The protagonist of One Piece is Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, a native of the East Blue, is the leader of the Straw Hat Pirates and aspires to be the King of the Pirates. When One Piece initially aired, viewers anticipated it to be a straightforward swashbuckling adventure. The journey began years ago under Eiichiro Oda’s watchful eye, and Monkey D. Luffy was an easy character to relate to. When it was discovered that Luffy’s body was made of rubber, things became bizarre, and the Grand Line only grew weirder from there. Now, One Piece can hold its own against any high-action shonen, and Luffy continues to dazzle fans with his Gear debuts. Luffy has evolved into one of the world’s most powerful individuals, thanks in large part to his Devil Fruit abilities.
Luffy seems to have become a rubber person thanks to Gomu Gomu no Mi’s abilities, and his body allows him to access particular powers, known as Gears, when he needs them. Luffy has acquired Gears over a period of time that allow him to combat on an equal footing with the world’s best of the universe.
What are Gears?
Gears are an evolving set of combative forms created by the protagonist of One Piece – Monkey. D Luffy. In order to deal with the ever-escalating challenges of the Grand Line and the New World, these body enhancement modes are accessible only to Luffy as they were crafted to specifically take advantage of his Devil Fruit – Gomu Gomu no Mi, a paramecia type fruit that grants its user a body that takes on the properties of rubber. Within the series, these gears take on three different forms which are rather straightforwardly referred to as Gear 2, Gear 3, and Gear 4, each of which focuses on enhancing a particular aspect of Luffy’s Devil Fruit in conjunction with the general idea of combat.
Luffy currently possesses Gear Second through Fourth forms, but no initial form. Luffy’s basic state is that form, as the Gomu Gomu fruit gave him that natural ability. Luffy didn’t show off his Gear Second until episode 272, during his encounter with Blueno.
All of Luffy’s Gears
Gear 2 – Gear 2 can be seen in the form of the increased size of Luffy’s blood vessels. This allows Luffy to pump oxygen and other assorted nutrients at a significantly higher rate resulting in greatly increased strength and speed as well as becoming visually shiny and steamy. Increased strength and speed sound pretty fantastic doesn’t it? Not quite, since invoking Gear 2 or any Gear, in fact, has its consequences. Gear 2 expends an absurd amount of energy causing Luffy to become tired and even more importantly, hungry at a much faster rate. Once these bodily nutrients are completely depleted, Gear 2 deactivates automatically. However, it gets worse, prolonged use of this Gear can leave Luffy in a state of paralysis and also shortens his lifespan with every use of the form.
Gear 3 – This Gear represents a rapid departure from the ideas presented in Gear 2, choosing to focus purely on enhancing the strength of singular attacks by inflating his bones. Luffy does this by biting himself, usually his thumb, and creating a hole there, He then inhales huge amounts of air and inflates his lungs by stretching them (he’s rubber). Then he blows the wind out the hole on his thumb or wherever he had bitten himself and bloats up his body. All of Luffy’s attacks in his Gear Third arsenal, as anticipated, hit substantially stronger than the typical strike. He, on the other hand, ends up compromising his agility. Luffy overcome this flaw after the time-skip when he improved his mastery of Gear Third. Simultaneously, he avoided shrinking as a result of exercising this power. While powerful, Gear Third isn’t Luffy’s most spectacular armament.
Gear 4 – Gear Fourth is Luffy’s most powerful Gear, which he created during his time on Ruskaina, the island of the 48 seasons. Luffy developed a stronger technique called Gear Fourth there, with the help of Rayleigh. Luffy has created a variety of Gear Fourth forms, including Tankman.
As the name implies, this version of him concentrates on defense and can withstand a tremendous amount of damage. In exchange, Luffy gives up his speed, as he can’t move around much in this shape owing to the bulk. Tankman hasn’t been used in the tale yet, however, during the Whole Cake Island arc, another version of it, known as Gear Fourth: Tankman – Stuffed Version, emerged.
When Does Luffy Use Gear 4?
Tankman – Stuffed Version
Monkey D. Luffy utilised this version of Gear Fourth during his battle with Charlotte Cracker, one of the Big Mom Pirates’ Three Sweet Commanders. Luffy ate a great quantity of biscuits owing to Nami’s assistance during this fight and grew gigantic in stature.
Luffy utilised Gear Fourth to enter the Stuffed Version of Tankman, not wanting to waste this strength. Because Luffy was significantly larger in stature, this form had a lot stronger defence capabilities. It was powerful enough to withstand Charlotte Cracker’s frontal strike and one-shot him with his response, Gomu Gomu no Cannonball, which sent him kilometers away and knocked him out for days.
Snakeman
Luffy’s Gear Fourth: Snakeman is one of his most powerful forms, which he employed against villain Charlotte Katakuri, another of the Big Mom Pirates’ Sweet Commanders. Unlike Tankman, this version of him is more focused on speed and was created to oppose persons with great Observation Haki.
Even Charlotte Katakuri, who could see into the future with his Observation Haki, struggled to keep up with the pace. In Snakeman, all of Luffy’s attacks are ranged and hit the enemy in an unforeseen manner. The disadvantage of this form is that it foregoes the greater defence that Gear Fourth provides in exchange for increased speed.
Bounceman
As of now, Bounceman has been Luffy’s Gear Fourth’s most powerful form. Luffy first used this method against Doflamingo during the Dressrosa arc, and it has since remained his go-to Gear Fourth form. It attempts to strike the ideal mix between tankiness and speed, while not being as tanky as Tankman or as speedy as Snakeman.
Add Comment