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Worm Yokai in ‘One Piece’ explained

If I were Luffy, I wouldn't just idle time away.

Five Elder Shepherd Ju Peter unpleased in One Piece episode 1089
via Toei Animation

It was only a matter of time before One Piece properly reintroduced the Five Elders to the story. After 26 years, we’re already well-acquainted with Eiichiro Oda’s penchant for showing bits and pieces of information only to touch on them years later. All of this to say — we’re finally seeing the Gorosei in action.

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Now, we’ve known about their existence for quite some time — since Skypiea to be exact. But it wasn’t until Wano that we’d encounter them once more, namely, through Sabo’s attack. We’ve hardly seen the aftermath of that exact altercation, but now, we’re just a chapter away from actually seeing one of the Three Great Powers in action. In Chapter 1109, we saw Saturn — whom we’ve accompanied for a bit now — summon all the other four elders.

Just as each Gorosei reaches Egghead, we’re face to face with extremely powerful Haki in the form of black lightning, alongside the omnipotent and downright frightening devil fruits — or at least, what we assume are their devil fruits. So let’s take a look at the Worm Yokai — Shephers Ju Peter form.

What is the Worm Yokai in One Piece?

Five Elder Shepherd Ju Peter using his devil fruit, the Sandworm, in chapter 1110 of One Piece
via Viz Media

We’ve only read one chapter where the Gorosei use their devil fruits, but it was quite enough for us to gather some information. The Worm Yokai — or Sandworm — is the devil fruit belonging to Shepherd Ju Peter (or Jupiter, depending on your preference). This Mythical Zoan-type fruit bestows upon the user the power to turn into a giant Sandworm or a human-hybrid sandworm, capable of withstanding powerful attacks with ease like Sabo’s fire blast. We’ve also seen that he is capable of opening his mouth and swallowing his opponents whole — as he almost did with Luffy.

Aside from that, it may be fair to think of the Worm Yokai as the sandworms from Dune. Much like Dune‘s own ginormous creature, the Gorosei is also capable of planting itself through the soil, hiding before attacking its opponents. However, the exact translation for this creature would more accurately be a “sand wyrm,” or “wyvern,” which is the equivalent of a Japanese mythical legless dragon. It is, generally, a large serpent-like figure that is, undeniably, overpowered.

Moreover, it appears that Shepherd Ju Peter’s fruit is also awakened, as gusts of black smoke appear once he transforms into the sandworm. Aside from the aforementioned information, though, there is still very little that we know about any of the Gorosei’s fruits. Chapter 1111 is only a few days away, and hopefully, we’ll be sufficiently enlightened before Oda goes on his well-deserved three-week break.