Summary
- Luffy's Gear Fifth allows him to perform absurd feats and warp reality, but he can't remain in this state for long periods of time.
- Goku, a martial arts master and Saiyan, has access to powerful new forms and is already a formidable opponent without his Saiyan abilities.
- While Gear Fifth has potential, it's not on the same level as Goku's decades of training and mastery of multiple abilities. Luffy may still develop new powers that could make him a more equal match in the future.
When it comes to ridiculously powerful main heroes in the shonen genre of manga, One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy and Dragon Ball's Son Goku reign supreme. Both characters are top-tier mystic warriors and main protagonists of their respective series. With the recent introduction of Luffy's Gear Fifth that enhances his power level, it calls into question whether or not he would be able to withstand the divine might of a Saiyan in a one-on-one battle with Goku.
Luffy mastered his new Gear Fifth powers after awakening the true abilities of his Devil Fruit against Kaido. Gear Fifth allows Luffy to fight however he wants, allowing him to warp reality and perform cartoonishly absurd feats. It also lets him combine Gear Third’s limb inflation feature and Gear Fourth’s muscle inflation, but without ballooning his body. This combination results in all parts of his body becoming extremely elastic. When Luffy first used it against Kaido, he grew parts of his body to kaiju-level sizes to throw Kaido around. This elasticity also extends to a host of other smaller abilities. Luffy can warp the physical environment around him, transferring his rubbery nature to objects, as seen when Luffy manipulated the arena against Kaido's attacks. However, there are limitations. Luffy can't remain in his awakened state for long periods of time, meaning he must defeat his enemies quickly while using it.
Luffy's Gear Fifth Is Strong, But It Can't Beat Goku Yet
On the other hand, the name Goku is synonymous with "prodigy." He's a certified martial arts master from an alien planet, which gives him a slew of perks Luffy doesn't have access to. His alien features enhance his combat abilities and increase his durability. Additionally, as a Saiyan, Goku is able to unlock overpowered new forms of himself through sheer willpower. Goku's efficiency and ability with ki attacks such as the Kamehameha also put him in a league of his own as one of the most powerful Dragon Ball characters in existence. Essentially, Goku is already a formidable foe without his Saiyan abilities, and this combination would make him the victor against Luffy's Gear Fifth.
Luffy's Gear Fifth has nearly unlimited potential when it comes to generating new attacks due to its reality-bending nature. However, two of its most threatening attacks are the Gum-Gum Giant and the Gum-Gum Jump Rope. Both of these techniques involve extreme transformations with no time restrictions on behalf of Luffy or his opponent, with the former involving Luffy exponentially increasing his size to launch huge attacks and the latter being stretched into a jump rope. Goku would easily be able to combat the Jump Rope technique through his durability and has moved mountains far heavier than Luffy's stretchy kaiju form. The main reason that Gear Fifth can't beat a Saiyan is because Luffy's abilities are still growing. Goku is already a master of many abilities and operates at a much higher level than Luffy at his most powerful.
While Luffy's Gear Fifth abilities are indeed impressive, they are not equal to Goku's decades of training. Gear Fifth is an interesting fighting technique that has been used very effectively in combat thus far, but not against super beings like Goku. Luffy is still developing his true powers and testing the limits of his abilities, while Goku is always becoming more and more powerful. Unfortunately, even with Gear Fifth Luffy would lose out on this round, but it would be unwise to discount the One Piece hero and any future Gear abilities that could make him a more equal match for Dragon Ball's Goku.