Bon Clay

Origin

Creation

Bon Clay (ボン・クレー, Bon Kurē) is a supporting character from the One Piece series that was created by Eiichiro Oda, the series writer and artist. The series first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump on August 4, 1997. His first appearance was in the later Little Garden Arc that began in Volume 13.

He first appeared in One Piece Volume 15, CH. 129 "Straight Ahead!!!".

Major Story Arcs

Mr. 2 is sent out shortly after Mr. 3's defeat on Little Garden to kill him for his failure to eliminate the Straw Hats. By the time he gets there, though, Mr. 3 is nowhere to be found, leading Mr. 2 to fear being killed by Mr. 1. He then orders his men to sail back to Alabasta at top speed and intercept any ships they encounter.

The Straw Hats first meet up with Bon Clay on their way to return Princess Vivi to the desert kingdom of Alabasta. His antics immediately amused them, and Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper fell head over heels for his ability. Bon Clay ate the Devil Fruit, Mane Mane no Mi (マネマネの実 Clone Clone Fruit) which allows him to transform into an exact copy of anyone he has touched. Although the series generally only features these powers copying the face of the person, his powers apparently also copy the body: To Nami's dismay, he once transformed into her and allowed Luffy, Chopper and Usopp to view her breasts. She responded by punching his skull inwards (in the remake movie he shows Nami's entire body to them as well as Sanji causing Nami to hit all of them). As he leaves, his crew call him by his Baroque Works codename, surprising all of the Straw Hats- even Vivi did not know who he was, despite being told about what he looked like.

At the meeting in Rain Dinners, Bon Clay discovers that his friends are really the enemies of his boss, Crocodile, thus forcing him to combat them.

In the capital Alubarna, Bon Clay and Sanji have a very intense battle. Just as Sanji looks set to be the victor, Bon Clay discovers Sanji's weakness: Nami. He impersonates her, using her form to drive Sanji into a crazy fanboyish state which allows him to even the playing field. Eventually, Sanji realizes that Bon Clay must revert to his own form to unleash his stronger attacks. He takes advantage of this and forces Bon Clay to revert to his form so that he can pummel him. The ball is in Sanji's court yet again until Bon Clay pulls his iron-tipped swans from his shoulders and puts them onto his shoes. With the swans on his shoes, his kicks are strong as a rifle shot and can reach further. This creates more problems for Sanji, and the playing field is even once more. But eventually, Sanji manages to defeat Bon Clay. Bon Clay begs for Sanji to finish him off, believing that he will be killed for his failure, but Sanji offers to shake his hand for a good fight. Just as Bon Clay takes his hand, overwhelmed with emotion, Sanji kicks him in the head and takes Usopp's goggles.

When the Straw Hats prepare to leave Alabasta after thwarting Crocodile's scheme, Bon Clay calls them up on a Den Den Mushi (a snail phone) and tells Luffy that he has their ship. He hid it from the marines docked in the harbour (Smoker, Hina, Jango, Ironfist Fullbody, Tashigi, etc.) and exclaims that he did it because they are friends. Now that he is no longer a member of Baroque Works (and a pawn of Crocodile), he wants to be a close friend, perhaps even a shipmate.

As the Straw Hats and Bon Clay leave Alabasta on the Going Merry, Hina, Jango and Ironfist Fullbody attack. Bon Clay comes up with a plan that would allow them to escape. He and his own shipmates impersonate the Straw Hats, thus luring Hina's squadron to them. This allows the Going Merry to escape as Bon Clay stays behind with his crew, boarding Marine ships and unleashing hell upon them, after his famous speech of friendship and humanity. As the Going Merry draws further away, Luffy exclaims that he will never forget Bon Clay and his crew, their friends.

[edit] Operation: Meet Baroque Works

Bon Clay was captured by Hina, however Bon Clay escaped from prison with a 32,000,000 bounty on his head. He reappeared in the manga during "Operation: Meet Baroque Works" chapter title pages sporting a more refined, and less gay, look than his ballerina outfit: a suit similar to Rob Lucci's undershirt and a pair of black pants. He also is not wearing his lipstick, but his cheeks, blush as they are, are apparantly natural.

Later on he had challenged Hina to a rematch, in an attempt to save Miss Valentine from execution. After

Miss Goldenweek

,

Miss Valentine

, and

Mr. 5

breaks out

Mr. 4

,

Miss Doublefinger

,

Miss Merry Christmas

, and

Lassou

, Mr. 2 is seen tied to

Mr. 3

and thrown in jail with

Mr. 0

(Crocodile) and

Mr. 1

(Das Bones) so it can be assumed that

Hina

defeated Mr. 2.

Abilities and Powers

While having a Devil Fruit, Bon Clay mostly relies on a unique martial arts style known as Okama Kenpo (Ballet/Dancer Kenpo in the Japanese anime, Crazy Karate in the english 4kids dub, Transvestite Kenpo in the english manga and Crossdresser Kenpo in FUNimation dub), which combines kicks and sometimes punches with his ballerina style.

[edit] Weapons

The two swans on his back are not just for show - Bon Clay can take them off at the midpoint of their necks and slip them onto his toeshoes. When he has the swans on his feet, Bon Clay's kicks become as powerful as rifle shots (due to the steel beaks) and gain a further range (due to the swans' necks extending every time that he kicks). Although used only once, Bon Clay can detach and throw his (presumably false) eyelashes as throwing stars, which fly out and return at an arc and return to his face.

Personality

He has a flamboyant attitude which includes singing and dancing. He is extraordinarily tall, which plays into his particular style of fighting. He calls his martial art style "Okama Kenpo" in the manga, "Ballet/Dancer Kenpo" in the Japanese anime, "Crazy Karate" in the 4Kids version of the anime and "Crossdresser Kenpo" in the FUNimation version. He is also given an ebonic accent in the English dub of the anime, while the original Japanese voice is somewhat nasal and petulant.

Mr. 2 Bon Clay, is the only Officer Agent in the Baroque Works megastructure without a female partner. This stems from the fact that he is an okama. His original song from the One Piece Character Song Carnival CD is 'Oh come my way', which can be aurally interpreted as 'Okama Way' (in fact, he says both "oh come my way" and "okama way" while singing during his trip to the Spider's Cafe), which means 'Transvestite Way'. Because of this he receives two names: a male name with a number, and a female name with a holiday. "Bon Clay" or Bonkurei is celebrated in Japan on either July 15 or August 15 because of the use of a lunar calendar. It is a Buddhist celebration found on the last day of the Bon festival, honouring the dead. Lanterns are lit, and the Bon-Odori is traditionally danced.

Oddly, he addresses Luffy's crew by a key part of their appearance, followed by (Even though it is meant for a childish aspect) "chan" (i.e.: Luffy, Straw-Chan, Usopp, Nose-Chan, etc.). He also addresses Crocodile as "Zero-chan", even after learning his identity.