Greetings, One Piece fans!
It’s a good time to love the One Piece series as the anime has just dived into the most amazing fights the series has ever known with the most breathtaking animation it has ever had. The Manga is giving us chapter after chapter of lore and exposition as we dive into Oda’s Magnum Opus.
With the fandom being more active than ever, there have been questions going around about the power and level of strength of many characters within the One Piece world.
Putting labels on One Piece in any regard of strength has always been challenging, as Oda has created a non-linear power structure. One Piece characters have fascinating and unorthodox abilities, and the main character, Luffy, is no exception. Luffy’s New form, Gear 5, has left many fans completely baffled.
Luffy’s true strength remains unknown, thus leading us to today’s question: Is Luffy Universal Level ? Meaning can Luffy destroy a universe with ease or in a single attack? Anyone who has seen or read One Piece and understands how the power dynamics work would shrug at the possibility, but there is a possibility.
So join me as I try to determine whether Luffy has such god-like power.
Luffy’s Power
Like I said before, Oda’s power system is unique, unlike anything else in all of anime, so it’s a bit confusing to understand how powerful Luffy is. At the same time, trying to put Luffy in the same category as characters like Goku is unfair.
One Piece has its own unique structure of power, but we will still entertain this possibility. Luffy’s strength grew throughout the series. He has slowly grown stronger.
So, we will be tracking Luffy’s evolution to see if, at any point, he had the power to destroy the universe. Luffy’s growth has been gradual, so we start at the beginning.
Is Luffy Universal level at the start of the series ?
At the start of the series, Luffy is a mere mortal; there is no logical comparison between him and other universal-level characters.
His most extraordinary feats at this time are destroying Arlong Park and punching a Sea king, going from there to destroying a universe is entirely absurd.
In any and all regards, it is laughable to consider the possibility that he could become a literal destroyer of reality.
But as I said, his power and strength slowly evolved on a linear path.
Is Luffy Universal level at Marineford ?
The events of Marineford and their aftermath is a proper middle ground. Both to the series and to Luffy’s growth.
At this point, Luffy has shown many feats that scale his power higher than before.
With abilities like Gear 3, Lufgy can level multiple buildings and has the strength to destroy warships.
Yet, even with all that strength, power, and abilities, Luffy can only be classified as City-block level at best.
The strongest character at Marineford was Whitebeard, and even he was just planetary level at best.
Thus there is no logical possibility, up to the events of Marineford, that Luffy is or can become Universal.
Is Luffy Universal level after the time skip ?
Things did change after the Time-Skip. After training with Rayleigh, Luffy’s powers and abilities grew exponentially.
To the point that he became one of the most feared characters within the One Piece world.
With the addition of Haki and Gear 4 to his arsenal of abilities, Luffy had the power to destroy cities and small islands, as he showed at Dressrosa, a feat many discredits.
Luffy was far more powerful after the time skip, but there was still no imaginable way through which he could be Universal.
He would need to be a literal God for that. Even after two years of training, he was still Island level, and even that is being generous.
To compare him to the likes of Zeno from Dragon Ball Super is unjust.
Is Luffy Universal level during the Wano Arc ?
The Wano arc was a power that was not limited to Luffy. The other Strawhats gained power-ups as well. Luffy suddenly became more powerful than he had ever been before.
He learned abilities like Ryo(Advanced Armament Haki) that made his attacks more destructive but still wholly useless on a universal scale.
He showed the ability to destroy entire cities with ease and managed to almost knock Kaido out with a single attack, but that still remained physical.
He would need to have many times the strength to even destroy a planet, much less the universe.
Even at this point, being the strongest he had ever been, Luffy still cannot even imagine Destroying the world.
The universe is a category he cannot even touch.
Is Gear 5 Luffy Universal level?
Gear 5 changes how Luffy is as a character. He is a literal god with Gear 5, The sun God.
However, keeping in view the tone and structure of the One Piece world, considering there is no logical explanation as to why Oda gives Luffy so much power.
That’s just not how One Piece works.
Even if Luffy can bend reality like he did during his battle with Kaido and later with Luchi, he is still limited by the constraints of his own verse.
One Piece is not a universal-level anime. Thus universal laws do not apply.
Luffy does not need to be universal, so he is not and will never be.
So our answer is, No, Luffy is not Universal level.
