One of the many aspects completely unique to One Piece are the mysterious Devil Fruits, which grant an array of abilities from elemental control/manipulation to hybrid animal transformations. As seen throughout the series, Devil Fruits are a rarity, almost as much of a rarity as humans who can fight DF users, as any that manage to get their hands on them are feared for their power pretty much anywhere but the Grand Line.
But while there are many Devil Fruits that are arguably far too overpowered, the vast range of Fruits means that there are some that are, quite frankly, underpowered — in fact, they're quite singular in their functionality. Even though just about every Devil Fruit can become absurdly strong depending on how creatively it’s utilized, some of them are still just a bit too hyper-specific in their usage. Let’s take a look at some of the best examples
Updated October 12, 2021, by Jacob Buchalter: Devil fruits in One Piece are, quite literally, designed to be powerful or not based on their user. If an uncreative person has a Devil Fruit that lets them control lightning, they could easily be beaten by a creative person with a DF that lets them control how fast they spin. But, while there are some underutilized Devil Fruits out there, there are even more DFs with such unique usages by smart people that they're still vastly underrated, so let’s go over some of the best examples.
Disclaimer: These are only canonical Devil Fruits, no movie villains or filler arc characters here.
10 Kozuki Toki: The Time-Time Fruit
A Devil Fruit that is currently unclaimed, the Toki Toki no Mi was previously wielded by Kozuki Toki before she, unfortunately, died during the takeover and destruction of Oden Castle way long ago in Wano’s past. The Fruit's main ability is allowing the user to send themselves and people of their choosing forward in time, which Toki often used to evade danger.
What's confusing about this Fruit's power is that it can only project subjects forward, as opposed to also being able to send people into the past. The one-way trajectory makes its usage very specific to moving forward in time, which makes their travel irreversible. And, with all the time Toki had with this Devil Fruit, she never seemed to use it creatively to send “objects” forward in time or to age up different parts of a person's body (like giving someone the arm of their 80-year-old self to reduce their power), so it seems like this overpowered Wano Arc DF really only had one (admittedly very overpowered) purpose.
9 "Fox Fire" Kin'emon: The Garb-Garb Fruit
Kin'emon's Fuku Fuku no Mi has made several appearances throughout his time allying with the Straw Hats. This Paramecia-type Devil Fruit allows Kin'emon to generate clothing out of stones or leaves. The Fruit is perfect for situations where people need clothing, such as in colder climates, or when they need disguises to hide in plain sight.
Some might say that this Devil Fruit is pretty weak, considering it doesn’t have much combat potential, but this is just likely due to Kin’emon not using it to its full potential since he's a pretty straightforward Wano samurai. Imagine if Kin’emon saw a suit of armor made of the strongest material on the Grand Line, and then he used his DF to replicate that armor as a disguise for Luffy. Now, imagine if he did that for the entire Wano army of Samurai? Suddenly this massively underrated fruit shows what it’s actually capable of.
8 "Ghost Princess" Perona: The Hollow-Hollow Fruit
Perona, the goth icon of Thriller Bark, has the perfect example of a Devil Fruit that is so vague that it’s overpowered. Basically, eating this turned Perona into a “Hollow Human” or “Ghost Human” giving her complete control of all things ghostly. While that sounds like something that would only be useful for scaring her friends, in reality, Perona uses this DF to:
- Fly.
- Go through walls.
- Create explosive ghost bombs.
- Make people suicidal by passing the Hollows through them.
- Travel insane distances without actually “moving” her body anywhere at all.
- And much more.
So, it’s safe to say that this is another Devil Fruit that looks deceivingly simple, but is actually pretty useful.
7 Emporio Ivankov: The Hormone-Hormone Fruit
As far as Devil Fruits that are incredibly unique go, the Horu Horu no Mi, used by Kambakka Kingdom’s ruler, Emporio Ivankov, is one of the most versatile. This Devil Fruit basically turns the user into a genetic-altering miracle doctor, using fantastical hormones to cause the human body to undergo a variety of different effects. With it, Ivankov has changed genders, increased their head size, used an adrenaline-like Hormone to keep Luffy fighting long after he should’ve, and even cured Luffy’s affliction from Magellan’s deadly Venom-Venom Paramecia DF.
The uses of this fruit are numerous, and what fans have seen in the anime/manga is likely only maybe 10% of what Ivankov can actually do with this DF. Plus, it’s never been confirmed if this could be used on any living lifeform either, or if it's purely just for humans.
6 Blamenco: The Pocket-Pocket Fruit
Now moving on to a briefly seen and very “underground” Devil Fruit power, the Poke Poke no Mi, or Pocket Pocket Devil Fruit. This was only ever seen in use once by its wielder, a man known as Blamenco, the previous sixth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
With this Devil Fruit, Blamenco basically has infinite dimensional storage as seen in any video game. He has these “pockets” on his body that he can pull anything he stored in there out of, regardless of its size or weight, such as when he pulls out a gigantic hammer two to three times his own size. Now, this isn’t a DF that innately makes a person stronger, like maybe a Steel Steel DF would, but it has so many ways to use it creatively. For example:
- Blamenco could store a bunch of (non-sea) water in his pockets, then open the floodgates against a bunch of enemies.
- He could store a bunch of boulders, get flung into the air, and rain them down on people.
- He could store Whitebeard's entire ship in there, or any variety of ground-based vehicles.
And these are just a few of the many possible applications of this Devil Fruit. And, once again during one of the many SBS’, Oda himself confirmed that if Usopp was to ever have a Devil Fruit, this would be the one he’d want him to have.
5 Charlotte Smoothie: The Wring-Wring Fruit
The Whole Cake Island Arc in One Piece probably had the most natural (not artificial) Devil Fruit users of any Arc in the series. So many of Big Mom’s kids have DF abilities related to food, with the most memorable being Cracker, Katakuri, and of course, Smoothie. Smoothie, the Minister of Juice and one of the Three Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates, has the Shibo Shibo no Mi or the Wring Wring DF, allowing her to wring the juice out of anything, living or not. Now, for the most part, Smoothie uses this power as a party trick, wringing out rare objects or even people and having the most well-known people in the Grand Line taste these juices as if they were delicacies. But, this unique power is actually a lot stronger than people give it credit for.
For one, Smoothie is entirely immune to poisons, considering she can just “wring” them out of her body. Two, she basically has the dehydration aspect of Crocodiles Sand Logia and can transfer this power to her sword to dehydrate anything she cuts. Third, she can absorb or drink a bunch of the juices she wrings out in order to grow in size and weight. And lastly, she can release this juice in the form of pressurized liquid, causing large blasts or lethal beams of pure juice. Frankly, it seems to be one of the stronger food-based DFs out there, and Smoothie is an equally memorable character as well.
4 Kelly Funk: The Jacket-Jacket Fruit
Perhaps one of the most visually disturbing Devil Fruits is the Jake Jake no Mi, which is used expertly in combat situations by the Funk brothers, Kelly Funk (the Fruit's actual consumer), and Bobby Funk. Using this Fruit, Kelly transforms into a literal jacket that his brother can wear, molding his skin around Bobby's to boost his attack and defense.
The logistics of this Fruit are quite grotesque. But ignoring this, the Fruit truly doesn't do much besides serving the one purpose of letting the user be worn by someone else. That said, specifically because Kelly Funk is bloodthirsty and Bobby funk has an unbreakable body, this DF is absurdly strong. Sometimes it works out that way where the Devil Fruit is actually saved by the wielder, rather than the other way around. Plus, imagine if Kelly Funk managed to wrap himself around Kaido or someone of similar power? It seems like the Jacket-wearer has no control over whether they’re taken over by Kelly or not, and who knows how long Kelly can keep himself in his “jacket” form at once.
3 "Gourmet Knight" Streusen: The Cook-Cook Fruit
Eaten by the Big Mom Pirates' executive chef, the Kuku Kuku no Mi allows Streusen to turn objects into food. The Fruit can be practical in survival situations where Streusen either has no resources for food or needs to remove the poison from edible wildlife. And, that may make some people think that the Kuku Kuku No Mi is only usable by a chef, and not for combat.
But, think about it this way, the DF allows to user to turn literally any object into food. It could be Wapol Metal, it could be diamond, it could be a bank vault, and this Fruit can turn it into cake. And, it was never determined if the user could turn their created food back into objects, because if so that opens a whole other door into the assassination potential of this Devil Fruit as well.
2 Belo Betty: The Pump-Pump Fruit
Belo Betty of the Revolutionary Army wields the Kobu Kobu no Mi, a Devil Fruit that rallies people's spirits to fight after listening to her speak. By rousing a crowd with her words, Betty can heighten people's fighting abilities, influencing them to stand up for themselves.
The most confusing aspect of this Fruit is that its ability is quite subjective. Subjects who are bolstered can vary in strength, and simply rallying their spirits does not necessarily mean they'll always be top-notch combatants. That said, as long as Betty is placed in a good spot and knows what to say to rally the people around her, this is a Devil Fruit that can literally turn the tide of entire wars.
1 Tony Tony Chopper: The Human-Human Fruit
While fans have gotten accustomed to the Hito Hito no Mi due to Chopper's strong presence throughout the show, the Fruit itself, as one targeted towards animals specifically, is quite strange. Unlike other Zoan-type Devil Fruits that turn humans into creatures, this Fruit turns whoever eats it into a human hybrid, which enabled Chopper as a reindeer to gain speech and other human-like abilities.
This Fruit, essentially, proves no usefulness to humans, though Oda has stated in an SBS that if a human ate this they would just become the “peak” image of what a human is. Still, while this Devil Fruit is underrated, that’s only because of Chopper’s immense talent for using it creatively, as the DF itself is actually way too niche to be powerful on its own.