One Piece's Buccaneer race is far from extinct, and the final saga will prove it

One Piece author Eiichiro Oda is known for taking his time to develop certain subplots, and now he is rewarding his readers with the origins of Bartholomew Kuma. The former Warlord was an enigmatic figure in the series, helping Luffy and the Strawhats in key moments. Now, the manga is explaining the origins of his race, the Buccaneers.

This being One Piece, no information is given fully and there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding the Buccaneers, such as their connection with Nika, the sin they committed against the World Government, and a lot more.

Beyond that, there is also the theory that Kuma is the last of the Buccaneers and that there are other major characters that could potentially be a part of this race.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece manga.

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One Piece theory surrounding Kuma and the Buccaneer race

Chapter 1095 of the One Piece manga showed one of the Five Elders, Jaygarcia Saturn, facing Jewelry Bonney (who also happens to be Kuma's daughter) and the Straw Hats, with the former revealing more details about Kuma.

It turns out he is a member of the Buccaneers race, who seem to be extinct and used to be slaves of the World Government for reasons that haven't been revealed thus far.

The Buccaneers are a race of very physically strong people who were slaves of the World Government and were also quite loyal to the Sun God Nika, claiming he was going to save them eventually.

The theory is centered around the notion that characters such as Vegapunk, Nika, and even Usopp are part of the Buccaneer race because they don't have any articulations.

This could be seen as a somewhat superficial argument but it could explain why some characters, such as Usopp, have proven to be so durable in battle despite not being that strong.

Besides, Bonney is Kuma's daughter, so she has some Buccaneer blood in her. Her design doesn't seem to suggest she is a Buccaneer, so that is another factor worth taking into account.

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The relevance of the Buccaneer race in the story

One Piece is a series that constantly adds more and more new lore to its world-building. The inclusion of the Buccaneer race could explain some elements of the series, such as Kuma's shape and a bit more of the World Government.

This element could also connect to Blackbeard, who is another character with a physical frame similar to Kuma's and who also happens to be someone with a backstory yet to be revealed.

The Buccaneer race is also deeply connected with the Sun God, Nika, so that ties them directly to Luffy. Since their race had this myth of Nika coming to save them, it seems inevitable that the Straw Hats' captain is going to fulfill that prophecy.

Be that as it may, this also seems to suggest that they hold a secret regarding the World Government and that could be another major plot point that needs to be addressed moving forward.

The inclusion of Jaygarcia Saturn in this conflict and him making those comments to Kuma's daughter of all people only adds fuel to the fire of One Piece theories.

The fact that the World Government decided that an entire race had to be enslaved is reason enough to raise an eyebrow and begin to question what secret they have in their blood that had such a powerful organization trying to keep them at bay.

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Final thoughts

One Piece has a lot of things on its plate right now and the introduction of Kuma's race, its connection to Nika, and what this could mean regarding the World Government moving forward could be huge.

Eiichiro Oda is an expert at keeping his fans guessing and this little mystery is another example of that.