In One Piece, there is a character whose cooking you can not say no to, morals are set straight, and he has a very large bias when it comes to women. Being a disappointment at an early age for being the odd one out among his siblings, he undergoes an arduous journey to fend for himself. Gathering exceptional skills along the way, he becomes a man worthy of respect. That man is none other than Vinsmoke Sanji.
Also known as Black Leg Sanji, Sanji is one character whose character development stays top in the hearts of most One Piece fans. He is the cook of the Straw hat Pirates, one of the officers of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, and one of the top three fighters of the Straw Hats. His dream is to find the place rumored to be a chef’s paradise, the All Blue. This is where the East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, and South Blue seas converge along with their different wildlife.
Who Is Black Leg Sanji In One Piece?
Born as the fourth child among five of the Vinsmoke family, Sanji was always bullied for being different. His father, Judge Vinsmoke, tried to modify his children before birth to make them lose their emotions and give them extraordinary powers. Sora, his wife, was not on board with this plan and decided to thwart it. Unfortunately for Sanji at the time, he was the only one who didn’t receive modification, hence the bullying. During these harsh periods, he discovers his passion for cooking, which does not sit well with his father. After his family puts him in prison with harsh conditions, Sanji learns about All Blue and makes it his dream to get there. One fateful day, his sister helps him escape, but his father catches him along the line. Surprisingly, his father does not stop him but rather asks him to claim the name “Vinsmoke” no more.
Sanji disowns his family, and decides to pursue his dream by cooking on a vessel called the Orbit. Two years later, their ship got attacked by a pirate called Red Leg Zeff. In the aftermath of the battle, a storm left Sanji and Zeff as the only two survivors stranded on a rock. Zeff sent Sanji to the other side of the rock on the lookout with a small bag containing all the food they had. Unbeknownst to Sanji, there was another bag with Zeff. Getting desperate, Sanji decides to loot Zeff and is in dismay to find only treasure in his bag. He also saw that Zeff had eaten his own leg. This harsh lesson bound Sanji to Zeff, leading him to work at the Baratie and vowing to cook for any man who was hungry.
Sanji’s Cooking Skills
Sanji has achieved extraordinary culinary prowess, having been mostly self-taught along with his experience in the Orbit and personal training from Zeff. Sanji possesses a vast knowledge of many kinds of food while having the skills of visual appeal. He serves as the chef of the Straw hat pirates, tasked with preparing delicious and nutritious meals for the crew. He also has a keen sense of smell and taste, as he is able to quickly discern ingredients used in preparing foods.
Not only is he a good cook, he is also a master recipe writer. We see this when Nami is able to prepare a sumptuous meal by following the recipe Sanji left. Post Time Skip, he gets the 99 recipes from the Kamabakka Kingdom Assault Cuisine. They were rewards to him for defeating the Okama Kenpo masters on Momoiro.
Does Sanji Have A Devil Fruit?
Sanji, for a long time, has eyed the Suke Suke No Mi (Clear-Clear Fruit) that grants the user the ability to turn himself and anything he chooses invisible. The reasons for this we are all aware of. However, Sanji is unable to get his hands on this fruit. Fortunately for him, though, when he unlocks his Raid Suit, which is a futuristic battle suit, it comes with invisibility along with other abilities. Sanji, who hated the suit at the time, was forced to wear it to save his friends, and he discovered the suit’s potential.
Raid Suit
Sanji had received a Raid Suit secretly from the Vinsmokes and by Germa 66. The suit, when worn, gives Sanji a black outfit along with a black cape with the number 3 on it and boots. It also gives him the ability to fly, strengthens his kicks with jet propulsion from the boots, a cape that acts like a shield, and the ability to blend into his surroundings as if invisible. The powers he has are identical to those of Stealth Black, a fictional member of Germa 66 that appears in a comic strip in the One Piece series. Sanji rejects the name because of what the fictional character is famous for and instead names it the Soba mask. He later destroyed the suit, which had started to awaken his dormant genetic modifications, to do away with his family finally.
Sanji’s Powers And Abilities
Being the third strongest of the Straw hat Pirates behind Luffy and Zoro is no small feat. Sanji, who has undergone training and already has immense physical strength, speed, and endurance, is a man whose name is widely known on the vast seas. He also has incredible flexibility and agility. After the time skip his strength and endurance increased profusely. Accumulating different techniques on his journey before and after joining the Strawhats. Here are his strongest techniques:
Black Leg Style
Black Leg Style is a martial arts form created by Red Leg Zeff, whom Sanji owes his life to. This is a form of fighting where the users only make use of their legs and feet in order to preserve their hands for the more important task of cooking. This style requires the user to have extremely strong legs, which Sanji already has, as he is even able to kick a cannon with his legs. This form of fighting also has numerous sub-techniques, such as “Con Casse” that Sanji employs.
Diable Jambe
This is a technique that makes use of Sanji’s strong legs even more. It allows him to light his legs on fire by spinning on one leg and using not only friction but his emotions as well. Diable Jambe increases Sanji’s attack potency and speed. All the techniques Sanji uses prior to Diable Jambe, he is also able to use while this technique is activated. Post Time Skip, Sanji has mastered his ability to the point that he does not need to spin to activate his technique and can even ignite both legs.
Genetic Enhancements
Due to wearing the Raid Suit on different occasions, Sanji unknowingly awakened the dormant genetic modifications. They give him an exoskeleton impervious to physical damage and speed faster than the eye can process. Also, enough durability to endure attacks from Yonko commanders. We see this when Queen attacks Sanji, who is still processing the changes to his body, with his sword at full force, and the sword snaps when it comes in contact with Sanji’s head. Faced with a decision of either wearing the Raid Suit, losing his emotions, and defeating Queen easily or destroying the Raid Suit and keeping his emotions, Sanji picked the latter. However, after destroying the Raid Suit, he somehow manages to keep both his emotions and all his genetic modifications.
Ifrit Jambe
By combining his genetic enhancements with Diable Jambe, the technique of Ifrit Jambe was formed. This is a technique that is even faster than Diable Jambe and has hotter flames and turns blue. Sanji is able to drastically increase his power and stamina with this technique combined with Busoshoku Haki, which allows him to withstand the hotness of those flames.
Haki
Post time skip, Sanji is able to use two types of Haki, namely the Busoshoku Haki and the Kenbunshoku Haki. Master at using the Busoshoku Haki, Sanji makes use of this Haki by combining it with his genetic enhancements to strengthen his legs so that they can withstand the flames of his techniques. Sanji has also put a lot of effort into mastering the Kenbunshoku Haki. Now, he is able to feel the intentions, presence, powers, and feelings of others.
Despite all these techniques, Sanji forever remains unwilling to hit a woman. The only time he hit a woman was when he was losing emotions after donning the Raid Suit in Onigashima. And he was unaware of it at the time, because of the loss of emotion the suit brings. After coming to the realization, his emotions come back to him, and he begins to feel remorse, which is one of the reasons he decides to destroy the Raid Suit.
Sanji’s Bounty
Sanji gained his first bounty of 77 million Berries because of his role in Enies Lobby. However, he hates his bounty picture. While it bears some semblance of some sort with Sanji, it is poorly drawn and makes him seem ugly. His bounty later on increased to 177 million Berries after the Dressrosa Arc. Thankfully, he has a better picture in this bounty poster. Unlike the others, the condition of his bounty is “Only Alive” due to the interference of his biological father, Vinsmoke Judge. Since his affiliation with the Vinsmokes became public, the name Vinsmoke was added to his wanted poster.
After escaping Whole Cake Island, Sanji’s bounty increased to 330 million Berries and the condition reverts back to Dead Or Alive. After the Raid on Onigashima, his bounty increased to an astonishing 1 billion and 32 million Berries. Although Sanji had disowned his father and renounced the name Vinsmoke, the World Government continued to add the name to his wanted posters.
Heartbreak And Redemption In Whole Cake Island
In Whole Cake Island, Vinsmoke Judge forces Sanji into an arranged marriage with one of Big Mom’s daughters. Naturally, Sanji refuses, but when the life of his mentor, Zeff, and the lives of the other Straw hats are in danger, he decides to accept and abandon the Straw Hats so he can save everyone. From a forced marriage to getting heartbroken and later rescuing everyone, Sanji plays a major role in Whole Cake Island.
Trickery And Heartbreak By Charlotte Pudding
Being a man of the ladies, Sanji has a lot of women whom he has fallen in love with in the series, and at times, the love is reciprocated. However, there was a woman who had not reciprocated his love at first and had shattered Sanji’s heart. Pudding initially appears sweet and innocent, making Sanji believe that she is genuinely in love with him. Unbeknownst to the Vinsmokes, including Sanji, Pudding was secretly plotting with Big Mom to kill the Vinsmokes. Sanji, who had an insatiable lust for women, immediately fell in love with Pudding when he saw a picture of her, and Pudding also appeared to reciprocate these feelings.
When Pudding meets Luffy and the others, she helps them plot a means of escape for Sanji, because he can’t go around due to the exploding wristlets put on him by his family. Sanji then confesses his love to Pudding, who thinks of him as gullible and pathetic. Pudding later goes to her room and mocks Sanji behind his back, deeming him unworthy of being a prince. Sanji, who had been passing by, overheard all of it. Greatly distressed, Sanji began to cry as his heart was broken. From then on, Sanji began to withdraw from Pudding, not really sure of her intentions towards him anymore. Despite his heartbreak, he found himself still attracted to Pudding. Since the plan was to disrupt their wedding to attack Big Mom, Sanji put up a facade as Pudding’s fiance till the wedding date.
Pudding Reciprocates Sanji’s Love
Despite the sourness of the relationship between Sanji and Pudding, the relationship took a turn for the better as Sanji unknowingly uncovered Pudding’s vulnerabilities. Behind all of Pudding’s beauty and elegance was a third eye on her forehead, hidden behind her bangs. This eye was a source of ridicule for Pudding for most of her life. Big Mom had planned to use this eye to disgust Sanji, but instead, he called the third eye beautiful. Being the first genuine compliment she had ever gotten about her eye, she broke down in tears. After this, she began to develop an interest in Sanji. She appears to suffer from a split personality disorder. One side wants to kill Sanji, and the other is deeply in love with him, although the former is more like Pudding trying to deny her feelings for him.
Due to her newly found love, Pudding began to genuinely aid the Straw hat Pirates in escaping Whole Cake Island. Meanwhile, Sanji is unusually calm and oblivious to Pudding’s love and works with her as a temporary ally. Pudding exhibits her love more when she and Sanji work together to bake a new cake for their wedding. Amazed at his prowess in the kitchen, Pudding joyfully follows Sanji’s orders in the baking process. After they finish up, Sanji thanks Pudding for all the help whilst she was feeling guilty for deceiving him in the first place. Moved by Sanji’s confession of her being his fiancee, she kisses him. However, this is a memory that only Pudding will remember as she uses her Devil Fruit abilities to erase his memory of that event.
Redemption In The Eyes of The Vinsmokes
On the Wedding day of Sanji and Pudding, the Straw Hats had planned to disrupt the wedding and attack Big Mom. The Vinsmokes who were present at the wedding were already wary about the entire event as Katakuri had tried to launch a surprise attack on Sanji. By the time Luffy jumped out of the cake, Judge already had an idea of what was going on and wanted to retrieve Sanji. Meanwhile, Pudding tried to attack Sanji and failed. Her brother, Daifuku, berated her and proceeded to fight Sanji. Perospero, on the other hand, glued the entire Vinsmoke family to their seats with candy and held them at gunpoint. The Straw hats plan that was underway succeeds as Big Mom screams and goes unconscious. Sanji takes advantage of this to free his family, after which they all fight and later on retreat.
After retreating, the Vinsmokes became aware that it was Sanji’s decision to save them, and Judge could not help but question him. As he explains his reasons, Sanji disowns Judge once again, and Judge promises to leave him alone from then on. However, this was short-lived as Big Mom regains consciousness and attacks their hideout. Forced to come out, they engaged in combat but were on the losing end. However, they manage to escape Big Mom’s clutches by taking advantage of the commotion that the collapse of the Whole Cake Chateau caused. Hours later, the Vinsmokes and their fleet defend Sanji as he went to rescue Luffy. They ensure that Sanji and Luffy escape the Island, taking down any Big Mom Pirate that tries to go after them. Sanji had regained his respect in the eyes of the Vinsmokes as they now see him in a different light.
