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One Piecehas always had an interesting power system. Utilizing the strange and mysterious powers of the Devil Fruits fundamentally changes the consumer’s body, making for a series of interesting and strong abilities. Although not every character utilizes the powers alone, the Devil Fruits act as the main power system during the early stages ofOne Piece.
However, as the show grew, a new power system was eventually introduced toOne Piece. The Haki system introduced a universal ability that increased the strength of almost any character in the series. This new staple power, despite being a more traditional “power-up,” has some interesting aspects, making it a fast favorite among fans. Sadly, there are some aspects ofOne Piece’sHaki systemthat overshadow some of the more interesting elements of the original Devil Fruit system.
Haki and Devil Fruits: Two Power Systems in Unison
A Tale of Two Powers
Devil Fruits inOne Piecehas a very simple premise. If aperson eats a Devil Fruit, their body changes in some way, giving them some ability. However, at the same time, they become hated by the sea, causing them to lose their ability to swim. Devil Fruits come in multiple different varieties and grant a wide assortment of abilities ranging fromBuggy’s Chop-Chop Fruitto Chopper’s Human-Human Fruit.
Maybe nothing in this world happens by accident - Rayleigh
Haki, on the other hand, is an ability that most of the strongest characters inOne Piecepossess. Haki allows characters to harness their spiritual energy in order to perform superhuman feats. This power comes in three forms; Armament, allowing the user to utilize stronger attacks, Observation, giving the user a certain degree of extra sight and spatial awareness, and Conqueror’s, allowing the user to impose their will over others, potentially knocking them out.One Piece’sArmament Hakialso has the additional effect of allowing the user to hit Devil Fruit powers, even if the power would prevent them from being hit originally.
Haki Makes Devil Fruit Users Too Easy to Deal With In One Piece
Every Weakness is Haki
While Haki was officially introduced toOne Piecetowards the halfway point of the series, the power itself has been around since the beginning of the series. Despite this, Haki still feels like a new system compared to Devil Fruits. With that being said, while the two systems work well together, Haki may just overshadow a few elements of Devil Fruits that made the first fewmajor fights versus Devil Fruit Usersso interesting.
Firstly, Haki inOne Piecegives characters without Devil Fruits a much easier way to deal with Devil Fruit Users. For example, if Zoro were to fight a character like Akainu, it would be impossible for the swordsman to injure the Admiral at all, leaving the non-Devil Fruit User at a severe disadvantage. However, with the use of Haki, Zoro is able to bypass the intangibility granted bythe Magma-Magma Fruit, evening the playing fields.
While from a power scaling standpoint, this makes sense, the use of Haki overshadows one of the former importantweaknesses of Devil Fruits inOne Piece. In the past, the only major way to overcome a Devil Fruit was to exploit its natural weakness. Rather than just attacking with Haki, characters had to outsmart Devil Fruit Users, creating interesting fights that truly explored all aspects of Devil Fruits.
Haki Creates a One-Note Solution in One Piece
No More Creative Solutions
Now with the advent of Haki,One Piecefights against strong enemies just result in slugfests that don’t fully explore the strengths and weaknesses of their Devil Fruit powers. In the past, Luffy needed to discover and exploit weaknesses, like using water to solidify and hit Crocodile to counterhis Logia Devil Fruit, or tying up and removing parts of Buggy’s body, to emerge victorious. Now, it seems like every fight has the same solution; punch the target harder and harder until a victor emerges.
Haki is a power that lies dormant in all the world’s creatures. - Rayleigh
While these twopower systems inOne Piecework very well together, in this small way Haki does overshadow Devil Fruits. However, due to the nature of Devil Fruits, having Haki act as a catch-all weakness for Devil Fruits is probably a better decision in the long run. In the end, hopefully, Oda includes some interesting Devil Fruit weaknesses in the future ofOne Piece, without relying too much on Haki to be the solution to every problem.
