Warning: SPOILERS for chapter #1074 of One PieceOne Piece starts unveiling the past of one of its most mysterious characters, Bartholomew Kuma, and his first, short flashback reveals that the former Warlord of the Sea had a tragic childhood as a slave of the cruel Celestial Dragons.

One Piece has a huge cast of characters, but few are as mysterious as Kuma. A former Commander in Dragon's Revolutionary Army, Kuma has, for yet unknown reasons, become a guinea pig for the experiments of the World Government, letting Dr. Vegapunk modify his body, turning him into a soulless cyborg and the prototype for all the Pacifista. The mystery of Kuma's past grew even more after the recent revelation that he is the former king of the Sorbet Kingdom, and that the pirate Jewelry Bonney is, in fact, his daughter.

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As A Kid, Kuma Was A Slave Of The Celestial Dragons

kuma's flashback in one piece shows the celestial dragons

During her attempt to force Dr. Vegapunk to turn her father back into a man, Bonney has discovered that Kuma used the powers of his Devil Fruit to leave behind, in Vegapunk's lab, a storage of his memories. Against Vegapunk's advice, Bonney accesses the memories and, in chapter #1074 of One Piece, she and the readers get a first glimpse at Kuma's mysterious backstory. In the sequence, a young Kuma, crying and hurt, is found by a mysterious group of people who beat him up and carry him back to a "horrible place". From the silhouettes of the people waiting for Kuma there, and from the details of the buildings, it's strongly suggested that he was a slave of the Celestial Dragons, the nobles who rule over the entire world from Mary Geoise.

A few years ago, Eiichiro Oda shared his drawings of the Seven Warlords of the Sea as kids. Japanese fans immediately noticed that Kid Kuma's design was based on that of Ninomiya Sontoku a Japanese real-life figure who became successful despite being born poor, as he educated himself while working as a farmer. This image, however, clashed with the later revelation that Kuma was a king, but it is now clear that he was not born noble. Kuma's mysterious backstory as a slave would explain why he later joined the Revolutionary Army, an organization dedicated to destroying the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. It also explains why, as punishment for helping Luffy and the Straw Hats in Sabaody, Kuma was enslaved by the Celestial Dragons: as a former slave, this must have been the cruelest form of punishment for him.

One Piece Still Has To Explain Why Kuma Let Vegapunk Transform Him Into A Cyborg

Many mysteries still surround Kuma. The biggest question is why he let the World Government turn him into a cyborg, but only Vegapunk has the answer to it. Still, while fans wait for a full flashback, the revelation of Kuma's past as a slave and his ties with the Celestial Dragons shed some light on one of One Piece's most mysterious characters.

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The latest chapter of One Piece is available from Viz Media.