One Piece: Chapter 1070 Hints at the End of Classic Luffy Fights

The One Piece fandom is equally divided when it comes to Luffy in Gear 5. Half of the fans believe that the goofy, loopy, literally ridiculous Gear 5: Nika is the best thing to have happened to Luffy; the other half low-key dislikes the new abilities because they seem much too overpowered to sustain Luffy’s character development.

After Luffy and Kaido’s battle ended in chapter 1049, nobody thought we’d see the emergence of Gear 5 again less than 20 chapters later. Chapters 1069-70 saw the pummelling of Lucci at the hands of Gear 5 Luffy.  

A classic Luffy fight entails high stakes, an opponent stronger than Luffy’s current power level, space for development and improvement, and just a little bit of seriousness.

The over-the-top, one-sided fight against Rob Lucci hints that we might never see a classic Luffy fight again. Luffy’s final showdown with Emperor Kaido was equally ridiculous. Unless Gear 5: Nika has major drawbacks, Luffy’s fights will be more hilarious than emotional.

Luffy’s Rematch Against Lucci

In Enies Lobby, Lucci was as strong as Gear 2 Luffy, the toughest enemy our protagonist had faced till then. Lucci was responsible for pushing Luffy’s boundaries and in chapter 421, Luffy entered Gear 3 for the first time, but even that wasn’t enough to defeat Lucci.

A couple of chapters later, in chapter 427, the fight continues, with Lucci taunting Luffy by saying that whatever Luffy did, his crew would still die. This was the tipping point. Luffy wanted to save Robin and his nakama and used his Jet Gatling to counter Lucci’s strongest Rokuogan move, which is what finally does Lucci in.

In the Egghead fight, the stakes are pretty low in comparison. Luffy finds out that Lucci attacked Atlas, the Vegapunk satellite who had gotten him food. This in itself shows how things have taken a lighter turn.

Luffy straightaway morphs to Gear 5: Nika, the same transformation that ended Kaido, “the strongest creature in the world.”

Lucci announces that he’s become much stronger than before. Sure enough, he’s Awakened his Cat Cat Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit Model: Leopard. Luffy is a bonafide god in his Awakening, and when it comes down to facts, Lucci, in his strongest form, is still just a cat.

Luffy predictably low-diffs Lucci with his new characteristic retro cartoon fighting style. In chapter 1070, Luffy’s animated techniques reach all new heights.

Luffy grows his head into an abnormally gigantic size with Lucci about to run straight into his mouth.

He chomps down on the very ground and uses the chewed-up rocks as bullets from his mouth – a new form of Gatling, I guess.

Luffy materializes sunglasses which he uses as a sniper and with moves like Gum-Gum Dawn Rocket, Luffy basically just trolls Lucci. And what’s more, he spends the whole time laughing as he does it.

I get that Luffy is literally Joy Boy, the person who spreads laughter and joy all around, but if Luffy just grins while blasting opponents like Lucci who at one point pushed him past his limits, the impact is going to lessen.

Luffy can beat anyone at this point. Sure, there are moments where we see that Luffy hasn’t fully mastered his powers – he spins so fast that he is out of control. But nothing touches the fact that Gear 5 is the strongest ability there is in the series right now.

We saw it coming when he first activated it against Kaido.

Kaido was battered by the end of Wano and would have probably put up a better fight in a 1v1 against Luffy if he weren’t.

While the final shot that defeated Kaido was Bajrang Gun – a Gear 5 technique infused with Conqueror’s and Armament Haki, the series of blows preceding it was quite embarrassing for the former world’s strongest creature.

Luffy, embodying the Sun God Nika, the Warrior of Liberation, personifies freedom itself. He acquires the full properties of rubber and can impart himself and the environment and people around him with the same elastic properties. The only limit to this power is imagination.

Luffy picked up the ground to use as a shield against Kaido’s Boro Breath. He turned Kaido himself into a balloon and then twists him and uses him as a skipping rope. I mean, this is the fearsome Yonko Kaido, the same guy who swatted Luffy like a fly twice before.

Luffy’s Awakening simply puts all other characters leagues beneath him in terms of power and strength.

Luffy and His Power Have No Bounds

The problem is, Luffy, because of the ability of his Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, has no bound, no limitations, physically or otherwise.

From stomping out and replacing a Yonko, to toying with a CP0 agent, Gear 5 Luffy is an unbeatable monster, worse – an unbeatable cartoon. Just like Jerry from Tom and Jerry is invincible, Luffy’s Devil Fruit abilities grant him the power to tug, twist, and turn the tables in his favor, no matter the circumstances.

When Luffy Awakened for the first time in Wano, it was as Joy Boy. Zunesha confirmed they could hear the Drums of Liberation, last heard 800 years ago when they roamed the world with their companion, Joy Boy.

Everyone thought it was a one-off thing – that Luffy awakened as Joy Boy to curb the atrocities inflicted by Kaido and Orochi and save the citizens of Wano who had been subjected to oppression and slavery for 20 years.

However, Chapter 1070 shows that Luffy can not just access Gear 5 at will, but can do it without any major disadvantages.

With Gear 2, 3, and 4, Luffy’s biggest drawbacks are that he loses his stamina and gets exhausted to a point that it’s difficult for him to continue fighting.

Gear 5 too shows Luffy getting tired – he gets all droopy and aged, like Gear 5 had sucked his vitality, but it doesn’t seem too major, since he’s not really wary about entering Gear 5 in the first place.

After knocking away Lucci, Luffy’s Gear 5 wears off and he seems to pass out, waking up on the vacuum rocket, disheveled.

But seconds later – he is back to normal in the Labophase.

Will we ever see a classic Luffy fight again?

For a classic Luffy fight, we need higher stakes, a stronger enemy, and surging emotion. All the previous fights, like Luffy vs. Katakuri, Luffy vs. Doflamingo, Luffy vs. the Marines, had those elements. It had something for Luffy to prove and this had us at the edge of our seats.

You can say that in the Lucci vs. Luffy fight, Luffy wanted to prove how much stronger than Lucci he had gotten. But if he’d have defeated an Awakened Lucci with Gear 2 plus some Haki, that point would have been proven better. Defeating Lucci with Gear 5 makes the whole thing almost laughable.

The only way we see a classic Luffy fight again is if Gear 5 loses some of its inherent ridiculousness.

As much as I love seeing Oda draw those Gear 5 panels in full abandon, there needs to be something that pulls Gear 5 down a notch. A major drawback is needed which stops Luffy from going into Gear 5 at all.

Luffy does get tired immediately after Gear 5 wears out, while Lucci recovers surprisingly fast from his defeat. Maybe a cumulative impact of Gear 5 is that Luffy cannot be in it for too long in fear of passing out. Maybe the period of time that it can remain activated keeps decreasing the more he uses it.

Luffy was also unable to rescue Sentomaru, which makes me think that Luffy should refrain from using Gear 5 until he trains to control it better.

At the end of chapter 1070, we see Kizaru approaching Egghead Island after he makes a Buster Call for all Marine battleships to reach the island. Gear 5 Luffy against an Admiral would give us more of an idea whether we can ever expect an old-fashioned fight from Luffy again.

But there’s a good chance that Luffy, Vegapunk, and the Straw Hat crew leave Egghead Island before Kizaru and his men reach the place.

So, if not against Kizaru, we’re sure to see Luffy use Gear 5 against Akainu, Blackbeard, and sooner or later, Im-sama. Those characters should legitimately be stronger than Luffy, and I hope to see a good classic fight where Luffy can’t rely on Gear 5: Nika to defeat his enemies.

About One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.

The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!

Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.