Theory Sanji's Awakening

Do you think that Sanji was affected by his genetic modifications?

  • Yes

  • No

  • On the Fence


Results are only viewable after voting.
#1
On WCI we recently got to know that Sanji & his brothers were genetically modified to become emotionless super soldiers at birth. However due to a drug Sora took to prevent her children from becoming emotionless, only Sanji failed to show results of getting genetically modified albeit at the cost of keeping his emotions unlike his brothers. The consequences of this however, were huge as it meant Sanji had to live the majority of his childhood getting discriminated against as a failure and was even locked away in a dungeon and later disowned & discarded by Judge. Sanji had to go through all of that hardship solely because he was deemed to be a normal human without the same disposition and physical capabilities as his siblings. However, is Sanji really just a normal human? and did his genetic modifications really fail?

The illustration below shows how Sanji compares to his brothers, emphasizing both their differences and similarities:
From the above diagram, from a functionality test perspective, using Judge’s configuration as our test case, it's abundantly clear that Sanji fails to meet the criteria of Judge's ideal superhuman. However, even so, you'd notice that Sanji shares a fair bit of similarities with his brothers, most of which are unique to them in the whole verse and even within their family. So even though Sanji doesn't possess the exact same disposition or characteristics as his brothers, I think these similarities prove that he was also affected by his genetic modifications albeit not in the same way his brothers were.
  • Summary of similarities Sanji shares with his brothers
    • Intense lust towards beautiful women
      • On WC, after the Sanji v Luffy fight, all of the vinsmoke royal family members were present at the time however, only Sanji's brothers expressed lust towards Nami in the same way Sanji usually does.
    • Ability to use irregular abilities without a df.
      • It is not normal for characters in one piece to be able to summon fire, light, electricity etc. without having done so via some devil fruit or something.
    • Curly eyebrows
      • Both Sanji and his brothers' have curly eyebrows with a shape akin to the patterns that appear on regular fruits when they become cursed (I don't think it's far-fetched to infer that the source of this pattern appearing on regular fruits after they get cursed is due to the genetic structure of said fruits having undergone a change)
      • Curly eyebrows in the world of one piece are referred to as a taboo & the child that has it is deemed as cursed as was the case with Duval.
      • According to what Oda stated in SBS vol. 7, to a response to a question with regards to why Sanji's eyebrows are curly, Sanji's eyebrows are not ordinary.

Now even with the above similarities Sanji shares with his brothers, I'm sure there are still a few folks that aren't convinced that Sanji was affected by his genetic modifications and the source of this conflict is most likely as a result of Oda's answer to a question regarding the vinsmoke siblings hair color in a recent SBS.

Here's what Oda to say about the vinsmokes hair colour:
「血統因子の操作による影響が出なかったからこそ、そのまま親と同じ髪色なんですね。」
Trans: Due to the fact that Sanji didn't manifest the effects of having his lineage factor manipulated, he retains the same hair color as his parents.
At first glance, this might sound like a confirmation that Sanji didn't have his lineage factor modified, but I want y'all to think about it for a moment, does having your lineage factor modified automatically give you an exoskeleton or make you void of emotions? The answer to that is no, and reiju is living proof of that given she has emotions unlike her brothers bar Sanji. If it wasn't already obvious before, it becomes increasingly clear that said effects were specifically configured by Judge. The unique hair colors of all the vinsmokes bar Sanji is most likely the same. Now Oda said Sanji didn't manifest the effects of having his lineage factor manipulated by Judge, but effects of what exactly? Judge's configuration? If so, then that's accurate. However, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of Sanji's genetic modifications having taken a slightly different route from that of his brothers in consequence to the drug Sora took. Sanji keeping his emotions and not having developed an exoskeleton doesn't necessarily prove that he wasn't genetically modified, just that he is fundamentally different from his brothers.

A potential hint that Sanji was modified differently from his brothers is the fact that his curly eyebrows take an inverse shape in comparison to his brothers.

Now moving on to the nitty gritty of my theory which is Sanji's awakening, I’m sure the lot of you guys & girls are familiar with the story of the ugly duckling. If so, you’ve prolly already noticed that Sanji's backstory shares a lot of similarities with it and I don’t think it’s simply just a coincidence either given the following:
  • In SBS vol.20 Oda was asked what animals best represent the SHs and Oda's choice for Sanji was ‘domesticated duck’ which,I personally think is a very peculiar choice.
  • Taking a look at the cover page for chapter 124, after the events on WCI, it becomes abundantly clear that it was a foreshadowing of Sanji's past. In the image below, Sanji is carrying a box with the word secret and a sticker with the SHs jolly roger on it, indicating that Sanji at the time, was keeping a secret from the SHs. It is also very interesting to note that in the same picture Oda depicts a man at the pier riding a "Swan".
  • Sanji's pet-name for Nami is Nami~swan!
As pointed out above Sanji character seems to be somewhat tied to Ducks & Swans, so taking the above into consideration, I for one, think it's very unlikely that the similarities between Sanji's backstory & the story of the ugly duckling is simply a coincidence ^^.

Now, seeing as the story of the ugly duckling could very well be the template for Sanji's backstory, I think an awakening is very much on the cards for Sanji. One could argue that Sanji has already found his flock of swans & acceptance in the SHs & Baratie which is true. However like the ugly duckling came to the realization that he's not actually a duck but a magnificent swan, Sanji is still yet to come to realization that he isn't a Germa failure but something that might surpass even Judges' initial configuration for his kids (hypothetically speaking). For example, Sanji is fundamentally different from his brothers in that his emotions intensify/strengthen his fire ab,ilities. Anger in particular increases the intensity of his flames and this phenomenon is what gave birth to one his strongest techniques shown to date in his hell memories. So as opposed to his brothers’, Sanji’s abilities have the potential to evolve whereas his brothers’ remain stagnant due to their lack of emotions.

Now due to the fact that Sanji's emotions make his fire abilities stronger. There's a real possibility that Sanji's flames evolve to even stronger flames like blue or potentially even black sometime further down the line (maybe even as early as Wano) depending how intense his emotions get. Scientifically speaking we know fire changes color the hotter it gets (red -> orange -> white -> blue), so going in line with that Sanji could potentially unlock blue flames. However, due to fact that the lot of Sanji's epithets have been tied to the color black till now (i.e. Black leg, Stealth black). I won't be surprised if it ends up being black flames and not blue. (i.e. Blue/Black flames are pretty extreme, as such it could potential hurt the user themeselves, so maybe that's why Oda added the fire immunity feature to the RS?

If something does happen that stimulates Sanji's emotions enough for his flames to evolve, I don't think it will end with just that and the reason I say this was something that happened way back on TB pre-ts. When Usopp told Sanji that Absalom took a good look at Nami in the shower, he got so angry that he literally combusted and the intensity of his fire kept on rising and he seemed to be transforming into a devil of sorts, to which Zoro commented saying that if the intensity of Sanji's flames got any higher it seemed as though he could transform into something.
I personally think that the above is a foreshadowing of a potential transformation for Sanji in the future, one which would allow him to bear all the fruits of his genetic modifications which I think, will also include some durability buff of some sorts. Seeing as Sanji's fire abilities have a lot more potential that his brother's abilities, I wouldn't be at all surprised if his exoskeleton equivalent is superior as well. Now, I'm sure some of y'all are wondering why I think Sanji will get a durability buff with his awakening when he already has the RS and the reason is as follows; Although the RS provides Sanji with a very durable shield in it's cape to protect him against powerful blows, it doesn't really up his durability during CQC. To add, Sanji's forte isn't armament (Oda's has emphasized that a few times already post-ts) and he's going to be fighting against some really durable and powerful fighters from now on in the likes of Queen (potentially) so I think a durability upgrade is also on the cards for Sanji.

Hope y'all enjoyed the read ^^
 
#2
My theory is = The Drug Sora made caused Sanji to have powers manipulated by his emotions. Which in then caused DJ and HM. Once Sanji and Judge have their next talk or once Sanji meets Vegapunk he will realise his strength is manipulated by his emotions. As one he is at his angriest when he is at his strongest....however once he cools down he becomes weaker. And when he feels overwhelmed he is not as strong.

I will make a theory on it one day.
 
#3
Hope y'all enjoyed the read ^^
I am a believer of Sanji emotions affecting his DJ n HM, and everything he went through in WCI will definetly play a factor in his offensive PU growth. In fact Oda already hinted this when his DJ against Judge grew brighter than ever. So i definitely see Sanji dj turning Blue or Black in the future. Hardening could also be the reason tho.
Same for Exoskeleton, i think it is a potential PU for Sanji.

One thing i don't really get tho is how RS will save Sanji from these flames. Ain't the flames coming from Sanji itself or are they forming outside Sanji RS? And if RS can save Sanji from these flames, it means the flames are still not as Powerful as BM attack she used on Reiju during Tea Party.
 
#4
I am a believer of Sanji emotions affecting his DJ n HM, and everything he went through in WCI will definetly play a factor in his offensive PU growth. In fact Oda already hinted this when his DJ against Judge grew brighter than ever. So i definitely see Sanji dj turning Blue or Black in the future. Hardening could also be the reason tho.
Same for Exoskeleton, i think it is a potential PU for Sanji.

One thing i don't really get tho is how RS will save Sanji from these flames. Ain't the flames coming from Sanji itself or are they forming outside Sanji RS? And if RS can save Sanji from these flames, it means the flames are still not as Powerful as BM attack she used on Reiju during Tea Party.
It's just a potential use case of that particular feature of the RS. I feel the fire resistance feature of the RS has to aid Sanji is some way otherwise it very much feels like a random feature for the RS to have. In addition, the explosion from BM's attack was strong to send Reiju flying but the flames themselves didn't hurt her. You'd notice that BM opted for Zeus as opposed to Prometheus the next time she attacked Reiju ^^. You make a good point with regards to how the RS protects Sanji considering Sanji's fire itself should be getting generated from under the RS though ^^". Can you see another potential use case for the fire-resistance feature of the RS other than that though?:unsure:
 
#5
It's just a potential use case of that particular feature of the RS. I feel the fire resistance feature of the RS has to aid Sanji is some way otherwise it very much feels like a random feature for the RS to have. In addition, the explosion from BM's attack was strong to send Reiju flying but the flames themselves didn't hurt her. You'd notice that BM opted for Zeus as opposed to Prometheus the next time she attacked Reiju ^^. You make a good point with regards to how the RS protects Sanji considering Sanji's fire itself should be getting generated from under the RS though ^^". Can you see another potential use case for the fire-resistance feature of the RS other than that though?:unsure:
Some of the feautures of RS were redundant for Sanji, hence i was never a believer of it being a PU for Sanji, i believed in Exoskeleton instead. Durability chck. Flight, Sanji can already do so. Speed, Sanji was already fast, Heat resistant, Sanji was already heat resistant. Bt Oda went with it and incremented em more.

I am guessing it can protect others, from fire, bullets or anything with the Cape.

Bt on second thought, i think what you mentioned above can happen still, yes it will bypass logic bt that's the only way Sanji will be able to use DJ n HM with RS. It like clothes of Onepiece characters, they never g3t damaged due to df or fire.
 
A

ardym

#6
yes i believe that Sanji will got power up based on that as well , maybe having the RS is they key to awake it . but for sure the modification were not completely gone due the drug that his mom took. Sanji got some weird powers when he is angry , that speaks for the fact that they would be more important in the story.
 
#8
my opinion is, the idea of sanji getting another power up just because of germa would be underwhelming
it would actually take a lot of his character
the raid suit is enough
and I don't see it happening
but cool theory
thanks mate ^^ and interesting, coz I've seen this point of view a few times already (particularly on Orojackson). Could you go into a bit more details on why you think Sanji having powers from his gene modification would hurt his character?
 
#9
thanks mate ^^ and interesting, coz I've seen this point of view a few times already (particularly on Orojackson). Could you go into a bit more details on why you think Sanji having powers from his gene modification would hurt his character?
like, my opinion is: his whole character arc was about how sanji was stronger than his abusive family in his own way
being a good person, being determinated, having real friends, etc
then, his next power up is the raid suit, which is ok, and then... powers from gene modifications?
the family who made his life hell because he was "weak" now is the source of his power? What is up with that?
it would throw away all his character development in WCI, now he wouldn't be cool because he is a nice guy who wants to protect his nakama, it would be just because of he is a Vinsmoke, which is the thing he hates the most
 
#10
like, my opinion is: his whole character arc was about how sanji was stronger than his abusive family in his own way
being a good person, being determinated, having real friends, etc
then, his next power up is the raid suit, which is ok, and then... powers from gene modifications?
the family who made his life hell because he was "weak" now is the source of his power? What is up with that?
it would throw away all his character development in WCI, now he wouldn't be cool because he is a nice guy who wants to protect his nakama, it would be just because of he is a Vinsmoke, which is the thing he hates the most
It's the main reason I don't like the idea of him just getting an "Upgraded" raid suit from Franky or Ussop, but instead taking his raid suit and incorporating his own style to it, maybe even turning it into a "Three peace suit" and becoming the "The Black Gentleman". Combining the Raid Suit, Black/Red Foot Kicking style, and (Hopefully) Attack Cuisine.
I don't mind the fact he got a Raid Suit, he is a Vinsmoke and I could see some good character development in him who before hid his past using it to get stronger for others sake, but I want him to make it his own.
 
#11
like, my opinion is: his whole character arc was about how sanji was stronger than his abusive family in his own way
being a good person, being determinated, having real friends, etc
then, his next power up is the raid suit, which is ok, and then... powers from gene modifications?
the family who made his life hell because he was "weak" now is the source of his power? What is up with that?
it would throw away all his character development in WCI, now he wouldn't be cool because he is a nice guy who wants to protect his nakama, it would be just because of he is a Vinsmoke, which is the thing he hates the most
On first glance, without thinking deeply about it, I'm sure that's what it looks like on the surface. However, if you go a layer deeper you'd realize that the source of this particular power up specifically, is Sanji's "emotions", something Sora fought so painstakingly for her kids to keep, and one of the core reasons why Sanji was discriminated against by Judge and his brothers in the first place, and what Judge is convinced makes Sanji weak and a failure.

In the first place, you could argue that the primary source of Sanji's miserable childhood were the actions Sora took in that she forcefully tried to make her kids retain their emotions, leading to the phenomenon that befell Sanji, which gives off a negative connotation. I mean Sanji is seemingly a failure because of what Sora did. However, why does Sora's actions have to be a negative (i.e. a negative with regards to Sanji's genetic mods, bar/save the lack of emotions bit, as it wasn't like she was against the idea of making her children superhuman in the first place.), we know, she only did what he did solely out of love for her children and that it was the right thing to do, so if those actions and the result of that becomes a source of power for Sanji and something that makes him even more complete than his brothers, I'm not sure why that is a bad thing. I personally think it'd make for very good story telling (i.e. poetic) and very ironic from Judge's perspective. It'd literally be Sora's ideals vs Judge's ideals, and Sora's having won out in the end.

Lastly, I disagree on the part where you said it would throw away all his character development on WC as it's not like what makes Sanji himself has changed whatsoever. His kindness, his chivalry etc. will all still remain, so I fail to see how Sanji's character would've regressed or lose all those things you mentioned above.
Post automatically merged:

Once again in the Sanji focused cover page for 957, Oda depicts this man driving a duck lolz.

Also y’all take a look at the link below. Sanji’s flames turn blue for a brief moment before then settling on Red:steef:.

I know it’s just a special episode but this particular special hinted at Sanji getting invisibility prior to Wano, so I wouldn’t write it off. That said I’m more inclined towards blue flames now than I am black 🙈
 
Last edited:
#12
I like your breakdown of all these things related to Sanji. Great stuff!

A theory was posted on the OP subreddit a few days ago by the user Cassius96 titled "Vegapunk and Sanji's backstory"(link here). I reckon many readers are familiar with a lot of stuff mentioned in it(eg Sanji's eyebrows and their potential connection to devil fruits), but he did mention something I found very interesting, connecting Vegapunk, Sora the comic hero and Sanji's mother Sora.

A quote:

"So first of all we know that Sora took a drug, which was meant to stop the effects of the surgery she was forced to undergo. Who gave her that drug? Who knows enough about the Lineage factor to create a drug which could actually counteract against the effects of such a surgery? And who would possibly support Soras decision to stop it? There is only one logical answer: Vegapunk. Based on the information from the Punk Hazard Arc we know that Vegapunk doesn't act unethical. He has his moral principles. Ceasar most likely wouldn't care, so he is an unlikely choice. It makes sense that Vegapunk would support Sora. And if we assume that this is the case we also now have a potential answer for our comic-question. Sora probably died because of both the surgery and the drug. And now imagine Vegapunk knowing this. He most likely admires Sora for her sacrifice, but probably also felt responsible for her death. He gave her the drug (or that's what we assume) and he also helped Judge on his researches regarding the Lineage factor. And maybe he wanted to honor Sora in some way. What if he played a creative part in the creation of the Sora comic, making her a hero fighting Germa?"

Compelling stuff. A lot makes sense. Two characters named "Sora" introduced in the same arc is def fishy.

And here's where my own theory picks up, some of it speculation:

What if Vegapunk did more than just negate Judge's modifications, what if he actually caused Sanji's modifications(with intentionally delayed effect) that later turned out to be his fire abilities? It's likely that the Vinsmoke siblings' abilities are connected to the devil fruits. We know that Vegapunk and Judge worked on the Lineage Factor, and we know that Vegapunk has researched Artificial Devil Fruits after the discovery of the Lineage Factor.

- Caeser based his research on the Lineage Factor discovery and created the SMILE devil fruit.
- Judge likely used DF modifications on his children based on the same research.
- And Vegapunk, he created one artificial DF based on the same research, a dragon DF of some sort. Momonosuke later found and ate it.

All of the artificial DF research listed above stems from the Lineage Factor discovery.

Now, remember that Momonosuke's DF was considered a "failure". What else is considered a "failure"? - Sanji. Why failures? Because their respective abilities are tied to their emotions. Sanji's rage triggers his fire power, and Momo's fear turns him into a dragon. Vegapunk could've designed Sora's drug so it would have a delayed effect, thus allowing Sanji to develop his emotions and later having those emotions be the trigger for his modifications.

Think about it, why wasn't Judge surprised to see Sanji use DJ? Because he already suspected that Sanji's modifications were delayed - which made him conclude then that Sanji had the time to grow up with emotions and allow those emotions to influence the modifications - his fire ability. This is why Sanji is a "failure" in his eyes. Vegapunk is behind both the "failed" artificial DF eaten by Momonosuke, and Sanji's "failed" modifications - because they're both tied to emotions.

And what is the trait shared between Momo and the Vinsmoke brothers, including Sanji? The intense lust for beautiful women. It's weird that someone as young as Momo lusts for women, isn't it?

If vegapunk did give Sora the drug, then he may have wanted to tie the DF abilities to the childrens' emotions by delaying their effect, as a counter-measure to Judge's modifications. Maybe Vegapunk and Judge had a fallout in the past, stemming from the difference in their respective morals regarding manipulations with emotions. And Vegapunk later sympathised with Sora.

If true, it would explain why Sanji didn't get invisibility from Judge's modifications, despite his RS having that ability. Judge's modifications intended to give Sanji invisibility, but they were overwritten by Vegapunk's modifications - and gave him fire abilities instead.

The illustration below shows how Sanji compares to his brothers, emphasizing both their differences and similarities:
This is really good, it made me think of the potentially connected trait(mentioned above) between the Vinsmoke brothers and Momo regarding their intense lust for beautiful women, as you like to put it.


I have for a long time believed that Sanji's fire power is tied to his emotions. Oda's made that pretty clear. I believe that when we'll find out about the reason for Judge's concealed eyebrows, and his backstory with Vegapunk, we'll also get all the answers regarding Sanji's powers. Perhaps when Vegapunk makes his appearance.
 
I

Inspector_Mu

#15
My theory is = The Drug Sora made caused Sanji to have powers manipulated by his emotions. Which in then caused DJ and HM. Once Sanji and Judge have their next talk or once Sanji meets Vegapunk he will realise his strength is manipulated by his emotions. As one he is at his angriest when he is at his strongest....however once he cools down he becomes weaker. And when he feels overwhelmed he is not as strong.

I will make a theory on it one day.
^^

Instead of Sanji being invisible / stealth
He became a fire user via Sora pills which caused the change
 
Top