Crocodile was the first warlord in the One Piece story who fought against Luffy. Luffy somehow managed to defeat Crocodile, but I believe he is not that weak. I also believe Crocodile has awakened his devil fruit. He has a lot of signs for having an awakened fruit, and here are some thoughts on this.
Before all else, he prides himself on knowing his fruit inside out. We know that his fruit mastery is remarkable even by logia standards. Even though he didn’t see an attack is incoming, he is so attuned to it that his body reflexively turns into sand upon being hit, such as when Doflamingo cut his head off (Chapter 566). It’s as much second nature to him as simply breathing.
Crocodile was the first person who mentioned to Luffy that Devil Fruits can be awakened. That means he knows about the true power of devil fruits (Chapter 544). He also stated several times that he has fully mastered his fruit, worked hard for it (Chapter 178), and therefore understands the true power of sand. In addition, he turns the environment into sand at an immense scale, similar to Doflamingo’s and Katakuri’s already seen awakenings (Chapter 201). He also has exceptional control over his fruit, being able to sense underground water sources with such pinpoint accuracy that it can be used in combat to create lethal sinkholes of quicksand and other such disasters.
Crocodile stated that the true power of sand is dryness (Chapter 201). Without proper mastery, the Suna Suna no Mi might be nothing else but control over sand. Being able to suck up moisture and dry out things the way he does likely requires full understanding of the fruit.
Crocodile influenced the drought around Alabasta in a similar style to the Birdcage Doflamingo used, I think. It began to rain the exact second he was knocked out, similar to how the Birdcage disappeared when Doflamingo lost consciousness in Dressrosa (Chapter 210).
Now, with all that said. I believe Crocodile has awakened his devil fruit. He was defeated by Luffy because he severely underestimated Luffy. Crocodile was too cocky and most likely didn’t have a real fight in years. That’s it from today’s post. Do you think Crocodile has awakened his fruit? Don’t forget to leave your own opinions in the comments section below.
