In anticipation of the first spoilers for One Piece chapter 1094, fans are especially debating about Jewelry Bonney. The only female among the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation, Bonney has been recently revealed to be the daughter of former Seven Warlords member and Revolutionary Army officer Bartholomew Kuma.
Since the beginning of the arc set on Egghead, Bonney's age has been treated as a mystery, with clues and hints scattered here and there. Considering her role as one of the main side characters in the ongoing arc, fans wonder if this seemingly minor detail might become important in the coming One Piece chapters.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1094.
Many One Piece fans are convinced that Bonney isn't as old as she makes it look, and here's why
An overview about the "Big Eater" in One Piece
Despite him being known as "The Tyrant" of Sorbet Kingdom, in Bonney's memories, Kuma appears to be a lovely and tender father. Still, at one point Kuma allowed Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientist in the One Piece world, to alter his body, rendering him a mindless cyborg at the World Government's service.
So far, the reasons for Kuma's choice have yet to be revealed. Upon witnessing her father being reduced to that condition, Bonney decided to become a pirate, aiming to take revenge on Vegapunk, the scientist directly responsible for the body modifications.
As a rookie who, prior to the Paramount War, was awarded a bounty of over 100 million Berries before entering the New World, Bonney is part of the Worst Generation's Eleven Supernovas. She is also known as the "Big Eater" due to her gluttony and poor table manners.
Owing to a still-unnamed Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, Bonney can manipulate the aging process of any organic and inorganic matter she directly touches. A human target will still maintain his normal cognitive abilities, but his body will rapidly increase or decrease its age, which would greatly cripple his combat effectiveness.
Bonney can use her Devil Fruit on herself, which allows her to disguise her real self. She can also age herself or others forward in time by employing alternate futures. This ability, called "Distorted Future", will alter the target's body differently depending on the specific prospective.
By aging herself up into a possible future version where her body becomes large and muscular, Bonney can increase her physical strength. She can also turn herself into a child, making her opponents drop their guard and then attack them as they come closer, suddenly changing her appearance to a much older and more muscular version of herself.
Given the infinite possible future versions, the Distorted Future technique grants Bonney great versatility. She can also use "Age Skewer" to infuse her Devil Fruit powers into a staff weapon. Thrusting it into a human, she will make the target rejuvenate until he turns into a child.
When applied to living beings, the effects of Bonney's age manipulation are temporary. Another technique of Bonney's Devil Fruit is "Aging Shock", a move that enables her to age a metallic object, corroding and eventually breaking it.
Captured by the Blackbeard Pirates, Bonney was offered to the Marines in exchange for a battleship. As the Navy didn't accept the deal but sent Admiral Akainu to engage Teach and his men, the latter fled, leaving Bonney and her crew behind.
Akainu said he was glad that Bonney was back in the hands of the World Government and took her to the Marine Headquarters. At one point, Bonney managed to escape from imprisonment and went in search of Vegapunk, aiming to ask him questions about what he did to Kuma.
Before arriving at Vegapunk's place, Bonney used her Devil Fruit powers to infiltrate the Levely, entering Mary Geoise under the guise of the queen of the Sorbet Kingdom. In the Pangaea Castle, Bonney saw Kuma, turned into an android who served a slave to the Celestial Dragons.
On her way to Egghead, Bonney was trapped in a giant warm eddy. As the Straw Hat Pirates were passing by, Zoro used a flying slash to cut the huge column of water with enough precision not to involve Bonney in the impact.
Luffy then tried to catch Bonney, but he and Chopper fell off the ship. As Jinbe jumped into the sea to rescue them, they were blown out of the current. Separated from the others, Luffy, Jinbe, Chopper, and Bonney arrived on Egghead, where they visited the laboratory and met Vegapunk.
Bonney accused the scientist of having destroyed his father's life and asked him to change him back. However, Vegapunk answered that he couldn't turn Kuma back into a normal person and that there was a good reason for what he did.
Eventually, Bonney entered a room that contained Kuma's memories. Via the powers of the latter's Paw-Paw Fruit, Kuma's memories were physically manifested into a huge bubble, like he did in Thriller Bark with Luffy's pain, which he extracted so that Zoro could submit himself to the test of resisting it.
Aiming to understand her father better, Bonney resolved herself to view his memories and thus entered the bubble. The following day, she reunited with the Straw Hat Pirates and Vegapunk.
She tried to help Luffy in the fight against Kizaru, but the Admiral easily dodged her attack and overpowered her. Luckily, as she was falling from the Labophase, Sentomaru caught her.
Why is Bonney rumored to be a child?
When the Straw Hats saw Bonney trapped inside the giant water vortex, she was a little girl. As it's well known that the sea weakens and, in certain cases, disables Devil Fruit users and their peculiar powers, many One Piece fans speculated that the same happened for Bonney in that issue.
Thus, Bonney allegedly appeared as a child, as that's her actual form, which she couldn't change as the sea negated her Devil Fruit abilities. It must be noted that Bonney's behavior is very childlike, as she is very irritable and refers to her father as "daddy", like a kid would.
However, Bonney has also proven herself to be much more cunning than a child can expect to be. For instance, she used a smart trick to prevent fellow Worst Generation Supernova Zoro from killing Saint Charlos, knowing that any attack against a Celestial Dragon would have caused the intervention of a Navy Admiral.
Based on the SBS Q&A where One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda revealed the age of the Worst Generation Supernovas, Bonney is 24 years old. However, unlike for all other characters, Oda specified that Bonney's age is just an estimation, as she can alter it via her Devil Fruit powers.
Admittedly, such a cryptic complement entails that there's more to Bonney than meets the eye. Moreover, many highly-knowledgeable One Piece characters referred to Bonney as a small child, which strengthens the idea that she is using her Devil Fruit abilities to hide her true age.
She was called a girl and a kid by Five Elders member Saint Jaygarcia Saturn and Marine Admiral Borsalino "Kizaru", respectively. Vegapunk referred to her as a "poor little child" he has to save at any cost. Taking this into account, it's highly possible that Bonney is a child who uses her Devil Fruit ability to look like an adult woman.
Some One Piece fans also theorized that Bonney died in the past and that Kuma asked Vegapunk to create a perfect clone of her. In return for this, Kuma sold himself to the World Government, allowing Vegapunk to turn him into a cyborg. This could explain why the scientist didn't want Bonney to see her father's memories.
Unbeknownst to Bonney, the Revolutionaries freed Kuma from Mary Geoise's Celestial Dragons. However, for unknown reasons, Kuma suddenly used his Paw-Paw Fruit abilities to warp himself to Red Port, a place located on the Red Line. He then tried to proceed towards Mary Geoise, but he was confronted by Akainu, who easily overpowered him.
As Akainu was about to kill him, Kuma used the Paw-Paw Fruit to warp himself away once again. His destination is unknown, but many One Piece fans believe he is heading to Egghead, the place where his daughter currently is.
In the past, following his duties as a warlord, Kuma came to Thriller Bark to take Luffy's head but retreated after Zoro put his life on the line to protect the latter. Kuma met the Straw Hats again in the Sabaody Archipelago, where he used his Devil Fruit abilities to warp all of them in different locations.
Given Kuma's connection with the Straw Hat Pirates, the fact that they are now on Egghead with Bonney only raises the chances that he is headed there. Hopefully, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda will soon solve the ambiguity around Bonney's age by developing all the intertwined narrative points regarding her, Kuma, and Vegapunk.
Be sure to keep up with One Piece's manga, anime, and live-action as 2023 progresses.