Except for when they don’t. Even discounting the inherent loss of swimming abilities after eating one, some Devil Fruits just aren’t as good as others! In fact, more than a handful of them are either utterly useless, downright ridiculous, or have drawbacks that make using the fruit a completely pointless endeavor. Now I know what you might think – doesn’t it depend on the user? Don’t worry – while some of the fruits on this list aren’t strictly “useless”, they’ve been included because either the risk of using them isn’t worth the reward, or their use is limited to one very specific thing. So with that cleared up, let’s get started! And we’re kicking off with…
10. Spin-Spin Fruit (Guru Guru no Mi)
After Buffalo eats this fruit, he can transform any part of his body (or any item of clothing he’s wearing) into a propeller that spins fast enough to allow him to fly. Pretty cool? Check. Practical? Less so. See, it’s demonstrated more than once that any character with any sort of strength can simply grab the propeller and stop it – something that would end in a messy way being done with a bladed propeller in real life. And while Buffalo trains himself to the point where he can essentially turn into a flying cargo ship, he’s left with absolutely zero means to defend himself – which is not a trait that pays dividends in a world full of bloodthirsty pirates and thieves.
9. Kilo-Kilo Fruit (Kiro Kiro no Mi)
Here’s one of a few fruits that suffers through being an inferior version of another fruit. So the Kiro Kiro no Mi consumed by Mikita(or Miss Valentine) has a few drawbacks up its sleeve. While being able to change your weight from anywhere between one and ten thousand kilograms in the blink of an eye can cause some massive damage, Machvise’s Ton-Ton Fruit can change his weight into the metric tons. It also doesn’t seem to affect the density of the user – meaning they not only have to rely on gravity to make their weight count, but Miss Valentine could also be shoved aside at her heaviest weight in a fight. Needless to say, given the choice, the Kilo-Kilo Fruit is decidedly second best.
8. Mark-Mark Fruit (Mato Mato no Mi)
Here’s another power that seems amazing until you think about it. Vander Decken IX can mark someone by touching them. Then if he touches an object with the same hand, that object flies off and hits the marked person. Seems pretty simple and effective, right? He must be the ultimate sniper… Not exactly. Not only does the item sent by the Mark-Mark Fruit have no guarantee to fatally injure anyone, but if something gets in the way of the flying object, it just stops it in its path. Also, if Decken touches anyone else with that hand in the meantime, the original mark is erased. He can only store as many marks as he has hands, too; meaning unless he can figure out how to graft on a third arm, he’s stuck with two. This makes the Mark-Mark Fruit a powerful idea in concept only.
7. Garb-Garb Fruit (Fuku Fuku no Mi)
Kin’emon has been granted the power to turn sticks, leaves, and stones into temporary clothes with the Garb-Garb Fruit – all by placing them on a person’s head and saying “Poof”. It’s as limited as it is ridiculous. For one, good luck poofing a snazzy new hat onto someone if there’s no stones/leaves/sticks around. Better hope you’ve remembered to keep some in your pockets for the sort of emergencies that require a new hat springing up! But for another thing, the clothes are only as good as the user’s imagination. Which means making a quick disguise to get past someone might hinge on the least imaginative person in the world. And suddenly, you’re out one good stone to throw at that someone instead. It’s still an interesting fruit ability – just too limited.
6. Door-Door Fruit (Doa Do no Mi)
This fruit power might also be good for a quick escape, as the Doa Doa Fruit allows Blueno to open doors anywhere. Even in the atmosphere itself, allowing travel to pocket dimensions. Now I can hear you saying it – how could that possibly be useless? Well, for starters, if you’re using it to escape someone it might be tricky because the door doesn’t just close behind you. Yes, it does close of its own accord after a while (meaning it has no use for making permanent doors either). But there’s no way of stopping anyone from following you in before the door’s time limit expires. There’s also the fact that this fruit has zero, zip, nada offensive capabilities. This is in a world where fighting might be the new currency (if people weren’t already too busy fighting over the old currency). That’s a big ol’ black mark against this fruit’s usefulness in my book.
5. Art-Art Fruit (Ato Ato no Mi)
Frankly, this might be one of the coolest-looking effects that a fruit power has. The Art-Art Fruit turns everything it touches into, well, art. And while it looks fantastic, it has limited uses. Where anything natural is concerned, the power makes them look like art. That’s it. It’s not going to stop Giolla, who ate the fruit, from getting punched in the face anytime soon. Plus when the Picasso’d pirate or Giolla herself loses consciousness or goes to sleep, the power wears off anyway. Having unnatural items/objects lose their functionality is a big plus for this power. But it’s a case of style over substance. Especially with the fruit’s effects having such a fragile ability to last.
4. Wheel-Wheel Fruit (Shari Shari no Mi)
Here’s a character with a Devil Fruit power so laughable that they just flat out didn’t adapt it into the anime, and gave him a sword instead. That’s the level we’re dealing with when it comes to the Wheel-Wheel Fruit. Sharinguru can turn his hands and feet into wheels. That’s the long and short of it. While they can be spun at high speeds, it’s shown that they just bounce off of anything tough, meaning for all his intentions Sharinguru is just a roller skate with arms and legs. Being one of the very few manga-specific Fruits is a talking point in the Wheel-Wheel Fruit’s favor, no doubt. But that talking point comes at the expense of being useful in the slightest.
3. Berry-Berry Fruit (Beri Beri no Mi)
Straight up, this power looks awesome. Very Good (which is the name of the person who ate it, and not my overall opinion) can turn himself into different sized berry-like balls, which float and move independently. Good for evasion, sure – but at what cost? The berries might be immune to blunt attacks. But they’re decidedly less impervious when faced with a sharp point. In a world full of pirates carrying swords, that puts the user’s chance of survival just above an ant under a large boot. Also, there’s no choice about what part of you turns into the berry-balls. It’s all or nothing, including your head. And if someone gets your head, it’s game over for the rest of you too. The drawbacks are just too high to justify this being a useful power, despite how fun it is!
2. Jacket-Jacket Fruit (Jake Jake no Mi)
So this one falls foul to being too situational. The Jacket-Jacket Fruit allows the user to turn into a jacket. Zipper and all, their whole body becomes a jacket. When someone else wears the jacket, they become a tool of the jacket-person, being controlled and having their strength used. This all sounds like good fun, of course. Except the Jacket-Jacket Fruit user can’t use any powers to persuade someone to wear the jacket and then control that person – instead, the person has to willingly put the jacket on. This rules out taking control over any sane or functioning individual pretty much immediately. So what’s left? A person who can turn themselves into a jacket that’s incapable of doing anything by itself. If you can be defeated by a well-constructed wardrobe, you aren’t going to fare well on this list.
1. Human-Human Fruit (Hito Hito no Mi)
Alright, controversy time! For background purposes, the Human-Human Fruit does exactly what it says on the tin. If any animal or creature eats it, they turn into a human. Are you seeing the fundamental flaw yet? Yes, if a human eats the fruit, they just stop being able to swim. Nothing else. No power, no superhuman strength or resilience. Just a normal person who suddenly can’t go to the local pool. Now for the controversy – the Word-Of-God from series creator Eiichiro Oda is that if a human person eats the fruit, they gain “enlightenment”. Some take this to mean becoming a higher being, or the perfect human. Most others, myself included, think this is a tongue-in-cheek answer to a question Oda didn’t have an answer to originally. In my version of events, that means this fruit is a guaranteed pick for number one on this list!
