Highlights
- Luffy has become an incredibly powerful pirate through various power-ups and is now strong enough to fight the strongest of the Yonko in a one-on-one battle.
- Luffy has mastered Observation Haki, which allows him to heighten his senses and perceive incoming attacks, making him nearly untouchable in combat.
- Luffy has developed and refined multiple forms of Gear Second and Gear Third, which greatly enhance his physical capabilities, strength, and speed in battle.
Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. Luffy set out on the journey to becoming the Pirate King over two years ago and has, since then, become an incredible pirate. With the power of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, combined with his keen mind when it comes to combat, Luffy is nigh unstoppable in combat.
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There are quite a few things that the One Piece anime does better than the manga. Here are some great examples.Over the years, he's faced adversity in many forms and overcome them with his many power-ups. Currently, Luffy is strong enough to fight the strongest of the Yonko in a one-on-one battle, making him extremely capable.
Updated on October 15, 2023, by Rei Penber: Luffy is currently one of the Four Emperors of the Sea and certainly an incredibly powerful pirate. He has continued to grow massively in One Piece, especially starting the Four Emperors Saga. In the Final Saga, Luffy continues to grow stronger and gain more power-ups. While this list already goes over the vast majority of Luffy's power-ups, there are some others that certainly deserve a mention of their own. With that being kept in mind, this list has now been updated.
17 Gear Second
Gear Second is the first big power-up that Monkey D. Luffy received in the story. After losing to Aokiji, Luffy realized that he needed to become stronger. His loss to the CP9 in Enies Lobby only increased his desire to gain further strength. Interestingly, Luffy managed to notice the trick behind the CP9's Soru technique and combined it with his Devil Fruit power to create Gear Second.
By pumping blood faster throughout his body, Luffy is able to take his physical capabilities to the next level. Gear Second makes him stronger, faster and allows him to react to any incoming attack much faster than he normally would.
16 Gear Third
Luffy invented Gear Third alongside Gear Second. This power was first used to break down the giant metal door in Enies Lobby but a true glimpse of this power was given to the fans when he fought against Rob Lucci. Gear Third sees Luffy bite his thumb and blow large amounts of air into his bones, giving him the body of a giant.
As expected, Gear Third is much stronger than Gear Second, however, it was very difficult for him to use before timeskip. Currently, Luffy has a perfect mastery of Gear Third and can easily take on some strong foes with its power.
15 Nightmare Luffy
The Thriller Bark arc of One Piece saw Luffy use a unique power-up made possible by those who had their shadows stolen by Gecko Moria. By stuffing 100 shadows inside Luffy, he was granted tremendous power.
Nightmare Luffy was strong enough to block Oars' punch with his palm effortlessly. He managed to completely overpower Oars in this form and even had great skills as a swordsman. Sadly, Nightmare Luffy has never appeared in the story ever since.
14 Gear Second (Post-Timeskip)
After the timeskip, Luffy massively improved his control over his many gears, starting with Gear Second. Before his training under Rayleigh, it was quite clear that Gear Second exhausted him a lot, and during the Thriller Bark arc, it was also established that it affected his vitality adversely.
However, after the timeskip, Luffy has learned to use Gear Second in a controlled manner, where he only activates it in certain parts of his body. This lets him conserve energy and fight with ferocity at the same time. Against the Pacifista, fans got a display of how strong Luffy has become after his training.
13 Observation Haki
Observation Haki is an incredible power that Luffy currently wields with perfection. The basic form of this power allows the user to heighten their senses greatly. Essentially, this power can be described to be a sort of sixth sense. The user can see incoming attacks in their mind's eye, sense malicious intent, measure power levels, feel the presence of every living being around them, and even sense emotions. This is an incredible ability that, if mastered, can make one a powerhouse fighter who is essentially untouchable.
This power was taught to Luffy by none other than Rayleigh during the timeskip on the island of Ruskaina. Luffy has greatly mastered this ability and it is one of his strongest powers currently. His Observation Haki still needs work, however, it is already very refined. In the final saga, fans can see this power being taken to the next level.
12 Armament Haki
Armament Haki is another facet of Haki that is present within everyone. This is one of the most utilized Haki forms as it basically strengthens the user tremendously. This Haki type allows the user to manifest their spirit and coat their bodies with it, using it as armor. It can be used offensively to increase the power of the attacks, and it can also be used defensively, which bolsters the user's body greatly.
Armament Haki has a great application that allows the user to bypass any protection offered by Devil Fruits and make contact with the real body of the users. This power can also nullify Devil Fruit powers entirely if used excessively. Luffy was taught Armament Haki by Rayleigh, however, in the 18 months that they trained together, he could only grasp the basic form of this power. Luffy then had to fight his way to the top in order to improve this ability to the level where it is today.
11 Conqueror's Haki (Basic)
Conqueror's Haki is a power that only a handful of people in the One Piece world are born with. Essentially, this power allows the user to impose their own willpower on others. Those who have weaker willpower feel the effects. The basic form of this Haki allows the user to knock other people unconscious.
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10 Gear Third (Post-Timeskip)
Just like he did with Gear Second, Luffy also worked on an improved Gear Third during the two-year timeskip. Thanks to all the giant beasts on Ruskaina, Luffy was able to take his strength to the next level by increasing the power of Gear Third.
Unlike before, Luffy's Gear Third became much more compact after the time-skip, and is now used in just his forelimbs. Thanks to this, Luffy has also gotten around the side effects of the gear that caused him to shrink. By coating himself in Haki, he's now much stronger than before.
9 Gear Fourth
During the two-year timeskip, Monkey D. Luffy fought against the mighty animals that lived on Ruskaina. To defeat them, he needed an incredible amount of strength and body that was tough enough to take lots of damage. Smart as Luffy is, he came up with Gear Fourth.
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A character's bounty in One Piece is a great way of gauging how strong they are. Despite their track record, these pirates' bounties are way too low.By pumping air into his muscles and using the maximum output of his Haki to increase elasticity, Luffy managed to achieve both of his goals. Gear Fourth relies on the power of elasticity to grant him incredible offensive output and defensive ability. Luffy overwhelmed the likes of Doflamingo, Cracker, and even Charlotte Katakuri with this power.
8 Gear Fourth: Tankman – Full Version
Luffy debuted Gear Fourth: Bounceman against Donquixote Doflamingo, but a stronger adversary followed shortly after: Cracker. Although Gear Fourth was strong enough to take on the former, Luffy needed a different strategy to defeat his new enemy, and hence he relied on Tankman.
By creating a bigger and bulkier form of Bounceman, Luffy is able to tank an incredible number of blows without much trouble whatsoever. He debuted the Full Version form against Cracker and managed to defeat him in a single hit.
7 Gear Fourth: Snakeman
Snakeman is yet another form of Luffy's Gear Fourth that debuted during the fight against Charlotte Katakuri. He developed this power during the two-year timeskip as a countermeasure for those who rely more on speed in combat.
By using his fist, called "Python" in this form, Luffy is able to hit his rivals with an incredibly high-speed punch that keeps on accelerating with time. Snakeman, when coupled with Future Sight Observation Haki makes Luffy almost unbeatable in combat. Thanks to his technique, he was able to take Katakuri down.
6 Future Sight Observation Haki
In his fight against Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest of Big Mom's Sweet Commanders, Luffy found himself being outclassed due to the latter's incredible usage of Observation Haki. Katakuri had trained his Observation Haki to a level where he could see seconds into the future.
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5 The Ability To Switch Gears Instantly
As the Wano Country arc continued, Luffy grew stronger and stronger. On the fateful night of the Raid of Onigashima, Luffy fought against Kaido and lost to him two times. During this fight, Luffy's control over his Devil Fruit powers grew better and better. Whereas once he needed some time after using Gear Fourth, that time limit did not seem to affect him any longer. In fact, Luffy was seen freely switching between his Gear Fourth forms as the fight went on.
Shortly before Luffy was killed by Kaido, he was seen switching between Bounceman and Snakeman freely, which is something that he had never done before. This power-up is very minute and one that not many fans even noticed. However, when taking into consideration the fact that Gear 4th once took a massive toll on his body, this is a power-up that deserves to be mentioned. Now that he has grown even stronger, Luffy can certainly use these Gear forms even more.
4 Ryou
Ryou is a concept of Haki that was introduced in the Wano Country arc of One Piece. To the people of Wano, Ryou is simply what Armament Haki is to the rest of the world, however, the application of this power is very different. Unlike Armament Haki, Ryou focuses on making Haki flow from one point in the body without making direct contact with the target.
This prevents wastage of Haki and allows the user to pierce anything that they want, even the tough scales of Yonko Kaido. Luffy managed to take this skill even further when he was able to send his Haki directly inside the body of the target and cause internal damage without needing to pierce the exterior of the enemy.
3 Internal Destruction Ryuo
Luffy learned the concept of Ryuo during the Wano Country arc when he was imprisoned in the Udon Mine. There, Hyogoro, the old leader of the Yakuza of Wano, taught him how to use this form of Haki. While the standard form of Ryuo allows for Haki to flow from one point in the body, making sure there was no wastage, there was revealed to be a level beyond that that only a few in the world can use. Luffy had already advanced his Haki to this level during his time in Udon Prison.
However, he just didn't know how to bring out this power from within. Thanks to the guidance of the old Yakuza boss, Luffy was able to master this technique and make his Haki enter the body of his enemies and destroy them from the inside out. This form of Haki is very special and Luffy demonstrated its usage on several occasions as the story went on. That said, it proved to be somewhat ineffective against Kaido. Despite making him cough up blood, it was not enough to substantially injure the Yonko.
2 Conqueror's Haki Coating
Luffy's greatest power-up to date is, undoubtedly, Conqueror's Haki coating. During his fight against Kaido, Luffy observed Kaido coating his weapon in Conqueror's Haki. After this realization hit him, he was able to use a crude version of this technique himself and could coat his fists in Conqueror's Haki.
In his final fight against Kaido, Luffy appears to have a better grasp over this power and proved to be strong enough to split the heavens using Conqueror's Haki when he clashed against Kaido. Luffy is far stronger now than ever before.
1 Gear 5
Gear Fifth is a unique power-up that Luffy finally tapped into towards the end of his fight against Kaido. To achieve this power up, Luffy actually had to die at the hands of the Yonko, following the interruption in their battle from Guernica, one of the members of the CP0. As Luffy continued his fight against Kaido, it was revealed by the Gorosei that his Devil Fruit is actually not the Gomu Gomu no Mi but a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit called the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika.
This Devil Fruit is known to have evaded the World Government for centuries and, just like all other Zoan Devil Fruits, it has a will of its own. That is precisely why it chose Luffy as its consumer. The true power of this Devil Fruit can only be brought forward after it awakens. Following his death, Luffy awakened this fruit and he gained enough power to topple even Kaido, the strongest pirate alive at this point in time. Once awakened, it gives Luffy an all-white transformation and allows him to fight with immense freedom. At the same time, it also allows him to spread joy and laughter wherever he goes, liberating people from oppression all the while. Awakening also grants this body of his additional toughness, along with the ability to fight in any way the human mind can think of. His powers are only limited by his imagination. Gear 5 is the ultimate power-up for Monkey D. Luffy and one that suits his character perfectly.
Turning Surroundings To Rubber
Gear 5 is a massive power that offers many other smaller powers to Luffy. Essentially, Gear 5 is a transformation that turns him all white and allows him to fight with incredible freedom as well as make use of Armament as well as Conqueror's Haki at the highest level. However, there is much more to this power than just that. Using Gear 5, Luffy can also turn his surroundings into rubber.
Normally, this is a property that is only displayed by Paramecia-type Awakenings. However, for some weird reason, Luffy can use this power as well. Not just that but Luffy can also turn living beings into rubber. His opponents, such as Kaido, could easily be turned into rubber by him. No person who has awakened their Devil Fruit has managed to turn other living beings into the power that they manipulate. This is something that is exclusively offered to Luffy.
Creating Things Out Of Nothing
Perhaps the greatest power-up that Gear 5 has offered to Luffy is the ability to create things out of nothing. This power was seen for the very first time during his fight against Rob Lucci. Essentially, Luffy was able to create goggles out of nowhere. With a simple poof, Luffy had goggles in his hand which he then put on his eyes and proceeded to launch a powerful attack at the CP0 member.
This power is absolutely incredible as it means Luffy can do essentially anything that he can imagine. There is no limit to what he can and can't do and as long as he can imagine it, he can give life to it. Fans can only hope that this power-up is featured more as One Piece continues to explore the final saga as it is one of Luffy's strongest, if not the strongest power-ups.