Luffy Gears Up for a New Adventure: Gear 5 Explained

Recently, the whole One Piece fandom was thrown into a frenzy when Luffy pushed past his limits and introduced the Gear 5 for us. Unlike his previous 4 gears, this one is completely different. This is because it only happened after Luffy managed to awaken his Devil Fruit powers. Just when we thought that Ode Sensei couldn’t surprise us anymore, he pulled off yet another mind-blowing twist. After all, there is a reason people call him Goda in the One Piece fandom.

Luffy’s Gear 5 has opened up a whole new level of possibilities for the series. While we always knew in the back of our minds that Luffy was going to power up before facing off against Kaido and Blackbeard, we didn’t expect it to turn out like this. With that in mind, let us take a deep dive into the details of Luffy’s Gear 5.

The Awakening

Unlike the previous stages of his devil fruit powers, Luffy didn’t need to modify himself. He didn’t have to size up, nor had to use any tricks this time. Gomu Gomu no Mi was considered a pretty ordinary devil fruit at first. It was Luffy who made it special through sheer persistence and determination. It had loads of drawbacks, but our hero wasn’t going to sit himself out. Perhaps this is why the universe rewarded him. Luffy was finally able to unlock the true powers of Gomu Gomu no Mi.

We came to know that this devil fruit previously went by a different name. It was called the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. It allowed Luffy to turn into the Sun God Nika and increased the power of his rubber body by manyfolds. This awakening took place on the rooftop of Onigashima when Luffy was fighting Kaido. 

When all seemed lost, Luffy clutched it up using this ability and sent Kaido plummeting inside the Earth. It is also important to know that while Gomu Gomu no Mi was thought to be a paramecia type fruit, the Hito Hito no Mi is actually a mythical zoan type fruit. It is also one of the rarest in the One Piece world.

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Appearance

Luffy’s appearance undergoes a major transformation in Gear 5 form. White becomes his characteristic color, and he turns into the Warrior of Liberation. Funnily enough, his eyebrows take on a keen resemblance to Sanji as they become excessively curly. You would expect that only Luffy’s hair and eyebrows would turn white, but that’s where you are wrong.

Even the color of Luffy’s clothes changes and takes on a milky white appearance. Other than the red color of his eyes, we also see a white cloudlike shape appearing around his neck. Moreover, Luffy seems to become excessively jolly in this state. This is synonymous with the Sun God spreading freedom all around him.

Powers

The most eye-catching ability of Luffy’s Gear 5 is that it increases his physical strength significantly. Hito Hito no Mi model Nika gives him such a power boost that it brings Luffy on par with Kaido. 

1. Unreal Offense: After awakening the true nature of his devil fruit, Luffy could fight as he wanted. This ability suits Luffy’s fighting style because he is always ready to adopt a gung-ho approach to any battle. After a long time, we saw Luffy enjoying himself without having to exert much of his stamina. An all-out attack using his Gear 5 can wipe out thousands of enemies within seconds.
2. Enhanced Defense: Another reason that Luffy can go all out in his battles using Gear 5 is because of his improved defense. During the fight against Kaido, we saw that Luffy could take the strongest of hits without feeling any repercussions. Even when Kaido tried to smack down his head, his rubber-like body just returned to its original shape. Luffy just acted like nothing had happened.
3. Previous Gears: Another huge advantage for Luffy in his Gear 5 is that he can easily use the properties of his previous gears without needing to meet the pre-requisites. For example, in the case of Gear 3 and Gear 4, he had to pump air into his body in order to inflate his limbs and muscles. 
   
   But Gear 5 allows Luffy to do it automatically without needing air from the outside. This is why he was able to stretch his arm to a gigantic size and fling it around Kaido like a baseball bat. But that’s not all. He can even expand his whole body in an instant and turn into a giant, which can intimidate the strongest of foes.
4. Environmental Manipulation: One of the best abilities of Luffy’s Gear 5 is that it also allows him to manipulate his environment. Apart from turning his own body into rubber, he can also do it to his surroundings.

During the epic fight on the rooftop of Onigashima, Luffy cleverly turned the roof into a rubber platform and reflected Kaido’s Bolo Breath back at him. But the most crazy thing is that Luffy can even make other characters rubbery just as he did to Kaidou. This opens up a whole new level of possibilities for Luffy to fight his enemies and launch some powerful combos.

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Disadvantages

Just like Gear 5 has got multiple advantages, there are also some disadvantages that make it a double-edged sword. It extracts a lot of energy from Luffy’s body, and maintaining this form is an arduous task. Once Luffy gets out of his Gear 5 transformation, he seems to de-age by a lot of years. Even though he can get back to his normal state again by changing his heartbeat, it does pose a slight threat to him.

Overall Verdict

Gear 5 is a major change in the storyline of One Piece that makes us think about many things from a new angle. It certainly helps Luffy in the long run and also gives him a unique devil fruit fitting for the protagonist of a story.

The most mind blowing part of this fruit is that it retains its paramecia properties despite being a mythical zoan fruit. This only seems fair for the final showdown against Blackbeard, who is also currently wielding two devil fruit powers.