Tyrant (jap. 暴君, Bōkun) Bartholomew Kuma is a former Samurai of the Seas, and has been transformed into the Pacifista PX-0 – a special naval version of a cyborg. Before becoming one of the 7 Samurai, he ruled as the King of Sorbet and was also an officer (Jap. 幹部, Kanbu) in the Revolutionary Army. Currently, he is being held by the World Nobles as a slave in Mary Geoise.
Contents
Appearance
Bartholomew Kuma is a rather tall and fearsome man with black hair. His size can be compared to that of Gecko Moria. When the two samurai of the seas stand side by side, their opposite body proportions are noticeable. While Bear has a wide upper body and a lower body that is much too narrow for that, it is the opposite case with Moria. He always carried a purple bible with him. On his head he wears a cap with sewn-on bear ears.
On the cap and all over his trousers are many small stains. Probably the most mysterious thing about him are his glassy, cold eyes, wherein his pupils cannot be seen. On the front of his brown jacket he has a white crosshair and additionally bear paw prints can be seen there as well. Also the mentioned cross can be seen on the back of his bible. Furthermore he wears gloves, which he always takes off when he gets ready for battle or plans to use his devil powers. On his palms he received bear paws due to the paw fruit.
Unlike the anime, in the manga he has an orange jacket and brown hair, as well as a gold-colored Bible. The spots on his cap are green. Later in the manga, he wears a dark blue jacket instead of an orange one.
Personality
Bear is a rather quiet and taciturn person. Unlike the other samurai of the seas, he is the only one loyal to the world government. However, his character today can’t be reconciled with his nickname from a bygone era. True to the motto: “still waters run deep”, he strikes all the harder in battle.
Later, however, Emporio Ivankov reveals that the devotion to the world government was only a facade, and that in reality he hated it. He did his actions for the government merely to preserve his position as a samurai, which he was determined to keep for unknown reasons.
Bear usually has a habit of asking his victims where they would like to travel. Furthermore, Blackbeard’s appointment as one of them troubles him.
In Marine Ford, Doflamingo reported that Bear got involved in a deal with the World Government. Exactly what that deal was about is unknown to Doflamingo. Anyway, Bear has now been altered to the point where he is now a weapon without memories or emotions. He now attacks even old friends like Emporio Ivankov and no longer talks.
Skills and Strength
Just like Franky, Bear is also a cyborg, but many times stronger. He was retooled into a Pacifista by Dr. Vegapunk and is, by his own admission, an ultimate weapon of the World Government that has yet to be completed. His body is apparently made of pretty tough stuff. As such, he can withstand most attacks without any effort. As a Pacifista, he has been given the ability by Dr. Vegapunk to fire beams of light from his mouth that can even melt steel. As X. Drake mentioned, the scientist apparently managed to implant Admiral Kizaru’s light beam abilities into the Pacifista. Furthermore, the rest of his fighting skills resemble that of a Sumo.
In addition to his cyborg abilities, he possesses the devil powers of the Paw Fruit, which turned him into a Paw Man. This gave him bear paws on each of his palms, which he can use to reflect anything he touches. From objects to people or their attacks, to air. This he can also accelerate or compress to the speed of light. Last but not least, Bear is also able to extract pain from a person, which manifests into a bubble in the form of a bear paw. With this bubble, he can transfer the pain to other people just by touching them. According to Sentomaru, people who are touched by Bear will fly through the air for three days and three nights until they land at a certain destination in a giant imprint of a bear’s paw.
Bartholomew Kuma uses his devil power, obtained from the Paw Fruit, in his attacks. With the paws on his palms, he can create shockwaves by accelerating the air to the speed of light with his paws. The shockwaves are then in the shape of a paw. His fighting behavior is similar to that of a Sumo wrestler, as he first stomps like one and attacks with shock blows.
The following attacks are known:
- Pad cannon
- Ursus Shock
- Laserbeam
Past
Bear formerly made a name for himself as a pirate under the nickname“The Tyrant“until eventually a bounty of 296,000,000 berry was placed on his head. Sometime after receiving his bounty, he became a samurai of the seas. He was later converted into a Pacifista by Dr. Vegapunk. What his motivations were for taking this upon himself is unknown. Bear was also a revolutionary under Dragon, and thus he was also present at the mission to the Kingdom of Goa twelve years ago. At an as yet unknown time, Bear was also the king of the Sorbet Kingdom.
Present
Gathering of the Samurai
After one of The Seven Warlords of the Seas – Crocodile – was removed from office, the world government ordered the remaining six samurai to Mary Geoise. But only Dracule Mihawk and Bear showed up there, along with Donquixote Doflamingo.
The Bear and the Gecko
On behalf of the World Government, Bear was dispatched to the Thriller Bark to report to Gecko Moria about Blackbeard’s appointment as a Samurai of the Seas. Once there, he inquired of the zombies there as to the whereabouts of their master. When the ghost princess Perona took notice of the giant, she was instantly startled and asked by him where she would like to travel. Bear then used his devilish powers to make her disappear. Nami, who was in close proximity, also immediately made his acquaintance and was asked if her captain had a brother.
After Bear received his answer, he disappeared as quickly as he came. Before Moria went into battle to help his special zombie Oars fight the Straw Hat Pirates, Bear finally found him. After the formalities, he told the captain of the Thriller Bark about Crocodile’s successor, as well as the fact that he had been sent to Moria’s assistance on the Thriller Bark. Gecko Moria declined his assistance. Bear was told to sit back and watch the spectacle.
Mission: Extinction
However, Moria had overestimated himself, as both he and Oars were defeated. Witnessing the defeat, Bear immediately reported to the World Government via Den-den Mushi. Fearing another uproar over another case of a samurai, Bear was ordered to eliminate all witnesses to the fight – including the Straw Hat Pirates. He accepted. Immediately, he intervened in the action, attacking several pirates from the Rolling Pirates, until he turned his attention to the pirate hunter Zoro.
He instantly outclassed the Straw Hats; thus weakening Zoro and defeating Franky, Sanji, and Usopp in the process. The pirates didn’t stand a chance against the giant. However, the uber-opponent gave them a choice of their own. Either they would let him have their captain, who at this time was oblivious to all the action as he was resting from the previous fight. In exchange, they would be let go. Or they would all be doomed. As if from a mouthpiece, everyone present refused. Bear had no choice but to continue his mission, laying waste to the rest of Thriller Bark with his Ursus Shock. The only one unharmed and still conscious, he trudged towards Luffy. When he already had his target in his hands, he was surprised by Zoro. The latter was able to survive Bear’s attack and realized that his opponent was a cyborg.
Seeing his situation as hopeless, Zoro asked Bear to make a deal with him. In doing so, Bear was to take Zoro’s head with him instead of Luffy’s, in exchange for leaving everyone else unharmed. Bear complied with the request and allowed the honorable pirate to take the place of his captain – thus receiving all of Luffy’s pain from the battle with Moria.
Believing the already severely weakened swordsman would not survive this transfer, he left Thriller Bark. He mentioned Luffy had good friends who would stand up for each other and that Dragon could be proud of such a son.
Reporting – Mission Failed
As the Straw Hat Pirates traveled on from Thriller Bark with their eighth member Brook, Bear reported to Mary Geoise at about the same time. Grand Admiral Sengoku, the Buddha was not very pleased with the outcome of the mission and Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp who was also present was very pleased and gloating.
Friend or foe?
When the situation on the Sabaody Archipelago was pretty bad for the already weakened Straw Hats and they were surrounded by PX-1, Kizaru and Sentomaru, furthermore there was no escape possibility for them, Bear suddenly interrupted the fight. Now it looked even more hopeless for the Straw Hats than before. The samurai noticed that Zoro was still alive, to which the battered swordsman replied that it was only by his grace. After this brief exchange of words, he asked Zoro where he would like to go if he were to take a trip, and then made him disappear, as Perona had done before.
One straw hat at a time, he made it vanish into thin air, including the PX1, until only Luffy was left. When asked by Kizaru, he told the latter that he didn’t have to answer to the Navy. Just before he made Luffy disappear as well, he whispered something in Rayleigh’s ear, mentioning to Luffy that this was their last encounter with him. The individual crew members were sent separately to different locations.
„On this day, the pirate gang led by Captain Monkey D. Luffy, the Straw Hat Pirates, has suffered a total defeat….„
-The Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 12″-.
The Call of the World Government
While the Straw Hat Pirates is on the Sabaody Archipelago, it is announced that Portgas D. Ace is to be executed. The execution of the commander of the 2nd Division of the Whitebeard Pirates will lead to a war between the World Government and the aforementioned gang.
In order to stop Whitebeard and his pirates from rescuing their member, all 7 Samurai of the Seas are called upon to help the Navy in the upcoming battle. To this end, a meeting is held six days before the execution, at which five of the seven samurai – Donquixote Doflamingo, Dracule Mihawk, Gecko Moria, Blackbeard, and Bear himself – have answered the government’s call and now eat their meal together at a table. But Bear, strangely enough, is not carrying a Bible.
The Battle of Marine Ford
When a little later 5 samurai are standing near Ace’s scaffold, Bartholomew Kuma is also there. This time, however, he has a Bible in his hand again. During the fight, however, Bear doesn’t utter a word and attacks Little Oars Jr. with his Ursus Shock. When Luffy’s alliance reaches Marine Ford, he suddenly attacks Emporio Ivankov with a laser. The latter wonders why his old comrade is attacking him. Donquixote Doflamingo observes this and thinks Bear is already dead.
| „ | Fufufufu, I don’t know what your relationship is, but give it up! There’s no point in talking to him! Commander of the Revolutionary Forces, Emporio Ivankov! Your acquaintance was “Bartholomew Kuma”, wasn’t he? He used to be called “Bear the Tyrant”… The guy is… already dead! | „ |
| -Flamingo tells Ivankov about Bear |
By this he meant that Bear had allowed himself to be rebuilt by the world government and now had as few feelings as a corpse. Shortly after, the latter attacked some trannies with his pad gun, which made Ivankov very angry. So he started a fight with his former friend and after some hard hits he was able to fling him into a building.
Back on the Sabaody Archipelago
Later, he surprisingly reappeared on the Sabaody Archipelago. He faced the Tobiuo Riders, who were defending the Thousand Sunny. For two years, the samurai helped protect the Sunny from pirates and the Navy, Franky tells the rest of the crew after being reunited.
Before he was completely converted into a will-less machine by Vegapunk, Bear had this one mission programmed into him: to guard the gang’s ship until one of the Straw Hats showed up again. During the two years the samurai had taken a lot of punishment, but thanks to him the ship hadn’t suffered a single scratch. After Franky arrived at the ship, the samurai left the archipelago badly damaged.
During the Levely
At the time of the Levely, it was revealed that Bartholomew Kuma was by now a favorite slave of the World Nobles. In this, the World Nobles took turns with each other as to which of them Bear was allowed to serve as a slave. The last known owner was Saint Rosward.
Miscellaneous
- In the New Testament of the Bible, there is mention of a Bartholomew. Saint Bartholomew was an apostle of Jesus’. This would explain why Bartholomew Kuma was drawn by Oda with a Bible. More information on Bartholomew Kuma’s naming.
- In the SBS to volume 63, Oda drew the samurai as children, including Bear.
- In SBS Volume 76, Oda shows us what Bear would look like if he were female.
- His favorite foods are salmon and honey.
- In One Piece Green, Oda’s earlier sketches of The Seven Warlords of the Seas were shown. For example, Bear looked significantly different in earlier stages of creation and had a steering wheel in his head, among other things. This was later used for Shiki. (Show / hide image )
