One Piece chapter 1118: How can Bonney use Gear 5? Explained

Jewelry Bonney is among the most important characters in One Piece’s ongoing Egghead Arc. Despite using a Devil Fruit ability to appear as a young adult woman, Bonney is a 12-year-old girl. Two years before the present One Piece narration, Bartholomew Kuma sacrificed his human consciousness. He accepted becoming a cyborg in the World Government’s service, to save Bonney from a terrible disease.

As the adoptive daughter of Kuma, Bonney has a very deep love for the latter. Those feelings of gratitude led her to become a pirate in search of Kuma, until the two eventually reunited during the Egghead Incident. It should be noted that Bonney’s Devil Fruit ability is the result of Saint Jaygarcia Saturn’s experiment, which granted her the powers of the Age-Age Fruit.

Owing to this Paramecia-type ability, Bonney can freely manipulate the aging process of organic and inorganic matter, including even her own body. A testament to the Age-Age Fruit’s incredible features, in One Piece chapter 1118 Bonney was able to use it to replicate Luffy’s Gear 5 transformation. She could essentially turn herself into the “Sun God” Nika, just like the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1118.

Bonney becomes Nika alongside Luffy in One Piece chapter 1118

Expand Tweet

With the sole exception of Saint V. Nusjuro, who was busy fighting against Roronoa Zoro, the other Gorosei attacked the Ancient Robot to stop the broadcast of Vegapunk’s message. Meanwhile, Luffy reunited with Sanji, Franky, and Bonney, who were aboard one of the ships of the Giant.

Bonney had managed to defeat both Vice Admiral Doll and Vice Admiral Bluegrass by turning them into powerless children with her Devil Fruit ability. As soon as he climbed aboard the ship, Luffy literally emptied the kitchen, eating a huge amount of food to replenish his energies.

As Saint Mars struck the ship with a tremendous beam, which the Giants barely blocked, Luffy jumped out and activated his Gear 5 form. Before going on the attack, Luffy called out Bonney, asking her to come with him. However, she replied that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Luffy’s flamboyant transformation.

Expand Tweet

Laughing, Luffy encouraged her, saying that he was sure that she could do that. Moved by Luffy’s words, Bonney remembered when the former told her about Gear 5 being the peak of freedom. She also remembered Kuma’s promise to raise her as his daughter, a heartfelt vow that he made in front of Ginny’s grave.

Moments later, Bonney used her Age-Age Fruit’s Distorted Future technique to become Nika, just like Luffy. Bonney’s transformation completely replicated the features of Luffy’s Gear 5, including the white curly hair, white clothes, ring-shaped eye pupils, and white clouds floating around her body.

Both laughing enthusiastically, Luffy and Bonney dove to attack Saint Mars, while Saint Warcury and Saint Ju Peter also approach the scene.

An unpredictable Devil Fruit power

Bonney using her Devil Fruit powers in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

The Age-Age Fruit grants Bonney a potential that should not be underestimated. Even before her exploit in One Piece chapter 1118, this was made clear by the fact that Bonney managed to gain fame as one of the Eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation.

Despite being a girl in her early tween years, she has been able to compete with much older and more experienced individuals. In terms of fighting power, Bonney is not comparable to the likes of Luffy, Zoro, or Law, but the Age-Age Fruit still makes her a force to be reckoned with. All in all, she’s not a pushover.

By manipulating the aging process of her targets, Bonney can alter both organic and inorganic matter. She can apply her ability to living beings to rapidly increase or decrease their age, turning them into frail elderly people or helpless children. By doing so, she renders them inoffensive.

To affect someone with her Devil Fruit ability, Bonney needs to touch that person’s body. In any case, the effects of the age manipulation are only temporary, and can potentially be stopped or countered by powerful Haki users.

Bonney can channel the Age-Age Fruit’s peculiar powers through weapons or use them to destroy objects by causing them to corrode due to the aging process. Using her powers on herself, Bonney can alter her age to conceal her true identity, infiltrate into certain places, or enhance her physical features.

With Distorted Future, Bonney turns imagination into reality like Nika

Bonney as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Age-Age Fruit’s most impressive technique is Distorted Future. With this move, Bonney can age herself up into an alternate future, changing her body accordingly. In particular, the effects of Distorted Future depend on Bonney’s imagination.

For instance, Bonney can age herself up into a different future in which her body becomes large and muscular like that of a Buccaneer. This is based on the fact that she knows the features of a Buccaneer via her adoptive father, Kuma, who is a member of the same race.

Likewise, based on Kuma’s tales about Nika, Bonney used Distorted Future to age herself up into an alternate future in which she has the same rubber-like body as the legendary “Sun God”. As such, she could generate an enlarged arm very similar to Luffy’s Gear 3.

Bonney's Distorted Future as seen in the One Piece anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Upon meeting the Giants during the Egghead Incident, Bonney used this technique to age herself once again. This time, she gained a very large physique, much like that of an Elbaf warrior. With this in mind, at this point, it’s safe to say that Bonney’s Devil Fruit powers go beyond mere age manipulation, as she can essentially shapeshift herself into any future form she wants.

As long as the possibility exists in Bonney’s mind, she can turn the future into a reality, simply by wishing for it to happen. All she has to do is imagine something and believe in it deeply, and then she can manifest it as the result of another timeline, as a sort of alternate universe.

Notably, her ability is not limited to mimicking appearances. Bonney can even replicate the intended alternate future version’s specific features, as seen when she inflated and stretched her arm to attack Alpha.

Bonney seeing Kuma's memories (Image via Toei Animation)

Even if only temporarily, Bonney can realize what she wishes for, converting imagination into reality just like Luffy does when in his Gear 5 form. Needless to say, however, Luffy is a fighter of a completely different level, as he has fully awakened his Devil Fruit powers. He can also combine them with the advanced versions of all three types of Haki, including the Color of Conqueror.

It should be noted that what Bonney does in One Piece, chapter 1118, is the culmination of a long process. Upon seeing Kuma’s memories, Bonney started respecting Luffy, as she found out that Kuma had high hopes for him. However, she had not yet understood that, when using Gear 5, Luffy was Nika in every way.

Bonney only connected the dots, realizing the connection between Luffy’s white-colored transformation and the features of Nika. That was when Vegapunk indicated the very same young pirate as the “Sun God” that she, Kuma, and many other people were waiting for. At that time, Bonney couldn’t help but cry from felicity.

Expand Tweet

Bonney then witnessed Luffy using his Gear 5 form to fight Saint Saturn. With that in mind and Luffy’s recent encouragement, she was finally able to turn herself into Nika, coming full circle with the themes explored in her backstory.

Bonney spent her life looking for Nika, the fabled liberator of the oppressed, and so did Bartholomew Kuma, who decided to have faith in Luffy, the son of his friend Dragon. Kuma was right, as the young, light-hearted pirate turned out to be the second coming of Joy Boy, inheriting the same Nika-like powers.

Now, Bonney can tap into the same happiness-bringing ability. Undoubtedly, it was a fulfilling moment, and Kuma would have deserved to witness it with his own eyes. Bonney wished to age herself up into a future where she is completely free, and she identified that alternate version of herself with Nika, the tangible representation of freedom and hope.

Kuma would be so happy to see Bonney becoming Nika (Image via Toei Animation)

However, Bonney’s Distorted Future does have its limits. If she can’t imagine a certain future, then she can’t alter her body accordingly. Furthermore, at least to date, she can only keep the transformation active for a very short time, meaning that she can’t handle a prolonged fight.

The fact that Bonney is just a 12-year-old girl also affects her combat effectiveness. The Age-Age Fruit and, in particular, the Distorted Future technique grant her remarkable potential, but a tween is probably not skilled enough to use it in the best possible way, especially against a significantly stronger and experienced fighter.

Theoretically, Bonney could turn herself into an alternate future version where she imagines to be more powerful than her opponent, whoever he is. However, until she improves her stamina, her advantage will be short-lived. That said, Bonney’s exploits remain absolutely outstanding. At the age of 12, she is one of the most dangerous rookies in the One Piece world, which is pretty amazing.