‘One Piece’ on Netflix tells the tale of a young pirate named Monkey D. Luffy who aspires to rule the pirates. He intends to achieve this by locating the infamous artefact known as One Piece, which is concealed somewhere along the Grand Line. Unlike other pirates, most of whom are reputed to be brutal and crafty, Luffy wants to establish himself as a renowned pirate. Despite his opposition to violence, he will fight for his buddies without hesitation.
Luffy doesn’t appear to be a fighter because, in contrast to other buff pirates, he is a slim and small man. He does, however, possess a highly unique talent that grants him enormous strength to withstand things that would otherwise be fatal to him, making him a very dangerous pirate. His abilities don’t appear to function in seawater, which is one disadvantage. How come that? Let’s investigate. Spoilers follow.
Why Does Luffy’s Power Not Work in Sea Water?
After consuming a Devil Fruit, which converted his body into rubber, Luffy acquired his abilities. He can now stretch any portion of his body, which comes in helpful while battling his opponents. Additionally, it enables him to repel the force of a bullet or cannon strike and return it to his shooter. This makes him a powerful opponent and aids in his strategy to rule the pirates, but every ability has a downside. Luffy’s is made of seawater.
Not only is seawater Luffy’s kryptonite. Anyone who has consumed a Devil’s Fruit can use it. Seawater will dampen their strength no matter how strong they are, rendering them helpless. This is a really unpleasant turn of circumstances for a pirate because one mistake could result in them drowning miserably at the bottom of the ocean. The Netflix series has not yet addressed the reason why seawater and Devil Fruit eaters have this bond. But if not specific solutions, the manga on which the drama is based has offered some theories.
One belief holds that the Devil Fruits endow humans with supernatural abilities they shouldn’t have. Anyone with such abilities is alien to the water because they are not human. Because of this, the sea is enraged by these individuals and believes that they are unacceptable. As a result, anytime a Devil Fruit eater falls into the ocean, the seawater immobilises them, and they drown until someone intervenes to save them.
A person’s condition also relies on the kind of powers they possess. The powers are not lost in the seas in the case of Luffy, whose body changed after consuming the fruit. He simply becomes too feeble to use them. Although his physique is still capable of stretching, he is immobile due to the water. Others experience a halting of their powers, as if they had been switched off in the water, because their powers do not involve physical transformation but rather something that needs to be triggered.
Only seawater appears to have such an effect on a Devil Fruit eater in the Netflix series. However, in the manga, this rule applies to any body of water that is deep enough to immerse a human. Not necessarily saltwater must be used. It will have the desired impact as long as it is still and not moving, like the rain. It should be noted that simply sprinkling someone with water won’t work. However, we can see that this might be the case in the Netflix series.
Arlong splashes Luffy with seawater in one moment, which is significantly different from a human-caused splash. The young pirate doesn’t fight back like he did before he was splashed with seawater, perhaps because he was frightened or because he landed hard after the splash. Perhaps the lore is being updated or changed by the TV programme to better fit the plot in the future. In any event, Luffy must continue to balance on a razor’s edge while avoiding falling over because seawater is both deadly and unavoidable.
