Akainu’s Real Rival Could Unleash One Piece’s First True Logia Awakening
Akainu’s downfall may not be Luffy’s alone. With the Mera Mera no Mi blazing and Ace’s legacy on his shoulders, Sabo could steal the finish—if he unlocks a Devil Fruit awakening the series has yet to reveal.
We all kind of assume Luffy will be the one to finally drop Akainu. Fair. But the more the story keeps nudging Sabo into the spotlight, the more it feels like Oda might be lining him up for that job. And if Sabo is the one, there’s really only one way he beats magma: an awakening we haven’t actually seen a Logia use on-screen yet.
Fire vs magma, legacy vs resolve
Sabo inherited the Mera Mera no Mi and Ace’s will with it. Since winning the fruit in Dressrosa’s tournament, he’s been frighteningly good with it right out of the gate. Add that to his already nasty Ryusoken technique and his clout as the Revolutionary Army’s Chief of Staff, and he’s not just strong — he matters.
The problem is simple: within One Piece, magma is considered superior to fire. Akainu’s Magu Magu no Mi doesn’t just burn — it overwhelms. He’s also relentless, ruthless, and now the Fleet Admiral. On paper, Sabo’s fire loses that matchup every time. Unless he changes the math.
The Logia awakening nobody has actually seen
We’ve watched Paramecia and Zoan awakenings get introduced and paid off. Logias? Still a question mark. The closest the story has come is Akainu and Aokiji’s battle that permanently rewired Punk Hazard’s climate — huge, but not confirmed as an awakening.
So if Oda wants Sabo to be Akainu’s real challenger, the missing piece is obvious: Sabo awakens the Mera Mera no Mi. What does that look like? The popular (and honestly cool) idea is blue flames — think Azula in Avatar or Dabi in My Hero Academia. If Oda treats blue fire as a hotter, more intense evolution, that’s how you bridge the fire-vs-magma gap and give Sabo a legit edge.
Why Sabo, not Luffy, makes the better emotional payoff
Marineford left a wound that only Akainu’s defeat is going to close. Luffy nearly died trying to save Ace, and Akainu ended it anyway. A lot of fans want that rematch. I get it. But story-wise? Sabo finishing this is cleaner and hits harder.
When Sabo learned Ace was dead, he broke down. His memories came rushing back, and with them, a tidal wave of regret for not being there. In Dressrosa, he promised to be there for Luffy going forward. In One Piece: Stampede, he even dropped Ace’s signature Fire Fist on Kizaru — and that shot of Ace’s silhouette in the flames behind him was not subtle. The subtext is loud: Sabo carrying Ace’s legacy isn’t just a nice idea; it’s the point.
The setup at a glance
- Sabo wins the Mera Mera no Mi in Dressrosa and shows instant mastery on top of his Ryusoken.
- He’s the Revolutionary Army’s Chief of Staff — huge influence, huge target.
- Akainu’s Magu Magu no Mi is canonically a hard counter to regular fire, and he’s a relentless Fleet Admiral.
- We’ve seen Zoan and Paramecia awakenings, but no confirmed Logia awakening yet.
- Akainu vs Aokiji warped Punk Hazard’s ecosystem, which hints at Logia potential but stops short of confirmation.
- Fan-favorite path forward: Sabo awakens into hotter blue flames, flipping the fire-vs-magma matchup.
- Emotionally, Sabo avenging Ace lets him finally forgive himself and thematically passes the torch for real.
The fight everyone’s waiting for
An awakened Sabo taking on Akainu would be an event — not just for the spectacle, but because it tidies up so many hanging threads at once. It pays off Ace’s legacy, answers the series’ eternal fire-vs-magma debate, and gives Sabo the closure his story has been circling since he remembered who he was.
Who should do it?
Would you rather see Luffy finally crush Akainu, or Sabo step up and settle it in Ace’s name? Tell me where you land. And if you want to revisit the clues, One Piece is streaming on Crunchyroll.