Greetings, One Piece fans!
For the last twenty-six years, the vibrant world and the unending fantasy of One Piece held sway over the collective imaginations of millions of fans across the globe. With its ultimately evolving powers, intricate worlds, and a storyline that just keeps expanding, fans have always been asking questions about the abilities of many characters and their weaknesses.
One question that stands above the rest due to recent events is: Does Gear 5 Luffy have drawbacks ? We have seen Gear 5 do many unexplainable things, but do these powers come at a cost?
Over the course of this blog post, we will go over all of Gear 5’s fascinating powers and all we have seen regarding it in an attempt to answer the question: Does Gear 5 Luffy have drawbacks?
So buckle, and let’s set sail!
Gear 5 Drawbacks: Physical Aging
The most prominent setback that we have seen from Gear 5 was the visibly older and fatigued firm of Luffy when Gear 5 wore off for a moment in the middle of his battle with Kaido.
This form means that not only does Gear 5 put Luffy’s body through extreme strain, but it also physically changes his appearance.
One could assume that this is a side effect of Gear 5 shortening Luffy’s life span, as the other Gear’s do.
We also say Luffy is in his older and fatigued form, saying that he is « beat, » which means that even though Gear 5 gives him momentary god-like strength, it also leaves him completely exhausted and physically drained.
Gear 5 Drawbacks: Shortened Lifespan
As we know before, using Gear 2 and 4 has an effect on Luffy’s body, to the point that it actually lessens his life span. This is because both of those forms put a physical strain on his heart and his body.
One would assume that because Gear 5 gives Luffy a far superior power and changes his body even more, it puts him through more stress, thus chipping away at his life even more.
So Gear 5 makes Luffy a god, but it may in fact come at the cost of his own life.
Until now, Oda has not confirmed this, so there is no official setback, but we saw Gear 5 physically make Luffy older, thus giving him less time to live.
So, it is logical to assume that Gear 5 does, in fact, shorten Luffy’s life.
Gear 5 Drawbacks: Recharge Time
Even though we haven’t particularly seen it, it is completely logical for us to assume that after powering down from Gear 5, Luffy may have a long period where he would be unable to use Haki.
This is because, as we saw on Dressrosa, Luffy was unable to use any kind of Haki for a good ten minutes after gear 4.
Now, even though Luffy quickly recovered from accelerated age form during his fight with Kaido, we have to assume that after the fight, he did have to take a long period of rest.
This period may decrease with time, as the duration of the chibi form after gear 3 did, but considering the power of gear 5, there has to be some price to pay.
Gear 5 Drawbacks: Altered Personality
It also needs to be noted that, while in gear 5, Luffy acts a lot more goofy and nonserious. This may be because of the fact that the Hito-Hito no mi has a will of its own.
The will of Joy Boy lives in the fruit itself, and with its awakening, this will is now a part of Luffy.
This isn’t exactly a bad thing, but it does mean that Luffy may not be himself. That means it’s possible that the more he uses gear 5, the more dominance his fruits will have on his own.
That essentially means that Luffy may not be himself but become a different person entirely. He may become Joyboy.
Final Verdict: Does Gear 5 Luffy have drawbacks ?
Even though so far we have only seen feats of great power and unlimited abilities from Gear 5, and no canon weakness has so far been revealed, it is logical to assume that Gear 5 does, in fact, have drawbacks. Even if Luffy can turn his and others’ imaginations into reality, that does come at a cost.
This cost may be the moss of his own personality, it may be loss of life span, or it may be an early death, but if we think about it, an early death is actually fitting for Luffy.
Luffy is supposed to be Roger’s successor and thus has a lot of parallels with the former pirate king. This means that, like Roger, Luffy may, one way or another, die young.
Regardless, our final verdict is, yes, Gear 5 does, in fact, have drawbacks, like all other powers in Luffy’s arsenal.
