Bell-mère

Belle-Mère (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. Belle-Mère raised the two girls after they found her near death after a fight between naval marines (of which Belle-Mère was one) and pirates that left their home island in ruins.

While Belle-Mère had very little income, she gave everything to her girls and survived by eating the mandarin oranges she grew. One day Belle-Mère scolded Nami when she got caught stealing (Nami stole a book because she knew they were poor). 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.

That same day Arlong invaded the island and found her home, Belle-Mère tried to fend them off but was quickly subdued. When asked for the fee needed to stay alive, it turned out all the money Belle-Mère had would either save herself or her two daughters. Things would've been okay, as Arlong was unaware of the two girls' existence, but Belle-Mère 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 Belle-Mère 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 cigar 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, Belle-Mère is currently ranked the 32nd most popular character in One Piece.

Japanese voice: Noriko Hidaka.