Key things
- Some characters in One Piece should never eat Devil Fruits due to their established identities, skills, and weaknesses.
- Characters like Bepo, Dracule Mihawk, and Monkey D. Garp have unique strengths and abilities that would be negated by eating Devil Fruit.
- Eating devil fruit would undermine the character growth, fighting style, and effectiveness of characters like Koby, Shanks, and Franky.
Devil fruit are a signature power system One pieceand anyone who eats one of them automatically gains a strange but useful superpower. However, these mysterious fruits are very rare and not every major character in the series has had the opportunity to eat one. And some of them should never do it.
Several key characters in One piece world have built their entire identity on mastering another energy system like Haki or Rokushiki, so eating devil fruit would go against their established nature. 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 should never consume one of these bizarre fruits.
8 Bepo
This mink has a huge advantage over its brothers
- First appearance: Chapter 498 (Manga) Episode 392 (Anime)
The members of the Nork tribe have two powerful weapons in their arsenal: the ability of electro and the Sulong transformation, so most of them do not need to consume devil fruits in order to fight their opponents. However, Sulong can be quite 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 a drug 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 allowing Bepo to save his captain Trafalgar Law by swimming out to sea. So a devil fruit would just nullify all of that.
7 Dracula Mihawk
What would be the point of being the strongest swordsman?
- First appearance: Chapter 49 (Manga) Episode 23 (Anime)
Dracula Mihawk he was established as the “Strongest Swordsman” of the unit One piece world since the first story arcs of the series. He certainly stayed true to this prestigious title as his swordsmanship is unparalleled as he can cut through huge battleships or icebergs with no problem.
Mihawk can also use Haki, but is not reliant on it in combat, unlike Shanks and other similar swordsmen at near skill level. It was obvious that he had worked hard to get there, so eating a devil fruit would completely undermine his efforts and make his title of Strongest Swordsman lose all meaning. It would feel like cheating to me.
6 Monkey D. Garp
He became a Marine Corps hero without one
- First appearance: Chapter 92 (Manga) Episode 68 (Anime)
There is no doubt about it Monkey D. Garp is one of the strongest characters One piece ever since he defeated the infamous Rocks D. Xebec (with help from Gol D. Roger) and earned the title “Hero of the Marines”. He then held back dangerous pirates and even began mentoring younger sailors such as Koby 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 been able to perform impressive feats such as his mighty impact on the galaxy that completely wiped out most of the Hachinos. Garp had gotten this far without even thinking about eating a devil fruit, so he definitely didn't need it now.
5 Koby
It would go against his inspiring character growth
- First appearance: Chapter 2 (Manga) Episode 1 (Anime)
No character One piece he grew up just like Koby: from a weak kid who wanted to join the marines to a heroic sea captain who is so strong that he can destroy part of an island with his powerful Honesty Impact. It is immediately apparent that Koby is Garp's protégé and shares a similar fighting style with his master.
What's particularly important about Koby is that he also worked extremely hard to get to where he is today, and consuming a Devil Fruit would lessen the impact on his character growth and development. Of course, Devil Fruit users still have to put a lot of effort into fighting and training (with Monkey D. Luffy being a clear example of that), but it wouldn't do Koby any good to eat one at this point.
4 Shanks
He is already one of the most skilled Haki users in the series
- First appearance: Chapter 1 (Manga) Episode 4 (Anime)
“Red Hair” Shanks is the only emperor in One piece without any devil fruit abilities and would never have been able to obtain and maintain this title if not for his perfect Haki abilities which were always so strong that even Whitebeard himself recognized him for them. All this is expected from someone who trained under Gol D. Roger himself.
After Luffy faced so many formidable foes with insane Devil Fruit powers like Big Mom or Kaido, Shanks' main role in the story is now to prove how far the Haki master can go. His crushing victories over Ryokugyu and Kid revealed that he has a perfect command of the three types and there is probably no one else in the world who is as efficient at using Haki as he is. All of this means that Shanks not only shouldn't eat Devil Fruit, but that he was practically written so that he never needed to.
3 Franks
He already has his advanced cyborg technology
- First appearance: Chapter 329 (Manga) Episode 233 (Anime)
When it comes to the Straw Pirates, Eiichiro Oda was able to achieve an almost perfect balance as only 4 out of 10 of this crew ate devil fruit. And while there's an argument to be made for some of them eventually, there are others who should never do it. Franks is one of the most concrete examples.
The point of Franky as a character is to bring cyborgs into the story and show what a smart and talented engineer can achieve with cutting edge technology. He already has a durable metal body, numerous weapons, and can even pilot a giant mecha, so he wouldn't benefit from devil fruit anyway. Strangely, Franky is one of the few characters who has stated that he doesn't want to eat Devil Fruit since Luffy offered him the Mera Mera no Mi during the Dressrosa Arc, but he refused because he doesn't want to lose his ability to swim.
2 Vinsmoke Sanji
He is a skilled swimmer with superhuman powers
- First performance: Chapter 43 (Manga) Episode 20 (Anime)
It was found that Sanji he is one of the best swimmers among the Straw Pirates and was often the first crew member to jump into the water to save Luffy or Chopper from drowning. It would be a shame if he ever ate a devil fruit because it would disable one of his most useful abilities.
Not to mention that the Devil Fruit's powers won't even give him an edge in battle, as Sanji can already perform a lot of impressive techniques without it: he was already a proficient martial artist and could even build his legs. on fire with his deadly Devil Jiambo. In addition, he recently awakened genetic modifications in his body that made him even faster, stronger and more durable.
1 Jinbe
It would literally destroy his entire character and fighting style
- First performance: Chapter 528 (Manga) Episode 430 (Anime)
Fish-Men and Merfolk are all about their innate amphibious abilities, and thus any member of those races would be deterred by the prospect of consuming Devil Fruit, as shown in only 2 examples in the series, Vander Decken IX and Jack. Jinbe is no exception, as he is inevitably the Straw Hat Pirates' most skilled swimmer. He is also the helmsman of the crew, meaning his position always puts him too close to ocean water to be a major weakness.
In addition, Jinbe is also a master of Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu, two unique martial arts that rely on his ability to swim and manipulate water. So this weakness to water would completely invalidate the effective fighting style he has used for many years. There would be zero benefits for Jinbe if he had Devil Fruit powers, and he's sure to make it to the end of the streak without eating one.
