A good amount of One Piece Devil Fruits have great potency, but not all of them are realized.
Devil Fruits give their users various superpowers, whether it's the ability to eat anything or turn into a mythical dragon. The One Piece series is full of characters with interesting fighting styles. Whether it's Luffy and his rubber or Katakuri and his mochi, they made the most of their Devil Fruits.
Sadly, not every One Piece character will figure out their full potential. They can be lazy when using their special abilities, simply relying on a single application of their Devil Fruit. Many of them are also held back by their fragility or lack of Haki.
One Piece characters who didn't realize the combat potential of their Devil Fruits
10) Galdino (Doru Doru no Mi)
The former Baroque Works agent can become a human candle and create large amounts of wax. He first demonstrated his abilities in the Little Garden arc.
Galdino is very creative with his fruit, and he can do anything from creating identical clones to protecting himself with a giant shield. Sadly, he lacks any physical means to go on the offensive. Galdino is a very brittle fighter who goes down easily.
9) Alvida (Sube Sube no Mi)
Sometime after losing to Luffy in the Romance Dawn arc, Alvida ate this fruit. It allows her to become slippery, which means attacks will just slide off her body.
Like most weak One Piece characters, Alvida doesn't have the power to realize her fruit's potential. It's very suitable for combat, yet that's not her main specialty. At the very least, she can slide off random objects.
8) Caribou (Numa Numa no Mi)
Caribou is a New World Pirate who first made his appearance after the One Piece timeskip. However, after a quick loss to Pekoms in Fishman Island, he served a warning to the audience. Those with Logia fruits are not invincible by any means.
The Numa Numa no Mi can turn Caribou into a swamp. Not only can he suffocate his opponents, but he can also store various weapons in his body. Of course, his main weakness is that he is too proud. His overreliance on his Devil Fruit makes him an easy target for Haki fighters.
7) Miss Doublefinger (Toge Toge no Mi)
This Baroque Works agent can grow spikes anywhere on her body. She put it to creative use against Nami during the Alabasta saga.
Regardless, her attacks would be far more devastating if she imbued them with Armament Haki. As it currently stands, Miss Doublefinger was introduced very early in the One Piece story, so she didn't know Haki. This is a fruit that would easily complement this power system.
6) Kurozumi Orochi (Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi)
First introduced in the Wano Country arc, this corrupt shogun can turn into the Yamato no Orochi. He could become an eight-headed serpent at will. Orochi also gained a significant boost to his physical abilities.
With that said, Orochi is simply not a conventional fighter. He mainly relies on his henchmen to do his dirty work. It's a great fruit wasted on somebody who tries to avoid confrontation at all costs.
5) Buggy the Clown (Bara Bara no Mi)
Buggy has been around since the beginning of the One Piece series. This starter villain showcased his abilities back in Orange Town. He can split his body apart and freely control it. Buggy is also immune to slashing, which makes up the vast majority of One Piece attacks.
However, Buggy is laughably weak, with a frail constitution and cowardly disposition. His Devil Fruit would've been extremely useful against swordsmen like Mihawk and Shanks, yet he is far below their power.
4) Miss Valentine (Kiro Kiro no Mi)
Along with her partner, Mr. 5, Miss Valentine was a Baroque Works agent who appeared in the Alabasta saga. Her fruit allows her to change weight from a 1-10,000 kilogram range.
One Piece characters need to be creative with their fruit. However, Miss Valentine was too simplistic with her abilities. All she did was fly in the air and smash into the ground.
There are several more useful applications for this fruit. If she had a weapon, she could easily switch back and forth between lightweight dodges and heavyweight attacks. Miss Valentine could've also counteracted the effects of gravity.
3) Mr. 5 (Bomu Bomu no Mi)
There is a recurring theme in One Piece, where Baroque Works agents overly rely on their Devil Fruit and nothing more. Mr. 5 can turn himself into an exploding human, which gives him great offensive power.
Unfortunately, he is a ridiculously weak fighter that went down to Zoro in Whiskey Peak and Little Garden. In both instances, all it took was a single sword slash.
Had Mr. 5 trained himself hard enough, he could've awakened his fruit and set off major explosions just about anywhere. Even the simple use of Haki would make him a very credible threat.
2) Wapol (Baku Baku no Mi)
First seen on Drum Island, this fruit allows the user to eat anything. They can also manifest themselves as whatever they just ate.
Wapol's fruit has boundless potential to become something really special. With the right materials, he can do the following:
- Eat anything without issue
- Repair any lost body part
- Fuse with any person/object
- Bypass poisonous substances
- Create new powerful weapons
Sadly, his lack of combat experience meant that Luffy had no trouble taking him down. The freezing conditions on Drum Island also didn't help matters, since it prevented Wapol from using cannons.
1) Foxy the Silver Fox (Noro Noro no Mi)
When dealing with overpowered fruits and weak characters in One Piece, Foxy is the shining example of the series. His Devil Fruit allows him to slow down people and objects for at least half a minute. As seen in the Long Ring Long Land Arc, he is a very tricky fighter to deal with.
However, Foxy is still a physically weak threat by modern standards. One Piece characters like the Red Hair Pirates would be completely devastating with this fruit. Imagine being able to slow down time while using strong Haki.
The Noro Noro no Mi would be very unfair in the right hands. Luffy should be grateful that it belongs to Foxy and not someone much stronger.
Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.