Sanji/Abilities and Powers

Abilities and Powers
Sanji is one of the crew's top three fighters (despite not having one of the top three bounties, which Robin 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 exceptions being in Punk Hazard and Dressrosa as Sanji fought far stronger opponents.

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 power.

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. Despite this, however, the enhancements were not successful on Sanji, nor did he use or keep up much of his training after leaving his family; presumably, he has allowed these skills to dull over the majority of his life.

As a former prince of the Germa Kingdom, it can be implied that Sanji would have had the same political and militiary 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. Despite this, it has been shown that he still retains political authority over the Germa Kingdom's subjects; during his childhood, 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 the crew's most skilled tactician. This was particularly evident in the Alabasta Saga, where he was responsible for both disguising himself 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 Usopp is better suited for assisting Robin 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 Firetank 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 Capone a cunning strategist 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 Firetank Pirates would not risk harming him in order to get Caesar off him.

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.

Physical Abilities
Although Sanji is primarily known for his incredible leg strength, the rest of his body is shown to be just as superhumanly strong and durable, including his arms, which enables him to use an array of handstands, for his fighting style, which makes him much more versatile in certain combat situations.

In an SBS, Oda stated that Sanji's kicking power is 21 Bats (the power to break 21 wooden bats in one kick). As this information was given prior to the time-skip, it is possible that Sanji's kicking power would now exceed this.

After Luffy and Usopp duelled 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 throw Franky (although with Zoro's aid). Sanji was also able to hold Nami above his head and keep her balanced while receiving countless attacks to his body from Absalom. More recently 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.

Sanji's endurance is incredible (rivaling that of Zoro) he was able to survive decompressure when Kuroobi forced him down through the water in Arlong Park's very deep swimming pool. His upper body is also superhumanly durable as well, having been known to take head-on attacks like Kuroobi's fists 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" attack which is so powerful it disintegrated a lesser man but Sanji took the lighting blast point blank and was still able to stand and mock the Lighting God before collapsing. Even as a child when he was still physically weak, he was able to withstand the repeated brutal beatings by his three brothers. Sanji also is able withstand the powerful attacks of his family, recovering quicky from Judge's spear attacks and endured Niji's electrical blows.

Sanji's sheer speed, agility and reflexes are easily super human. In fact his speed rivals that of Chopper's Jump Point and even Luffy's Second Gear. In his first fight against the Krieg Pirates Sanji moved so fast he appeared like he was disappearing and reappearing, in 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 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 a onslaught of blows from Oars, causing Luffy's shadow to get annoyed.

After his two years of training, his body has become much more stronger and faster, being able to 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). 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. His overall endurance has also increased, as he was 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). 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, in Dressrosa he took out a sniper (who had Sanji in his crosshairs) from 16 mts above the ground and claimed it was "nothing" to Viola. Through the use of "Sky Walk", Sanji can travel even faster 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 Domflamingo in no time at all.

During the time he spent 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, respectively, to swim at great speeds and to move through the air (similar to flying); he is also the best swimmer on the crew. His new strength is shown when Sanji manages to fight briefly on par with Vergo, a Marine Vice Admiral who could also fight the likes of Smoker equally, 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, and only suffered minor injuries from the Shichibukai's initial attacks. During the Totto Land Arc, Sanji was able to 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 and kicked his older brother Niji's face, forcing the brother to fix his jaw. His sister Vinsmoke Reiju was in awe at how strong he has become since she last saw him describing him as a "beast".

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. Despite the modifications his father made on his genes, the process seemed to have failed on him alone, thus resulting in him without any apparent genetic enhancements.

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

Fighting Style
Sanji has mastered a martial art referred to as the "Black Leg Style" that the pirate Zeff apparently taught him. His legs and feet are extremely powerful, able to smash boulders and effortlessly defeat creatures much larger than himself (like Bananawani and Mohmoo). His legs also imbue him with superior 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 with his feet is that he does not want to risk damaging his hands as he needs them to cook, though handstands aren't prohibited. He is also able to use one-handed handstands, and execute consecutive back handsprings (as seen during his fight with Jabra).

After spending two years running away from okama, his sprinting abilities have reached a point where he can momentarily run under water, using a Geppo-like technique he calls "Blue Walk". Not only is he not slowed down by the weight of water as he was during the Arlong Park Arc, but he can run to a degree of incredible speed as fast as a fishman. Usopp has also stated that Sanji's speed is on par with a fishman, who are at their physical prime while under water. He is also able to leap and run much farther than most humans. He has improved this to using his version of "Geppo" in a move he names the "Sky Walk". Whether or not his proficiency with the technique is on par with other CP9's members still remains a mystery.

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.

This unusual martial art seemingly takes some inspiration from the Brazilian martial art, Capoeira, the Korean martial art Taekwondo and may have taken from the Chinese art of Tan Tui. It bears an almost identical line, in name and in style, to the extremely powerful and dangerous (to both the user and opponent) style, Blood Leg. Inspirations may also point to a French fighting style known as Savate. Originally developed by French sailors, Savate employs similar techniques that utilize the hands to support the body and give added power to kicks, and is especially useful on a swaying ship. French law at this time considered hands as lethal weapons, which could lead to death if hands were used to kill someone. Possibly for this reason, Sanji's main opponents throughout the series so far were all martial artists with their own unique style (such as Kuroobi's "Fishman Karate", Bon Kurei's "Okama Kenpo", Wanze's "Ramen Kenpo", and Jabra's "Tekkai Kenpo"), though Sanji's martial skill bested all of them, except for Vergo, whose own fighting style matched Sanji's easily.

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.

Also revealed during the crew's battle against a Pacifista, 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. It is unclear at this point in time whether it is Diable Jambe itself that puts stress on his legs, or the strain of kicking the extremely durable Pacifista cyborgs repeatedly. After his two-year experience in "hell", Sanji becomes strong enough to break the neck of a Pacifista with only a kick, critically damaging it, and not showing any trouble.

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.

After the timeskip, Sanji has become considerably stronger and his attacks are much more powerful, as seen in his fight with a Pacifista. Before the timeskip, Sanji could only kick a Pacifista once because another kick would break his leg, and it did not do much damage. After the two years of training in "hell", he can critically damage a Pacifista with a single kick, which is strong enough to break its neck. Diable Jambe improves this to the point that his entire leg is now enveloped in large flames. His Diable Jambe 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. And later 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, much to the amusement of Luffy and the others.

Sanji's Diable Jamble was 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.

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. His possession of this form of Haki was first hinted at during the Fishman Island Arc, when both he and Zoro were asked by Luffy if they could sense a "wild animal" in the Ryugu Palace, and they both confirmed that they could.

Sanji's proficiency 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).


 * He was also able to sense Nekomamushi's aura from within Capone Bege's body castle.

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 use 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 retain some skill at wielding swords and/or other bladed weapons, as shown by his knife wielding skills, which are shown to be superb and on par with a skilled swordsman, a skill Sanji mostly likely retained and continued 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 when using knives, as if he was a 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 Firetank 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 a adult Sanji's stealth skill was still prominent as he was the only Strawhat 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 sneaking; even Rob Lucci exclaimed his amazement at this feat.

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, later in the series, he seems to have mastered it. Evidence of that is clearly seen when Sanji reconstructed Duval's face. Sanji 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 a hi-tech electromagnet to forcibly pull his face back into alignment after attempts to pound away the dent with a mallet didn't work.

Culinary Expertise
Sanji is an expert cook, possessing vast knowledge and the capability of preparing almost any kind of 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.

Attack Cuisine
Attack Cuisine (攻めの料理, Seme no Ryōri) is a special kind of food 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.