Bentham

Mr. 2 Bon Clay, as he is known by in Baroque Works, is an "okama" (a Japanese slang term for a homosexual or Transvestite ).

Appearence
All Baroque Works agents bear their numbers somewhere on their body or clothing. Mr. 2 Bon Clay's number 2 is seen in the form of his swans, which are posed into a shape resembling number "2".

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.

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.

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).

Present Story
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).

Bon Clay later 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.

When the Straw Hats prepare to leave Alabasta after liberating it from the tyrant warlord Crocodile, 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.

Operation: Meet Baroque Works
Bon Clay was captured by Hina, however Bon Clay escaped from prison with a 32,000,000 beli 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.

Major Battles

 * Bon Clay vs. Sanji
 * Bon Clay vs. Hina (Arabasta Sea)
 * Bon Clay vs. Hina (Rematch, disguised as Mr.3)

Translation and Dubbing Issues
During the Meet Baroque Works Mini title page arc, Mr. 2's wanted posters are shown with the words "Bon Kurei" written on them, but his name is shown as Bon Clay in the One Piece video games. Most fans also say his name is Bon Clay, mostly due to the way the anime pronounces the name. 4Kids and Viz also choose to stick with Bon Clay over Bon Kurei. Another change was to his fighting style which was dubbed as "Crazy Karate" instead of Okama Kenpo. This was changed in the FUNimation translation of the eighth movie to "Crossdresser Kenpo."

Merchandise
Mr.2 appeared as a figurine in the Portrait of Pirates series in the "Neo" wave 3.

Trivia

 * According to Bon Clay, Usopp has the world's funniest nose.
 * In One Piece Grand Battle!, Mr.2 is a hidden secret character and is unlockable by fulfilling numerous obligations within the game, or by entering a code.
 * In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Bon Clay is ranked the 21st most popular character in One Piece.

Related Articles

 * Baroque Works