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One Piece – Luffy’s Gear 5 explained

Luffy's new form is finally in the One Piece anime. So, here is our guide fully explaining the powers, abilities, and details of Gear 5 in the hit TV series.

Gear 5 in One Piece explained: Luffy in One Piece

What is Luffy’s new form, Gear 5, in One Piece? Back in 2016, fans saw Luffy usher in his Gear 4 technique into the wonderful world of One Piece. However, since then, avid watchers of the anime have been dying to see the aspiring King of Pirates’ next power-up, and luckily Gear 5 is here. Warning minor spoilers ahead!

One Piece is one of the best anime series around, and a large part of the show’s success is thanks to the likable One Piece character and rubbery hero Monkey D Luffy. Over the years, we’ve seen the captain of the Straw Hats grow as a leader, and now we have seen Luffy reach his peak in terms of power levels. If you are a reader of the One Piece manga, you may know that the animated series has finally adapted Gear 5, the anime character’s most impressive technique yet.

With that in mind, The Digital Fix is here to break down everything you need to know about Luffy’s new powers. From information on when you can see the new form as you rewatch all of One Piece in order to all of its abilities, here is our guide fully explaining Gear 5 in One Piece.

What is Gear 5 in One Piece?

Gear 5 is Luffy’s new technique that is a product of Luffy’s Devil Fruit, Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika (not Gomu Gomu no Mi)’s awakened true form. It is the peak of Luffy’s power and gives the character god-like abilities – literally letting him do anything that he can imagine.

Now that may seem like a hefty explanation, so let’s break it down and fully unpack Luffy’s new form. The big revelation is that Luffy’s devil fruit isn’t the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but instead the Mythical Zoan devil fruit Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, which gives its user the powers of the Sun God Nika as well as a rubbery body.

By unlocking Gear 5, Luffy has basically all of the Sun God Nika’s power at his disposal and can do anything he wants. The only limit to his new power is his imagination.

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When does Luffy use Gear 5?

Luffy first uses Gear 5 during his final battle with Kaidou, meaning that in the anime series, we see it being used for the first time in Episode 1,071.

According to the leaked schedule of One Piece episodes, Luffy was first meant to use Gear 5 on July 29, but fans outside of Japan only saw the new form in August 2023.

Gear 5 awakens once Luffy is pushed to the verge of death during his fight with Kaidou. After being sent to the gates of heaven, his devil fruit awakens to its true form and reveals itself as the strongest devil fruit in the world. In fact, the World Government has been searching for Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, for 800 years because its strength is just that ridiculous.

One Piece Gear 5: a picture of Luffy in the One Piece manga in his Gear 5 form

Gear 5 powers and abilities explained

As mentioned above, Gear 5 gives Luffy the power to do basically whatever he wants. His newly awakened form has also increased his speed and toughness level, so much so that he matches up with a Yonko-level.

One of the biggest new powerups is Gear 5’s ability to basically alter reality and change anything into a rubber form that allows Luffy to extend his attacks and basically dominate on the battlefield. And if that wasn’t scary enough, Gear 5 allows our hero to infuse both Armament and Conqueror’s Haki types at the same time as well.

Some other cool features from Gear 5 is that Luffy can also freely move between Gears 3 and 4 in this new form without blowing air into his body like a balloon. So yeah, he is pretty much unstoppable now. If you are curious about some of his well-known Gear 5 abilities, we’ve made a list of some of our favorite ones down below.

Gear 5 techniques:

  • Gomu Gomu no Kaminari: Luffy basically turns into a rubber version of Zeus and hurls lightning bolts at his enemies.
  • Gomu Gomu no Bajrang Gun: Luffy can inflate his fist to be as big as the Onigashima island.
  • Gomu Gomu no Nawatobi: Luffy essentially turns his enemies into a skipping rope. It is such a Looney Tunes-like attack that we must love it.

And that is everything that you need to know about Gear 5 in One Piece! While we wait for Luffy’s peak form’s anime debut, fans can now watch all the Arcs, anime movies, and One Piece filler episodes via the streaming service Crunchyroll.

For more 2D fun, here are our guides to the best Shounen anime ever made and all the new anime heading our way this year. Fans can also now enjoy Netflix’s One Piece live-action series (read our One Piece live-action review for more) and learn what the One Piece treasure is exactly with our handy guide.