How Did Big Mom Get Her Devil Fruit Powers? Explained

The One Piece universe flaunts a massive range of mysteries and unanswered questions, many of which have led to some seriously crazy One Piece theories that actually have substantial evidence. But, a common question among One Piece fans is how Big Mom got her Devil Fruit powers – especially considering that she never ‘ate’ a Devil Fruit outright.

It is heavily implied that Big Mom obtained the Soru Soru no Mi Devil Fruit from Mother Carmel through cannibalism. She seems to have ingested the Devil Fruit along with its previous user and gained its powers, killing Carmel in the process – but this rule may or may not apply to all Devil Fruits and users in the One Piece Universe. However, due to the Soru Soru no Mi’s unique soul traits, it’s possible Carmel transfered her soul and is still alive inside of Big Mom.

While there are still some missing gaps as to how exactly Big Mom got her Devil Fruit powers, it seems she may have gotten in the same way anyone else in the One Piece universe did – although using a more grim and unexpected approach. Stick around to find out everything you need to know about Big Mom’s Devil Fruit powers and how she got them in One Piece.

Big Mom’s Devil Fruit: Soru Soru no Mi

Big Mom, formerly known as Charlotte Linlin, flaunts the power of the Soru Soru no Mi – which is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit in the One Piece universe. This Devil Fruit allows Big Mom to manifest others’ souls as an ethereal kind of substance that she can actually control – provided that the intended victim meets the criteria, as this ability has no effect on those who do not fear her or cannot hear her voice.

She can then steal soul energy from the victim, drawing out the individual’s lifespan by any amount that she chooses at the time. Big Mom can draw out all of an individual’s remaining lifespan in order to kill them instantly, or she can only draw out a fraction of the victim’s remaining lifespan leaving their lifespan significantly shorter instead of killing them.

From this point, Big Mom can infuse stolen souls into inanimate objects and bring them to life – creating creatures known as “homies” with human-like traits, such as talking and walking. These homies will act as her servants or weapons, depending on what she wants.

Other than people and corpses, Big Mom can turn almost anything into a homie, such as animals, plants, minerals, liquids, furniture, food, buildings, and even things on a molecular level such as fire, air, and light. She can also create “Special Homies” as well, the most notable of which are Zeus, Prometheus, and Napoleon, which are far more powerful than regular homies being imbued with Big Mom’s own soul as well.

In addition to these primary uses, Big Mom can also use her stolen souls by consuming them – which has the effect of making Big Mom bigger and stronger. She can also infuse stolen souls into herself in order to serve a healing function, such as restoring broken bones, and she can also create incarnations of her soul that can head out and steal more souls on her behalf.

How Did Big Mom Get Her Devil Fruit Powers?

Eiichiro Oda has crammed One Piece with tons of deep lore and unique characters, all of which have different backstories and origins. Fans don’t know much about Big Mom’s past, apart from the evidence that was shared in a flashback during one of the One Piece anime episodes which reveals more details about her history.

The episode portrayed numerous other people that were a part of Big Mom’s origins, such as orphans and Mother Carmel – who is shown to demonstrate the same powers as Big Mom in the One Piece storyline’s time, able to embed souls into inanimate objects. It’s also shown that Big Mom actually has a pretty dark and sad past, but the ending scene is what really stole the show.

1. Big Mom Ate the Devil Fruit User Instead of the Devil Fruit

Near the end of the episode, Big Mom is shown ‘eating’ Mother Carmel and the orphans , and all of them had been consumed by the episode’s conclusion. Now, it’s not made obvious that she ate Carmel and the orphans, but it was heavily implied using strategic imagery and timing. According to images and info provided by the One Piece Wiki:

“After the death of its previous owner, Carmel, Linlin somehow acquired the powers of the Soru Soru no Mi.”

As a result, there is no “official” reason as to how exactly she gained her Devil Fruit powers. Technically, Mother Carmel and all of Big Mom’s childhood friends simply ‘vanished’ into thin air immediately after Big Mom went on a massive and rageful food rampage.

Still, this was quite a disturbing scene for One Piece fans even without Oda portraying the event in great detail, with the idea further confirmed by a terrified-looking Streusen lurking in the background. But, it may just be the answer we’ve been searching for concerning Big Mom’s Devil Fruit powers – it seems to make the most sense compared to other possibilities (such as Carmel being killed, the Devil Fruit reincarnating beside her, and Big Mom eating the fruit, according to some fans).

The only rule that’s been made clear throughout the entire One Piece storyline is that Devil Fruits need to be ingested in order for the individual to obtain its powers – and most people cannot eat more than one Devil Fruit without suffering an ill fate. Using this as a basis, we can say that Big Mom probably got her Devil Fruit powers by ingesting the Devil Fruit along with its previous user, killing Mother Carmel in the process.

2. Carmel is Alive Inside Big Mom

Knowing that this type of scenario could be a potential way to ‘steal’ a specific Devil Fruit power from another is absolutely shocking, creating a terrifying new precedent for characters in the One Piece universe. However, many fans have argued that this may be specific to Big Mom’s case as well as the specific Devil Fruit ingested.

The next plausible theory also involves the idea of Big Mom eating Mother Carmel, but supports the concept of Carmel using the Soru Soru no Mi to transfer her soul into Big Mom during the incident, as her body was destroyed. This theory would suggest that Big Mom has Carmel inside of her, and Carmel is still the one technically wielding the Soru Soru no Mi.

As detailed below thanks to Theory Anime, Oda may have implied that one cannot simply gain Devil Fruit powers by eating a Devil Fruit user. If this is the case, the way Big Mom gained her Devil Fruit powers may be far more specific to the Soru Soru no Mi than fans may have expected.

We all know that Big Mom is a force to be reckoned with, but her Devil Fruit powers’ origin story makes her that much more horrific. It may feel dark and disturbing to think that Big Mom got her powers by eating the previous Devil Fruit user – as opposed to ingesting the actual fruit itself. But, either way the incident is spun, it seems eating Carmel (dead or alive) is the most likely cause.