Summary
Warning: The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1099, now available to read onManga Plusby SHUEISHA.
The Marines are one of the three major players in theOne Pieceworld, responsible for maintaining the balance of power in the Grand Line alongside the Seven Warlords and the Yonko. Now thatthe Seven Warlord System has been abolishedand replaced by the Special Science Division’s Seraphim, they hold even more power, and as they serve the World Government, they are under the direct command of the most powerful authority in theOne Pieceuniverse.
The Seraphim are the latest technology to come out of Vegapunk’s Special Science Division, and they advance the cloning technology first seen in the Pacifista in pre-timeskip Sabaody. InOne Piecechapter 1099, mangaka Eiichiro Oda has finally revealed how Bartholomew Kuma’s transformation into the mindless Pacifista clone came to be, and why they are called that way.
What Are The Pacifista?
The Pacifista are humanweapons created by Vegapunk. They are to all effect cybernetic duplicates of the ex-Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, and they are some of the strongest weapons under Marine command. In the midst of their pre-timeskip defeat, they were an insurmountable obstacle to the Straw Hats, though after their two-year training periods, Sanji, Zoro and Luffy are all shown to be able to easily defeat them upon their return to Sabaody.
Post-timeskip, Sentomaru observed that the current Sabaody Pacifista versions were just the initial prototypes, indicating ongoing updates and enhancements in the program. The ones at Egghead are in fact known as “Mark III” models, and even they are inferior to theelite subgroup named Seraphim, employed in lieu of the Seven Warlords upon their disbandment. The Seraphim aside, the Pacifista appear as clones of Bartholomew Kuma, a fact which heartbreakingly disturbs Kuma’s daughter Jewelry Bonney upon being attacked by them. Of course, there are some differences, such as the missing trademark bible and the absence of the paw pads as they don’t have theNikyu Nikyu No Mi.
How Kuma’s Kind Nature Inspired the Name
InOne Piecechapter 1099, Oda reveals how Bartholomew Kuma ended up volunteering to be the initial prototype for the Pacifista Program. While searching for a cure for Bonney’s Sapphire Scale Disease, he travels the world and once moremeets up with the Revolutionaries. Here he speaks to Dragon, who gives him Vegapunk’s name and tells him to go find him on Egghead now that he has been forced to move there due to the Punk Hazard incident Ceasar Clown caused. Upon arriving, Vegapunk instantly states his interest in Kuma’s Buccaneer status, and reveals that he knows of an advanced technology that would be capable of curing Bonney.
This technology is very expensive, so Vegapunk offers to cure Bonney for free in exchange for access to Kuma’s Buccaneer blood and body, a trade Kuma is eager to accept. In fact, Kuma reveals he would have even been willing to make a deal with the devilin exchange for Bonney’s cure, but he is relieved that Vegapunk’s stated intention is to use technology to create a force for good, and when he says so, Vegapunk comments that he is a “saint”. To this, Kuma responds that he is actually a “Pacifista”, a name that Vegapunk likes so much he dubs the entire project after it in honor of Kuma’s commitment to peace.
Though as ofOne Piecechapter 1099 Bartholomew Kuma is still in possession of his memories and mental faculties, fans are aware that the future holds nothing but tragedy for Kuma and Bonney alike. Fans expect that once his flashback concludes, Bartholomew Kuma’s mindless body will make an appearance inthe current Egghead narrative, though given his injuries and Saturn’s involvement in the story, he may end up sacrificing himself for Bonney’s survival once more.
