Chapter 1072 seems to have established a pattern among Awakened Zoans, which should make it easier to tell which older characters are and aren’t one.
Fans of One Piece have been debating for a while over what makes an Awakened Zoan. Many have argued over whether characters like Chopper or Kaidō had been awakened all along and it just wasn’t made clear in the narrative. Now, however, there may be a more concrete way to determine which Zoans are awakened.
The Egghead Arc introduced two more characters with awakened Devil Fruits. The first was Rob Lucci with his Cat-Cat Fruit Model: Leopard. The second was Kaku with his Ox-Ox Fruit Model: Giraffe. When the key visual similarities of their awakened Devil Fruits are combined with Luffy’s, they establish a pattern.
What Are the Characteristics of an Awakened Zoan
The first of these three to debut their awakening was Luffy. When he tapped into the true powers of the Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika, he underwent a significant change that he dubbed Gear Five. Assuming the form of the Sun God caused his hair to become wispy white flames with a slight swirl pattern; the steam hagoromo surrounding his body also took on this appearance, though that could arguably be called a carryover from his Gear Four Snakeman form. His clothing also turned white in several places. At the time, it was hard to tell whether these changes were exclusive to Luffy’s awakening or if they applied to other awakened Zoans.
When Lucci debuted his Awakened Zoan form in Chapter 1069, “All Things Are Brought Into This World With Hope,” it had some notable similarities to Luffy’s Awakened form. He, too, was given swirling, flamelike hair and a hagoromo with a similar pattern; the only difference is that Lucci’s hair and hagoromo are black. However, while these forms looked alike in these regards, this could only be called a coincidence at the time.
However, there seemed to be more to Lucci’s similarity to Luffy when Kaku showed off his awakening in Chapter 1072, “The Weight of Memory.” Like Lucci, Kaku had a dark, swirling, flamelike hairstyle and hagoromo. Two instances of this would have been a coincidence, but three should indicate a pattern.
Of course, this doesn’t account for the one other instance of confirmed Awakened Zoans in the series, the Jailer Beasts of Impel Down. While all of these Zoans are awakened, they don’t have any of the features present among Luffy, Lucci, or Kaku. They do, however, share some similarities with each other in terms of aesthetics, physical ability, and mental state; they were most notably taken over in mind and body by their Devil Fruits. The Jailer Beasts might represent an imperfect awakening while Luffy, Lucci, and Kaku’s forms represent what a true awakening is supposed to look like.
Who Are the Most Likely Candidates to Be Awakened Zoans?
Assuming that Luffy, Lucci, and Kaku represent the ideal awakened Devil Fruit, this could give a much better idea of which Zoans throughout the series have and haven’t awakened their Devil Fruits. This should mean that most or all Awakened Zoans have flame-like hair and some form of hagoromo surrounding their bodies. If they don’t have any of these features, that makes it much less likely that they’ve been truly awakened.
One common assumption was that Chopper’s Monster Point was his version of awakening. However, this form has neither the hair nor the hagoromo to support this belief. It’s more like the unrefined awakening of the Jailer beasts considering the exchange of thought for brute force, but that wouldn’t explain how he eventually learned to think in that form. It’s possible that Chopper has yet to experience a true awakening and that he might gain one in the Final Saga.
It’s also possible that none of the Beast Pirates underwent an awakening, not even Kaidō. This has been a point of heavy debate among fans as it shouldn’t make sense for there not to be a single awakened Zoan among a whole crew of them. Regardless, the lack of any of the features associated with an Awakened Zoan must mean that there were none among the Beast Pirates who could do it.
Yamato might have been the closest to being an Awakened Zoan. She displayed wispy, swirled hair and a hagoromo in both her Hybrid Form and her Beast Form. However, she may have just come upon a scenario where her transformations share characteristics of an Awakened Zoan, but don’t represent the genuine article; it would be like what happened with Luffy’s Gear Four forms. After all, the Ōkuchi no Makami is the Guardian Deity of Wano, so it makes sense for it to have a godlike appearance.
Are Awakened Zoans Easy to Determine?
Looking at things like this, predicting who is and isn’t an Awakened Zoan might not be all that easy. Many different Zoans have all sorts of characteristics that could theoretically be associated with awakening. All or none of the top candidates could be unconfirmed Awakened Zoans.
That said, the Egghead Arc seems to have given audiences a much better idea of what to look out for. If someone has properly awakened their Zoan Fruit, then they should share some characteristics with Luffy, Lucci, and Kaku. If they don’t, then it could mean that they’ve yet to fully realize the potential of their Devil Fruits. This could mean that those who aren’t awakened still have a lot of potential in terms of power and story relevance.
Src: cbr.com
