7 One Piece Power Ups that rival Luffy's Gear 5

Monkey D. Luffy's Gear 5 is the result of the awakening of Hito Hito no Mi, model: Nika, and it's easily one of the best power-ups seen in all of One Piece. While the Gear 5 is the ultimate force when it comes to freewheeling battles, there are some unique power-ups found in the world of One Piece which can continue to compete with it. In fact, some powers that Eiichiro Oda has written into his story are so incredible that they could arguably even surpass Gear 5.

Family

One Piece: All 5 users of Hito Hito no Mi, ranked

Hito Hito no mi is a devil fruit with many variations, and there are quite a few famous users of this category in One Piece.

Five Elder Yokai

• Devil Fruit: Yokai Powers

• Form: Hybrid transformations

The five elders are the loyal followers of Imu and perhaps the strongest in the world government after the king himself. The five elders have alliances with the king of the world, and they make them extremely powerful. In their case, they have an Abyssal contract with Imu, which gives them access to infinite regeneration, immortality, superhuman strength and, to top it all off, a Yokai transformation as well.

Every elder has a unique one Yokai transformation as Oda has already shown in the Egghead Arc of One Piece. This Yokai transformation, combined with the incredibly powerful Haki that they possess, is strong enough to rival Luffy's Gear 5, which was evident in the Egghead Arc. When they go all out, the five elders can easily compete with the Gear 5, and some can even go on to overpower it.

Big Mom's Soul Consumption

• Devil Fruit: Soru Soru no Mi

• Form: Physical Buff Transformation

Although they have a Paramecia Devil Fruit called Soru Soru no Mi, Big mom have their own unique power-ups that come through different transformations, and her soul consumption form is surely one of them. By consuming a portion of her own lifespan, Big Mom can boost herself in size and look even more menacing than ever before, making her stronger. The more longevity she consumes, the stronger she becomes. Of course, the cost of harnessing this power is high, but it gives her immense strength that hardly anyone in the world can compete with.

This power-up was such that Big Mom could even handle both Law and Kid at the same time. Although she continued to lose this battle, it was only due to the fact that she was thrown from the island and had enough bombs to destroy an entire country dropped on her.

Kaido's Drum Dragon

• Devil Fruit: Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu

• Form: Full Zoan Transformation

Kaido was the first character in all of One Piece to fight Luffy's Gear 5. While his regular hybrid form was constantly outmaneuvered by the Gear 5, Kaido's strongest form definitely kept competing with it. Kaido unleashed the power of the the flaming drum dragon towards the end of the arc, where he covered his body in magma-like fire so hot that it could basically melt entire islands just by passing over them.

If Kaido made direct contact with Luffy in this form, the latter would surely have died. Thanks to his ability to deal devastating damage without touching his opponents, Luffy was able to bypass Kaido's strongest offensive abilities, but it goes without saying that Kaido was more than just a rival to Luffy's Gear 5 with this power-up.

Family

One Piece: 6 Devil Fruit Users From The Void Century

The Void Century was a mysterious time period, with some of the most powerful Devil Fruits ever.

Domi Reversi from Rocks

• Devil Fruit: None

• Form: Forced contract with Imu

Rocks D. Xebec is one of the most iconic characters that Oda finally shed some light on in the Elbaph arc during Loki's flashback. Rocks was immensely powerful on his own, as evidenced by the fact that he was able to effortlessly kill an admiral 56 years ago and was also able to match the legendary King Harald in terms of strength and power.

Rocks underwent an incredibly overwhelming transformation at the hands of Imu 38 years ago in the God Valley, where he fell. His power-up came through Domi Reversiand it gave him immense strength at the cost of a portion of his lifetime, made him immortal, and gave him infinite regeneration, but removed all reasoning and logic from him. Rocks became a mindless monster controlled by Imu in any way he wanted.

His power was so immense that even the likes of Roger and Garp couldn't take him down individually. The two had to join forces to finally end his rampage, making it an incredibly dangerous power-up. Even with Gear 5, Luffy wouldn't have been able to stop Rock's D. Xebec's advance.

Harald's Deep Alliance

Image by Viz Media

• Devil Fruit: None

• Form: Alliance with Imu

Imu has the unique ability to empower not only herself but also her minions, or even her enemies in some cases. One of the most dangerous power-ups he can provide comes through Covenant. Imu's strongest alliance is the Abyssal Alliance, which is assigned to the five elders, but Deep connection is also dangerous. Imu noticed this association further King Harald 14 years ago, and it made him a weapon of mass destruction. This alliance granted Harald immortality, regeneration, and also superhuman strength, which, when stacked with what he already possessed, made him virtually invincible.

Harald's strength reached such a level that it was believed that if he left Elbaph, he would continue to destroy the entire world. Harald was by far the strongest puppet Imu ever had in the series. His strength was such that not even Shanks and Gaban combined could stop him, and only due to Loki's overwhelming Nidhoggr ability, which acts as a harsh counter to Imu's powers, was he stopped in his tracks.

Loki's Nidhoggr Hybrid

• Devil Fruit: Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Nidhoggr

• Form: Hybrid Transformation

Loki is the cursed prince of Elbaph and one of the strongest characters in the whole One Piece. He ate the Nidhoggr Devil Fruit 14 years ago, making him a force to be reckoned with. Loki's powers are such that it is said that he can go on to destroy the entire world with them. Even King Harald, who was a monster in his own right, was not strong enough to endure battles against the likes of Loki.

While his Nidhoggr transformation is truly powerful, Loki has an even greater power-up that allows him to tap into his hybrid form and grow further in terms of strength. This form was briefly teased in a silhouette during his fight against Harald, but regardless, it's one of the greatest abilities seen in One Piece.

Imu's Devil Form

• Devil Fruit: Akuma no Mi

• Form: Hybrid Transformation

If there is a power-up throughout One Piece which continues to overshadow even Luffy's Gear 5 transformation, it's Imu's Devil's Fruit. First unleashed in chapter 1179 of the story, Imu showed off the power of his Devil Fruit, summoned Akuma no Mifor the very first time. This Devil Fruit allows him to transform into the Devil himself, meaning it falls under the Zoan class and gives him a unique transformation.

Imu was seen approaching the hybrid form immediately after arriving in Elbaph and transforms into what resembled the devil of the world. This Devil was so strong that no one could stand in Imu's way in battle. Imu could also transform into a full version of the Devil, but the actual character design for this form remains unseen as of now.

It was briefly teased during Sabo's clash with the Five Elders and Nerona Imu in the throne room of Pangea Castle in the Sacred Land of Marijoa. Imu is in a completely different league and much stronger than Sun God Nika right now, making this power-up even more dangerous.

One Piece can be read on Manga Plus.

One Piece

Release date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Author

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)