The Straw Hat Pirates are the protagonist crew of One Piece and also one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. In One Piece chapter 1053, which was released officially on June 20, 2022, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 29, Luffy’s crew was officially made an Emperor crew. As a crew of a Yonko, things are expected of the Straw Hat Pirates. Usually, all Yonko crews have powerful officers that operate at the highest level of strength, usually with strong Devil Fruit abilities. Within the ranks of the Straw Hat Pirates, there are four strong Devil Fruit users, including Monkey D. Luffy. However, only one of them has an awakened Devil Fruit, and that is Luffy, the captain of the crew.
Now, however, in the Elbaf arc climax of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda is lining up a Devil Fruit awakening for another member of the Straw Hat Pirates, and that is none other than the Doctor of the crew, Chopper. Chopper’s Devil Fruit has started to awaken in Elbaf, and its full reveal is only a matter of time.
One Piece’s Elbaf Arc Climax Officially Teases Chopper’s Devil Fruit Awakening
When it comes to powerful Devil Fruit abilities, there is none that can match up to Awakening. Initially, Devil Fruit Awakening was mentioned by none other than Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the primary antagonists of the series. Originally, Devil Fruit Awakening was mentioned in One Piece chapter 785, released on May 11, 2015. In this chapter, Doflamingo was seen fighting against Luffy and explained to him that there exists a level that takes Devil Fruit abilities beyond all their limits and capabilities. This power is Devil Fruit Awakening. When Doflamingo showed the Awakening of his Ito Ito no Mi, he was seen utilizing his fruit almost as if it weren’t a Paramecia anymore.
Doflamingo: Listen closely, boy!! There’s another stage entirely to the power of Devil Fruits: Awakenings! It is very rare, but some abilities awaken and start affecting objects aside from their wielders.
Luffy: Everything is turning into string! It’s like he isn’t a Paramecia!
— Doflamingo explains Devil Fruit Awakening, One Piece Chapter #785
Later on, we saw more awakened Devil Fruit powers, such as Katakuri’s Mochi Mochi no Mi in the Whole Cake Island arc. Finally, in One Piece chapter 1046, Kaido, the Yonko of the Sea, explained Devil Fruit Awakening to us properly. According to Kaido, Devil Fruit Awakening is what happens when the mind and the body of the user finally catch up with the ability. Different Devil Fruits show different Awakenings. For instance, Paramecia usually affects the surroundings of the user, while Zoans grant unique transformations, but there can be exceptions to this rule.
One Piece’s Elbaf arc has finally started the process of Chopper’s Devil Fruit Awakening, and the biggest proof of that is chapter 1178. In this chapter, Chopper, the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates, was seen canceling Domi Reversi, a powerful technique utilized by Nerona Imu to turn everyone into demonic slaves. Chopper’s Hito Hito no Mi allows him to become a human and gain enlightenment. In other words, demonic powers should not work on him, but the fact that Chopper could spread this demonic power cancellation to his surroundings means that his fruit is finally starting to awaken.
“Awakening is what happens when your mind and body catch up with your ability. And those certainly are ridiculous powers!” — Kaido explains Devil Fruit Awakening, One Piece Chapter #1046
Why Chopper Is Set To Fully Awaken Hito Hito no Mi In A New Power Up
In One Piece chapter 1178, which was released officially on March 30, 2026, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 18, Chopper figured out that, while in Monster Point, a single touch of his hand was more than enough to remove the Devil from those being afflicted by Imu’s Domi Reversi.
When Zoro and the giant army were struggling to deal deadly damage to those affected by Domi Reversi, Chopper came to their rescue and utilized his Devil Fruit powers to cancel all the transformations. Upon seeing this, Zoro was largely confused because such cancellation should not be possible. Chopper himself did not understand the mechanics behind this, but Zoro attributed it to him being a great doctor, clearly misunderstanding how Devil Fruit works. The only instance in which a Devil Fruit user can affect things in their surroundings is Devil Fruit Awakening. While Chopper has not fully awakened his Devil Fruit, he is slowly getting there, and the ability to cancel Domi Reversi was the first big step towards it.
Zoro: What exactly did you do?
Chopper: I have no idea, but it seems I can undo the demonification just by tapping them.
Zoro: Hmm…maybe it’s because you’re an amazing doctor?
— Chopper nullifies Imu’s Domi Reversi, One Piece Chapter #1178
In other words, Chopper has a new, unique transformation coming that we will get to see sooner rather than later in the final saga of One Piece. Unfortunately, Chopper does not have any solo battle set up for him in the Elbaf arc, which means that it is highly unlikely for his Devil Fruit Awakening to fully sprout in this arc. Once Chopper gets his own one-on-one battle, which should happen at some point in the upcoming war, he will finally be able to tap into his Devil Fruit Awakening and show us a completely new transformation in the process.
The Overall Strength Of Chopper After The New Upgrade
Following this new strength upgrade, Chopper’s overall power level will have grown tremendously. Right now, his strongest form is Monster Point, which he mastered during the 2-year timeskip. In the Wano Country arc, Chopper showed that he had upgraded Monster Point and taken its overall usage to 30 minutes. This allowed him to somewhat hold his own against Queen the Plague, which was rather impressive. However, to be a part of the Pirate King’s crew, that is most certainly not enough.
Chopper needs to grow even further in terms of overall strength, and we will most certainly see him accomplish just that in the final stretch of the story. When his Devil Fruit awakening fully matures, Chopper will gain a unique transformation because that is a trademark sign of a Zoan awakening. This new transformation will take him beyond Monster Point and allow him to cancel abilities like Imu’s Domi Reversi due to the nature of the Hito Hito no Mi. At the same time, Chopper should also gain Haki at some point later down the line, which will further strengthen him. By the end of One Piece, he should be strong enough to fight against some of the Commanders of the Yonko crews, such as Jack and Cracker, among others. For now, however, Chopper needs to wait until he gets his own one-on-one battle so he can fully explore these powers of his.
All the new One Piece manga chapters by Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
