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Is Kuma Dead in One Piece? Discover why fans think the former Shichibukai is no longer alive in the series and his final fate.
One Piece is no stranger to intriguing characters built upon their life of tragedies. Among these, Bartholomew Kuma is a figure who was originally introduced as an antagonist facing the Straw Hats. However, in the recent Egghead Arc, we get acquainted with his real self and what caused him to serve the World Government. This has drastically changed the perception of fans towards the character. At the same time, due to several staggering events, viewers were left with one question – Is Kuma dead in One Piece?
Bartholomew Kuma’s existence is complex, as he is not completely dead in One Piece but is only a shell of his former self. Let us take a deeper look into this.
Who Is Bartholomew Kuma?
Introduced as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma is a towering individual with a robotic personality and fearsome powers. His Nikyu Nikyu no Mi gives him the ability to repel anything through his paws, including pain and fatigue.
Contrary to his intense demeanor, Kuma was originally a kind individual who cared about all those around him. As the son of a Buccaneer and a human, he was enslaved along with his family early in life. After losing his parents to government officials, he himself lives in a very depressing manner.
Finally, during the God Valley Incident, Kuma escaped along with Ginny and Ivankov. They then explored the world as revolutionaries along with Dragon. Eventually, he settled down in the Sorbet Kingdom as a priest and even helped prevent oppression. He mainly did this to look after Ginny’s daughter after her passing.
This series of events leads to Kuma’s ultimate sacrifice and makes fans think he has died.
Why Do Fans Think Kuma Is Dead in One Piece?
Rather than the actual death of his body, fans believe Kuma’s death is more symbolic. This is the loss of his true self. While looking after Bonney, Kuma found that she also suffered from the Sapphire Scales disease that killed her mother, Ginny.
In a bid to cure her, he approached Vegapunk, the scientist of the World Government. To his delight, Vegapunk accepted this offer to research and cure Bonney in exchange for making Pacifista soldiers with Kuma’s unique blood samples. Unbeknownst to them, the elder Saturn was listening in on this deal. Reprimanding Vegapunk, he said Bonney would only be cured if Kuma turned into a cyborg, gave up his free will, and became a Warlord of the Sea.
To everyone’s shock, Kuma instantly agreed. Through these modifications, he gradually began losing his sense of self. The Pacifista project, which was meant to help the weak and innocent, also turned out to cause more harm than good.
Is Kuma Dead in One Piece?
As we have already seen, Kuma is not completely dead in One Piece. Despite having orders to fully erase his personality, Vegapunk betrayed his word to the World Government. Kuma had already displayed that he was not completely heartless by letting the Straw Hat Pirates go in Thriller Bark.
In the Egghead Arc, sensing that Bonney was in danger, he rushed to her location to protect her. Even if this meant fighting back against Saturn and the Marines, he put his life on the line. Vegapunk had also instilled instructions to prevent Kuma or any of the Pacifistas from ever harming Bonney, and the robots began rebelling too.
This eventually let Kuma and Bonney escape safely after Luffy, the giants, and other creations of Vegapunk were able to thwart the World Government’s efforts. It is not clear how much of his personality Kuma retains, though it is only minimal compared to his past self. It has also been hinted that the reason Kuma’s consciousness was not fully erased might have to do with either his Buccaneer roots or Vegapunk’s refusal to completely wipe him out.
Nevertheless, the father-daughter duo’s role in the Egghead Arc ends as they happily stare into the horizon and get to spend time together again. Kuma has a smile on his face, which may show that he may be slowly returning to his past self. While it is yet to be seen if he is well and truly back or if it is only a momentary relapse, we can confidently say that Bartholomew Kuma is not completely dead in One Piece.
Kuma’s Significance in One Piece
Kuma is an outstanding symbol of sacrifice and love in One Piece. As a man who hated violence, he ended up becoming the depiction of destruction due to his role in the Pacifista project. However, he was still willing to do it in order to save Bonney – who he considered a daughter.
He became the king of the Sorbet Kingdom just to protect its citizens and also saved Luffy and his crew during the series. Hence, this antagonist-turned-hero has completely changed the view of fans towards his character.
Kuma shows the darkness of systemic oppression and slavery but still fights back against it with his kindness. Hence, he signifies the core themes of One Piece and has significantly influenced the plot with his character arc.
Conclusion
Bartholomew Kuma has remained an enigma for the majority of One Piece. His story finally being revealed in the Egghead Arc broke hearts and caused most of the fandom to shed tears. At the same time, his life filled with struggles finally ends up in a good place as he gets to spend time with Bonney again.
While this is a satisfying place to end the storyline of this memorable character, fans will undoubtedly be waiting for him to make a few more appearances in the Final Saga to help Luffy and his crew.
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