One Piece: Every Power-Up Unlocked By Luffy Yet to Be Featured in Games

As Monkey D. Luffy has trained to fulfill his goal of becoming King of the Pirates, he’s powered up in many different ways. But games based on One Piece haven’t developed all of Luffy’s powers for their players. Lasting over twenty-five years, One Piece has plenty of material for developers to choose from, but the franchise’s protagonist should definitely receive these boosts in upcoming installments.

Any One Piece fan is aware of Luffy’s devil fruit power, achieved originally by eating the Gum Gum Fruit (Gomu Gomu no Mi) and the expansion of his stretchy power with his invention of Gears, essentially a power-leveling structure as he’s grown throughout the series. However, there are specific aspects of Luffy’s powers that have been difficult to translate into video games like Haki.

As one of the most recognizable and beloved characters in anime and manga, Luffy has been in many games outside the One Piece franchise, including Shonen titles like Jump Force, Jump Super Stars, and Jump Ultimate Stars. However, this article focuses on his appearances in mainline One Piece games, including:

• One Piece: Grand Battle! Series
• One Piece: Unlimited Series
• One Piece: Pirate Warriors Series
• One Piece: World Seeker
• One Piece Odyssey
• And many, many more

Additionally, One Piece: Bounty Rush, a free-to-play mobile 4v4 multiplayer team action game, contains some of the abilities mentioned in this article. As one of the few mainline One Piece games consistently updated with new characters and abilities, Bounty Rush has the advantage of keeping up with new additions to the franchise. However, the powers mentioned in this article aren’t available in most mainline One Piece PC and console games.

Luffy’s Gear 5 Changes the Battlefield

In one of the most iconic episodes of the franchise, Monkey D. Luffy finally unlocks his full potential by using Gear 5. In this new state, Luffy’s already cartoonish stretching fighting style goes completely off the rails, making high-stakes battles seem like Looney Tunes fights.

It’s revealed that the Gomu Gomu no Mi’s original name is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. The rubbery attributes so closely associated with Luffy originally came from the legendary sun god Nika. Prior to Luffy, the fruit was originally eaten by the mysterious Joy Boy, supposedly the first ever pirate in the world of One Piece. The power of Nika and the reputation of Joy Boy combined with Luffy’s notoriety makes enemies quake when Luffy uses this new power scaling technique. It is currently the most powerful form Luffy can maintain.

As mentioned, Gear 5 Luffy is playable in One Piece: Bounty Rush, but this form has yet to be playable in any other games. The latest mainline One Piece game, One Piece Odyssey, saw Luffy reaching up to Gear 4 in gameplay. With his Gum-Gum King Kong Gun in Gear 4 being considered as one of the best moves in One Piece Odyssey, Luffy’s Gear 5 moves would surely blow this ability out of the water.

In addition to his Joy Boy form, Luffy has had many recognizable character designs over the years. Similar to how Sanji’s Soba Mask form is available to play in One Piece: Bounty Rush, the following Luffy forms are available to play in various One Piece mobile games and niche older titles, but not in mainline PC and console titles that are more popular.

Luffy’s Old Character Designs Make for Great New Characters

Afro Luffy

Not featured again in the manga since the pre-timeskip Long Ring Long Land arc, Afro Luffy was a fun joke character born to fight Foxy the Silver Fox. While preparing for the fight, Usopp gave Luffy an afro to use in battle, claiming that the wig would give him extra powers in battle. In addition to the afro, Luffy sported boxing shorts and boxing gloves in the ring.

Though Luffy gained no additional powers from the afro, it still added to the comedy of the short filler arc. A new mainline title could bring back the comedy of pre-timeskip One Piece by including Afro Luffy as a skin or by making him the most overpowered character in the game. This comedic move would fit in with other One Piece games as the franchise has a history of committing to the bit. For example, outside the franchise in Jump Force, Sanji sticks to his characterization by being unable to do damage to female characters.

Afro Luffy is available to play in the mobile game One Piece: Treasure Cruise and console game One Piece: Burning Blood, which was released in 2016. Since then, he hasn’t made any significant appearances. At the very least, Afro Luffy would be a fun DLC skin.

Related

One Piece: Every Power-Up Unlocked By Zoro Yet to Be Featured in Games

It no surprise that Zoro’s powers have been enhanced many times over the course of One Piece, but game adaptations don’t reflect his adaptation.

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Nightmare Luffy

The same can be said of Nightmare Luffy. In the Thriller Bark Arc, the Rolling Pirates buff up Luffy by infusing him with the power of one hundred shadows that were separated from their owners by Gecko Moria. These shadows gave Luffy the strength to defeat Moria and Oars and granted him additional powers he didn’t have previously. For example, one of the shadows infused in him was a swordsman. Luffy began to sword fight against his opponents without previous knowledge of the fighting style. In addition to his strength, Luffy’s speed has been increased in this Nightmare form.

Luffy’s visual transformation into this form is stark. Nightmare Luffy is roughly the same size as Chopper’s Heavy Point, featuring large bulging muscles and unnaturally blue skin. His personality also changed. Where Luffy may have gained new fun catchphrases as Afro Luffy, as Nightmare Luffy he begins talking with an uncharacteristically grim tone. One could even say that Nightmare Luffy is the antithesis to Joy Boy.

Nightmare Luffy is yet another character that is available in One Piece: Bounty Rush, but he is also present in the Wii game One Piece: Unlimited Cruise. Nightmare Luffy’s inclusion in Unlimited Cruise was topical at the time as the game was released in 2009, a year after the Thriller Bark arc began in the anime. Bounty Rush seeks to include even the most niche characters in its roster, unlike most mainline One Piece games. This is proven by the exclusion of Nightmare Luffy from any mainline console titles in the franchise since Unlimited Cruise.

However, Unlimited Cruise took a unique approach to Nightmare Luffy. Unlike in canon, Nightmare Luffy was able to demonstrate archery skill and could shoot fireballs from his mouth after drinking sake. This creative decision proves that developers can experiment with the various characters in One Piece’s roster, something that should be done for both Afro and Nightmare Luffy if they’re included in games going forward.

While the inclusion of Gear 5 in the next mainline One Piece game is guaranteed, the inclusion of Afro and Nightmare Luffy are not. However, bringing them back to the next title in the franchise could draw in older fans of One Piece, who are nostalgic for the pre-time skip days.

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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates’ ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Main Genre

Anime

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Seasons

20

Studio

Toei Animation

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Based On

Manga

Creator

Eiichiro Oda

Story By

Eiichiro Oda

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Number of Episodes

1116+

MyAnimeList Score

8.71

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