One Piece: How did Luffy become Nika? The Gear 5 transformation, explained

One of the most exciting developments both in the history of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece series and in its recent years is undoubtedly the reveal of Luffy’s true Devil Fruit and its Awakening. While fans had long speculated that there was much more to Luffy’s powers than meets the eye, Oda’s reveal truly went above and beyond expectations for many readers.

This excellence was largely due to the reveal that Luffy’s Awakening transformed him into the mythical figure in One Piece known as the Warrior of Liberation, Sun God Nika. By way of Zunesha also calling Luffy Joy Boy when he entered this form, it simply made for one of the most mind-blowing and unifying reveals in the series thus far.

However, there are some One Piece fans who were understandably overwhelmed by this surplus of developments that are still confused about it today. More specifically, a predominant point of confusion for many fans stems from how Luffy became Nika by Awakening his Devil Fruit powers.

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Reveal of Devil Fruit origins in One Piece’s Egghead arc explains how Luffy can become Sun God Nika

How Luffy becomes Nika, explained

Before diving into exactly how Luffy becomes Nika, context is needed in the way of how One Piece’s Devil Fruits come to be, as revealed by Dr. Vegapunk in the series’ Egghead arc. Dr. Vegapunk theorizes that Devil Fruits are a manifestation of the possibility of human evolution, with the varying powers representing the many branches of humanity’s future. He adds they’re brought into existence by human hopes and desires, such as wanting to do or be something.

Likewise, Luffy is able to become Nika by entering his Devil Fruit Awakening by nature of his Devil Fruit not being the Paramecia-type Gum-Gum Fruit, but the Mythical Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika. In other words, by people dreaming of being and desiring to be Sun God Nika, they gave birth to a Devil Fruit which allowed its user to truly become Sun God Nika.

As a result of Luffy eating the so-called Gum-Gum Fruit at the start of the One Piece series, he was able to eventually tap into the ability to become Sun God Nika by Awakening his Devil Fruit. This is what his Gear 5 transformation is; the Awakening of the true powers of his Devil Fruit, which he could not access prior to Awakening it.

Fans are also seemingly confused by the aforementioned two names of Luffy’s Devil Fruit, and why it wasn’t called its true name at the start of the series. Within the series, this is explained as an attempt by the World Government to hide the truth of the Fruit’s nature and abilities. This resulted in only Imu and the Gorosei knowing of the Fruit’s true nature, with its existence not known to be recorded anywhere in the contemporary series thus far.

In short, Luffy is able to become the allegedly mythical figure known as the Warrior of Liberation, Sun God Nika by nature of how Devil Fruits come to be in One Piece and the true nature of Luffy’s Fruit. Upon Awakening this true nature and tapping into these powers, Luffy was able to become Sun God Nika thanks to the dreams of those in the past who wanted to also become the Warrior of Liberation.

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