Highlights
- Sanji’s character has been further developed in the Whole Cake Island arc, revealing his origins as a member of the powerful Vinsmoke Family and his scientific enhancements.
- Sanji’s scientific side plays a significant role in his fight against Queen in the Wano Country arc, showcasing his ability to embrace his abilities while maintaining his personality.
- Saint Saturn, a scientist and major villain, represents the destructive side of science that Sanji despises, setting up a potential confrontation between the two characters in the final saga.
One Piece is in the Final Saga now and that means fans’ most beloved characters are close to hitting their peaks and showing them the best versions of themselves. When it comes to the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy has already become a Yonko of the Sea and, soon, he will rise to the same levels as the likes of Roger, the former Pirate King. The same logic applies to every other member of the Straw Hat Pirates as well and of course, Sanji is no different.
Sanji is quite strong at the moment, having already dismantled a 1.32 billion berry bounty pirate in Wano. However, Sanji himself still has stronger enemies to defeat in the Final Saga of the story and fans will be eagerly waiting to see who he is going to take on in combat in the end. One interesting candidate for that position is Saint Jaygarcia Saturn of the Five Elders.
Sanji’s Story Arc Since Whole Cake Island
Whole Cake Island added a new layer of depth to the character of Sanji. Before this arc, there were quite a lot of question marks pertaining to this character, such as his place of origin and, of course, his strange abilities that allowed him to manifest flames, among other things. When Oda tackled Whole Cake Island, fans got an answer to quite a lot of these questions. The most important question, of course, was that of Sanji’s very own family. Sanji was revealed to be a member of the Vinsmoke Family, which ruled over the Germa Kingdom and was a mighty superpower in the North Blue at one point in the story.
Led by Vinsmoke Judge, this was a family of nomads who moved across the seas along with their entire kingdom. The Vinsmoke Family were also incredibly skilled at assassination. However, that wasn’t their only strength. In fact, that wasn’t even their biggest strength. The biggest strength of the Germa Kingdom was its incredible scientific technology. The Germa Kingdom made incredible use of science and advanced in ways that humans couldn’t even comprehend. Judge had advanced science to such a degree that he could easily produce human clones and bestow them with various abilities. His own children were made warmongers by him by infusing their bodies with various scientific abilities before they were even born.
Of course, Sanji was one of them as well. In the Whole Cake Island, Sanji’s body, which is revealed to be a scientific experiment, was focused on quite a lot. However, it was also revealed that Sanji had the soul of a human since his mother’s sacrifice saved his humanity. As a result, Sanji’s character became an amalgamation of science and humanity, with him walking a fine line between the two.
Sanji Vs Queen
In the Wano Country arc, this aspect of Sanji’s character was taken to the next level and Sanji ended up receiving what can be considered to be one of the best pieces of characterization any member of the Straw Hats has in the story. Sanji’s scientific side was explored further by Oda. Essentially, the genetic alterations that were made to him when he was still in his mother’s womb finally started to manifest. His mother’s medication did not work completely, after all. While some might think that this made the whole plot of his mother taking medicine redundant, it didn’t. In fact, it actually makes the plot even more genius.
Out of the quadruplets, Sanji became the only one who was born with humanity and a kind heart. This kind heart was a result of his mother’s sacrifice and, now, the powers that the siblings were bestowed with were starting to show themselves in Sanji as well.
As the arc progressed, Sanji had to embrace his scientific side in order to defeat someone like Queen, however, he did so by maintaining his personality. Sanji even mentioned to Zoro that if he were to become a monster that he was raised to hate, he would have full permission to kill him and, once again, this was a beautiful piece of characterization for this character.
In the end, Sanji was able to triumph over Queen, and his changes were reversed as they appear to be some sort of transformation that he undergoes in combat. However, the story arcs pertaining to Sanji and science are still not closed. Oda himself mentioned in the SBS that Sanji will undergo future developments in that fans should keep their eyes on him.
Saturn’s Status As The Warrior God Of Science
Science is a concept that is heavily influencing the Final Saga of One Piece and one person who is at the center of it all is Saint Saturn. Saint Saturn is the ultimate villain when it comes to science in the One Piece world. He is a scientist himself and this makes him a figure similar to Judge. Saturn himself experimented upon Bonney when she was a child and added a strain of a Devil Fruit to her body without actually having her consumed the ability. This is very similar to what Judge did with Sanji, however, in his case, the ability seems to have been derived from some source other than the Devil Fruit, otherwise, Sanji should not have been able to swim. Or, perhaps, Judge found an even better way that allowed Sanji to keep his abilities without actually getting any of the side effects from the Devil Fruits. Regardless, the idea here is that Judge and Saturn are very similar to each other.
As the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Saturn is a major villain who has shown deep interest in the Pacifista Project. This project was actually carried out under his supervision. Furthermore, he is also deeply tied to characters such as Vegapunk, the Seraphims, and, of course, Bartholomew Kuma and Jewelry Bonney. All these characters have had science play a major role in their lives and this makes Saturn an interesting opponent for Sanji to face in One Piece. Essentially, Sanji could have been what Saturn wants science to be.
Saturn himself described the worth of science being described by the amount of destruction that it can do. This is exactly what Judge used to think as well. This is the ideology that Sanji absolutely despises and that in itself makes for an interesting confrontation between these two characters. While Sanji is not on the same level as Saturn at the moment, in the future, he most certainly will be. When that happens, perhaps, the final fight that Sanji will have to take on in One Piece will be against one of the Five Elders, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn.
Science can be used both for good and bad, and through Sanji, Oda can represent the idea of science being used with a kind heart, and through Saturn, the opposite of that ideology, that is science being used for utter destruction, can be juxtaposed. It will certainly make for an interesting confrontation and, at the same time, complete Sanji’s science arc once and for all.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. Since One Piece is going to be on break, the release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1104, is set to be January 21, 2024.
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