Key conclusions
- Some characters in One Piece should never eat Devil Fruit due to their established identities, skills, and weaknesses.
- Characters such as Bepo, Dracula Mihawk, and Monkey D. Garp possess unique powers and abilities that would be nullified by the consumption of the Devil Fruit.
- Eating a devil fruit would undermine the character development, fighting style, and effectiveness of characters like Kobe, Shanks, and Frankie.
Devil fruit are a proprietary power system One Pieceand anyone who eats one of them will automatically gain a strange but useful superpower. However, these mysterious fruits are very rare, and not every important character in the series has had the opportunity to eat them. And some of them should never do it.
Several key figures in the One Piece of the world have built their entire identity around their mastery of a different food system, such as Haki or Rokushiki, and thus eating a devil fruit goes against their established character. In addition, they also give their users a debilitating weakness to water, which can be a huge detriment in this vast semi-aquatic world. The following characters must never consume one of these strange fruits.
8 Bepo
This mink has a huge advantage over its fellows
- First appearance: Chapter 498 (Manga) Episode 392 (Anime)
The members of the Mink tribe have two effective weapons in their arsenal: Electro ability and Sulong transformation, so most of them do not need to use Devil Fruit to fight their opponents. However, Sulong can be very unreliable as it only activates when there is a full moon in the night sky. But one particular mink, Bepodoes not have this problem.
Thanks to Tony Tony Chopper, Bepo has access to medicine that can activate his Sulong form regardless of the position of the moon. Combined with his solid martial arts skills, this transformation is very effective, not to mention it allowed Bepo to save his captain, Trafalgar Law, by swimming into the sea. So a devil fruit will only negate all of that.
7 Dracula Mihawk
What's the point of being the strongest swordsman?
- First appearance: Chapter 49 (Manga) Episode 23 (Anime)
Dracula Mihawk was recognized as the “Strongest Swordsman” in the entire world One Piece world since the first story arcs of the series. He has certainly stayed true to this prestigious title because his swordsmanship skills are second to none as he can slice through huge battleships or icebergs with no problem.
Mihawk can also use Haki, but he doesn't depend on it during combat, unlike Shanks and other similar swordsmen of a close skill level. He had obviously worked hard to achieve this, so eating a Devil Fruit would completely undermine his efforts and cost him his title as the strongest swordsman. It would be like cheating.
6 Monkey D. Harp
He became a Marine Corps hero without one
- First appearance: Chapter 92 (Manga) Episode 68 (Anime)
There is no doubt about it Monkey D. Harp is one of the strongest figures in the One Piece as he defeated the infamous Rox D. Xebek (with help from Gol D. Roger) and earned the title of “Hero of the Marine Corps.” After that, he continued to apprehend dangerous pirates and even started mentoring young marines like Coby and Helmeppo.
With a combination of immense physical strength, Rokushiki techniques, and three types of Haki, Garp is an absolute beast in battle and has managed to pull off impressive feats such as his powerful Galactic Strike that completely destroyed most of Hachinose. Garp had come this far without even thinking about eating a devil fruit, so he certainly didn't need it now.
5 Kobe
This would go against the growth of his inspirational character
- First appearance: Chapter 2 (manga) episode 1 (anime)
There is no character One Piece grew up just like Kobe: he went from a weak kid who wanted to join the marines to a heroic marine captain who is so strong that he can even destroy part of an island with his powerful honesty kick. It's immediately apparent that Kobi is Garp's protégé and shares a similar fighting style with his master.
What is particularly important about Kobe is that he has also worked very hard to get to where he is today, and eating the devil fruit will lessen the impact on his growth and character development. Of course, Devil Fruit users still have to put in a lot of effort in fighting and training (Monkey D. Luffy being a prime example of that), but it wouldn't do Kobe any good to eat it at this point.
4 lower legs
He is already one of the most skilled haki users in the series
- First appearance: Chapter 1 (manga) episode 4 (anime)
“Red Hair” lower legs is the only emperor in One Piece without any Devil Fruit powers, and he would never have been able to earn and keep that title if it wasn't for his impeccable Haki skills, which were always so powerful that even Whitebeard himself recognized him for them. This is all to be expected from someone who trained under Gol D. Roger.
After Luffy faced a lot of menacing enemies with crazy Devil Fruit powers like Big Mom or Kaido, Shanks' main role in this story is to prove how far the Haki master can go. His crushing victories over the Ryokugyu and Kid showed that he has full command of the three types, and there is perhaps no one in the world who uses Haki as effectively as him. All of this means that not only does Shanks not have to eat the Devil Fruit, he has little or no need for it.
3 Frankie
He already has advanced Cyborg technology
- First appearance: Chapter 329 (Manga) Episode 233 (Anime)
When it comes to the Straw Hat Pirates, Eiichiro Oda has managed to strike a near perfect balance as only 4 out of 10 members of this team have eaten a Devil Fruit. And while there's an argument to be made that some will eventually eat one, there are others who should never do so, with Frankie being one of the most striking examples.
The point of Frankie as a character is to introduce the cyborgs to the story and show what a smart and talented engineer can achieve with advanced technology. He already has a flexible metal body, a variety of weapons, and can even control a giant mech, so the Devil Fruit won't do him any good anyway. Interestingly, Franky is one of the few characters who has stated that he doesn't want to eat a Devil Fruit since Luffy offered him the Mera Mera no Mi during the Dress Rose Arc, but he turned it down because he didn't want to lose the ability to swim
2 Sanji's Windsmoke
He is an accomplished swimmer with superhuman abilities
- First appearance: Chapter 43 (Manga) Episode 20 (Anime)
It is established that Sanji is one of the best swimmers among the Straw Hat Pirates, and was often the first member of the crew to jump into the water to save Luffy or Chopper from drowning. It would be a shame if he ever ate a devil fruit, as it would rob him of one of his most useful abilities.
Not to mention that the devil fruit's abilities wouldn't even give him an advantage in battle, as Sanji can already perform many impressive tricks without it: he was already an accomplished martial artist and could even put his feet on fire with his deadly Diable Jiambe. Additionally, he recently awakened genetic modifications in his body that made him even faster, stronger, and more resilient.
1 Jinbe
It would literally ruin his entire character and fighting style
- First appearance: Chapter 528 (Manga) Episode 430 (Anime)
Fishmen and Merfolk are their innate amphibious abilities, and thus any member of those races would be put off by the prospect of eating a Devil Fruit, as proven by the only 2 examples in the series, Wander Decken IX and Jack. Jinbe is no exception, as he is inevitably the most skilled swimmer of the Straw Hat Pirates. He is also the helmsman of the crew, which means his position always puts him too close to the ocean water for it to be a major weakness.
In addition, Jinbei is also a master of Fishman Karate and Fishman Jujutsu, two unique martial arts that rely on his ability to swim and manipulate water. So this weakness to water completely nullifies the effective fighting style he's been using for years. If he had Devil Fruit abilities, Jinbei would be of no use, and it's safe to say he'll reach the end of the series without eating a single one.
