Described as Luffy’s peak,Gear 5th is the strongest transformationof the Straw Hat Pirate that he gains access to using his Devil Fruit awakening. The form was activated for the very first time duringOne Piece’sWano Country arc which saw Luffy fight Yonko Kaido for the very first time.
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To overcome the powers that Kaido possessed, Luffy had to surpass all his limits and, in doing so, awaken Gear 5th. While fans haven’t seen everything about its capabilities, the fight against Kaido has already revealed quite a few things about its powers.
An Awakening Gear
Most of Luffy’s Gears are something that he invented by himself over time. Gear Second was created after he watched CP9 use Soru for the first time and used his Devil Fruit to pump blood in his body faster. Gear Third saw him pump air directly into his bones to create a giant’s limbs, and Gear Fourth saw him pump air into his muscles and increase tension with Haki.
Gear Fifth, however, is much different. Instead of coming up with some clever way to use his fruit, Luffy simply awakened it after his mind caught up with the potential of his powers.
A Mythical Zoan Transformation
Shockingly, it was recently revealed that Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Mi is actually not a Paramecia Type Devil Fruit at all. Instead,it is a Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruitcalled Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. This fruit is, quite simply put, ridiculous in every way possible.
Not only does it grant great freedom to Luffy and affects all those around him but also grants him a great body of rubber. Awakening makes his powers even greater and gives him a new transformation, which is what he ended up naming Gear 5th.
The Drums Of Liberation
Luffy’s fight against Kaido inOne Piece’sWano arc saw him fall to the Yonko quite a few times before finally being able to defeat him for good. While losing to Kaido for the third time, in particular, due to the interference of one of the members of CP0, Luffy was utterly crushed with one of Kaido’s strongest attacks.
Not only did he lose but it was also heavily implied that his heart stopped beating completely. However, as his Devi Fruit awakened, Luffy’s heartbeat was very different. Instead of a regular heartbeat, Luffy could hear what was called the Drums of Liberation.
All White
Gear 5th Luffy is quite an iconic transformation in more ways than one. Not only is Luffy at his very strongest but the design of the form is also quite intriguing. When entering Gear 5th, Luffy gains flaming hair. More importantly, the color scheme of the gear is white, as mentioned by Kaido himself.
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This all-white transformation spreads to his entire body, including his hair and his very clothes. So far, this is the only Gear of Luffy that plays around with the colors so much.
The Power To Turn Things Into Rubber
An awakened Mythical Zoan fruit simply grants a stronger transformation to the user, according to the Yonko Kaido. However, Luffy’s case is quite different. Not only does he get a new transformation but he also gets the ability to turn things around him into rubber.
Luffy has turned his surroundings into rubber on countless occasions so far and used this skill to counter Kaido’s most ferocious attacks or to absorb the brunt of the attacks to make them do less damage to him. Undoubtedly, with Luffy’s creative mind, this ability can only get better with time.
More Freedom
Luffy is the embodiment of freedom inOne Pieceand Gear 5th takes this quality of his to the absolute fullest. Gear 5th Luffy has been described as “the warrior of Liberation.” According to the Gorosei, he spreads laughter wherever he goes and fights with incredible freedom.
This wasseen during the fight against Kaidowhere his freedom, showcased by his rubber usage, started affecting even Kaido by turning him into rubber and even inanimate objects such as lightning bolts.
More Laughs
Gear 5th takes Luffy’s ability to spread joy and laughter to its very peak, meaning he is truly able to laugh more in this state and put smiles on the faces of other people as well. Luffy’s Gear 5th transformation is marked with an iconic laugh and this was apparent from the very first time he transformed into this state.
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The more he laughed, the better he seemed to fight. Throughout the clash against Kaido, fans could see him laughing even though he was fighting a high-intensity battle, which just goes to show how important it is to his character.
Becoming A Giant
One of Luffy’s strongest skills in Gear 5th is to manipulate his size easily without needing to pump air into his body. Luffy can grow big or small without any trouble whatsoever and at his very best, he can even transform into a giant.
This was seen during the fight against Kaidowhen Luffy transformed into a large version of himself and stepped on him. Later, Luffy used the Yonko as a skipping rope, which goes on to showcase the ridiculous side of his powers again.
The Power To Crush Islands
Gear 5th Luffy is him at his very peak and the strongest ability that he has in this form is absolutely devastating.Luffy’s ultimate attack, called Bajrang Gun, sees him grow his fist to the size of an entire island in the sky. To make it even more powerful, the fist is then coated in advanced levels of Armament and Conqueror’s Haki.
This attack can crush an island and even its surroundings with ease, cause tsunamis, and lead to large-scale destruction. When used against Kaido, it was able to crush his Kaen Daiko technique and knock the Yonko out for good, defeating him in the process.
