Time proved that Eiichiro Oda's decision to give Luffy, One Piece's protagonist, the ability to stretch his body was a masterstroke. Over the manga's lengthy run, the lovable pirate has extended and expanded his limbs and torso to craft some unique, fun, and explosive techniques.
Luffy is a powerful character whose strength lies with his creative mind; as he grows more familiar with the Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit's applications and other disciplines like Haki, the Straw Hats' captain pushes himself beyond his limits to discover new forms and attacks.
Introduced in Chapter 783 of the manga and episode 725 of the anime, Gear Fourth is Luffy's most recent form, with the protagonist bringing out the transformation during his intense fight with Doflamingo. Although it is a pretty significant departure from Gear Second and Third, Gear Fourth is totally in keeping with the mechanics that govern Luffy's abilities. Here are 10 facts about Luffy's form that everyone should know.
10 Born Out Of Desperation
Whenever Luffy busts out Gear Fourth, the situation is typically defined by desperation. All of the Gears take a lot out of him, but Gear Fourth is especially taxing; consequently, Luffy tries to avoid using it whenever possible. Despite not debuting the form until the Dressrosa arc, Luffy learned to use Gear Fourth while he was training on Rusukaina island during the two-year timeskip.
Gear Fourth helped Luffy bridge the power gap that separated him and the 500 beasts found on the deadly island, and it would later serve a similar purpose during his fights with Doflamingo and Charlotte Katakuri.
9 A Rubber Balloon
The Gomu Gomu no Mi did not just give Luffy the ability to stretch his arms and legs, but the Devil Fruit literally turned his entire body into rubber.
When it comes to activating Gear Fourth, Luffy bites a Haki coated arm to blow air into his body while expanding his bones and muscles, essentially turning himself into a big balloon. Once this process has been completed, Luffy can reconfigure his body through the use of Haki.
8 A Marriage Of Haki & Luffy's Devil Fruit
Luffy has been inflating his body for comedic effect since the start of One Piece, so what exactly makes Gear Fourth different from every time he becomes an enormous sac after ingesting all of the food in a city? Well, the answer is Armament Haki.
Armament Haki allows the user to harden specific body parts to heighten their offensive and defensive capabilities. Generally, Haki circumvents someone's Devil Fruit powers, but Luffy's Gear Fourth combines the two together by coating his inflated body with Haki, which can then be used to reshape his body as necessary. Consequently, Luffy retains his Devil Fruit's elasticity and Haki's armor-esque capabilities.
7 Combining The Best Elements Of Gear Second & Third
Gear Fourth combines aspects from both of its predecessors. Gear Second involves Luffy increasing the blood flow in his body or to specific limbs to enhance their destructive potential and speed. Exhausting as it might be, Gear Second is designed to enhance Luffy's normal techniques and can last quite a few minutes; conversely, Gear Third is all about landing that one powerful blow. Luffy breathes air into his arm to increase the size of his bones before unleashing a final hit.
Gear Fourth combines Gear Second's full-body manipulation with Gear Third's sheer power to create the ultimate form that provides speed, strength, and longevity.
6 Gear Fourth's Debilitating Weaknesses
If there is a common theme among all of Luffy's forms, it is that they are not infallible. Like its immediate predecessor, Gear Fourth takes a significant toll on Luffy's body and, once the form's limit is reached, he is left defenseless for a time. If the form fails to get the job done, then Luffy is rendered too exhausted to be able to defend himself, especially if he is unable to get his hands on some food to replenish his reserves.
Due to revolving around the compression of his limbs, Gear Fourth requires Luffy to get up close and personal to his targets, making it not a great option for ranged attacks. However, that does not mean Gear Fourth is not versatile.
5 Form One: Boundman
Since Gear Fourth involves Luffy distributing air throughout his body, it can take various forms depending on which parts are prioritized and coated with Haki. Boundman, Gear Fourth's original version that made its debut during Luffy's fight with Doflamingo, focuses on the upper body, specifically the arms and torso.
While Boundman greatly increases Luffy's speed, strength, and defense, it is also quite difficult to control and causes him to constantly bounce. Since it tries to be a jack of all trades, Boundman hit its ceiling rather quickly.
4 Form Two: Tankman
As Tankman has only been used once, it might be a bit of stretch to describe it as its own form. That said, it does demonstrate Gear Fourth's adaptability. During his fight with Charlotte Cracker, Luffy ends up eating so many cracker soldiers that he becomes a huge blob that cannot even move. Seemingly defenseless, Cracker attempts to attack One Piece's hero, only for Luffy to activate Gear Fourth and become Tankman.
Tankman is primarily an attack-minded stance and greatly increases Luffy's power, but it comes at the cost of mobility. In fact, Luffy cannot move at all in this form and relies on bouncing attacks from his opponents.
3 Form Three: Snakeman
If Boundman and Tankman are Gear Fourth's all-rounder and attack-minded forms respectively, then Snakeman is the most speed-oriented variant introduced to date. Used as a way to counter's Charlotte Katakuri's agility and incredible predictive accuracy, Snakeman lets Luffy deliver faster attacks than ever before while also allowing for their trajectories to be altered mid-flight.
Snakeman's greatest asset is that an attack grows progressively quicker and more powerful the longer it takes to reach the opponent. It also uses Observation Haki to try and predict the target's movements.
2 Gear Fourth Could Be It
Unlike Dragon Ball's Super Saiyan forms, Luffy's Gears are transformations born out of the character's understanding of his body and are not "unlocked" in a conventional sense. Luffy utilized his knowledge of Haki and the elasticity afforded by his Devil Fruit to craft the versatile Gear Fourth, and it seems unlikely another level will be introduced in the future.
As Gear Fourth's current forms have proven less than effective against Kaido during the ongoing Wano Country Arc, it is only a matter of time before Luffy reveals another variant of the transformation. When it comes to Gear Fourth, the sky is the limit.
1 It Is Perfectly In Keeping With One Piece's Spirit
When Luffy first debuted Gear Fourth, the transformation was openly mocked by Doflamingo due to its weird presentation and the fact it caused the protagonist to constantly bounce. Although the villain's laughter died the second Luffy demonstrated the form's potential, there is no denying that Gear Fourth looks pretty silly. Its presentation is not helped by the Haki on Luffy's body resembling tribal tattoos.
Ever since the beginning, Oda wanted Luffy's powers to be ridiculous and fun. Be it Gear Second's pink hue, Gear Third's hilarious after-effect, or Gear Fourth's blend of terror and silliness, Luffy's abilities have always been defined by absurdity.