How 'One Piece' Created the Perfect Magic System
The genius of the Devil Fruits
One Piece, as an anime, has a lot of incredible fights. But I think my favourite of them all are the ten episodes from Episode 182 to 192.
These ten episodes contain the nail-biting battle between our protagonist Straw-Hat Luffy and the antagonist, the thunder-god Enel, and they also served as my introduction to the anime. And, in case you’re wondering, yes, I did go back and properly watch the whole thing from the beginning.
But the reason I think these ten episodes are so amazing is because this single battle takes the magic system of One Piece—the Devil Fruits—and turns it into a masterclass of fantasy writing that ends up satisfying your SOUL. And in this article, I wanted to go over why.
Writers, take notes. Readers, prepare for my geekery.
A perfect execution
I love this fight because it is perfectly executed.
The fight happens in three stages. It begins with Luffy being literally invincible, to Enel adapting his strategy to disable Luffy, to Luffy using Enel’s adapted strategy to his advantage.
This back-and-forth shifting of who has more power in the fight is perfect for building intensity, because it literally has you wondering “how on earth is this gonna go?” at every moment.
Stage One—invincible protagonist
Very few writers would be bold enough to make the protagonist invincible to the enemy. Eiichiro Oda, the writer of One Piece, is one of the very few.
The main magic system of One Piece is the Devil Fruits. Fruits that, when consumed, grant the consumer some kind of power. Luffy’s entire body is made of rubber after eating the Rubber-Rubber Fruit. Enel’s body is made of lightning after eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Enel, being made of literal lightning, is an overpowering figure in the floating island of Skypiea, and throughout this season of the show, Enel is built up as this omniscient, ominous and omnipotent figure whom no-one could stand against. I mean, obviously. The dude’s made of lightning. And we’re edged and edged towards this fight. Luffy only encounters Enel in the climactic moments of the entire rebellion against the lighting god.
Which is why, when Luffy finally comes up against Enel, all pumped-up to take him down, we are given a hilarious scene of Enel hitting Luffy with his strongest attacks, while the latter remains confused that none of the attacks were hurting him.
The reason is, of course, because rubber doesn’t conduct electricity. For all of Enel’s superiority and destructive power (which are very real), he can do jack-shit against this rubber boy.
Stage Two—Enel adapts
Enel, realising that he can do nothing to hurt Luffy, while Luffy can actually touch him (something no-one else can do because he’s literally made of electricity), quickly changes his tactics.
Enel has a golden staff. Using his electricity, he superheats hit and uses it as a bludgeon and a skewer. Lightning could do nothing against rubber, but hot iron certainly could. And because Enel is omniscient (which is later revealed to be an ability to called Observation Haki), he can read Luffy’s thoughts.
Before, this did not matter, as Luffy was invincible. But now, Enel had adapted to the situation, putting Luffy on a serious backfoot.
To ensure Luffy never returns, Enel melts a giant ball of gold onto Luffy’s wrist and throws him off his flying ship. Under the weight of the massive orb, Luffy drops like an anchor from the sky.
Stage Three—Luffy vs the thunder-ball
To realise his plan of destroying Skypiea, Enel generates a massive spherical thundercloud in the sky that blocks out the sun. As he charges it full of lightning, Luffy realises that he would need to do something to discharge all of that electricity from the thunder-ball in order to save Skypiea and its inhabitants.
With a little help from his companions, Luffy launches himself into the dead-centre of the thunder-ball and begins rapidly punching away at the cloud around him.
Enel realises, with growing apprehension, that, with each punch, the electricity within the cloud was being conducted through the golden ball and fired out of it. And within only minutes, Luffy manages to discharge the entire cloud of its electricity.
And in a final effort, Luffy uses the golden ball’s weight to generate momentum in order to land one final heavy blow into Enel, putting the man out of commission for good.
And so, ends the battle.
But, what’s so crazy is that, at no point in this fight is it ever clear how it’s gonna go.
At no point in this fight is a victor certain
And that’s the sheer genius of it. Both characters adapt their abilities to match their opponent’s. And this happens twice, with Luffy coming out on top in the end, turning the handicap Enel put onto him (the golden ball) against him.
And the reason Oda is able to create such an intense and satisfying battle is because of how well-written the magic system of Devil Fruits is.
Sandersons’s Laws of Magic
If you haven’t heard about them before, legendary fantasy author Brandon Sanderson defines a good magic system based on three Laws. In simple terms, they are:
The magic should be easy to understand
The limitations of a magic system are more interesting than its capabilities.
A few powers, but written with great depth
And Devil Fruits follow these laws to a T.
Easy to Understand
Luffy’s body is made of rubber. It stretches, twists and turns.
Enel’s body is made of electricity. It’s intangible and can be projected.
This law applies to the other Devil Fruits as well. All of them can be explained in simple one-line sentences that’ll tell the reader everything there is to know about them.
It is this simplicity that makes scenes like Luffy’s invincibility so impactful. Because, yes, he’s rubber. Of COURSE he’d be invincible against Enel! Why did we ever think Luffy would have any challenge here?
And it is this simplicity that allows Oda to subvert our expectations.
Well, lightning generates heat. Gold conducts lightning. And hot metal melts rubber. Enel uses simple science to turn the battle in his favour. Simple facts. Keyword: simple.
Limitations MAKE this fight
Lightning being unable to affect rubber is a limitation. Rubber melting under hot metal is a limitation.
The reason this fight is simply so entertaining is because our two combatants are constantly overcoming their limitations with ingenious creativity.
I think it makes the fight human. As humans, we all have limitations. Seeing characters struggle with limitations and overcome them is simply something that can inspire us (in Luffy’s case) and terrify us (in Enel’s case).
Enel must overcome the limitations of his Devil Fruit to be able to stand against Luffy. Luffy must be able to stretch his rubber abilities to the limit in order to overcome Enel’s ingenuity.
Every Devil Fruit has its limitations. Things it cannot do. And the best part about One Piece’s fights is watching characters overcome these limitations and get creative with their abilities.
Few powers, great depth
Not few powers. One power each. Rubber vs Lightning.
You’d think the fight was over the second you realise, “oh, rubber is immune to lightning”. But you’d be wrong. And you’d be wrong because of how deeply Oda designed both of these Fruits.
Down to those final moments where Luffy uses the conductive properties of the golden ball to discharge the thundercloud, Oda doesn’t spare a single moment where he isn’t presenting a new way in which their powers can be used.
This incredible innovative spirit is arguably the best part of the Devil Fruit magic system and why I think it’s just so damn entertaining to watch.
One Piece is a fantastic show
And while I have my criticisms against things like its length, the way Luffy’s Gears are handled, and the pacing of the show (3 out of these 10 episodes are a flashback—in the middle of the final battle!), I still canNOT shut up about how much I simply LOVE the Devil Fruit magic system.
I think it’s the best execution of a magic system from all the fantasy I’ve come across so far, at least in anime.
But what do you think? Leave a comment, a reply. And share this article with your anime- and fantasy-loving friends!
Thanks for reading!
Great read, thanks! Especially appreciated note on Sanderson's laws of magic. This was new. Also interesting to consider the clear limitations introduced by magic and super abilities. Anime fights are at their best when it's an action packed exploration of the implications of these constraints.