Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIUkz4pIbgY

The Buccaneer Race

Our story begins 47 years ago, in a Kingdom in the South Blue known as the “Sorbet Kingdom”. Sorbet is the same Kingdom that Kuma would eventually become king of, and the one that the Dowager Queen Connie who Bonney imitated during the Reverie is supposedly part of as well. You can tell this is the Sorbet Kingdom by the fact that the buildings are built like ice-creams in typical Oda fashion.

A young Kuma is born as the child of a human woman and a man who is part of the so-called “Bakkania” race. His father’s name in Japanese is “kurappu”, which would translate as something like Clap or Klap. Though Kuma was born as a half-Bakkania due to his human mother, it seems his genes were strong enough to still be considered part of the race.

Unfortunately though, at a very young age, Kuma’s blood tests from the hospital were found by the Government, despite his father’s request to keep them hidden, and so his entire family was enslaved, even Clap’s human wife and Kuma himself, sold to the Celestial Dragons as slaves and forced to toil at Mary Geoise just as we had glimpsed in the memories Bonney saw.

According to Iva by the end of the chapter, he heard that the Bakkania share blood with the giants, meaning they could be an offshoot of the giant race or share a common ancestor with them. They possess strength and bulkiness like that of a giant, making them large and strong, as we see a child Kuma lifting a large crate on his back, but appear to be more condensed than a giant. This race is allegedly almost extinct, with Saturn calling Kuma a survivor of an otherwise extinct race, meaning this is likely the final third race Big Mom mentioned missing from Totland, which includes the Giants, the Lunaria, and the Bakkania.

The name of this race in Japanese is “Bakkania” (バッカニア). This name on its own doesn’t hold much meaning, but it is the katakana spelling of the English word “buccaneer”, which refers to a type of privateers, or pirates, that operated in the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy. The name finds its etymology in the French word boucan, referring to a method for cooking meat. The name bears an obvious association with pirates, which likely where deeply tied with the people of the ancient kingdom and the D. clan, if not the clan being composed of pirates entirely, but it’s hard to extract much more meaning than that, as unlike their peers the Lunaria, the connection behind their name seems less evident. It could really just boil down to the fact that Buccaneers where privateers working for Governments, much like how Kuma worked as a Shichibukai for the World Goverment, so perhaps that’s all the reference is pointing to. A potential connection is that the word Bakkania features the katakana for ka and ni, which when read backwards spell “Nika”, but this feels like quite the big stretch in general so it’s hard to say.

The Superhero Sun God

What is interesting about this race though is precisely that, their connection to the Sun God Nika, and by extension, the ancient kingdom. This comes as no surprise, as the Bakkania race being a minority makes it evidently connected to the ancient kingdom, who assisted many of the oppressed races in achieving equality in a truly unified world. In fact, Klap specifically mentions how Nika will guide someone like Kuma to a “free sea” and “the path towards the sun”. This is very important terminology: the first term, a “free sea”, leads to the idea that Joyboy will one day help bring the Dawn of the World where he will assist the ancient weapons in destroying the barriers of this world, which many of us assume to be the Red Line and Grand Line, to bring a sea of freedom, which would be the All Blue. On the other hand, the term “the path towards the sun” is word by word in Japanese what Otohime always said about unifying humans and fishmen to live together under the same sun, with the sun being a symbol of union and equality, one that is thus symbolized by the Sun God himself.

We might actually have direct evidence of the historical existence of the Bakkania race, however. During Jinbe’s cover story, he came across a set of sunken ruins that pertained to an abandoned forgotten civilization. Within those ruins was a poneglyph, one that Jinbe took to Big Mom and was later rubbed by Brook, which would imply that this civilization was part of the Ancient Kingdom.

However interestingly, on the buildings of this civilization was a mark of a big circle with three smaller circles. This mark is the exact same we saw on Kuma’s outfit. Many assumed to just be a cute depiction of a paw, but that wouldn’t fully add up as Kuma’s paws have five circles, one for each finger. Rather, this symbol looks a lot like the mark of the ancient kingdom, being a sun with eight circles surrounding it. Only that in this case, five of the circles are removed, but the pattern still remains the same. Meaning that these could’ve been the ruins of the Bakkania tribe, housing a poneglyph that now Joyboy has attained.

It is evident the Bakkania were allies of Joyboy, with Clap mentioning that his legend has been passed down across the generations. He mentioned how Joyboy would one day return upon this world, and that he will rescue Kuma and all other oppressed slaves. Just as Who’s-Who told us, slaves and prisoners across the world prayed to Nika and believed in the deity that is Joyboy, hoping he could somehow be real, to liberate them from their suffering. Kuma even retells this story later to Bonney, saying that he wanted to become a superhero who could bring freedom to those who were suffering, just like the superhero he always idolized, Nika. This actually strongly confirms a big aspect of my upcoming megatheory, so I promise this will make sense very soon!

However, Bonney asks if Joyboy could bring liberation to her as well and Kuma replies by saying “of course”, suggesting the idea that Luffy might end up rescuing her in this occasion, though it’s also possible that Kuma may land on Egghead and be the one who rescues Bonney instead, with Luffy assisting them both. This could even tie into the theory some had that Vegapunk swapped Kuma’s consciousness into the iron giant for some reason, as perhaps it was the one who recognized the Drums of Liberation as Kuma, but even if that’s not the case, there is an evident parallel between the two, as it all seems to be coming together, with the way both Kuma and the iron giant are tied with Joyboy.

The Bakkania’s connection to Joyboy is something for which the Goverment evidently resented them. However, Saturn particularly mentioned how the Bakkania committed a “cardinal sin” against the world. Obviously this is from the perspective of the Government, so while it could be possible that Saturn is somehow being unbiased and referring to some historical incident, it is also quite likely that the Bakkania assisted Joyboy and the ancient kingdom in some way, hindering the Allied Powers in the process.

God Valley

However, beyond all this, beyond Kuma’s suffering and the legends of the Bakkania, our scene shifts to 38 years ago, where the Celestial Dragons gather for a special event… the “Senjuumin Issou Taikai”, or the “Indigenous Cleansing Tournament”. This is a tournament the Celestial Dragons seem to hold as tradition every three years, where they pick an island to invade and participate in a game called the “Human Hunt”. In this game they hunt down the island’s inhabitants and slaves they release on the island, which in this case they call “rabbits”, in search for points, presumably to attain prizes. These prizes may in fact be the treasure chests found behind the Celestial Dragon MC, which look suspiciously like the same treasure chest the Gomu Gomu no Mi was found in.

Could it be that the prizes for the tournament are devil fruits for the celestial dragons to play around with their slaves? Much like how the Boa sisters were fed fruits for that purpose. That would explain how Big Mom got a hold of the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryuu on the island during the incident and fed it to Kaido, seizing it from the grasp of the Celestial Dragons.

Because yes, this is the location of God Valley, where the infamous God Valley incident took place 38 years ago. We knew that the Celestial Dragons were on the island, but given the name, we had assumed that it was perhaps some separate Celestial Dragon settlement. However, the truth is that this was in fact all along… just a game show that the Celestial Dragons were putting on, treating the island as tournament grounds in a disgusting game of hunt.

Among those people there is St. Figarland Garling, the now Supreme Commander of the God Knights. In this case he appears as younger, sporting his moon-like hair but only having a short beard, and at this time he was simply a member of the Knights rather than their commander. During his introduction, he was presented with the title of “Champion of God Valley 38 years ago”, a term that in some cases was mistranslated as “king”, but more specifically meant that he had distinguished himself as a champion on the island 38 years ago, meaning he evidently was the supposed winner of this game.

This does bring into question something, being the fact that Whitebeard mentioned his scars aching when he saw Shanks’s face. Presumably, and what may even have been the original intention, is that this was regarding Shanks being the adoptive child of Roger, and thus Whitebeard being reminded of the scars Roger left upon him. But what if now, even if it’s through a retcon, this actually meant that Whitebeard was scarred by Garling in God Valley?

After all, it was confirmed through Film RED and confirmed as canon by Oda that Shanks was actually born as a Celestial Dragon, being part of the Figarland Family, meaning that he and Garling are at the very least related by blood. Garling could be his father, or perhaps just another type of relative, but they are still related as part of the same family, something that is beyond evident by just looking at both of their handsome faces. Garling is a bit young here, but he has a beard, so he could’ve easily had a newborn Shanks, who was 1 year old as of the events of this incident. As it was shown in a scene in Film RED confirmed as canon by Oda, Shanks was found inside a treasure chest that the Roger Pirates plundered from the island, after which Roger adopted and took him in as his child. Presumably Shanks was brought with the Celestial Dragons on this trip but was then kidnapped by the Rocks Pirates, only for Roger to take him with the treasure in the ensuing chaos.

This does bring into question as to why Shanks referred to his hometown being in West Blue, as not only does this seem to indicate he wasn’t born on God Valley, but the island also mysteriously vanished afterwards, literally vanishing off the map. Did it end up suffering the same fate as Lulusia? Did Imu feel threatened by the fact that Xebec’s goal was to become the “King of the World”, the very position Imu holds, and smited him alongside the island for his insolence? Though interestingly in Oda’s sketches as the Roger Pirates escape the island, it is still there present. However, how could Imu have been able to eradicated God Valley if they didn’t possess the Motherflame energy cells that Vegapunk made to fuel the weapon? There’s a lot of mysteries surrounding as to what happened to this island, but an even bigger one is… just who exactly cut it in half?

I mean no, seriously, look at it, there is no way that cut is natural in any way, so who exactly could have caused this big split, creating the island’s valley? Clearly this is something that happened prior to the incident before any of the legends of the One Piece world were alive, meaning this could even date as far back as the Void Century. But who cut it then? The Sword “God” Ryuma himself? Or someone else? It’s also worth noting that the island appears to have a Far West aesthetic, which could tie into the island possessing a lot of natural resources and being rich with mines, giving it an old West look of a mining town.

The God Valley Incident

Regardless, it’s becoming pretty evident now how the God Valley Incident took place: while the Celestial Dragons were busy conducting their game upon this island, the Rocks Pirates took this opportunity to slaughter them in mass and pillage their treasures and devil fruits, which is what led to the God Valley Incident. The Government had the Marines on standby to protect the Celestial Dragons, with Garp being deployed to fight the Rocks Pirates.

However unexpectedly, a third party joined the fray, as the Roger Pirates landed and Roger decided to unite forces with Garp to defeat the Rocks Pirates, supposedly causing Xebec himself to lose his life in the process. The Rocks, which included Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom, and other accomplished pirates such as Shiki, Captain John, or O-Choku the former ruler of Hachinosu, not to mention a young Stussy and a young Shakky, who should likely be meeting Rayleigh here for the first time, likely leading to them falling in love. After Xebec’s defeat the crew scattered and fled, with Big Mom giving Kaido the Seiryuu fruit, and Roger escaping as the victor with a baby Shanks, marking the end of the Era of the Rocks, and the start of Roger’s Era.

However we now know that Garling was also present on the island, and furthermore, even one of the Gorosei, St. Jaygarcia Saturn, was present as well. And it may be easy to miss, but Saturn’s appearance pretty much confirms one of the longest-standing theories in One Piece as he looks… exactly identical as he does right now. Twenty-two years ago, during the Ohara incident, he looked the same. Around thirty years ago, when he met Vegapunk, he also looked similar. But while both cases were shadowed on purpose, here 38 years ago, he looks not one year younger, essentially confirming that yes, the Gorosei are almost certainly perennially youthful, having been alive for potentially as long as the Void Century. Just as Imu used the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi to attain Perennial Youth, it seems these other Five Founders, who once fought against the Joyboy of the Void Century, attained perennial youth too, to rule the world alongside Imu as their agents. This would also explain Nasujuurou’s seeming ties to the Wano Country, as he could’ve come from a time where the Kouzuki’s rule over the country was still not solidified and may have even been the country’s previous ruler before the Kouzuki shigunate.

Kuma’s Timeline

That said, it’s shocking to think that we are seeing these events at God Valley from the perspective of Kuma. Because we cut to the part that we glimpsed in Bonney’s flashback, where he escaped from the Celestial Dragons, but was caught by some other slaves forced to capture him, with Kuma wishing that he was rather dead as he recalls the painful memories of Mary Geoise. However, he is suddenly saved by a shocking duo, being a pair of siblings, Emporio Ivankov and Jinney. It makes sense that Ivankov is a slave that Kuma met here on this island, as the two of them were very close friends who went back a long distance. In fact this scene suddenly makes the tragic shock of Ivankov at Marineford when Kuma attacks him all the more painful in retrospect. The presence of the both of them here makes me wonder if somehow a young Dragon could end up on the island during this incident too, perhaps tying into some of the theories regarding his connection with Celestial Dragons, making all of them meet together for the first time.

On the other hand there is the new girl, being Jinney, a brand new character. While there isn’t much we know about her besides calling Ivankov her “big bro”, though the lack of Emporio in her name makes me wonder if they are actually related, a simple look at her and her name will make her identity very clear, as it’s quite obvious that she’s most likely Bonney’s mother. Her name Jinney is just the same as Bonney, or that of Conney, the identity of the queen Dowager of Sorbet Bonney took during the Reverie, who by the way I’m still curious if that was an actual person or just a persona Bonney made up.

The way that Jinney is munching on a piece of meat and the look of her eyes are just like Bonney’s too. There’s something worth mentioning about how her hair looks a lot like Atlas though, which brings into question on if Vegapunk modeled some of his satellites after old friends he knew. But regardless, right here at God Valley, in the middle of this hellscape, Kuma and Ivankov would first meet, just like Luffy and Ivankov also met in the middle of hell, a parallel that the editor’s note at the end of the chapter also remarks.

So it seems quite evident that the three of them managed to eventually escape God Valley, and would spend time together, with Kuma ultimately falling in love with Jinney as they grew up and having a kid with her, before she would assumedly pass away since it seems Kuma had to raise Bonney as a single father.

To chronicle the rest of Kuma’s life at this point, we have a drawing of him as a kid that Oda drew in an SBS where he is seen walking around with a bundle of sticks. This pose is actually based on a famous Japanese figure known as “Ninokin”, a poor farmer who educated himself and studied while struggling in his poverty, to attain knowledge which eventually allowed him to attain a better job and future. Ninokin is a sign of perseverance through study, with his statue present among many Japanese schools to encourage children to attain a prosperous future through studying. This would suggest that Kuma studied hard in order to rise up the ranks, and this would kinda come true as at some point in the future, for some reason he would end up as the King of the Sorbet Kingdom, the nation he was born in.

And yet during his rule he was considered a “Tyrant”, earning him his nickname, though of course this goes against everything we know about him as a character, making us question if he really was a tyrant for some specific reason, or if the Government only framed him as such. However, allegedly, his people did drive him out, forcing Kuma to become a pirate, and eventually a Revolutionary as he would join forces with Dragon. He would ultimately be captured by the Marines, but Vegapunk was interested in his strength as a Buccaneer, wanting to make him the subject of the Pacifista project, for which he was allowed freedom in exchange as a Shichibukai.

Still, there are many elements to all of this which don’t add up. Why did Kuma agree to give his life for the Pacifista Project? How exactly was Saturn guilty for taking Kuma’s life? How did Kuma become a king and tyrant? What was the crime the Bakkania committed? And what really happened during the God Valley Incident? All will become apparent as we finally enter the God Valley Flashback!

As a final reminder, my Megatheory will release over this break week! Susbcribe to my channel to not miss it! See you!