According to spoilers that have surfaced online of chapter #1103 of One Piece, fans may be completely mistaken about the fundamental conditions needed to obtain devil fruit powers. The chapter reveals that Bonney never actually ate her devil fruit herself but received her powers from Ginny who was given extracts of the devil fruit while pregnant with Bonney as part of an experiment.

Though the spoilers aren’t clear on how this transfer of devil fruit powers was achieved, the revelation does raise interesting questions about the very fundamentals of the power system. The most significant question raised is whether one needs to consume the fruit to acquire the power at all, which ties in with many of One Piece‘s other dubiously acquired devil fruits.

Devil Fruits Need Not Be Eaten

Seeing as Bonney never did actually eat her powerful devil fruit herself, it seems it might be possible to gain a devil fruit’s power without directly eating the fruit itself. That is, as long as its essence enters the body in some form or another. That said, it isn’t clear why the devil fruit ability didn’t manifest in Ginny instead of Bonney — who oddly didn’t begin to manifest the power until over five years later. This appears to be a mystery that has confounded even Saint Saturn. All that is clear is that the mysterious Sapphire Scale disease that took away Ginny’s life and nearly stole Bonney’s was a side effect of this cruel experimentation.

Having said that, Bonney’s case is hardly the first of its kind, a prime example being Big Mom, who also mysteriously acquired her powers without a fruit in sight, spawning countless theories on the subject, especially centered around cannibalism. Blackbeard also stole Whitebeard’s devil fruit through mysterious means, which could be connected to this revelation. Seeing as Vegapunk has managed to feed devil fruits to inanimate objects and even replicate countless devil fruit powers using the user’s lineage factor, the workings of devil fruits may be far more intricate than presumed.

Either way, it appears that One Piece‘s power system may be changing for good as the Final Saga approaches. With many major characters making their move at long last and the introduction of some of the strongest devil fruits to date, it is likely that devil fruits will only continue to grow in prominence as One Piece moves forward, becoming all the more elaborate in the process.

Make sure to check the latest release of One Piece when it releases on MANGA Plus and Viz Media.