Chapters · Dressrosa › Dressrosa
Chapter 785: On Broken Legs
Predictions this chapter touches — filed in writing, chapter-cited, scored on the board.
This chapter's foreshadowing ledger — what it plants, what it pays off, and what debuts here. Locked seeds pay off beyond your ⚓ progress; tap one to reveal it anyway.
- Plants
- 2 seeds🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit
- Firsts
- Devil Fruit Awakening explained on-page — some powers awaken and transform the surroundings, not just the wielder
- Doflamingo's string power awakens, turning Dressrosa's buildings into string
- Gear Fourth named on-page and described as a melding of Armament Haki and rubber, with a hard time-limit cost
- King Riku Doldo III broadcasts to all of Dressrosa via Den Den Mushi, revealing the Birdcage and rallying the citizens
Arc: Dressrosa · Saga: Dressrosa · Released:
Summary
On the Flower Field of the palace plateau, Luffy’s bouncing Gear Fourth “rubber ball” totally overpowers Doflamingo, drawing awe from the watching gladiators and a wary read from Law (“he still had a secret… but he’s using too much Haki”). At the Corrida Coliseum, Jesus Burgess of the Blackbeard Pirates watches and weighs whether to follow Luffy, while Violet and her father King Riku track the fight. Elsewhere, Franky and the Tontatta push the sea-prism-stone SMILE Factory as a shield, and Zoro and Kin’emon race off to try to cut the Birdcage strings and buy time. Pressed for time, Luffy lands Gum-Gum Double Culverin — but Doflamingo answers by revealing Devil Fruit Awakening: his power turns the town’s buildings into string (“there is another stage entirely… some powers can awaken and affect objects aside from the wielder”), and unleashes Off-White and Billow-White as the Birdcage keeps shrinking. After twenty minutes the cage is slicing through the city and citizens are collapsing, so King Riku seizes a Den Den Mushi and broadcasts to the whole nation: he explains the Birdcage, names the ten-year Doflamingo tyranny, confirms every Donquixote officer is beaten and only Doflamingo remains, and begs everyone — “on empty lungs, on broken legs” — to keep running to the center of town and survive. Rallied, the citizens carry the injured and the grandmas as the chapter closes (and Volume 78 ends) with Luffy charging in and slamming Doflamingo with Gum-Gum Leo Bazooka.
New reveals
- Devil Fruit Awakening is explained on-page (p. 8): “there is another stage entirely… to the powers of a Devil Fruit: Awakening!!! It’s very rare, but some powers can awaken and affect objects aside from the wielder.”
- Doflamingo’s string power awakens — the buildings and ground of Dressrosa turn into string (“Whoa! The buildings turned to string!” / “It’s almost like he isn’t a Paramythia!!”).
- Gear Fourth is named on-page (p. 7) and explained as a “melding of Armament and Rubber” — Luffy controls his rubber elasticity even in an Armament-Haki state — and carries a hard time limit: “If I don’t hurry, my Gear Four will run out of time!!”
- King Riku confirms every Donquixote Family officer is defeated; only Doflamingo himself remains (p. 13).
- The SMILE Factory’s outer walls are sea prism stone, immune to Doflamingo’s strings — Franky pushes the whole building as a shield (p. 5).
- New named attacks: Luffy’s Gum-Gum Double Culverin (p. 7) and Gum-Gum Leo Bazooka (p. 18); Doflamingo’s Off-White (p. 7) and Billow-White (p. 16).
Foreshadowing seeds planted
Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)
Mentions / appearances
Luffy · Doflamingo · Trafalgar Law · Jesus Burgess · Violet · King Riku · Franky · Zoro · Kin’emon · Leo · Jinbei (cover) · Donquixote Pirates · Blackbeard Pirates · Tontatta · Gomu Gomu no Mi · Birdcage · SMILE · Haki · Den Den Mushi · Dressrosa (Corrida Coliseum; Flower Field / palace plateau; town center)
Notable panels
- Page 1 — Chapter title splash “ON BROKEN LEGS.” Cover story: The Solitary Journey of Jimbei, First Son of the Sea, Final Volume: “Setting Off With a New Kimono and Some Gifts” — Jimbei waves “Thank you!” from atop a giant fish as a crowd of animals sees him off. Concludes the Jimbei cover-story series. (1 page.)
- Page 2 — Luffy’s Gear Fourth “rubber ball” form bouncing/battering Doflamingo; citizens: “totally overpowered… by a rubber ball!!”
- Page 6 — Caption splash defining Gear Fourth: “A melding of Armament and Rubber!! He controls his rubber elasticity even in an Armament-Haki state.”
- Page 8 — The Awakening reveal: Doflamingo’s power turns the buildings into string; “some powers can awaken and affect objects aside from the wielder.”
- Pages 10–14 — King Riku Doldo III’s Den Den Mushi broadcast to all Dressrosa.
- Page 18 — Splash: “GUM-GUM… LEO BAZOOKA!!!” closing Volume 78 (“To be continued in One Piece, Vol. 79!”).
Open questions raised
- How long can Gear Fourth actually last, and what happens to Luffy when it runs out?
- Will Doflamingo’s awakened, environment-converting string power overwhelm Luffy before the time limit?
- Does Jesus Burgess move on Luffy, and what does the Blackbeard crew want from him here?
- Can the citizens reach the town center before the shrinking Birdcage cuts them down?