B.J.

— B.J. introducing himself to Sanjou Ichiri.

**Bernardo Joker** (ベルナルド・ジョーカー, *Berunarudo Jokaa*), better known as "**B.J.**", is a member of Lança Mortal, Sanjou Ichiri's "captor," and the main antagonist of the story. A cruel man without expressions or emotions, he will do anything to achieve his personal goal.

## Appearance

B.J. is a unique-looking individual with dark skin, a noticeably muscular physique, piercing eyes and his black hair set in a distinct style that sticks out in multiple distinct spikes; he is noted for almost always having a starkly expressionless face. B.J. also has a prosthetic left foot after it was chopped off below the knee by the current boss of Lança Mortal, in revenge for kidnapping him and his daughter. Rarely, he was seen with his hair down after rough confrontations.

Image Gallery

## Personality

Due to the upbringing he had in his adoptive family and the words his adoptive father said to him, B.J. lives his life under the belief that he will be fine as long as someone takes a "shorter end of the stick" than him. In general, he rarely expresses himself and barely shows emotions. He made it clear he dislikes Ichiri's begging to see her parents, calling it "boring haggling". However, when he is cornered against foes or if his plans does not go according to him, he can become extremely violent and this can even evolve into a rage akin to pure savagery. He would even act like a savage animal when cornered against a stronger foe than himself.

B.J. is a quite an eccentric man: he will talk to himself in public or narrate sound effects. He is also very ruthless, he will not hesitate to kill or take advantage of anyone he can to achieve his goals. Joker also has a sadistic and cruel side, as seen when he enjoying taking a picture with Pedro and Aruna being hostages and sending the picture to Ichiri, much to her dismay. When presenting the B.J. Panels, he enjoyed explaining everything to Ichiri about sending a part of either Aruna or Pedro in a mailbox.

Surprisingly, B.J. seems to be quite superstitious on ghosts, doubting on the existence of spirits but is clearly afraid of the undead when mentioned: an example is whenever he encounters Shuma Rei, he started to sweat and tremble in fear; even repeating to himself ghosts are not real several times.

## Biography

### Past & Youth

He was adopted by a wealthy family when he was young; he had an adopted brother as well, named Antonio, who the family eventually preferred. B.J. killed his adoptive brother and started his life as a gangster after the event.

As a child, B.J. was known as "the beast child who lacks expression." B.J. was told by a prophet that if he does not change his ways he will eventually be killed by someone similar to him.

### Present Time & Revenge Plan

Fueled by his hatred against his boss for having his left leg cut off, he decided to capture Icchi and make her strong enough so that she could participate and make her win the Inheritance War that her biological father set up. This desire was due to B.J. wanting the money because that was the only thing that comforted him after his allies and organization destroyed him.

## Abilities

### Mental Abilities

Bernado is known for being intelligent but also cunning and tactical at certain moments.

### Physical Abilities

He is also shown immense physical abilities all thanks to training his body, often seen doing handstand push-ups.

### Fighting Style

B.J. has displayed a large amount of knowledge on capoeira, to the point his style is completely different from Angola, Regional and Contemporânea. He's also a capoeirista who does not hesitate to use dirty tactics, surprise attacks and deception during his fights.

## Relationships

* Aruna & Pedro: He was disappointed with the two of them after they betrayed him and took Icchi into hiding. Bernado stated he really trusted both as close friends, to the point he was crying when explaining his frustration on the betrayal. Despite this, B.J. shows a benevolent side and gives them food and new clothing at times.
* Obalu: A very hairy old man who works for B.J. as his personal henchman/assistant. Somehow similar to Mestre Buscapé in appearance but far more skinny and without emotions. Obalu rarely speaks and retains an eerie expression on his face, yet he is extremely loyal to B.J.
* Sanjou Ichiri: B.J. sees her as a means to an end, but looks after her wellbeing as she is his ticket to earning a lot of money. Though he secretly considers Icchi, Pedro and Aruna his "family." He nearly knows everything about Ichiri, even when she is lying or not.
* Sanjou Isao: He holds an intense grudge against Isao and the organization for torturing him and cutting off his leg. The Inheritance War is also be his way of getting his revenge against Isao.
* Shuma Rei: After a kerfuffle, he took interest toward the young girl's personality and skills in capoeira. B.J. would also acknowledge her as a new member for the B.J. Workshop but their alliance did not lasted long after Rei learned the true nature of Bernardo's plans and betrayed him.
* Obe Nobunari: B.J. and Obe had a temporary alliance against Mèng Yán. Obe still doubts the nature of B.J. and possibly aware of B.J. using him as a pawn for his greater plan, though he was very interested upon hearing Sanjou Ichiri was willing to defeat Tetsuma which could lead to the fall of Ogun Union's leader.

## Quotes

— Joker to Pedro and Aruna.

— B.J. explaining his wicked plan to Pedro and Aruna.

## Notes & Trivia

* He owns a bar named "Bar B.J." where all of the staff are made to sport the same hairstyle as him and all refer to themselves as "B.J.", since B.J. is not a person but a symbol.
* Bernardo Joker cutting Pedro and Aruna's fingers is similar to the Japanese punishment ritual known as Yubitsume (or *otoshimae* in some cases), which is only performed in modern days by the Yakuza.
* He sleeps upside down to avoid damaging his hair. There is a hole in his bed for him to put his face in. He also sleeps naked.
	+ B.J.'s hairstyle is based on a real African hairstyle.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 18 (page 1)
2. ↑ Chapter 29 (pages 15-16)
3. ↑ Chapter 48 (page 2)
4. ↑ Chapter 48 (page 7)
5. ↑ Chapter 46 (page 12)
6. ↑ Chapter 29 (page 17)
7. ↑ Chapter 46 (page 3)
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/oshitokosa/status/1280257505810018305/photo/1