Bentham

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

Appearance
Mr. 2 Bon Kurei is a gay man who wears flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme. He generally dresses in a pink over coat and blue medieval clothes. As a reference to him being an okama, his shorts are so extremely round that it makes his butt huge and pot-like as okama can also refer to a pot and one's buttocks. He wears heavy makeup and he often sports a distinct wide grin which often carries over when he changes his appearance.

Like all Baroque Works agents, he bears his number in his appearance. Mr. 2 Bon Kurei'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. As opposed to the ideas of his fellow agents, Mr. 1 and Mr. 5, Mr 2 Bon Kurei values friendship highly, as evidenced by his selfless sacrifice to allow the strawhats to escape Arabasta when they where ambushed by Captain Hina, and later when he once again attacked Hina to save Miss Valentine. He will often motivate such actions by saying that abandoning his companions is against "the okama way". This did not hinder him from attacking Vivi during the face-of at Arubana, though.

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, "Oh Come My Way Karate" in the Viz Manga, and "Crossdresser Kenpo" in the FUNimation version. He is also given an ebonic accent in the 4kids dub and a slight British accent in the FUNimation dub, while the original Japanese voice is somewhat nasal and petulant.

Relationships
His open emotional and poetic attitude can get on the nerves of others, as noted in particular the other male Baroque Works agents reactions are often anything but enjoyment at his presence. He seems to have a nack for making people follow his led and can get others to ballet dance with him, he seems to enjoy teaching others about the "okama way" more then anything and will gladly show others how to ballet.

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 Kurei mostly relies on a unique martial arts style known as Okama Kenpo (Ballet/Dancer Kenpo in the Japanese anime, Crazy Karate in the 4Kids dub, "Oh Come My Way" Karate in the English manga and Crossdresser Kenpo in FUNimation dub), which combines kicks and sometimes punches with his ballerina style. This fighting style is powerful enough to be a match for Sanji's Red Leg.

Weapons
The two swans on his back are not just for show. Bon Kurei 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 Kurei'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 Kurei can detach and throw his (presumably false) eyelashes as throwing stars, which fly out and return at an arc and return to his face.

Arabasta Arc
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 Arabasta at top speed and intercept any ships they encounter.

The Straw Hats first meet up with Bon Kurei on their way to return Princess Vivi to the desert kingdom of Arabasta. His antics immediately amused them, and Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper fell head over heels for his ability. Bon Kurei 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 Kurei discovers that his friends are really the enemies of his boss, Crocodile, thus forcing him to combat them.

In the capital Alubarna, Bon Kurei and Sanji have a very intense battle. Just as Sanji looks set to be the victor, Bon Kurei 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 Kurei must revert to his own form to unleash his stronger attacks. He takes advantage of this and forces Bon Kurei to revert to his form so that he can pummel him. The ball is in Sanji's court yet again until Bon Kurei 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 Kurei. Bon Kurei 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 Kurei takes his hand, overwhelmed with emotion, Sanji kicks him in the head and takes Usopp's goggles.

When the Straw Hats prepare to leave Arabasta after thwarting Crocodile's scheme, Bon Kurei 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 harbor (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 Kurei leave Arabasta on the Going Merry, Hina, Jango and Ironfist Fullbody attack. Bon Kurei 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 Kurei 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 Kurei and his crew, their friends.

Operation: Meet Baroque Works
Bon Kurei was captured by Hina, however Bon Kurei 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, more masculine 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 apparently 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.

Current Events
Mr. 2 was discovered by Buggy and Mr. 3 dancing in his cell on level 3 of Impel Down (despite having a bounty far lower than 50,000,000), seemingly unaffected by the heat and starvation. He immediately expresses his surprise at seeing Mr. 3 in Impel Down too. Buggy and Mr. 3 are currently mulling over letting him out of his cell.

Major Battles

 * Bon Kurei vs. Mr.1
 * Bon Kurei vs. Sanji
 * Bon Kurei vs. Hina (Arabasta Sea)
 * Bon Kurei vs. Hina (Rematch, disguised as Mr.3)

Anime and Manga Differences
While Mr. 2's homosexuality is obvious in the manga, it is however toned down in the anime. Originally in the manga, the Japanese words for Okama are written on his pink coat. In the anime however, the Japanese words for ballerina are written instead. His fighting style's name is also changed in the anime. In the manga, his fighting style is Okama Kenpo while in the anime, it is Ballet Kenpo.

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, Viz and FUNimation 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."

In the Viz Manga, the word "Okama" is still omitted and any instance is substituted with the phrase "Oh Come My Way", and characters calling him an "okama" is changed (Luffy and Usopp said they pulled up a "weird fish" in the Viz Manga, and a "man-lady" in the English version of the eighth movie). Instead of not having a female partner due to being both a man and a woman, it is said that "he doesn't want one." Also during the SBS, Oda's words are edited, but still convey the same message about Bon Kurei's lifestyle.

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

Trivia

 * According to Bon Kurei, Usopp has the world's funniest nose. The person with the world's funniest eyes, mouth, and head is himself. Thus, when Mr. 2 makes the world's funniest face, he just changes his nose to Usopp's.
 * In One Piece Grand Battle! Rush! (also sold as "Shonen Jump's 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 Kurei is ranked the 21st most popular character in One Piece.
 * Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, 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 Spiders 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.

Related Articles

 * Baroque Works