Kuma’s numerous affiliations have many readers stumped on what sort of past he may have had.
His earliest depiction is of him as a child, seemingly a peasant doing manual labour. We then know he rose to become King of the Sorbet Kingdom, while being simultaneously affiliated to the Revolutionary Army as one of their commanders. After that, he became a Marine Warlord and eventually fully transformed into a mindless robot, PX-0.
In his latest appearance, he was shown to be a slave of the Celestial Dragons.
In order to rationalize this bizarre sequence of events, we must begin from Kuma’s childhood.
In Volume 63’s SBS section, child Kuma was shown along with the rest of the Warlords as kids. His design is quite telling compared to the rest of the Warlords. This is because he is carrying a bundle of sticks on his back and reading a book named “Ninokin” leading us to believe that Kuma was inspired by Ninomiya Sontoku. Sontoku was a Japanese philosopher, economist, agricultural leader and most importantly moralist. Sontoku was immortalized by his acts of kindness, specifically when he fed the starving population of Odawara, despite lacking the Shogun’s approval. I believe that Kuma did something very similar in the Sorbet Kingdom.
During Bonney’s introduction in Sabaody, she is said to have originated from the South Blue. We also know that she is part of the Sorbet Kingdom’s royal family, thanks to her appearance at this year’s Reverie. For these reasons, I believe that the Sorbet Kingdom is located in the South Blue. Sorbet is a frozen dessert, and the Southern Sea has cold connotations as well. This line of reasoning paints us a picture of the cold and possibly arctic climate of the island. Judging by Kuma’s name, which means bear in Japanese, he could possibly be a Sorbet Kingdom native, however the more important aspect of the winter island is that it is very difficult to grow food in frozen soil.
It isn’t impossible to think that the population of this winter kingdom has had problems feeding itself, especially when you account for the fact that they most likely had to pay the Heavenly Tribute in order to be allied with the World Government. Famines caused in this manner have already been demonstrated to be in the story, as was seen in chapter 763, during Doflamingo’s flashback.
I believe that Kuma fed the starving population of the Sorbet Kingdom using the gold that was meant to be used as payment to the Celestial Dragons, paralleling he who Kuma is based off. This idea is also supported by Bonney’s depiction as a child. Despite her royal lineage, she is wearing dirty clothes and eating with her hands while sitting on the floor. Just like the rest of the population she was starving and in dire conditions. Could the food she is shown to be eating be the food that Kuma provided with the Celestial Gold?
Kuma’s virtuous gesture of defiance in the face of the Celestial Dragons and the WG made him loved by the people of the Sorbet Kingdom. This lead him to becoming King. It is likely that much of the royal family, including the previous ruler starved to death to feed and protect Bonney. This backstory would also explain why Bonney loves food so much and her insatiable appetite, as well as her hatred for the World Government and Celestial Dragons.
We know that Kuma was also a high ranking commander of the Revolutionary Army. He was seen on a ship alongside the rest of the Revolutionaries when Dragon rescued Sabo, 12 years ago. We do not know when Kuma joined the Revolutionaries. Could he have been scouted like Sabo was? Either way, it seems that Kuma was part of the Revolutionary Army during his time as King of the Sorbet Kingdom, and probably some time before that too. This fits in well as we know that the whole idea of the Revolutionaries is to stand against the Celestial Dragons in order to help the common people, exactly like what we theorize Kuma did when he fed the starving population. Could this be what Sabo means when describes Kuma as kind and gentle in chapter 908?
We do not know exactly when Kuma became a Warlord or why he seemingly abandoned his Kingdom and left the Revolutionary Army. What we do know is that he agreed to be a guinea pig in Vega Punk’s human science experiment, allowing himself to be modified to become PX-0. This cyborgification was a slow process, where each body part was slowly replaced with machinery. Because of this fact we believe that Vega Punk started his work on Kuma right when he became a Warlord. But the question remains why did Kuma become one in the first place? And what lead him to sacrifice his mind and body?
I previously stated that Kuma fed the Sorbet Kingdom by spending the Heavenly Gold instead of giving it as an offering to the Celestial Dragons. This undoubtably angered the World Government and even more so the Celestial Dragons, forcing them to intervene. I expect that the World Government was sent by the Celestial Dragons to destroy the island to set an example for the rest of the world. However, Kuma shouldered the blame completely saying that it was only his decision to defy the Nobles. Knowing of Kuma’s strength, instead of killing him, the World Government decided to force him into becoming a Warlord and in addition to that, PX-0. Kuma virtuously sacrificed himself for his people, which is foreshadowed by him carrying his signature bible, in which Jesus sacrifices himself.
In order to explain to the world, why a king left his kingdom to become a Warlord, the World Government released a fake narrative: in which Kuma was a tyrant and that the Marines came to liberate the Sorbet Kingdom from their evil ruler. This paints the World Government in a positive light and gives Kuma a ruthless reputation, exactly what is needed to be a successful Warlord. Therefore his moniker of tyrant is merely a lie manufactured by the World Government to hide their evil ways. It could also be the case that the World Government forced Kuma to do some of their dirty work, which would also allow him to gain this fearsome reputation. So we speculate that Kuma became a Warlord very shortly after he fed the people of the Sorbet Kingdom, meaning around the time in which child Bonney is shown.
Now that Kuma’s modifications are complete, he is seen as a slave in Mariejois. He is there to remind the Celestial Dragons of their absolute power, defy us and you end up becoming a robot slave for rental. Him being a slave also demonstrates the Celestial Dragon’s power to anyone unfortunate enough to see him. Bonney is at the Reverie trying to retrieve Kuma, but what exactly is their relationship? This question has to be asked because of the ambiguity of Bonney’s age, due to her Devil Fruit powers. And to properly answer it we must go over some facts from the story.
So we know for certain that Bonney is somehow part of the Sorbet Kingdom’s royal family. But is she truly the young Bonney? Or is Connie her true form instead? We believe that Bonney is merely tricking the World Government into thinking that she is her grandmother Connie, the current ruler of the Sorbet Kingdom. The reasoning here is very straight forward. In Chapter 595, we see that Bonney has been captured by Akainu.
Akainu’s words are of the utmost importance here. He says that he was alarmed at Bonney running away from the World Government, but he is now glad it is over and they found her. This panel reveals that the World Government cares about Bonney’s well being, presumably because she is of Royal Blood that is allied with the World Government. It also reveals that the World Government is keeping tabs on Bonney for them to know she was missing. If she was truly Connie the Queen, the World Government would have noticed Connie’s absence, which suspiciously coincides with whenever Bonney runs away. There is no way that they wouldn’t know, considering how much they seemingly care about Bonney. This is important because if the World Government knew that Bonney’s true form was Connie, they would NEVER let her in Mariejois and let her attend the Reverie. It would be unbelieveably stupid to let a pirate in such an important location and event. This leads us to believe that Connie is Bonney’s grandmother and Bonney is merely pretending to be the queen to gain access to the Reverie in order to save her king, Kuma.
The conclusion reached by this line of reasoning lines up perfectly with our thoughts about Kuma’s past. It would explain why she is coming to save him and why she feels such deep hatred for the World Government.
It also explains her actions during the Marineford war, where she starts crying in Chapter 565. And also her actions the first time we see her, at Saboady.
*Theory by Buggys Delivery Service
