One Piece: The First Devil Fruit, Explained

Devil Fruits are the primary power system in One Piece and fans have certainly seen quite a lot of them emerge over the years. These mystical fruits grant special abilities to those who eat them in exchange for the ability to swim. While Devil Fruit users sink in the ocean like an anchor, they are granted tremendous powers in exchange, which range from being able to produce things, to turning into elements or various powerful creatures.

Of course, while Devil Fruits have always been a massive part of One Piece, the origin of these mystical fruits has not been clearly tackled by Oda yet. That said, there has to have been a point in One Piece where these fruits were first created and this raises the question of what exactly the first truly was.

The Existence Of Devil Fruits In The Past

Devil Fruits Existed During The Void Century

Devil Fruits have existed in the One Piece world for quite a long time. However, that doesn’t mean that Devil Fruits have always been a thing in the One Piece world. At some point, these fruits were actually created. This is new information that fans got in the Egghead Island Arc, where Vegapunk clearly mentioned that Devil Fruits are a form of human evolution. According to Vegapunk himself, Devil Fruits offer a peek into different types of human evolution which have all been a result of the desires of humanity. This means every single Devil Fruit that exists in the One Piece world stemmed from the desire of an individual that existed long ago in the world.

Those with powers exist in different dimensions, dreamed up by someone else before them!

As to how this desire was turned into a Devil Fruit, fans do not know. What fans do know, however, is that the Great Kingdom that existed in the past was a technologically advanced Kingdom. They had technology that even geniuses like Vegapunk could not comprehend. It is possible that this Kingdom had something to do with turning desires into Devil Fruits and then having people consume them to gain a different type of evolution.

Vagapunk also went on to say that the reason why Devil Fruit users sink in the ocean is because the ocean is a representation of Mother Nature and nature, which sees Devil Fruit users as beings that go against the natural order, and punishes them by having them sink. This is a massive punishment by nature to those who go against the natural order of things, and certainly goes to explain a massive mystery that fans were confused by for quite a long time.

The biggest takeaway from Vegapunk’s message clearly is that Devil Fruits were likely not born out of nowhere. These Devil Fruits were most definitely created, and that is implied by the fact that Mother Nature actually hates Devil Fruit users. If they were the natural order of things, then there would not be any Devil Fruit user that would sink. The fact is that Devil Fruits are man-made powers that go against nature and this also means that there was actually one particular Devil Fruit that was created before any other.

The Creation Of The Very First Devil Fruit

The Very First Devil Fruit Was Likely Created In The Void Century

Right now, fans have no idea when the Devil Fruits were created or how they were created. All fans can do at this point is speculate and, when it comes to a story like One Piece, speculation and theorizing is at the core of it. This community wouldn’t be as great as it is without some brilliant theories out there, and here, we are discussing an idea that can potentially be confirmed later down the line. Essentially, the creation of the very first Devil Fruit could have been done in the Void Century or sometime before that. The argument to support this idea is quite simple. Fans know that around a thousand years ago, there existed a bountiful Kingdom that was rich in terms of technology. If this technology was incredibly advanced, so much so that even a person with a mind 500 years ahead of current humanity can’t even comprehend, then, it is fair to say that they could essentially create man-made powers in the form of Devil Fruits.

It was said he would bring laughter to their lips and free them from their suffering!

As such, the creation of Devil Fruit likely happened at some point between 1,000 to 800 years ago. The likeliest time of creation of these Devil Fruits was likely around the time of the Void Century, which means that around 900 to 800 years ago.

Fans know for a fact that Devil Fruits did exist during the Void Century. This has been confirmed by Oda in the latest Egghead Island Arc, where he mentioned that Joy Boy had the same power as Luffy. Fans know for a fact that Nika and Joy Boy are two different individuals. This essentially confirms that Joy Boy had a Devil Fruit power and that the Devil Fruit is, of course, the Nika fruit. This means Joy Boy ended up consuming the Nika fruit and became the first known user of this power. Essentially, fans only know one Devil Fruit user from the Void Century and that was Joy Boy.

In fact, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika has a very good shout for being the very first Devil Fruit to come into existence. The reason for that is quite simple. Essentially, Devil Fruits are desires of humanity and, when looking at the grand scale of things, the biggest desire of humanity has always been freedom. There have always been people who have been oppressed and if one were to come up with the biggest of desires, then, the wishes of people for freedom, liberty, and happiness are certainly going to be at the top. This is a desire that far exceeds any other. For instance, the desire of being rich, being invincible, or wanting to turn into flames or any other animal is restricted to certain individuals. However, the desire to be free from oppression, from misery, and be happy is something that the entire population can share. Essentially, this is the biggest desire of humanity and this explains why the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika could potentially have been the very first Devil Fruit to come into existence.

This Devil Fruit was eaten by none other than Joy Boy, as fans know, and then he took up arms against the Government. As to how this Devil Fruit was created, it has likely got to do with the ancient technology that was possessed by the Ancient Kingdom people, who figured out a way to turn human desires into fruits. Of course, other ability users existed in the past as well. For now, fans know that the Five Elders and Imu all possessed great powers, and they went against Joy Boy and his allies long ago.