What is Jewelry Bonney’s disease in ‘One Piece?’

Warning: This article contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 1098.

Jewelry Bonney is a member of One Piece‘s worst generation and an integral character in the manga’s Egghead Arc. Although Bonney was introduced much earlier in the series, recent chapters have revealed more of her backstory than ever before, including a mysterious illness she contracted at a young age.

Despite her high bounty and how often she’s run into the Straw Hats in the New World, not much was known about Bonney. She’s shown herself to be a powerful captain with a strong Devil Fruit and her ability to alter the age of herself and others has helped change the tide in many enemy encounters. Now, we’ve learned Bonney has one of the saddest backstories in One Piece, complete with an illness believed to be incurable.

What is the name of  Bonney’s disease?

Bonney’s disease is called Sapphire Scale, though little else is known about the illness. The disease causes blue gem-like lesions (or scales) to grow on the infected person’s skin. Those who have Sapphire Scale must limit their exposure to the sun as its rays cause the disease to progress rapidly.

The disease was first mentioned in flashback, Kuma’s childhood friend and first love Ginny was revealed to have been kidnapped and forced into marriage by an unnamed Celestial Dragon. Sometime after, she developed Sapphire Scale (though the illness’ name was unknown to Kuma at the time) and gave birth to Bonney before ultimately succumbing to her illness. Sadly, Kuma was unable to see Ginny alive one last time but raised her daughter as his own.

Eventually, Bonney began displaying symptoms of her mother’s disease herself as she developed small sapphire-like lesions on her body. Kuma tried to alleviate young Bonney’s fears by calling these scales her “jewelry,” inspiring her name.

After searching for a long while, Kuma finally found a doctor with knowledge of the disease. He told Kuma sun exposure would expedite the severity of Sapphire Scale but the disease would inevitably prove fatal even if she never stepped foot in the sun. Bonney would likely die by her 10th birthday. We know that isn’t the case since Bonney is older than 12 and seemingly very alive, without any symptoms of the disease; it’s possible her Devil Fruit or Kuma’s helped her beat the odds, but for now, all theories remain speculation.

If you want to keep up to date with the newest One Piece chapters as they are released, you can read new chapters on sites like Viz Media, Shonen Jump, and Manga Plus.