Devil Fruits awakening was a rare occurrence in One Piece up until the Wano Arc. What could be the reason for so many awakened users to appear?
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has two major sources of power: a Devil Fruit and Haki. The former’s powers are unique to each user, and have certain limitations to using them. However, their ultimate form is an awakened Devil Fruit, which grants the wielder more refined abilities. For example, Trafalgar Law can conjure a variety of special room spheres that are applied directly to specific objects instead of designated areas. Before his awakening, he could only create one sphere at a time and manipulate objects inside it.
Occurrences of a Devil Fruit Awakening had been quite rare in One Piece, with only a handful of characters capable of mastering it. However, the “Wano” arc saw Luffy, Law and Kid each get their awakening. Then in the “Egghead” arc, CP 0 reappeared with more awakened powers, making fans wonder why so many of them are suddenly appearing. Kaido once explained that a Devil Fruit awakening occurs only when the mind and body of the user catch up to their powers, thus proving how rare it should be. Here’s why so many awakened Devil Fruit users are suddenly appearing.
Every Major Mention of a Devil Fruit Awakening in One Piece
The first time One Piece showed this phenomenon was in the “Impel Down” arc, where the Jailer Beasts were shown to have awakened Zoan powers. Crocodile, a former Warlord, explained that their abilities had awakened. After that, Doflamingo was shown awakening his own Devil Fruit powers. Then the pirates from the Worst Generation showed off their newly awakened abilities as well.
More recently, the One Piece manga revealed the members of CP-0 with newly awakened powers. Clealry, the time frame between each mention is getting shorter and shorter. It seems pretty certain that the series will show more awakened Devil Fruit users before its conclusion.
Why Devil Fruit Awakenings Are Suddenly Common in One Piece
The reason for more awakaned Devil Fruit users is simple — as it inches closer to its ending, One Piece is growing more intense as it maintains that new powers are being introduced. Luffy and Law joined hands to defeat Kaido, who not only has a mythical Zoan Devil Fruit but is also a master in all forms of Haki. He earned the title of “King of the Beasts” and became a Yonko thanks to his unparalleled strength. Though Luffy and Law are both strong, one has to realize that because they are new pirates, going against a Yonko would be nearly impossible unless a miracle were to happen. Therefore, it was necessary to give Luffy, Law, and even Kid the powers of an awakened Devil Fruit.
Furthermore, Luffy became so strong that with his full power, he could easily overwhelm even an incredible opponent like Kaido. Without these abilities, he would’ve completely lost in a fight he himself started — which is not ideal for a shonen lead. Now that Luffy is even stronger than Kaido, there are only a handful of people left in the world who can actually put up a fight against him.
Although the final saga of One Piece has begun, Oda has to occasionally show a few minor antagonists for the story to continue. Minor enemies who even try to stand against Luffy will need more than just Haki or a simple Devil Fruit. Therefore, the Devil Fruit awakening has become more common.
