This is a theory on Sanji’s last power up being thematically linked to his personal growth, journey and the symbolic representation of character names, numbers and colors. OH, and religion.
Let’s get started! So basically, Sanji, the third son of the Vinsmoke family, is undergoing a process of what I like to call “De-Judge-ification”.
What do I mean by this?
Sanji has been through out the story and still is turning into the complete opposite of what his father, Vinsmoke Judge, believed and said about him. Sanji is turning from a failure, into his own number one. Symbolically represented by his power ups.
When I refer to power ups, I’m exclusively referring to his flames changing colors because those are the power ups that are deeply linked with Sanji’s personal and emotional growth.
We are gonna touch on character names, numbers and colors now, so stay with me, I’m gonna try to structure this so that it’s pretty straight forward.
Narrative argument part 1: Red
Sanji’s first power up was Diable Jambe, igniting his legs with RED flames, the same color as his elder brother Ichiji. Ichiji is associated with red hair, a red-themed suit, and red colored powers.
The name “Ichiji” can mean “common fig”, which can be interpreted as worthlessness. Meaning that even if he now had powers, Sanji still was nothing in the grand scheme of things.
HOWEVER, don’t forget how he gained his power: Through his passion.
When Queen questions him about being a cyborg, and his leg igniting itself being a machine, to which he responds with “I’m all human […] The heat of my passion… Surpasses the temperature of flames”.
He considered himself a normal human, common fig, but at the same time, his passion willed onto him power. This is his first step towards De-judge-ification.
Religion argument part 1: Christianity and The Devil
Diable Jambe, Diable, the Devil. In Christianity, an angel named Luficer who rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven and became an outcast of the angels, he left his family of angels and went by the name of Satan.
Sound familiar?
In an ironic way, the crying masked kid who defied his father by simply cooking, was cast out of the royal palace of Germa 66, becoming an outcast of the Vinsmoke family and thus cut ties with his family name.
Devil is depicted as the one who temps humans to sin, and Sanji is nothing but a sinner… at least in thought… fucking pervert. Love him tho.
Now let’s move forward a bit…
Narrative argument part 2: Blue
Sanji’s second power up was Ifrit Jambe, igniting his leg with Blue flames, the same color as his elder brother Niji. Niji is associated with blue hair, a blue-themed suit, and blue colored powers.
The name “Niji” means “rainbow”, which in Japanese folklore, rainbows are sometimes seen as bridges that connect the human world with the realm of gods or spirits. Shout out to the coming of Gear 5 Luffy. It also symbolizes hope.
In any case, after having awakened his Germa powers, going through his inner conflict while fighting Queen, debating on which version of himself would serve Luffy the mosts, a regular human who is powerless against women, or a cruel cold emotionless Warrior of Science who can crush monsters like Queen on command…
He makes the decision…!!!
He decides to accept what’s happened up until that point, and takes his second step toward De-judge-ifying himself, by breaking his suit, leaving Germa officially behind, and leaving his most perverted self behind.
He had to make a choice in the angle of life, where he had a chance to… on one end become an emotionless machine, and in the other a powerless simp… bro chose to be the bisector. My math bros will either really like that or hate that. No in between. Get it? Okay I’ll shut up.
Anyway… We move!
Religion argument part 2: Islam and Ifrit
Let’s keep this short and sweet. Ifrit jambe, Ifrit…Ifrits are believed to have been created by Allah from smokeless fire.In Islamic tradition, they are created with free will, just like humans, and they can choose to be good or evil.
I think we are going somewhere with this now, aren’t we?
Narrative argument part 3: Yellow
You might have guessed it but yeah, Sanji’s last power up will be yellow flames.
Yellow. The color of positivity, success and of the golden number one. This power up will symbolize Sanji’s final detachment from Judge and his complete transformation into his own Number One. Completely separate and detatched from his brothers and father.
The transformation from red (Ichiji/worthlessness) to blue (Niji/hope) to yellow (success) could represent a rainbow formed by the three primary colors. And so, the journey of the diable comes to an end…
Now… you might have been wondering… Why have I been talking about religion?
Diable, The Devil, Satan, from Christianity, the most popular religion in the world. Ifrit, comes from Islam, the second most popular religion in the world. Well… which is the third, most popular religion… according to the first result in Google? Like Sanji…HERE COMES NUMBER 3!!!
Religion argument part 3: Hinduism and Agni
Agni is a prominent deity in Hindu mythology who is closely associated with fire. He is considered the God of Fire and is often depicted as a divine being.
Agni is believed to be a mediator between humans and the gods, carrying offerings from the earthly realm to the divine realm.Agni is not a devil-like figure; rather, he is a revered and essential deity in Hinduism. Symbolizes transformation, purification, and the power of fire in both its creative and destructive aspects.
In addition, Agni could be seen as having a connection with Surya (in Hindu, God of the Sun) lying in the concept of fire as a representation of the suns energy.
And so, the son of Sora, Son of the Sky, Sanji, the cook, who brings food in the same fashion to the mice on the earth and to his captain, who is the fucking Sun God.
Let me reiterate: Transformation, purification, the power of fire in both is creative and destructive.
Kind of fitting for a final power up on his way to purify himself of the Vinsmoke contamination. Gotta love the creativity aspect being that it is associated through Luffy as freedom. It’s coming in from the religion side of things, makes it all the better.
“Agni is believed to be a mediator between humans and the gods, carrying offerings from the earthly realm to the divine realm.”
and also…
“Symbolizes transformation, purification, and the power of fire in both its creative and destructive aspects.”
Sanji, as an answer to the people’s feeling of despair and worthlessness in battle in the face of a seemingly unbeatable ruthless opponent, comes in, as the ray of hope, developing an ability that turns agony into positivity (mainly symbolically).
I love that the color ladder goes red, blue, then yellow, and as do the admirals, which could mean there’s an endgame battle between Kizaru and Sanji lurking.
Agni Jambe, the God of Fire, the energy of the sun, burning light incarnate.
To wrap up, I just wanna say that I don’t really know how it’s going to play out, or if my sources on the symbolism are right, but making this was fun.
Strawhat Pirate Black Leg Sanji’s last power up: Yellow Flames, Agni Jambe.
Theory by nashixt (https://www.reddit.com/user/nashixt)
