Oda could be saving the most broken Devil Fruit Awakening for the Final Saga in One Piece

One Piece has always escalated the stakes with every new saga, but the Final Saga is proving to be one of the most thrilling yet, focusing on Devil Fruit awakenings. Luffy's Gear 5 displayed how an awakening can take a character to a level they were not previously capable of. However, this level is not the highest level of power available in this world.

Eiichiro Oda teased that awakenings will be a determining factor in all of the final battles, and there is one specific Devil Fruit that might offer an ability so broken that it may even surpass Luffy's. Oda may withhold the most broken Devil Fruit awakening until the Final Saga of One Piece.

Disclaimer: The article reflects the writer's opinion and includes spoilers from the One Piece manga.

---

How Oda could be saving Blackbeard's Devil Fruit Awakening for the Final Saga in One Piece, explained

Oda might be saving Blackbeard's Devil Fruit for the final war (Image via Toei Animation)

Oda may be reserving the most overpowered Devil Fruit Awakening for the final battle in One Piece by meaningfully creating awareness of awakenings as the final evolution of a Devil Fruit’s power, and teasing that the most dangerous one is held by Marshall D. Teach, more recognizably known as Blackbeard.

Oda keeps sensitively presenting awakenings as a rarity and showing that awakenings are major game-changers in terms of the magnitude of what a user is able to do. Like in Impel Down, when the Zoan guards awoke their powers, which gave them amazing levels of recovery and stamina. Later in the series, in Dressrosa, Doflamingo has an awakening that points to him actively manipulating reality as if it were a playground.

Wano took this to another level with Luffy’s Gear 5 when he could actively change reality with his very imagination. These moments indicate Oda's intent for his narrative: awakenings are endgame powers.

Luffy's Devil Fruit awakening in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

As one of the Four Emperors and Luffy's most formidable rival, Blackbeard has been intentionally constructed as the most dangerous and unpredictable pirate in One Piece. What's more interesting is that he isn't just the pirate that embodies danger; he is also the only character that has had possession of two Devil Fruits, the Gura Gura no Mi and the Yami Yami no Mi.

The former is a devil fruit that has the ability to cause total devastation of the world using massive quakes, but it is the latter that really puts an emphatic exclamation point on danger.

The fact that Blackbeard can negate Devil Fruits after physical contact seems broken enough, but an awakened version could completely alter the course of the fight. Instead of having to grab his opponent, Blackbeard could envelop his surroundings using his darkness, canceling powers merely by being technically present.

Blackbeard's Devil Fruit perfectly rivals Luffy's powers in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

It would be horrifying for Luffy, a so-called embodiment of freedom, to seemingly lose the game with the stakes being his very powers, and for that power not to be central to the person he is.

It ties right in with the premise of the Final Saga. Luffy’s Gear 5 represents freedom, imagination, and the plethora of possibilities, while Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi was encapsulated in control and despair.

An awakened Yami Yami no Mi would perfectly counter Luffy's ability to liberate and free things, making it a philosophical ideological clash as much as just a clash of powers. With Oda making sure to save the ultimate game-changer ability for the final chapter of the overall story, Oda will elevate the tension and stakes for the readers and each fight to its highest point.

---

Final thoughts

Luffy as seen in anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Oda seems to intentionally use Blackbeard’s Devil Fruit awakening as the ultimate twist of the Final Saga in One Piece. By making awakenings the highest power level, Oda has positioned Blackbeard’s Yami Yami no Mi to become the scariest ability in the series.

Given that it can nullify powers without contact, it would be the perfect foil to Luffy’s Gear 5 and adds to the impending battle’s significance as not only the most dangerous battle, but also the most meaningful and ideologically conflicting battle in the series.

---

Related links:

• Elbaph’s mythology could reveal Zoro’s true path toward becoming King of Hell in One Piece
• Rocks D. Xebec’s true power might connect to a surprising Devil Fruit origin in One Piece
• The mysterious eyepatch pirate Oda teased may have finally been revealed in One Piece