Monkey D. Luffy has one of the most versatile Devil Fruits i One Pieceand it has given him many unique forms or transformations. However, when Gear 5 was introduced, it has become Luffy's most used form. As such, the likes of the Gear 4 and many others have been forgotten, but One Piece's Elbaf arc has done wonders to fix that. This arc has not only brought back the power of the Gear 4, but also upgraded it significantly in many ways to make it useful again. Despite having Gear 5, Luffy now has new advanced forms of Gear 4 that Oda will have him use in battle more often from here on out.
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How the latest arc improves gear four with a small upgrade
One Piece's Elbaf Arc gave fans a huge surprise when Luffy harnessed the power of Gear 4th at the beginning. As the Elbaf arc began, Luffy and the East Blue Straw Hats, along with Chopper, were in Road's diorama. Believing it to be the real Elbaf, the group was unable to get out until Luffy smashed through a wall with an enhanced version of Gear 4. Luffy called his upgraded Gear 4 'Mini Gear 4' and it saw him harness this power without even achieving the full transformation, making it incredibly useful and less taxing. This fixed one of the biggest flaws that the Gear 4 suffered from after the introduction of the Gear 5.
Why Sun God Nika made Gear Fourth obsolete
When Gear 5 was introduced in the Wano Country Arc, Gear Four was automatically made obsolete due to the incredibly taxing stamina and lack of firepower. Gears 2 and 3 may not be that strong, but they don't use up too much of Luffy's stamina. He can continue to use them in battle for long periods of time, which is why they are still useful to him, but the Gear 4 was a different matter altogether.
It required way too much Haki to keep in use, and above all, it wasn't even comparable to the Gear 5 in terms of overall power. As such, using Gear 4 was absolutely unnecessary for Luffy, and Gear 5 basically killed it. But now it has been brought back into play.
The unique applications of Luffy's upgraded ability
When Luffy used his fourth Gear in Egghead, it was clearly insufficient, but Elbaf has completely fixed that by introducing Mini Gear 4. This small upgrade is significant, because now Luffy can utilize it with only parts of his body. For example, Luffy can use the power of Kong Gun without assuming Gear Four in his whole body. Instead, only his arm transforms into Gear 4. He can similarly use powers like the King Kong Gun or any other ability without spreading the use of Gear 4 over his entire body.
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I call it…Mini Gear 4! — Luffy, Elbaf
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This removes the stamina drain problem and, more than that, allows him to maintain this power for a longer battle, giving him more access to more abilities in his base form. Mini Gear 4 has completely revived this transformation and made it one of the most versatile in history.
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Assessment of the Straw Hat Yonko's overall power level
At this point, Luffy is a much better user of Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika than ever before. His control over Gear 2 and Gear 3 is absolutely incredible. At this point, there are no weaknesses that he suffers from when it comes to these two gears. Gear 4 has now been completely mastered by him to the point where he can snap it into mere parts of his body in an instant. Gear 5 still suffers from a minor stamina drain, but it's clear to see that Elbaf is gradually phasing it out, and Luffy hasn't suffered any problems with the drain so far.
On top of that, Luffy is also upgrading his Haki significantly at the moment. He has finally learned the secret of harming the immortals in the One Piece world, and by the end of this arc, he will likely have traded blows with Imu as well, making him stronger than ever before. It might not show on the surface, but Luffy is slowly progressing when it comes to the use of his Devil Fruit.
His body is also adapting to the awakening, and it is clear to see that he is now much stronger than ever before. After Elbaf, Luffy may be ready for bigger challenges, like Shanks, and fans can't wait to see that.
One Piece chapter 1177 will be available to read on Manga Plus on March 22, 2026.
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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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
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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
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
