Ladies, gentlemen, and those who identify as neither, this Sunday is Father’s Day. The day when we tell our dads and father figures how much we love and appreciate them. There have been many noteworthy fathers in anime. Some are great, others aren’t, and there’s the one dad who’s so vile that we consider him one of the most despicable villains in fiction. Fullmetal Alchemist fans know who I’m talking about. However, there is one dad in all of anime who stands head and shoulders above the rest—someone who’s gone above and beyond for their child. Someone so selfless should be canonized as an actual Saint. That man’s name is Bartholomew Kuma.
Kuma from One Piece is the walking definition of a gentle giant. Despite how terrifying he can be towards those who commit evil, he is just the sweetest to everyone he meets. And despite the horrific nature of his life, he never stops trying to be a good father to his little girl, Bonney. Not even death itself will stop this man from protecting his daughter. And with the One Piece anime having returned and now into the story of Kuma’s life, it is the perfect time to honor Saint Kuma. This man has one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece, yet he manages to be one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in an anime.
Get some tissues ready. This story is going to make you cry.
Born to Hardship
It all starts forty-five years before Luffy sets out to sea when Kuma is born in South Blue. His mom was a normal human, but his pastor father was secretly the last survivor of the Buccaneers, a race of powerful hybrids that had spent centuries being hunted by the World Government. They claimed it was for a “crime” they “committed,” but it was likely for simply breathing the same air as them. And when Kuma was four, the Government found them.
They dragged the whole family up to their capital of Mariejois and made them the slaves of the Celestial Dragons, AKA the vile, disgusting, and hedonistic rulers of the world. They would beat, torture, and abuse the family until Kuma’s mom finally dropped dead. But his dad didn’t want Kuma to lose hope, so he told him stories about Nika, the ancient sun god their people worshipped. He would go around spreading laughter and joy and freeing the miserable and oppressed while doing a fun dance. But then, just as Kuma was starting to cheer up, the Celestial Dragons shot his dad dead right in front of him. All because they didn’t like him making noise.
Yes, you read that right. They killed a man right in front of his child for simply annoying them with his song and dance. That is how petty these people are! About 99% of them have no empathy for anyone and those who do end up dead. And this isn’t even the worst. Every three years, they annex an entire country, seize its resources, and then hunt down the entire population for the fun of it. And Kuma was being used as one of their prey.
Thankfully, not all their slaves were willing to accept this date, and at the next hunting event, they met Kuma and made their move.
Freedom
Meet Ginny and Emporio Ivankov, two slave children who decided to take matters into their own hands, and they wanted Kuma in on their plan. Weeks ahead of time, Ginny had managed to leak the location of the World Noble’s (AKA the Celestial Dragons) hunt to the outside world. That led to some of the toughest pirates in the world descending on the place, turning it into a warzone. And while that happened, Kuma and Ivankov would sneak over to where the grand prizes, rare and powerful Devil Fruits, were being kept. They planned to steal and eat them so they could use their powers to escape. Unfortunately, they were only able to get the one Fruit that Kuma ate, the Paw-Paw Fruit. It not only gave him paw pads, but it let him push away anything he wanted for as far as he wanted, even pain itself. Using that, Kuma was able to help himself, his friends, and five hundred other slaves escape. And that was only his first miracle.
After they escaped, the trio went their separate ways. Ivankov took to the seas while Kuma and Ginny moved into the old church his parents had called home. They would make a living selling wood in town, and once he came of age, Kuma became a priest like his father before him. He even used his powers to help the elderly by taking their pain away and into himself. But he took it like a champ.
During this time, Kuma and Ginny would fall in love with each other. But when Ginny asked him to marry her, he refused. He couldn’t bear to put her in the same danger his mom went through. But then, something happened; something bad.
Their island home’s new king, Bekori, was a greedy and horrible tyrant who wanted to suck up to the Celestial Dragons. So, he decided the best way to do that was by saving money by getting rid of the parts of the population that he thought were dead weight. So he declared the southern half of the kingdom was being thrown out, leaving all the elderly people who made up its population to rot.
No one was happy about this decision, and when Kuma tried to protest, the king had him arrested. And then arrested Ginny and their friends when they protested that. But then, help came in the form of their old friend, Ivankov. During his time out at sea, he had met a man named Dragon who hated the World Government as much as he did. Together, they formed a small team of like-minded freedom fighters to fight tyranny wherever they found it. And they came running as soon as they heard Kuma and Ginny were in trouble. With their help, they swiftly deposed the king and sent him running for the hills. Afterward, Dragon and Ivankov offered the two a place in their group. And despite Kuma abhorring violence, the two gladly agreed to join.
Thus, the Revolutionary Army was born. This group of rebels had one goal: to overthrow the World Government and free the world from the tyranny of the Celestial Dragons! With their skills, Kuma and Ginny earned a place in Dragon’s inner circle alongside Ivankov. Together, the group fought tyranny and injustice, took names, and helped those in need. Life was good for Kuma.
But then, another great tragedy befell Kuma. Around twelve years before Luffy set out to sea, Ginny was kidnapped.
Fatherhood
Since becoming an adult, Ginny had become known as quite the beauty and had many admirers, even though her heart belonged to Kuma. Somehow, though, a Celestial Dragon learned about her and, being who they are, had her kidnapped and brought back to Mariejois to be their “bride.” There was nothing her friends could do.
For the next two years, Kuma would become a different person. He threw himself into his duties, charging recklessly onto battlefields as his mood began to darken. Then, one fateful day, he and the others received a call from Ginny. She had been released and made it back to the surface! But whatever joy Kuma felt turned to even deeper sorrow. The reason she’d been cast out was because she was dying from a terminal illness; she had called to say goodbye. Kuma never heard it, though. He teleported back to their church home, knowing she would be there. But by then, it was already too late.
The saddest part of this scene is that while Kuma was flying to Ginny he was unaware of her last words telling him that she loved him. Ginny died not knowing that he didn’t hear her.#OnePiece #ワンピース #OnePiece1132 pic.twitter.com/wu4TjWca8X
— Creagsbase (@creagsbase) June 8, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
To reiterate: the love of Kuma’s life had been kidnapped, forced to spend two years of her life as a s** slave, was r**** repeatedly, and then left to die after catching a deadly illness. And it was all the fault of the Celestial Dragons. For the second time in Kuma’s life, they had taken everything from him. And this almost destroyed Kuma. But amidst all this darkness, there was still a light to be found: a baby.
Ginny had gotten pregnant during her time in captivity and given birth to a baby girl. Being the monsters they were, the Celestial Dragons abandoned the child as well as her mother. Ginny sacrificed what time she had left to get her daughter, Bonney, to safety. And Kuma wouldn’t let her death be in vain. He would take in her daughter and raise her as his own. She would be the daughter that he and Ginny should’ve had. She became his new reason to keep living.
Being a single dad is hard in the best of times, and since Kuma was still part of the Revolutionary Army, he had to balance being a dad with his job. Fortunately, his Paw-Paw powers meant commuting wasn’t an issue, and the townsfolk were happy to help him raise Bonney, for they had long adored her parents. It was a busy life, but a happy one…until Bonney suddenly got a blue stone on her face.
Kuma and Bonney (2/3)#ONEPIECE #ONEPIECEカードゲーム #ONEPIECE1131 #ONEPIECE1152 pic.twitter.com/RTzz3Ceco1
— PaTTWorks #ReleaseByeByeBunny (@Branion7651) June 8, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
By a cruel twist of fate, Bonney had been afflicted by Sapphire Scales, the same disease that killed her mother. It was such a rare illness that there was no cure for it. Any contact with natural light would make it spread, covering the host with blue stones before finally turning their skin blue before they died. The doctors who came to see her all said she wouldn’t make it to her tenth birthday. And to make matters worse, Bonney overheard this and misunderstood, thinking she would be better by then. Kuma had no choice but to maintain the lie to his little girl.
Kingship
After learning about this, Kuma left the Army to become a stay-at-home dad, keeping his daughter’s spirits up by telling her stories of Nika while looking for a cure. But then, the former King Bekori returned and regained his old throne. The difference was that this time, he opted to simply burn the southern half of his kingdom to the ground! Kuma couldn’t let this happen, and in a repeat of what happened before, he single-handedly stormed the palace and sent the tyrant back into exile once more. Afterward, the people were so grateful they declared Kuma their new king!
King Bekori of Sorbet Kingdom pic.twitter.com/6niUV49aNb
— The Will of Marco (マルコの意志) (@TheWillOfMarco) June 1, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Kuma, naturally, didn’t care about such a title. He left rule in the hands of the tyrant king’s nicer predecessor so he could focus on Bonney. Who he just found out had somehow gained Devil Fruit powers of her own, letting her temporarily alter her age to look as young or as old as she wanted. It could even let her transform into alternate future versions of herself that she could imagine, even Nika!
But guess what? Bekori returned for a third time. He had spread lies overseas, claiming that Kuma was a tyrant who unjustly overthrew him, and the international community fell for it. The WG gave him a fleet of Marines to retake the island and everything!
Now, Kuma was a gentle man by heart who never wanted to hurt anybody. But after everything the king had done, Kuma decided that Bekori’s free trial of life had expired. He didn’t even wait for him to make landfall. He just pulled up on him at sea and sent the foolish former king and his fleet to the bottom of the sea.
After that, Kuma was now a wanted man. He couldn’t stay with Bonney any longer, and he knew it. So he set out to sea, fighting off bounty hunters while continuing to look for a cure for Bonney. Then, one day, he ran into his old friend, Dragon, who had managed to come through. Dragon recommended that Kuma go and see a friend of his, Dr. Vegapunk, a brilliant scientist and the smartest person alive. If anyone could cure Bonney, it would be him.
Just as Dragon hoped, Vegapunk could cure Bonney. Thanks to the miracles of stem cell research, the good doctor could save the girl’s life! The procedure would take a while, and it wouldn’t be cheap, but Bonney was going to live. However, Vegapunk wasn’t interested in money as payment. What he wanted was samples of Kuma’s blood.
Vegapunk had this idea about creating a line of cybernetic protectors that could keep the people of the world safe. With the Buccaneers renowned for their strength and durability, Vegapunk thought Kuma was the ideal template. Kuma happily agreed, thinking that being the template for an army of friendly peacekeepers was a great idea. It felt like things were going his way at last!
But then, the biggest opp in Kuma’s life and one of the greatest haters in all of One Piece came in and decided to take everything from him.
THE BIGGEST OPP IN ONE PIECE
Warrior God of Science and Defense – Saint Jaygarcia Saturn pic.twitter.com/bY9mkwttPW
— The Will of Marco (マルコの意志) (@TheWillOfMarco) May 4, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
JayGarcia Saturn, a Celestial Dragon, one of the Five Elders who ran the World Government, and an absolute hater. Years ago, he had seen firsthand how Kuma had defied his masters and vowed to become a savior like Nika. And that act of defiance had been enough to make Saturn dedicate his life to making Kuma’s life miserable. And when he learned about Vegapunk’s deal with Kuma, he decided his time had come. Instead of arresting Kuma or forcing Vegapunk to back out, he did something worse. He would let them follow through on the deal. But in exchange, he would force Kuma to give up everything: his freedom, his daughter, and even his very humanity.
The World Government would oversee Bonney’s treatment, effectively holding her hostage while keeping Kuma from seeing her. As for Kuma, he had to agree to work for the World Government as one of the Seven Warlords and slowly be turned into a cyborg, with the ultimate end goal being to erase his free will, essentially killing him. And to add insult to injury, they would take Vegapunk’s clone army and turn them into weapons for the Navy to use!
So, despite knowing that this would lead to his eventual death, Kuma took the deal. He gave up his freedom and his very humanity all to give his daughter the future he deserved. That is how great a dad he was!
The process of becoming a cyborg was a slow one that spanned several years, and during that time, Kuma rarely got to see his daughter. And while he constantly wrote letters to her, the government op in charge of watching kept shredding them up! She had no reason to do so; she was just doing it to be mean! And the longer Bonney went without hearing from her dad, the more convinced his friends were that something was up. Sure enough, they were right.
Bonney’s Freedom
Some of Kuma and Ginny’s friends had overheard the Government agents talking in town, and that’s when they learned the truth: Bonney had already been cured. They kept lying about it to keep her captive as leverage. And it was at this point that those family friends took matters into their own hands. Having kept Bonney’s Devil Fruit powers a secret and having converted a ship in the local harbor to suit their needs, they managed to get the girl out right under her captor’s nose, set out to sea, and went to look for Kuma.
And, for extra karma, when the fake nurse tried to stop them, Bonney used her Devil Fruit to turn into a version of Nika and punch her face!
At just ten years old, Bonney had escaped to sea and become a pirate, and she would make a huge impression. Using her powers to mess with the marines wherever she went, she became part of the same new generation of pirates as Luffy and the Straw Hats. Yet try as they might, they could never find Kuma. And that was because he didn’t want to be found.
Even though they no longer had anything to use as blackmail, Kuma continued to serve the World Government. He knew that if he backed out now, Saturn would ensure that Bonney would not survive. The most he could do was watch her from afar as he awaited his end. However, all was not lost. Kuma had discovered something that gave him a new sense of hope for the future: the stories of Nika might be true.
Luffy is Pirate Jesus
For those who dont know, Dragon is the father of the series protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. And despite keeping it a secret from his friends, Kuma was able to piece this together. More importantly, he saw firsthand how Luffy could stretch his body like rubber and seemed to bring joy to everyone he met. And it just so happened that those exact two things were what Nika did in the stories his father told him.
Kuma kept an eye on Luffy as he set out on his journey to becoming King of the Pirates, and the more he did, the more he grew convinced. He didn’t know if it was fate or coincidence, but everything that Luffy did matched the legends about Nika. After Luffy proceeded to punch a Celestial Dragon without any fear of retaliation, Kuma became convinced: Luffy was the second coming of Nika.
Unfortunately, that stunt he pulled meant that Luffy and the Straw Hats were now being hunted by the best fighters the Navy had to offer. With the Straw Hat Pirates woefully underprepared for the second half of the Grand Line, Kuma knew they would get themselves killed. So, he decided it was time for some tough love. As Luffy and his crew were being assailed by Admiral Kizaru of the Navy, Kuma stepped in. And before they could do anything, he teleported each of the Straw Hats to islands across the world for mandatory training arcs. It was cruel, and it caused them all grief, but it was the right decision. If Luffy was the new incarnation of Nika, then he would need friends powerful enough to help him. And this was something they all came to understand.
But it was not something that Kuma would live to see. For his time had come.
The End…or is it?
Vegapunk had begged Saturn to show Kuma mercy, but, being the hater he was, the monster refused. Yet despite this, Kuma showed no regret for his decision. He was giving up his life to ensure that his daughter could live a full one, like any good parent. Using his powers once more to extract his memories for the doctor to study, Kuma said his final goodbyes. Then, with the final pull of a lever, Bartholomew Kuma, the man, was no more…and the world was a little less bright.
But the story doesn’t end there.
So, two years after Kuma effectively died, the Celestial Dragons brought him full circle, turning them into their slave once more and using him as their personal mule boy. Until, that is, the day that his friends in the Revolutionary Army decided the time had come to pick a fight with the World Nobles. And in the process, they sprang Kuma loose! However, there was nothing that they could do to restore his mind.
Meanwhile, Bonney had made her way to Vegapunk’s lab at Egghead Island, and ran into the Straw Hats while doing so. Having not gotten the full story about her dad, she blamed Vegapunk for everything, and if he couldn’t make him fix Kuma, she was out for his blood. Until she stumbled upon her father’s memories and proceeded to see everything.
Return of the Opps
And I think I can speak with all sincerity when I saw that what we saw in Kuma’s memories has to be one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece. Maybe one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in my life! But it did make Bonney realize that the real opp was Saturn. Who, as it so happened, was currently leading an army of Marines to kill Vegapunk for secretly turning on them. And when Saturn arrived on the island as this demonic spider, Bonney decided that it was on-site. But as she quickly learned, Saturn was almost unkillable.
So, Saturn pretty much had Bonney, Vegapunk, and half the Straw Hats dead to rights, paralyzed by Conqueror’s Haki. And now that Kuma was of no use to him and Vegapunk had turned on him, he decided it was time to end Bonney’s life. But before he did, he decided to twist the knife even further.
Warning: spoilers from the manga lie ahead.
Saturn proceeds to tell Bonney the horrible truth: “You know how your mama died from that rare disease? And how you somehow got Devil Fruit powers at random? Who do you think was the one who did all that to you two?”
It was all Saturn! He used Ginny as a guinea pig and infected her and her daughter with sapphire scales on purpose. And then he injected baby Bonney with the essence of a Devil Fruit to see if it would give her its powers. He is the reason that Bonney died and Kuma had to sacrifice his freedom and life!!! HE DESTROYED THIS FAMILY’S LIVES! ALL BECAUSE KUMA DECIDED TO STAND UP FOR HIMSELF!
In all my years of life, I have seen some truly despicable villains. I have seen tyrants, psychopaths, predators, and haters of the highest degree. But this? This is hating on the same level as Reverse-Flash, DIO, and Frieza. This reveal was enough to make me scream for Saturn’s blood at the top of my lungs! He became public enemy number one in the fandom!
Thankfully, fans didn’t have to wait long for karma to come back to bite Saturn in the butt.
Justice at last
So, one of the last things that Saturn ordered Vegapunk to do to Kuma before erasing his free will was to implant a bomb in him. That way, he could blow him up if he ever went rogue. But Vegapunk secretly altered it to a simple shutdown switch that would render him inactive, because he had morals and ethics. By the time the Revolutionary Army found him, Saturn had already hit the button, meaning that he was pretty much catatonic.
Which only makes what happened next even more important.
As everything was happening at Egghead, Kuma’s friends were trying to restore his humanity. Suddenly, Kuma got up and started running as fast as he could. Before they could stop him, he had already teleported away!
None of them knew it, but Kuma’s dad’s sense had been tingling.
Despite losing his memories, free will, and humanity, and despite not knowing what was happening, Kuma somehow sensed that Bonney was in trouble. And in defiance of all logic and common sense, through sheer force of will, Kuma forced himself to run, fly, and teleport to where his daughter was. He climbed the 10,000-meter tall Red Line, fought his way through Mariejois, and slipped past Fleet Admiral Akainu to get to Egghead. And he got there just in time to save his daughter from being skewered by Saturn!
i added some sound effects to midael’s kuma vs saturn animation, for the punch i used the sound of luffy punching the celestial dragon from one piece ep396 because i thought it kind of matches the intensity
amazing animation by @MidaelAnimator pic.twitter.com/SbpVvK3ZVZ
— itmorph (@itmorph1) February 8, 2024 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Finally, after all these years, Bonney was reunited with her beloved dad. And while she sat there, being hugged by her father and crying her eyes out, Saturn was unable to process what was happening. It didn’t make any sense to him! He thought that Kuma was dead! Even Vegapunk had no idea how this was possible. It didn’t matter, though, because this was the beginning of the end for Saturn.
Saturn had made it his personal mission in life to make Kuma’s life a living hell. He had taken the woman he loved, endangered his daughter’s life, and robbed him of his humanity and freedom. And now, Kuma was ready to give him a lifetime of karma. He went full Asura’s Wrath mode on Saturn and, for the crime of making his daughter cry, sentenced the demon to a cathartic face-punch that should’ve killed him then and there. But that would be too good for Saturn. His humiliation was just getting started. Because now, it was time for the Sun God to punish him.
Saturn Gets Royally Clapped
After being left exhausted earlier from an earlier fight, Luffy finally recovered enough to re-enter Gear Fifth and rejoined the battle. And the moment that Bonney saw him in that form, Vegapunk told her that all the stories about Nika were true, and she was looking at them. Everything her dad had told her had been right all along; NIKA WAS REAL, AND LUFFY WAS HIS NEWEST INCARNATION. And he proceeded to
Utterly embarrass Saturn in the most cartoonish way possible. But that wasn’t even the best part.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Y pic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
— 𝐆𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐩 (@Gurdipzz) January 5, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Remember those robot clones of Kuma that Vegapunk built, the Pacifistas? The newest models had been stationed as security on Egghead, and while everything was happening, Saturn had tried to use them to kill Vegapunk and the Straw Hats. He thought that they were programmed to follow the Five Elders orders above all else. However, Vegapunk had outsmarted them. He secretly programmed the Pacifistas to follow an even higher authority: Bonney. The good doctor made it so that they would never harm her and would always be there to help her. The love between father and daughter basically made one of the World Government’s greatest weapons completely useless.
Eventually, the Straw Hats, Kuma, Bonney, and all their allies managed to escape, but not before Saturn made one last attempt to kill them all. But Luffy and Bonney had had enough of this monster. And using her Fruit’s powers to mimic Luffy’s Gear Fifth, Bonney joined her hero in repaying Saturn for a lifetime of pain and suffering by giving him the mother of all beatdowns.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Y pic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
— 𝐆𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐩 (@Gurdipzz) January 5, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Sadly, Saturn did not die…yet. However, his failure to kill Luffy and cost the World Government control of the Pacifistas drew the wrath of the true ruler of the world, Imu. And while Saturn tried to explain himself to his master, Imu was about as forgiving as Darth Vader. And Saturn had failed him for the last time, an act that would see the dark entity strip him of his immortality and, thus, his life.
– He killed Ginny & made Kuma become a cyborg
– He made Bonney suffer
– He made Kizaru & Sentomaru conflicted
– He contributed to Vegapunk’s death
– He summoned all Gorosei in Egghead
– He made Robin suffer
Won’t be missed. pic.twitter.com/tyOEPAL3rT
— Panini (@writingpanini) September 5, 2024 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnePiece?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OnePiece</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnePiece1125?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OnePiece1125</a> <br><br>- He killed Ginny & made Kuma become a cyborg<br>- He made Bonney suffer<br>- He made Kizaru & Sentomaru conflicted<br>- He contributed to Vegapunk’s death<br>- He summoned all Gorosei in Egghead<br>- He made Robin suffer<br><br>Won’t be missed. <a href=”https://t.co/tyOEPAL3rT”>pic.twitter.com/tyOEPAL3rT</a></p>— Panini (@writingpanini) <a href=”https://twitter.com/writingpanini/status/1831818287891751203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 5, 2024</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
So ended the life of one of the greatest haters in One Piece lore. May they rot forever.
Kuma is Best Anime Dad Ever
And that is the story of Saint Kuma thus far. And I say thus far because, despite technically being dead, one of Vegapunk’s satellites, Lilith, said that she was going to work on a way to restore his mind. In other words, Bonney might be able to have her happy ending with her father after all! But for now, she’s just happy being able to be with her dad. And may no one ever separate them again.
Kuma is, without a doubt, one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in anime. He has lived a life of selfless charity, saving hundreds of lives and literally taking on their pain for himself. He’s so selfless that he is willing to make a deal with the devil to save his daughter’s life despite knowing it would kill him. He even willed himself to protect his child after becoming a mindless machine because he loved her that much. That is the kind of example every dad should follow! If he were a real person, he would be canonized as a saint!
Happy Father’s Day, everyone!
