not addressing an irrelevant character isn't bad writing
that's why I called it troll
But this is circular reasoning. The only reason why you see him as an irrelevant character is Oda's poor handling of him, when in reality he had the foundations to be a way more important figure. He has been around Garp since Roger's era and we actually have a precedent for how this character behaves during a threatening situation (was ready to unseathe his sword when Morgan axed Garp and jumped in and sliced Koby's guns when he tried to stop them from firing the canon; which by the way was one of the most impressive cutting feats back in the day, with Oda wanting to portray him as a powerful swordsman). Going from this to Bogard doing nothing during Hachinosu, not leading anybody in the ship, not coming down to aid Garp during the attack and help rescuing Koby (who he personally trained too, so I assume they have at least some personal bond)... It's weird at least because that's not how a person of his category would act, especially knowing he was first established as the "silent bodyguard" type who is the first to get involved when the situation gets threatening.
Going from Garp's right hand man who was the first to get involved and save the day and who personally trained Koby to... nothingness, basically, is a bit off, and I personally do see it as bad writing because Oda isn't consistent with how he established the character.
