Gomu Gomu no Mi/Gear 5 Techniques

I can do everything I wanted to do!! I think I can fight a bit longer... My heartbeat sounds so funny!! This is the pinnacle of what I can do!! This is... Gear 5!!!

Gear 5 ("Gear Fifth") is the awakened form of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which strengthens the user's rubbery body. It also allows the user the ability to manipulate and transform their environment, similar to a Paramecia's awakening. Luffy achieved this ability during his final battle with Kaidou on Onigashima.

Overview
The awakening of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, formerly known as the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, grants the user's rubber-like body increased strength and freedom, allowing them to fight in any way they please. It is for this reason that the user is said to become the "Warrior of Liberation" (解放の戦士), bringing joy and freedom to those around them, and this fruit's power being described as "the most ridiculous power in the world" (世界で最もふざけた能力).

In this state, Luffy's heartbeat takes on a musical rhythm which has been described by Zunesha as the "Drums of Liberation" (解放のドラム). His hair and clothes (with the exception of his signature straw hat, belt, and sandals) turn white, his eyes glow with red ring-like pupils, and white clouds float around his neck, similar to the clouds of steam that accompany him in Gear 4. His eyebrows also become swirled and billowing. It seems Gear 5 also transforms Luffy's outfit to his pants and sandals that he usually wears as opposed to whatever else he is wearing, which will return upon deactivating Gear 5.

As an awakened Zoan, Luffy is afforded far greater strength, speed, and durability than those without awakened Zoan powers. Most notably, he could fight and defeat Kaidou, an infamous Emperor feared for his nigh-unmatchable might, on nearly equal footing. His strength and speed is such that he can match and soon after overpower Rob Lucci's own awakened Zoan form with ease. In terms of durability, he could as well take a direct hit from Kaidou's Bolo Breath attack, only to come out of it barely hurt (despite his body appearing cartoonishly charred) and return to the fight immediately after. This also includes a faster recovery rate, which functions involuntarily, even when he is unconscious. In fact, the physical feats Luffy can pull off in Gear 5 border on nearly the absurd; he can spin his legs fast enough to run through midair while generating enough friction to ignite fire in his wake, and spin like a top with such force that he turns into a burrowing drill.

Aligning with the Mythical Zoan nature of this form, Luffy's already rubbery body gains freedom and flexibility that surpasses what he would receive from his previous forms, to the point that it is now even cartoonishly malleable, with Kaidou likening it to "something out of a picture book". An example of this is when he took a hit to the head from Kaidou's Hassaikai, only for his head to warp and wrap around the weapon and its spikes, or when Kaidou tried to smash him into the ground, his body was simply squished instead and later returned to its original shape, in the anime, we can see how Luffy runs so fast that his legs are acting like "cartoonish" moving tires. Luffy also seems to be impervious to his opponents Haki in this state, and he still stretches like he would when struck by a non-Haki attack.

Luffy is able to utilize both the limb inflation of Gear 3 and the muscle inflation of Gear 4 without the need to pump air into his body first, allowing him to greatly increase his own strength. This allows him to increase his arm to such enormous size that he can grab Kaidou's transformed body and yank him up out of the Skull Dome. With his enlarged limbs and muscles, Luffy could easily manhandle Kaidou despite his enormous size, swinging him in circles and repeatedly slamming him on the ground. Luffy can also perform the inflation over his entire body at once, transforming himself into a giant of massive size. He can also transform his entire upper torso into a muscular form called Muscle-Muscle Power to which it grants enhanced strength and power with the appearance similar to Gear 4: Boundman.

Luffy's rubbery nature can be extended to the environment around him, as seen when Luffy stretched a section of roof and used it to bounce Kaidou's Bolo Breath back at him. Interestingly, the altered terrain, while elastic, was neither burnt nor melted by the Bolo Breath, even though the attack was shown to be scorching hot and had enough explosive power to destroy a whole castle and the mountain top it was sitting on. Luffy can affect his surroundings to the point where he can make surfaces, such as the ground beneath him, rubbery to cushion himself from powerful blows and even bounce off and launch himself off of whatever surface his power effects. This power also seems to be able to effect organic material as well, as shown when Kaidou literally swallowed Luffy whole, and then proceeded to have his body expand and inflate along with Luffy's. This, coupled with Luffy's own transformed state, has been pointed out by Kaidou to be very unusual, due to featuring elements of both Paramecia and Zoan awakenings. Luffy has even demonstrated that he is able to apply this effect on intangible matter such as lightning and clouds. Aside from his rubber-related abilities, Gear 5 also allows Luffy the curious ability to materialize objects from his flaming hair, such as goggles.



In addition to Luffy being able to manipulate the inanimate environment around him, his physics-defying cartoony nature can be applied to other sentient beings without them being able to stop it. When he makes contact with enemies, or even when others simply witness his actions, they will sometimes perform cartoonish actions, such as having their eyes literally pop out of their heads or have stars swirl around their heads after they take heavy damage.

Despite the strength of this form, due to inexperience, it consumes plenty of energy to maintain and use, even to the point that Luffy can visibly age once de-transformed, and experience an extensive amount of exhaustion and fatigue. That said, Luffy can transform back by seemingly forcing his heart to beat in the rhythm of the Drums of Liberation. Also, unlike Paramecia awakenings, Zoan awakenings like Gear 5 carries the inherent risk of the innate nature of the animal that the Gomu Gomu no Mi is derived from, namely the "Sun God" Nika, consuming Luffy's mind. In addition, Luffy is still vulnerable to cutting attacks.

Techniques

 * Gomu Gomu no Fusen (ゴムゴムの風船): A variant of Luffy's standard technique, with the main difference being that Luffy's body becomes extremely buoyant, like a helium balloon. This was first used against Kaidou in his Beast Form, where Luffy entered the Emperor's body and expanded himself as well as the dragon. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Balloon.
 * Gomu Gomu no Gigant (ゴムゴムの): A technique where Luffy expands himself to the size of a literal giant, as if activating Gear 3 on his entire body. The name of the technique follows the Gear 3 naming theme, but without anything after Gigant. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Giant.
 * Gomu Gomu no Bajrang Gun (ゴムゴムの): The Gear 5 version of Gomu Gomu no King Kong Gun, and one of the most powerful techniques Luffy has ever used in any form. Luffy inflates his fist to almost the size of Onigashima, applying both advanced-grade Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki-infusion to it before unleashing it at his opponent—with the intention of outwardly emitting his Haki in order to punch them without making direct contact—for a devastating blow. This was first used against Kaidou, who countered the attack with Shoryu: Kaen Hakke, resulting in a massive clash. Luffy was soon able to overpower and defeat Kaidou, making a noticeable hole in the ground matching his target's shape and sending him so far underground that he wound up in a magma chamber. "Bajrang" is an alternate name of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, a potential inspiration for Sun Wukong. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun.
 * Gomu Gomu no Mogura Pistol (ゴムゴムのモグラ): Luffy punches his fist into the floor, and a nearby section of the floor stretches into a tendril and strikes his opponent from the side. This was first used against Rob Lucci in his awakened Zoan form. In the VIZ manga, this is called Gum-Gum Mole Pistol.
 * Gomu Gomu no Dawn Whip (ゴムゴムの): After twisting his body, Luffy stretches his leg, hardens it, and swings it into his opponent's face. He then lets his body rapidly untwist, adding more energy into his kick. This was first used against Lucci in his awakened Zoan form. In the VIZ manga, this is called Gum-Gum Dawn Whip.
 * Gomu Gomu no Dawn Rocket (ゴムゴムのロケット): Luffy throws himself into the environment and uses his awakened power to bend the structure further. After shaping his hair into a pair of goggles, Luffy launches himself at his opponent and slams his fist into their abdomen. This was first used against Lucci in his awakened Zoan form. In the VIZ manga, this is called Gum-Gum Dawn Rocket.

Situational Techniques

 * Gomu Gomu no Dasshutsu Rocket (ゴムゴムの脱出ロケット): A technique used by Luffy to escape from inside Kaidou's body after using Gomu Gomu no Fusen. Luffy stretches his arms through his opponent's eyes and grabs onto their nose to launch himself out. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Escape Rocket.
 * Gomu Gomu no Nawatobi (ゴムゴムの縄跳び): The giant-sized Luffy grabs Kaidou in his dragon form and uses Kaidou's serpentine body as a skipping rope. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Jump Rope.
 * Gomu Gomu no Kaminari (ゴムゴムの雷): Luffy gives a lightning bolt the properties of rubber in order to grab it, then hurls it at his opponent. This was first used against Kaidou, who managed to dodge the attack. In the anime Luffy was also shown to be able to grab and launch multiple bolts of lightning at once. In the VIZ manga and Funimation subs, this is called Gum-Gum Lightning.

Anime-Only

 * Gomu Gomu no Okaeshi (ゴムゴムのお返し): Luffy grabs onto a section of rubberized ground that has recoiled and stretched upwards from his opponent's attack, before throwing it downwards towards his opponent and then bouncing himself like a pinball down the section of ground, slamming himself into his target. In the simulcast subtitles, this is called Gum-Gum Counterblow.

Trivia

 * Gear 5's concept took inspiration from rubber hose animation and various cartoon effects. In particular, Oda drew inspiration from the cartoon Tom and Jerry. Oda himself wanted to draw something funny, and also wanted Luffy's fights to regain some funny elements, even though he was aware the general audience of One Piece would not like this concept because the general action sequences of contemporary Shonen manga are taken too seriously, causing the genre's uniqueness in the past to be lost over time. With the introduction of Gear 5, Oda wanted to create a polarity between Luffy's cartoonish humor and Kaidou's deadly seriousness.
 * Gear 5 was first hinted at in SBS Volume 98, when a fan asked if it was coming, and Oda responded by surreptitiously noting that the world was in the process of transitioning to 5G broadband networks.
 * Coincidentally, Gear 5 debuted in one of the chapters in Volume 103, exactly five volumes after the question.
 * Prior to the official introduction of the Gomu Gomu no Gigant ability, Luffy was coincidentally previously shown as a giant in a non-canon anime filler episode with the aid of an ally, Lily Enstomach.
 * Gear 5 made its first animated appearance as a brief cameo during the climax of One Piece Film: Red, exactly one year prior to its anime debut in Episode 1071.
 * Morgans found Luffy's awakened form to be mystifying, and upon receiving a photo of it from Guernica, used it as the image of his current bounty poster without approval, much to chagrin of the Five Elders, who considered it too dangerous to reveal Luffy's awakened Devil Fruit to the public.
 * Due to this, Gear 5 is the first Gear form to be featured on Luffy's bounty poster.