The Ope Ope no Mi is quite possibly the most coveted Devil Fruit in the One Piece universe.
In open-world video games, players are often tempted to use a few cheat codes when things get boring. Maybe you’re riding a purple rendering of a hippopotamus, it’s quite possible you just wanted to give everyone in a particular city enough arms to make Vishnu jealous. Well, when looking at the Ope Ope no Mi in One Piece, it feels like the ultimate cheat code fell on your real-life lap. Manipulation of reality becomes simple. Let’s look at one of One Piece’s cheat codes Devil Fruits, and how it’s been used throughout the series
The Ability of The Ope Ope no Mi
The Ope Ope no Mi, or Op-Op Fruit grants its wielder the ability to reshape and alter the environment as though it were performing surgery on it. One harnesses the power by creating a spherical, translucent, blue forcefield that envelops the user. The Ope Ope no Mi is a heart-shaped fruit with a vibrant red hue, resembling a strawberry. It is compact enough for a person to easily grasp it between their fingers. Trafalgar D. Water Law became the consumer of this fruit after it was forcibly introduced to him by Donquixote Rosinante. Before Law, this remarkable ability belonged to a renowned physician.
Why Do People Desire The Op-Op Fruit?
The Ope Ope no Mi is celebrated. Plus, highly sought after for enabling its wielder to perform extraordinary surgical feats, bypass physical impairments, or even cure incurable illnesses. Over a decade ago, the Marines offer a staggering sum of 5,000,000,000 in an attempt to purchase the fruit from Diez Barrels. Its exceptional ability to grant one eternal youth upon another, at the cost of the user’s own life, has earned it the title of the “Ultimate Devil Fruit” in the world of One Piece. This begs the question, why doesn’t somebody just steal it? It’s arguably the most prized devil fruit in existence, so who has been able to protect it from people like Blackbeard or The World Government?
Trafalgar D. Law: Surgeon of Death
Trafalgar hails from North Blue and serves as both the captain and physician of the Heart Pirates. We talk a bit about this renegade physician in our North Blue Rookies segment about the Heart Pirates. He is one of a dozen pirates collectively known as the “Worst Generation.” Following the time-skip, Law noticeably reduced his frequency of smiling, adopting a more guarded presence.
His adult years have seen him remain deeply affected by his tragic history, adding to the circulation of rumors that depict him as a stern and unfeeling individual. Scratchmen Apoo once remarked that Law had gained notoriety for his ruthless disposition. So, how does this ruthless pirate use his force-fed gift?
Room: The Ope Ope no Mi House of Horrors
By creating a spherical, blue-transparent forcefield at its core, which Trafalgar Law refers to as “ROOM,” the user gains dominion over everything within this defined space, including living entities, themselves included. Within this territory, the user can perform a variety of cosmic manipulations. This involves, but is not limited to teleporting two objects by swapping their locations. Also, telekinetically lifting and moving objects of any size.
Toys to Play With
Remember how we said that the Op-Op Fruit is like using an open-world cheat code? Well, that’s literally true when using Room. Want to make people a Mr. Potato Head? That’s fine, just use this special ability, and you can rearrange somebody’s body parts into a disorganized mass. Why stop there? You can combine the parts of a group. Also, if you’re worried about advancing units, just use the devil fruit to scan the enemy. That will inevitably ensure your survival. Want to make sure the massive warrior nearby isn’t a threat? Just switch his personality with a coward’s and they’ll fall apart like baked ribs.
Why Is The Ope Ope no Mi The “Ultimate Devil Fruit”
The paramount power of this fruit, renowned as the “Ultimate Devil Fruit,” lies in its potential to bestow eternal youth through the “Perennial Youth Operation.” Doflamingo revealed that the World Nobles possess a national treasure, which, when combined with the Ope Ope no Mi, could potentially grant the user the means to conquer the entire world.
Once the fruit undergoes an “awakening,” the user acquires the ability to create special “ROOMs,” eliminating the need for the user to remain within the operating area for techniques to take effect, as is the case with standard power. This directly addresses one of the fruit’s primary weaknesses. That said, without awakening there are indeed weaknesses.
The Hangups
Although the fruit grants access to a wide array of abilities, many of them come with their own set of limitations. For instance, certain attacks require the user to perform specific hand gestures for activation. Another significant drawback of this fruit is that utilizing its powers consumes the user’s stamina, necessitating periods of rest.
Furthermore, the most glaring limitation of the Ope Ope no Mi is that the user can only employ its abilities within a designated spherical area that they must create themselves; should the target move beyond this area, they become immune to its effects. Additionally, for the user to perform a swap within their ROOM, they must first establish the positioning of the destination object or themselves. There’s also the fact that – if you lack surgical knowledge – this fruit will be useless in cases where allies require healing.
Is The Ope Ope no Mi The Key to Eternal Life?
Maybe. After everything is said and done, the Op-Op fruit seems to have the same functionality as Harry Potter’s Elder Wand or Sauron’s Ring. Without the proper guidance, it’s just a fruit that allows you to slice people up. That’s still impressive compared to some devil fruits, but it doesn’t have the same punch. Personally, that feels right. It shouldn’t be easy to use because that would basically mean game over for the series. One Piece does a relatively decent job at nerfing overpowered entities. That aside, this devil fruit is definitely in the top five. It’s truly amazing.
