Bartolomeo

Bartolomeo the Cannibal is a Super Rookie and the captain of the Barto Club. He is also a gladiator competing at the Corrida Colosseum for the Mera Mera no Mi.

Appearance
Bartolomeo is a lean yet muscular man. He has light green-colored hair in a wild rocker-like style and no eyebrows. His demonic looking face has 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. 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, booing Bartolomeo at every turn. During his formal introduction, Bartolomeo is said to be ranked number #1 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.

However, Bartolomeo seems to care for his crew (or at least its reputation), as he violently beat up Vice Admiral Maynard for what he did to Gambia. That aside, it is this particular course of violence that has made him infamous, as he was noted to have gunned down several innocent civilians in the past. Despite such a destructive nature, he can restrain his murderous rage to a certain extent, at least by the regulations set by Corrida Colosseum. While he is very laidback, he is not immune to expressing shock as such when he heard that Luffy is around.

Despite the cruelty he showed to others, he has immense respect for one person and that is Monkey D. Luffy. After witnessing Luffy's miraculous survival at the execution stand in Loguetown two years ago, Bartolomeo began to admire Luffy and views him as his hero, even to the point of worshipping him. After following Luffy's exploits up till the Marineford War, 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 when he squished a man onto 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.

Abilities and Powers
As a pirate captain, he has the power to command his subordinates.

He is a Supernova, recognized by the Marines, meaning that he has some skills that made him stand out. He is shown to be strong enough to easily defeat Vice Admiral Maynard, and was able to win the Block B of the Corrida Colosseum tournament without getting so much as a scratch (though he was actually laying on the sidelines watching while avoiding conflict until he was forced to use his barriers).

Devil Fruit
Bartolomeo ate the Bari Bari no Mi, a Paramecia type Devil Fruit which allows him to be a barrier man. He uses his Devil Fruit powers both to protect himself and attack his opponents. The barriers are seemingly very durable, as attacks from powerful individuals such as Hack and Bellamy had no effect and in turn even ended up damaging themselves. One of them even managed to block Elizabello II's "King Punch" attack.

He can also use his barriers to attack his enemies. This is seen when Bartolomeo used a technique called "Barrier Crash" to crush Elizabello II at the end of his group's battle royale.

Before Becoming a Pirate
During his early years, Bartolomeo was a kingpin of a mafia. Two years ago, he was at Loguetown when Luffy was about to be executed by Buggy. He witnessed what he called a miracle, seeing Luffy getting saved by a lightning strike. Ever since then, Bartolomeo followed Luffy's exploits from Alabasta to Enies Lobby to Impel Down. After seeing Luffy at the Marineford War, he decided to set sail.

During the Timeskip
One year ago, Bartolomeo became a big time rookie pirate. He became infamous for attacking innocent civilians.

Dressrosa Arc
Dagama said that Bartolomeo was one of the people participating in the Corrida Colosseum tournament. After Maynard defeated Bartolomeo's underling, 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. 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.



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.

As the injured fighters were moved out of the ring, Bartolomeo came across Bellamy and Luffy (as Lucy) having a conversation and overheard Bellamy calling him Straw Hat. Upon learning of this revelation he showed signs of shock.

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 defeats Chinjao and wins Block C, Cavendish aims to kill him once he leaves the arena. Bartolomeo interrupts Cavendish, once again claiming that he won't be the one to kill the Straw Hat. Cavendish angrily threatened Bartolomeo for if he interferes.

While Cavendish tries to kill Luffy after Block C's conclusion, Bartolomeo kept his distance, too shy to get close to Luffy. A gladiator passes by and mocks Luffy for failing to save his brother at the Marineford War. Bartolomeo angrily crushes the man against a wall, explains his reasons for admiring Luffy, and then cuts the man's tongue. He continues to watch Luffy from afar as he fends off Cavendish. He wants to help Luffy, but he is too nervous to bring himself close to him. When Luffy runs away from Cavendish and Chinjao, Bartolomeo wonders how he should approach Luffy.

Major Battles

 * Bartolomeo vs. Maynard (unseen)
 * Bartolomeo vs. Corrida Colosseum Block B Gladiators
 * Bartolomeo vs. Hack
 * Bartolomeo vs. Bellamy
 * Bartolomeo vs. Elizabello II

Trivia

 * Bartolomeo's epithet "Cannibal" is actually a pun. "Eating people" means to mock them in Japanese.
 * In Vietnam the crossing of one's fingers, like Bartolomeo did when facing Elizabello II, is roughly the equivalent of showing someone the middle finger. It is also a common taunt in Japanese schools.
 * Bartolomeo's behavior, along with the two things mentioned above, suggests that his whole character was created around the idea of mockery.

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