Sanji is the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates and one of the most important characters that Oda has introduced in his story. Over the years, Sanji has grown in importance. And for now, it can be said that even among the members of the Straw Hat pirates, Sanji especially shines in most arcs.
Sanji is not only an excellent chef but also an excellent fighter, receiving the title “Wings of the Pirate King” along with Zoro.
Just like Zoro and Luffy, Sanji possesses incredible power, with a very curious origin. Oda has recently dropped quite a few hints regarding the true source of Sanji’s power.
Sanji’s power of love
While Oda has introduced many powerful abilities into the world of One Piece, using them to take the characters’ abilities to the next level, such as Devil Fruits and Haki. In Sanji’s case, his power is love. It comes directly from the one thing that gave him his humanity, love.
For those who don’t remember, Sanji is the child of Judge and Sora. Previously, his father had experimented on him while he was still in his mother’s womb. Among the four brothers, Sanji was the only one born normal. Others are stripped of all emotions, turning them into emotionless monsters.
In return, Sanji’s mother paid with her life, to retain her son’s emotions and kindness, making him one of the kindest people in the entire world. Therefore, Sanji is a very emotional person who is always empowered by his love.
This love manifests itself in strange ways. For example, Sanji has always been resistant to fire, although this ability seems to come from his genetic modification, it is only enhanced by the power of love he possesses.
Sanji first fully demonstrated these powers in his fight against Jabra in the Enies Lobby arc. After that, fans could clearly see that he had achieved a whole new level of power. When Oda was asked about this on SBS, it was simply because fans were completely confused as to how Sanji wasn’t burned by the fire he created. Oda mentioned that this was possible because the fire in his heart, also known as the fire of passion, burned even more fiercely.
In Wano, the origin of Sanji’s power is mentioned again, when he fights Queen. The Beast Gang’s disaster asked Sanji what kind of enhancement he was using to create the fire. Sanji mentioned that it was his increasingly hot emotions and passion that allowed him to create these flames. Sanji even mentioned that he burns hotter than any other fire.
During the Egghead Island arc, Sanji’s power of love was once again demonstrated when he fought against Admiral Kizaru. He completely destroyed the light that the admiral shot at him. Sanji did it through the power of love, and he made it clear that this physics-defying feat was only possible because love surpasses everything else that exists in the world. Unfortunately, Sanji did not have the chance to fight and defeat Kizaru in battle. However, his performance was still amazing.
The power of love is a very real concept in the One Piece world and it certainly makes a difference in combat as well. In SBS episode 62 of One Piece, Oda was asked about how Garp could hurt Luffy when he visited him in the Enies Lobby Arc. To be more precise, around this time, the concept of Haki was introduced into the story. Thinking about it, readers are curious whether Garp used Haki to hurt Luffy or not. This confusion stems from the fact that when Luffy was confused about how he got hurt despite being rubber, Garp said that he could hurt him simply through the power of love.
To answer the question, Oda said that in this particular case, Garp did not use Haki, but he was actually able to hurt Luffy with the power of love, even though he ate the rubber fruit. This clearly implies that the power of love is something that exists beyond Haki, Devil Fruits, or other abilities, and it certainly makes a difference in combat as well.