Highlights
- The Ito Ito no Mi, wielded by Doflamingo, allows for string manipulation with incredible precision and cutting power.
- Doflamingo’s creative uses of his Devil Fruit include controlling people as marionettes and creating constructs for offense and defense.
- Doflamingo’s Awakened abilities with the Ito Ito no Mi involve manipulating the environment into deadly string weapons.
Upon examining the wide and varied world of Devil Fruit abilities in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, it is hard to find one as versatile as the Ito Ito no Mi wielded by Donquixote Doflamingo. Resembling a gourd-shaped, lilac-colored fruit with a twirly stem, the Ito Ito no Mi was given to Doflamingo by his subordinate Trebol. While the fundamental ability of this Devil Fruit involves string manipulation, the extent to which this skill can be honed is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Wielded by one of One Piece’s most captivating villains, the Ito Ito no Mi is a potent weapon that fueled Doflamingo’s rise to power in Dressrosa. His keen understanding of this Devil Fruit, coupled with his intelligence and proficiency with Haki, made him a force to be reckoned with, as one of the former Seven Warlords of the Sea. On this note, let’s dive into what makes the Ito Ito no Mi stand out among Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.
What Are The Ito Ito No Mi’s Abilities?
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Manga Debut |
One Piece Chapter #234 “Please Remember” |
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Anime Debut |
One Piece Episode #151 “The 100,000,000 Man! The World’s Highest Authority and the Pirate Blackbeard” |
As per Doflamingo’s own admission, the Ito Ito no Mi — or the String-String Fruit — is a versatile Devil Fruit that bestows the power to create and manipulate innumerable strings, turning the user into a “String Human.” The strings in question are generally white, extremely thin, and exceedingly sharp. While the user generally extrudes strings from their palms and fingertips, they can be summoned from any part of their body.
In addition, the strings can also attach to virtually anything, including non-solid substances such as clouds. As a consequence of how thin the strings are, it is nigh on impossible to see them or guard against attacks. Doflamingo’s use of this Devil Fruit incorporated a wide range of applications, highlighting how he had developed several creative purposes for his string manipulation.
The sharpness of Doflamingo’s strings granted him a wide range of offensive maneuvers. From slicing off the arm of a huge giant such as Little Oars Jr., to cutting enemy weapons, or dicing up entire meteorites, the Ito Ito no Mi’s cutting power is nothing short of astounding. Doflamingo was able to boost this further by imbuing his strings with Armament Haki, which allowed them to bypass other Devil Fruit powers and cut through targets with even more efficiency.
The Versatility Of String Manipulation
When it was first introduced during the Jaya Arc of One Piece, the Ito Ito no Mi’s power was only hinted at and not shown until the Marineford Arc. It was also only formally named in the Dressrosa Arc, where the full scope of its capabilities was put on display. The initial depictions of this Devil Fruit showcased Doflamingo’s ability to use his strings to control people in a manner akin to marionettes.
He employed this technique — which is known as “Parasite” — to force people into fighting one another against their will. For most targets of this attack, it was virtually impossible to evade and victims often could not comprehend what was happening to them, which only added to Doflamingo’s amusement. The most nefarious usage of this technique occurred when he employed it to subjugate the former King of Dressrosa, Riku Doldo III, and turn him against his people, which allowed Doflamingo to take over the kingdom in a single night.
Taking things one step further, Doflamingo has been shown controlling large numbers of people at once with seemingly no effort, which indicates that he does not need to actively manipulate their motor functions. At other scales, he can use his strings to restrain targets, create barriers to shield against attacks, or even perform emergency sutures on his internal organs when they sustain damage, illustrating how the Ito Ito no Mi is one of the most balanced Devil Fruits in terms of offense and defense.
How Did Doflamingo Use His Devil Fruit?
For the most part, Doflamingo’s use of his Devil Fruit involved slashing attacks such as “Goshikito,” which was delivered using strings from all five fingers on his hands to cut through targets. Similarly, he could also hurl strings at his opponents with a move known as “Fulbright.”
With his feet, Doflamingo could utilize a technique known as “Itonoko,” which created a saw-like blade running from his upper leg down to his ankle along the calf muscle. Besides this, he also relied on a move known as “Athlete,” where he attached several strings to his legs and executed a kick towards his opponents, cutting them in the process. When combined with his Haki, the former Warlord could even damage the intangible bodies of Logia-type users.
Alternatively, he has also been shown forming constructs with his strings, such as giant whips using the technique known as “Overheat,” for blunt force attacks. Other constructs include bullets made of compressed string, as part of a technique known as “Tamaito,” which Doflamingo employs for long-range attacks. He can even create corporeal clones of himself made of string using the move known as “Black Knight,” to deceive opponents or overwhelm them with sheer numbers.
In terms of movement techniques, Doflamingo could cover long distances through the air with his strings, using an ability known as “Sora no Michi.” Essentially, he attached his strings to clouds in order to travel through the air. Defensively, he used a move known as “Kumo no Sugaki,” to create web-like constructs that could repel incoming attacks and absorb the force behind them.
However, all this pales in the face of Doflamingo’s ultimate technique, which is known as “Torikago.” To execute it, Doflamingo creates an immeasurably large number of strings and disperses them high into the air, where they fan out like an umbrella in all directions to create a caged enclosure around him.
He can then force the bars of the cage to close in while cutting everything in their path. The cage will remain active as long as he is conscious, and he can freely alter the rate at which the strings converge towards him. Used as a last resort, Doflamingo only calls on this measure when he has to eliminate large numbers of people at any cost.
An Awakening Like No Other
Considering how he had complete mastery over his Devil Fruit abilities, Doflamingo also gained access to its Awakening, with which he could affect the environment around him and turn it into strings. This allows him to execute attacks on a much larger scale, by altering the surrounding landscape.
“Break White” is one of the fundamental techniques of the Ito Ito no Mi’s Awakening, where Doflamingo creates two thick sheets of string to bind his opponent and crush them. Taking things one step further, “Off White” is an attack that creates two large masses of string from the ground to swipe at an opponent from two different directions. “Billow White” and “Ever White” expand the scale of attack even more, by turning entire buildings or large parts of the context into string which can then be directed towards an enemy.
Doflamingo has also combined his Awakened techniques with Haki, which takes the damage dealt by them to a whole new level. For starters, “Flap Thread” is an attack that combines huge masses of strings created using Ever White, into innumerable sharp points — that he refers to as a “Thousand Arrows” — which he then unleashes as a barrage of needle-like projections coated with Armament Haki, taking the form of two massive wings.
Lastly, “God Thread” is perhaps Doflamingo’s strongest Awakened technique, which involves summoning sixteen massive bundles of string that form sharp protrusions, which he calls “Sixteen Assassin’s Holy Bullets.” These are then coated in Armament Haki and sent towards his foe in an attack that is near-impossible to avoid.
The Limitations Of The Ito Ito No Mi
Like all other Devil Fruits in One Piece, the Ito Ito no Mi is vulnerable to seawater and Seastone. The latter material can come in quite handy to resist Doflamingo’s slashing attacks, as the properties of Seastone, combined with its virtually indestructible nature, allow adversaries to render the Ito Ito no Mi’s strings ineffective.
Another means to counteract the Devil Fruit’s strings, comes in the form of Haki, where users can coat their limbs or weapons in Armament Haki to resist the Ito Ito no Mi’s attacks. Kin’emon, Zoro, and Kanjuro were able to harness this to halt Doflamingo’s Torikago for a time in Dressrosa.
Doflamingo also cannot use Sora no Michi in areas with no clouds, restricting his movement through the air. That being said, the Ito Ito no Mi is undoubtedly one of the most adaptable and well-rounded Devil Fruits, and the immense intellect of its user, makes it a formidable prospect to face in battle.
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