One Piece: All gears of Monkey D. Luffy explained

Now that Luffy’s Gear 5 has officially made its debut in the recent One Piece episode, here’s a look at his growth from Gear 2 to Gear 5.

In One Piece, the Straw Hats’ Captain, Luffy, may appear as a reckless leader. However, he has repeatedly shown how flexible and adaptive he can be during battles. 

This makes him of the strongest characters in the entirety of One Piece. Luffy also possesses tremendous creativity, often coming up with unusual methods to get ahead in a fight.

Luffy has trained and honed his skills, allowing him to create his “Gears,” which are basically specific techniques related to his devil fruit. Here’s a look at all gears of Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece

Luffy uses Gear 2 for more speed and agility

First used in the “Enies Lobby Arc,” Luffy uses this technique by increasing the speed of his blood flow. His body can withstand the pressure, thanks to the rubbery nature of his blood vessels and organs. 

By doing so, Luffy significantly increases his physical abilities, allowing him to gain the upper hand against the CP9, which all specialize in speed-related techniques.

Prior to his two-year training, using Gear 2 depleted his energy quickly and even threatened his life, but its effects appear to have been reduced. By combining Haki and Gear 2, Luffy strikes opponents with such speed and intensity that his fist ignites into a shroud of flames, which he refers to as Red Hawk.

Luffy uses Gear 3 for more powerful punches

Gear 3 was also first used in the Enies Lobby arc. Luffy can inflate the bones of a certain part of his body by blowing an enormous quantity of air into his thumb. 

These inflated body parts can cause immense damage, capable of destroying steel doors and large structures. Gear 3’s strength further amplifies when Luffy wields it with Haki. Initially, using Gear 3 would cause Luffy to shrink to the size of a young child. 

Although fans adore “Tiny Luffy,” his shrinkage limits his combat ability until his body returns to normal. This, however, no longer occurs after Luffy’s two years of training.

Luffy uses Gear 4 by combining his devil fruit and Haki

Luffy learned Gear 4 during his training with Rayleigh. By blowing into his arm, Luffy inflates his entire body’s muscles and covers them with Armament Haki, transforming into one of three different forms – Boundman, Tankman, and Snakeman.

All these forms aren’t visually pleasing, but they grant him enormous strength, which results in Doflamingo’s defeat. Boundman’s composition resembles a rubber ball, prompting him to bounce all the time. 

Luffy can retract his arms and legs into his body, release powerful hits, and change the direction of his attacks. The second form, Tankman, enlarges Luffy and enhances his defensive powers. 

This allows him to use his body as a weapon by blasting opponents away with the recoil from assaults. Lastly, Snakeman is smaller and more focused on offense, lacking the defensive qualities of the other two forms. 

This form significantly increases Luffy’s speed. The only drawback of using Gear 4 is that Luffy quickly burns his Haki and needs ten minutes to recharge once he is weakened.

Luffy’s Gear 5 is the awakened form of his devil fruit

Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is the real name of Luffy’s devil fruit. During his battle with Kaido, Luffy awakened his Paramecia-type devil fruit and transformed into a mythical being known as Nika, the Sun God. Gear 5 is another name for this form.

In this form, Luffy’s hair and clothing become white, and his brows take on the shape of spirals. In addition to the steam encircling him, he also gains ringed pupils. The ringed eyes are one of the biggest mysteries in the series.

His rubbery body gains uneven adaptability but also quickly drains his stamina. Using this power even briefly exhausted Luffy to the point where he turned pale as if someone had sucked out his life from him. 

That said, it is by far his most powerful ability. Luffy has only used this technique once in One Piece, but fans are eager to see how it will help him in the future.

One Piece can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other TV hubs below:

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