One Piece: A Complete List of Luffy’s Gears (Explained)

A quarter of a century has passed since Eiichiro Oda released the “One Piece” manga. Since the first episode, the anime’s main character, Monkey D. Luffy, has won our hearts with his quirkiness and powers. He possesses a vast array of talents and skills, which he has honed throughout the story. But Luffy’s Gears techniques are the most potent and well-liked among all his abilities. So, if you want to learn more about all of our beloved protagonist’s powers, go through this guide to learn more about Luffy’s devil fruit-backed powers.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers about Luffy’s devil fruit, powers, and abilities. We suggest you watch the anime and read the manga first to avoid ruining your experience.

Table of Contents

What Is Luffy’s Devil Fruit In One Piece?

Now, before we look at the various gear techniques, it’s important to understand where Luffy gets his powers from. When he was 7, Luffy inadvertently ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit (Gum-Gum Devil fruit) when it had “Akagami Shanks,” the legendary red-haired pirate.

Gum-Gum fruit is a paramecia-type devil fruit that gave Luffy’s body rubber-lie properties as a result. With his devil-fruit powers, Luffy can manipulate his rubbery body into various forms, which he calls “Gears.” Currently, Luffy has managed to unlock up to five gear forms, and his fifth gear is known to be his peak form. He was able to unlock Gear 5 after awakening his devil fruit.

Furthermore, Luffy has mastered all three forms of Haki in One Piece and awakened his devil fruit powers too. With his unbelievable imagination, Luffy has made the best out of his devil fruit powers and can incorporate his haki with them. But, I’m sorry to say that Oda sensei deceived us from the start, Luffy’s devil is actually not Gomu Gomu no Mi.

In One Piece manga chapter 1069, it was confirmed by Dr.Vegapunk that there is no such fruit as “Gomu Gomu no Mi” (Gum-Gum fruit) as there is no mention of that devil fruit, even in the oldest books and encyclopedia of devil fruits. Instead, the name of Luffy’s devil fruit has been “Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika” all along, and we were tricked into thinking that it was Gomu Gomu no Mi all this time by the World Government and Oda.

Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika is a Mythical Zoan-type devil fruit that allows Luffy to transform into the sun god Nika and get a huge boost to his powers. This happened after Luffy awakened his devil fruit during his final battle with Kaidou and became the “Warrior of Liberation”. Luffy’s devil fruit is one of the strongest devil fruit in One Piece‘s existence right now.

Luffy’s Gears in One Piece: Powers & Abilities

Luffy used his devil fruit powers to create various Gear techniques to fight opponents. It increased his powers drastically over time in the One Piece anime. He was also able to master all these forms and minimize their after-effects. We have compiled a list of these Gear techniques, describing the powers in each form and their advantages and disadvantages. That said, it’s time to dive in:

Luffy Gear 1 (Base Version)

• Debut: Manga Chapter 1, Anime Episode 1

Technically speaking, Luffy doesn’t have a gear technique called Gear 1. There is no mention of Gear 1 throughout the anime and manga. Thus, Luffy’s base form, the usual rubbery body that he used in early episodes of the anime, can be considered “Gear 1.”

The attacks Luffy uses in his base forms start with “Gomu Gomu no…,” such as Gomu Gomu no Pistol, where he pulls his stretchy arms back and forces himself forward to hit the opponent. All of Luffy’s base form attacks involve him stretching his hands or his legs to attack.

His defensive abilities naturally come to him as he is a rubber man. So, normal bullets can’t pierce through him (but those coated with haki can damage him) and lightning won’t affect him either. He has over 90 attacks in Gear 1 form. He can also infuse haki here and coat his attacking parts to amplify the effectiveness of his powers in the base form.

Advantages

• The rubbery body allows him to use a wide variety of attacks as it is only limited by his imagination.
• The rubbery body also enables a natural defense, especially against lightning and many other things.

Disadvantages

• It takes some time for him to stretch his body parts, which leaves Luffy vulnerable for a short duration before attacking. It can be seen that this weakness was exploited by Buggy and Kuro earlier.

Luffy Gear 2

• Debut: Manga Chapter 387, Anime Episode 272

Luffy first used Gear 2 in the Ennies Lobby arc (Episode 272), which is one of the best arcs in One Piece. This is one of the best gear forms we have seen. Since it was the first official Gear form, it is extra special in the hearts of the fans.

Luffy was seen using this form in his fight against Blueno. So what he did was, he first pumped blood faster throughout his body to amplify the speed and strength of his attacks. This form gave Luffy’s first breakthrough in becoming a more powerful character. The pumping of blood resulted in Luffy’s skin turning red (and pinkish color) and letting out steam, which made Gear 2 look badass. Thanks to this transformation, he was able to obliterate poor Blueno.

Initially, Luffy pumped blood through his legs in Gear 2 form, but he was able to do it flawlessly in various ways after the time skip. He was even able to activate it only in selected parts of his body. Similar to his base form, Luffy says “Gomu Gomu no Jet …” before he launches an attack in Gear 2 form.

For example, Gomu Gomu no Jet pistol. Further, Luffy was able to create a more powerful attack by combining his second technique with the armament haki. It was called “Red Hawk” by Luffy. He punched his opponent with a godly pace and force, which caused friction against the air and ignited the punch. His punch was surrounded by red-hot flames, hence, the name. It was a tribute to his brother “Fire-fist Ace.”

Advantages

• He can become faster and more powerful within a short period.
• He can also infuse his jet attacks with haki to make them more powerful.

Disadvantages

• The sudden increase in metabolism makes him hungrier and can even paralyze him if used for prolonged times.
• At first, it was said that it could reduce his lifespan, but Luffy managed to diminish these side effects after the time skip.

Luffy Gear 3

• Debut: Manga Chapter 403, Anime Episode 288

During the Ennies Lobby arc, the fans were treated with back-to-back new Gears techniques from Luffy in One Piece. We saw Luffy first mention Gear 3 in Episode 288, but it was shown in full effect in Episode 305.

Luffy uses Gear 3 in his fight against ex-CP9 member Rob Lucci. Luffy corks his thumb in his mouth and bites it to make a small opening. Then, he blows air so hard that it inflates his arms to a gigantic size. Like the second gear, he can also use this technique in selected body parts.

This form allows Luffy to generate a more powerful attack as he has a bigger size when compared to normal. But there’s a catch here. Luffy sacrifices his mobility when using the Gear 3 technique. The attacks he uses in this form start with “Gomu Gomu no Gigant…,” and he coats his limbs with haki to produce crazy attacks like Gomu Gomu no Gigant Rifle. Luffy is able to create a plethora of attacks based on a combination of artillery and animal themes. Each is powerful and unique in its own way.

The Armament Haki-coated body parts also increased his defensive powers, which was evident in his fight with Fujitora. He uses it to shield his body from his attacks. Furthermore, this form made him shrink into a little kid after using it, and we saw him running from Rob Lucci in the Ennies Lobby arc. After the time skip in the story, he has better control over his Gear 3 form and has mastered it. Also, Luffy is now able to completely negate the shrinking effect.

Advantages

• Luffy can create stronger attacks with his increased mass and size.
• It also gives Luffy a way to use the third form in his defensive duties.
• When coated with haki, it further increased his powers.

Disadvantages

• During his early usage, Gear 3 shrunk him into a kid, leaving him completely vulnerable.
• Luffy’s mobility is hindered when using this form.

Luffy Gear 4

Some of the best arcs in One Piece are remembered by fans because of the Gears transformations from Luffy. The same is the case with the Dressrosa arc (Episode 726), which gave us our first look at his Gear 4 technique. Luffy invoked the Gear 4 form in his fight against Donquixote Doflamingo. It was the byproduct of his two-year-long training at Rusukaina with Silvers Rayleigh. You can consider this as a major upgrade over the third gear. He blows into his arms inflates his entire body and enhances his muscles.

After that, he coats these body parts with armament haki, which appear reddish black as they’re hardened. He also lets out steam as he did when using his second gear technique. This massive upgrade boosted Luffy’s attack and defensive powers to a great extent and gave birth to numerous forms. Luffy has three sub-forms for the Gear 4 technique, and he selects one depending on the situation. Let’s look at the three Gear 4 forms in detail:

1. Boundman

• Debut: Manga Chapter 784, Anime Episode 726

The first sub-form of Luffy’s fourth gear is called Boundman/Bounceman. In this form, Luffy constantly bounces off the surface, hence, that name. He has an enlarged body with his torso, arms, and legs coated with armament haki, as mentioned earlier.

Furthermore, he can retract his arms and legs inside his body, allowing him to release high-speed brutal attacks with much more power. He can also use his haki-coated body parts for defense too, as most of the attacks end up bouncing off his body. Luffy was able to do his famous python attack flawlessly against Doflamingo, Katakuri, and many more opponents in this form.

2. Tankman

• Debut: Manga Chapter 842, Anime Episode 806

The second sub-form of Luffy’s fourth gear is called Tankman. It was seen only once in his battle against Charlotte Cracker, who is one of the three Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates in the Whole Cake Island arc.

In this arc, Luffy ate tons of biscuits from Nami (one of the best female characters in One Piece) and grew bigger in size. He then used the Gear 4 technique and ended up becoming an inflated tank. This tankman form was used when there was a huge need for defense, as it has amazing defensive capabilities. Luffy used this against Charlotte to take an incredible amount of damage and ended up knocking him out with his Gomu Gomu no Cannonball attack.

3. Snakeman

• Debut: Manga Chapter 895, Anime Episode 870

The third sub-form of Luffy’s fourth gear is called Snakeman. It is seen in action during his battle against Charlotte Katakuri, who is also one of the three Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. Luffy looked more slender in this form when compared to the other two. The armament haki is concentrated only on his forearms, legs, and torso — and not the entire body.

The Snakeman form allowed Luffy to land the fastest attacks as this form boosted his speed. But he had to sacrifice his ultimate defensive capabilities, which were the highlights of the other two Gear 4 sub-forms. Luffy can even change the direction of his attacks at any time in this form (which was seen in boundman form as well). This attack was called Python by Luffy and gave him more freedom to attack from every possible direction and to counter Katakuri’s observation haki.

Advantages

• The Boundman form gave Luffy more stability, enabling him to balance his attacking and defensive duties.
• The Tankman form made Luffy into an indestructible tank, which allowed him to take a great amount of damage.
• The Snakeman form allowed Luffy to attack a lot faster and change the direction of his attacks.
• The gear fourth gave Luffy another major breakthrough in his powers as it greatly increased his attack and defensive capabilities.

Disadvantages

• Over-powered haki users can easily break the defense of Luffy’s boundman and tankman forms. For example, Kaidou destroyed Luffy’s Gear 4 forms in the Wano arc recently.
• Luffy’s Snakeman heavily lacks defensive abilities and Katakuri exploited this to deal tons of damage to Luffy.
• Luffy won’t be able to use haki again for 10 minutes after using gear fourth. His body suffers greatly as a result of using the fourth gear.

Luffy Gear 5

• Debut: Manga Chapter 1044, Anime Episode 1071

The most unexpected and hyped gear technique in Luffy’s arsenal was revealed in the One Piece manga recently. It took a long time for us to witness it indeed, but the wait was worth every minute, as we finally got to witness Luffy’s Gear 5 technique in action. We have explained everything about Luffy’s new Gear 5 technique in the guide linked here.

Luffy’s Gear 5 form was first shown during the climax of the Wano Country arc in manga chapter 1044 and episode 1071 in his final battle with Kaidou on the rooftop of Onigashima. Luffy created his latest Gear technique with the awakening of his devil fruit. He was able to transform into the sun god Nika, revealing the true powers of his devil fruit and attaining his peak form.

With this technique, not only did his powers level up, but Luffy’s appearance also got a major upgrade with his clothes, hair, eyebrows, and other things turning white. His eyes now have a red shine in his peak form. Further, Luffy was able to bend reality with his upgraded Gear 5 powers in this form. Like the toon force power, he has the complete freedom to do anything according to his imagination as he can freely change the shape and size of his body and use all the types of haki freely too.

Advantages

• Luffy’s fifth gear gave him the biggest power upgrade he has ever had until now
• Currently, it is the best and peak form of Luffy’s powers and he can do literally anything
• He can easily use other gears in a faster way
• He can infuse any basic and advanced forms of haki at the same time
• He can create more devastating attacks which are limited only by his imagination
• The rubber properties of his body help vastly in defense
• He can alter the surroundings and environment around him

Disadvantages

• It uses a lot of Luffy’s energy and leaves him completely drained out (due to inexperience).

That’s everything you need to know about Luffy’s Gears techniques and powers. We hope we were able to explain every gear in his arsenal clearly and concisely. In this guide, we have also mentioned the powers and abilities of the latest Gear 5 technique and the awakening of his (actual) devil fruit. The Gear 5 episode aired in late 2023, and it shattered the internet and the records I hoped it would. Also, which is your favorite Luffy gear technique and why? Do let us know in the comments below.

Luffy’s Gears Frequently Asked Questions