Monkey D. Luffy

Monkey D. Luffy (モンキー・D・ルフィ, Monkī D. Rufi), also well-known as "Straw Hat" Luffy (麦わらのルフィ, Mugiwara no Rufi) and commonly as "Straw Hat" (麦わら, Mugiwara), is one of the main protagonists of the One Piece series. He is the son of the famed pirate Monkey D. Rex, nephew of Revolutionary Army's commander, Monkey D. Dragon, the grandson of the famed Navy hero, Monkey D. Garp, the sworn younger brother of late/deceased "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace, and Revolutionary chief of staff Sabo, and the foster son of Makino and a mountain bandit, Curly Dadan.

Luffy is a pirate and his lifelong dream is to becoming the King of the Pirates by finding the legendary treasure that was left behind by the late King of the Pirates and captain of the Roger Pirates, Gol D. Roger. He believes that being King of the Pirates means having the most freedom in the world. He has eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit, which gives the consumer's body the properties of rubber. As the founder and captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, he is the first member of the crew, one of its top three fighters.

Luffy, is one of the certain people, who has a worldwide reputation for causing trouble, challenging the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Marines, and even two of the Four Emperors (Big Mom and Kaido), additionally committing felonies and actions which were deemed threatening by the World Government. Furthermore, in the majority of these confrontations, he emerges as the victor. He has gained a reputation for being "reckless", "going too far" and, in some cases, "insane", after causing a war incident that destroyed all of Enies Lobby, assaulting a World Noble at Sabaody Archipelago, entering and escaping from Impel Down, and even joining the Battle of Marineford.

He is, therefore, infamous for being the only known pirate to not only deliberately attack the three most important government facilities, but also escape from all of them alive. The additional fact that he punched a World Noble with full knowledge of the consequences, as well as his heritage, has caused Luffy to be labeled as a "Dangerous Future Element", earning the wrath of Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Sakazuki and Marine Headquarters.

These acts, among other things, have given him his current bounty of 400,000,000 berries, one of the highest past or present bounties in the series. Having had a bounty of 300,000,000 berries prior to his arrival at the Sabaody Archipelago, Luffy was one of twelve rookie pirates who has been referred to as the "Worst Generation" (formerly known as the "Eleven Supernovas"), pirates with bounties over 100,000,000 berries to have reached the Red Line.

"My name is Luffy, and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"
 * —Monkey D. Luffy.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Colleen Clinkenbeard (English), Mayumi Tanaka (Japanese), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

Biography
Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. With a dream in his heart, Luffy Sails the open seas! He'll gladly risk his own life for his friends and Beliefs! He ate a Paramythia Devil Fruit, “Gum-Gum Fruit”, he became a rubber human and with these abilities, his entire body can stretch and expand like rubber.

Raised with his sworn brother Trace in Fushia Village of the East Blue. To fulfill his promise to his father and the famous pirate, Monkey D. Rex, and to achieve his goal is to find the One Piece and become King of the Pirates, he set out for sea. After the Battle of Navyford, he apprenticed and trained for 2 years under Silvers Rayleigh and learned how to use the 3 Haki at will.

With the crew he has met during his adventures at sea, he sets out for the Grand Line. His weaknesses are that he can’t swim due to the side effects of the Devil Fruit and that he is easily deceived. His favorite food is meat.

Appearance
Luffy is renowned for his trademark straw hat (from which he gets his alias and nickname "Straw Hat" Luffy), which was lentted over to him when he was young by his father and one of the famed and legendary pirate captains, Monkey D. Rex, who in turn had received it from Gol D. Roger. He wears short, blue trousers with cuffs, sandals, and a sleeveless red vest. Luffy also has a scar with two stitches underneath his left eye (which he earned by stabbing a knife under his eye to show his father and Shanks that he was tough), short, messy black hair and black eyes. Appearing to be scrawny underneath his shirt, he has a surprisingly well-built physique. He is quite short since he appears dwarfed by most individuals in the series (though it must be noted that characters in One Piece are often very tall for real life standards).

Pre-Timeskip
Similar to most of his male crewmates, Luffy has the same outfit throughout most of the series, as opposed to the rest of the crew (especially Nami and Nico Robin), who change frequently. Luffy may wear a different outfit to suit the climate of an island (like a hooded parka on Drum Island or desert robes in Alabasta), but will switch back to his trademark red vest and blue shorts after the adventures on that island are over. Despite this, he will wear his usual outfit in different colors and has been known to sport other miscellaneous items on his person from time to time.

No matter where he is, Luffy wears his Straw Hat through absolutely everything, though at the start, the hat was prone to getting knocked off his head easily, forcing Luffy to either put it aside or have someone hold onto it during fights. From the Alabasta Arc onward, he has gotten a string strap for it, which was sewn on by Nami, allowing the hat to hang from his neck during fights.

During his return to Marineford to give a silent prayer, Luffy was briefly shown with four characters written on his right arm spelling 3D 2Y, with the 3D crossed out to symbolize that the Straw Hat Pirates and Fairy Tail should meet up in 2 years (2Y) rather than the 3 days (3D) as planned after fleeing from Bartholomew Kuma.

Outfits

 * During the Drum Island Arc, he wore two parkas, the first being a dark red parka with fur on the cuffs, hood, and hem, and then a checkered, hooded parka with the colors white, orange and bright yellow, which Nami wore in the beginning.


 * During the Alabasta Arc, he wore desert robes consisting of a dark red robe with three white rings decorated along both of the sleeves and a light blue wrap over his head.


 * During the Skypiea Arc, he wore a black wristband around his left wrist with a white bangle over it.


 * During the Long Ring Long Land Arc, Luffy wore an afro on his head, dark red shorts, and red bandages on his feet, getting an image of a blue flaming skull and crossbones painted on his chest as well, when he was fighting Foxy.


 * During the Enies Lobby Arc, he wore black shorts which had more pockets than his blue shorts (However, Luffy noted that he couldn't fit his meat in them.).


 * During the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Luffy wore a white T-shirt with the Galley-La Company emblem on it in red; red liners around the top, shoulders, and collar; and navy blue shorts.


 * During the Thriller Bark Arc, he wore an orange vest and red shorts. After the battle against Moria in Thriller Bark, Luffy wore a dark decorated, jewelled armband around his left bicep, given to him by Nami. This armband was later revealed to be a map that leads to Captain John's lost treasure, which Buggy sought for some time - leading to Luffy handing the armband in for Buggy in exchange for his services at helping him navigate through Impel Down.


 * During the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, in the manga he wore a blue vest, and with dark blue shorts.


 * During the Amazon Lily Arc, Luffy wore a light blue vest with red shorts.


 * During the Impel Down Arc, Luffy wore his outfit from his stay on Amazon Lily until after his fight with Magellan, at which point he replaced his light blue vest with a bright yellow vest given to him by Inazuma.

Post-Timeskip
After those two years, only a few things have changed. Luffy now wears an open up, long-sleeved red cardigan with four buttons (which shows the X-shaped scar covering most of his chest he received by then-Admiral Akainu, similar scar his father has), with a yellow sash tied around his waist, somewhat reminiscent of Roger D. Gol's outfit. He has grown slightly taller, and is shown to be significantly more muscular due to his training. This can be seen in his slightly thicker neck, more pronounced deltoids, and better-defined chest.

Outfits

 * During the Punk Hazard Arc, Luffy wore a long winter coat with red and white horizontal strips, along with yellow ear muffs, which he stole from one of Brownbeard's Centaur Patrol Unit.


 * During the Dressrosa Arc, Luffy wore an open, short-sleeved shirt with a sunflower pattern, along with his standard blue shorts and yellow sash. He also wore a fake beard. Upon entering the tournament for the Flame-Flame Fruit in the Corrida Colosseum, he wore viking-style armor, complete with a sword and shield, until it was stripped from him due to violation of the weight restriction. Upon revision to the weight restriction, he added a cape and wore the same viking style helmet he wore previously. Along with his registration number '0556' on the back of his shirt, obscured by his cape. When he recovered after his battle against Doflamingo, Luffy wore a red tank top along with his standard shorts in brown.


 * During the Totto Land Arc, Luffy wore an open, fancy white cardigan with puffy sleeves along with his standard shorts in red. He also had a decorative scarf wrapped around his straw hat after landing at the Seducing Woods, though he appears to have lost it during his battle with Charlotte Cracker.


 * Hair Color: Black
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Black
 * Age: 7 (Chapter 1), 17 (debut), 19 (after timeskip)
 * Birthday: May 5th (Children's day)
 * Height: 253 cm. (8'3½")
 * Weight: Not Known

Friends/Allies

 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * Roronoa Zoro
 * Nami
 * Usopp
 * Vinsmoke Sanji
 * Tony Tony Chopper
 * Nico Robin
 * Franky
 * Red-Haired Pirates
 * Shanks
 * Ben Beckman
 * Lucky Roux
 * Yasopp
 * Kaya
 * Veggie Pirates
 * Carrot
 * Pepper
 * Onion
 * Johnny
 * Yosaku
 * Baratie
 * Zeff
 * Carne
 * Patty
 * Genzo
 * Nefeltari Vivi
 * Igaram
 * Karoo
 * Dorry
 * Broggy
 * Dr. Kureha
 * Mr. 2 Bon Clay
 * Kung-Fu Dugong
 * Pell
 * Chaka
 * Shandia
 * Wyper
 * Gunfall
 * Conis
 * Galley-La Company
 * Iceberg
 * Pauly
 * Jaguar D. Saul
 * Hachi
 * Silvers Rayleigh
 * Kuja Pirates
 * Boa Hancock
 * Revolutionary Army
 * Emporio Ivankov
 * Inazuma
 * Koala
 * Jimbei
 * Whitebeard Pirates
 * Whitebeard
 * Marco
 * Jozu
 * Vista
 * Rakuyo
 * Heart Pirates
 * Trafalgar D. Water Law
 * Barto Pirates
 * Bartolomeo

Family

 * Monkey D. Rex (father)
 * Monkey D. Dragon (uncle)
 * Monkey D. Garp (grandfather)
 * Makino (1st foster mother)
 * Dadan Curly (2nd foster mother)
 * Portgas D. Ace (adopted brother; deceased)
 * Sabo (adopted brother)

Neutral

 * Buggy
 * Dracule Mihawk
 * Chaser
 * Tashigi
 * Mr. 3
 * Bellamy Pirates
 * Bellamy
 * Foxy Pirates
 * Foxy
 * Pickles
 * Bartholomew Kuma
 * Perona
 * Duval
 * Motobaro
 * Aokiji
 * Fujitora
 * Firetank Pirates
 * Capone Bege

Rivals

 * Kid Pirates
 * Eustass Kid
 * Killer

Enemies

 * Alvida
 * Marines
 * Sengoku
 * Morgan
 * Fullbody
 * Yamakaji
 * Momonga
 * Very Good
 * Doberman
 * Kizaru
 * Akainu
 * Sentomaru
 * Buggy Pirates
 * Ritchie
 * Mohji
 * Cabaji
 * Black Cat Pirates
 * Kuro
 * Django
 * Siam
 * Butchie
 * Krieg Pirates
 * Don Krieg
 * Ghin
 * Pearl
 * Arlong Pirates
 * Arlong
 * Kuroobi
 * Choo
 * Bliking Pirates
 * Wapol
 * Baroque Works
 * Mr. 1
 * Ms. New Year's Eve
 * Mr. 3
 * Ms. April Fools Day
 * Mr. 4
 * Ms. Groundhog's Day
 * Lassoo
 * Sky Lord's Army
 * Eneru
 * Ohm
 * Shura
 * Gedatz
 * Satori
 * CP9
 * Rob Lucci
 * Kaku
 * Jabra
 * Blueno
 * Spandam
 * Mysterious Four
 * Gecko Moria
 * Impel Down
 * Magellan
 * Hannyabal
 * Minotaurus
 * Blackbeard Pirates
 * Blackbeard
 * Jesus Burgess
 * Big Mam Pirates
 * Big Mam
 * Charlotte Cracker
 * Guild Tesoro
 * Spartan
 * Don Quixote Pirates
 * Don Quixote Doflamingo
 * Caesar Clown

Abilities and Powers
As captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy has immense physical strength, and is capable of lifting up large boulders, breaking stone, shattering steel with his bare hands, pushing apart large buildings and shoulder flipping a huge man; his strength was further proven when he effortlessly stopped a stomp from Don Quixote Doflamingo, a tremendously strong man who is twice Luffy's size, with only one foot from an angle with no leverage.

Physical Abilities
His endurance and durability is incredible; taking continuous, deadly assaults from powerful opponents that would have killed a normal person easily in most of his fights, yet still being able to stand up and continue fighting effectively. Over the course of the series, he progressively becomes able to take more and more punishment and fight for longer periods of time without tiring. By the events of the Totto Land Arc, his endurance and durability have grown to the point that he is able to fight a grueling battle with Charlotte Cracker for 11 straight hours (while activating Gear Fourth at least twice), and after only a brief nap, endured a vicious beating from Sanji's Diable Jambe enhanced kicks only to be back on his feet shortly thereafter and still capable of using Gear Second when attacked by Big Mom's army. Furthermore, he then goes on to rampage through the Whole Cake Chateau, defeating dozens more of Big Mom's underlings even while being considerably injured, extremely fatigued, and near-death from starvation.

Luffy also possesses tremendous speed, agility, and reflexes to match his strength and endurance. In fact, on more than one occasion, Luffy was able to anticipate moves and counter attacks that would normally be beyond his field of vision due to his extremely sharp reflexes. He is also shown to increase in strength quite dramatically in a short period of time, most noticeably being the fight against Minotaurus, where the first time it took the combined efforts of Mr. 2, Mr. 3, and Buggy just to beat him, but the next time, Luffy defeated him with a single "Gum-Gum Jet Pistol".

His vast strength is only exceeded by his enormous willpower, as demonstrated on several occasions throughout the series, most noted of all in the Thriller Bark Arc when he manages to take in 100 shadows without passing out, compared to normal humans, who can only take in 2 or 3. This willpower even lets him survive far beyond what normal people are capable of, as demonstrated when he was poisoned very far beyond what a human is capable of surviving, only living on despite his critical condition through sheer willpower. This is also shown when he survives through Emporio Ivankov's "Healing Hormones" ability, which even with a slim chance of surviving had not only survived the endeavor, but made a recovery in twenty hours when the normal time for the healing procedure is two days. This was later shown with Basil Hawkins' "fortune telling" ability, as despite doing it multiple times, he could never get Luffy's chances of survival to reach 0.

He also possesses extraordinary jaw strength, as seen in the Orange Town Arc in the manga, where he had almost chewed through the metal bars of the cage Buggy put him in. In the following arc, he shattered Django's steel chakram with his teeth alone (anime). He also ate the cage that Gecko Moria put him in, and managed to give Lucci Rob a small bite wound, as well as break the steel chain used to bind Nami (in Franky's body) after the timeskip. His greatest feat in this area, however, was that he managed to make Jimbei, who is known to have an extremely high tolerance towards pain, yell out in pain when he bit the mermen's arm.

Luffy is also shown to be extremely agile. Early on in the series, Luffy is seen being able to react to foes faster than him, like Kuro, Arlong, Bellamy, and Eneru. After learning the CP9's Shave technique to enhance both speed and strength, he became even more so. After the timeskip he has become even faster, being able to dodge attacks even while in Gear Third, and even creating enough friction while running at full speed to set the ground on fire.

Fighting Style
Luffy's fighting style consists of adept hand-to-hand combat, supplemented with his physical prowess and the abilities of the Gum-Gum Fruit. Such skill allows him to hold his own against combat specialists like Lucci Rob. Unlike Zoro or Sanji, Luffy's fighting style is completely self taught; it follows no particular code of honor, and so if necessary, he will attack women or animals, hit below the belt, attack his enemies even if they have their backs turned or are otherwise unprepared or unsuspecting, use enemies as human shields and even bite his opponents. While fighting, Luffy has been shown to be highly adept at improvising, and regularly comes up with creative counterattacks and unusual techniques]] to use against his enemies. This however leads both enemies and allies alike to wonder if Luffy is taking the fight seriously, especially when he comes up with ridiculous and over the top moves (like Crocodile when Luffy became Water Luffy), which prompts Luffy to respond that he's always serious.

When Luffy fights, he relies heavily on his instincts, which, interestingly enough, are mostly correct. Even as early as the Arlong Park Arc, after getting bitten he managed to escape with his arm still in one piece by slamming Arlong's head to loosen his jaw to get it out instead of simply pulling it. He picked out the real Mr. 3 from a bunch of wax look-a-likes on a hunch. He also destroyed Eneru's "Raigo" using the gold ball as a conductor, but according to Oda he had no real idea what he was doing and was acting out of instinct. Before even learning Observation Haki, Luffy could easily dodge any attack by relying on his instinct as shown in his battle against Eneru and Rob Lucci.

During his childhood, Luffy seems to have at least become competent with a staff, as he is seen using one against a variety of opponents.

He also appears to be intelligent enough to at least understand fundamental concepts, such as rubber being a natural insulator, which might be why he did not bother ducking out of the way of Eneru's lightning attacks as it would have been pointless because of his immunity. He also was able to develop two new techniques such as "Gear Second" and "Gear Third", using logical concepts and knowledge of rubber and its properties. While easily noticeable as the least strategic member of his own crew, largely due to his tendency to simply barge in head-first into battle (often without any kind of battle plan or even any knowledge of his opponent's abilities), Luffy is a highly adaptive combatant. He is constantly coming up with ways to keep ahead of his foes, either by taking advantage of his own strength and Devil Fruit powers or utilizing the opponent's own strengths (along with their weaknesses) against them. This causes even warriors long considered unbeatable to have trouble keeping up. Also, even if most of the time he acts instinctively, in some cases Luffy has shown to be intelligent enough to give some orders to his crewmates in the wake of making a strategy or simply making things go as he prefers. This usually ends up being an advantage for the crew.

After the timeskip, Luffy has demonstrated more intelligence during the heat of battle, as he was able to use Law Trafalgar's powers to his advantage and even fool a Warlord as cunning as Doflamingo into being swapped out so Luffy could land a blow on him. He also exploited Cracker's Devil Fruit abilities, making use of the immense hardness of Cracker's own Biscuit Soldiers to inflict massive damage on the latter.

Devil Fruit

 * Main article: Gum-Gum Fruit

The Gum-Gum Fruit (ゴムゴムの実, Gomu Gomu no Mi; literally meaning "Fruit of the Gum-Gum"), a Paramythia-type Devil Fruit, which is one of the rare and legendary ones that was eaten by Luffy, makes his body became like rubber, giving him the gained extraordinary ability powers to stretch and attack long distances, which is makes him a Rubber Human (ゴム人間, Gomu Ningen).

Having undergone intense training for over ten years, Luffy is now able to supplement his stretching powers with immense strength, agility, and creativity in combat. His fighting style is largely improvised, and thus relies heavily on his Devil Fruit powers. It should also be noted that Luffy cannot automatically stretch his limbs out (like superheroes with stretching powers, (i.e: Mr. Fantastic or Plastic Man), and since his body acts much like an actual rubber band, he has to throw some force into his punches in order for his limbs to stretch out. It should be noted that he has somehow managed to do it automatically (much like the aforementioned superheroes) after the timeskip. However, he has been shown to be able to hold his limbs outstretched for a long period of time, as seen when he reaches his arm out about half a mile down to try and retrieve Usopp from falling through the Sea Clouds.

Luffy regularly uses his stretching powers in ingenious and creative ways, as he is able to use the malleable stretchiness and elasticity of his limbs to gain tremendous velocity, and hit his enemies with devastating impacts and blows. His rubber body is also extremely durable and virtually immune to blunt attacks such as bullets (in One Piece, bullets are still round pellets, except for Don Krieg's), punches, and electricity, more often than not, bouncing off his body harmlessly or canceling out the attack. It has even become a running gag that people find out the hard way that Luffy is made of rubber when they shoot at him, only to have the bullets bounce back at them.

Another running gag is that whenever Luffy's body is in a dangerous situation that would kill a normal person, he simply states that "he's made of rubber, so it's okay", or acts like it is a small problem despite that person trying to kill him, such as being shot in the heart. However, he is still normally susceptible to sharp objects such as swords and knives as well as nonphysical attacks like heat, cold, dehydration, and poison (though after the timeskip, Luffy has been shown a strong immunity to poison due to his fight against Magellan in Impel Down). Not only can he use his stretchiness to increase the range and strength of his attacks, but on some rare occasions he can also use his stretched limbs to help restrain and even control weaker foes like puppets (to fight for him).

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Luffy that involve the Devil Fruit are as follows:

Gears
By taking advantage of the unique physical abilities granted by his Devil Fruit, Luffy has invented techniques that augment his speed and strength in different ways, though each one also has corresponding physical drawbacks. He refers to these techniques as Gears.

Gear Second

 * Main article: Gear Second

Gear Second (ギア･セカンド, Gia Sekando) is where Luffy uses his legs to pump blood throughout his body at a much faster rate. Activating Gear Second also uses a lot of stored energy from his body. Leaving his body exhausted, his heart rate also increases to levels that are normally impossible. His veins are able to withstand this since they are made of rubber, thanks to the Gum-Gum Fruit. In this form, Luffy gains a considerable boost in speed and strength.

During the Enies Lobby Arc, Lucci Rob mentions that this ability is similar to steroids because his muscles are receiving enough blood to do things otherwise impossible. Lucci Rob also noted that Gear Second does damage to Luffy's own body and in turn drastically reduces his stamina and his lifespan begins to diminish due to prolonged use.

Luffy first discovers this Gear unofficially in the 7th Fairy One Piece Tail Movie, where he has a large mechanical arm falling on him, he catches it, and the impact exerts extreme force on Luffy's legs, causing him to unintentionally pump up blood at an accelerated rate to perform Gear Second and use the "Gum-Gum Jet Bazooka" (though he simply refers to is as a normal "Gum-Gum Bazooka") to defeat a giant robotic battlesuit.

After the timeskip, it appears that Luffy has gained enough control over his Gear Second form, that he is able to use it in a single limb rather than his whole body. This, in conjunction with his Armament Haki, was able to take out a Pacifista with a single punch, something that took the entire Straw Hat crew to do before the timeskip. His strength in this form has also increased to the point where he could knock over a large creature like Wadatsumi with a single "Gum-Gum Jet Pistol", breaking one of the giant mermen's teeth clean. Luffy can use Armament Haki combined with Gear Second to perform "Gum-Gum Red Hawk", which causes his fist to ignite into flames. It seems that Luffy has become far more adept with this gear as he has been using Gear Second attacks much more frequently than before the timeskip.

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Luffy that involve this Gear are as follows:

Gear Third

 * Main article: Gear Third

Gear Third (ギア･サード, Gia Sādo) is where Luffy pumps air through his bones to make them literally gigantic. Obviously, only Luffy can do such a thing by using the Gum-Gum Fruit. Used with his already-strong physiology, this apparently gives his arm more mass and a larger area to attack with far greater force, but he sacrifices mobility for this strength, as his limbs are now so large that Luffy has extreme trouble about moving around unless he is in his Baloon form.

Another after effect of this is that Luffy is reduced to child-sized proportions, the duration of which is equal to the time he spent in Gear Third. Also, he is able to use both gears at the same time which he uses to defeat Gecko Moria. The Gear Third technique is first hinted at during Luffy's fight with Blueno, and first used, but not shown when Luffy is chasing Lucci Rob and Spandam, but is not seen until a later battle with Lucci Rob.

After the timeskip, Luffy's Gear Third is vastly improved upon. Previously, Gear Third would increase the size of the majority of Luffy's arm, thus reducing the speed of the attack in exchange for a powerful impact. However post-timeskip Luffy can seemingly control where the air is allowed to "sit" within his limbs, where his fist becomes large but allows a large mass to form behind the fist as the equivalent of the mass he would have achieved having his arm fully inflated. This allows a majority of Luffy's arm to remain as it is, allowing him to stretch it, thus allowing him to attack much faster than before the two-year absence.

Luffy is also shown capable of using Gear Third at the same time as Armament Haki, causing his arm to turn black and harden, with his arm in the ocean (which would normally drain a Curséd Fruit user of their power). While he is still affected by the ocean, he lands a punch which knocks an attacking Kraken out on the way to Mermen Island. Luffy is confirmed to have overcome his weakness of shrinking when deactivating this Gear, after inflating both his arms and using "Gum-Gum Wrecking Ball" on Noah for a prolonged period of time and not turning into his chibi form.


 * When Luffy reverts to his chibi form, his clothes, including his straw hat, change relative to his actual size. When Luffy moves his mass throughout his body, however, his clothes remain the same size. This appears to be the same throughout every one of Luffy's mass increases, per example his "Nightmare Luffy" form.

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Luffy that involve this Gear are as follows:

Gear Fourth

 * Main article: Gear Fourth

Gear Fourth (ギア･フォース, Gia Fōsu) is a technique which Luffy developed during the 2-year time skip when he fought giant creatures on Rusukaina. He first coats both of his arms in Armament Haki and then bites into his forearm. Similar to how he activates Gear Third, he blows an incredible amount of air into his body, but this time he inflates his muscular structure.

In this form, his body's proportions become warped and is much larger in size, with his arms, upper torso, and legs coated in Armament Haki. The coating across his torso resemble the wispy ends made from flames, and he also gains shading around the inner and outer edges of his eyes.

As a side-effect he is incapable of standing still on the ground, and instead constantly bounces on the spot. His physical strength and speed are increased to the point where he is able to overwhelm Don Quixote Doflamingo, whereas beforehand both techniques Gear Second and Gear Third were ineffective in the fight.

It also shows a versatile side of the Gum-Gum Fruit when using the elasticity to achieve a form of pseudo-flight and changing the direction of his attacks mid-strike to hit a moving opponent, strengthening his attacks in a similar manner to the Spring-Spring Fruit by compressing his arms and legs like springs. This form, much like Gear Second, seems to utilize the principles of Six Powers. It possesses both high speed movement reminiscent of Shave and the ability to kick off the air, similar to Moonwalk, creatively adapted to work even better with his body's elasticity, not just bouncing off the air but allowing punches and attacks to bounce off his own body.

According to Doflamingo, the power of his attacks increases greatly in this form. His durability is also vastly enhanced, as his body remains completely rubbery despite of being coated in Armament Haki, as a result Doflamingo's immensely strong kicks simply bounce off of his body.

Another side-effect is its limit to how long Luffy can keep Gear Fourth active, as noted by both Luffy himself and Doflamingo. Once Gear Fourth reaches the limit, it automatically deactivates and Luffy is left exhausted, barely able to move as Haki originates from the user's inner strength or life force. He is also left unable to use Haki for ten minutes after using this technique. Even afterwards, Gear Fourth is extremely taxing on Luffy's body and stamina; after regaining his Haki from using Gear Fourth once, he barely had enough strength left to fight back, and using it briefly for a second time shortly after rendered him unconscious.

Gear Fourth uses a lot of Luffy's stamina and would cause him to burn calories a lot faster than normal. After using it while fat from eating several lifetime's supply of biscuits, Luffy started to shrink back to his normal size due to the immense calorie usage.

Techniques
The named techniques that are used by Luffy that involve this Gear are as follows:

Haki

 * Main article: Haki

Shortly before the two year time skip, Luffy had awakened the ability known as "Haki" and is one of the few known people able to use all three types. Luffy was identified to possess this mysterious ability by Blackbeard after their first encounter in Jaya. He first showed the ability to use it when he knocked out Duval's steed, Motobaro, without actually hitting him. Since then, he showed increased but irregular usage of it, with very little to no control, as the series went on. It was only after the Battle of Marineford, when he started training with Silvers Rayleigh, that he actually learned about Haki and how to control it. Though it was stated that 2 years was too short a time to learn the basics of Haki, Luffy has shown a natural affinity for it, learning it in 18 months. Since reuniting with his crew Luffy has been shown to consciously, actively, and easily use Haki in combat.

After Ace was sent away to the Navy Headquarters, Luffy decided to break out of Impel Down and head for Marineford. In the process, he ran into an intruding Blackbeard who noted that Luffy's Haki increased since last time they met (in Jaya). It could be speculated that Blackbeard already noticed Luffy's Haki possession since their first meeting. The fourth time Luffy released his Haki was at Marineford, when he saw Trace about to be executed. It was then that Trace and the Navy learned of his possession of Haki, and of the Conqueror's type to top it off. This made him even more threatening to the government, although he was already threatening enough without it.

After the Marineford War, Luffy decided to train with Rayleigh. Luffy managed to learn the basics of Haki within a year and a half, even though Rayleigh had intended to spend the entire two years teaching him, meaning that he was either a fast learner once he understood the concept, or he has an innate affinity for Haki. Rayleigh departed after a year and a half, leaving Luffy to train by himself for the remaining six months. It should be noted that Luffy possesses what is considered to be a large amount of Haki.

Conqueror's Haki
Luffy is able to use Conqueror's Haki, a type of Haki possessed only by one in a million people. Luffy used this ability several times in the series, as it was the type of Haki that manifested the earliest.

The first time Luffy was identified to have possessed this type of Haki was when he stopped Boa Sandersonia from smashing a petrified Margaret, although he first showed possession of this type of Haki when he scared off Duval's bison steed, Motobaro.

When he protected Bentham from being attacked by wolves back at Impel Down (Level 5) Luffy released his Haki unconsciously. During the war at Marineford, he also used another burst of Conqueror's Haki when he saw Ace about to be executed, which knocked out a lot of individuals, both Marines and Pirates. This made it clear that Luffy, setting aside his identity as the famed pirate Rex's son, is also a serious threat as a pirate just by possessing Conqueror's Haki.

Before training under Rayleigh, Luffy displayed limited to no control over this ability, and did not seem to realize he had it, but used it on instinct whenever it seemed to be most needed, and could still use it even when extremely injured.

With this training, Luffy has demonstrated the ability to focus his Conqueror's Haki, knocking out a small group with a quick glare without affecting anyone else. A possibility of Luffy's Conqueror's Haki is that he can tame large animals as he was capable of taming all the animals of Rusukaina Island, and tame the Kraken, which he did with great success in a very short time. Up until the fight with the New Mermen Pirates, Luffy has only used Conqueror's Haki when he needs to get people out of the way with minimum damage. The true extent of Luffy's Haki is seen when he knocks out 50,000 of Hordy Jones' men. During his fight with Chinjao during the Corrida Colosseum tournament, the two unleashed a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki when they clashed fists. This Haki has become Luffy's specialty.

Observation Haki
Since training with Rayleigh Silvers, Luffy appears to have gained significant proficiency in Observation Haki, allowing him to tell what an opponent intends to do. He was able to effortlessly dodge a bullet shot at point-blank range by Black as well as several laser projectiles fired by a Pacifista, commenting that the last attack was "slow". His proficiency with this skill is truly shown when he was able to completely avoid Hordy Jones' Shark Arrows without effort. Luffy also displayed being able to discern Caribou's presence within the Ryugu Palace, even asking if Zolo and Sanji can sense it too. At Punk Hazard, he was able to sense the Yeti Cool Brothers attacking Chopper and Nami. He was able to sense that Rebecca had no true killing intention towards him even when she was attacking him. During the Corrida Colosseum Block C battle royale, he was able to successfully dodge all the weapons Jean Ango threw at him. He can also use the ability to measure the strength of an individual as seen when he complimented Duke Dogstorm's superior strength at a glance.

Armament Haki
Luffy seems to have also mastered Armament Haki to an extremely high extent, which has been shown to darken his body (or parts of it) and harden it. This is first shown being used when he easily defeated a Pacifista with a single Haki imbued punch used in conjunction with his Gear Second. He is also able to use his Gear Third in conjunction with his Armament Haki, being capable of knocking out a giant beast such as the Kraken easily, despite the great disadvantage of being under water (where his power was considerably weaker).

Another demonstration of Luffy's Armament Haki is during his fight with Hordy Jones, where he was able to harden his arm, leg, and forehead for both strong offensive and defensive measures. The defense of his Armament Haki, however, is not absolute; while it is good for reinforcing his near immunity against blunt attacks, it is not strong enough to defend against sharp objects, such as swords, Hordy Jones' shark teeth or Doflamingo's strings, if enough force is applied to the strike. Regardless, a small amount of Luffy's Haki used on his forehead was strong enough to shatter Rebecca's sword on impact when she was forced by Doflamingo to attack Viola.

After the air bubble was produced and merged with Noah, Luffy used Armament Haki combined with Gear Second to perform "Gum-Gum Red Hawk", which causes his fist to ignite into flames and create an explosion after it hits the target.

Luffy was later seen being able to knock back a Logia user like Caribou at considerable distance, something he was never able to do before the timeskip, without exploiting the Logia Fruit's weakness. He was also able to grab Smoker's arm in its smoke state as if it was solid, and was also able to grab and punch Caesar Clown in his partial Logia state.

Techniques

 * Armament: Hardening (武装色 硬化, Busō-shoku: Kōka): Luffy uses Armament Haki to harden his body (or parts of it). It was used for the first time against the Kraken in conjunction with Gear Third to harden his enlarged arm to the point of it attaining a completely dark and shiny appearance, in order to use his "Gum-Gum Wrecking Ball".


 * Head: Hardening (頭 硬化, Atama: Kōka): Luffy imbues his forehead with Armament Haki to harden it. This is first used in preparation for a "Gum-Gum Bell" against the Iron Shell Squadron.


 * Gear Second: Hardening (ギア・セカンド 硬化, Gia Sekando Kōka): Luffy imbues his fist with Armament Haki while under the effect of Gear Second to harden it, which also seems to have the added effect of igniting it. It was first used in preparation for "Gum-Gum Red Hawk" against Hordy Jones.

Miscellaneous Skills
He is heavily susceptible to any form of hypnotism and does not have the sense to turn away, such as Django's powers of hypnosis or Ms. Golden Week Colors Trap. He is also easily distracted when he sees something that's "just too cool", like seeing Chopper's transformations for the first time, the Thousand Sunny's Gaon Cannon, an energy beam from a Pacifista, his wax armor made from Mr.3's Wax-Wax Fruit powers, or the Iron Pirate "Franky Shogun", ignoring everything around him.

Luffy also has the mysterious and uncanny ability to, while completely asleep, eat as if he were awake, and even knows when more food has been placed on the table.