 The Buccaneers, a mysterious people of enormous proportions, one sure to have equally large importance to the lore of One Piece. Despite being the latest race to be revealed in a series already jam-packed with mystical creatures, we know that those of the Buccaneer bloodline have close relationships to giants, the world government, and the legendary Sun God Niko. Previously renowned for their physical strength, now seems they have some other special trait that makes them unique and powerful. But what exactly does this mean? N is Kuma really the last of this fantastical race? Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out today. So get your more than average human size, but not quite giant size thinking caps ready. Okay, here goes. There was a line of dialogue in Chapter 1104 that really peaked my interest. Vegapunk starts to wonder about what it is that makes the Buccaneer race so special. He says, so it is true then. It is not the physical strength of the Buccaneers that makes them remarkable, for at one point in time, dot dot dot, for at one point in time, what? Classic Oda, leaving us hanging just as things got interesting. Well, you know me. This little tease of a comment would haunt my dreams, taunt me at all waking hours, eventually forcing me to do a deep dive into this special race, and what it is that makes them special. And here's what I found. Despite Kuma being introduced all the way back in Chapter 233, it is only in the final saga that we found out about his special race, and the source of what made him so large and strong. In classic Oda style, we were officially clued into the fact that Kuma came from a special race of humans in Chapter 1064, with Bonnie citing this to be the reason for Vegapunk's experimentation, without us really getting the full picture. Because then, it was almost a full year later in Chapter 1095, that the name of the race, Buccaneer, was finally revealed, and along with it, some very juicy one-piece lore. According to Saint Saturn, the Buccaneers are a slave caste clan. It seems that these people were designated this low-rank class due to some so-called grave crime they committed in the past. Because of this persecution, the Buccaneers are almost extinct, with Kuma supposedly being the last of his people. Perhaps because of this treatment, the Buccaneers have a strong faith in the Sun God Nika, believing that this legendary figure would come to save them. Or perhaps it is this faith and their associated actions that has resulted in their lowly status. And before we get into all of this, something interesting is that this term, Buccaneers, is a significant word as it relates to real-life piracy lore. And what's even more interesting is that this real-life history might shed some light on Oda's inspiration for Kuma, the Buccaneer race, and the lore of one piece. Buccaneers in our real world refers to a type of privateers or free sailors turned pirates that operated in the 17th to 18th centuries in the Caribbean Sea. Originally being French hunters in Tortuga and Hispaniola, these men would hunt and smoke cattle and bore over fire, a practice they called Bukan, or Vyond Buccane, in English meaning jerky. The word itself deriving from the Caribbean Awarak word Bukan, these people became known as the Buccaneer, which was then anglicized to Buccaneer. In this way, the Buccaneers weren't originally pirates, but were landless hunters that settled in the Caribbean islands. This being a time of conflict between colonial powers, the Spanish tried to drive the French settlers out of these islands, which then instead turned these Buccaneers to piracy, as they were joined by other adventurers of French, Dutch, and English origin, and together would attack Spanish ships in the region. Given the scramble for land during those times, other European powers would lend their support for the Buccaneers, officially licensing them to engage in hostilities on their behalf, therefore making them privateers. But in reality, irrespective of whether they received any official authorizations or not, many Buccaneers engaged in illegal activity, acting essentially like pirates. And so the term Buccaneers became known throughout history to refer to pirates. But finally, as the political climate turned, Buccaneers were no longer relied upon and were seen as more of a hindrance, thereby losing any legal standing that they enjoyed in the past, and Buccaneering eventually came to an end. So why the history lesson? Well, because one similarity that I drew from the history of Buccaneers to that of the Buccaneer race in One Piece is how the Buccaneers have at times been allied or used by official governments, sort of like how Kuma served as a shichibukai and was used by the world government. And then, when Kuma was no longer needed, similar to the causes for Buccaneering coming to an end in the real world. Also, the Buccaneers have become synonymous with piracy despite their origin and nature. And while there is some truth in that Buccaneers did often engage in piracy, I can't help but feel like the Buccaneer race, being known to have committed a grave crime in One Piece, is a very unreliable account of the facts. We could also say it's similar to how Kuma has worn many hats in his life, his epithets such as the tyrant hiding the truth of the situation. But speaking of tyrant, something really interesting I found during my research was a man named Daniel Montbars, a Buccaneer who destroyed so many Spanish ships that he became known as the Exterminator, which reminded me of Kuma's solo activities that earned him his great reputation. And surprisingly, despite being a ruthless and violent group, the Buccaneers in real life upheld a rule of liberty, equality and fraternity, which are words now better known as the motto of the French Revolution, but these pirates lived by these words a hundred years before the Great French Awakening. In a Buccaneer camp, a captain was elected by its crew, and the spoils of their exploits were shared evenly. Whereas we've seen from the backstory that Kuma and his father Clap, the only other Buccaneer we know of, are very gentle souls that care for others while dreaming of freedom and equality. And now we all know that Oda often draws from real life in creating the world of One Piece, and so the fact that he's used this term, Buccaneers, something that holds a lot of meaning in the real world of piracy, I'm sure is significant, even if it is just the loose interpretation of the history. And so I imagine that as the story continues to unfold, we may be able to make more connections. But for now, we speculate. And if you've liked the discussion so far, then please give me a thumbs up and subscribe. So like I said, the fact that it's the world government claiming the Buccaneers to have committed some sort of crime, it's natural to assume that they didn't actually do anything wrong. This line immediately draws our mind to the Ohara incident, where the world government branded the scholars as criminals who sought forbidden knowledge to destroy the world. The reality being that the scholars were only trying to uncover the truth of the void century, which must expose some dark truth about the world government. So then also given the Buccaneers knowledge of Sun God Nika, one could even postulate that the grave crime that the Buccaneers committed had something to do with Joy Boy and the Great War. In fact, this is almost implied in chapter 1096, when Satan tells Kuma that his fate as a Buccaneer is only between slavery or death. Kuma refutes this, but now that he has his devil fruit, that he wants to be like Nika and save others. To which Satan responds that this is exactly why the Buccaneers have to be exterminated, suggesting that it is their knowledge of Nika, and maybe even some sort of further connection to Nika that is their crime. And this knowledge of the Buccaneers is something that has always stuck out to me. There aren't many characters in the series who know of Joy Boy, but even less who know of Sun God Nika. Now, based on Luffy's fruit being the Hitohitonomi model Nika, and Zunisha recognizing Luffy as Joy Boy upon his awakening of the Nika Devil Fruit, it's fair to assume that there is some connection between Nika and Joy Boy, such as perhaps the ancient Joy Boy of the void century, also having once possessed the same devil fruit as Luffy, giving him the Sun God's powers in the past. And the reason I bring this up is because the Buccaneers are one of the very, very few people who are aware of the Sun God Nika. And then interestingly, it was strongly hinted in the Wano arc that it was King, the Lunarian, that alerted Kaido to the existence of Joy Boy. And it also just so happens that the Lunarians were the last race to be introduced to the series before our most recent introduction to the Buccaneers. And then you could draw further connections between these two races, like both of them being under direct persecution from the world government, with both Kuma and King having been subject to scientific experimentation, and both the Buccaneer and Lunarian races being near extinction. Although now that I say it out loud, I guess it doesn't sound too surprising or particularly novel, I mean we already know that other non-human races and species in the One Piece world face discrimination, something that was particularly made evident with the Fishmen. But an even more direct connection that Buccaneers seem to have with another non-human race is the Giants. In Chapter 1095, Ivankov comments that Buccaneers have giant blood, but seeing as Klap and Kuma aren't quite giant size, I assume that the Buccaneers are a mixed race that originated from Giants, which then has my head naturally wondering towards the giant straw hat at Marijua. Ever since the reveal of that massive hat in the Dark Dungeon, a popular speculation has been that Joy Boy is a giant. But a sticking point to that theory has been that that hat, while large, doesn't seem quite big enough to be fit for a giant. Which then begs the question, could it be that Joy Boy was a Buccaneer? Are the Buccaneers the descendants of Joy Boy? Is that the grave crime that the Buccaneers are being punished for, for sharing the blood of the former Joy Boy himself? Is that why the stories of Nika is so alive within the Buccaneer race? Because these aren't stories of just any old legend, any old myth. It's the story of one of their forefathers. It's the legend of their family. And is that why the Buccaneers are treated even worse than other races? Because yes, there is discrimination towards the Fishman population and other non-human species, but the Buccaneers are treated with such disdain that there is license to kill any Buccaneer for no reason at all. The entire race is pretty much gone. To extinguish them from history is pretty much the world government's goal. We know that the reason why the Lunarians are almost extinct is because the world government took over their homelands and so committing this sort of genocide is fitting with their goals and motivation because the world government wouldn't want to have someone else having a claim to their land. But what is the motivation for the world government's hatred of the Buccaneers that they would want to wipe them out completely? Especially if they have some sort of special power that they could use or manipulate? It's not so long ago in the Wano arc that we witnessed the extent of the hatred that people can have towards one's innocent descendants. That sort of unjustified violent animosity towards the Kurozumi clan is what essentially caused the tragedy of Wano. Have all Buccaneers been subject to intense persecution for the simple fact that they are from Joy Boy's bloodline? Well this is obviously very speculative on my part and also regardless of whether it's true or not it also doesn't answer the question that we have at hand. What is the special trait about the Buccaneers? I mean being related to Joy Boy would be a pretty freaking special trait for sure but it doesn't really fit the context of vagabunks ruminations. It is not the physical strength of the Buccaneers that makes them remarkable. For at one point in time you were related to the great Joy Boy himself? I mean that just doesn't really make sense in the situation right? So if we try to unpack what's going on here vagabunk is wondering how Kumo is functioning at all as per the kill switch that he installed Kumo shouldn't be able to move at all not by his own free will or to even follow orders. He should have just gone into total shutdown mode which is what prompts vagabunk to remember the special characteristic of the Buccaneers. It's not their physical strength meaning that it's their unshakable indomitable spirit or maybe the word that we've become so familiar with in the series. Will. Now I'm sure Oda will have some fancier or more complex and more logical way to explaining what this actually means but something that has been very clear ever since Kumo arrived at Egghead is that he is very clearly protecting Bonnie despite not necessarily showing any sign that the Kuma that we know is still alive. He's not overly emotional or present but is clearly registered the situation. He's angry at Saturn and caring when it comes to his daughter meaning that his will is indeed alive and I quite like this idea because then this means that we can again link it back to Joy Boy. Will is such a big part of the series and the will of Joy Boy being present in Luffy is something that we've understood for quite some time now but if we stick with the idea that the Buccaneers are the descendants of Joy Boy then the fact that they have an impressive or special will that continues beyond death would be quite fitting and I think another way to look at this isn't just about the Buccaneer will but the Buccaneer's soul. In Chapter 1072 we saw a pretty random discussion between Vegapunk and Kumo during Vegapunk's experimentation when Vegapunk introduces us to the idea that a person's soul weighs approximately 21 grams which is based off a real-life experiment by the way but more importantly it seems like Odal was setting us up for this reveal about the Buccaneer soul. The soul existing as its own entity is a concept that already exists in one piece Techbrook and his backstory for example so maybe the full line of Vegapunks is it is not the physical strength of the Buccaneers that makes them remarkable for at one point in time their souls would live beyond death or perhaps at one point in time their souls were so strong that the Buccaneers created devil fruits. All right let's back up I'll explain what I mean by this if there is a connection between Joy Boy and Nika through the Nika devil fruit maybe that's because Joy Boy's soul is imbued into the devil fruit maybe that's what the Gora say meant when they said that Zoën devil fruits have wheels of their own perhaps it's not so limited to Zoën devil fruits as we thought that's why the S snake is showing personality traits of Boa Hancock because she is imbued with the will and soul of Hancock if the ancient kingdom was a super strong nation of Buccaneers with Joy Boy as their leader their strength owed to their ability to be able to create devil fruits via their souls this could be what caused the rest of the world to fear them because they could manifest these sort of superhuman powers and abilities it could also be why the Buccaneers had to be forced into slavery and extermination as a way to rid them of their power because what's more soul crushing than to have your freedom and humanity stripped away while watching your kindred die this could have been a method to break the will and the souls of Buccaneers to weaken their strength and make sure that they wouldn't be able to use their special trait anymore because Vacapunk has been the source of many sneaky pieces of dialogue in this arc that comment about the weight of a soul being one his epiphany about the Buccaneers special trait being another and then much earlier in this arc his theory about how devil fruits came to be perhaps Oda has been weaving all of these pieces all together all along this could even tie up another lurking mystery that we have on the island the iron giant because did you know that the lore about the Iron Giant's mysterious attack on Marijua was revealed in the same chapter that Kuma got up and started running and then in 1092 the same chapter that Kuma escaped Sakazuki at Marijua exercising his own will the Iron Giant awoke are these just a coincidence or has Oda been subtly drawing connections between these two all along from the beginning of the arc we've been wondering about the source of the Iron Giant's power well perhaps the answer is the soul one's will or more specifically the Buccaneers will perhaps what happened 200 years ago when the Iron Giant suddenly gained power has to do with another Buccaneer who awoke his soul after centuries of this special trait of the Buccaneer race going forgotten and it's only now with Kuma awakening his soul that we're seeing a resurgence of this we were distracted with the idea of an eternal fire as an energy source but when you think about it the sun is also just the symbol of Joy Boy's will it's a symbol of his commitment to bringing about light into the world and so perhaps the key to Vega Punk achieving an eternal source of energy is willpower which is such a slap in the face obvious answer when you think about it in retrospect because that is Luffy's defining trait Luffy's indomitable spirit Luffy's enduring will so of course the ultimate source of power has been willpower all along it's the perfect mix of corny but genius wordplay that Oda loves now rambled on a bit here but while we're discussing souls I've also seen a popular discussion speculating that Buccaneers don't just have special souls but in fact they have multiple souls which is why Kuma could continue to move even after dying for all scientific intents and purposes because he's been controlled by another soul and this line of thinking naturally points us to Blackbeard as the prime example of someone who is likely to have multiple souls this being the reason for him being able to eat multiple devil fruits and then this logic would then suggest that Blackbeard is also a Buccaneer and to be fair it has been commented throughout the series that Blackbeard has a weird body a special characteristic similar to Vega Punk's comments about Buccaneers recently but personally I think this is a compelling idea but I also do have some doubts for example Blackbeard is surely larger than human size but not quite Kuma size which isn't indicative of anything because sizing and scaling in one piece can be quite inconsistent besides if Buccaneers really are a mixed race then Blackbeard might just have less giant blood but the main reason why I haven't bought into this idea completely is because I would personally like to see yet another race being introduced or another explanation for Blackbeard's abnormality given how Oda is adding more and more lore into the series I think it would be pretty neat if we find out that Blackbeard along with someone like Zabeck came from another persecuted race and it was this treatment of this new race that shaped them into who they are serving as another message within the story about the consequences of discrimination and hate but then again two very different individuals one as pure as Kuma and another as dark and malevolent as Blackbeard coming from the same bloodline would also be another interesting dynamic and this would also mean that the Buccaneer race isn't over just yet ah isn't this always the case with one piece we never know where it's going to go because there are just so many different possibilities well I may not know the answer to all of one piece's mysteries but I do know one thing that is you're a fantastic person for sticking it out with my crazy thoughts for this long and in fact you're so fantastic that you're going to hit the subscribe button and the like button and the notification bell heck you might as well as comment while you're at it and now that you've done that thank you so much for listening to another one of my ramblings thank you to all of our Joyfleet channel and Patreon members this is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon