In the SBS for One Piece volume 98, Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, revealed what Devil Fruit powers Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and many other members of the Straw Hat crew would have if they ever gained one. The SBS is a section in each volume of One Piece in between individual chapters where Oda takes the time to answer fan mail. While many of his answers to fan questions may be tongue-in-cheek or silly, he often reveals some very interesting details about One Piece’s world and characters. Oda’s answer to the question of what Devil Fruits some non-powered Straw Hats would get certainly falls into the latter.

In the 98th volume of One Piece, Oda answered a fan question about what Devil Fruits would fit Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Franky best. Nami’s Fruit is the Rumble Rumble Fruit, which lets its user wield the power of lightning. This fits well with her fighting tool called a Clima-tact which creates controlled bursts of lightning in battle. In contrast, Zoro and Sanji’s Fruits aren’t as directly connected to their characters. Zoro would receive Kaido’s powerful Mythical Zoan Fish Fish Fruit, which enables its user to turn into a dragon and Sanji would receive the Swim Swim Fruit, which enables its user to swim through solid surfaces like the ground.

Nami Would Gain Lightning While Zoro Would Get Kaido’s Fruit

In contrast to Zoro and Sanji, the rest of the other two crew members’ fruits fit their character much more. Usopp would receive the Pocket Pocket Fruit which would endow his body with infinite pockets, perfect for a sniper like him who needs places to store his ammo. Franky would receive the Arms Arms Fruit which would enable him to turn any part of his body into a weapon, fitting for a cyborg who can already turn parts of his body into weapons. Though most of these Devil Fruits make total sense, it still leaves the question of why Zoro and Sanji got such different Devil Fruits.

The reason why Zoro and Sanji’s fruits are less of an ideal match for them comes down to the characters’ innate power levels. Both are already superlative fighters, so they don’t need the extra powers a Devil Fruit would bring. In justifying his choice for Zoro’s fruit, Oda says that the fruit wouldn’t even be for Zoro, but for his sword since it would be cool if his sword was able to turn into a dragon. This is likely also the reason why Oda didn’t assign a Fruit to Jinbe, who is the last Straw Hat without one. Although the Seraphim based on Jinbe has shown how he could break One Piece‘s power levels if he had the Swim Swim Fruit.

It is unlikely that at this point in the series any of the Straw Hats mentioned above will acquire a Devil Fruit ability. Oda generally likes to tie a character’s power-ups to their personal growth or backstories and suddenly acquiring a Devil Fruit may feel unearned compared to how the Straw Hats have previously gotten stronger. However, this doesn’t reduce the fun of imagining the ramifications of Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and the other Straw Hats of One Piece acquiring these powers.