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 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.

Tactical and Informational Wit
Though he's one of the physical powerhouses of the crew, Sanji can also be a skilled tactician if need be. 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 the Straw Hats were dead on Little Garden, and posing as "Mr. Prince" to get the Straw Hats out of Rain Dinners in Alabasta.

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, which would have crippled the flying vessel, had it not been for the back up engines.

During the Water 7 Arc, he went on his own and waited patiently at the train station in case Robin were to leave. With his instincts confirmed of her departure, Sanji left Nami a Baby Den Den Mushi and a letter of his intentions...though half 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 the fight with Jabra and reminded Usopp, that he is better suited for assisting Robin from a distance, while he himself was better suited for front line fighting. And he later shut the Gates of Justice, giving the crew an opportunity to escape the Buster Call.

Sanji also had a fondness for reading books when he was younger and knows of many legends, albeit they are mostly "Fairy-Tale" like in nature opposed to Robin's "Historic" recollection of legends. In fact, he had already heard of the legendary ingredient the Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna before he even saw it. And he has also been familiar with the tale of Montblanc Noland through the book King of Liars, Noland.

And through a book on Devil Fruits he learned of the Suke Suke no Mi, although since he only had interest 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.

One example of his inhuman strength is shown during the Skypiea Arc, while riding on the Going Merry, he was capable of lifting a large mallet that looked to have weighed several tons (though this is unlikely, as it belonged to Usopp and as such was probably another Usopp Pound decoy) before using it to slam an Impact Dial that was sitting on top of a barrel; needless to say, the impact would have most likely busted a hole on the Going Merry's deck had it not been absorbed by the Dial.

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. [7] 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 "Gekkou Juushigan" 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.

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 Kairoseki 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).

Also, 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 the ability to swim (at great speeds) and fly respectively. His new strength is shown when Sanji manages to fight 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 recognised 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.

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 then 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 form the last two years, so much so that simply reminding himself of it causes him to burst out in flames through sheer anger. Which he shows after 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, and the Korean martial art, Taekwondo and may have took some from the Chinese art, Tan Tui and 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 now 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").

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 "Mouton 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 weren't so effective due to his active usage of Tekkai. But with the heat of his new ability, Sanji easily overcame his inability to smash through Tekkai by burning through it instead. And 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 gotten 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 still, 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; with the Diable Jambe improving 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.

Haki
It was stated by Luffy that Sanji possesses Haki, when discussing it in the context of members of his crew who could fight Caesar Clown, a Logia user. Because Law was referring to the ability to coat themselves in armor it confirms Sanji as a Busoshoku Haki user. However, Sanji did not actively display any of these abilities until the Punk Hazard Arc when searching for Kin'emon's body using Kenbunshoku Haki.

Although it is unknown if he can use it, Sanji does know 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. But he, along with Zoro, has commented on Luffy's ability to passively knock out half of Hody's men, noting that he actually possesses it. It was also hinted at during the Fishman Island Arc, that both he and Zoro possess Kenbunshoku Haki when asked by Luffy if the pair could sense a "wild animal" in the Ryugu Palace, which they both answered that they could.[9]

Kenbunshoku Haki
Kenbunshoku Haki is Sanji's speciality concerning Haki. When helping Kin'emon recover his torso from within the lake on Punk Hazard, Sanji actively used Kenbunshoku Haki in order to locate the samurai's torso within the dark water.

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. Sanji 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". First seen being used against Wanze's ramen armor.

Chivalry Senses
It has been demonstrated several times that he takes chivalry to such an extent that he can sense when a woman is in danger when he is nowhere close to within earshot, such as when Brogy approached Nami in Little Garden and when Tashigi was in tears after her failed attack on Vergo.

Culinary Expertise
Last but not least 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 under a very short period of time. By the end of the two year timeskip, its 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, though exceptions may occur. 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, Umibuta-niku iri Horumon Suupu?) : A large pot of soup made from pork and with laced hormones. It is able to rejuvenate the consumers energy and strength.

Other Equipment

 * Usopp's Special Salt Ball (ウソップ特製”塩星”（ソルトボール）): Sanji was given these 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.
 * He was seen with a pistol during the Straw Hats' first confrontation with Miss All Sunday, but was never seen using it.