bon clay

Baroque Works was a criminal syndicate created by the Warlord Crocodile to destabilize and conquer the Arabasta Kingdom (and, by extension, acquire the ancient superweapon Pluton). For this sole purpose, it conducted countless acts of espionage, sabotage, and murder over a span of years, ultimately manipulating Arabasta into civil war.

While the syndicate mostly employed common bounty hunters and mercenaries (motivated by the half-truth that they were building a new, "ideal" nation), its elite members contained significantly skilled combatants and spies. Despite multiple setbacks, its endgame Operation Utopia nearly succeeded in every objective, and was only narrowly stopped by the combined efforts of Princess Nefertari Vivi, the Straw Hat Pirates, and a unit of Marines led by then-Captain Smoker.

After Operation Utopia's failure, the syndicate was exposed and dismantled, with Crocodile and most of his subordinates—many personally defeated by the Straw Hats—arrested by the Marines. In years to come, however, many of them would escape and continue to impact world events.

Due to their actions and role, they are collectively the main antagonists of the Arabasta Saga, with varying members being the focus of each individual arc (excluding the Drum Island Arc). Several ex-members also serve as the protagonists of the Miss Goldenweek's "Operation: Meet Baroque Works" cover arc, and supporting characters in the Impel Down Arc and Marineford Arc.

Bentham is a relatively tall male crossdresser who wears flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme. He generally dresses in a pink overcoat and blue medieval garments. He wears heavy makeup, and he often sports a distinct wide grin, which often carries over when he changes his appearance. His legs, being exposed, are hairy. Underneath these clothes, his physique is relatively muscular, as seen during the Impel Down Arc, possibly as a result of his training in Okama Kenpo.

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 the number "2". When he was impersonating Nefertari Cobra, he wore the king's robes and sandals. The back of his overcoat bears the characters for his credo, the Okama Way (おかま道?).

During Miss Goldenweek's "Operation: Meet Baroque Works", he wears a dark suit with a dress shirt covered in 2's underneath with dark pants. Later in the cover story, he wears Mr. 3's attire, which is a dark hoodie with two number 3's on it, striped pants that only extend a little bit past the knee, and light-colored shoes.

Later, in Impel Down, he wears a striped, rag-like prisoner's outfit. He also wore Hannyabal's headdress and pants when he was disguised as him. After entering Level 5.5, he wore bandages on his arms, abdomen, and neck, and purple pants that cut off below his knees and black boots. When he let his fellow prisoners escape, he was disguised as Magellan, wearing his coat and pants.

Two years later, when he becomes the new Queen of Newkama Land, he is shown wearing a slightly different version of his ballet clothes with some features such as bigger wings and furry collar.

Bentham has a flamboyant attitude, which includes singing, dancing, and spinning, much to the annoyance of the other Officer Agents. Despite being an assassin, he prioritizes friendship above all else.

He's the only higher up that lacks a female partner of the same rank. Possibly because he believes he is both male and female, probably due to his powers and lifestyle as a self-proclaimed okama, despite never actually wearing women's clothing besides the makeup smeared on his face. He is assigned both a number and a holiday for his code name.

As opposed to the ideas of his fellow agents, Mr. 1 and Mr. 5, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei much values friendship as evidenced by his selfless sacrifice to allow the Straw Hats to escape Arabasta when Captain Hina ambushed them. Later, he once again attacked Hina to save Miss Valentine, and finally, he risked his life to open the Gates of Justice for everyone in Impel Down.

This also shows that he is incredibly selfless and righteous, and is extremely proud of himself for it (telling Magellan he had no regrets for his sacrifice). He will often motivate such actions by saying that abandoning his companions goes against "the okama way". This did not hinder him from attacking Vivi during the face-off at Alubarna, though.

He always finishes a sentence with a "wa yo," which in Japanese reflects a feminine (if assertive) speech pattern. He also often says, "Jodan janai wa yo!" (冗談じゃないわよ, Jōdan janai wa yo?, translates as "It's not a joke!" or "Not joking around!") as his catchphrase. He also says "Un Deux Trois" (one, two, three in French) while asking others what four is. According to himself, his favorite word is vague.