By Rei Penber
Sanji's Diable Jambe is one of his most recognizable abilities. But what else is there to know about it?
The cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, Sanji is one of the most important characters in One Piece. Recruited by Luffy during the Baratie arc, Sanji has gone on to become a crucial part of the group, being not only the one who feeds the crew but also plays other important roles. Along with Luffy and Zoro, Sanji is a part of the Monster Trio of the crew, meaning he's one of the three main fighters of the group.
Thanks to the intense training that he underwent during his time with Zeff, Sanji developed the Black Leg Style and has, thus, based most of his fighting style strictly around kicking. As a cook, Sanji claims that his hands are only made to cook for his friends, and thus, he's developed a powerful kicking technique. With time, Sanji's kicking power has increased even further and he has managed to develop one of his strongest techniques with it, called Diable Jambe.
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What Is Diable Jambe?
Sanji's Diable Jambe has been his biggest power-up until the later part of the Wano Country arc. Just like Zoro and Luffy, Sanji played a massive role in the Enies Lobby arc in an attempt to rescue Nico Robin and escape from the World Government stronghold unscathed. After having tested the toughness of the CP9 members in the Sea Train, Sanji realized that to pierce through their defenses, he'd have to come up with something much stronger. In Enies Lobby, he ended up fighting against Jabra, the third strongest member of CP9 after Lucci and Kaku. Known for his Tekkai, or Iron Body, Jabra posed quite a challenge for Sanji and was strong enough to match and even overwhelm him in combat. To power through that, Sanji developed a technique called Diable Jambe.
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By spinning his feet extremely fast on the ground, Sanji was able to light his leg on fire, and according to him, his leg symbolized the leg of the devil. With more heat, Sanji's kicks became much faster and, consequently, carried more weight behind them. Just a single kick was powerful enough to burn through Jabra's toughest Tekkai and overpower him completely. What's more, Sanji's Flambage Shot was powerful enough to completely knock him out, meaning it took him just two hits to defeat the third-strongest member of CP9.
Following the events of the Enies Lobby arc, Sanji used Diable Jambe against the Pacifista during One Piece's Sabaody Archipelago arc, however, while his kicks succeeded in damaging them, they took quite a toll on his legs, suggesting they weren't strong enough to endure that for a sustained period of time. Following the two-year training that he went through at Momoiro Island, Sanji got extremely powerful and learned the power to use both Armament and Observation Haki. This further boosted his skill and his Diable Jambe's potency skyrocketed as well.
The Power Of Diable Jambe
So far, it is unknown how Sanji is able to light his legs up on fire. According to Oda, it is the burning passion of his heart that enables him to do so, and Sani has himself claimed that his flames burn hotter than any other flame simply because his passion is limitless. With time, Sanji's usage of this skill has definitely improved drastically. Initially, Sanji's Diable Jambe only lit up his leg and made his kicks flaming hot, however, after the two-year timeskip, Sanji has gained so much control over this ability that he can now engulf his whole leg in flames, which is a clear indication of this ability having strengthened even further.
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At the same time, Sanji can now light his leg up on fire without spinning, once again, implying that his mastery of the skill has improved drastically. Furthermore, Sanji has also developed the ability to use Diable Jambe on both his legs at the same time, giving him a much greater arsenal of skills in combat.
Thanks to the power of Armament Haki, Sanji's legs got much stronger and, thus, could sustain much higher temperatures, making his kicks much faster and, at the same time, heavier. This was evident when he faced off against the same Pacifista that he had trouble against two years ago and broke its neck with a casual kick. With time, Sanji's Diable Jambe kicks got so strong that he could even power through the defenses of the Ancient Zoan Dinosaurs, known for their toughness. When fighting against Queen the Plague, one of Kaido's right-hand men worth 1.32 billion berries, Sanji was able to do significant damage using his Diable Jambe techniques alone. Eventually, Sanji developed an ability known as Ifrit Jambe to finish him off, however, Diable Jambe was still quite useful in dealing damage with techniques such as Rotisserie Strike and Bien Cuit: Grill Shot in combat.
Although Sanji now has stronger weapons in his arsenal, Diable Jambe still remains to be one of his biggest and most powerful abilities to use in combat. After all, Ifrit Jambe cannot be used by him for long until his body gets used to it completely. For weaker foes and enemies who don't require much effort, such as those below the level of a Yonko right-hand man, Sanji will still rely on the usage of Diable Jambe and, thus, its importance in the series remains paramount.
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