Does Sabo Have a Devil Fruit? How Did He Get It?

In terms of One Piece secondary characters, Sabo is one of the more interesting ones. This quirky character has a rich history and is closely connected to a lot of the major characters, including Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace. But, aside from Sabo’s interesting story, his fate is what also intrigued fans and what caused a lot of debate online. In this article, we are going to tell you about Sabo’s powers and abilities or, more specifically, whether he has a Devil Fruit and, if he does, how he obtained it.

Sabo the “Flame Emperor” is currently the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army. He is a childhood friend of Luffy’s and Ace’s whose ship was destroyed by Saint Jalmack. He was saved by Monkey D. Dragon but lost his memories for a period 10 years. After returning, he reunites with Luffy and continues Ace’s legacy by consuming his former Devil Fruit, the Mera Mera no Mi, thereby becoming the “Flame Emperor.”

In this article, we will tell you about the events surrounding Sabo’s return and his consumption of the Mera Mera no Mi. As we have said, Sabo is a pretty important character in the series, and he has very close ties to Luffy and Ace, which is why it is essential for us to explain everything. There are going to be spoilers in this article, so be ready.

How did Sabo get his Devil Fruit?

As everybody knows, the Mera Mera no Mi originally belonged to Portgas D. Ace. Namely, a long time ago, when he ended up being shipwrecked, Ace made it to Sixis Island, where he found the fruit. There he decided to share it with his new partner, Masked Deuce, but the fruit only influenced Ace, as he burst up in flames not long after eating it. After several days, he managed to control his power and combined it with his new raft, Striker, to get off the island.

The Mera Mera no Mi is a Devil Fruit first used during the Alabasta Arc by Portgas D. Ace, when he stopped Smoker so he couldn’t stop the Straw Hat Pirates. In Ace’s mini-story, its power was seen several times while its user was looking for Blackbeard. When the Blackbeard Pirates arrived at Banaro Island, Ace used his power to confront them, especially Marshall D. Teach, but Ace ended up being defeated and locked up in Impel Down until his scheduled execution.

Once Ace was freed, he used his power to engage the Marine troops, including then-Admiral Aokiji, countering his power. Ultimately, this power was weaker than Admiral Akainu’s Magu Magu no Mi’s power, causing Ace to die in an attempt to protect Luffy from him. The Mera Mera no Mi was reborn upon Ace’s death into another fruit. It was then obtained by Donquixote Doflamingo, although these details have not been revealed or explained.

Later, the fruit serves as the prize for the Corrida Colosseum competition in Dressrosa. Using the Mera Mera no Mi as a means to break the recently-formed alliance between Law and Luffy was, in fact, Doflamingo’s plan. Because it is not just a Logia-type Devil Fruit, but also the fruit that belonged to Ace, the son of Gol D. Roger, the former Pirate King, its presence at the Corrida Coliseum caused envy among the general populace. As Doflamingo had predicted, Luffy set sail for Dressrosa since he didn’t want anyone else to exploit his brother’s abilities. Knowing that Franky had once consumed a Devil Fruit, Luffy offered the cyborg to eat his brother’s fruit, but the robot declined, still preferring to be able to swim.

Without any other choice, Luffy was forced to sign up for the Colosseum competition to earn this fruit. In addition to Luffy, representatives from a number of kingdoms competed, hoping to take home the Mera Mera no Mi and boost their nation’s military might. Others sought to win it for more selfish reasons, such as Rebecca, who wanted to win it so she could kill Doflamingo, or Cavendish, who wanted this fruit to grow stronger so he could have his revenge on the members of the Worst Generations.

Bellamy appears to have been the only one among the contestants who didn’t want to work for the fruit because he simply wanted to join the Donquixote Doflamingo Pirates and become a key member of the crew. Bellamy already had a Devil Fruit of his own, the Bane Bane no Mi, exactly like Luffy. On the other hand, Bartolomeo wanted to get it as he wanted to gift the Mera Mera no Mi to Luffy, whom he has admired since his debut. Finally, Sabo, who was later seen to still be alive, wanted to inherit Ace’s power, which is why he replaced Luffy throughout the tournament, as it is something that Ace would’ve wanted.

The Mera Mera no Mi was mounted on a Class 1 Fighting Fish for the competition’s final round. Sabo was able to clamber atop the back of the Fish after breaking the fighting board, where he then destroyed the chest to get the Mera Mera no Mi. After that, he immediately ate it, becoming the new user of the Mera Mera no Mi. After finishing the fruit, Sabo used his late brother Ace’s characteristic move, “Hiken,” as his first move. Diamante was furious because he didn’t want anyone besides the Donquixote Family to take home the prize.

After stopping Burgess from murdering Luffy to recover the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Sabo tells him that Lucy triumphed and consumed the Mera Mera no Mi. The Mera Mera no Mi is the home that Burgess has always wished to own, and he tells Sabo this as he turns his attention to him.

Why do Ace and Sabo have the same Devil Fruit?

One Piece fans will know that it is rare for two or more characters to share the same Devil Fruit powers. Now, this is due to one specific reason. Namely, as far as it is known at this moment, it is impossible for one Devil Fruit to be shared by two people at the same time; if two people consume it, it will work on only one of them, regardless of the fact that that person has not eaten the whole fruit. This was shown in the example of Ace, as we have written above. But, there is another fact that we have to consider here.

Namely, once a Devil Fruit is eaten, it disappears. This is the result of the fact that each Devil Fruit is wholly unique and that no two identical Devil Fruits exist. This, of course, also confirms that no two people can have the same Devil Fruit at the same time. But if a Devil Fruit disappears after being eaten, how is it possible that Sabo has the same powers as Ace? Well, this is the direct result of yet another unique trait of the Devil Fruits.

Namely, a Devil Fruit remains gone as long as its current active user is alive. While they are alive, the Devil Fruit cannot be brought back or consumed by someone else. But, when they die, their Devil Fruit grows back again, although the exact mechanisms aren’t fully clear, and it is possible for someone else to take it. That is what happened with the Mera Mera no Mi.

When Akainu killed Ace, his Devil Fruit grew back again somewhere; it is not known where. Donquixote Doflamingo, who was present when Ace died, found the regrown Mera Mera no Mi and then offered it as a prize in his colosseum. It is not known how Doflamingo managed to get his hands on the Mera Mera no Mi, but he knew quite well that he was unable to use it, which is why he offered it as a prize. Sabo was also aware of that, and he managed to steal the Mera Mera no Mi from Doflamingo and consumed it, thus becoming its new user. And that is how it was possible for both Ace and Sabo to have the same Devil Fruit powers.

Does Sabo have two Devil Fruits?

This one is also a very general question because it is not related to Sabo per se but rather to the very nature of the Devil Fruits themselves. Namely, for most of the story, it has been thought that one person can have only one Devil Fruit at a time. Having two or more Devil Fruits was thought to be impossible until Blackbeard appeared. Namely, Blackbeard had already had the Yami Yami no Mi when he killed Whitebeard and stole his Devil Fruit. Blackbeard thus became the first and so far only character in the series with two Devil Fruits.

The mechanism has not been explained yet, so we do not know how or whether the process can be replicated at all, but one theory suggests that it includes the splitting of the soul, and since Blackbeard was such a vile person, it was possible for him to corrupt his essence in such a way. This is, of course, just a theory, so we could be wrong about this one.

Be that as it may, Sabo does not have two Devil Fruits. It is unknown whether he could even have two of them, but probably not. His only Devil Fruit is the Mera Mera no Mi.