When it comes to One Piece's supporting characters, Sabo is one of the most interesting. This original character has a rich history and is closely related to many main characters, including Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace. But, aside from Sabo's interesting story, his fate is also what has intrigued fans and sparked much debate online. In this article, we'll tell you about Sabo's powers and abilities, or more specifically, whether he possesses a Devil Fruit and, if so, how he obtained it.

Sabo, the "Flame Emperor," is currently the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army. He is a childhood friend of Luffy and Ace, whose ship was destroyed by Saint Jalmack. He was rescued by Monkey D. Dragon but lost his memory for 10 years. After returning, he reunites with Luffy and continues Ace's legacy by consuming his old Devil Fruit, the Mera Mera no Mi, thus becoming the "Flame Emperor."

In this article, we'll tell you about the events surrounding Sabo's return and his consumption of the Mera Mera no Mi. As we've said, Sabo is a pretty important character in the series, and he has very close ties to Luffy and Ace, which is why it's essential for us to explain everything. There will be spoilers in this article, so be prepared.

How did Sabo get his Devil Fruit?

As everyone knows, the Mera Mera no Mi originally belonged to Portgas D. Ace. Long ago, when he was shipwrecked, Ace traveled to Sixis Island, where he found the fruit. There, he decided to share it with his new partner, Masked Deuce, but the fruit only affected Ace, as he caught fire shortly after eating it. After several days, he managed to control its power and combined it with his new raft, Striker, to leave the island.

The Mera Mera no Mi is a Devil Fruit first used during the Alabasta Arc by Portgas D. Ace, when he stopped Smoker from stopping the Straw Hat Pirates. In Ace's mini-story, its power was seen several times while its user was searching for Blackbeard. When the Blackbeard Pirates arrived on Banaro Island, Ace used its power to confront them, particularly Marshall D. Teach, but Ace was ultimately defeated and impeled in Impel Down until his scheduled execution.

Once Ace was freed, he used his power to engage the Marines, including then-Admiral Aokiji, countering his power. Ultimately, this power was weaker than Admiral Akainu's Magu Magu no Mi, causing Ace's death in an attempt to protect Luffy from him. The Mera Mera no Mi was reborn upon Ace's death in another fruit. It was later obtained by Donquixote Doflamingo, though these details were not revealed or explained.

Later, the fruit serves as a prize in Dressrosa's Corrida Colosseum competition. Using the Mera Mera no Mi as a means to break up Law and Luffy's newly formed alliance was, in fact, Doflamingo's plan. Because it is not only a Logia-type Devil Fruit, but also the fruit that belonged to Ace, the son of Gol D. Roger, the former Pirate King, its presence at the Corrida Colosseum aroused the envy of the general population. As Doflamingo predicted, Luffy set sail for Dressrosa because he did not want anyone else to exploit his brother's abilities. Knowing that Franky had already consumed a Devil Fruit, Luffy offered the cyborg the chance to eat his brother's fruit, but the robot refused, preferring to still be able to swim.

With no other choice, Luffy was forced to enter the Colosseum competition to win this fruit. In addition to Luffy, representatives from several kingdoms competed, hoping to win the Mera Mera no Mi and strengthen their country's military might. Others sought to win it for more selfish reasons, such as Rebecca, who wanted it so she could kill Doflamingo, or Cavendish, who wanted the fruit to become stronger so she could take revenge on members of the worst generations.

Bellamy seems to have been the only one among the candidates who didn't want to work for the fruit because he simply wanted to join the Donquixote Doflamingo Pirates and become a key member of the crew. Bellamy already possessed his own Devil Fruit, the Bane Bane no Mi, just like Luffy. On the other hand, Bartolomeo wanted it because he wanted to give the Mera Mera no Mi to Luffy, whom he has admired since his debut. Finally, Sabo, who was later seen still alive, wanted to inherit Ace's power, which is why he replaced Luffy throughout the tournament, as it was something Ace would have wanted.

The Mera Mera no Mi was mounted on a Class 1 fighting fish for the final round of the competition. Sabo was able to climb onto the fish's back after breaking the fighting board, where he then destroyed the chest to obtain the Mera Mera no Mi. After doing so, he immediately ate it, becoming the new user of the Mera Mera no Mi. After finishing the fruit, Sabo used his late brother Ace's signature move, "Hiken," as his first move. Diamante was furious because he didn't want anyone other than the Donquixote family to win the prize.

After stopping Burgess from assassinating Luffy to retrieve the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Sabo tells him that Lucy has triumphed and consumed the Mera Mera no Mi. The Mera Mera no Mi is the home Burgess has always wished for, and he tells Sabo this as he turns his attention to it.

Why do Ace and Sabo have the same Devil Fruit?

One Piece fans will know that it's rare for two or more characters to share the same Devil Fruit powers. This is for a specific reason. Namely, as far as is currently known, it's impossible for a Devil Fruit to be shared by two people at the same time; if two people consume it, it will only affect one of them, even if that person hasn't eaten the entire fruit. This was demonstrated in the example of Ace, as we wrote above. But there's another fact we need to consider here.

Namely, once a Devil Fruit is eaten, it disappears. This is a result of the fact that each Devil Fruit is completely unique and no two Devil Fruits are the same. Of course, this also confirms that two people cannot have the same Devil Fruit at the same time. But if a Devil Fruit disappears after being eaten, how is it possible for Sabo to have the same powers as Ace? Well, this is a direct result of another unique trait of Devil Fruits.

Namely, a Devil Fruit disappears as long as its current active user is alive. While they are alive, the Devil Fruit cannot be brought back or consumed by anyone else. But when they die, their Devil Fruit grows back, although the exact mechanisms are not entirely clear and it is possible that someone else could take it. This is what happened with the Mera Mera no Mi.

When Akainu killed Ace, his Devil Fruit grew back somewhere; it is unknown where. Donquixote Doflamingo, who was present at Ace's death, found the regrown Mera Mera no Mi and then offered it as a prize in his coliseum. It is unknown how Doflamingo managed to get his hands on the Mera Mera no Mi, but he knew very well that he could not use it, which is why he offered it as a prize. Sabo was also aware of this and managed to steal the Mera Mera no Mi from Doflamingo and consume it, thus becoming its new user. And this is how it was possible for Ace and Sabo to have the same Devil Fruit powers.

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Does Sabo have two Devil Fruits?

This is also a very general question because it is not related to Sabo per se but rather to the very nature of Devil Fruits themselves. Namely, for most of history, it was thought that a person could only have one Devil Fruit at a time. It was thought that it was impossible to have two or more Devil Fruits until the appearance of Blackbeard. Namely, Blackbeard had already had the Yami Yami no Mi when he killed Whitebeard and stole his Devil Fruit. Blackbeard thus became the first and so far only character in the series with two Devil Fruits.

The mechanism has yet to be explained, so we don't know how or if the process can be replicated, but one theory suggests it involves soul splitting, and since Blackbeard was such a vile person, it was possible for his essence to be corrupted in this way. Of course, this is just a theory, so we could be wrong about this.

Regardless, Sabo doesn't have two Devil Fruits. It's unknown if he could have two, but probably not. His only Devil Fruit is the Mera Mera no Mi.