Sanji/Abilities and Powers

Overview
Sanji is one of the crew's top three fighters (despite not having one of the top three bounties, which Luffy, Zoro and then Usopp takes). While Luffy and Zoro usually fight the strongest and second strongest enemies respectively, Sanji usually ends up fighting with the enemy considered the third strongest - the only exception being Dressrosa, where Sanji fought a much stronger opponent before leaving.

Sanji is the only member of the crew who does not utilize weapons or devil fruits in combat, relying instead on a martial arts combat style that centers on his leg strength.

Although Sanji and Zoro would usually let their rivalry impede their fighting performances, they have proven to be a near-unstoppable force if they agree to cooperate for the battle, as seen when they instantly turned the tables against the Groggy Monsters.

As a member of the infamous Vinsmoke Family, Sanji was raised and trained from an early age (along with the rest of his siblings) in the ways of warfare and combat. Like his siblings, he also received genetic enhancements from his father, designed to endow him with superhuman abilities. However, due to his mother's intake of a counter-drug, Sanji's genetic modifications were possibly neutralized, thus preventing him from receiving these modifications, and was born as a normal human. Consequently, he could not keep up with his siblings, and his strength did not rise from such training. As a result, Sanji could not keep up the extremely grueling Germa training, but gained and adapted to a different style of combat through Zeff.

As a former prince of the Germa Kingdom, it can be implied that Sanji would have had the same political and military power possessed by the rest of his family. However, due to his decision to renounce his title and status as a royal (as well as his father's decision to cast him out of the family), Sanji has willingly given up any and all claims to these kinds of advantages; similar to Sabo. Despite this, it has been shown that he still retains political authority over the Germa Kingdom's subjects as shown during his childhood, where the rest of the kingdom treated him with the same respect as they treated the rest of his family (despite his family's own poor treatment of him), and upon his return to the kingdom after 13 years, they continue to do so.

Tactical and Informational Wit
Although he is one of the physical powerhouses of the crew, Sanji is also arguably a skilled master tactician of the highest caliber. This was particularly evident in the Alabasta Saga, where he was responsible for both posing as Mr. 3 and fooling Crocodile into believing that he had killed the Straw Hats on Little Garden. Later, he posed as "Mr. Prince" to lure Crocodile out of Rain Dinners, where the Straw Hats were being held captive, so that he could break in and release them.

In the Skypiea Arc, when he and Usopp snuck onboard the Maxim in order to save Nami, Sanji took a detour and destroyed the ship's main engine. While the backup engines prevented the flying vessel from being crippled, Sanji's actions distracted Enel and bought Usopp time to get Nami off the ark.

During the Water 7 Arc, Sanji went off on his own and waited patiently at the train station, having discovered that only one train was due to depart before Aqua Laguna struck; he also deduced that, if Robin were to leave the island, the train would be the only means of doing so. With his instincts confirmed, Sanji left Nami a Baby Den Den Mushi and a letter of his intentions ... though most of the letter was babble of his love for her, and even worse, the hiding place of the letter was very obvious marked with red paint, with large hearts for Nami and a threat for anyone else not to read it.

During the Enies Lobby Arc, he took over Usopp's fight with Jabra, reminding the unconfident Usopp that he isn't useless & he can help protect Robin via sniping enemies from a distance, while Sanji himself was better suited for frontline fighting. Later, he shut the Gates of Justice to give the crew an opportunity to escape the overwhelming Marine forces gathered for the Buster Call.

In the Dressrosa Arc, he was the only one to figure out Law's true objective in establishing the Pirate Alliance, noting that Law was focusing too much on personally defeating Doflamingo instead of executing their plan to starve Kaido of SMILES.

On Zou, when the Curly Hat Pirates were captured by Capone Bege and the Fire Tank Pirates, Sanji was able to release the others by sensing Nekomamushi was outside and throwing his friends out of Capone's body castle. He also ensured that the Fire Tank Pirates would not pursue the other Straw Hats by holding Caesar Clown hostage at gunpoint, after deducing that the new condition of capture on his second bounty ("Only Alive") guaranteed that the Fire Tank Pirates would not risk harming him in order to get Caesar off him, effectively outsmarting the extremely cunning master strategist Capone Bege.

Sanji also had a fondness for reading books when he was younger and knows of many legends, albeit mostly "Fairy-Tale" like in nature as opposed to Robin's "Historic" recollection of legends. He had already heard of the legendary ingredient, the Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna, before he even saw it, and he was also familiar with the tale of Montblanc Noland through the book King of Liars, Noland that he read as a child in North Blue. Furthermore, through reading an encyclopaedia on Devil Fruits, he learned of the Suke Suke no Mi; however, since he was only interested in that particular fruit, what else he knows on Devil Fruits is currently unclear but he was shown not to be aware that Devil Fruit users would lose their ability to swim until Zeff told him.

Physical Abilities
Blueno, don't underestimate that guy! He doesn't have a Bounty... But he's likely one of their main fighters!!

Due to years of very hard training under Zeff since childhood, Sanji gain extraordinary superhuman physical prowess, particularly, speed and agility, which enables him to use an array of handstands for a kick based martial art, which makes him immensely versatile in combat.

Sanji has incredible physical strength. In his very first appearance, he held Fullbody up by the neck unsupported with one hand before even displaying his lower body strength. In the Arlong Park Arc, he was able to stop Kuroobi from killing Genzo and Nojiko in the water by grabbing onto his leg despite the natural advantage and strength a fishman receives when submerged. At Little Garden, he hauled a dead Tyrannosaurus Rex though the jungle and back to the Merry with little effort. In the anime Ocean's Dream Arc, Sanji was able to carry the 300,000,000 worth of solid gold in a sack over his shoulder, something Nami could barely drag across the ground. In Skypeia, when Gan Fall was explaining the Dials, Sanji was shown to be able to lift a huge sledgehammer that appeared to weight several tons and used it to test the Dial. If the Dial had not absorbed the impact, Sanji would likely smashed a hole though the Merry's deck. After Luffy and Usopp dueled in Water 7, Sanji was able to easily restrain Chopper in Heavy Point from going to treat Usopp's injuries, as well as later being able to pick up and with Zoro's aid throw Franky, a large and heavy cyborg, very high. Sanji could hold Nami above his head and keep her balanced while receiving countless attacks to his body from Absalom. In Zou, Sanji was shown lifting a huge pile of wounded minks with little help. Another example of his physical might is seen when he was able to hold Absalom in place by gripping onto his leg, despite the latter's reinforced muscular structure and being struck multiple times while doing so.

His training in a kick based martial arts also grants him extraordinary leg strength, enabling him to break even the hardest materials and even defeat the strongest enemies using the tremendous power of his kicks. Sanji even managed to topple Oars, a monstrous giant, by kicking him in the foot. In an SBS, Oda stated that Sanji's kicking power is 21 Bats (the power to break 21 wooden bats in one kick). After his two years of extremely rigorous training on Momoiro Island, which consist mainly of constantly running away from the Okamas for days regardless of the harshest weather, his leg strength vastly increased. He could break the neck of a Pacifista with only a kick, critically damaging it, and not showing any trouble afterwards (something he was not able to do before the timeskip) or being able to break a Seastone cage just with kicks (as seen in Episode of Luffy). His new strength was also shown when Sanji manages to fight briefly on par with Vergo, a Marine Vice Admiral who was able to overpower and defeat Smoker, for a short period of time even after being wounded by attacks from Caesar Clown and having one of his legs broken. His physical power was later recognized by one of the Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo, who was forced to restrain Sanji's movements after the Straw Hat member landed several blows. During the Whole Cake Island Arc, Sanji could easily overpower his brother Vinsmoke Yonji (who bullied him in the past) and emerge from the conflict without a scratch which is notable as their father stated Yonji's strength was formidable. Sanji was also able to match his father Vinsmoke Judge, the leader of Germa 66, in a duel before he was overwhelmed by the latter's advanced technology and underhanded moves. His sister Vinsmoke Reiju was in awe at how strong he has become since she last saw him describing him as a "beast". When he kicked his older brother Niji in the face, the force of the kick not only dislocated his jaw but also sent him crashing into a wall. Sanji even managed to incapacitate Bobbin with one kick, despite the Big Mom pirate's great fighting prowess. Sanji's attacks are even strong enough to make his captain, Monkey D. Luffy, briefly pass out when struck by them, something only Rob Lucci has accomplished before.

Sanji's endurance is immense. Even as a child when he was still physically weak, he was able to survive the brutal beatings by his three super-humanly strong brothers on a regular basis. Combined with the years of extremely intense physical training under Zeff into his young adulthood, Sanji's body became tremendously tough. He was able to survive decompression when Kuroobi forced him down through the water in Arlong Park's very deep swimming pool as well as taking head-on attacks like Kuroobi's Fishman Karate punches and half of Jabra's "Gekko Jushigan" just before counter-attacking them with his kicks, and, along with Zoro, he has also shown himself to be resilient enough to be able to take Bartholomew Kuma's "Ursus Shock" attack head-on, despite having just endured an exhausting battle with the giant zombie Oars, and still remain conscious afterwards, before being knocked out by Zoro. Sanji was able to survive Enel's "El Thor", an attack so powerful it disintegrated a lesser man earlier in the arc, but Sanji withstood the lighting blast at point-blank range and was still able to stand and mock the Logia user before collapsing. Much later at the Sabaody Archipelago, Sanji survived a Pacifista laser beam being shot through his chest. After the timeskip, Sanji's endurance also increased. He is also now able to withstand pressures of over 5000 feet under water without a coating, a depth which would have crushed a submarine. He was also seen being able to take direct punches from both Jinbe and Luffy to the head, from both sides simultaneously, with relatively minor injuries (though left bleeding on the ground). During his confrontation with Doflamingo near Green Bit, Sanji only suffered minor injuries from the Shichibukai's initial attacks. Sanji is more recently shown to be able withstand the powerful attacks from his family, recovering quickly from Judge's spear attacks and endured Niji's electrical blows. Even when injured, Sanji displays a extreme tolerance to pain where, as his swollen face was veiled by a gelatinous mask, he remained unfazed when Nami had slapped his unhealed face.

Sanji's sheer speed, agility, and reflexes are easily high level. In fact, his speed rivals that of Brook and even Luffy's Gear Second. In his first fight against the Krieg Pirates, Sanji moved so fast he appeared like he was disappearing and reappearing. At Little Garden, Sanji avoided machine gun fire from Miss Friday and in Jaya, he dodged Montblanc Cricket's gunshot at point blank range. Even when up against the lighting fast CP9 and their formidable Rokushiki techniques, Sanji proved his worth by countering Kalifa's Soru with ease and forced her to the ground, causing the assassin to marvel at how fast the cook was, and he mustered up enough centrifugal force to slightly break through the guarding power of Blueno's Tekkai with a single kick to the side. Sanji was able to dodge an onslaught of blows from Oars, causing Luffy's shadow to get annoyed. Due to fleeing from the Okamas in the Kamabakka Kingdom for two years, Sanji's already impressive speed increased massively. Sanji was able to dodge Vergo's kick when it was centimeters from his face and in Dressrosa, he took out a sniper (who had Sanji in his crosshairs) who was 16 meters above the ground and claimed it was "nothing" to Viola. Sanji was fast enough to dodge Charlotte Katakuri's jellybean projectile from several meters away, an exceptional feat as Katakuri is an extremely skilled Kenbunshoku Haki user and could not foresee Sanji being swift enough to dodge his shot. Additionally, had Katakuri not interfered with the natural flow of events, Sanji would have dodged a point-blank gunshot from the priest, which is a further testament to his speed.

Unlike his present self, when Sanji was a child, he was weaker than his siblings (who always outpaced him) to the point that he was considered a disappointment and a failure to his family. This is due to the drug that Sora (Sanji's mother) took during her pregnancy to ensure Sanji would still have his humanity, thus resulting in him without any apparent genetic enhancements much to Judge's fury.

Fighting Style
Under Zeff's strict tulage Sanji became a extremely powerful master of a kick based martial art named the "Black Leg Style" which is a unique combination of Brazilian Capoeira, French Savate and Korean Taekwondo, able to use powerful kicks to smash boulders and effortlessly defeat creatures much larger than himself such as Bananawani and Mohmoo. His legs also imbue him with supreme agility, and his speed is close to superhuman as he was easily capable of out-pacing the super fast CP9 member Kalifa despite ultimately being beaten by her (though he stated that he refuses to fight women). He has also stated that the reason he fights using is that he does not want to risk damaging his hands as he needs them to cook, thus instead of punches Sanji incorporate handstands into the Black Leg Style. He is also able to use one-handed handstands, and execute consecutive back handsprings (as seen during his fight with Jabra).

During the time he spent constantly running away from the Okama on the Momoiro Island, he developed both the "Blue Walk" and "Sky Walk", techniques similar to the Rokushiki's technique Geppo, enabling him to swim at great speeds (making him the best swimmer of the crew) and to move through the air (similar to flying), respectively. With "Blue Walk", Sanji can momentarily run under water. Not only is he not slowed down by the weight of water (as he was during the Arlong Park Arc), Usopp stated that Sanji's speed under water is on par with a fishman, who are at their physical prime while under water. Through the use of "Sky Walk", Sanji can leap to great heights and travel at incredible speed as he makes sonic booms in the air behind him. Sanji used Sky Walk to travel from downtown Dressrosa all the way to edge of Green Bit to intercept Doflamingo in no time at all. Sanji is shown in Movie Gold to be able to carry at least two people with "Sky Walk" as he carried Nami and Carina with no sign of diffculty or decreased speed.

Also after the timeskip, it's been shown that he can now utilize fire in his strikes similar to his Diable Jambe. This is partially due to the trauma Sanji endured from the last two years, so much so that simply reminding himself of it causes him to burst out in flames through sheer anger. He demonstrates this by easily defeating the gigantic fishman Wadatsumi, using "Hell Memories" while in this mental state to engulf the massive foe in flames.

Due to his tremendous mastery of the Black Leg style, Sanji can defeat extremely strong and dangerously skilled martial art masters such as Kuroobi of Fishman Karate", Bon Kurei' of "Okama Kenpo", Wanze of "Ramen Kenpo", and even Jabra a extremely powerful Rokushiki master of the "Tekkai Kenpo" and after two years of intensified training, Sanji is strong and skilled enough to hold his own against Vergo, whose own fighting style matched Sanji's easily, still had a hard time. Whereas in the past his punches would simply injure his own fist when he attempted to retaliate against his brothers, Sanji's current kicks can easily cause their exoskeleton to cave in without any strain on his own leg.

As for using his actual "attacks", Sanji has a very large number of specific kicks and techniques he uses to fight with. It should be noted that he does not call out an attack name whenever he kicks someone or something, but for important events and fights, he usually will. Most of his attacks are said in French and are usually cooking/food terms related in some way to the specific portion of the opponent's body that he's targeting or to the nature of the attack itself. In the 4Kids English anime, the attacks are changed to be funny sounding, non-existent food items that have something to do with the target area of the attack.

Common attacks are "Mutton Shot" (Sanji jumps and flips, and kicks with all his might into the foe's mid-region or head) and "Anti-Manner Kick Course" (one of Sanji's most powerful kicks where he delivers a 180 degree vertical kick upward into a giant foe's torso or back, which is usually used on those he sees as having no manners, e.g. those that attack women; a typical finishing move).

Sanji's comedic finishing move "Parage Shoot", is a series of kicks directed at his opponent's face. This results in a rearrangement of the victim's facial structure, often turning them handsome or bishounen-like, as seen with Wanze and Duval.

Diable Jambe
In the Enies Lobby Arc, Sanji reveals a new ability - Diable Jambe, the power to heat his lower legs to a temperature so high that they glow bright red, by spinning rapidly in place, which causes his attack to be more powerful. "Diable" means "Devil" in French and it's also the name of a kitchen tool. It's probably also a reference to the "sauce à la diable", a French spicy sauce. "Jambe" means "Leg", but the kanji reads "Diable's Wind". The aforementioned attacks also have the word Diable Jambe preceding it (ex. "Diable Jambe: Flambage Shot"). The heat of his attacks is so high that contact for even a second could set a person ablaze. Sanji used this ability during his fight with Jabra, in which his normal attacks were not as effective due to his active usage of Tekkai. With the heat of his new ability, Sanji overcame his inability to smash through Tekkai by burning through it instead. By using the technique "Frit Assorti" in Diable Jambe against Oars, Sanji was able to effectively deflect his direct "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka" in order to protect Robin with a single kick.

His tolerance against fire is also astonishing, which would make sense since he is a cook. This would explain why he is able to utilize Diable Jambe without showing any signs of getting burned himself while the opponent gets incinerated at the receiving end. However, Oda has said that it does not damage him because while the Diable Jambe burns hot, Sanji's heart burns hotter.

As revealed during the crew's battle against PX-4, it appears that Diable Jambe  puts extreme stress upon Sanji's legs. After several uses of the technique, Sanji himself comments that if he were to use the attack one more time, his legs would break. After his two-year of training and experience in "hell", Sanji's kicks became significantly more powerful, as seen in his fight with PX-7, where he critically damaged the Pacifista's neck with a single kick.

Diable Jambe has improved to the point that his entire leg is now enveloped in large flames. It is now so powerful and hot that even under water, he is able to scorch one of the Kraken's tentacles with "Bien Cuit: Grill Shot", severely injuring it. Later at Gyoncorde Plaza, as he was airborne (Sky Walk), he executed another new move called "Poêle à Frire: Spectre", where he stomps his opponents repeatedly with high accuracy and speed.

Sanji's Diable Jamble was also able to counter his father's advanced battle gear with ease and when Sanji was about to use "Poêle à Frire" against Judge, the Germa King was forced to resort to using a human shield to overpower his son. Later when forced to fight off his captain, Sanji's Diable Jamble "Concasse" was strong enough to make Luffy pass out when Sanji struck him with it.

Haki
Sanji possesses the ability to use two forms of Haki: Kenbunshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki. Although it is unknown if he can use it, Sanji also knows about Haoshoku Haki, something he (along with the rest of the crew) had not shown any knowledge of during the first half of the series.

Kenbunshoku Haki
Kenbunshoku Haki is Sanji's speciality concerning Haki. During his stay on Kamabaka Kingdom, Sanji has trained his Kenbunshoku Haki to an extremely high level. During Fishman Island Arc, Sanji could sense Caribou in the Ryugu Palace alongside both Luffy and Zoro.

Sanji's supreme mastery at using this form of Haki is evident in the following examples:
 * He helped Kin'emon recover his torso from within the lake on Punk Hazard, actively using Kenbunshoku Haki in order to locate the samurai's torso within the dark water.
 * He was able to perceive Tashigi being beaten by Vergo, despite the considerable distance between them.
 * He detected a sniper on a rooftop 16 meters above the ground, and intercepted him before he was able to shoot.
 * He found the Thousand Sunny (with some of their crewmates aboard) in the middle of the sea.
 * He was even able to tell people's true intentions the first time they meet (as with Kin'emon or Viola, though it did not help with Pudding).
 * He was also able to sense Nekomamushi's aura from within Capone Bege's body castle.
 * He dodged a jellybean bullet that was aimed at him by Katakuri, another Kenbunshoku Master who had trained his Haki to the point that he could see slightly into the future. Sanji's ability to both sense the bullet and dodge it left even the Sweet Commander surprised.
 * He was able to dodge multiple bullets being fired at him by Pudding, all from point-blank range.

Busoshoku Haki
It was stated by Luffy that Sanji possesses Haki when discussing it within the context of members of his crew who could fight Caesar Clown, a Logia user; since Law was referring to the ability to coat themselves in armor, it confirmed Sanji as a Busoshoku Haki user. However, Sanji did not actively display this ability until his fight with his father, when (much to Judge's surprise) he hardened his right leg in order to block one of his father's spear attacks. Sanji's usage of Busoshoku: Koka to harden his leg can be seen as somewhat fitting as it goes along well with his epithet, "Black Leg".

Weapons
While Sanji's policy, as a chef, is to preserve his hands for the sole purpose of cooking, he has been known to fight with an assortment of different items. Such situations are extremely rare, however.

Swordsmanship
According to his father, Sanji was trained to use swords. However, due to Sanji's policy of only using his hands for cooking, it is unknown as to the extent of any skills he may retain. He may still retain a high level of skill at wielding swords and/or other bladed weapons, as shown by his superb skills in wielding knifes for combat and on par with the most skilled swordsmen, a skill Sanji retained and continuously honed through use in cooking.

Houchou Sabaki
There has only been one time that Sanji has made an exception to his rule of never using knives (and other kitchen tools) or his hands to fight, though this was a very special case since his foe's armor was made of food (ramen to be exact) and they were fighting in a kitchen. Sanji "borrows" a pair of Wanze's kitchen knives during their battle aboard the Puffing Tom. He has demonstrated excellent precision and quick dexterity in wielding knives, proving himself a highly skilled swordsman. According to Sanji, the way he performs this style is a first class cook special Hocho Sabaki (包丁捌き).
 * Epluchage (皮剥作業（エプリュシャージ）): The only attack Sanji showed while fighting this style. He uses a pair of kitchen knives to peel away an opponent's armor. "Epluchage" is a French cooking verb which means "to peel away skin". This is first seen being used against Wanze's ramen armor.

Other Weapons

 * Usopp's Special Salt Ball (ウソップ特製”塩星”（ソルトボール）): Sanji was given salt balls by Usopp during the crew's adventure on Thriller Bark, for use in Zombie attacks. He used them to reveal Absalom's position after the zombie commander became invisible through the powers of the Suke Suke no Mi.
 * Sanji was seen training a pistol on Miss All Sunday in her first meeting with the Straw Hats, but he did not fire it (likely due to his chivalry). Later, in Zou, he stole a rifle off one of the Fire Tank Pirates and used it to hold Caesar Clown hostage.

Stealth Master
Sanji has an immense amount of skill at sneaking, rivaling that of Nami and Robin, at a tender age he was able to escape the Germa Kingdom and avoid detection for 13 years. As an adult Sanji's stealth skill was still prominent as he was the only Straw Hat to avoid to detection from Baroque Works until the final battle in Alubarna. In the anime-only G-8 Arc, Sanji showed no trouble sneaking around the base and was forced to help his far less stealthy captain avoid detection. In Water 7, Sanji infiltrated the Puffing Tom right under the noses of CP9, who are masters of espionage and stealth; even Rob Lucci exclaimed his amazement at this feat. Sanji also moved around the heavily guarded Whole Cake Chateau with no difficulty (avoiding detection from Pudding) and successfully broke into the infirmary to speak with his sister, Reiju, by tying up the guard.

It should be noted Sanji dislikes being forced to sneak, saying he prefers a straight fight.

Facial Reconstruction
Sanji is capable of reconstructing someone's face simply by kicking them. This ability of his debuted when Sanji was facing off against Wanze. During his fight with Wanze, he did not seem to have any control over that ability. In fact it was discovered by accident- the kicks he inflicted to Wanze's face unintentionally reshaped it little by little until he looked entirely different, and it was reversed when the kick Sanji used to defeat him hit so hard it knocked his face  back to normal. However, when Sanji reconstructed Duval's face, he clearly states that he did it on purpose, which in term means he has mastered that ability. He is also capable of smashing faces up, as seen when his younger brother Yonji incited his anger and got the right side of his face dented in for his efforts, and he needed to have his head crushed by a high-power steel hydraulic-press in order to push his face back into alignment after attempts to pound away the dent with a mallet didn't work.

Culinary Expertise
Sanji is a exceptional culinary master of the highest caliber, possessing vast knowledge and the capability of preparing almost any kind of delicious food with a strong sense to the aesthetics of cooking. He cooks with amazing speed and dexterity, particularly in his use of knives. His sense of taste also is not lacking; often, he is able to deduce the qualities of aspects (i.e. ingredients, and method of cooking and preparations) involved in a prepared dish in a very short period of time. By the end of the two year timeskip, it has been shown that Sanji has already won the 99 recipes of Kamabakka Kingdom's Attack Cuisine as prizes for managing to defeat the Okama Kenpo masters on Momoiro. In addition to preparing food, Sanji is also extremely skilled in writing recipes, as one of the recipes left behind in the Thousand Sunny allowed Nami to cook a perfect seafood dish.

Attack Cuisine
Attack Cuisine (攻めの料理, Seme no Ryōri) is a special kind of cooking only found in the Kamabakka Kingdom. According to Sanji, the cuisine emanates a powerful aura and flavor to the one consuming it. It is said by Emporio Ivankov that it builds up the physical side of the human body; he even vouches for it as the reason why the inhabitants of the Kamabakka Kingdom have fit and powerful physiques. While "Attack Cuisine" is not denied to outsiders, and is in fact freely offered, only the people who have gone through the "Bride Training" and have become users of the Newkama Kenpo are told the 99 vital recipes of the Attack Cuisine. Exceptions to this rule may occur, as seen when Ivankov gave Sanji a challenge to earn the recipes. The challenge was to defeat the 99 Newkama Kenpo masters who are in possession of the 99 recipes while avoiding becoming an okama. Sanji accepted the challenge and eventually conquered it.

As of yet, only one of the 99 recipes has been revealed in detail:


 * Hormone Soup with Sea Pork (海ブタ肉入りホルモンスープ): A large pot of soup made from pork and with laced hormones. It is able to rejuvenate the consumer's energy and strength.

Chivalric Sense
Sanji has demonstrated several times that he takes chivalry to such an extent that he can sense when a woman is in danger even when he is nowhere close to being within earshot, such as when Brogy approached Nami in Little Garden or when Tashigi was in tears after the betrayal of Vergo in Punk Hazard. However, this can be a weakness, as he refuses to attack a woman even at the cost of injury. This led to him sustaining serious damage against Kalifa until Nami showed up, and being at the mercy of Viola and her henchmen in Dressrosa. As a possible extension of this however, he seems to also be able to detect sincerity (or lack thereof) in women. In the latter example for instance, Sanji was able to tell that Viola truly felt despair under Doflamingo's control, despite her earlier boasting. When Nico Robin tried to leave the crew and discourage Sanji from chasing after her, he was able to tell that she was holding something back, later telling Chopper that "When a woman lies, a real man forgives her".

The source of his chivalry was shown to be Zeff as during the Whole Cake Island Arc, when his sister Vinsmoke Reiju asked him where he got his sense of chivalry, a flashback to his training days shown him being kicked by Zeff when he protested to Zeff's decision to not take a female cook when he said that Zeff should kick a female employee just like he does to all of his other crews. Zeff told Sanji that a man is not meant to kick women, stating it to be "the iron-clad rule of this universe since the time of dinosaurs", afterwards continuing that he'll punish Sanji by himself, even implying a suicide if Sanji ever "screws up as a man". When asked by Sanji why he'd go to such an extent, Zeff replied that it is his duty as Sanji's parent.