Highlights
- Eating Devil Fruits grants powerful abilities to survive in the dangerous Grand Line as a pirate or marine.
- Defensive Devil Fruits like Nikyu Nikyu no Mi can protect users from attacks, immaterial targets, and concepts.
- Bari Bari no Mi creates indestructible barriers for defense and offense, withstanding attacks from powerful characters.
Devil Fruits are the backbone of the One Piece power system. Whenever someone eats one of these mysterious fruits, they gain exceptional, and often powerful, abilities that allow them to successfully operate as pirates or marines on the Grand Line. Since this is a place filled with danger around every turn, one needs to be as powerful as possible in order to survive.
Devil Fruits can give all types of abilities to the one who eats them, making them incredibly powerful and giving them the strength to compete with the strongest characters in the series. However, some Devil Fruits shine in perfecting their user’s defenses, making it so that the ones who ate them are protected from danger as much as possible. So, let’s take a look at the best defensive Devil Fruits in One Piece!
The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi Is Incredibly Useful
User: Bartholomew Kuma
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First Appearance |
One Piece, Episode 151, “The 100,000,000 Man! The World’s Highest Authority and the Pirate Blackbeard!” |
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Debut Date |
April 20, 2003 |
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Story Arc |
Jaya Arc |
The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi is the Devil Fruit in the possession of Bartholomew Kuma. Known as the ‘Paw-Paw Fruit’, it is a Paramecia-type that gives Kuma great defensive abilities. By manifesting five-fingered paws on Kuma’s hands, these paws can send anything that they touch flying away, whether it is a person or even an attack, greatly adding to the fruit’s defensive capabilities.
What Makes This Fruit so Special
The things that this fruit’s ability can send away are not just physical, as a mere touch can protect against attacks, gases such as air, immaterial targets such as ghosts, and even completely abstract topics such as joy or pain. This fruit is far more powerful than it seems at first glance, as it makes Kuma virtually untouchable by allowing him to shrug off people, attacks, and even concepts with just a mere tap.
The Bisu Bisu no Mi Can Create Hard Armor
User: Charlotte Cracker
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First Appearance |
One Piece, Episode 796, “The Land of Souls – Mom’s Fatal Ability!” |
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Debut Date |
July 9, 2017 |
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Story Arc |
Whole Cake Island Arc |
Charlotte Cracker ate the Bisu Bisu no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that gives him the power to control and manipulate biscuits out of nothing. While it may seem like a weak and funny ability at first glance, Charlotte’s mastery over it, as well as his creativity while using it, makes it a deadly fruit for anyone to go up against. While the fruit is pretty powerful on its own, it truly shines due to how adept the wielder is with it.
What Makes This Fruit so Special
As stated earlier, the true power of this Devil Fruit is seen when paired with Charlotte Cracker’s creativity in using it. Using mere biscuits, he was able to create huge, hulking warriors who were fitted with incredibly powerful armor that was strong enough to deal with most of Luffy’s repertoire. Only with a powerful hit from Gear 4 could Luffy inflict significant damage on them. What makes this fruit so useful in a defensive way is the fact that Charlotte usually inhabits one of the suits of armor that he has made, protecting him from danger.
The Bari Bari no Mi Can Create Protective Barriers
Users: Bartolomeo, Semimaru
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First Appearance |
One Piece, Episode 637, “Big Names Duke It Out! The Heated Block B Battle!” |
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Debut Date |
March 23, 2014 |
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Story Arc |
Dressrosa Arc |
Yet another defensively powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, Bartolomeo’s Bari Bari no Mi allows him to create powerful barriers that are seemingly indestructible from all kinds of damage. The previous user of this fruit was Kurozumi Semimaru and, upon its reincarnation, it was eaten by Bartolomeo, making him a barrier-human. The ability of this fruit allows the user to create either transparent or invisible barriers out of thin air in whatever form or fashion they choose.
What Makes This Fruit so Special
Along with its defensive benefits, the Bari Bari no Mi allows the user to launch these barriers in an offensive attack. Moreover, the barriers are seemingly indestructible, as they have been shown to withstand attacks from some of the most powerful characters in the series, such as Doflamingo, Bellamy, Hack, and even the legendary Kozuki Oden.
The Kira Kira no Mi Has An Unbreakable Nature
User: Jozu
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First Appearance |
One Piece, Episode 463, “Burn Everything to Ash! Admiral Akainu’s Power!” |
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Debut Date |
August 22, 2010 |
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Story Arc |
Marineford Arc |
Adding to the list of already powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruits is the Kira Kira no Mi eaten by Jozu. This fruit is extremely useful in a defensive sense due to its ability to transform parts of Jozu’s body into diamonds, making them highly resistant to almost all types of damage, while also compounding on the damage that Jozu himself can dish out. While not explicitly shown, Jozu can most likely also cover his entire body with these diamonds.
What Makes This Fruit so Special
This Devil Fruit makes Jozu so durable that he can block an attack from the Supreme Grade Sword of Dracule Mihawk, someone who is widely regarded as the strongest and most skilled swordsman in the entire world. Not only is this in itself very impressive, but he also seemed to take no damage from this hit due to the incredible resilience of diamonds.
The Tori Tori no Mi: Model Phoenix Has The Best Defense
User: Marco
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First Appearance |
One Piece, Episode 463, “Burn Everything to Ash! Admiral Akainu’s Power!” |
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Debut Date |
August 22, 2010 |
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Story Arc |
Marineford Arc |
Marco was already one of the most powerful members of the Whitebeard Pirates, and he shoots his strength up far more with his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, the Tori Tori no Mi: Phoenix Model. This fruit is unique in the sense that it is the only Zoan-type fruit on this list, and it gives him perhaps the greatest defensive ability possible to contend with the others; healing from all damage.
The world hates us for what we are, you know.
What Makes This Fruit so Special
The signature ability of this Devil Fruit is called the ‘Blue Flames of Resurrection’. Whenever Marco transforms into his Phoenix or half-Phoenix form, these blue flames appear around him at will. While these flames don’t burn or spread as traditional flames do, they heal Marco of any damage that is done to him instantly, whether it’s physical or even if it’s a disease. These flames can also heal others, though to a far lesser extent. By healing all of Marco’s injuries and repeatedly keeping him in top shape during battle, this Devil Fruit is the best defensive one in the series.
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