One Piece: Luffy’s Red Roc, Explained

One of the most historical moments in One Piece is when Monkey D Luffy uses Red Roc to deliver a powerful punch that guarantees him victory on the battlefield against Kaido. This ability was more than just a display of sheer strength, as it was proof that Luffy has now the ability to go against the most powerful of enemies in the world.

This technique allowed Luffy to punch enemies in One Piece with fists of flames. The Red Roc ability in itself is actually an enlarged version of the gum red hawk which Luffy executes using third gear. But the question is why is the Red Roc considered so important and how viable will it be in the future? To answer this, let’s break down this powerful technique.

Related

Goku vs. Luffy: Who Would Win?

Goku & Luffy are two of Shonen’s most iconic protagonists. But who would win in a one-on-one fight?

Luffy’s Red Roc Technique Explained

Red Roc’s Debut

Before we dive into how powerful this technique is, it is important to know when Red Roc was first used. The technique was first used in chapter 1000 of the manga and episode 1015 of the one-piece anime. In the battle of Onigashima, Luffy managed to defeat Kaido’s powerful allies before making his way to the two final Yonko, Big Mom and Kaido, who were waiting for his arrival.

The previous encounter we witnessed between Kaido and Luffy did not end up well for our protagonist. With just one blow from Kaido’s Thunder Bagua, Luffy had to face a devastating defeat. But this time, Luffy had come prepared and spent most of his time in Udon training hard.

Luffy Uses Red Roc

After Luffy makes his way to the top of Onigashima, he walks past the Yonko, ignoring Kaido and Big Mom completely, and goes to check up on his comrade Kin’emon. Taking this as disrespect, Kaido quickly reminds Luffy of how their last encounter went and how badly he was defeated at his hands.

But Luffy was now a changed man and, instead of displaying any fear, the pirate with incredible speed rushes towards Kaido and lands a powerful blow on Yonko. This powerful punch shocks both Big Mom and Kaido to their very core, and it is not long before they realize that Luffy has become incredibly powerful.

Gum Gum Red Roc: Luffy’s Fusion of Strength and Haki

In its true essence, the Red Roc is a modified version of Monkey D Luffy’s Red Hawk attack. While Red Hawk relies on the Standard Armament Haki, the Red Roc is fused with Advanced Armament Haki, which makes the attack faster and more powerful.

Basically, Luffy combines several techniques to deal a single powerful blow to his enemies. The third gear Luffy uses makes his body significantly larger. So, by using the third gear, he inflates his fist and uses the Gum Gum Red Hawk to ignite it while the Advanced Armament Haki hardens his fist. This gives us the Gum Gum Red Roc which is strong enough to penetrate Kaido’s scales and deal a considerable amount of damage.

Related

One Piece: Will Luffy Ever Repay His Debts?

Luffy built up a huge debt as a child early on in One Piece. Will he ever pay it back?

How Important Will Red Roc Be In The Future

There is no doubt that the debut of Red Roc will go down as one of the most iconic moments of One Piece. But it is also worth noting that Luffy has evolved considerably and has added a lot of more powerful attacks to his arsenal. Now that Luffy has Gear 5, it’s kind of hard to say if we will see him using the Gum Gum Red Roc again.

But this only means that Luffy will become more and more powerful with time and will prove himself as the strongest pirate in the world. Red Roc will forever be remembered as a defining moment for our beloved protagonist and we can only expect Luffy to grow more as he faces more formidable foes in One Piece.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)