One Piece Chapter 1062: Who Is Dr. Vegapunk?

One Piece Trivia

In relation to a SBS question asked by a fan stating "How come Luffy's Devil Fruit was already in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia when he ate it?", Oda hinted that Vegapunk might know what Devil Fruits really are.

Dr. Vegapunk, long thought to be the smartest character in the world of One Piece, is frequently credited for most of the scientific innovations in the story, which are most often used by the World Government for nefarious means. Two of Vegapunk's creations were shown: the giant robot and the mechanical shark. On each of these creations were the numbers 12 and 03 respectively. On Vegapunk's chest, there is another set of numbers: 02.  Based on this, fans suspect that the female body presented in the chapter is yet another one of Vegapunk's creations. If this is true, it's still unknown why Vegapunk would have created this form, but there are a few speculated reasons. Being a master scientist who's seemingly uncovered most of the mysteries in the world, Vegapunk could have created the body to escape from old age or maybe this isn't the only "model" Vegapunk has created and there are actually hundreds of these Vegapunk bodies. Vegapunk has shown combat capabilities, as they were fearless in their assault on the robotic shark. It's possible that this is because Vegapunk is controlling the 02 model from a safe location, leaving themselves completely out of danger. There are plenty more mysteries to be solved in the final saga of One Piece. The "Egghead" arc came out of left field following the colossal conflict at Wano, but it's exactly what the story needed to wind down for a bit.

Vegapunk is famed as the greatest scientific genius the world has ever known, having tremendous knowledge and unmatched understanding in all fields of science, from cell biology to military technology, as noted by Franky. His scientific expertise is said to be at least 500 years ahead of his contemporaries. It seems that even in his youth, the scientist was a prodigy already considered a genius, but lacked the skills, funds, and materials to develop his inventions, although that did not stop him from theorizing the creation of Pacifista cyborgs, including their laser weapons back then. This is proven by the fact that Franky was able to recreate the technologies by self studying the blueprints Vegapunk left behind on his home island. Regardless, the creations and blueprints that he has left behind are considered invaluable, and any damage inflicted to them is considered a crime. Through his research, he discovered ways of allowing Marine ships to pass through the Calm Belts without fear of a Sea King attack, by covering the bottom of the ships with Seastone. He also discovered exactly how Devil Fruit powers are transferred over to a user, and was the scientist behind the method of adding Devil Fruit powers to inanimate objects, such as swords and guns. He is the one who modified Bartholomew Kuma into a cyborg, and has produced many Pacifista replicas of him, granting them some of the abilities of Kizaru's Devil Fruit in the process.These replicas bleed actual blood. However, they lack Kuma's own Devil Fruit abilities. After the two-year timeskip, Sentomaru revealed that the latest Pacifista had been further modified; these were later revealed to be the Seraphim, replicas of the Seven Warlords of the Sea in their youth but with Lunarian traits.The lasers that are installed into the Pacifista were apparently supposed to be so advanced, that only Vegapunk knew how to create them. It was also stated that the dragons found on Punk Hazard were of Vegapunk's own creation. He also seems to be physically strong, as he was able to survive Caesar Clown's mass murder weapon at its core explosion.

Vegapunk Origin

Vegapunk was born in the Future Country Baldimore on Karakuri Island. As a child, he designed and built several devices in his lab, including robotic animals. He also had hundreds of other ideas, ranging from weapons to experimenting with cellular structures. He once tried to create an in-ground heating system for the island's people using modified animals as his labor force. Unfortunately, Vegapunk lacked the tools and the funds needed to complete his project, but he was able to touch the people's hearts.

At some point, he worked alongside Vinsmoke Judge within MADS, an illegal research team, and discovered the blueprint of life known as the Lineage Factor. When the World Government caught wind of this, they deemed the research a threat, and Vegapunk was arrested.
 

Vegapunk Service to the World Government

After going to work for the World Government, he became famous for his Devil Fruit research and for discovering that Seastone can serve to counteract the effects of Devil Fruits on the user.

When Kaidou was captured by the Marines, Vegapunk was able to extract a sample of his Lineage Factor to replicate his Devil Fruit, although the results were noted to be unsatisfactory. The World Government wanted him to give the fruit to them, but Vegapunk considered it a failure and refused, leaving it on Punk Hazard. Four years prior to the current storyline, he was leading chemical weapons tests in his lab on Punk Hazard. His former colleague, Caesar Clown, created an extremely powerful chemical weapon, and when Vegapunk attempted to dismiss Caesar for his reckless behavior, Caesar retaliated by detonating that weapon, turning Punk Hazard into a wasteland. The island was closed off after this incident and a dragon that Vegapunk created was also abandoned. Since Vegapunk had been leading the experiments, he was blamed for the incident.

Before the timeskip, he focused on developing human weapons called Pacifista, with Bartholomew Kuma as the test subject and with his research on Kizaru's Devil Fruit powers. He somehow managed to synthesize them and become the only person in the world with the technological prowess to manufacture functional and tangible laser beams that cause damage, which the World Government now use in full force and mass production. Prior to the Summit War of Marineford, Vegapunk performed the final operation on Kuma, removing the last of Kuma's free will. However, upon Kuma's request, Vegapunk programmed the mission to protect the Thousand Sunny into Kuma's memory banks.

Prior to going to Mary Geoise, Issho met with Vegapunk and the scientist revealed an invention that Issho believed could render the Seven Warlords of the Sea system obsolete.