Can One Piece characters see Armament Haki? Explained

After the timeskip, Haki has become a central element of One Piece's power system. This ability allows characters to perform superhuman feats using their spiritual energy. One of the three types of Haki, the Color of Conqueror, is only available to the few individuals who are born with it. The other two, the Color of Armament and the Color of Observation, can potentially be learned by anyone.

Also known as Busoshoku, Armament Haki is an armor of spiritual energy that fighters can use to increase the power and durability of their bodies, weapons, and techniques. Armament Haki also allows to touch and injure the otherwise intangible physical bodies of Logia-type Devil Fruit users. From a graphic point of view, Armament Haki wasn’t particularly emphasized before the timeskip.

Since the beginning of the post-timeskip narration, however, it was often depicted by the user blackening his body or weapons. This is interpreted as a visual cue from the author to help readers understand when Busoshoku is being used in the manga. While this may be a misconception, it’s also interesting to clarify whether or not this blackening also appears in the eyes of One Piece characters themselves.

Normal Armament Haki may be invisible in One Piece, but Hardening sure isn't

The most common Haki type

Luffy using Armament Haki in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

The Color of Armament isn’t as strong as the Color of Conqueror but still provides a significant power boost through a wide range of applications. For example, it’s possible to flow and emit Haki outwards to attack a target without the need for physical contact. Certain users can even manipulate their Busoshoku to damage the target from the inside.

In any case, the power of one’s Armament Haki depends on the user’s skill and overall combat prowess. One Piece author Eiichiro Oda hasn’t always been consistent with his portrayal of Haki throughout the story, but the paramount importance of this power is now unquestionable.

Haki stems from willpower, which is one of the core themes of Oda’s addictive story. Furthermore, Haki helps to level the playing field. Not everyone happens to eat a Devil Fruit, but everyone can develop and master Haki, at least as far as Armament and Observation Haki are concerned. Therefore, Haki gives everyone an equal chance.

The result of the Armament Haki clash between Zoro and Pica (Image via Toei Animation)

Many of the absolute strongest One Piece characters don’t have Devil Fruit powers. However, regardless of their fighting style, each and every one of them is a mighty Haki user. According to Kaido, a former Yonko known as the “World’s Strongest Creature,” Haki surpasses every other ability in One Piece, including Devil Fruits, and was the power that enabled Gol D. Roger to become the Pirate King.

This wasn’t the first time when the superiority of Haki over Devil Fruits was mentioned. During Roronoa Zoro’s fight with Pica, the latter relied on his Stone-Stone Fruit to survive against the green-haired swordsman. When Zoro destroyed Pica’s gigantic stone golem, Pica explicitly stated that it didn’t matter, as he still had Haki as a trump card far superior to Devil Fruit power.

Zoro essentially agreed with him, declaring that the one with the strongest Haki would win the battle. Zoro then proved those words true by using his Armament Haki-amped swords to cut through Pica’s Armament Haki-amped body.

Basic Armament Haki and Busoshoku Koka

Garp's Haki as depicted before and after the timeskip (Image via Toei Animation)

Before the timeskip, Armament Haki was clearly used several times but wasn’t visible in either the manga or the anime. Whitebeard, Jozu, and Marco used it when trying to injure the Logia users Aokiji and Akainu; Garp used it to injure Marco; and Rayleigh used it to fight the Logia user Kizaru. No visual indication was given in any of these cases.

When the One Piece story entered his second part, things changed, as the Color of Armament was sometimes invisible and sometimes highlighted by the color black. Essentially, when a weapon or a body part was imbued with Armament Haki, it would turn black.

In this sense, the “black Haki” seemed to be a mere visual cue to indicate when the Color of Armament was used. However, there have been many instances in which Armament Haki was unequivocally used—Boo against Kelly Funk, Luffy against Caesar Clown, and more—but remained completely invisible.

Luffy using basic Armament Haki (Image via Shueisha)

This is because the so-called “black Haki” is a superior form of Busoshoku called Hardening (Koka, in the original Japanese). Armament Haki Hardening allows characters to concentrate a greater amount of Haki, to the point where their body parts or weapons turn black. This grants them a superior boost in terms of both toughness and raw power.

Although not explicitly stated, it's evident that the “invisible Haki” is the most basic form of Haki, while Busoshoku Hardening is a stronger application that concentrates more power. A testament to this, Luffy’s Armament Haki Hardening-imbued techniques have a different, specific name compared to the techniques where he uses Armament Haki without performing Hardening.

In the original black-and-white One Piece manga, this form of Haki is always depicted with a blackening, while in both the digitally colored manga and the anime adaptation, the Haki of each character takes on a different color.

Notable users of Armament Haki Hardening include Kuzan "Aokiji," Shiryu, Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Koby, Marshall D. Teach, Vergo, Pica, Dracule Mihawk, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Rob Lucci, Kaku, King, Kozuki Oden, Ulti, Bartholomew Kuma, and more.

Luffy using Armament Haki Hardening (Image via Shueisha)

Top-tier fighters like Garp, Rayleigh, and Whitebeard weren’t shown using Hardening before the timeskip simply because Oda had not yet fully established the mechanics of Haki at the time. In fact, when Garp was seen fighting again, this time in the recent chapters of the manga and episodes of the anime, his Haki was emphasized with the black color.

As for why even the best fighters who have been shown to use Hardening after the timeskip don’t always use it, that’s because Haki is subject to depletion if used for long periods or in particularly large amounts. Busoshoku Hardening concentrates a lot of Haki. Thus, using it repeatedly would cause the user’s Haki to be depleted in a very short time.

This has been seen several times in One Piece. Luffy’s Gear 4 transformation, which is permanently coated in Busoshoku Hardening, consumes all of his Armament Haki, and prolonged use can force him to rest in order to recover his energy.

Likewise, the sword Enma tests its wielders by drawing out their Haki. While this grants increased attacking power, it also exhausts the user. Only master swordsmen, such as Roronoa Zoro after the Wano Arc or the legendary Kozuki Oden, are powerful enough to wield Enma without having their Haki stolen by the blade.

One Piece characters can actually see Haki

Rayleigh explaining Haki to Luffy (Image via Toei Animation)

Another frequently debated issue with Armament Haki is whether or not it’s visible from the perspective of in-verse characters. Especially when Busoshoku Hardening is used, fans can easily recognize it as a form of Haki due to its established graphics. However, it may not necessarily be the same for in-verse characters.

Silver Rayleigh, one of the greatest Haki masters in the series, called the Color of Armament an invisible suit of armor. A similar definition was used by Hyogoro, a rather skilled Armament Haki user himself. He also mentioned an invisible armor.

Both Rayleigh and Hyogoro were giving a general explanation of the concept of Haki. This reinforces the idea that the basic Armament Haki is invisible, while the superior Armament Haki Hardening is visually highlighted by the blackening, and can be seen by both viewers and in-verse characters.

Gear 5 is always using Haki, even when it can't be seen (Image via Shueisha)

This is in line with what the One Piece story has shown. Even though Luffy's body wasn't always blackened, Kaido noted that his Gear 5 form was permanently coated with Armament and Conqueror’s Haki. The same happened during the Egghead Arc, when Gear 5 Luffy didn’t turn black and yet could touch Kizaru, a supposedly intangible Logia user.

The definitive answer to the question lies in a few panels from the Punk Hazard Arc. When Luffy attacked Caesar Clown with Jet Pistol, his arm wasn’t blackened. However, he clearly imbued it with Armament Haki, as the technique damaged Caesar, whose intangible body can only be harmed through the use of Haki.

When Caesar saw Luffy preparing the technique, he wasn’t worried at all. The Jet Pistol did hurt Caesar, but only slightly. This prompted Luffy to use a stronger attack, a Jet Gatling empowered with Busoshoku Hardening. Before performing this move, Luffy blackened his fists. Seeing that, Caesar got scared.

Caesar was worried because he saw Luffy's Armament Haki (Image via Shueisha)

Caesar Clown isn’t a Haki user, so he couldn’t have used Observation Haki to sense Luffy’s Busoshoku. He got scared because he saw it with his own eyes. Needless to say, this proves that One Piece characters can see Haki when it’s Busoshoku Hardening. This emphasizes the difference in both power and visual depiction between regular, basic Armament Haki and Armament Haki Hardening.

It remains ambiguous whether or not One Piece characters who can't use Observation Haki—and thus who can’t sense other people’spower— can see the basic Armament Haki form, which is both stated to be invisible and visually depicted as such. However, it's clear that the blackening caused by Armament Haki Hardening isn’t just a visual cue for fans, as in-verse characters can see it with their eyes.

Also, while black lightning sparkles are usually associated with the Color of Conqueror, in certain cases they can also be the result of Armament Haki. These flashes of lightning are clearly visible to any in-verse character.

Can One Piece characters see Armament Haki? Explained

Normal Armament Haki may be invisible in One Piece, but Hardening sure isn't

The most common Haki type

Basic Armament Haki and Busoshoku Koka

One Piece characters can actually see Haki

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