Greetings, One Piece fans!
For the last twenty-six years, the magnificent and ever-evolving story of One Piece and the amazing characters created by Eiichiro Oda have captivated the collective imaginations of millions. With its ever-intriguing mysteries and expanding storyline, fans have always been asking questions about the abilities of many characters.
One question that stands above the rest due to recent events is: Can Gear 5 Luffy bend reality? We have seen Gear 5 do many unexplainable things, and we have seen him change things, but what does that mean?
Over the course of this blog post, we will go over all of Gear 5’s fascinating powers and intricate lore in an attempt to answer the question: Can Gear 5 Luffy bend reality?
So buckle, and let’s set sail!
Gear 5: What We Know
Luffy’s most recent form, Gear 5, is an extension of his mythical Zoan-type devil fruit. This means that it is either his « True » form or a hybrid form. This form gives him access to all of the powers that his cosmically overpowered devil fruit processes.
From what we know of the Gear 5 form, it is called the Sun God, or « Nika » form, and it has the most ridiculous power in the world. But what does that mean? What kind of powers does the most ridiculous ability in the world have? Well, from what we have been told by the Gorosei in chapter 1044 and in Episode 1071, there’s no limit to it.
From Gorosei’s explanation, Nika has the ability to bring smiles and joy to people by turning imagination into reality. This means Luffy has the power to turn his own imagination into reality. This is a clear indicator that bending reality is well within his power, but have we ever seen it?
Bending reality: Gear 5 Vs. Kaido
In Luffy’s final battle with Kaido on Onigashima, we saw Luffy use many unconventional abilities that came from Gear 5. We saw him folding the ground, turning everything in his surroundings into rubber, and changing the shape and form of not only his own but also of Kaido’s body. Luffy’s childlike yet highly imaginative mind means that he can think of things that are almost unthinkable to others, and with gear five, he can do them.
We saw Luffy change his own shape and become the shape of Kaido’s weapon. We saw him bounce off the ground as if it were a trampoline. We even saw him reflect Kaido’s attack by turning a solid ground into a carpet.
All of these feats in his battle against Kaido show clearly that the only limit Luffy has when he’s in his Gear 5 form is his own imagination. This means that if he can think it, he can definitely bend reality in any way, shape, or form. But there are still more feats from Gear 5 that can justify this potential power.
Creating matter: Gear 5 in Eggland Island
During his time on Eggland Island, we saw one of the most overpowered yet easily missable feats of power from Gear 5 Luffy. As he was fighting an awakened Rob Lucci, we saw Luffy materialize a pair of goggles out of thin air. He simply pulled them out of his hair as he was in his Gear 5 form.
This means that not only can Gear 5 Luffy bend reality, but he can alter the fabric of reality itself, and in doing so, he can create matter out of nothing.
Another thing that needs to be taken into account is the fact that in Gear 5, Luffy seems to be toying with his enemies and chooses to deal with them in a comedic and cartoonish way. This points to another possible ability that can explain Gear 5’s power to bend reality.
Toon Force and Gear 5
In essence, the powers we have seen from Gear 5 are no less than Toon Force. Toon Force means that in a cartoon, the laws of physics and normal principles do not apply.
Take Bugs Bunny, for example. He can pull things out of nowhere and can alter reality at will because he is a cartoon. Essentially, that is what Gear 5 Luffy is.
In effect, he is a cartoon who can do whatever he wants and needs no explanation because he has toon force as a power.
Final Verdict: Can Gear 5 Luffy bend reality?
We have more than enough proof from Luffy’s feats at Wano and now at Eggland that he can, in fact, do things that cannot be explained. We have had Gorosei explicitly tell us he can change imagination into reality. And now we have seen him in the anime, turning things into rubber and toying with Kaido.
From all logical and theoretical points, Gear 5 indeed does have the power to bend reality, so our answer is a yes.
