Luffy’s Gears Ranked (All Variants and Transformations)

This contains spoilers from the manga, so read with caution.

The power system in One Piece allows several characters to gain extraordinary powers that people could only dream of. They can either learn to use their Haki or eat a Devil Fruit that grants them superhuman abilities. Throughout the series, we’ve seen several users master their Devil Fruits and discover creative ways to fully utilize their power. Of course, the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is no exception.

Thanks to Luffy’s Devil Fruit, he can use his rubber body to transform himself, increasing his strength and overall combat power. Think of it as the usual shonen protagonist power-up, like Goku’s Super Saiyan forms or Naruto’s Kurama Mode. For a deeper look at them, here’s our ranking of Luffy’s gears, including his other transformations and variants.

 

7. Gear 2

Who could forget Luffy’s first-ever transformation? Luffy’s Gear 2 grants him higher speed and agility by speeding up the blood flow to his body parts, allowing him to overwhelm and outmaneuver his opponents. When Luffy activates Gear 2, his skin turns pink and shiny from the higher blood flow, and his body seems like it’s steaming because of the vaporized sweat.

Despite its usefulness and appearance, the form also has its drawbacks. Gear 2 severely depletes Luffy’s nutrients due to his body’s higher metabolic rate when the form is active. This can decrease his lifespan tremendously, and it can also paralyze him after long periods of usage. Still, Luffy pushed through his limits to defeat enemies like Rob Lucci and save his friends using Gear 2.

 

6. Gear 3

Another form that came alongside Gear 2 from the Enies Lobby arc is Gear 3. This gear gives Luffy’s attacks a tremendous strength boost because of his limbs’ increase in mass. By biting his thumb and blowing into his bones, Luffy can inflate his arm enormously, which gives him power capable of taking down giants like Oars.

This form also has downsides, shrinking Luffy into a vulnerable state after deactivating the gear. However, Luffy overcame this side effect after the timeskip, as he’s no longer shrinking after using Gear 3. He can also coat his Gear 3-powered attacks with Haki, which makes them even more destructive.

 

5. Nightmare Luffy

Even though this is technically not a gear, Nightmare Luffy is still a memorable transformation. Luffy gained access to this transformation during the Thriller Bark arc after he was infused with the power of a hundred shadows. During this form, Luffy was almost the same size as Gecko Moria, with his skin turning completely blue and his personality becoming more serious.

While others can only handle two or three shadows at most, Luffy can contain one hundred shadows within him, thanks to his strong spirit. This means that during this form, Luffy can use the combined strength and skills of the hundred shadows he possesses. Unfortunately, this transformation only lasted ten minutes in Thriller Bark and has not made a comeback.

 

4. Gear 4: Tank-Man

Tank-Man is one of the three variations that Gear 4 has to offer. It debuted when Luffy activated Gear 4 after eating Charlotte Cracker’s biscuits until he was completely full. At the time, Luffy called his transformation Gear 4: Tank-Man Stuffed Version, so it’s currently unknown what the base version of Tank-Man is.

Luffy’s durability highly increases during this form, making him capable of deflecting piercing strikes from Cracker. Unlike in other Gear 4 variations where Cracker successfully cut deep into Luffy’s arm, Luffy tanked the slashes when transformed into Tank-Man. However, Luffy hasn’t used Gear 4: Tank-Man since his fight with Cracker in Whole Cake.

 

3. Gear 4: Snake-Man

Another variation of Gear 4 is Snake-Man. This form was first used during Luffy’s battle with Katakuri in the Mirror Dimension. Unlike the other variations, Luffy’s body retains its normal proportions in this form instead of expanding. Moreover, this form grants significant speed and agility but lacks defense compared to other Gear 4 variants.

Snake-Man allows Luffy to continuously accelerate his attacks and increase their speed and power until he hits his target. Luffy also used it as the nail in the coffin during his fight against Katakuri. Even though Katakuri had future sight, Luffy’s Snake-Man was too fast for him to keep up with.

 

2. Gear 4: Bounce-Man

Bounce-Man is the last variation of Gear 4 on this list but is the first to be used among them. In this variation, Luffy’s body increases in size and is coated with Armament Haki. This was the first Gear 4 variation that Luffy thought of during his two-year training. Luffy initially used Bounce-Man to fight large animals in Rusukaina, but now he uses it to overpower his opponents.

This variation increased Luffy’s physical strength, speed, and versatility enough to take down a Warlord of the Sea, Doflamingo. However, there are several drawbacks to this form or Gear 4 in general. Luffy can only use Gear 4 for short periods since the form deactivates when the time limit is reached. After deactivation, Luffy becomes exhausted and unable to use Haki for ten minutes. Despite this, Gear 4: Bounce-Man and the other variations are a powerful part of Luffy’s arsenal.

 

1. Gear 5 (Awakening)

Hopefully, you read the manga (or watched Film: Red) because this is definitely a spoiler. When we reach the Battle of Onigashima’s climax, Luffy will awaken his Devil Fruit and turn into the Sun God Nika, a.k.a. Joyboy. You see, it was revealed Luffy’s Devil Fruit isn’t actually the Gum-Gum Fruit, but the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.

When using Gear 5, Luffy’s clothes and hair turn plain white. He also has greater freedom than ever, as he can manipulate the shape and size of his body. Luffy also takes on a cartoonish fighting style, even turning Kaido into a jumping rope at some point. During this form, Luffy can also grant his surroundings the properties of rubber, allowing him to stretch objects he touches like rubber.

Luffy can do anything in this form, but he’s bound by his imagination. So if he realizes that his Devil Fruit isn’t bound by rubber abilities, Luffy will potentially gain the power he needs to become King of the Pirates.

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