This article contains spoilers from the One Piece series.
Monkey D. Luffy is the beloved protagonist of One Piece and fans know that he is an incredibly powerful pirate in his own story. When Luffy set out on his journey of becoming a pirate, he was quite weak and rather insignificant in an absolutely vast sea. However, over the years, Luffy has grown tremendously strong, overcoming one adversity after another. All the hardships that he has faced have led him to where he is today and right now he stands proud as one of the Four Emperors of the sea, with the aim of reaching even higher levels of stature in the future of the story.
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Luffy has achieved all this with the multiple powers that he has acquired along the way. His biggest abilities are known as Gears, and fans have seen him develop powers like Gear 2, Gear 3, multiple forms of Gear 4, and of course, Gear 5 in the story. That said, there is one transformation of Luffy that stands out the most yet is known by the fewest of all fans, and that is the Dark Luffy transformation. Eiichiro Oda designed this transformation years ago, and it was finally revealed to One Piece fans rather recently.
Luffy Has Multiple Gear Transformations Thanks To Gomu Gomu no Mi
- Luffy Used His Wits To Develop Multiple Gears
- Gomu Gomu no Mi’s Biggest Advantage Is The User’s Imagination
When it comes to Luffy’s main powers, he relies on his Gomu Gomu no Mi. Fans know very well that Luffy’s fruit allows him to utilize rubber-like powers, and fight to the best of his abilities. On the surface level, this Devil Fruit ability might seem rather useless, given that it only allows him to transform into rubber. But, the way Luffy utilizes this power is absolutely mesmerizing.
Luffy has developed ingenious ways of fighting at the highest level. For instance, he has learned to pump blood faster through his body, developing Gear 2 in the process, which increases his strength drastically. With Gear 3, he inflates air into his bones, turning his limbs into those of Giants, with which he can do terrific damage.
With Gear 4, Luffy inflates his muscles and gains more mass, as well as strength. His speed is also improved, 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 that to be Gear 5. This is the freest that Luffy has ever been. It also offers him a significant boost in strength, allowing him to compete on the highest level with enemies such as Kaido, Big Mom, and potentially even the likes of Shanks.
Listen, Luffy. Haki is a power that is dormant in everyone everywhere. The ability to sense spiritual energy and overwhelm enemies is something everyone has to some degree. But most people never discover it. To never doubt, that is true power. Now watch! Most Haki can be divided into two types or colors. — Silvers Rayleigh to Luffy in Ruskaina
Quite clearly, Luffy’s Gears are absolutely immense, and fans know very well that his overall powers are not to be underestimated. Coupled with that is the fact that he utilizes high-level Haki of all three types. Slowly but steadily, Luffy has advanced all his Haki types, and right now, he is one of One Piece’s most powerful Haki users as well.
Oda Tried His Luck With A Dark Luffy Gear Before Snakeman
- Dark Luffy Appeared In Oda’s Luffy Drafts
- It Might Be Used Later On 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. Most recently, One Piece Chapter 1169 came out with a special volume of Oda’s own drafts that he did not release for many years. In these drafts, fans could see the original designs of multiple characters, including Luffy. Fans also got to see Luffy’s unique transformations, as well as Oda’s sketches for them. One particular design that stood out was that of Dark Luffy.
From now on, this will be ONE PIECE! I will draw all the mysteries left in this world that I have been hiding until now. It’s going to be really interesting. Please fasten your seatbelts. Thank you so much, I hope you keep up with me a bit longer. — Eiichiro Oda, One Piece
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As mentioned in the editor’s note as well, Luffy’s dark transformation seemed to have been a form of Gear 4. This form saw Luffy develop a very ominous personality with spiky hair. His entire body seemed to be covered in Armament Haki 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 all over it. This dark Luffy transformation also seemed to support the traditional Hagoromo cloak ring around Luffy’s neck, which is proof that it was a unique Gear form.
Undoubtedly, this new form of Luffy was simply immense in terms of aura, and fans would’ve certainly have latched onto it. Unfortunately, this form has yet to make an appearance in One Piece. It ended up being turned into Snakeman, which also ended up being the inspiration for the Gear 5 of Monkey D. Luffy.
Dark Luffy Would Be Loved By All Fans
While Dark Luffy has not made his appearance in the One Piece manga yet, one thing that can be said with absolute certainty is that fans would love him. Modern shonen fans tend to love things that are a bit more on the edgier side. At the end of the day, all Shonen fans love exciting battles, as well as badass main characters. Luffy breaks the norm by being goofy most of the time, and often, that has been a big criticism that he has faced from the fans.
At the same time, Gear 5 has taken things up to a whole new level in terms of silliness. Luffy laughs all the time, hardly taking any situation seriously, and this has drawn a lot of criticism from the fans as well. If Luffy received a form where he’s serious all the time and exudes an immense aura, fans would come to absolutely love it, and it would also be a good balance against his usual Gear 5 form.
Dark Luffy Could Be Back At Some Point In The Future Of One Piece
- Luffy’s New Transformation Could Debut In The Final Saga
- Oda Might Create A New Gear For Luffy
It must be remembered that Oda often brings back things from his old drafts into the story at different points in time. While Luffy’s dark transformation of Gear 4 has not made it to the story just yet, that doesn’t mean that it can’t show up later down the line. Of course, Luffy still has Gear 5 and it is probably his best transformation to use in any battle. That said, having Gear 5 didn’t stop him from using Gear 4 against the Seraphims, or using Gear 4 to break out of the Elbaf Castle constructed by Rodo.
As such, there is ample opportunity for Luffy to utilize his new dark transformation later down the line. It must also be remembered that this dark Luffy transformation is what inspired Gear 5. Perhaps, at some point later down the line, Gear 5 itself will evolve to have subtypes, and then, this dark transformation could be a big power-up for him.
For now, Luffy needs to learn to utilize his Gear 5 better as well as improve his Haki. Once he does those things, perhaps the door for better and stronger transformations will open up for him.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece focuses on the journey of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail the seas to lay claim to the grand treasure known as the One Piece. The manga is currently in its Final Saga. One Piece will be featured in this week’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1170 is January 4, 2026. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday, which is 11:00 AM EST, or 8:00 AM PT. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus and the Shonen Jump apps. Doing so will ensure that fans always support the author.
