Bartholomew Kuma was a complicated individual when he debuted in One Piece, as a former member of the Revolutionary Army turned Warlord of the Sea serving under the World Government. To begin with, his association with the Marines, and Dr. Vegapunk in particular, resulted in the Pacfista project, which produced mindless cyborg weapons in his image, forced to do the World Government’s bidding. In the process, Kuma was himself turned into a cyborg with no will of his own, effectively bringing an end to his own life.

That being said, Kuma has also shown startling deviations from his duty to the World Government, most notably on Thriller Bark — when he allowed the Straw Hat Pirates to go free after testing Zoro’s resolve — and later in his actions during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc. This erratic behavior occurred long before the World Government’s erasure of his personality. However, Vegapunk’s alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates and Kuma’s daughter Jewelry Bonney, has raised many intriguing questions about Kuma’s role in the Final Saga of One Piece. With the technological wizardry he is capable of, is there any chance that Vegapunk could restore Kuma’s personality and allow him to see his daughter again?

Who Was Bartholomew Kuma?

Kuma’s past has been the subject of much speculation, as he earned a fearsome reputation as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, inspiring intense dread in the mind of any lesser pirate who crossed paths with him. In his childhood, Kuma and his family were captured and enslaved by the World Nobles. Sadly, he lost both parents at an early age, where his mother died from constant abuse by the World Nobles, and his father was fatally shot by one of them.

Despite this, he grew to become the monarch of the Sorbet Kingdom, attaining incredible power in the process, due to his immense natural strength — a consequence of his lineage from the Buccaneers tribe — as well as his extremely powerful Devil Fruit, the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi. After joining the Revolutionary Army, Kuma, subsequently became a Warlord of the Sea, growing in power and notoriety. Although this course of action made little sense, it was the result of Vegapunk’s interest in Kuma, which allowed him to barter a deal with the World Government to pardon Kuma for his crimes in exchange for his cooperation in developing the Pacifista.

Even after becoming subservient to the World Government, Kuma displayed some chaotic behavior, where he would blatantly defy orders or commit acts that were in opposition to his duty as a Warlord. It was Kuma who sent the members of the Straw Hat Pirates to their respective destinations during the time skip, where each of them trained and acquired the strength they needed to take on the pirates of the New World. Besides this, he even stood guard over the Thousand Sunny, when it was anchored at Sabaody during the time skip, having asked Vegapunk to program him to do so as part of his final Pacifista modification.

The Effects Of His Mental Demise

In the time he spent as a Warlord, Kuma was gradually converted into a cyborg and experimented on by Vegapunk, as part of the Pacifista development program, which developed cybernetic clones of him to act as the World Government’s enforcers. Kuma himself was turned into a Pacifista, in a process that saw him lose all of his free will, memories, and personality. The reason behind his decision to give up his humanity and sense of self has still not been revealed, but it had far-reaching repercussions on many characters.

Despite his hatred towards the World Nobles, Kuma became a mindless servant for them, charged with their protection. He was also turned into a slave-for-rent during the Levely as punishment for his role in aiding Luffy, which led to him being humiliated by Saint Rosward. In fact, Rosward rode on top of Kuma at the Levely, and consistently inflicted horrific physical abuse on him. Kuma’s own daughter, Jewelry Bonney bore witness to this, and was disgusted by the World Nobles’ vile treatment of what remained of Kuma’s physical form.

In the time since then, Kuma has exhibited further inexplicable behavior, as he fled from the Revolutionary Army’s base on Momoiro Island after being rescued by them from the Levely, and returned to Mary Geoise after scaling the Red Line. While wreaking havoc in the domain of the Celestial Dragons, Kuma faced off against Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. In the ensuing battle, a heavily damaged Kuma used his repulsive ability to flee the scene, transporting himself to an unknown location, much to Sakazuki’s chagrin.

How Could Vegapunk Rectify His Greatest Mistake?

Given that Vegapunk made Kuma leave a bubble of his memories on Egghead Island, there might be a very slim chance that the genius scientist was able to find a way to extract their contents for use in reviving his old friend. Considering the massive storehouse of knowledge that is Punk Records, Vegapunk also had a useful means of housing all the information contained within the bubble. Vegapunk may also have simply suppressed Kuma’s personality instead of completely erasing it as per the orders of the Five Elders. Since Kuma has been shown referring to Monkey D. Dragon as his “master” after being rescued from the Levely, this possibility still remains in the cards.

Alternatively, Jewelry Bonney’s ability to age a person up or down may represent another means to revive Kuma’s lost consciousness, as the real power of her Devil Fruit has not yet been explained. So far, the targets of her abilities retain their mental faculties and only age physically, so it remains to be seen whether she can bring her father back by this method. Regardless of whether he is a spy for the Revolutionaries or a servant of the World Government, Kuma remains a key figure in the Final Saga of One Piece, especially now that his involvement in the God Valley Incident has been revealed.

Src: gamerant.com