by the death of their creator and traveled to the moon to seek revenge.

Enel himself got to the moon because he was the legend of the Fairy Vearth of Birkan. After Spacey led Enel to his defeated comrades (Sergeant Cosmo, General Galaxy, and Colonel Macro), they were both attacked by one of the pirates. This led to Enel taking revenge on the space pirates and destroying their ship. Later he revived the automatons and represented them as his subordinates. Eventually, Enel discovered even more automatons underground that were created by the apparent ancestors of the Birkans, as well as the Skypeians and Shandorians. Out of gratitude, all the automatons decide to act as his servants. While it's unclear if any of these characters will be relevant to the larger story, they provide an interesting bit of background lore for the series.

3 Hina

Debut: Jango's Dance Paradise, Vol. 36 (Chapter 171)

This rear admiral was undoubtedly responsible for saving the friendship between Jang and Fullbody. With the former a pirate and the latter a marine, the pair planned to forget each other as their dance-forged bond damaged Fullbody's career as he had to sacrifice his lieutenant rank to get Jango pardoned. However, both were smitten by then-Captain Hina and decided to enlist as Marines (the lowest ranked form of Marines) in her unit, the Black Cage Corps.

Since then, Hina has appeared as a supporting character in various arcs involving the Marines. Her Devil Fruit, Ori Ori no Mi, allows her to arrest most criminals and is a natural fit for Marines. Under her guidance, Jango and Fullbody are both currently Captain Lieutenants and seem to have maintained a great relationship.

2 Camie and Papag

Debut: Hatchan's Sea-Floor Stroll, Vol. 12 (Chapter 195)

This mermaid and her starfish pet/mentor are first seen escaping from a sea boa that Hatchan helped rescue them from. Unfortunately, Fishman traded her for a treasure map to his former slave trading friends. After believing he had been tricked, Hatchan inadvertently freed Camie by destroying their ship. He later discovered that he had not been fooled and used the treasure to make takoyaki for a group of starving tiara fish. Even though Hatchan's love Octopako tried to convince him to give her the last scraps, he instead gave it to a starving Elderfish that arrived late. In gratitude, the headband fish set up a takoyaki stand that Hatchan and his friends ran.

Camie and Papag later gained relevance in the main plot after Luffy freed them from the Sea King, who absorbed them again. They eventually helped Hatchan develop a friendship with the Straw Hats, despite their past animosity. Hatchan's friendship proved vital to the Straw Hats as it led to the crew encountering a paint mechanic that allowed them to walk underwater. This mechanic was also the Roger Pirates' legendary first mate, Silvers Rayleigh, who also acted as Luffy's mentor, allowing him to greatly improve his haki during his time on Amazon Lily.

Hatchan himself later helped defend the Thousand Sunny during the timeskip, alongside the likes of Bartholomew Kuma and the Rosy Life Riders. Thanks to their combined efforts, the Marines were unable to capture the crew's ship while it was docked in their absence. Camie's continued support has not only allowed the Straw Hats to befriend a former enemy, but has also led them to make more connections, showing that the goodwill built up by the crew is an invaluable aspect of their progress.

1 Monkey D. Garp

Debut: Diary of Koby-Meppo, Vol. 9 (Chapter 92)

Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp mentored a number of Marines, including characters such as Kuzan, Koby, and Helmeppo. He is also related to some of the most infamous criminals of today, namely his grandson; Monkey D. Luffy, one of the Four Emperors, and his son; Monkey D. Dragon, leader and founder of the Revolutionary Army, who was himself a former Marine.

Garp is no less stubborn than any of his kin, and his physical strength is the result of years of intense, dedicated training. Like Luffy, he can use any type of haki and is steadfast in his beliefs. His philosophy differs from that of his descendants, as his desire for naval control directly opposes his son's desire to overthrow them and his grandson's desire for “freedom”. He often appears in opposition to his grandson or other powerful pirates, more often than not displaying abilities that rival that of an admiral. However, he refuses regular offers to be promoted to this position, believing that he would be directly under the control of the world's nobles, whom he despises.

With the many aspects of his character, one can quickly forget that he also debuted in a cover story that established his role as an eventual mentor to the likes of Koby and Helmeppo, who both trained under him to reach their current level of ability. . He was particularly interested in the pair after seeing how they dealt with the escape of “Axe-Hand” Morgan, which also resulted in the temporary capture of Helmepp. Eventually, Garp decided to join their training himself and continued to mentor them even after they became capable fighters in their own right.