This article contains spoilers from the One Piece series.
Monkey D. Luffy is the popular hero of the movie One piece and fans know he is an incredibly powerful pirate in his own story. When Luffy started his journey to become a pirate, he was quite weak and quite insignificant in the vastness of the sea. However, over the years, Luffy has grown tremendously stronger, overcoming one adversity after another. All the hardships he faced brought him to where he is today, and right now he stands proud as one of the four sea emperors with the goal of reaching an even higher level in the future of the story.
One Piece Author Oda reveals Luffy's greatest weakness
Luffy has a major weakness in One Piece. This weakness must be addressed in Elbaf.
Luffy achieved all of this thanks to the many abilities he acquired along the way. His greatest powers are known as Gears and fans have seen him develop powers like Gear 2, Gear 3, various forms of Gear 4 and of course Gear 5. in the story. he said that there is one Luffy transformation that stands out the most and yet is the least known of all fans and that is the Dark Luffy transformation. Eiichiro Oda suggested this transformation years ago and it was finally revealed One piece fans rather recently.
Luffy has several gear transformations thanks to Gomu Gomu no Mi
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Luffy used his wits to develop multiple gears
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The biggest advantage of Gomu Gomu no Mi is the user's imagination
As for Luffy's main abilities, he relies on his Goma Goma no Mi. Fans are well aware that Luffy's fruit allows him to use rubber-like powers and fight to the best of his abilities. On a surface level, this Devil Fruit ability might seem somewhat unnecessary, considering it only allows him to turn into rubber. But the way Luffy uses this power is absolutely fascinating.
Luffy has developed sophisticated ways of fighting at the highest level. For example, he learned to pump blood faster through his body and developed Gear 2 in the process, which drastically increases its strength. With Gear 3, he blows air into his bones and turns his limbs into those of giantswith which he can do tremendous damage.
With Gear 4, Luffy inflates his muscles and gains more mass as well as strength. His speed is also enhanced and he uses Haki alongside his fruit to maximize the elasticity offered by his Devil Fruit powers. Of course there is also his Devil Fruit Awakening and fans know it will be Gear 5. This is the freest Luffy has ever been. It also offers him a significant boost in strength, allowing him to compete at the highest level against foes like Kaido, Big Mom, and potentially even the likes of Shanks.
Listen, Luffy. Haki is a power that lies dormant in everyone and everywhere. The ability to sense spiritual energy and overpower enemies is something that everyone has to some extent. But most people never discover it. Never doubting, that is true strength. Watch now! Most Haki can be divided into two types or colors. — Silvers Rayleigh to Luffy in Ruskaina
It's clear that Luffy's Gears are absolutely massive, and fans know very well that his overall powers are not to be underestimated. Coupled with this is the fact that he uses Haki at a high level of all three types. slowly but surely Luffy has advanced in all of his Haki typesand right now he is one of the most powerful Haki users of One Piece.
Oda tried his luck with the dark Luffy Gear in front of Snakeman
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Dark Luffy appeared in Oda's Luffy Drafts
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It can be used later in one piece
While it goes without saying that Luffy's Gears are absolutely incredible, there's more to them than what fans have seen so far in the story. lately One piece Chapter 1169 came out with a special volume of Od's own drafts that he hadn't published in many years. In these artworks, fans could see the original designs of several characters, including Luffy. Fans also got to see Luffy's unique transformations as well as Odo's sketches for them. One particular design that stood out was that of Dark Luffy.
From now on it will be ONE PIECE! I will draw all the secrets left in this world that I have hidden until now. It will be really interesting. Please fasten your seat belts. Thank you very much, I hope you can bear with me for a while longer. — Eiichiro Oda, One Piece
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As also stated in the editor's note, Luffy's dark transformation seemed to be a Gear 4 form. This form saw Luffy evolve into a very sinister personality with curly hair. His entire body seemed to be covered in Haki armor from top to bottom, and his hands seemed to have developed claws. At the same time, he had a very sharp face with anger written on it. This dark transformation of Luffy also seemed to support the traditional Hagoromo cloak ring around Luffy's neck, proving that it was a unique Gear form.
This new form of Luffy was undoubtedly huge in terms of aura and fans would definitely latch onto it. Unfortunately, this form has yet to appear in One Piece. This eventually became Snakeman, who also became the inspiration for Monkey D. Luffy's Gear 5.
Dark Luffy would be loved by all fans
While Dark Luffy has yet to appear in the One Piece manga, one thing that can be said with absolute certainty is that fans would love him. Fans of modern shonen tend to love things that are a little grittier. At the end of the day, all Shonen fans love exciting battles as well as gritty main characters. Luffy breaks the norm by being goofy most of the time and this has often been a major criticism he has faced from fans.
At the same time, the Gear 5 took things to a whole new level in terms of stupidity. Luffy laughs all the time, hardly taking any situation seriously, and this has drawn a lot of criticism from fans as well. If Luffy were to get a form where he's serious all the time and has an immense aura coming off him, fans would absolutely love it and it would also be a nice counterbalance to his usual Gear 5 form.
Dark Luffy could return sometime in the future of one piece
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Luffy's new transformation could debut in the Final Saga
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Oda can create new equipment for Luffy
It should be noted that Oda often brings things from his old designs back into the story at various times. While Luffy's dark Gear 4 transformation hasn't made it into the story yetthat doesn't mean it can't appear later. Of course, Luffy still has Gear 5, and it's probably his best transformation to use in any battle. That said, having Gear 5 didn't prevent him from using Gear 4 against the Seraphim or using Gear 4 to break out of the Elbaf Castle built by Rod.
as such Luffy has ample opportunity to use his new dark transformation later on. That should also be remembered this dark Luffy transformation is what inspired Gear 5. Maybe at some point down the line the Gear 5 itself will evolve to have subtypes and then this dark transformation could be a big upgrade for it.
For now, Luffy needs to learn how to make better use of his Gear 5 and also improve his Haki. When he does those things, perhaps the door to better and stronger transformations will open for him.
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece focuses on the journey of Monkey D. Luffy and the straw pirates who sail the seas to claim the great treasure known as One Piece. The manga is currently in its Final Saga. One Piece will be featured in Weekly Shonen Jump this week. The official release date for One Piece Chapter 1170 is January 4, 2026. In Japan, One Piece drops on Monday at 12:00 PM JST, which is 11:00 AM EST or 8:00 AM PT. Fans can read this chapter for free on Manga Plus and Shonen Jump apps. This ensures that fans will always support the author.
