In ‘One Piece,’ pirates and marine friendship are as rare sights as seeing Luffy giving his food to someone else. There are a few noteworthy Marines who were considerate and showed potential friendship between them and Luffy, but their number can be counted on fingers. Most of the government people are hostile towards the very word ‘pirate’. They could care less about a pirate’s nature, with the only thing being capturing.
Even though the sour relationship continued for a long time in the series, it was shown that even the government accepts pirates labeling them as Warlords. These Warlords are basically their slaves who protect and fight against fellow pirates to save the higher-ranking government officials and the Celestial beings (World Nobles). Kuma though being a Warlord has helped Luffy’s crew a few times. Why? Let’s find out more in the article.
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Who is Bartholomew Kuma?
Bartholomew Kuma has a very complex character setting that’ll at first, leave you wondering whether you should support and sympathize with him or be disgruntled by his actions. Kuma was initially the King of the Sorbet Kingdom. Not only that, but he was also a part of the Revolutionary Army headed by Dragon. He is rumored to be the founding member of the organization.
Aside from these two identities, he is also a pirate and a Warlord, who takes orders from the World Nobles. It was later revealed by Franky that Kuma was experimented on by Doctor Vegapunk, turning him into a humanoid. Kuma, nicknamed “The Tyrant,” was slowly turned into a human-robot after being in some sort of agreement with the government.
When this came to light, the Straw Hats crew was shocked and didn’t know how to react. After all, agreeing to be part of an experiment is a crazy notion. Nevertheless, he is fully turned into the first full human robot named PX O. He loses his human personality in the process and later becomes a slave to the World Government.
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Why Did Bartholomew Kuma Help Straw Hats Crew?
Kuma had his first encounter with the Straw Hats at Thriller Bark. Though at first, he threatens to hand Luffy over to the world government, he leaves him behind. In order to leave Luffy and the crew alive, Zoro had to undergo a severe deal with Kuma. Nevertheless, Kuma is impressed by Luffy’s gang, and before disappearing, he states, that Dragon’s son has been well brought up.
Pulling the name of Dragon in that situation, one can easily guess that he was affiliated with the Revolutionary Army. He once again came in front of Luffy’s crew at Sabaody Island. There he had another human versioned robot of himself. He not only stopped its attack on the crew but also helped the whole crew escape the island safely.
kuma was literally there and involved with some of the most important times of the straw hats pic.twitter.com/OzfpULQxPW
— kren 🐱👤 (@zekreon) June 25, 2021
At first, it seemed like he was an antagonist who was separating Luffy’s friends, but he did that to make them escape from the Admiral’s attacks. Their crew, at that time, wasn’t powerful enough to face off against an Admiral. Unfortunately, their third meeting wasn’t pleasing. During the Marineford Arc, Kuma seemed to have lost all his personality, leaving him only as a cyborg.
He still defended the Thousand Sunny after agreeing with Dr. Vegapunk in a deal. His reasons can be thinned down to two. The first is that the Straw Hats is a pirate group. As we have watched the series for a long time, we know how trashy the Marines are (except for some), while the same goes for the pirates. Kuma was a pirate himself, so maybe he saw the immense potential in Luffy.
The other is Luffy the son of Dragon. Kuma was a part of Dragon’s group before he fell into the hands of the World Government. He may have helped Luffy thinking he was the son of his former group. Even though his reasons are yet to be cleared, he intended to do a huge favor to the Straw Hats by guarding their ship till they arrived.
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