One Piece: Oda Teases A Major Power-up For Sanji (2024)

The cook of the Straw Hats, Sanji is one of the East Blue Five and among the most important characters in One Piece. He has played quite an important role in the series and he continues to do so as the story paves its way through the Final Saga. While Sanji is primarily a cook, he is also a strong fighter. In fact, he's one of the strongest in the entire world, ranking as number three in the Straw Hat Crew, slightly behind Zoro.

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He's one of the elite fighters in the world, and that is precisely why he has a bounty of 1.032 billion berries on his head, and that bounty is fully deserved. While Sanji is already a tremendous fighter, there is potential for him to grow stronger still. In fact, Oda has teased major developments for Sanji in the future already.

Sanji's Birth

Sanji's backstory was revealed to the fans properly during the Whole Cake Island arc. This arc featured Sanji and his family heavily and dug into the roots of this particular character. When the Vinsmoke Family came looking for Sanji after arranging a marriage for him, fans knew immediately that Oda would be diving deep into his character. That is precisely what ended up happening in Whole Cake Island. Fans got a proper look at his upbringing. Sanji was revealed to be born as a part of quadruplets to Sora and Judge, the leader of the Germa Kingdom. As a Prince of the Germa Kingdom, Sanji had huge expectations thrust on his shoulders.

In fact, Judge had attempted to genetically modify his children so that they could become war machines. To reverse these changes, Sora took medicine because she wanted her children to be born with humanity and kindness. Unfortunately for her, this medicine took a toll on her body and she weakened quite a lot, ultimately passing away. Sora's sacrifice certainly bore fruit though, as Sanji was born without any genetic modifications, and normal human emotions. His brothers, however, were emotionless, just as Judge wanted them to be. Naturally, Sanji was a disappointment to Judge and was cast out, even proclaimed dead at one point. Thanks to his sister, Sanji ended up escaping to the East Blue, where he eventually started working on a cruise ship. From there onwards, Sanji's flashback from the Baratie arc pans the rest of his story pretty well.

How Sanji Manifested His Latent Powers

Sanji's tragic past shaped his character in numerous ways, and, at the same time, it also led him to Zeff, his father figure, with whom he ended up founding Baratie. Since this place was a restaurant run by a former pirate, Sanji ended up training under him for years, developing the Black Leg Style while at it. When Luffy met Sanji, he was already quite powerful and that is one of the reasons why he was a perfect fit for the crew. However, Luffy's primary reason for taking him on was his kindness and the fact that he was a first-rate cook of the sea. Sanji's strength continued to grow throughout the years until it reached a point where strange things started happening to his body. This started from the Enies Lobby arc, where Sanji simply started to burst into flames when using a technique called Diable Jambe. While most fans this attributed to his passion, Oda ended up revealing that there was more to it than just that.

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In Wano, his body started reacting even more weirdly, when, after wearing the Raid Suit for the third time, he felt quite stiff. Soon after, it was revealed to the fans that Sanji's latent Germa powers had started to awaken. He was developing a powerful exoskeleton and gaining increased muscle mass at the same time. His fighting capabilities shot through the roof and he became a war machine, capable of dismembering even someone as strong as Queen, a pirate worth 1.32 billion berries. Sanji's new powers also led to the awakening of Ifrit Jambe, a new ability for him that sees him manifest blue flames as well as electricity at the same time. All this is denoted by his eyebrows swinging in the opposite direction when he taps into these powers.

Oda Teasing Sanji's Future Powers

After Wano, Sanji is now tremendously powerful enough to hold his own against any Yonko Commander without much trouble at all. Naturally, the source of his newfound powers was discussed by fans heavily and in SBS Volume 105 of One Piece, a fan asked Oda why Sanji's eyebrows changed back to normal after his fight against Queen concluded. Curiously, Oda revealed very interesting answers to the fans and also ended up teasing future developments for Sanji and his powers.

According to Oda, Sanji's eyebrows flipped directions in his fight against Queen. In Whole Cake Island, Oda revealed that all of Sanji's siblings had very strong skin and a powerful exoskeleton that granted them toughness, all thanks to Lineage Factor Manipulation. However, because of Sora, Sanji was the only one born without these powers as his emotions were preserved. When one takes a look at his brother and sister's eyebrows, they all form a 66. Sanji's eyebrows formed the exact opposite shape as they spun in the opposite direction. Oda went on to say that the power of science manifested in Sanji and when that happened, his eyebrows also formed a 66, just like his siblings, which showcased the awakening of his new powers. Oda clarified that these powers awakened because of the Raid Suit, which is genetically linked to Sanji. The most important part came at the very end, where Oda said that Sanji already had abnormal resistance to heat from the beginning. He then went on to say that fans should keep watching Sanji very carefully in the future, implying that there are going to be major developments related to Sanji's powers in the future.

What Could Sanji's Future Powers Be?

When dissecting Oda's statement, it is quite clear to see that Sanji's body was already slowly gaining new powers even in Baratie. During this arc, he was seen fighting against Pearl, who possessed the power to light his armor up on fire. While everyone steered clear of him, Sanji took him on head-on, despite the flames. When questioned about it, Sanjj mentioned that a cook can never be scared of flames. At the time, fans did not pay too much attention to this, however, now, it is quite clear that his resistance to heat was in effect from the very beginning of the story. This power slowly grew until it reached a point where Sanji got access to all of his latent abilities.

In the future, these powers are likely to grow even further. There are quite a lot of powers that Sanji will manifest. For example, his flame powers can develop even further and his Germa abilities are likely going to go beyond the level of his brothers. This is simply down to the fact that Sanji possesses scientific powers, as well as emotions. On the other hand, his brothers do not have these emotions and, as seen on various occasions, his emotions are key to making his flames grow stronger. Sanji can develop these powers even further in the future, and become the epitome of scientific genius, surpassing even the Seraphims. Fans can expect him to gain a tougher body, and stronger resistance to flames. Curiously, Sanji has drawn quite a lot of connections to the Lunarian race. Perhaps, Oda will explore the meaning behind his birth even more in the future and dive deep into why he strongly resembles those of Lunaria.

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