The third and rarest type of Zoan Devil Fruit in One Piece, Mythical is a sub-class of their own. These Devil Fruits allow full transformation into mythical beings of legend, whether they be the Sun God Nika or fearsome dragons of folklore. The Mythical Zoans range far between every different type of Mythology, and most of them usually come with another great set of powers for battle.
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What Are Mythical Zoans?
Just like the usual Zoan-type Devil Fruits, the Mythical Zoans allow the user to turn into creatures other than humans. The only caveat here is that the creatures they turn into are from myths, legends, and folklore from around the world. Some take from religion or historical folk figures, like Sengoku’s Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Wise Buddha. This allows him to turn into the image of a massive golden Buddha statue, with some ridiculous laser abilities attached. Others though, can take a much more fierce approach to the Mythical Beasts.
Some will take the form of creatures, like Marco’s Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Model: Phoenix. This is just one example though, because others like Yamato’s Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Large Mouth Dog can take a much more monstrous form. In addition, the Mythical Zoans get the same hybrid forms as other Zoan Types, allowing half-human, half-beast transformations for more intense battles. The best part of Mythical Zoans comes from the extra powers they often come with.
Alternate Powers
Many of the mythical creatures that the Mythical Zoans are inspired by come with some nifty powers along with transformations. Marco’s Phoenix form, taking inspiration from the legend of the phoenix, allows him to greatly augment his prior doctoral knowledge. With his healing flames, Marco makes a fantastic medic on the battlefield, with the added advantage of taking to the skies to see what’s happening below. While he is more based around a support role though, others are fitter for intense battle.
Yamato meanwhile gains a fierce wolf form thanks to his Devil Fruit, along with the ability to control ice. He’s able to create powerful ice beams to attack foes, freezing them in place where they stand. In addition, he can create massive formations of ice, dropping them on foes or even making massive ice walls to keep others away.
Then others, like Catarina Devon, have stranger powers. The Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Nine-Tailed Fox, lets her take the form of anyone she wants to. She’s able to perfectly mimic others, copying the look of Absalom when Gecko Moria tries to attack Fullalead Island. It’s one of the more sinister powers, utilizing the trickery foxes are known for.
Hybrid Forms
As with other Zoan Devil Fruits, the user can take a Hybrid form between their human and best forms. This allows them a significant speed and strength boost, giving them an increased standing in battle against stronger enemies. The benefits could range from Yamato’s which gives him massive speed along with his ice control, or his father Kaido’s. The Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Model: Azure Dragon turns Kaido into an even more hulking monster than before, giving him even harder, scaled skin. In addition, he gets sharp claws and fangs, which allow him to rip apart foes even without a weapon.
Although some allow for more limited combat ability, they do allow for greater movement. Marco’s Hybrid-Zoan form simply allows him to turn his arms into flaming wings, and as needed, his feet become talons. Others like Sengoku make him into a massive, golden Buddha capable of traversing entire battlefields in just a few steps. The range between Mythical Zoan Fruits and plain Zoans is night and day, showing that forgotten beasts of folklore can still be terrors in the current world.
Awakenings
While there have only been a few examples of Zoan Devil Fruit Awakenings, the Mythical Zoans only have one such example. Luffy’s Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Sun God Nika allows his Awakening of Nika to come out in full force. Now, instead of just manipulating his own limbs like rubber by blowing air into his bones, Luffy can stretch and change as he pleases by just thinking. That’s probably a good thing, since in battle is about the only time he does any thinking at all. He’s now able to manipulate the area around him like rubber as well, including his own enemies. In full Gear Fifth, Luffy was able to even stretch Kizaru’s massive head out with just one Gum-Gum Seeing Stars.
Potentially, the Gorosei have all achieved Awakening with their unknown Devil Fruits. The telltale smoke wreathe that surrounds Awakenings and partial-Awakenings is there. That said, it’s unknown if this could just be from the overall enormous power that they hide behind their calm exteriors. What is known is that the power of their demonic Devil Fruits is insanely strong, able to pop Marine heads with a single look from Saturn on Egghead.
Known Users
- Monkey D Luffy- Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Sun God Nika.
- Marco- Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Model: Phoenix.
- Sengoku- Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Wise Buddha.
- Kaido- Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Model: Azure Dragon.
- Catarina Devon- Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Nine Tail Fox.
- Onimaru- Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Big Monk.
- Yamato- Dog-Dog Fruit, Mythical Model: Large-Mouth Dog.
- Stronger- Horse-Horse Fruit, Mythical Model: Pegasus.
Unknown Fruits
While they have yet to be named, assume that the Gorosei and Imu all have some Mythical Devil Fruits. They all show monstrous silhouettes when Sabo faces them atop Mary Geoise. Even to the point of referring to the place as Hell atop the Earth. The only one that’s actually been seen thus far though is Jay Garcia Saturn’s. which takes the form of a monstrous spider-ox from Japanese folklore. This creature, based on a yokai called the Ushi-Oni, is what’s theorized to be the Devil Fruit behind Saturn’s monstrous transformation.
The other Gorosei also shows these ridiculous transformations, but only in the shadows of the throne room. There’s no telling what other monstrous creatures could end up taking the form of the Gorosei, but they won’t be pretty. It’s likely themed around the yokai of Japanese mythology, showing just how fearsome the Gorosei can be.
They’re definitely the rarest type of Devil Fruit in the World of One Piece along with Logia, but Mythical Zoans may appear a few more times. The story is constantly revealing new, more insane Devil Fruits as it goes, so new Mythical Zoans are definitely going to come into play. At least the Five Elders will have to eventually be revealed, giving some new type of Mythical or even demonic Zoan Fruits for the Straw Hats to contend with.
