Bartholomew Kuma was once part of the 7 Corsair Captains , powerful and legendary pirates who were in the pay of the World Government, before this group was dissolved. Before being a Shichibukai, he was also a member of the Revolutionary Army, ruler 🤴🏼 of the Kingdom of Solbay. Subsequently, he was transformed into a Pacifista and became a slave to the Celestial Dragons under the alias Invincible Slave. Let us also quickly note that this character played an important role as an antagonist in several arcs, namely the Thriller Bark, Sabaody and Marine Ford Arcs .
Kuma Appearance
Very large (around 7 meters), Kuma is the second largest member of the 7 Great Corsairs after Gecko Moria. He has the particularity of always carrying around with a Bible in his hand. Eiichirō Oda, the mangaka behind One Piece , gave him an overall appearance similar to a bear, 🐻 albeit with some small differences. On the face, his expression is neutral and his chin is extremely pronounced. As for his eyes, they are white in color. If Kuma was initially supposed to be brown and wear an orange jacket as well as a yellowish hat marked with green spots, he is different in the anime. Indeed, we see him with black hair as well as a black jacket and a gray hat. Note that when he was a revolutionary, he was dressed in a brown hood that covered his body, showing only his face. After the two-year timeskip, Kuma is shown with the majority of his clothes torn off, now displaying his cyborg body. At the very bottom of his jacket, we find pad patterns.
Kuma the revolutionary
In the past, Bartholomew Kuma was part of the Revolutionaries (or the Revolutionary Army), this movement led by Monkey D. Dragon , 🐲 the most dangerous man in the world and the most wanted by the World Government. This independent and powerful military organization aims to fight the World Government, whether on an ideological level or also on an action level. You should know that Kuma was a commander within this Army of Revolutionaries. As such, he had power over other members of the organization who are of lower rank.
Furthermore, according to his own words to Silvers Rayleigh , Kuma always remained a Revolutionary even when he was Grand Corsair. And, still according to Rayleigh two years after the Marine Ford clashes, if Kuma had agreed to compromise with the World Government and become a Shichibukai, it was to infiltrate the Navy in favor of the Revolutionary cause.
The skills of the former Grand Corsair
As we have seen, Kuma's fame dates back well before he became one of the 7 Corsair Captains. Indeed, he was already famous when he became a vicious pirate with the evocative nickname: The Tyrant. The fact that he became a Shichibukai, as well as the amount of his former capture bounty which amounted to 296,000,000 Berrys, are further proof of the undeniable power of Bartholomew Kuma . Kuma's reputation is such that she manages to disrupt the powerful pirates of this world. ☠️
Once Kuma was transformed into a cyborg, his intensity and agility were increased. They are even superior to other cyborgs. In addition, he became much faster to the point of being able to disappear from the sight of others (the Mugiwara as well as everyone present) as was the case on Thriller Bark. However, we do not know if this ability of Kuma is the result of the modifications made to him or if it is rather one of the powers of his Devil Fruit or if it is his true raw speed. As a cyborg, his body resists virtually any type of attack, including Sanji's kicks or Zoro's swords. Even the Shishi Sonson technique, which generally allows its user to cut ✂️ steel, only gives Kuma a slight scratch. It should also be noted that two years of damage, lack of maintenance and lack of food did not get the better of Kuma, it remained operational. As a Pacifista, Kuma can also shoot laser beams through his mouth, the effects of which are to cause a massive explosion upon detonation or to liquefy metal. It seems that this power was copied from that of Borsalino aka Admiral Kizaru .
Devil Fruit: Nikyu Nikyu no Mi
Bartholomew Kuma consumed a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit named Nikyu Nikyu no Mi ( Push Fruit in French). The latter provides its user with the ability to repel anything they touch using its pads. These can be tangible or intangible objects, such as air or attacks, just like living things. Another of the powers of this Devil Fruit 😈 is that it allows its user to push things at the speed of light. Thanks to this power, Kuma only needs to touch his targets with one of his hands to make them disappear. In reality, they do not disappear, but are pushed back and sent to another location chosen by the user, even if that destination is several days away.
Kuma also uses this power to move quickly as if teleporting. To do this, it uses its pads to push air back at high speed. The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi also allows Kuma to deflect even intangible things such as pain and fatigue. This ability is therefore practical for healing people like Kuma did for Luffy by removing all the suffering he suffered on the Thriller Bark ship. Luffy immediately felt in great shape. On the other hand, it should be noted that this practice was made possible because Roronoa Zoro offered to take the pain 🤕 of his captain upon himself. Kuma's power is therefore not to heal people directly, but rather to extract and transfer the damage to another.
Another essential characteristic of this Devil Fruit is that it allows Kuma to carry out attacks of mass destruction. Called Ursus Shock, this technique consists of a bomb filled with extremely compressed air. Kuma creates it by pushing the air between his two hands. With this attack, Kuma is able to destroy an island or damage opponents like Little Oars Jr. who is a huge giant. However, this Devil Fruit has a weakness. The power to repel attacks requires Kuma to use his hands. 🤲🏼. On the other hand, this weakness is rather well compensated by the great resistance of Kuma's armor as a cyborg.
History of Kuma
According to the words of Perona aka The Ghost Princess , this character was in the past a pirate known for his vicious, violent and cruel actions which earned him the nickname Kuma The Tyrant. It is even rumored that he was "brutal beyond measure" and that he pushed the limits of human atrocity. We know in particular that, twelve years before the start of the story of One Piece, he was on a friendship with Monkey D. Dragon as well as Emporio Ivankov. He was present when Gray Terminal was burned by Bluejam and helped the survivors escape on Revolutionary Army boats. Even if this team initiated the organization of the Revolutionaries, we do not know if Kuma and Dragon remained together after the first began his crusade against the World Government.
Arc Jaya
We see Kuma appear for the first time in the Jaya Arc when the Grand Corsairs met to choose who would replace Crocodile. It was during this meeting that Laffitte, The Demonic Sheriff, appeared to propose his captain, Marshall D. Teach , for the position of Corsair Captain. 🏴☠️ He notably highlighted the Blackbeard Pirates and asked those present to remember this name.
Kuma at thriller bark
We then see him in the Thriller Bark Arc when he was given the mission of announcing Crocodile's successor to Gecko Moria, namely Blackbeard. Unfortunately, when he arrived at Thriller Bark, he got angry with Perona who sent her zombies to attack him. So Kuma took off one of his gloves, asked Perona where she wanted to go before sending her flying to Kuraigana Island. Perona's zombies were then afraid of his power. Kuma then went looking for Moria again and found him in the dance hall of Thriller Bark mansion. After completing his mission (announcing Blackbeard's succession of Crocodile), he spoke to Moria about the Straw Hat Pirates who were heading towards them. He offered his help to fight Luffy and his crew but Moria mocked him. And yet, the latter was crushed by Luffy.
Informed of Moria's defeat, the World Government ordered Kuma to kill anyone who witnessed it, including the Mugiwara. Kuma did so and launched an air bomb, which caused a large part of the island to be swallowed up (as for the anime, the entire island was affected). Fortunately, even if the Mugiwara were affected by this attack, they did not die. Then, when Kuma wants to take Luffy's life, Zoro and Sanji intervene by offering their lives respectively in exchange. Kuma then decided to transfer all the suffering and fatigue that Luffy suffered during his confrontation with Moria onto Zoro through the power of Nikyu Nikyu no Mi.
Sabaody and Marine Ford bows
Kuma was then seen in several other arcs, including the Sabaody Arc where he protected the Mugiwara against Admiral Kizaru, Sentomaru, the bodyguard of Dr. Vegapunk and the Pacifistas. Subsequently, once completely transformed into a cyborg 🦿, he reappears during the battle of Marine Ford in the service of the World Government. On this occasion, he will fight both Oz Jr. along with Doflamingo, Gecko Moria and Emporio Ivankov . After this war, he will also face the Exocet Riders - the new Rosy Life Riders - on the Sabaody Archipelago.
Bartholomew Kuma vs Mugiwara
While serving as Corsair Captain, Bartholomew Kuma learned that the World Government was paying special attention to the Straw Hat Pirates. Indeed, they closely monitored their every move since the events that took place on Enies Lobby Island. So when he went to Thriller Bark and he knew that Luffy and his crew would definitely pass by, he did not hesitate to push Moria to fight them even if he did not receive the invitation. formal order. He even offered to help him face them. Following Moria's defeat, he was finally ordered to kill ⚰️ all members of the Luffy Pirates and he did so. This was the first time Kuma fought the Mugiwara and emerged victorious. Note that Kuma is one of the only people to have single-handedly beaten all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates . And, to date, he is also the only One Piece character to have defeated them twice.
Bartholomew Kuma vs Luffy
Their second "clash" took place in the Sabaody Arc after he landed on the island while Luffy's crew and Silvers Rayleigh faced several pacifistas (copies of Kuma), Kizaru and Sentomaru . He intervened to stop the fight 🤼♂️ and secretly revealed to Silvers Rayleigh that he was still a Revolutionary. He then began to make each Straw Hat Pirate disappear one by one by sending them to different locations. They tried to fight him then flee but without much success. Enraged, Luffy attacks him with a Gear Second but Kuma parries his attack with disconcerting ease using his pads. If they thought that he was killing them all one by one by erasing them, it turns out in fact that he wanted to protect them before he had completely transformed into a Pacifista.
Kuma's death
According to the King of Dressrosa and Grand Corsair Don Quixote Doflamingo , Kuma's original personality died at the same time as he was transformed into a Pacifista. In fact, Doctor Vegapunk programmed him so that he no longer has any will, personality or memory of his own. These manipulations were done so that it would be reliable, obedient and provide non-stop service for the benefit of the World Government. Just like the other Pacifista models after him, Kuma now only possesses the blind intelligence of a living weapon. From now on, for Kuma, any individual encountered is recognized either as an ally of the World Government or as an enemy. This is particularly the case of the Straw Hat Pirates 👒 of which he no longer recognizes any of the members.
The Slave of the Sky Dragons
Once Kuma transformed into a Pacifista, the Celestial Dragons made him their slave who they shared among themselves in turn. In this condition, they humiliated him as punishment for helping Luffy and his crew. And on the occasion of the Reverie bringing together the greatest leaders of the many kingdoms of the One Piece universe, Saint Rosward used Kuma as a mount 🏇🏼 to enter the castle of Pangea in Mary Geoise. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate to everyone that Kuma is an invincible slave, he hit him with a club and stabbed him without Kuma uttering a cry or moaning in pain. Among the people who saw the scene, many were shocked and revolted, like Jewelry Bonney who was part of the Eleven Supernovae as well as several members of the infiltrated Revolutionary Army, namely the giant Morley, Karasu and the Mink cat Lindbergh . According to the latter, the real goal of the World Government through this humiliation is to make an example of them to demonstrate their power and what happens to anyone who opposes the World Nobles. It was then that the Revolutionaries undertook to liberate Kuma by attacking Reverie and had to fight admirals Fujitora and Ryokugyu.
His transformation into Cyborg by Dr. Vegapunk
Bartholomew Kuma was a human like any other before agreeing to be transformed into a cyborg. It was also the first Pacifista prototype made by Dr. Vegapunk, the Navy scientist 👨🏼🔬, and to whom the serial number PX-0 was assigned. Kuma then lost his free will and now only follows the orders of the World Government. It was thus as a complete cyborg that he participated in the Battle of Marine Ford.
The pact between Kuma and Vegapunk
During his final transformation into a Pacifista, a secret agreement (the details of which are unknown) was established between Dr. Vegapunk and Kuma. The latter expressed his last wish as a human to be able to defend the Thousand Sunny until one of Luffy's crew members returned. The two characters having a good understanding and out of respect for Kuma, Dr. Vegapunk then granted him this favor. He programmed his circuits so that, for two years, he remained protecting the Mugiwara boat 🚢 against any intruder until Cutty Flam aka Franky arrived. Very damaged at that time, he simply declared "Mission Accomplished" and left for an unknown location in the pay of the World Government.
Help the mugiwara crew triumph on the Grand Line too
As we have seen in this article, Bartholomew Kuma has multiple facets. Tyrannical Pirate one day, King 👑 another day and then Revolutionary to then become a Grand Corsair and end up a cyborg in the pay of the World Government. And yet, despite all these less than stellar hats, Kuma continued to help and protect the Mugiwara until he no longer had his own will and free will.
Just like Kuma who, until his last breath as a human, did everything to protect the Mugiwara crew , don't hesitate to throw yourself into battle 🥊 and help Luffy triumph over his adversaries. And to help you, choose from our many One Piece Goodies the best items that you like.
