Best characters introduced in one-piece cover stories

Cover stories are somewhat overlooked when considering their exact importance to the story of One Piece. These one-panel entries can fill in the gaps in the main story, as they exist to show characters that aren't immediately relevant to the story. One can forget that the original versions of plot points, like Koby working his way up 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 will become relevant to the primary story. Here are some of the best characters that were introduced through this method.

5 Babura

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 he 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. Still, she is hospitable to him and tries to get him to escape the island, saddling him with meat pies for the journey. Caribou discovers revolutionaries being decimated by Scotch, one of Kaido's subordinates stationed on the island.

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

Despite her own penchant for trickery, Baburu pulls the wool over his eyes when she visits Gaburu's grave and reveals that she knew they were different all along. Despite this, Baburu's involvement in the cover story showed another side of Caribou, allowing him to return in a more heroic (if equally selfish) manner in Wano. Even though Caribou will likely be a fully fledged villain when he returns, the story still added to his character.

4 The vending machine

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

These robotic creatures bear more than a passing resemblance to Chopper and are only slightly less adorable than the Reindeer. Enel first discovers one of them (First Lieutenant Spacey) defeated at the hands of the Space Pirates, an intergalactic crew of aliens resembling various animals. Using his electrical powers to revive the defeated automaton, he discovers that they were on the moon for revenge. Their creator, Dr. Tsukimi was killed by choking on a dumpling while being shocked by an explosion on the moon. Despite being mere machines, the automatons were deeply affected by their creator's death and traveled to the moon to seek revenge.

Enel himself made it to the moon because it was the legendary Fairy Vearth of Birkan. After Spacey led Enel to his defeated comrades (Sergeant Cosmo, General Galaxy, and Colonel Macro), the two were attacked by one of the pirates. This led Enel to take revenge on the space pirates and destroy their ship. He later revived the automatons and appointed them as his subordinates. Eventually, Enel discovered even more automata underground, these having been created by the apparent ancestors of the Birkans as well as the Skypeians and Shandorians. All the automatons decide to act as his servants out of gratitude. While it's unclear if any of these characters will have relevance to the larger story, they provide an interesting bit of backstory 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 Jango and Fullbody. With the former a pirate and the latter a marine, the pair planned to forget each other as their dance-forged bond hurt Fullbody's career, as he had to sacrifice his rank as lieutenant to get Jango pardoned. However, both were smitten by the captain at the time, Hina, and decided to enlist as sailors (the lowest-ranking form of marine) 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 apprehend most criminals and is a natural fit for a Marine. Under her leadership, Jango and Fullbody are both currently lieutenant captains and seem to have maintained a good relationship.

2 Camie and Papag

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

This mermaid and her starfish pet/mentor were first seen escaping a sea boa, which Hatchan helped save them from. Unfortunately, the fishman traded her for a treasure map of former friends of his in the slave trade. Believing he had been tricked, Hatchan inadvertently freed Camie by destroying their ship. He later discovered he wasn't fooled and used the treasure to make takoyaki for a group of starving headband fish. Although Hatchan's crush, Octopako, tried to persuade him to give the last to her, he instead gave it to the starving Elderfish, which was late in arriving. In gratitude, the headband fishermen built a takoyaki stand that Hatchan and his friends ran.

Camie and Papag later gained relevance within the main plot, after Luffy freed them from a Sea King, which once again swallowed them. They eventually aided Hatchan in developing a friendship with the Straw Hats, despite their previous enmity. Hatchan's friendship proved crucial for the Straw Hats, as it led the crew to meet a coating mechanic, which would allow them to cross underwater. This mechanic was also the legendary first mate of the Roger Pirates, Silvers Rayleigh, who also acted as a mentor to Luffy, allowing him to greatly improve his haki during his time on Amazon Lily.

Hatchan himself later aided in the defense of the Thousand Sunny during the time jump, along with the likes of Bartholomew Kuma and the Rosy Life Riders. Thanks to their collective efforts, the Marines failed to capture the crew's ship while it was docked in their absence. Camie's continued support not only allowed the Straw Hats to befriend a former enemy, but also led to them developing further 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 notorious criminals at present, namely his grandson; Monkey D. Luffy, one of the Four Emperors, and his son; Monkey D. Dragon, the leader and founder of the Revolutionary Army, 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 all types of haki, and he is unwavering in his beliefs. His philosophy diverges from that of his descendants, as his desire for naval control is directly opposed to that of his son's goal of overthrowing them, and his grandson's desire for “freedom”. He often appears in opposition to his grandson or other powerful pirates, and more often than not displays skills that rival one's admiral. However, he refuses regular offers to be promoted to this position, believing that he would be more directly under the control of the World Nobles, whom he despises.

With the many facets of his character, one might be quick to forget that he also debuted in a cover story, establishing his role as the ultimate mentor to the likes of Koby and Helmeppo, who both trained under him to reach their current level of ability. He took a particular interest in the pair, seeing how they handled “Axe-Hand” Morgan's escape, which also resulted in Helmeppo's temporary capture. Eventually Garp himself decided to get involved in their training and continued to mentor them even after they became capable fighters in their own right.