They say that the Devil Fruit was enchanted by sea devils. Whoever eats it gets amazing powers, but the seas turn against them...
Devil Fruits are mysterious, distinctive fruits scattered throughout the world, known for permanently granting their eaters superhuman powers and an equally permanent inability to swim. With only one notable exception, an individual can only acquire the powers of a single Devil Fruit and survive.
Each Devil Fruit grants a special power to anyone who eats it, from the simplest powers possible, such as stretching like rubber, to powers capable of causing large-scale destruction like creating earthquakes. Each Devil Fruit is unique, and there is no other like it; that is, there is no Devil Fruit that has the same power as another. These fruits are broadly grouped into three classes: Zoan, which allows a user to transform into an animal as well as an animal hybrid; Logia, which grants a user the power to create, control, and transform their body into a natural element; and Paramecia, which offers any of a vast array of strange abilities that do not fit into the other two categories.
Devil Fruits have empowered many of the world's most significant individuals, especially among the Three Great Powers. This, along with their general rarity, causes them to be highly sought-after; single specimens may be valued at hundreds of millions in Belly, and extensive efforts have been made to mass-produce artificial versions for warfare.
Devil Fruits come in all different shapes and colors, though all the Devil Fruits seen so far have possessed swirl marks or patterns. The only known exceptions are artificial Devil Fruits, which have ring patterns on them. The oldest introduced Devil Fruits are the Toki Toki no Mi and Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which have existed in the world for at least eight centuries.
It is currently unknown what Devil Fruits are exactly, where they came from, or exactly how they work. Dr. Vegapunk theorizes that Devil Fruits are a manifestation of the possibility for human evolution, with all the different powers representing the many branches for humanity's future, brought into existence by human hope and desire: thoughts along the lines of "if only I could do this" or "if only I could be like that". Vegapunk claims that those with powers exist in different dimensions dreamed up by others before them. However, according to Vegapunk, those who exist in this unnatural state are loathed by the sea, which he describes as the mother of nature, and thus become unable to swim as punishment. It is unknown how much of Vegapunk's theory is true, but it is a fact that consuming Devil Fruits alters a person's Lineage Factor, which grants them supernatural powers.
It should be noted, however, that Devil Fruits, despite the immense power they grant, are not what determines whether or not one can conquer the sea. The real defining factor is generally considered to be Haki. A clear and notable example of this rule was Gol D. Roger and Edward Newgate; Newgate was considered the "Strongest Man in the World" and he possessed the power of the Gura Gura no Mi, the Devil Fruit called the "Strongest Paramecia," which granted him the power to generate powerful quakes and shockwaves and could potentially destroy the world. However, even when Newgate was in his prime, he was still matched and bested by Roger, who did not have a Devil Fruit. Roger conquered the Grand Line with the power of Haki, achieving a feat that multiple powerful Devil Fruit users, including Newgate, Charlotte Linlin, Kaidou, and Shiki, all failed to accomplish, even decades after Roger's death.
After being consumed, a Devil Fruit gives the consumer a superpower or a special superhuman trait, which they will soon become aware of, and the consumer will keep these powers for the rest of their life; a person who has eaten a Devil Fruit and gained its powers is known as a Devil Fruit User (能力者, Nōryoku-sha, lit. "Power User" or "Esper). There are more than 100 different Devil Fruits in the world, but only one of each Devil Fruit exists. Additionally, all Devil Fruits are known to taste very bad and cause the consumer to permanently lose their ability to swim.
Only one bite is needed for the user to gain the power of the Devil Fruit, after which the Devil Fruit becomes a simple, useless, disgusting fruit. Despite this, the majority of those who have consumed a Devil Fruit have elected to eat the entire fruit, as they appear to be unaware of this fact. Furthermore, the consumer gains the powers and drawbacks of the fruit immediately after the fruit is swallowed, without needing to wait for the fruit to be digested.
A person can only eat a single Devil Fruit in their entire lifetime; any attempt to gain a second Devil Fruit power will cause the consumer's body to be blown apart to such a degree that little trace is left of it, resulting in their death. The reason for this is currently unknown; Jabra heard a rumor that an actual devil lives inside each fruit and transfers to a fruit user's body upon consumption, and would fight with the devil inhabiting another fruit if they were to meet within the same body. However, this rumor is said to have been debunked by science.
There is a method that would allow one to steal the Devil Fruit powers from the dead body of a deceased Devil Fruit user. The details of this method are currently unknown. The only ones who know this method are Marshall D. Teach and his crew.
There is at least two versions of a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia (悪魔の実図鑑, Akuma no Mi Zukan?) that identify Devil Fruits. The only known information about the old Devil Fruit Encyclopedia is that it has no mention of the Gomu Gomu no Mi according to Vegapunk.[30] The newer version lists the names and powers of all the Devil Fruits. However, only a few have illustrations, meaning that most Devil Fruits cannot be identified by their appearance. For example, the Gomu Gomu no Mi and the Yami Yami no Mi had supplementary pictures and could be recognized before consumption,[31][32] whereas the Awa Awa no Mi and the Ushi Ushi no Mi, Model: Giraffe do not, and could only be identified by the abilities they granted.[29] This would imply that the information in the book is incomplete, and that there are still Devil Fruits out there with attributes that have yet to be documented.
Each and every Devil Fruit is categorized into one of three types/classes, based on the type of power they grant. The three types are Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia.
The most common of the three Devil Fruit types, Paramecia-type Devil Fruits grant their users any one of a wide variety of superhuman powers; these powers include things like shock wave generation and locking onto targets. Paramecia Fruits can alter features of the user's body, granting them a slippery physique, a body of blades, or the ability to split their own body into pieces harmlessly. Some Paramecia Fruits allow the user to modify the people, objects, and environment around them by making things levitate or turning people into toys. Finally, some fruits exist that allow users to generate and manipulate substances, like wax or poison.
The users of Zoan-type Devil Fruits gain the ability to transform into a specific animal, as well as transform into a hybrid form that combines attributes of their own species and the species the fruit allows them to transform into. Unlike other Devil Fruits, Zoan-type fruits are said to have a will of their own. A recently discovered science allows Zoan Fruits to be integrated into inanimate objects, bringing the object to life and granting it the standard Zoan transformations.
Zoan fruits greatly enhance the users physical abilities and are the best kind of power for augmenting melee combat. Carnivorous animal Zoans are better suited for combat due to their predatory attributes. Some Zoan even grant special abilities based on the animal, such as the king cobra Zoan allowing the user to spit globs of poison, or the mole Zoan allowing the user to dig through the earth, even through solid stone, at high speed.
Aside from most Zoans that transform their users into animals that currently exist, there are three known sub-classifications:
Ancient - Zoan Fruits that allow the user to transform into an extinct species, such as dinosaurs. Ancient Zoans are rare, and they appear to be stronger than regular Zoans. Some have even displayed atypical physical abilities that their users claim the real animals naturally possess.
Mythical - Zoan Fruits that allow the user to transform into mythological creatures, such as a dragon or a phoenix. Mythical Zoan animals tend to have additional special powers, like a phoenix Zoan being able to generate flames that have healing powers. Mythical Zoans are the rarest type of Devil Fruit, even more so than Logias.
Artificial - Artificially created Zoan Fruits that cause the user to permanently take on an animal characteristic; though, much more rarely, the user becomes able to transform at will. The artificial Zoan Fruits had a 10% success rate, while the other 90%, in addition to not gaining animal traits and losing the ability to swim, were stripped of the ability to express negative emotions, leaving them only able to smile and laugh, regardless of how they actually feel. These artificial Devil Fruits, known as SMILEs, were developed by Caesar Clown and Donquixote Doflamingo. Another version was developed by Vegapunk.
The rarest and most powerful of the three Devil Fruit types, Logia-type Devil Fruits allow their users to create, control, and transform their body into a natural element, such as sand, mud, smoke, lightning, plant life, and even darkness. There are also Logias that can transform the user into artificial elements like paper or candy syrup, but these are considered non-canon.
The elemental transformation effectively makes the user intangible, as well as allowing the user to remain in control of their body, even when it is broken into pieces. They also gain every ability related to that element, such as sand being able to absorb moisture or light being able to travel at light speed. The darkness element and its power of all consuming absorption has the unique ability to nullify any other Devil Fruit power upon contact with the user. Some Logia Devil Fruits even grant the user an infinite amount of space inside their elemental body.
Listen closely, boy. There is another stage entirely to the powers of a Devil Fruit: Awakening!!! It's very rare, but some powers can awaken and affect objects aside from the wielder!!!
Devil Fruit powers can, in rare instances, achieve "Awakening" (覚醒, kakusei), significantly increasing the user's abilities. According to Kaidou, awakening occurs when a Devil Fruit user's mind and body catch up to their powers When a Devil Fruit's power is awakened, the increased abilities have been seen to allow significantly greater power, more refined control, and new abilities that would otherwise not be possible. The effects of the awakening depend on the type of Devil Fruit.
It has been noted that it takes time to fully master awakened powers; if they are not fully mastered, they can still be used, but they take a serious toll on the user's stamina.