Kuma Bartholomew

Kuma Bartholomew (くま・バーソロミュー, Kuma Bāsoromyū), also known as "Mountain Tyrant" Kuma (山暴君 くま, Yama Bō-kun Kuma), is both a fictional character and deuteragonist from the Fairy One Piece Tail series created by Mashima and Oda.

He was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, or former pirate captains who serve under but not necessarily respect the World Government, prior to the organization's dissolution and disbandment. Currently, he is a slave-to-rent for the World Nobles.

He was the former king of the Sorbet Kingdom and officer of the Revolutionary Army with fearsome title and reputation, he is now the first complete human weapon called "Pacifista, developed by Vegapunk, codenamed PX-0 (ピーエックス・ゼロ, Pī-Ekkusu Zero).

"We have no obligation to cooperate with the Marines save where the government is directly involved."
 * —Kuma Bartholomew.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Joel McDonald (English), Hideyuki Hori (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (Castilian Spanish), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Biography
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and an officer of the Revolutionary Army.

With the power of the Paramythia Devil Fruit, Paw-Paw Fruit, he can repel everything he touches.

Among the Royal Seven Warlords, he was obedient to the World Government.

Once a pirate nicknamed the “Mountain Tyrant”, he has been turned into a mindless living weapon by the government.

Appearance
Kuma is an enormous man, being 692 cm. (22'7") tall. He is the tallest remaining Warlords (being somewhat slightly taller than Moria Gecko) and is usually seen carrying a Bible.

The Young Past Days
In SBS Volume 63, Oda drew the Seven Warlords of the Sea as children. Kuma had short hair and was missing his bear ears hat, glasses, and cybernetic enhancements he receives later on. He wore tattered clothing and wooden sandals carrying a heavy load of chopped firewood on his back while reading a book called "Ninokin".

Pre-Timeskip
His overall appearance resembles that of a bear, though there are a few key differences. His eyes are strangely covered by either a pair of glasses or clear-mirrored lenses. While initially he will give the impression of wearing glasses, it seems that, based on the Pacifista that were destroyed, those are actually his own eyes.

His hat features a pair of rounded ears, and, along with the dark blue fabric of his pants, is covered in brown spots. His jacket contains a large white design reminiscent of a target cross-hair or a coda sign. There are also several white paw prints lining the bottom hem of his coat. He also has a long protruding chin. He bears the tattoo "PX-0" on the left side of the base of his throat, after becoming the first complete cyborg before the Jaya Arc.

In the anime, Kuma's hair and jacket are black, and his hat is gray with black paw-like prints. The covering of his Bible is also shown to be intricately colored purple. In the manga, Oda originally intended for Kuma to have a completely different color scheme. Kuma's hair was shown to be brown, his jacket bright orange, his hat yellow with green spots, and his Bible a solid gold color. Later in the manga chapters, his coat was changed from orange to blue, though the rest of his design remained untouched. In Unlimited Cruise, Kuma's jacket is brown.

Post-Timeskip
After the timeskip, Kuma's cybernetic armor has become heavily damaged, with several weapons jutting out of his body, fruit of his mission to protect the Thousand Sunny from attackers for two years. Due to his subsequent enslaving at Marie Jois, he now wears rags similar to the ones Jean Bart once wore when he was a slave as well. It's unknown if he has the "Hoof of the Soaring Dragon" burnt into him like all other slaves of the World Nobles have.


 * Hair Color: Black
 * Skin Color: Brown
 * Eye Color: White
 * Age: 45 (debut), 47 (after timeskip)
 * Birthday: September 5th
 * Height: 689 cm (22'7")
 * Weight: Not Known
 * Bounty: 340,000,000 berries

Personality
Despite his imposing figure and his past reputation, Bartholomew Kuma is a very calm and quiet person.

When talking, Kuma customarily uses the word target in his sentences. He also tends to ask "If you were to travel, where would you like to go?" (旅行するなら、どこに行きたい?, Ryoko suru nara, Doko ni ikitai?) to a person before he sends them away with his Devil Fruit ability, often honouring the recipient's request, but will occasionally send them to a place of his own choosing regardless of whether or not he received a reply.

Although he obeys the commands of the World Government, Kuma disagrees with what his superiors deem of "good" and "evil" in the world. Instead, Kuma strives to uphold his own ideals (described as Moral Justice) whenever possible. He even goes so far as to speculate that Blackbeard's acceptance into the Seven Warlords of the Sea ranks had been a very poor decision by the government, despite the fact that it filled the position left by Crocodile's defeat. However, Kuma's loyalty does not extend to the Marines. This can be seen when he declines to answer a direct question from Admiral Kizaru during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc. Due to his refusal to assist the Marines without a direct order, Kuma did not hesitate to lie when it came to his victory at Sabaody Archipelago.

There are still several unanswered mysteries behind Kuma's true character. The details behind his transformation into a "Pacifista" and what exactly it entails are still unknown. He also whispered a message to Rayleigh Silvers during the battle at the Sabaody Archipelago, which the old pirate believes puts the other man at risk. It was revealed much later.

"I work for the Revolutionary Army. Since we have a connection, I want to help this group (the Straw Hat Pirates) escape."
 * —Kuma's message to Rayleigh.

Kuma was shown to be a brilliant agent of deception, managing to successfully manipulate the World Government from discovering his true affiliation towards the Revolutionary Army for several years, managing to be appointed to the position of Warlord (though it does appear that they did eventually become suspicious enough of Kuma to compromise his identity as a double-agent and force him to accept a permanent lobotomy). Despite being perceived as the most dutiful of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Kuma still held enough of his convictions to adamantly refuse to directly address Marines as high-ranked as Admiral Kizaru. He was generally calm and composed in any situation, and is subtle in his attaining of goals (such as not revealing to the Straw Hats the exact reasons for testing their power twice and then separating them across the world for future preparation). He also demonstrated great loyalty and honor to his cause in defending the "Thousand Sunny" from a continuous stream of assault over the course of two years, not moving to even recover from his injuries. His combat abilities are also demonstrated with expert use, Kuma using it for offense, defense and travel and often in quick succession of the previous action.

According to Sabo, Kuma was a gentle man whose kindness earned him great respect from his fellow revolutionaries as proven when he spared the lives of the Straw Hats and Fairy Tail once and also later saved them from being killed by the Marines by teleporting them to safety. From his friendship with Luffy's father, Kuma requested Vegapunķ to aid Luffy and his crew one last time by protecting their ship for 2 years after being fully converted into a Pacifista.

However, at present, the modifications have been completed. In the finalization of the Pacifista project, Kuma (as the original model and the only one to have self-awareness) eventually lost his free will, personality and memory to the modifications, in order to ensure his reliability and continuing services towards the World Government. In this stage, Kuma shares the same mindless intelligence of his fellow Pacifista models, only recognizing individuals as either enemies or allies to the World Government. Doflamingo refers to the original personality as being "dead", though it was later revealed that Kuma and Dr. Vegapunk (the man responsible for his cybernetic implants) made a secret deal to allow for Kuma to have a temporary relapse by rendering his final "free thought" as defending the "Thousand Sunny".

"We will not be seeing one another again... Farewell."
 * —Kuma's last words to Luffy and Natsu.

After the timeskip, Sentomaru noted that Kuma had been acting strange ever since he had lost free will. This was a result of his deal with Dr. Vegapunk to have his final form protect the Thousand Sunny until one of the Straw Hats arrived.

Neutral

 * Luffy D. Monkey
 * Ivankov Emporio
 * World Government
 * Marines

Enemies

 * Don Quixote Pirates

Powers and Abilities
As a former Warlord,

Geographical Knowledge
Through his actions, he appears to have a great knowledge in geography, as with his powers he knows exactly where he is sending someone seemingly no matter where in the world he is. His degree of knowledge is high enough to perfectly locate even a moving sky island, although his cyborg modifications may have enhanced this ability. This is also shown when he asks people where they would like to go before he "pushes" them.

Devil Fruit

 * Main article: Paw-Paw Fruit

"If you were to go on a trip... where would you like to go?"
 * —Kuma before using his Devil Fruit powers.

The Paw-Paw Fruit (ニキュニキュの実, Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, literally meaning "Fruit of the Paw-Paw"), a Paramecia-class Devil Fruit, which was eaten by Kuma, gives him paw pads on his palms to "push" or deflect anything, including even the air around him (in paw-shaped bubbles); allowing him to not only defend himself from attacks but also to push objects at great speed, making him a "Paw-Palmed Human" (肉球人間, Nikukyū Ningen).

The fruit's powers also allow him to move at the same speed as the objects he pushes, possibly by using it to push himself, appearing instantaneously at a desired location regardless of distance, all the while moving with no more than a slow walk. Kuma has made numerous people "vanish" by slapping them with one of his hands. It is later revealed that he pushes them away, sending them flying to another destination, which he can choose, even if the destination requires several days to reach.

Kuma has also shown the ability to "push" or deflect things that lack palpability such as people's pain and exhaustion. This is shown when Kuma took all of the pain that Luffy had suffered on Thriller Bark and left him feeling completely healthy, meaning that his abilities can be used to heal people and cure them. However, in this case, Kuma removed Luffy's pain because Zoro had agreed to accept it in his place. It is not clear what would happen if the pain, which took the form of a giant bubble, had not been transferred to Zoro.

Kuma fights in a style reminiscent of sumo-wrestling. He crouches low in a wide stance, even using the signature stomp, and attacks with open-palm strikes, using his special paws to launch powerful air bullets. Much in keeping with the sumo inspiration, Kuma spends almost all of his time with his feet planted, refusing to give his ground. He has also demonstrated the ability to block all physical attacks, even sword attacks, by pushing them away with these hands.

Kuma's abilities can also be used to create massively destructive attacks. This is displayed by one of his signature moves, "Ursa Shock", essentially a bomb made of highly compressed air created by pushing the air between his hands. This destructive power is enough to severely cripple a massive giant, in this case Oars Jr.

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Kuma that involve the Devil Fruit are as follows:
 * Pad Cannon (パッド砲, Paddo Hō; literally meaning "Pressure Cannon"): Kuma repels the air around him, sending a devastating shockwave toward his opponent at the speed of light. The shock wave can travel directly through the body of the victim and continue into the distance, leaving paw imprints in its wake. Anyone and anything that is in the path of the blast receives serious damage. This attack was first seen when it was used on members of the Thriller Bark Victim's Association.


 * Paw Stomp (ぷに, Puni; the onomatopoeia for "Squish"): Kuma takes a defensive posture that uses his paw pads to repel and counter enemy attacks. This was first shown in the manga when Kuma used it to counter Zoro's swords.


 * Thrust Pad Cannon (つっぱりパッド砲, Tsuppari Paddo Hō; literally meaning "Slapping Thrust Pressure Cannon"): Kuma first plants both feet firmly on the ground by means of a sumo-style foot stomp. Then, throwing his palms forward multiple times, Kuma fires a vast number of "pressure shots" at the enemy. The way he pushes his palms forward and the stance he takes while performing this technique resemble those used commonly in sumo wrestling. Tsuppari is a thrusting open-handed strike about the upper chest and face, a technique in Sumo. This technique was first seen used against Zoro.


 * Ursa Shock (ウルスス･ショック, Urususu Shokku; literally meaning "Bear Impact"): Kuma gathers air with his palms and compresses it into a giant bubble which resembles a paw-print. Once the bubble is compact enough to fit within his hands, he releases the compressed air and sends it toward his opponent. The air quickly decompresses, causing a massive explosion in the form of a bear paw. The force of this blast was powerful enough to knock out most of Kuma's targets on Thriller Bark, as well as encompass the entire island and along with a sizable portion of the ocean. This was also able to cause massive damage to Oars Jr., a giant of abnormal size. He has shown the ability to control the direction of the attack. Unfortunately for him, this attack requires a fair amount of time to complete given to the amount of air needed and also leaves Kuma vulnerable to any attack given that he has to use both hands to form the attack. However, in Kuma's specific case that might not be such a big problem, due to his pacifista modification. "Ursa" is Latin for "Bear" and the scientific name of a genus of bears. The VIZ translation is likely a reference to the constellation Ursa Major (also known as "The Great Bear").


 * Bear's Claw (熊の手, Kuma no Te; literally meaning "Bear Claw"): Kuma lands upon the ground from mid-air with great force. This sends a powerful shockwave that blows away the enemies around him. This technique was first used in Wizard-Pirate Warriors 2.

Pacifista Modifications

 * Main article: Pacifista

Kuma is now a cyborg modified by Vegapunk. He is however, very different from other cyborgs, and displays strength and agility that are on a different scale.

As with the other Pacifista models, Kuma has a built-in electronic recognition device within his pupils, which enables him to accurately identify certain individuals (presumably anybody that is listed within the World Government's bounty system) and their bounty count from across a distance of several dozen meters.

Kuma 's massive build along with cybernetic enhancements grants him tremendous durability comparable if not superior to other Pacifista; the average Pacifista model is capable of withstanding a combination assault from the pre-timeskip Monster Trio. His body is able to withstand most attacks, including Sanji's kicks and even Zoro's "Lion's Song", a technique that was able to cut through steel. It only left a scratch on Kuma despite it being a surprise attack.

Even after two years of accumulated damage, lack of repair, and lack of sustenance intake, Kuma was still operational. While the modifications gave Kuma great strength, their full completion over a long time period apparently robbed Kuma of his free will.

Due to technically having his mind removed. Kuma has complete immunity to feeling pain, as shown while being enslaved by the World Nobles, Kuma was constantly and brutally tortured by the World Nobles without feeling any discomfort, not even reacting as Rosward struck his head hard with a hammer and stabbed him with a sword. He has multiple swords stabbed inside his body and continues to function without succumbing to the accumulated damage.

As a Pacifista, Kuma has the ability to shoot laser beams, which not only causes massive explosions upon detonation, but can also melt steel. This laser is apparently a replication of Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit powers and for Kuma, this launcher is only installed in his mouth. In the other Pacifista, the launcher is installed on their palms as well. Kuma has his paw pads instead of the laser holes on his hands; it is this aspect, along with the bible that only he holds, even after losing his free will, that distinguish him from the other Pacifista, and makes him superior to them.

Early Life
Kuma was once the king of the Sorbet Kingdom.

According to Perona, Kuma was once a violent, tyrannical pirate, who was said to be "brutal beyond measure". Because of this, he was known as "Mountain Tyrant" Kuma. Whether this was true or not remains to be seen. Also at some point in his life, he became a member of the Revolutionary Army.

Revolutionary Army
Twelve years before the current storyline, he was on a crew with Dragon D. Monkey and Ivankov Emporio. He witnessed the immolation of the Gray Terminal, assisting the survivors on board the revolutionaries' ship.

While this crew was a precursor to the Revolutionaries, it is unknown if Kuma remained with Dragon after he began his campaign against the World Government. In this time, though, he learned of Dragon's son, Monkey D. Luffy. Considering that not even Ivankov knew of Luffy and Dragon's relationship, this means that Kuma was either incredibly close to Dragon, or that he had been informed of their relationship by Sengoku, Garp, or Akainu after he became a Warlord, since they were the only ones in the Marines to know that Dragon is Luffy's father.

Warlord and the Pacifista Project
He later became a Warlord and allowed Dr. Vegapunk to modify him into the cyborg weapon "Pacifista". He apparently struck some sort of deal with the World Government to become a guinea pig for this human weapon project, despite his hatred towards them. As of yet, there has been no further details revealed regarding this clandestine agreement, the processes involved in the creation of the Pacifista, or the relationship between Kuma and the mysterious Vegapunk. His modification into a cyborg was a slow process, with each of his body parts being modified one by one, with his head being preserved for the last.

Jaya Arc
Kuma was introduced during the meeting at Mary Geoise. Like Doflamingo Don Quixote and later on Mihawk Dracule, he was one of the Warlords present at the government summit at Marie Jois, following Crocodile's defeat in Alabasta. He only spoke briefly. Just then, they were interrupted by another person, a man that was identified by one of the Marines as Laffitte, a former policeman who was renowned for his violent ways and exiled from the West Blue. Kuma listened as Laffitte stated that he wished to put forward his captain's name for nomination of Warlord.

Amazon Lily Arc
Kuma answered the call for the Warlords to battle the Whitebeard Pirates and was later shown dining with the other Warlords, except for Jimbei and Hancock Boa.

Post-War Arc
Kuma appeared again at the Sabaody Archipelago in front of the Rosy Life Riders, holding his trademark bible. Shakky was not afraid of him, stating that he was an ally. Kuma then joined them in protecting the Thousand Sunny.

During the Timeskip
One year after the separation of the Straw Hat crew, the Marines tried to destroy the ship but Kuma, as well as Hatchan and Duval, fought against them. Kuma continued protecting the Thousand Sunny after Duval and Hatchan retired, having received too many injuries in that battle.

His reason to do so remains unclear, but Kuma had Vegapunk input a special mission into his body before losing his personality. The mission was to protect the ship, even if it costs him his life, until a Straw Hat member returns.

Return to Saboady Arc
When Franky returned to the Thousand Sunny, he found Kuma heavily damaged near the ship. Upon seeing Franky, Kuma slowly walked away, having completed his mission.

Levely Arc
Sometime later, Kuma became a slave-to-rent at Marie Jois. Rosward rented him sometime prior to the Reverie.

Early Versions
In an interview about Strong World, Oda revealed that he originally intended the steering wheel in the head concept of Shiki to be used on Kuma. He turned down the idea and decided later to use it for Shiki.

Appearance
In the manga also, Kuma was intended to have a different color scheme than the one he is presented with in the anime. This unfortunately was because no full colored version of Kuma was present when the first episode of him appearing was made. The anime had Kuma with a black jacket while Oda's intentions were an orange one. The manga however later changed this color scheme to resemble that of the anime.

In the manga and One Piece Unlimited Cruise, Kuma's paw pads are black, like a bear's. However, in the anime, the paw pads are pink, like a cat's (which may play off a concept in Robin's head of Kuma's Devil Fruit reminding her of a cat's pads).

Jaya Arc
During the meeting in Marie Jois in the manga, Kuma had a few lines, but in the anime, he had none.

Post-War Arc
In the manga, during the flashback where Dragon saves the people of the Grey Terminal from a fire, Kuma's clothing underneath the common Revolutionary Army cloak was not shown. In the anime, it is revealed that Kuma had the same clothing then that he does now.

Dressrosa Arc
During the flashback of Sabo's past, the anime shows Kuma being present in the training of Sabo where Kuma deflected Sabo after he tried to attack him.

Translation and Dub Issues

 * In the English dub of the anime, when Kuma is introduced, the word "BIBLE" is edited out of the book he is carrying. In the uncut version, the word "BIBLE" is retained.

Etymology

 * "Kuma” means "bear" in Japanese, which represents his character's animal theme.
 * Kuma may be named after Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.
 * Kuma's depiction as a child has similarities with Ninomiya Sontoku, a famous philosopher of the 19th century. Many statues portray him holding a book while he walks with a heavy load on his back.

Notes & Trivia

 * Kuma was revealed to have been effectively "dead" during the Battle of Marineford, which concluded the Golden Age of Pirates and began the "New Age". Coincidentally, it was Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts whose death ended the real world's "Great Pirate Age".
 * Following the dismissal of Gecko Moria, Kuma is now both the oldest and the tallest of the still active Warlords (based on given information).
 * Kuma is the only known person to be affiliated with pirates, the Revolutionaries, the Marines, and the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
 * In the 5th fan poll, Kuma ranked 85th, making him the least popular of the Seven Warlords both current and previous.
 * He is the first cyborg to appear in the series, though he was not revealed as one until the Thriller Bark Arc.
 * Kuma is one of the few cases which color scheme was displayed incorrectly in the anime and remained that way even after the official color scheme depicted by Oda was published. In fact, Oda replaced the original color scheme later with one similar in the anime.