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Bao (バオ) is the bartender and owner of the Yellow Flag. He often feels harassed by the Lagoon Company, especially Revy, for messing up his bar whenever the Lagoon crew gets into a fight with another party and reminds Revy to pay for the damage she causes, which she always avoids doing.

Appearance[]

Bao is an adult Vietnamese man with a skinny build and tan skin. He has short, straight black hair and a pencil-thin mustache, and he is 170 centimeters (or 5'7") in height.[1] He wears a black bartender vest over a white dress shirt and black pants and shoes. He also has a tattoo on his right bicep. Additionally, Bao carries a Remington shotgun for self-defense.

Personality[]

Bao commonly expresses his feelings in a stern manner. He has great suspicion and indignation toward newcomers to the bar since they usually try to pry for new information. Bao himself usually stays quiet when mafia men come to the bar since he benefits from hearing new information which he can sell off to others.

Black Lagoon history[]

Bao is a former ARVN soldier who fought in the Vietnam War, eventually defecting from the ARVN in 1975[2] and escaping to Thailand. In Roanapur, he set up the Yellow Flag in 1978,[3] and the bar also took in fellow fugitive soldiers.[4] According to him, the Yellow Flag Bar has been partially trashed 15 times and totally destroyed 6 times as of mid 1996, many of the instances involving Revy.[3] Bao is a neutral man in Roanapur and accordingly provides information about the city's various crime syndicates to anyone who gives him money for it. Because of the constant gunfights and murders at the bar, Bao also frequently requests Sawyer the Cleaner's corpse disposal services to clean up any bloody aftermath.[5]

Black Lagoon[]

After Revy took Rock as a hostage, she, Dutch and Benny went to the Yellow Flag Bar to await further instructions for giving a stolen disk to Balalaika of Hotel Moscow. When Revy teased Rock about his alleged inability to hold his alcohol, he started a drinking contest with her, and both of them demanded Bao to bring them all the Bacardi that he had. As the two were drinking, mercenaries from the Extra Order company started shooting into the bar, forcing Bao and others to take cover.

When Revy jumped behind the counter as well, she noticed that the counter protected them well, which Bao confirmed by stating that he had the bar bulletproofed to even withstand .50 caliber rounds. As the shooting continued, Bao held onto his shotgun and shot one mercenary who tried to climb over the counter. Furious with her, he demanded that Revy deal with her "friends" or he would "weld [her] asshole shut and make a new one from [her] head," so Revy drew her double pistols and shot over a dozen mercenaries dead to help the Lagoon crew escape.[4]

Rasta Blasta[]

Sometime after the Extra Order's rampage, Bao had the damage to his bar repaired, and the Lagoon crew once more headed to the Yellow Flag Bar to complete their delivery of Garcia Lovelace to the Manisarera Cartel. While they waited at a table with the boy, Roberta arrived at the bar and sat at the counter. Bao was surprised by her maid outfit and told her that he did not sell milk since his business was a bar. When she asked him for information on the Manisarera Cartel, Bao slammed a glass of beer onto the counter for her and snapped back that he was not a tourist center.

Although calm on the outside, Roberta told Bao that her glass had a crack in it and wanted another one, shattering the glass with her hand. At that point, members of the Manisarera Cartel walked into the bar (in the anime, the Lagoon Company arrived at the bar after Roberta and the Cartel arrived there). The Manisarera thugs asked Roberta what she wanted with them, and she answered that she was a servant to the Lovelace Family and said she would have to be rude.[6]

Bao taking cover

Bao taking cover during the 1st cartel shootout

When the cartel members laughed, Roberta started shooting at them with her various weapons, angering Bao since he just had the place repaired. While hiding behind the counter, he saw Revy crawling away, making him shout at her since he thought that Roberta was another "friend" of hers. Immediately after Bao shouted at her, the Manisarera Cartel leader asked the Lagoon Company why they brought Garcia to the bar, causing Roberta to change her target to the Lagoon Company.

After Revy held Garcia at gunpoint, she started shooting at Roberta while running toward Bao, who frantically but angrily told her to screw off. As she jumped over the counter, Roberta fired a round which knocked Revy's body against the bar cupboards, knocking her unconscious. When Roberta became shocked that Garcia wanted to go away with the Lagoon Company, the remaining cartel members pointed their guns at her, so Roberta dropped several grenades from her dress, blowing up the bar and engulfing the bar in flames. After Roberta left to pursue Garcia's abductors, Bao knelt outside the bar crying. Unknown to him at that moment, Balalaika planned to have Hotel Moscow cover his damages.[7]

Bloodsport Fairy tale[]

When two more members of Hotel Moscow, Private First Class Sakharov and Corporal Menshov, got murdered, Balalaika offered a $50,000 bounty for finding the murderers. When Revy and Rock visited Bao's bar once again, the bartender told the two about the bounty. Revy and Rock talked about whom the murderers could possibly be, and Bao remarked that he did not care about the bounty and only wanted his bar to not be destroyed once more. Soon, Eda arrived at the bar to inform Revy about the bounty, but Bao told her that he already told Revy in addition to most people in town already knowing about the bounty, disappointing her. Nonetheless, Eda ordered a drink from Bao and paid him for it, recalling to Revy and Rock about the two murders at the Caribbean Bar that morning.[8]

Greenback Jane[]

Bao briefly appeared in this arc when Revy and Eda were at the bar and Eda tipped Bao for a drink, and Bao also appeared in the background when Russell hired many bounty hunters and gathered them at the Yellow Flag Bar to discuss the details of the wanted woman Jane.[9]

El Baile de la muerte / Roberta's Blood Trail[]

When rumor spread throughout Roanapur about sightings of Roberta, Revy and Rock were at the Yellow Flag Bar when Bao told them that some guys claimed that they saw Roberta, making the two think that he was joking. Afterward, they went back to Dutch to relay what Bao had said to them, and Bao called the Lagoon Company office soon after they got back. Dutch answered the phone, hearing an angry Bao demanding to know what Dutch knew. He advised Bao to calm down and explain what had happened, and Bao recollected that 30 minutes before calling, Roberta arrived at his bar while it was closed and asked him for a bottle of tequila. Completely scared of her, Bao gave her the entire bottle, which she drank quickly and then asked him for every shop that could help her wage a war. The terrified bartender then directed her to some places and she left, with Bao remarking to Dutch that he would have wet his pants if not for his steel bladder.

Dutch assured Bao that he had no information on Roberta's whereabouts or motivation in the city, adding that he promised to call back if he heard anything else. After the call, Dutch told Revy and Rock that he and Benny would meet them at the Yellow Flag later after asking his sources around town, so Revy and Rock went to the bar to talk to Bao. As Bao complained to the two that his bar had been destroyed 15 times, Biu Yuen and his men of the Hong Kong Triad exited from the brothel upstairs above the bar, telling Bao to call him back if he learned anything since no one in the brothel had any recent information on Roberta. Continuing their conversation, Bao stated to Rock and Revy that he did not like the look that he saw on Roberta's face, elaborating that he saw the same face in South Vietnam on a paratrooper lieutenant colonel who made a big decision while defending the Tan Son Nhut Air Base from the PAVN's last attack in the Vietnam War.

At that point, Gustavo and his men from the Colombian Cartel entered the bar, with Gustavo asking Bao for drinks for him and his men. As Gustavo and Revy exchanged information on Roberta, the maid Fabiola Iglesias walked into the bar, terrifying Bao since she wore the same maid outfit as Roberta.[2] After Fabiola explained that she sought out Rock and was grabbed up by José, she used her knife-armed shoe to stab José in the testicles, angering the Colombians. Bao angrily ordered everyone to take their fight outside, but Gustavo pointed a gun at his head, shutting Bao up as the Colombian leader ordered Hidalgo to search Fabiola. Just then, Bao noticed that Revy took a bottle of Bacardi, and she purposefully dropped it onto the ground to startle the men, allowing Fabiola to pull out her weapons. As a gunfight between the young maid and the Colombians ensued, Bao hid behind his counter and angrily asked Revy why she dropped the bottle, but she only responded that she was having fun.[10]

When Fabiola easily fought against the cartel members, the shocked Gustavo asked Bao for his phone, who refused to let him use it. Nonetheless, Gustavo fought with the bartender for control of the bar's telephone and called for reinforcements. In a panic, Gustavo ordered Marrero to point his machine gun at the bar and let loose, making the infuriated Bao cut the telephone's line. As the machine guns tore the bar apart, Fabiola still remained unharmed, surprising both Bao and Gustavo. Fabiola threatened the men to leave and take their wounded or she would kill them, and she fired a grenade from her China Lake Launcher at the machine-gun car outside, making the men flee.[11] Behind the counter, Gustavo asked Bao for a backdoor, to which the bartender snarkily replied that he already made plenty of doors with the gunfire. In the end, Revy forced Gustavo to leave, and Bao's bar was completely destroyed.[12]

Later when Rock agreed to help Fabiola and Garcia, they visited Bao, who was sitting in an inflated pool with some women outside the bar since it was closed until further repair. Madam Flora saw Rock and introduced herself to him, and Bao informed Rock that she was the manager of the brothel upstairs. Rock asked Bao if he was the first person whom Roberta visited, and Bao refused to talk further since he did not want anymore trouble for his bar. Rock said that his job was commissioned by the Hong Kong Triad, so Bao gave him the information on the condition that their conversation never happened. He recalled that when he refused to introduce Roberta to businesses around Roanapur, she crushed her glass and replied that she was not joking. Frightened, Bao directed her to Praiyachat, Tou Chi, and in particular recalled Doctor Hartland since he also remembered Roberta swallowing a bottle of pills as if it were candy. As Rock left, Bao asked him why Revy did not accompany him, and Rock answered that she was hanging out with Eda.[13]

The Wired Red Wild Card[]

When Jane returned to Roanapur, she met up with her boyfriend Benny at the Yellow Flag, with Bao feeling uncomfortable about Jane's sexual display of affection toward Benny. Bao told Jane that if she wanted to screw around with Benny, then she could rent one of the rooms above the bar for only $30 for one night, enticing Jane. Benny then warned Jane that if they did rent the room, then Bao would be selling their sex tape across town. Upon hearing this, Jane replied to Bao that he should be paying her if she was going to rent the room, confusing Benny and angering Bao.

Rock interrupted them to remind them that they needed to find Jane's assistant Feng Yifei, who would be arriving in the city soon. Jane remarked that Feng should be fine, but Bao responded that she was naïve for thinking that newcomers to Roanapur would not be spotted easily. When Benny asked for a photo of Feng to learn what she looks like, Jane showed a photo of Feng in a PLA uniform to Bao, Rock and Benny, surprising them.[14] Later when Revy took Feng to the Yellow Flag to talk, Bao's customers asked him why Revy's table had so much tension between the two women, but he merely commented that he did not care and advised them not to be curious either.[15]

Black Lagoon v11c92

Subsequently, Feng soon finished her decryption of emails between the PLA and a former Sigurimi official,[16] so Rock went to the Yellow Flag to meet up with Eda from the Rip-Off Church. While waiting for her, he asked Bao for a glass of Edradour. As Bao poured the drink, he asked Rock if he should even be at the bar since Revy was detained by the Roanapur City Police. Rock sipped his drink and asked Bao if he recently heard anything about the Italians, with Bao noting that his question was quite forward. Rock asked if it was the money, but Bao said it was the risk since the Italians were on edge. Rock asked if their trouble was with the Albanians, to which Bao wondered why Rock came to him if he already knew the information. He told Bao that he did not know why the feud was ongoing, reminding him that he knew him enough that he would pay him well for the information.

Subsequently, Bao explained that the Italians offered to launder the newcomer Albanian Mafia's gold as a gesture of goodwill, but the "washing machine" to launder the gold bullion somehow crashed and got lost, freaking out the Italians. As Rock asked another question about the machine, Eda entered the bar with Rico, and Bao listened to the three of them discuss Rock's request for the Rip-Off Church to free Revy from jail and to gather intelligence on the dealings between the Italians and Albanians.[17]

New Girl in the Hood[]

Rock drove Revy and Le Majeur to the bar after the latter woman had fulfilled the Lagoon Company's employment test. Inside, Revy ordered a glass of Bacardi, Majeur ordered a Singha, and Rock ordered a Macallan 12. Slamming down a can of beer, Bao rhetorically asked if Majeur was the lucky survivor of the hunters of Black men, which Revy smilingly confirmed. Although remarking that Balalaika was only feeling charitable, Bao agreed that Majeur had quite the luck. Revy stated that Majeur had a hard time finding a job while she was a pawn of Hotel Moscow, asking Bao if he had any jobs for her, to which he said that he could always use a bouncer. Majeur agreed and clarified that she could work if Hotel Moscow did not call for her, so Bao added that she could also clean up the place before opening time since his back had been killing him lately. When Majeur recommended that he changed the bar's music to something more cheerful, Bao expressed an irked face and remarked that last time he changed the music, another bar fight started.

As they continued talking, Eda, dressed in her casual outfit, walked in and leaned next to Majeur, asking if she was the sole survivor of Les Cinq Doigts. The two women began to insult each other until they pulled their guns on one another, and Revy intervened to tell them to settle their quarrel over drinks. Waving to Bao, Revy ordered several rounds for the women and had them engage in a drinking contest wherein the first person to pass out would lose. Seeing the drinking contest, several customers giddily shifted their attention onto the contest, but Bao told them that they had to put some money in to watch the spectacle. When the women began to drink, Bao turned his head to the ex-salaryman Rock and reminded him that he would have to take care of the women if they passed out, with Rock awkwardly agreeing.[18]

Other history[]

Ballad of the Sinful Wizard[]

In the 2nd official light novel Ballad of the Sinful Wizard, Bao was serving alcohol to Rock and Revy when the foreign American Tricia O'Sullivan arrived at the Yellow Flag. When Tricia went to the counter and asked for a glass of ginger ale, Bao looked at her with a mean look but nonetheless gave her the drink. To Bao's annoyance, Lotton started a fight with two Budaibang gangsters, Feng and Dun, when they attempted to abduct Tricia. As a result, the two men fired their guns recklessly around the bar until Revy shot them both dead.[19] After Tricia and Lotton left the bar, the irked Bao called for Sawyer the Cleaner to clean up the corpses. When Sawyer arrived and briefly listened to Rock and Revy recall the incident, Revy finished by asking Bao if she could get free drinks for stopping the men. Irritated by the whole situation and Revy's involvement, Bao grumpily told Revy that the only reward she would get was not being banned from his bar.[5]

Later, the Budaibang gangster Lu Tao visited the bar upon realizing that his two men did not return from the bar during their search for Tricia. Noticing that the bar looked like it had a bloody mess cleaned up, Lu Tao tried to ask Bao about the fight, but Bao ignored him and refused to say anything.[20] About a day later after he arranged a ransom exchange for Tricia's life, Rock went to the bar an hour before the deal was to go through, ordering a high amount of Bacardi from Bao due to the stress of his gamble. As he drank heavily, Eda visited the bar to check on information leaks since she, unknown to Rock, was the person who agreed to buy Tricia back from him. Bao interrupted her playful inquiry with Rock by asking her what she wanted to drink, so she pointed at Rock's glass. When Rock left 15 minutes before the ransom time, Eda stayed and asked Bao for another glass, but he refused her request, reminding her that Sister Yolanda would know if she drank too much.[21]

After Rock managed to escape the deal alive and Eda could not kill him but saw that his ransom was a bluff, he went to the bar and began heavily drinking, ordering at least 5 glasses of alcohol from Bao. At his side, Revy recommended that Bao give him a glass of water, to which Bao responded with a stern grumble. Bao then stood by as Revy and Rock discussed the latter's recent actions and mistakes, and Eda arrived at the bar and happily greeted them, with Bao giving her a bottle of Trois Riviere. The Vietnamese bartender then kept an eye on them as the three drank for the rest of the night.[22]

Gore Gore Girl[]

Bao has been briefly seen a few times in the spinoff series Dismemberment Galore! The Gore Gore Girl. In volume 1, although the bartender was not physically seen, Lotton was heard asking Bao for a glass of milk straight from the bottle.[23] In volume 2, it was shown that the Roanapur City Police had investigated the massacre at the Yellow Flag after Roberta had visited the bar for the first time and killed the cartel members. Sawyer the Cleaner herself arrived on Bao's request to clean up the mess, and he wished her luck on completing the job.[24] In volume 4, Bao was cleaning glasses from his shelf while he heard Revy and Eda conversing and insulting one another.[25] Later when three police officers visited the bar and drank at the counter, Bao heard them talk about a missing key while he was cleaning a glass.[26]

Trivia[]

  • In a popularity contest released during the May/June 2008 issue of Monthly Sunday Gene-X, Bao ranked 15th with an unspecified number of votes.[27]
  • In a popularity contest during the 10th manga collection release, Bao ranked 18th with 74 votes.[28]
  • In a popularity contest during the 12th manga collection release, Bao ranked 21st with 100 votes.[29]
  • Bao's Japanese voice actor, Shirō Saitō, also voices the narrator in the Black Lagoon omake.

References[]

  1. His height is shown on the anime character settei; see the "Other" section on Bao/Image Gallery.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Chapter 45: El Baile de la muerte Part 2
  3. 3.0 3.1 Episode 25: Collateral Massacre
  4. 4.0 4.1 Episode 01: The Black Lagoon
  5. 5.0 5.1 Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Frederica Sawyer)
  6. Episode 08: Rasta Blasta
  7. Episode 09: Maid to Kill
  8. Chapter 11: Bloodsport Fairy tale Part 1
  9. Episode 16: Greenback Jane
  10. Chapter 46: El Baile de la muerte Part 3
  11. Chapter 47: El Baile de la muerte Part 4
  12. Chapter 48: El Baile de la muerte Part 5
  13. Chapter 52: El Baile de la muerte Part 9
  14. Chapter 77: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 1
  15. Chapter 83: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 7
  16. Chapter 91: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 15
  17. Chapter 92: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 16
  18. Chapter 115: New Girl in the Hood Part 2
  19. Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Tricia O'Sullivan)
  20. Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Budaibang: Lu Tao)
  21. Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Edith Blackwater: 5)
  22. Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Rebecca Lee)
  23. Gore Gore Girl Chapter 02: The Shadow Over Roanapur
  24. Gore Gore Girl Chapter 14: Gloomy Sunday
  25. Gore Gore Girl Chapter 22: IRON MAIDEN
  26. Gore Gore Girl Chapter 24: cursed
  27. https://sundaygx.com/blacklagoon/contest/
  28. http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest/
  29. http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest_12/
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