Bartolomeo One Piece: Complete Character Guide
A pirate who fires on civilians, skewers rivals on live broadcast, and tops the poll of pirates people most want to disappear should not be endearing. Bartolomeo manages it anyway, because the moment he sees Luffy he stops being terrifying and starts behaving like a teenager at a concert. That gap is the entire joke, and it works.
Who He Is
Bartolomeo the Cannibal, also translated as Man-Eater Bartolomeo, is a Super Rookie and captain of the Barto Club. He holds the position of captain of the second ship of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
His epithet comes from consuming others with rage rather than anything literal, though the ambiguity does his image no harm. He has a demonic-looking face, sharp fangs, no eyebrows, light green spiked hair, and a ring piercing through his nasal septum.
In the anime he is voiced by Shōtarō Morikubo in Japanese and Tyson Rinehart in the English dub.
Before He Was a Pirate
The backstory explains a great deal about the Bartolomeo One Piece fans know.
Bartolomeo was originally a mob boss in the East Blue, reportedly controlling a substantial territory before ever going to sea. He was not a naive fan who stumbled into piracy.
What changed his direction was witnessing Monkey D. Luffy’s failed execution at Loguetown. Seeing Luffy laugh in the face of death made an impression that shaped everything afterward.
He set sail following the Marineford War, and within roughly a year his bounty exceeded 100 million berries, marking him as a genuine Supernova rather than a hanger-on.
The Barrier-Barrier Fruit
The centrepiece of any Bartolomeo One Piece discussion is his Devil Fruit.
He ate the Bari Bari no Mi, translated as the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, a Paramecia-type fruit that allows him to generate barriers by crossing his fingers.
The barriers are extraordinarily durable. Attacks from powerful fighters have failed to scratch them, and strikes frequently rebound damage onto the attacker. Notably, a barrier withstood Elizabello II’s King Punch, an attack built up over an entire tournament.
Important limitations exist, established in the Volume 77 SBS: he can maintain only one barrier at a time, and the maximum size is limited. Sufficiently overwhelming force can also overcome them.
He uses barriers offensively as well as defensively, including forming barrier constructs to strike opponents.
A notable piece of lore: the fruit previously belonged to Kurozumi Semimaru in Wano, who used it to protect Kurozumi Orochi from Oden. It returned to circulation after his death, which is how Bartolomeo came to eat it.
The Dressrosa Arc
Dressrosa drives most of what people know about Bartolomeo One Piece appearances.
He entered the Corrida Colosseum as a gladiator competing for the Mera Mera no Mi, the Flame-Flame Fruit that belonged to Ace, specifically to win it for Luffy.
He won Block B without meaningful damage, largely by staying out of the fighting until forced to act, having earlier defeated Vice Admiral Maynard.
He also shielded Usopp and others from pursuers, delivered a key to Law alongside Rebecca and Robin, teamed with Cavendish, whom he insists on calling “Cabbage,” and defeated the executive Gladius despite a point-blank explosion. His barriers helped slow the Birdcage.
The Straw Hat Grand Fleet
Following Doflamingo’s defeat, seven captains pledged themselves to Luffy, a defining moment in the Bartolomeo One Piece story: Sai, Bartolomeo, Leo, Cavendish, Ideo, Orlumbus, and Hajrudin.
Luffy characteristically insisted they were free to do as they pleased rather than serving under him, and the alliance formed anyway as the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, sealed with sake cups.
Bartolomeo commands the second ship. His own vessel, incidentally, is named the Going Luffy-senpai, which tells you everything about his priorities.
The Fanboy Characterization
The comedy of the character rests on a specific contrast.
By reputation he is genuinely reviled, described as an atrocious, inhumane mad rookie who fired on civilians and attacked pirates on live broadcast, ranking number one among pirates people most want to see disappear.
Around the Straw Hats that persona collapses entirely. The joke works because both halves are sincere: he is not pretending to be dangerous, and not pretending to be a fan.
Bounty History
The Bartolomeo One Piece bounty progression is straightforward:
| Stage | Bounty |
|---|---|
| Before Dressrosa | 150,000,000 berries |
| After Dressrosa | 200,000,000 berries |
Reaching over 100 million within a year of setting sail placed him among the notable rookies of his generation, and the post-Dressrosa increase reflected his role in Doflamingo’s downfall.
Appearances Beyond Dressrosa
For anyone tracking where he shows up in Bartolomeo One Piece content:
Canon: the Dressrosa arc, the beginning of Zou, and the Straw Hat Grand Fleet cover page serial.
Non-canon: the Silver Mine arc, where he was captured and separated from his barrier powers, plus films including Stampede and Film: Red. Silver Mine is notable for developing him beyond the joke, particularly a moment where he saves an ally rather than prioritizing Luffy.
Why He Works as a Character
A few observations on why Bartolomeo One Piece fandom endures in a series with an enormous cast.
He is genuinely powerful, defeating a Vice Admiral and a Donquixote executive.
The contrast is sustained, grounded in a backstory explaining why Luffy affected him so strongly.
He represents the audience, reacting to the Straw Hats roughly the way a reader might.
His loyalty is real, producing genuine sacrifice at critical moments beneath the comedy.
The bottom line on Bartolomeo One Piece is that he is a Super Rookie, captain of the Barto Club, and captain of the second ship of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, wielding the Bari Bari no Mi or Barrier-Barrier Fruit, a Paramecia allowing him to create extremely durable barriers limited to one at a time. Formerly an East Blue mob boss, he turned pirate after witnessing Luffy’s failed execution at Loguetown, and his bounty rose from 150 million to 200 million berries after Dressrosa, where he won Block B of the Corrida Colosseum and defeated Gladius. Feared publicly as the pirate people most want to disappear, he is privately an unrestrained Straw Hat fanatic who named his ship the Going Luffy-senpai.
Key Takeaways
- Bartolomeo the Cannibal is a Super Rookie and captain of the Barto Club.
- He is captain of the second ship of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, formed after Dressrosa.
- He ate the Bari Bari no Mi, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.
- Barriers are created by crossing his fingers and are limited to one at a time.
- His barriers withstood Elizabello II’s King Punch, one of the tournament’s strongest attacks.
- The fruit previously belonged to Kurozumi Semimaru in Wano before returning to circulation.
- He was formerly a mob boss in the East Blue before becoming a pirate.
- Witnessing Luffy’s failed execution at Loguetown inspired him to go to sea.
- He won Block B of the Corrida Colosseum, competing for the Mera Mera no Mi on Luffy’s behalf.
- He defeated Vice Admiral Maynard and the Donquixote executive Gladius.
- His bounty rose from 150 million to 200 million berries after the Dressrosa arc.
- He is voiced by Shōtarō Morikubo in Japanese and Tyson Rinehart in the English dub.
