One Piece: Eiichiro Oda Revealed Which Devil Fruits Zoro, Sanji, and Nami Would’ve Received in an Alternate Storyline
The One Piece universe stretches across decades and the lore has become so vast that it is impossible to store new information. That is where the SBS comes in with its exclusive information from Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.
Every One Piece volume has an SBS segment where Oda responds to fan messages in between chapters. Even though he often responds to fan inquiries in a lighthearted or humorous manner, he also shares some fascinating information regarding the setting and characters of One Piece.
Which Devil Fruits Would Have Nami, Zoro, and Sanji Eaten?
In Volume 98 of SBS for One Piece, Oda revealed what Devil Fruits would fit Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Franky in an alternate storyline. According to him, Nami would have consumed the Rumble-Rumble Fruit which lets the user wield lightning powers. This is a good fit for her fighting tool, Clima-tact which can create controlled bursts of lightning during a battle.
Oda shares in the Vol. 98 SBS what devil fruits he would like to see the Straw Hats who don't have one already eat pic.twitter.com/dPxlR2YE57
— Artur – Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) February 3, 2021
Zoro and Sanji’s Fruits, on the other hand, have less of a direct relationship with their personas. Sanji would receive the Swim-Swim Fruit, which allows its user to swim through solid objects like the ground, while Zoro would receive Kaido’s potent Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, which allows its user to transform into a dragon.
The other two crew members’ fruits were considerably more in line with their personalities than Zoro and Sanji’s. The Pocket-Pocket Fruit that Usopp would obtain would give his body an endless supply of pockets—ideal for a sharpshooter like him who needs extra space to stash his ammunition. Franky would obtain the Arms-Arms Fruit, which would allow him to transform any part of his body into a weapon, befitting a cyborg who can already transform sections of his body into weapons.
Why Did Zoro and Sanji Get Such Different Devil Fruits?
It all boils down to the characters’ inherent power levels, which is why Zoro and Sanji’s fruits are less suitable for them. Since they are both already excellent warriors, they don’t require the additional abilities that a Devil Fruit would provide.
Oda argues that the fruit he chose for Zoro would actually be for his sword rather than Zoro because it would be wonderful if his sword could transform into a dragon. This is probably the reason why Oda chose not to give Jinbe, the final Straw Hat without a Fruit, a Devil Fruit. Even so, the Seraphim-based Jinbe demonstrated how, using the Swim-Swim Fruit, he could surpass One Piece’s power levels.
Why Don’t All Straw Hat Pirates Have Devil Fruits?
Even though devil fruits are extremely powerful, the Straw Hats have so far been able to keep a healthy ratio of fruit users to non-fruit users. Although there have been crews like Roger’s who had no devil fruit users and crews like Blackbeard’s who only have powerful Devil Fruit users, the Straw Hats strike a balance between the two.
This is probably for the benefit of one Monkey D. Luffy who lost his ability to swim after consuming the Nika fruit and hence it is important to have crew members who can save him if the need arises. As fun as it is to imagine a world where all Straw Hats have powerful Devil Fruits, it would seem out-of-character and their difficult backstories wouldn’t amount to anything if they easily gained powers from the Devil Fruits.
