A Devil Fruit that’s as dark as the abyssal heart of its user, the Dark-Dark Fruit is just the first step to Blackbeard’s reign. When he steals it from Whitebeard’s Fourth Division Commander Thatch, it kicks off events that change the Grand Line forever. What is this mysterious Devil Fruit though, and what does it say about the wildcard Marshall D Teach?
Warning that this article contains spoilers for One Piece through Chapter 1098. Catch up on Viz or MangaPlus before continuing to avoid being spoiled!
What is the Dark-Dark Fruit?
The Dark-Dark Fruit, wielded in One Piece by Marshall D Teach, better known as Blackbeard, is one of the strongest Logia out there. This Logia Type Devil Fruit gives the user total control over the power of darkness, and turns their body into an abyss that can absorb anyone. It even allows Blackbeard to create huge pools of darkness, as well as small, condensed black holes that can absorb everything nearby.
While it’s a mysterious Devil Fruit, the one thing known is that it’s a Logia Type that was originally obtained by Thatch. While Blackbeard killed him for it, that’s only the beginning of a rampage that will culminate in war. This Devil Fruit proves itself time and time again as overpowered, breaking down anyone Blackbeard comes up against in a fight.
Marshall D Teach
The infamous Blackbeard, real name Marshall D Teach, is one of the most fearsome and insane pirates to roam the Grand Line. Formerly a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, he now rules the New World as one of the great Emperors of the Sea. After killing Whitebeard during the Marineford War, his Dark-Dark Fruit is further reinforced with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit he steals. This means Teach is one of the most fearsome pirates to ever exist, only bolstered by the legendary pirates on his crew.
While Teach was always a touch mad, he seems much more insane in his recent years. He develops an obsession with gathering Devil Fruits, and sets off building a crew to do it. Over time, Teach becomes Emperor, taking over the New World with the combined powers of the Tremor-Tremor and Dark-Dark Fruits.
Blackbeard Begins
Teach takes to the Devil Fruit quickly after stealing it from Thatch. While he doesn’t show any powers off at first meeting with Luffy, his fight against Ace is where everything gets a showcase. The Dark-Dark Fruit goes up against the Flame-Flame Fruit, and it doesn’t go nearly as planned for Ace. The Fire Fist fights with his entire heart, doing his best to light up the darkness with massive flames, but it isn’t enough.
After Blackbeard creates a pool of darkness, Ace is trapped. The madman then brings Portgaz D Ace to the Marines, handing him over for one of the vacant Warlord positions. It works too, positioning him for a massive power grab during the Marineford War and changing the world forever.
Powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit
The Dark-Dark Fruit is mysterious even as a Logia Type. Blackbeard can turn into a being of pure darkness at will. That makes hitting him a major pain in the ass. He’s able to stop punches or kicks with no issue, trapping his attacker at the same time, captive for pummeling. This is how he absorbs Ace, keeping him a floating prisoner inside the darkness for the remainder of his journey to Impel Down.
The ability to create miniature black holes is probably one of the greatest powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit. These compressed masses of darkness are swirled together in Blackbeard’s hand. They get so dense at a certain point, they’ll develop their own gravitational field. This is an easy way for Teach to capture foes, without ever even having to touch them.
Is the Dark-Dark Fruit Something Else?
Lately, One Piece has set a precedent for Devil Fruits having a few tricks up their sleeves. Awakenings were introduced in the story back in Dressrosa, and only Paramecia and Zoan types so far have shown them. That said, One Piece is due to give Logia Types an upgrade soon. Especially seeing as even Kizaru didn’t show one in Egghead Island.
There are theories out there that say Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit is the equivalent of Luffy’s Gum-Gum Fruit. Meaning that it may actually be another Devil Fruit masquerading as a Logia. Bets have been long-running that it would be a Mythical Zoan of Cerberus, three-headed guard dog of Hell. Other theories believe it may tie into the Oni theme currently being seen in the Gorosei.
One interesting thing to note is that the Dark-Dark Fruit does look oddly similar to the Gum-Gum Fruit. Both are a bright shade of purple with swirls, but each Fruit swirls in a different direction. This could symbolize that they’re opposing forces, and perhaps Blackbeard is another God level Devil Fruit user.
Blackbeard’s Secrets
That said, all of this could just be paralleling Blackbeard himself. Nika is seen as a light-bringer, so it’s not a coincidence the Dark-Dark Fruit would oppose him. Blackbeard himself is a strange fellow before even finding the Dark-Dark Fruit. This could just be a case of the Fruit attracting itself to the right person like Luffy did. Until there’s any confirmation, we won’t know for sure.
What is known is that Blackbeard hasn’t slept since he was a child. The last time he fell asleep, Teach murdered his entire family, and hasn’t slept since. The Whitebeard Pirates say that he would just sit and stare at night, never falling asleep the entire time he was there. That’s totally separate from the Will of D he carries, which is its own brand of chaos to go with the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Nobody knows what’s to come, as Blackbeard is still doing his best to gather various Devil Fruits for his crew. It’s one of his many plans for bringing back the Will of Rocks D Xebec, but nobody knows the real goal. The Dark-Dark Fruit still has a lot of secrets to spill though, and Blackbeard is going to be the big bad in an upcoming arc for sure.
