Blackbeard has been amassing Devil Fruit powers for himself and all his men. He might be looking to form an army made entirely of Devil Fruit users
The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1064, “Egghead Labopphase,” by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul, and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
As One Piece has progressed, the frequency of enemies with Devil Fruit powers has only gone up. Where it was once rare to see anybody who even knew what a Devil Fruit was, it’s now common to see pirate crews whose top men all have fantastical abilities. Blackbeard might be taking this progression to its logical extreme.
Blackbeard is on a quest for Devil Fruits not just for himself but for everyone working under him. He’s already gotten Fruits for all of his best crewmates, but he still wants more. He could be looking to make an army of Devil Fruit users even greater than Kaidō’s.
How Many of Blackbeard’s Men Have Devil Fruits?
Chapter 1064, “Egghead Labophase,” all but confirmed that Blackbeard’s officers have powers now. This was suggested by Trafalgar Law, who proceeded to mock them for their weakness to seawater now. Blackbeard didn’t deny that all of his men had Devil Fruits, but he did boldly claim that the benefits outweighed the risks.
So far, only six of the Ten Titanic Captains are confirmed to have Devil Fruit powers. Jesus Burgess has the Strong-Strong Fruit; Doc Q has the Sick-Sick Fruit; Van Augur has the Warp-Warp Fruit; Shiryu has the Clear-Clear Fruit; Catarina Devon has the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine Tailed Fox; Sanjuan Wolf has an unknown Devil Fruit that makes him a giant among giants. If Law is right, though, the rest of the Captains should have Devil Fruits, too.
Even Doc Q’s horse Stronger has a Devil Fruit. He ate the Horse-Horse Fruit, Model: Pegasus. Even as a Titanic Captain’s noble steed, it’s difficult to imagine wasting such a valuable ability on him. This frivolous distribution of Devil Fruits could imply that Blackbeard has a large surplus of them.
It’s also important to remember how Blackbeard steals Devil Fruit powers. He can use some unknown means to take a power from a user and transfer it to himself or someone else. Shiryu’s Clear-Clear Fruit, for example, was gained after the Blackbeard Pirates killed Absalom and stole it from him. Blackbeard may have gone through this process of killing Devil Fruit users and transferring their powers to his own men many times over.
This would make The Blackbeard Pirates as a whole far more formidable than the Beast Pirates ever were. Kaidō mainly filled out his ranks with Artificial Zoan users, some of which were duds. Blackbeard can theoretically make sure all of his men have genuine Devil Fruit powers of all types, including Paramecias and Logias. It may be a tall order to make sure every single grunt and errand boy had a Devil Fruit, but he could definitely do it.
How Dangerous Is A Full Devil Fruit Crew?
Anyone who’s read JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure or Hunter X Hunter knows how dangerous this prospect is. Just a single, low-level underling with obscure powers that can’t be fully grasped until they’re fought can wreak all sorts of havoc. To have an army of them is one of the most daunting challenges imaginable, eveh in a battle shonen.
Their greatest weakness would be falling into the water as Law pointed out. All Devil Fruit users, however powerful, lose their ability to swim in exchange for their abilities; they’ll sink like anchors to the bottom or whatever body of water they fall into. Only a few exceptions seem to exist in Blackbeard’s crew, so if anyone goes overboard, they’re unlikely to be saved. They’d be done for if their ship capsized. However, the Emperor seems to view this as a fun, negligible handicap.
It already seemed dangerous to find out that Kaidō’s men were almost all Zoan users. If Blackbeard is amassing Devil Fruits of all types for all of his men, that would certainly make him an ideal candidate for an endgame villain. This is to say nothing of how powerful the Emperor himself and his main crew already are in their own right. With this much power, the only things they’d have to fear are bad karma and the sea.