Bell-mère



Bellemere (ベルメール Berumēru; belle-mère is French for "stepmother") was Nami and Nojiko's adoptive mother, seen in a flashback during the Arlong arc. It is said that in her youth she was as rambunctious and mischievous as Nami was as a child. Bellemere raised the two girls after they found her near death after a fight between marines (of which Bellemere was one) and pirates that left their home island in ruins.

While Bellemere had very little income, she gave everything to her girls and survived by eating the mandarin oranges she grew. One day Bellemere scolded Nami when she got caught stealing (Nami stole a book because she knew they were poor). Shortly after Nami revealled to Bellemere why she stole the book - she was studying navigation. Bellemere applauded Nami's first drawing of the island as the first step of her dream to map the world and put faith into Nami that she really could do it.

However while some things were avoided by Bellemere's money problems, others did not. One day Nami was given one of Nojiko's dresses by Bellemere (who simply turned the sunflower on it into a lion) and Nami was offended. Nami wanted her own clothes not Nojiko's hand-me-downs. Nami wouldn't acknowledge the three of them as a real family, and ran off, saying that she wished she were adopted by rich people. Bellemere realised she wasn't acting like an adult back there, she decided to spare some money and prepare Nami's favourite meal even though it would hit her budget. She sent Nojiko to fetch Nami while she prepared the meal.



That same day Arlong invaded the island and found her home, Bellemere tried to fend them off but was quickly subdued. When asked for the fee needed to stay alive, it turned out all the money Bellemere had would either save herself or her two daughters. Things would've been okay, as Arlong was unaware of the two girls' existence, but Bellemere gave it to her two girls as she would rather have died than not call herself a mother. To that end, Arlong shot her right in front of the eyes of her two adopted daughters, but not before Bellemere apologized to Nami for not being richer, and not being able to buy the girls whatever they wanted. With that, she said her final words to the girls: "I love you."

Belle-Mere is hardly ever seen without a cigarette. She has the word "Mace," on her shirt. Both the word and the cigarette are edited out in the English Dub.

In the English version of the anime, she is sent to the dungeon for not paying her fee and is killed off screen.

In a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Bellemere is currently ranked the 32nd most popular character in One Piece.

Japanese voice: Noriko Hidaka.