Unmasking the Truth: Unveiling One Piece's Game-Changing Haki Revelation

One Piece episode #1072, which recently aired, debunked a common misconception about Haki. Previously, Armament Haki was often depicted as causing a person's body or weapon to turn black. However, this was not the case in the pre-timeskip instances when Armament Haki was used. Many fans believed that this inconsistency was due to Luffy's inability to use Haki at that time, and that it was supposed to be invisible to those without Haki.

However, One Piece episode #1072 disproves this theory. During Luffy's fight with Kaido, Kaido acknowledged that Luffy was indeed using Armament Haki. Despite this, there were numerous moments where Luffy's body did not turn black, suggesting that the visual portrayal of Armament Haki does not always involve the affected area turning black. This concept has already been hinted at in older stories, and now it can be confirmed that Armament Haki is not always depicted as black.

One Piece Debunks Theories on Armament Haki's Coloration

One Piece episode #1072 effectively disproves the misconception that Armament Haki consistently results in a black appearance for individuals or weapons, which had already been clarified in previous narratives. The first instance of Armament Haki blackening something was when Luffy battled Surume, during which Luffy referred to it as a technique called Hardening. Therefore, it is evident that black Armament Haki is a specific application of the ability rather than its fundamental form. Additionally, even after the establishment of Hardening, multiple occurrences have demonstrated the use of Armament Haki without any blackening, such as in Boo's fight against Bobby Funk or Luffy's unsuccessful attempt to strike Trebol.

Another illustration of this concept can be observed in Z from One Piece Film: Z. Z was formerly known as "Black Arm" Zephyr due to his mastery of Armament Haki. However, if only individuals with Haki were able to see his arm turn black, the epithet of "Black Arm" would be meaningless. This further supports the notion that Armament Haki is not invisible to non-Haki users and that Hardening represents a distinct variation of the ability. Considering these instances and others, the idea that Armament Haki always results in blackening holds no validity, and episode #1072 serves as the latest example of this.

Why Was Black Armament Haki Never Seen In One Piece Before The Timeskip?

There is evidence in One Piece contradicting the notion that Armament Haki is always black and invisible to those without Haki. However, this raises the question of why black Armament Haki was never observed prior to the timeskip. Despite One Piece being known for its foreshadowing and meticulous planning by Eiichiro Oda, there have been instances where certain story elements were not fully developed, such as the inclusion of the Supernovas. This suggests that the absence of Hardening in pre-timeskip may be attributed to Oda not having conceived of it at the time, thus explaining the inconsistent portrayal of Armament Haki.

Nevertheless, the incorporation of Hardening as a separate technique greatly enhances One Piece. It provides a more nuanced understanding of Haki by introducing distinct levels, while avoiding the issue of unnecessarily complicating how Haki functions, as was the case with the notion of invisible Armament Haki. Although this theory is still widely believed, One Piece episode #1072 presents the most definitive evidence that counters the theory thus far. Hopefully, it won't be long before it ceases to be treated as fact by so many.

One Piece releases new episodes Saturdays on Crunchyroll.