Oda Reveals How Luffy’s Gear 5 Imagination Works

This article contains spoilers from One Piece’s Final Saga.

Key Takeaways

• Luffy gained Gear 5 in Wano Arc while battling Kaido.
• Gear 5 is his most formidable power, allowing imagination.
• Luffy’s ability to conjure things is linked to Nika’s fantasy.

Luffy’s journey in One Piece has been absolutely sensational from the start to where he is right now. Luffy had tremendous potential inside of him, but it would always have taken him quite a lot of time to reach the very pinnacle of his strength. Although Luffy is far from his true peak, fans know that he has, over the years, taken great strides to accomplish great things. In the Wano Country arc, in particular, Luffy reached the peak of his Devil Fruit powers.

In One Piece’s Wano Arc, Luffy tapped into his devil fruit Awakening, which he calls Gear 5. Undoubtedly, Gear 5 is Luffy’s greatest power-up today, and it sees him take a unique all-white transformation, making him the Warrior of Liberation. Luffy has access to several incredible powers in Gear 5, but, quite easily, the most fascinating of all is his ability to simply conjure things out of absolutely nowhere. There has been no explanation for this ability up until this point, and now, Oda provides clarity regarding Luffy’s ability in the latest Q&A segment.

Luffy’s Gear 5 Power Up And Its Biggest Strengths

• Luffy Fought Kaido And Awakened Gear 5
• Luffy Gained An All-White Transformation

Quite easily, Gear 5 is Luffy’s greatest power up and he achieved this in the Wano Country Arc during his fight against Kaido. Luffy was holding his own against Kaido, but, his lack of stamina in Gear 4, as well as his lack of overall strength saw to it that Kaido held the upper hand in the battle still. In the end, Luffy, distracted by Guernica, was struck down by Kaido clean across his body, and was sent into a near-death state. In fact, Luffy’s voice completely vanished, which led everyone to believe that he was dead. In truth, Luffy was actually in a death-like state, where his heart had completely stopped beating and his voice could not be heard anymore using Observation Haki. However, it is during this death-like state that Luffy’s devil fruit finally awakened.

This…is my peak! This is Gear 5! – Luffy

Devil Fruit Awakening only comes when the mind and body of the user catch up with the ability. At this point, Luffy finally managed to reach the next level of power and returned from a near-death-like state due to the Drums of Liberation making his heart beat again. This allowed Luffy to access the next level of power, and this power, called Gear 5, gave him exponential strength. Even though Luffy was almost out of energy at the time, he managed to get up once again, and continue fighting against Kaido. This battle became much more even after Luffy awakened Gear 5, and eventually, he ended up bringing down an island-sized fist on the Yonko, completely crushing him and defeating him in battle.

Gear 5 is, quite easily, the most formidable power that fans have seen in One Piece. While it might not be the strongest in a literal sense, fans know that it poses a unique problem for its opponents. Gear 5 is absolutely ridiculous in the sense that it allows Luffy to use his imagination in whichever way he wants. Luffy is only limited by his imagination and can do essentially anything he thinks of. From things like running in mid-air all the way to conjuring something out of absolutely nothing, Luffy can do it all. All he has to do is to think that something is possible and Luffy’s ability allows him to do it. This devil fruit is the epitome of freedom, and that means Luffy himself is the freest person in the world when utilizing this power. This is in line with his personality, and it makes him the Warrior of Liberation who brings smiles and joy to people.

Oda Explains Luffy’s Power Of Imagination And The Secret Behind It

Oda Explains Luffy’s Conjuration Power

While Gear 5 is quite self-explanatory, there is one aspect of it that fans never truly got clarity on. Luffy can essentially conjure things out of nowhere. For instance, in the battle against Rob Lucci, Lucci was able to get a pair of goggles from absolutely nowhere.

Later on, when he fought against the Elders, Luffy conjured a baseball bat and a helmet, once again, out of absolutely nowhere, and used it to fight against the Elders. This ability was confusing for the fans, and certainly split opinion. While some believed that Luffy got it from somewhere, others believed that this was the power of Luffy’s imagination, and in other words, toon force. Now, Oda has addressed this ability and fans can finally understand how Luffy’s abilities work.

Q1: When using Gear 5th, Luffy takes things like goggles or a baseball helmet out of his Hagoromo cloud scarf. Please tell us how that works!

A1: It’s a gateway to Nika’s fantasy.

Oda’s answer to this question is short and simple. Oda says that Luffy’s ability to conjure things is essentially a gateway to Nika’s fantasy. This means that Luffy can do anything that he wants when he is in Gear 5 as long as he can imagine it. A lack of imagination is the only weakness of Gear 5, and Luffy certainly does not suffer from that. He’s clearly one of the strongest individuals when utilizing his imagination to the fullest, and he can essentially do anything that he puts his mind to. Whether that be creating things out of absolutely nothing, or doing the impossible, like running in mid-air or even flying, Luffy can do it all. Luffy can also inflict this property on others. For instance, Luffy can turn people like Kizaru and Saturn into pizza and their bodies are forced to comply with his Devil Fruit powers. He can distribute his powers to his surroundings and all the people in it, which means that Luffy can bring the concept of toon force into reality in Gear 5.

Is Luffy Truly Unstoppable In One Piece?

Luffy’s Strength Is Unique

Clearly, Luffy is almost unstoppable in Gear 5. However, he certainly does have limitations. Luffy can run out of stamina while in Gear 5, which means that this ability is prone to exhaustion, especially since it consumes a lot of his power. Once Gear 5 runs out, Luffy can lose a battle and potentially even his life. More than that, Luffy also suffers from standard weaknesses, such as seawater. At the same time, the abilities of his Devil Fruit can be nullified using the Yami Yami no Mi, which means that Luffy can be forced out of Gear 5 in a way.

Sea Prism Stone is yet another weakness. All this is to say that while Luffy, in Gear 5, is almost unstoppable in combat, this power isn’t infinite and it can be subdued in many ways. This is the only major weakness that Luffy has, and aside from it, fans know him to be incredibly powerful.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1131, is set to be November 11, 2024.