Say hello to Eiichiro Oda's latest Dark Luffy Transformation In One Piece

Monkey D. Luffy is the beloved protagonist of One Piece and fans know he's an incredibly powerful pirate in his own story. When Luffy embarked on his journey to become a pirate, he was quite weak and rather insignificant in a vast ocean. But over the years, Luffy has grown incredibly strong, overcoming one adversity after another. All the difficulties that he has faced have led him to where he is today and right now he stands proudly as one of the four emperors of the sea, with the goal of reaching even higher levels in the future of history.

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Luffy has achieved all of this with the many powers he has acquired along the way. His greatest abilities are known as Gears, and fans have seen him develop powers such as Gear 2, Gear 3, multiple forms of Gear 4 and of course Gear 5 in the story. As said, there is one transformation of Luffy that stands out the most than is known to the least of all fans and that is the Dark Luffy transformation. Eiichiro Oda designed this transformation years ago, and it was finally revealed to One Piece fans quite recently.

Luffy has multiple gear transformations thanks to Gomu Gomu no Mi

• Luffy used his intelligence to develop multiple gears

• Gomu Gomu no Mi's biggest advantage is the user's imagination

When it comes to Luffy's main powers, he relies on his Gomu Gomu no Mi. Fans know very well that Luffy's fruit allows him to use rubber-like powers and fight to the best of his ability. On the surface, this Devil Fruit ability might seem pretty useless, considering it only allows him to turn into rubber. But the way Luffy uses this power is absolutely fascinating.

Luffy has developed ingenious ways to fight at the highest level. For example, he has learned to pump blood faster through his body and developed Gear 2 in the process, increasing his strength drastically. With Gear 3, he inflates air in his legs and turns his limbs into Giantswith which he can do great damage.

With Gear 4, Luffy inflates his muscles and gains more mass, as well as strength. His speed is also enhanced, and he uses Haki along with his fruit to maximize the elasticity offered by his Devil Fruit powers. Of course, there's also his Devil Fruit Awakening, and fans know it's Gear 5. This is the freest Luffy has ever been. It also gives him significant strength, allowing him to compete at the highest level with foes like Kaido, Big Mom, and potentially even the likes of Shanks.

Clearly, Luffy's Gears are absolutely massive, and fans know very well that his total powers should not be underestimated. Along with that is the fact that he uses high level Haki of all three types. Slowly but steadily, Luffy has advanced all of his Haki typesand right now he is one of One Piece's most powerful Haki users as well.

Oda tried his luck with a dark Luffy Gear before Snakeman

• Dark Luffy appeared in Oda's Luffy Drafts

• It can be used later in a paragraph

While it goes without saying that Luffy's Gears are absolutely incredible, there is more to them than what fans have seen so far in the story. Last, One Piece Chapter 1169 came out with a special volume of Oda's own drafts that he didn't release for many years. In these drafts, fans could see the original designs of several characters, including Luffy. Fans also got to see Luffy's unique transformations, as well as Oda's sketches for them. One particular design that stood out was Dark Luffy.

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As also mentioned in the editor's note, Luffy's dark transformation seemed to have been a form of Gear 4. This form saw Luffy develop a very sinister personality with spiky hair. His entire body seemed to be covered in Armament Haki from top to bottom, and his hands seemed to have developed claws. At the same time, he had a very sharp face with anger written all over it. This dark Luffy transformation also appeared to support the traditional Hagoromo mantle ring around Luffy's neck, which is proof that it was a unique Gear form.

Undoubtedly, this new form of Luffy was simply huge in terms of aura, and fans would surely have latched onto it. Unfortunately, this form has yet to appear in One Piece. It ended up turning into Snakeman, which also became the inspiration for Gear 5 by Monkey D. Luffy.

Dark Luffy would be loved by all fans

Although Dark Luffy hasn't made his appearance in the One Piece manga yet, one thing that can be said with absolute certainty is that fans would love him. Modern shonen fans tend to love things that are a little more on the edgier side. At the end of the day, all Shonen fans love exciting battles, as well as cruel main characters. Luffy breaks the norm by being goofy most of the time, and has often been a major criticism he has faced from fans.

Meanwhile, the Gear 5 has taken things to a whole new level in terms of silliness. Luffy laughs all the time, hardly taking any situation seriously, and this has also received a lot of criticism from fans. If Luffy got a form where he is serious all the time and gives off a huge aura, fans would really love it, and it would also be a good balance to his regular Gear 5 form.

Dark Luffy may be back sometime in the future of One Piece

• Luffy's new transformation may debut in the final saga

• Oda can create a new equipment for Luffy

It must be remembered that Oda often brings back things from his old drafts of the story at various times. While Luffy's dark Gear 4 transformation hasn't made it into the story yetthat doesn't mean it can't show up later. Of course, Luffy still has Gear 5 and that is probably his best transformation to use in any battle. That said, having Gear 5 didn't stop him from using Gear 4 against the Seraphim, or using Gear 4 to break out of the Elbaf Castle built by Rodo.

As such, there is a good chance for Luffy to use his new dark transformation later on. That must also be remembered This dark Luffy transformation is what inspired Gear 5. Maybe, sometime later, Gear 5 himself will evolve to have subtypes, and then this dark transformation could be a big power-up for him.

For now, Luffy must learn to use his Gear 5 better as well as improve his Haki. Once he does these things, the door to better and stronger transformations may open for him.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece focuses on the journey of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail the seas to claim the great treasure known as One Piece. The manga is currently in its Final Saga. One Piece will be featured in this week's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue. The official release date for One Piece Chapter 1170 is January 4, 2026. In Japan, One Piece is released at 12:00 JST on Monday, which is 11:00 EST or 8:00 PT. Fans can read the chapter for free on the Manga Plus and Shonen Jump apps. If you do that, the fans will always support the writer.