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Bounties have always been a very debated topic among One Piece fans. Following the end of the fierce fighting in Onigashima, which marked the defeat of Kaido, Big Mom, and their subordinates, the series disclosed the new bounties of Monkey D. Luffy, Eustass Kid, and Trafalgar D. Water Law.
As seen in One Piece episode 1080, titled A Celebration Banquet! The New Emperors of the Sea!, Luffy, Kid, and Law were awarded the same exact bounty of three billion berries. As prominent Worst Generation Supernovas, the captains of the three crews involved in Kaido and Big Mom's downfall are in competition.
Still, Luffy has proved himself to be much stronger than both Kid and Law, to the point where he outclasses them in every way.
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Unsurprisingly, many fans were upset at Kid and Law getting the same price on their heads as Luffy, a circumstance that this thread will try to put into proper context.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga for anime-only viewers.
One Piece episode 1080 highlights Luffy, Kid, and Law's incredible new bounties, but something doesn't add up
Luffy is lightyears ahead of both Law or Kid
One Piece features several rivalries, each with its own dynamic. Broadly speaking, the competitive drive of a rivalry triggers characters to bring out their best and improve. Still, the fact that two or more characters battle for the same goal doesn't necessarily mean that they are comparable, much less equals.
If their feats and narrative depiction are different, characters are meant to be far apart in strength, even though they theoretically compete for the same aim or have some shared portrayal. Luffy's dynamic with Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law, that One Piece highlighted in episode 1080, is clearly one of these cases.
While there's no doubt that Law and Kid are incredibly strong pirates, it's also pretty evident that they just can't compare with Luffy, who eclipses them in every regard. Thus, it is easy to understand why most fans were displeased at the three sharing the same bounty.
Before the Wano Arc, Luffy's bounty was far higher - three times higher - than Kid and Law's (one and half billion berries to 470 million berries and, respectively, 500 million berries). In Wano, Luffy's battle performance was lightyears above theirs, and he also obtained the Yonko status, which they didn't reach.
Thus, there's no logical explanation for Kid and Law having a, proportionally, much higher bounty increase than Luffy. This objectively makes little sense, considering that, with regards to overall combat prowess, Luffy substantially equates to Kid and Law summed together.
Luffy beat a stronger opponent, Kaido, in a clean 1v1 battle, while Kid and Law barely defeated a weaker foe, Big Mom, in a 2v1. Moreover, Luffy won his fight against Kaido fair and square, overpowering him in a direct clash, and leaving him knocked out.
Conversely, Law and Kid, despite the numerical advantage, which allowed them to perform much better than they would have done in normal conditions, weren't able to knock out Big Mom like Luffy did with Kaido.
They injured Big Mom significantly, which is a commendable feat, but couldn't knock her down. Although damaged, she endured all their attacks, never losing consciousness. She lost the battle because Kid and Law's strikes pushed her into the void, and they couldn't ascend back.
While a great achievement nevertheless, it pales in comparison to Luffy's, who, just by himself, showed greater superiority over Kaido, a fighter whose prowess exceeds Big Mom's. In fact, following the end of the battle, Luffy was nominated a Yonko, while neither Kid nor Law were considered for the same title.
Luffy leads a crew far stronger than the ones of his supposed rivals. His right-hand man, Roronoa Zoro, is more than a match for Kid and Law themselves, to the point where there is good reason to believe that Zoro outclasses each of the two captains.
When they fought under the same conditions, during the battle between Worst Generation Supernovas and Emperors, Zoro notably outperformed them.
Later, Zoro learned to use the Advanced Conqueror's Haki, which is a greater power than Kid and Law's Devil Fruit Awakening, given that Haki is generally portrayed as an ability that surpasses even Devil Fruits.
Despite being a natural-born Conqueror's Haki user just as Luffy and Zoro, unlike the captain and the second-in-command of the Straw Hat Pirates, Kid wasn't strong enough to evolve his Haki at the advanced level. With regards to Law, he doesn't even hold the basic stage of this ability.
The Straw Hat crew's third and fourth strongest members, Sanji and Jinbe, are not to be outdone in comparison to Kid an Law's number twos, Killer and, respectively, Bepo.
Similarly, Franky, Robin, and other Straw Hats appear to be stronger than their counterparts from the Heart Pirates or the Kid Pirates.
Thus, while Kid and Law are very competitive towards Luffy, the latter is on a whole different level, whether concerning individual prowess or overall accomplishments. Their rivalry is totally unbalanced, to the point where it's onesided.
From a powerscaling point of view, there's not much to say. Luffy, Kid and Law being awarded the same bounties makes objectively little sense. However, this unexpected occurrence stems from a precise reason, which is connected to the lore of the One Piece series.
The intriguing but flawed system of bounties
Contrary to what some might think, bounties aren't meant to be One Piece's version of power levels. Bounties don't measure the strength of a character, but assesses the level of threat the World Government assumes he can pose.
The price put on a person's head also depends on the acts committed against the World Government, and the same institution's will or otherwise of making them known and to quantify them in a certain way rather than in another.
One Piece fans often criticize that characters frequently receive a bounty lower, or occasionally even higher, compared to what they would deserve. The problem is that bounties depend on a whole range of factors, which vary from case to case.
Thus, it's difficult to compare one bounty with another, as the rewards are issued depending on different parameters from time to time. Inevitably, it becomes like comparing apples to oranges. Admittedly, bounties are a fun concept, but One Piece developed it an inappropriate way.
Not only are they not directly related to the outlaw's individual strength, but they may not even reflect the true threat represented by said person, either overstating or understating it. The ambiguous and rather confusing nature of the bounties is also evident in the recent reveal concerning Luffy, Kid, and Law.
Having no hope of covering up Kaido and Big Mom's downfall, the World Government at least tried to hide Luffy's exceptional feats from the eyes of the public, so that people would never come to know that the young pirate is the second coming of the legendary Joy Boy.
For this reason, the Five Elders tried to change the image in Luffy's wanted poster, replacing the picture that showcases his Gear 5 form with another one where his Nika-like transformation isn't featured.
With the same aim, they even attempted to remove the initial D. from the name written on the poster.
Also, instead of properly quantifying the new bounties on the basis on the previous ones and in accordance with each character's performance on the battlefield, the Elders took Kaido and Big Mom's combined bounty, which amounted to about nine billion berries, and split it equally among Luffy, Kid, and Law.
Regardless of their individual might, the three were awarded the same bounty for the generic reason of being the captains of the three crews that formed the alliance.
Luffy's feats, abilities, and powers were deliberately ignored, as the World Government's aim was to belittle him as much as possible.
Had that not been the case, Kid and Law would have deserved bounties around the two billions, while Luffy's bounty should have easily exceeded the sum of four billions.
Now a Yonko who leads one of the mightiest crews in circulation, and a fighter who can use the advanced versions of all three types of Haki, including the Color of Conqueror, as well as the exceptional powers of Nika, not even a bounty of four billion berries seems enough to describe the threat represented by Luffy.
Among the young rookies, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is on a level of his own. While powerful pirates in their own right, Law and Kid never stood a chance to compete with Luffy, whose real rivals, in the rush for the One Piece, are quite different.
Unsurprisingly, Kid and Law suffered crushing defeats when they tried to challenge Shanks and, respectively, Blackbeard, to 1v1 battles. This highlighted that their performance against Big Mom was inflated by the favorable 2v1 set-up.
Without a similar advantage in numbers, they aren't strong enough to fight against Yonko-level characters, much less to beat them, regardless of their bounties being the same as Luffy's.
Be sure to keep up with One Piece's manga, anime, and live-action as 2023 progresses.
