One Piece: What Are Luffy's Gear 5 Powers & Abilities?
While every "One Piece" fan is probably familiar with the basic abilities of Monkey D. Luffy's (Mayumi Tanaka) Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit (which gives his entire body the stretching abilities of elastic rubber), some fans might be less familiar with the various "Gears" that Luffy unlocks through his usage of it. Gears are essentially different forms and techniques that Luffy can access through a greater understanding of his Devil Fruit.
To date, we've seen a total of four Gears from Luffy over the course of the "One Piece" anime. Gear 1 is Luffy's natural rubbery state, from which he performs most of his attacks. Gear 2 speeds up blood flow throughout Luffy's body, to the point where his skin turns pinkish-red and starts smoking, and he gains access to blinding speed. Gear 3 allows Luffy to inflate a select body part (like his fist) and grant it immense strength. Gear 4 is perhaps the most complex one we've seen yet, as it allows Luffy to inflate and strengthen several body parts at once and combine them with Armament Haki. Luffy assumes three separate forms when utilizing Gear 4, including the enormous Tank-Man, the aptly-titled Bounce-Man, and the lightning-quick Snake-Man.
All that said, each of these Gears pales in comparison to Luffy's fifth and apparently final Gear, which grants him an unbelievable amount of power and fully transforms his body and his abilities. Here's everything we know so far about the capabilities of Luffy's Gear 5 transformation, which has yet to premiere in the anime, but is a crucial part of the latest manga arc.
Gear 5 grants Luffy a cartoonish level of strength and flexibility
Luffy's Gear 5 transformation is one of the most impressive moments of the entire Wano Arc, and comes from manga Chapter 1044, near the end of his battle with Kaidou.
Near death after being cast from the roof of Onigashima, Luffy gains access to Gear 5 by awakening the Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit, unlocking its true form as the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Nika and turning his hair and clothing white. In Chapter 1044, the Five Elders of the World Government reveal that the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Nika is a mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that grants the user incredible durability, strength, recovery, and speed, and allegedly gives them the powers of the Sun God "Nika."
In Gear 5, Luffy's elastic abilities are given a near-impossible level of flexibility, allowing his body to cartoonishly wrap around certain blows and contort himself like the characters in "Tom and Jerry." Luffy is also able to manipulate nearby people and surroundings as if they were made of this same flexible rubber, shifting matter itself at his command. In addition, Gear 5 Luffy spreads infectious joy and laughter to the world around him as he fights, something that is reflected in cartoon-like changes to his environment. On top of powering up every ability that Luffy has, the true power of Gear 5 is said to be limited only by Luffy's imagination, as it allows him to manipulate his body into any fighting style he desires.
Gear 5 gives Luffy access to some ridiculous fighting techniques
Because Gear 5 gives Luffy the cartoonish ability to contort his body in any way that he can possibly imagine, the techniques that he uses in Gear 5 are some of the most unique and creative moves we've seen in the entire series.
During his battle with Kaidou, we see Luffy use several new Gear 5 techniques to devastating effect. These include the "Gomu Gomu no Fusen" technique, which allows him to expand Kaidou's body after being swallowed by his beast form; the "Gomu Gomu no Gigant” technique, which transforms him into a towering giant; and the "Gomu Gomu no Bajrang Gun" technique, in which he inflates his fist to an incredible size and imbues it with several forms of Haki.
Following the Wano arc, we've since seen Luffy display techniques like "Gomu Gomu no Mogura Pistol" to shoot elastic spikes of floor up at an opponent, "Gomu Gomu no Dawn Rocket" to fire himself like a missile, and "Gomu Gomu no Dawn Whip" to swing one of his legs like an incredibly fast whip. As the manga progresses, we'll likely see several other inventive new techniques spawn from Luffy's immensely overpowered Gear 5 form, though it's already abundantly clear that this godlike transformation is one of the strongest powers in all of "One Piece."