The Thumbnail you just clicked on may look like clickbait, but it's actually a legitimate
part of this video, in which we will be exploring what Luffy's Awakening and possible gear 5
will look like and why the Gomu Gomu no mi might already have woken up. Hi my name is
Manu, I'm not a rubber man, but according to my mom an aspiring alcoholic and for the
past two weeks, I've become obsessed with learning the secret behind devil fruits and
finding out Luffy's awakened form, because how the hell did Law and Kid do it before
him?
In the last video, I made my case that there are actual devils in devil fruits, who's soul
merge with that of the user, not only granting them their powers, but even inheriting the
will of past users of the fruit. I also explained all the fundamentals about how devil fruits
in general as well as each of their individual categories work. So, I strongly recommend
you check that one out right after this one, as they go hand in hand.
The first thing I want to discuss is whether Luffy actually needs an awakening in the first
place. My short answer is yes, duh, the more badass the better, but I'm aware that many
people actually don't feel that way. And I guess you could fairly enough argue, that
Luffy didn't need to rely on his own awakening to take down the likes of Doflamingo, Katakuri
or the guards in Impel down. Luffy now has not only future sigh conqueror's haki, but
advanced armament and even advanced conqueror's haki on top as well. Instead of relying only
on his fruit, he is combining it with Haki, as no other character in the story has done.
And in the end seeing him being creative with his fruit is much more important than unlocking
new powers.
But I think that if you argue like this, you have probably misunderstood what Awakening
truly is. Awakening of a fruit doesn't mean flipping a switch and automatically getting
a bunch of new powers. Minor Spoiler alert, as Law and Kid's awakenings show us, it seems
to be much more of a process, that requires a lot of energy and increasingly gives the
user additional reach and effectivity on their powers, allowing them to break the rules a
bit. But the main pre-requisite for awakening is true mastery over one's devil fruit. Something,
that only very few people are able to do. And I think suggesting that Luffy hasn't or
maybe never will truly master the gomu gomu no mi, is something that I just can't ever
see happening like ever ever. Ever ever ever. Kaido might be the physically strongest enemy
he will have to face in battle, but I think we all agree, that for the coming arcs, things
won't get easier, but harder for Luffy. Facing Akainu, Blackbeard and ultimately taking down
the World Government itself, all of it will require Luffy to maximise his potential and
I hope you agree that awakening his devil fruit will be am essential part of that.
So, how close is Luffy to reaching this level? Are we talking Wano or Elbaf or Laugh Tale?
I would say, let's look at all the factors that should or could determine how much more
Luffy needs. The first factor in mastering anything is age, and it's not exactly in Luffy's
factor. People tend to forget that our meat-eating hero is not even legally allowed to drink
alcohol in Japan or the US. Well, Germany is different, there you can start drinking
at 16, where was I? Oh yeah, Luffy is extremely young, while Doflamingo and Katakuri are 41
and 48 years old respectively. More than twice his own age. They had a lot of time to figure
out there powers and use them on countless enemies and in many different situations.
However, we also know that Luffy, just like Law and probably Kid, have had their devil
fruits from when they were kids, basically doing nothing but honing their skills. And
they are the leaders of the worst generation for a reason. All 3 of them, and Luffy especially,
are fighting prodigies.
The next factor is the structure of the story. IF Luffy should awaken, it's gonna be soon.
There is a lot of prophecy around opening Wano and the man Roger was waiting for. The
year of the prophet, if you want to call it that, is right now, 20 years later. And even,
though you might say that's not fair as an argument, that doesn't change the fact that
it's true. Muhhaah.
Now Haki and Devil fruits are somewhat related and even comparable in the story. There are
three types, each witch its own sub-categories and advanced versions. And one of the most
important lessons for unlocking one's Haki according to Rayleigh, is this: []
So what if the same thing is true for awakening. Just like advanced Haki can only bloom in
the heat of the hardest battles, awakening one's devil fruit might also be bound to fighting
strong opponents on the grand line over and over, just what Luffy has been doing. His
Haki and Devil fruit powers are intricately interwoven with each other.
And in terms of mastery of his devil fruit? This was actually really fascinating to think
about. Luffy is a quite special case after all. He is a paramecia-user, yes, but unlike
Dofi or Magellan who produce their substance, or Mr 1, who transforms his body into one,
Luffy is 100% made out of Rubber. As we see in this scene here, he is not doing anything
to turn into it [shanks stretching his arm] In fact it took Luffy years of training with
Ace and Sabo to get basic control over his new body before he could even think about
using it for combat. He has to make an active effort to force his body into shape, which
is basically the same as for Logia users, the only difference being, that they embody
some sort of energy. Thus the extra category of special paramecia, that borders very close
to logia. So the fact that luffy can run around without randomly stretching all the time is
already a big feat in itself. For example, when he picks up Usopp on Water Seven, his
arm stretches, but his fingers stay normal, otherwise that might have ended badly for
Usopp there.
In his base form, Luffy uses his muscles to stretch. In gear second, he expands on this,
by using his rubber body to pump blood and increase his power and speed. Pumping your
own blood faster seems like pretty fantastic control over his fruit to me. Gear third is
the same, using the rubber properties of his bones to expand his entire body, stretching
and then forcing it into a gigantic shape. And with gear forth it gets really interesting,
because here he uses the internal expansion of his third gear, but limits it with his
haki, compressing his body, which allows him to use the properties of this hardened rubber.
Thus his moments are so fast that the air has no time to go anywhere, allowing him to
fly, while he can even charge up his punches, releasing them with even more power and speed.
Imagine taking a really hard and thick spring and compressing it flat, before unleashing
it. That's Luffy's entire body in gear fourth. So, while he does use Haki as a crutch here,
he is able to control his powers even more harshly and precisely with this technique.
The Point I'm trying to make here, is that Luffy has already taken his Rubber Body to
the extreme. Could you creatively come up with some complete different use of his power?
Probably, but the way he masters his body and uses is freely is pretty pretty masterful
in books at least. So, I would argue that Luffy has actually already been ready for
his awakening during the time skip, similar to kid and law. I think the only difference
here, is that Luffy was not aware that Devil Fruit Awakening was even a think until Doflamingo
told him about it, but maybe even more importantly, he has been fully focused on Haki. Rayleigh
has no Devil Fruit. He was a pure Haki mentor for Luffy, because without advanced Haki you
can't even touch the big guns in the new world. And so, I'm pretty sure
that Luffy's Awakening will come to him preeety swiftly, should he ever feel like his Haki
had reached its limits.
So let's say it happens in the fight against Kaido, who might have his own awakening, or
even a bit later: But what will Luffy's awakening actually look like? For Logia users, we suspect,
that they can turn the matter around them into their respective element, for zoan fruits
it means a larger monster-like version of themselves that has increased stats across
the board. But since Luffy doesn't do us the luxury of fitting smoothly into one of these
two categories, there are a lot of possibilities. I decided to look at this question in terms
of three criteria: Internal vs. external, likely vs. unlikely and whether I like it
or not. This is my video after all, but please let me know what you think.
Let's start with internal. This would mean that instead of affecting his surroundings,
like Doflamingo, Luffy's fruit would actually enhance his ability in his body. Law's awakening
for example is an enhancement of his current abilities as well. And you could also argue,
that unlike Doflamingo, who only produces his string, Luffy is actually made of Rubber,
that's his power. So considering that his awakening would only affect himself is not
really all that unlikely to imagine. And if Gear 5 really was connected to awakening,
I think it would mostly make sense for an internal one.
The first idea here is basically Luffy being able to go into overdrive. With his awakening,
Luffy gains complete control over his body. He is now freely able to mix and switch between
gears whenever he pleases. The result being a much slimmer and version of gear 4th, expanding
his muscles, pumping blood, while compressing everything much more drastically. This form
would give him not only ridiculous speed and strength, but also the variety that gear fourth
lacked. This is basically all gear 4 variations in one. I think this one is actually pretty
easy to see happen. But I think it would be a bit of a waste for such an important update,
so I rate it 4/10.
The next internal awakening theory is vulcanisation. And that doesn't only sound cool, it is. Vulcanisation
means that through heat, Rubber is made smaller, harder and may more durable. This fits Luffy's
fire theme very very nicely I think, that could be a great catalyst for that, and in
return It might allow him to tolerate heat and fire way better. Similar to overdrive,
Luffy would get a boost to all his stats, but most importantly, it might allow him to
form shapes with his body and harden them. So Luff could actually form weapons and shapes
with his body, similar to mr. 1. I think this idea is more niche than the last, but I like
it a lot more, so I give it a solid 7/10.
Last for the internal awakening options, I have a really cool one. You know how Luffy
can make a body part giant in gear third? Well, what if his awakening enhances his abilities
in a way that allow Luffy's entire body to stretch like this. Giving him a true giant
form? First of all, I love that idea just aesthetically. But there is more to it. You
might remember form my Imu video, that there already is a connection between luffy and
giants. Oars was basically a giant with Luffy's personality trying to use his abilities. And
then there is the big straw hat on Marijoe. Luffy could literally wear that big straw
hat of joy boy if he got a giant form. Maybe there is something on Laugh Tale that requires
a giant to work it? Remember: The world government and Kaido are trying to create giants at any
cost. The only thing that is preventing them from being successful right now is that they
are not yet subscribed to my channel for next generation anime content. So, do I think this
is likely? Probably not, but if it's true. Oh boy, I would be on board for the ride.
9/10
Okay, so now let's talk about external awakening options. External meaning pretty much exactly
how Doflamingo described it, the power of the fruit starts affecting the world around
the user. Doflamingo was able to turn things around him into string. Kid is able to magnetise
other objects. Not sure if magnetise is the scientifically correct term here though. The
big argument for this over an internal awakening is Katakuri. His abilities are the closest
to Luffy in the entire story and his awakening is clearly portrayed as turning the things
around him into Mochi amongst other things.
So theory number one: Luffy's awakening turns the world into a bouncy castle. Probability:
Not Zero. Popularity: Thanks, I hate it. 0/10. Next.
The way more tolerable version of this is that Luffy can turn the things around him
into rubber, but in a unique and creative way. So instead of turning his hand into a
sword, how about turning a house into another Luffy? Basically creating clones. Or imagine
him springing arms and legs out of the ground, and having his enemy barraged by a all-round
getting gun? I like this a lot more than bouncy caste, but the problem is that this would
basically be a Naruto x Robin love child, shadow clone fist attacks, that don't really
matter against a real opponent. So I rate this as very possible, but I'm not the biggest
fan, so I dunno, 4/10.
So for the last one, I have a pretty crazy one for you. If your favourite wasn't in this
video, let me know what it is.
The most out there crazy external awakening theory of the Gomu Gomu no mi I have come
across is that Luffy as a rubber man, is not only gonna be able to stretch his body, or
even matter itself, the idea is that luffy will be able to literally stretch time and
space to distort the entire world around him. This would truly be a game changer and put
him on an entirely new level. I think the possibility of this is 1%, but I love it.
10/10. And now make sure to watch the other devil fruit video here. What are doing? Go
watch it? Why are you still here? Get the hell outta here!