Important takeaways
- Certain 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 consuming a Devil Fruit.
- Eating a devil fruit would undermine the character growth, fighting style, and effectiveness of characters like Koby, Shanks, and Franky.
Devil's Fruits is the signature power system of 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 never should.
Several key people in One Piece the world has built their entire identity around their mastery of another power system, such as Haki or Rokushiki, and eating a Devil Fruit would therefore go against their established character. On top of that, they also give their users a debilitating weakness to water, which can be a major drawback 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)
Members of the Mink Tribe have two effective weapons in their arsenal: their electro ability and their Sulong transformation, so most of them do not need to consume a Devil Fruit 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 a special mink, Bepodo 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 it has allowed Bepo to save his captain, Trafalgar Law, by swimming away into the ocean. So a Devil Fruit would just negate all of that.
7 Dracule Mihawk
What would be the point of being the strongest swordsman?
- First appearance: Chapter 49 (Manga) Episode 23 (Anime)
Dracule Mihawk has been established as the “strongest swordsman” of all One Piece world ever since the first story arcs of the series. He certainly stayed true to this prestigious title, as his skills with a sword are second to none, as he can cut through huge battleships or icebergs with no problem.
Mihawk can also use Haki, but he does not rely on it when fighting, unlike Shanks and other similar swordsmen of close skill level. It's clear that he 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.
6 Monkey D. Garp
He became the hero of the Marines without one
- First appearance: Chapter 92 (Manga) Episode 68 (Anime)
There is no doubt about that Monkey D. Garp is one of the strongest figures in One Piece since he defeated the infamous Rocks D. Xebec (with the help of Gol D. Roger) and earned the title “Hero of the Marines”. After that, he continued to detain dangerous pirates and even began mentoring younger marines, such as Koby and Helmeppo.
With a combination of immense physical strength, Rokushiki techniques, and the three types of Haki, Garp is an absolute beast in battle and has managed to pull off impressive feats, such as his powerful Galaxy Impact, which completely wiped out most of Hachinosu. Garp has come this far without even thinking about eating a Devil Fruit, so he certainly doesn't need one now.
5 Koby
It would go against his inspiring character growth
- First appearance: Chapter 2 (Manga) Episode 1 (Anime)
No character in One Piece has grown as much as Koby: 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 mighty Honesty Impact. It's immediately obvious that Koby is Garp's protégé, and he shares a similar fighting style with his master.
What is particularly important about Koby is that he also worked extremely hard to get to where he is today, and eating the Devil Fruit would reduce the effect of his character's growth and development. Of course, Devil Fruit users still have to put a lot of effort into their fighting and training (with Monkey D. Luffy being a clear example of this), but Koby wouldn't benefit from eating 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 powers, and he would never have been able to earn and keep this title if it wasn't for his impeccable Haki skills, which have always been so powerful 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 menacing enemies with crazy Devil Fruit powers, like Big Mom or Kaido, Shank's main role in the story is now to prove how far a Haki master can go. His crushing victories over Ryokugyu and Kid revealed that he has complete mastery of the three types, and there is probably no one else in the world as efficient at using Haki as he is. All of this means that Shanks not only shouldn't eat a devil fruit, but he was practically written to never need one.
3 Frankie
He already has his advanced cyborg technology
- First appearance: Chapter 329 (Manga) Episode 233 (Anime)
When it comes to the Straw Hat Pirates, Eiichiro Oda has managed to achieve an almost perfect balance, as only 4 out of 10 members of this crew have eaten a Devil Fruit. And while there's an argument that could be made that some of them will eventually eat one, there are others who should never, with Frankie is one of the clearest examples.
The point of Franky as a character is to introduce cyborgs to the story and to show what a smart and talented engineer can accomplish with cutting edge technology. He already has a springy metal body, many weapons, and he can even control a giant mech, so he wouldn't benefit from a Devil Fruit anyway. Oddly enough, Franky is one of the few characters who said he doesn't want to eat a devil fruit because Luffy offered him the Mera Mera no Mi during the Dressrosa arc, but he rejected it because he doesn't want to lose it. ability to swim.
2 Wine smoke Sanji
He is a skilled swimmer with superhuman abilities
- First appearance: Chapter 43 (Manga) Episode 20 (Anime)
It has been established Sanji is one of the best swimmers among the Straw Hat Pirates, and he 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 because it would eliminate one of his most useful abilities.
Not to mention that the powers of a devil fruit won't even give him an edge in battle, as Sanji can already perform many impressive techniques without one: he was already a skilled martial artist, and he could even set his legs on fire with his mortal Diable Jiambe. On top of that, he recently awakened the genetic modifications in his body, making him even faster, stronger, and more resilient.
1 Jinbe
It would literally destroy his entire character and fighting style
- First appearance: 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 hindered by the possibility of eating Devil Fruit, as proven by the only two examples in the series, Vander 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, meaning his position always puts him too close to sea water for this to be a major weakness.
In addition to that, 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 nullify the effective fighting style he has used for many years. There would be zero benefits for Jinbe if he had Devil Fruit abilities, and it's certain that he will reach the end of the series without eating one.
