In regards to awakening, the distribution of this power in relation to powerlevel is kinda odd.
the impel down zoans have awakening, but they are little more than fodder
Katakuri and doffy have awakening and they can use this awakening casually, but they are just high tiers
Kid and Law have just recently awakened and are bad at using their awakenings, and yet they are inbetweeners(better portrayal than most high tiers, but not fully top tier)
Then you have characters like Luffy and Big Mom who are full on top tiers, yet they have never awakened.
On the latter, both big mom and Luffy have had their DFs since childhood and both are incredibly creative in how they use their powers. So why have these two never awakened? Why is doffy better at using awakening than Kid and Law despite being weaker? Why are the impel down zoans glorified fodder with awakening?
I think there is a correlation between the strength of a DF and the difficulty of its awakening. Luffy is heavy hinted to have a legendary DF. Hence it makes sense that he hasn't awakened despite being yonko level. The gomu gomu no mi is so powerful that the user needs to be insanely powerful in order for the DF to awaken. This is why not only has Luffy not awakened, the gomu gomu no mi itself hasn't awakened in hundreds of years.
The gomu gomu no mi is basically Luffy's excalibur. An ability only Luffy can awaken because out of the hundreds of users the gomu gomu no mi has had over the years, Luffy is the only one worthy enough to awaken it.
the impel down zoans have awakening, but they are little more than fodder
Katakuri and doffy have awakening and they can use this awakening casually, but they are just high tiers
Kid and Law have just recently awakened and are bad at using their awakenings, and yet they are inbetweeners(better portrayal than most high tiers, but not fully top tier)
Then you have characters like Luffy and Big Mom who are full on top tiers, yet they have never awakened.
On the latter, both big mom and Luffy have had their DFs since childhood and both are incredibly creative in how they use their powers. So why have these two never awakened? Why is doffy better at using awakening than Kid and Law despite being weaker? Why are the impel down zoans glorified fodder with awakening?
I think there is a correlation between the strength of a DF and the difficulty of its awakening. Luffy is heavy hinted to have a legendary DF. Hence it makes sense that he hasn't awakened despite being yonko level. The gomu gomu no mi is so powerful that the user needs to be insanely powerful in order for the DF to awaken. This is why not only has Luffy not awakened, the gomu gomu no mi itself hasn't awakened in hundreds of years.
The gomu gomu no mi is basically Luffy's excalibur. An ability only Luffy can awaken because out of the hundreds of users the gomu gomu no mi has had over the years, Luffy is the only one worthy enough to awaken it.