Introduced at the very beginning of One Piece, Devil Fruits have remained the pillar of power systems within the lengthy franchise. Monkey D. Luffy would have struggled much more on his quest to become king of the pirates if he hadn’t ingested the Gum Gum Fruit (Gomu Gomu No Mi), but some of the powers gifted by One Piece’s Devil Fruits have yet to make an appearance in the franchise’s video game titles.
Though the origins of Devil Fruits are disputed and unknown, it is a concrete fact that ingesting a Devil Fruit will garner the consumer immense power at the cost of the ability to swim. Beings can only acquire one Devil Fruit power, though one villainous pirate has proven to be an exception to this rule.
Related
Every One Piece Arc Yet to Be Featured in Video Games Explained
One Piece’s video game installments seek to expand the scale of its world, but a few important arcs have been neglected when adapting the franchise.
Over a hundred Devil Fruits
have been mentioned by name in
One Piece.
Therefore, some powers excluded from video game titles may not be mentioned, especially considering the focus on mainline
One Piece
video games rather than game installments featuring
One Piece
characters, like
Jump Force
. Lastly,
One Piece: Treasure Cruise
and
One Piece: Bounty Rush
should be viewed as exceptions. As mobile games that update frequently,
Treasure Cruise
and
Bounty Rush
are more up-to-date on the franchise’s plot and characters in comparison to the series’ mainline PC and console video games.
The Gum Gum Fruit Is Not as It Seems
The Gum Gum Fruit (Gomu Gomu no Mi) has been featured in One Piece since the beginning of the franchise. It may seem surprising as a Devil Fruit not featured in games, as it granted Luffy his signature stretching abilities, but the true nature and vast power of the Devil Fruit have yet to be included in a mainline One Piece game title.
Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is the true name of the Gum Gum Fruit. Fans were left in the dark about the Devil Fruit’s original moniker until the Wano Country arc. The arc concluded in the anime only last year, explaining the exclusion of Luffy’s most powerful power-up to date.
In one of the most iconic episodes of the entire franchise, Luffy finally reached Gear 5. By unlocking his Awakened Form, Luffy’s body morphs to look cloud-like, garnering the appearance of the mythical Sun God, Nika. Luffy’s battles have always been comedically cartoonish due to his stretchy limbs, but his close combat encounters go the route of Looney Tunes when he enables his Gear 5 form.
The exclusion of this Devil Fruit power will likely be rectified in the next One Piece video game installment. With the franchise’s latest mainline title, One Piece Odyssey, released in 2023, it’s doubtful that a new video game featuring the powers of Nika will arrive any time soon. However, Luffy’s Gear 5 form is playable in One Piece: Bounty Rush, giving fans a version of this form to explore before it’s adapted into the franchise’s next PC or console title.
Vegapunk’s Brain Brain Fruit
First mentioned in the Post-Enies Lobby arc, Vegapunk and his science experiments have acted as a throughline in One Piece. Vegapunk was given a true introduction and place in the franchise during the Egghead Island arc, acting as a crucial ally to the Straw Hat pirates. Though his Devil Fruit power may not be useful in hand-to-hand combat, it certainly was one of the keys to his genius.
Vegapunk ingested the Brain Brain Fruit (Nomi Nomi no Mi) which expanded his brain and gifted him an eidetic, or photographic, memory. His brain continued to expand as he gained more and more knowledge as a side effect of consuming the Devil Fruit. Vegapunk may have been a genius prior to eating the Brain Brain Fruit, but he certainly gained valuable brain storage from it.
The exclusion of the Brain Brain Fruit from One Piece video games coincides with the exclusion of Vegapunk from any mainline games in the franchise. Since the Devil Fruit has physically altered Vegapunk’s appearance, including him in one of the franchise’s installments automatically showcases the Brain Brain Fruit’s power.
However, Vegapunk has yet to be included in a One Piece video game because the Egghead Island arc has yet to be adapted also. This is likely due to the recency of the arc as Egghead Island is currently being released in the franchise’s anime. An adaptation of the Egghead Island arc, and subsequently the inclusion of Vegapunk, will likely occur once the arc has concluded in the One Piece anime. Therefore, the Brain Brain Fruit’s power will be showcased in a One Piece mainline video game title once the Egghead Island arc is adapted, despite the power not being suitable for combat encounters.
Bonney’s Age Age Fruit
Jewelry Bonney may have been first introduced in the Sabaody arc, but she has remained a powerful ally to the Straw Hat pirates since her introduction. This is thanks in part to the power given to her by the Age Age Fruit (Toshi Toshi no Mi).
Bonney is able to manipulate the age of not just herself, but other people, animals, and inanimate objects. She can take opponents out of combat by rapidly aging or regressing them or destroy barriers by aging them to the point of dust. Bonney merely has to touch, directly or through a user-wielded object, a subject in order to use her power on them.
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One Piece: Why Zoro’s Elbaf Power-Up May Be Hard to Adapt to Video Games
Zoro is no exception to the growth the Straw Hats will undergo in Elbaf, but the new powers he gains could be difficult to adapt to game play.
Technically, Bonney has been shown using her Devil Fruit power in a One Piece mainline video game before. Despite appearing to be in her mid-twenties, Bonney is ten to twelve years old in canon. Since she has been featured in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, players have “seen” her “using” her powers. However, a more developed version of the Age Age Fruit’s power has been introduced since Pirate Warriors 4 was released.
Though she may be using her Devil Fruit power to change her appearance, Bonney awakens her power further similarly to Luffy during the Egghead Island arc. The Age Age Fruit can also transform its wielder into any future iterations with enough iterations. This has led to Bonney transforming into an Awakened Form similar to Luffy’s Gear 5.
Since the Egghead Island arc has yet to be adapted, these aspects of Bonney’s power set have also not been included. Her newly developed powers will be showcased alongside Vegapunk’s in the inevitable Egghead Island arc video game adaptation.
The lore behind Devil Fruits has evolved since they were established in One Piece. Despite their many wielders, power levels, and categories, Devil Fruits will always remain a crucial power set within the franchise. Hopefully, more of their powers will be included in mainline One Piece video game titles, and soon.
