Probably one of the most terrifying Devil Fruits to exist in the world of One Piece. The Hobby-Hobby Fruit, used by Sugar of the Donquixote Family, is a horror plot that comes to life thanks to the incredible power it gives. With the ability to turn others into toys, it may not seem like much, but the Hobby-Hobby Fruit is much, much worse than it seems at the start.
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What is the Hobby-Hobby Fruit?
A Paramecia Type, which means the user is able to manipulate their body or others in strange ways, the Hobby-Hobby Fruit is a bit different. On the surface, this Devil Fruit just gives the user the ability to turn others into toys. They can be whatever the user can dream up, which in Sugar’s case, means toy soldiers and all kinds of strange dolls. Some of them can get a little weird, and the sizes can vary pretty wildly if she chooses to combine multiple people into one toy. Some like the giant toy soldiers in Dressrosa are made up of quite a few people all rolled into one, which Sugar changes in haste on the field.
The Hobby-Hobby Fruit is another level of terror thanks to the hidden effect it has on those the user chooses. Everyone in their life forgets about them, with no memory or trace of their existence left behind. Even Kyros, the legendary hero of the Dressrosa gladiator battles, is absent from the minds of everyone once he becomes a tiny soldier thanks to Sugar. All that remains of him is a bust in the Coliseum fighters’ room, but nobody knows who he was.
Sugar
A current user of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, Sugar is in her late twenties yet resembles the look of a twelve-year-old child. She has the cruelty of someone older though, with a desire to bring pain to those that do her wrong in the slightest of ways. Often, Sugar can be found eating from a bowl of grapes, with many stuck to the ends of her fingers at any given time. It really seems like eating grapes is all she does, so much so that the Tontatta and Kyros base their entire plan to free the toy people around it.
Sugar is a high-ranking member of the Donquixote Family, and one of the most integral parts of their Dressrosan regime. Thanks to her Hobby-Hobby Fruit, Doflamingo and and his associates can easily make anyone disappear whenever necessary. It’s not hard to keep people in a country complacent when you can just turn any political dissent into a fun colorful toy to play with. She even creates the vow after realizing the mistake with Kyros, forcing the multitudes of toys to work alongside the family in slavery.
Dressrosa’s Toys
Toys are Dressrosa’s greatest tourist attractions. These strange, living beings co-exist right alongside the humans of the country, though nobody remembers how they got there in the first place. It’s a strange sight for most, but eventually, the whimsy of the talking toys wins everyone over. Little do they know that they’re laughing along with political prisoners and slaves who angered their masters. The toy population of Dressrosa keeps growing too, with more popping up every day as if they’re reproducing.
In reality, it’s just Sugar finding more prisoners, slaves, or lost vagabonds to turn. Without the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, Doflamingo would be up to his ridiculous glasses in revolutions, with nothing other than the Coliseum to keep people placated while throwing potential enemies in to fight. Thankfully, the Hobby-Hobby Fruit keeps the toys working in the Black Market port under Dressrosa, without anyone saying a word.
Memories of Nobody
Whenever Sugar uses her powers on the people of Dressrosa, everyone around them forgets who the turned person is. There’s no memory, no trace to be found of the person’s past life. It doesn’t affect anything outside of people’s memories, evidenced by Kyros’ statue in the Coliseum. But it erases all signs of recognition everywhere. Even when Rebecca sees the statue of Kyros, she doesn’t have the realization that it’s her own father. Instead it’s a stranger she’s looking at thanks to the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
It’s a terrifying thought, and the poor people turned into toys are totally conscious of their torture. They have to interact every day with their loved ones who have no memory of them. Meanwhile, they’re not able to do or say anything about it thanks to the vow imposed by Sugar. It’s this that turns the Hobby-Hobby Fruit from a Paramecia with sabotage abilities to a weapon of psychological torture. There’s no shortage of ethical concerns, especially since Sugar herself forgets the people she turns to.
Strengths
The strength of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit hasn’t been entirely explored in One Piece as of yet. As far as what Sugar actually uses, the greatest strength of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit is quickly nullifying any opponent. Once they’re turned into a toy, most battles are essentially over as Sugar has the upper hand. Rarely do the toys turn out in fighting shape like Kyros is, with even fewer being able to perform basic actions thanks to their design choices.
Yet again, the memory aspect is one of the greatest strengths that the Hobby-Hobby Fruit offers. This allows the user to basically turn the opponent and then forget about them, literally, leaving them wherever they may be. She doesn’t even have to finish the fight, but maintain her ability. It’s really overpowered, all things considered, even considering the lack of active combat abilities it provides.
Weaknesses
A glaring weakness is that the effect can be undone in an instant if Sugar is knocked out. It seems she’s able to sleep normally with the effect remaining. However, when she’s knocked unconscious for any reason, the power is done for. That’s the one glaring issue that the Tontatta and Kyros scope out. While their initial plan to do it doesn’t work, they are successful eventually. Thanks to Usopp and his terrifying face, Sugar is unconscious and everyone is suddenly back to normal.
Memory loss is really a double-edged sword all things considered. Sugar can easily turn any political opponents of Doffy with no impact. That said, if they want to turn them back, it’s much harder. Usually, if they see a moving toy it can be assumed Sugar’s ability did it. The problem is, they can’t remember exactly who in the world it is, as Sugar herself forgets immediately along with everyone else.
Despite those glaring weaknesses though, the Hobby-Hobby Fruit is one of the strongest Paramecia’s out there. What it lacks in combat ability it makes up for in espionage and others. There’s no shortage of ways that the Hobby-Hobby Fruit can make life hell for those who encounter a user on the Grand Line. Even if it isn’t Sugar, this Devil Fruit can easily cause massive problems for entire countries if used right.
