Kuma proved himself as the greatest hero in One Piece’s story.

Bartholomew Kuma is an incredible character that fans have come to absolutely adore over the course of the last few months in One Piece. This is a character who was believed to be full of secrets until recently, and it was quite clear from the early days that Oda was saving lots of things about Kuma’s past for later. As One Piece started heading closer to the Final Saga, more and more focus was being thrown on Kuma. Finally, he was rescued by the members of the Revolutionary Army and fans knew that it was only a matter of time before the character of Kuma was deconstructed by Oda.

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Of course, in the Final Saga, no fan saw the incredible Kuma flashback coming so early and while it was a surprise, every single reader of One Piece was absolutely shocked at how incredible the character of Kuma turned out to be. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Kuma is One Piece’s greatest hero by far and the life that this legendary character lived made him an inspiration for many.

A Life In Slavery Praying For Nika

Bartholomew Kuma lived an incredibly tragic life right from the get-go. This character was born into slavery. In fact, just moments after being born in the Sorbet Kingdom, the truth about his lineage was made public, and the World Government decided to act immediately and took his entire family in. Kuma and his family were kept as slaves in Marijoa for years. For a child, it is absolutely horrifying to assume that slavery was normal life, however, for little Kuma, it had become a daily occurrence. His master beating him less was a reason for celebration and joy, and that just goes to show the kind of horrific childhood that he had to put up with.

Kuma’s parents raised him for quite a few years before his mother and ended up dying in slavery. Kuma’s father did not live too long following the death of his mother either. However, before dying, he managed to pass on the legend of Nika, which was common among the Buccaneer folk, to Kuma. Clapp was shot right through the head in front of Kuma and the tragedy in his life kept piling up. Bartholomew Kuma continued his life in slavery from there onwards and the abuse that he had to put up with was heartbreaking. Kuma didn’t want to spend his entire life in slavery and, for him, Nika would one day certainly come down and save him.

A Savior From Childhood Days

While Kuma was certainly a believer in Nika and wanted to be saved, something within him compelled him to save other people too. Kuma didn’t simply want to sit by and wait for salvation. Instead, he wanted to be more like Nika and he idolized him to the point where he himself went out of his way to help others. This was seen properly during the events of the God Valley Incident, 38 years ago. On this island, Kuma, along with many other slaves, was subject to horrid treatment, however, along with other slaves who rebelled, especially Ginny, who ended up crafting an incredible plan, Kuma successfully ended up saving quite a lot of people.

This was made possible when Kuma ended up consuming an incredible Devil Fruit, the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, or the Paw Paw Fruit. This fruit was incredibly powerful and gave Kuma the ability to deflect things at incredible speeds. Kuma utilized this Devil Fruit to the absolute fullest once he ate it and, it is said that on that day in God Valley, he managed to save 500 slaves from death and that in itself is an incredible act of a hero.

Once again, it just went to show that Kuma did not simply sit by and wait for salvation. Instead, he took things into his own hands and, just like Nika himself, became a Warrior of Liberation. In fact, a direct parallel was drawn by Oda between Kuma and Nika when it was said that Kuma himself had the Hands of Liberation, thanks to the Devil Fruit power of the Paw Paw fruit that he held. Kuma continued to help those in need and just like Nika, became the hope of the weak and powerless.

In the Sorbet Kingdom, where he started his new life, Kuma utilized his incredible strength to help himself as well as others around him. He used the power of his Devil Fruit to help the old and the sickly, as small acts of kindness gave him events joy. Once again, Kuma was an unsung hero from the get-go and, as he grew up, his heroic acts just got bigger.

The Best Father In One Piece

Undoubtedly, one of Kuma’s biggest heroic acts was the way he carried himself as a father. After Ginny was kidnapped and forced to bear a child by Celestial Dragons, her fate was essentially sealed. Ginny ended up dying, however, not before she delivered Bonney to the Sorbet Kingdom. Despite Bonney not being Kuma’s blood, he decided to raise her all by himself in a way which Ginny would be proud and treated her more than one would treat their own blood. Kuma became an incredible father and learned the craft from the very best, and made it so that Bonney felt the presence of both her parents in her life. When Kuma realized that Bonney was suffering from the Sapphire Scale, he decided to give up his life as a revolutionary and prioritized Bonney above everything else.

To Kuma, only Bonney’s happiness mattered and even if he had to sacrifice himself, he wouldn’t think twice about it. Kuma went from country to country looking for a cure for Bonney and he spent years trying to find one. Even when Kuma knew that Bonney would die by her 10th birthday due to the illness, he didn’t lose hope and continued the quest to save this young child whom he wanted to see grow up in front of him. Thankfully, Kuma found help from Vegapunk, however, Saturn made it so that he would essentially have to die in order to get help for Bonney.

Not only did Kuma have to join the Shichibukai, but he had to become a test subject for the Pacifista Project and, more importantly, lose his free will and all his memories, which would eventually make him an eternal slave of the Celestial Dragons. However, upon hearing these conditions, Kuma couldn’t help but cry from happiness because he finally found a cure for his daughter. He saved his daughter’s life and freeing her from her deadly disease was his 10th birthday gift to her.

The Reason Why The Straw Hat Pirates Are Alive

There hasn’t been a character as kind and caring as Kuma in One Piece and there is no more heroic act than for a parent to sacrifice everything that they hold dear just to see their child smile. For Kuma, this child wasn’t even his biological one, yet, he sacrificed everything for her, and treated her better than a biological parent would. While one might think that this is where Kuma’s heroic acts end, they would be absolutely wrong as Kuma continued to save people all around the world, even during his tenure as one of the Shichibukai. He dedicated his life to saving people all around and even though he tried his best to comply with what the government asked of him, Kuma did what little he could do to make the world a better place. His biggest act, undoubtedly, was to aid Luffy on his journey to becoming the Pirate King.

As soon as Kuma realized that Luffy was just like Nika in terms of his powers and the fact that he opposed the World Government at Enies Lobby and, later on, punched a Celestial Dragon, he became incredibly obsessed with the movements of this pirate crew. Kuma put his position at risk and saved Luffy. Without Kuma, Luffy would not have been where he is today and Nika would not have returned to the world once again. The fact that so many slaves have a glimmer of hope and Nika to look up to right now is all down to Bartholomew Kuma.

Kuma went out as a legendary figure who would gladly sacrifice his life so that his daughter would smile and so Luffy could continue to carry his legacy and save the entire world. What’s even more compelling about this character is that even though he’s already dead in a sense, his body continues to move towards Egghead again, in an attempt to help those in need. Even in death, Kuma continues to help people and that truly makes him One Piece’s greatest hero to date.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. Since One Piece is going to be on break, the release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1102, is set to be December 25, 2023.