Creation
Bartolomeo (バルトロメオ, Barutoromeo) is an antagonist in the One Piece series that was created by Eiichiro Oda. The series first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump on August 4, 1997. He would later appear in the Dressrosa Arc that began in Volume 70.
His first appearance was in One Piece Volume 71 CH. 705 “Maynard the Pursuer”.
Appearance
Bartolomeo is a lean yet muscular man. He has light green-colored hair in a wild rocker-like style and no eyebrows. He has a demonic looking face, sharp fangs, and a ring piercing on his nasal septum. There are two lines tattooed under his right eye that curve towards his ear.
He has a dark tattoo on his chest of a thick ring with an opening on the top, wings on the sides, and long fangs on the bottom. He wears a dark purple coat with a stripe down each sleeve and a plumed collar and cuffs. On the back of it is a face with its head on fire with two crossing sabers just underneath it. He has a light-colored ring-patterned belt with a chain on the left. He has a weapon tucked in the front of his baggy checkered trousers, and has light ruffled dark boots on his feet.
Personality
Bartolomeo can be rather vulgar and laid-back at times, as during the battle royale in Block B, he was lying on the sides watching the battle and then casually urinated off the side on the ring in front of all the spectators. His overall attitude and lack of refinement made him a very unpopular person among the audience, who booed Bartolomeo at every turn. During his formal introduction, Bartolomeo is said to be ranked number one on the “pirate we wish most to disappear” list.
He is also very provocative, as Bartolomeo not only taunts the crowd with his shenanigans, but also mocks his opponents, usually in a nonchalant manner. Even when attempting to stay cool, however, Bartolomeo can become angered when provoked in return; when the spectators at the stadium insulted him, he threw a fake bomb at the audience to scare them. Bartolomeo also doesn’t care what anyone else thinks of him, as he stated to Dagama that popularity among the audience is the least of his concerns. He also loves to mock his opponents as he pretends to be afraid when Hack was going to attack him only to reveal his Devil Fruit to make Hack’s attack back fire on him. He also does not seem to hold a high opinion of people, as when he said he was disgusted by the audience’s reaction when he threw the fake bomb into the stands, seeing them step over and push each other to escape.
Despite the cruelty he shows to others, he has immense respect for the Straw Hat Pirates. After witnessing Luffy’s miraculous survival on the execution stand in Loguetown two years ago, Bartolomeo became a massive fan of Luffy’s and views him as his hero, even to the point of worshipping him. After following Luffy’s exploits up until the Battle of Marineford, he was inspired to start his life of piracy. His respect for Luffy is so deep that he gets angry and attacks people who mock Luffy, as seen when he squashed a man against a wall with his Devil Fruit powers and even cuts the man’s tongue right after he badmouthed Luffy. Bartolomeo also expressed shyness towards Luffy as he hesitated to speak to him face to face. Bartolomeo has been shown to get easily excited when he sees the people he idolizes as when he saw Zoro, he burst into tears out of joy. He weeps uncontrollably even when doing something as simple as asking Zoro for an autograph. When he came face to face with Luffy, he screamed in joy. It has been revealed that he only entered the tournament in order to win the Mera Mera no Mi and give it to Luffy.
Powers/Abilities
The main strength of this fruit is that it allows the user to form invisible barriers, though they can be solidified to become visibly transparent, resembling a pane of glass. This protects the user from attacks from either front or back. The barriers are strong enough to defend against even a fishman’s punch that can shatter 4000 tiles, which injured said fishman’s hand in return. Even the shock wave produced from Elizabello II’s punch failed to break Bartolomeo’s defense. The King Punch packed enough force to blow away the top half of Pica’s golem which was so large it had multiple buildings along its fingers, making Punch extremely powerful. Additionally this attack could allegedly take down a Yonko when the King was in his prime. Bartolomeo has a high estimation of his barriers’ strength, as he was confident that they were “unbreakable” and could stop the Birdcage. However the upper limits of his barrier were hinted at when Admiral Fujitora lifted the island wide rubble in Dressrosa.
The shield can also be used for offensive purposes by launching it forward to create powerful forces to strike the targets, or to deflect forces sent by enemies right back at them. According to Bartolomeo, he can create his barriers by crossing his fingers.
Another strength of this fruit is that Bartolomeo can form solid constructs out of his barriers, such as stairs which people can stand on, making this fruit useful for getting to hard-to-reach places.
It is unknown if the barriers have a damage limit, and Bartolomeo has stated that the barriers are not soundproof. An additional limitation is that he can only produce one barrier at a time, and there is a maximum total surface area of barriers that Bartolomeo can produce at once; examples of the hazardousness of this weakness include being unable to completely block Pica’s giant stone fist, as well as being incapable of producing more barriers after crafting a staircase out of them. The barriers are also not entirely immovable by outside forces, as seen when Bartolomeo tried to block the Birdcage. Also certain barrier shapes could still be outflanked by going around, above or below it: but this normally isn’t an issue because the barriers can change shape even while they are already deployed.
What is more: the Cannibal can form a small spherical barrier around his hand to deliver a Luffy homage-like ‘Pistol’ which he used to defeat Gladius of the Donquixote family.
Besides these weaknesses, it shares the standard weaknesses of Devil Fruits.
History
Dressrosa Arc
Bartolomeo entered a tournament at the Corrida Colosseum to compete for the Mera Mera no Mi. After Maynard defeated Bartolomeo’s subordinate, Gambia, Bartolomeo in turn defeated the vice admiral, before leaving to fight in the tournament.
As Block B was about to start, he was seen walking into the arena while the announcer listed all the details about him. Upon entering, he declared that he would send everyone to hell.[10] As the audience showed their dislike towards him, Bartolomeo first taunted them and then threw what appeared to be a bomb at the audience, which scared them and made them panic. The bomb turned out to be a simple black ball though. After having mumbled that the audience disgusts him, Dagama scolded him and told him that he’s making himself unpopular. Bartolomeo simply responded that he didn’t need to be popular among the likes of them.
After the fight started, Bartolomeo pointed out that it is not really a battle royale anymore when Dagama was shown to have teamed up with Elizabello II, Tank Lepanto, and other fighters to take out Bellamy. Dagama simply stated that the ends justify the means. While everyone fought, Bartolomeo was seen laying down and nonchalantly watched the others fight.
Bartolomeo creating an invisible barrier to block Hack’s attack and crush his hand before defeating him.
Later, he calmly started urinating off the side of the ring only to be booed by the crowd. Hack came to take him out with a Fishman Karate attack, but Bartolomeo blocked it using his Devil Fruit ability, damaging Hack’s hand in the process. Bartolomeo then proceeded to finish off the fishman.
Bartolomeo later fought against Bellamy. However, like Hack, Bellamy ended up taking damage whenever he attempted to attack Bartolomeo. Despite not having the upper hand, Bellamy still managed to grab him, saying that he should not underestimate his power. Before Bartolomeo could retaliate, Elizabello finally threw his legendary “King Punch” which seemingly took out every remaining gladiator in the arena. When the announcer looked at the arena and said that no one could have possibly survived that punch and was about to declare Elizabello the winner of B block’s battle royale.
However, when the smoke cleared up, it was revealed that Bartolomeo remained standing. He then revealed that he ate the Bari Bari no Mi, which allowed him to create barriers and that he used one to protect himself from the king’s devastating punch. He then defeated the king with his technique “Barrier Crash” which effectively made him the winner of the B block, much to the crowd’s displeasure. He then thought to himself about how the Mera Mera no Mi would go to ‘that person’ once he won it.
During Block C, Bartolomeo went to the observation deck and approached Cavendish with a suitcase full of warning signs while the latter was having a fancy meal. Bartolomeo noticed that Cavendish was aiming for Luffy (as Lucy). Cavendish congratulated him for his win and told him not to stick his nose into his business. While trying to grab some of Cavendish’s food, Cavendish removed Bartolomeo’s hand from his food and told him that Luffy will be his prey. Bartolomeo responded by saying that he and Luffy have a far deeper connection. He continued to watch Block C as Luffy and Chinjao, the two remaining fighters in the battle royale, clashed against each other.
After Luffy defeated Chinjao and won Block C, Cavendish aimed to kill Luffy the moment he left the arena. Bartolomeo interrupted Cavendish, and once again claimed that he would not be the one to kill the Straw Hat. Cavendish angrily threatened Bartolomeo to not get in his way.
While Cavendish tried to kill Luffy after Block C’s conclusion, Bartolomeo kept his distance, too shy to get close to Luffy. A gladiator passed by and mocked Luffy for failing to save his brother at the Battle of Marineford. Bartolomeo angrily crushed the man against a wall, and explained his reasons for admiring Luffy, and then cut the man’s tongue. He continued to watch Luffy from afar as he fended off Cavendish. He wanted to help Luffy, but he was too nervous to bring himself close to him. When Luffy ran away from Cavendish and Chinjao, Bartolomeo wondered how he should go about approaching Luffy.
While Zoro and Kin’emon were outside of the Corrida Colosseum wondering how to get in, Bartolomeo spotted them. Upon seeing Zoro, Bartolomeo burst into tears of joy as he recalled Zoro’s past deeds. He then spoke to Zoro and offered to help him find Luffy while asking for an autograph. He later found Luffy when the Straw Hat left the gladiators quarters. He then guided Luffy to Zoro and Kin’emon but foamed at the mouth along the way.
He was later seen standing next to Sabo (now taking Luffy’s place as Lucy) at the observation deck. At the conclusion of Block D, Bartolomeo was surprised to see every big name fighter struck down almost instantaneously. He then saw Rebecca, the only one able to stand back up, declared the winner of Block D. When Rebecca waved to “Lucy” after leaving the arena, Bartolomeo told her not to act casual towards him. He then walked alongside Sabo to the arena when the finals started.