The following article contains spoilers from the latest One Piece chapters.
It’s been a long time since One Piece fans joined together in a simultaneous depression slump from watching Kuma using the Paw-Paw fruit on Zoro. Today, we join once again in collective weeping — only this time, it’s because of Kuma himself.
We’ve grown used to Kuma as a recurring figure in the story. He went from being an antagonist (or at least, we thought he was), to a war machine mistreated and manipulated by the World Government. Nowadays, we all know Kuma as one of the kindest characters in One Piece, even if his actions were influenced by the World Government’s agenda.
Even with this knowledge, Kuma’s backstory remained a mystery until recently. We found out he’s Jewelry Bonney’s dad, a buccaneer, and even a priest. In the middle of all this info, we also got to learn more about his incredibly powerful devil fruit and what it can do.
What are the powers of the Paw-Paw fruit?
The full extent of the Paw-Paw fruit was never completely revealed. In fact, it may still hold some mysteries, but we’re more informed than ever before. Let’s quickly recap what we already know about the Paw-Paw fruit. Firstly, it is classified as a Paramecia-type fruit, granting its user superhuman abilities or, at the very least, the capacity to perform superhuman feats.
We know that the fruit encompasses several techniques. It is capable of repelling virtually anything through the user’s palms, where paw pads are permanently manifested. This means it grants the user the ability to push anything with great speed and force at will. The target can be tangible materials like people or objects, or even abstract concepts such as pain, fatigue, memories, or gases.
When it comes to pain, memories, or fatigue, the bubble can’t simply vanish or be banished into the unknown. Someone must consume the bubble of pain for it to dissipate; otherwise, it will revert to its original recipient. We learned part of this when Zoro chose to bear Luffy’s pain instead of allowing his captain to suffer, and most recently, when we see Kuma pushing his own memories into a paw bubble, later accessed by Bonney.
How did Kuma get the Paw-Paw fruit?
We’ve long been aware that Kuma is a key warrior for the World Government, after slaving himself away to ensure the safety of his daughter. However, the backstory of his devil fruit was a mystery until recently. As it turns out, the Paw-Paw fruit was in the hands of the World Government and used as a reward in the manhunt before the God Valley incident.
In the midst of this major showdown between some of the world’s top powers, a young Kuma, along with Ginny and Ivankov, managed to get hold of the Paw-Paw fruit, which Kuma ate. From then on, this buccaneer made it his mission to help villagers and underdogs by taking on their mental and physical pain himself. Unfortunately, Kuma’s kindness came at a great cost, enduring extreme physical agony, and internal bleeding at least once a week.
Nowadays, we’ll probably see more of his fruit in action in flashbacks related to God Valley and Sorbet, as well as with Seraph S-bear, who gained similar abilities through a Green Blood transfusion.