Different ways to defeat Logia Devil Fruit users

Summary

• Logia devil fruit users are challenging to beat due to their ability to change their bodies, making them untouchable in battle.

• Devil fruit users are vulnerable to the sea and lose their powers on contact. Seastone can mimic this effect and weaken them.

• Using natural counters, Haki and Seastone weapons are effective tactics against logia users, showing the fairness of One Piece's power system.

Of the three types of Devil Fruits i One Piece—Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan—The logia are by far the most challenging to deal with in a battle. The reason is simply because logia users can change their bodies to follow the nature of their devil fruit powers. This is why Kizaru can turn into light, Smoker can turn into smoke, and Crocodile can turn his body into sand.

As you can see, it's hard to hit someone when you can't even touch them. Luffy can punch Kizaru as hard as he can, but that punch will just slide through his body and won't cause any damage at all. That said, that doesn't mean Logia users are invincible. As we have seen throughout the series so far, they are truly unbeatable. Here are some of the ways to defeat Logia Devil Fruit Users.

Throw them into the sea

Nature's enemy

No matter what type of devil fruit someone has eaten, no matter how strong it makes them, every devil fruit user has the same weakness: the sea. Devil fruit users are considered to be beings who defy the laws of nature and disturb the balance of the world. Therefore, the mother of the natural elements, i.e. the sea, rejects them completely. This means that the moment a devil fruit user comes into contact with the sea, they will lose their devil fruit power. Not only that, their energy will be completely drained, leaving them unable to move a muscle.

This is why one of the best tactics to combat a logia user, or even devil fruit users in general, is to find ways to throw them into the ocean. If that's not possible, throwing a bucket of seawater on the body should render them useless for at least a couple of seconds. When done correctly, this simple tactic should be enough to incapacitate a fairly strong devil fruit user.

“All these forces represent the many branches of humanity's future. But the unnatural status is abhorred by the sea, Mother Nature.”

—Vegapunk, Chapter 1069

Using Seastone

As vast as the sea may be, a battle can and will take place in a place without access to sea water. So does that mean you can't use seawater to deal with those pesky devil fear users? Not really. There is still a way to harness the effect of the ocean even if you are physically far away from the ocean itself. The only thing that lets you do that is the season.

What is a Seastone?

Seastone is an extremely rare natural material that occurs naturally deep in the ocean – but only in one place. It is one of the hardest materials on the planet. It is even said that a pure sea stone can be as hard as a diamond. But the most important aspect of a sea stone is the fact that it is basically the embodiment of the sea itself. This means for devil fruit users, touching a sea rock is akin to touching the ocean itself. As a result, a sea stone can easily weaken any devil fruit user.

Seastone as a tool and weapon

Since Seastone is so effective against Devil Fruit users, quite a few in the series use weapons made from Seastone. Most notable among them is Smoker and his infamous Jitte. He has used this weapon to capture so many Devil Fruit users. Since Smoker is actually a logia user himself, he is undoubtedly affected by the sea stone as well. That's why he uses a special glove to touch Jitten.

In addition to weapons, the World Government has been shown to use sea stones as a tool, specifically as handcuffs. Once a devil fruit user is restrained with a Seastone handcuff, they are basically no different from a normal human. This special handcuff allows the World Government to keep some of the most powerful and dangerous criminals in Impel Down prison.

Matches the nature of Logia

While the first two methods mentioned above are quite simple, the last two methods are not so much. They require a high level of skill and a bit of luck to pull off. The first uses natural law itself against those pesky logia users, while the second is very difficult to learn.

Follows the laws of nature

As mentioned in the previous section, a logia user can change their body to follow the nature of the devil fruits they have eaten. A light man becomes light, and an ice man becomes ice. Needless to say, when they transform into their respective elements, they also inherit the properties of the element itself. Fire will produce heat and ice will lower the temperature of the surroundings.

This is what makes logia users so powerful, but it is also what can be used against them. You see, each element has its counter: water extinguishes fire and wind blows away smoke. So in a fight against a logia user, try to find the natural opposite of their element. Luffy had used this tactic to his advantage a few times throughout the series.

Crocodile and Enel

The two biggest examples of this tactic in action are when Luffy goes against Crocodile and Enel. Since Crocodile is made of sand, he is extremely weak against water. After all, when you pour water into a pile of sand, it will immediately absorb the water and clump together. So when Luffy pours water on his hands, he can easily beat Crocodile.

As for Enel, he is basically electricity in human form. Electricity can shock all living and non-living things, making Enel superior to almost everyone on the planet. Unfortunately for him, he is fighting someone who is the embodiment of rubber, the only material that cannot conduct electricity. It's more luck than a tactic, but as you can see, the principle still holds.

Haki imbued attacks

Attacking the Devil Fruit User's “True” Body

As we've discussed before, what makes fighting a logia user so challenging is that you can't touch them. Except for special and extremely rare materials like the previously mentioned sea stone, there is basically nothing in this world that can be used to touch them. However, there is a skill that can be learned that allows one to touch a logia user's real body. The name of that skill is Haki. To be more specific, Armament Haki.

Most people think that Armament Haki can only harden and strengthen your limbs or your weapons. That is not true at all. Armament Haki also allows its user to touch a Devil Fruit user's true body. This means that it doesn't matter what kind of element logia users turn into, an Armament Haki user can always attack their real body. As if that's not amazing enough, this principle also works when you coat your weapons with Armament Haki. This is why “Dark King” Silver's Rayleigh can easily counter Kizaru's light kick with his sandal and parry Kizaru's light sword with a normal sword.

“So it's the Dark King. I've never seen anyone be able to stop Kizaru!”

–Sentomaru Chapter 512

The fact that powerful abilities, such as Logia-type Devil Fruits, can be overcome by various methods is a testament to the justice of One Piece's power system. No matter how powerful a character may be, they can always be beaten with the right tools, techniques, and tactics.

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