Oda has often nerfed Luffy on purpose because he is too strong.

The protagonist of One Piece, Luffy has always been an incredibly powerful character that Oda has illustrated some of the most incredible fights with. Luffy is also the character that has fought most fights in One Piece, and that is a given, since he is the face of One Piece, after all.

While the beginning to his journey as a pirate was quite humble, he has now become one of the strongest pirates on the seas. In fact, Luffy is so strong that Oda often has to create obstacles for him to prolong the arcs, which he has talked about recently quite a bit.

Luffy’s Journey To Yonko

Luffy is one of the most prodigious pirates to have ever sailed the seas of the One Piece world. He set out on his journey to become a pirate as a 17-year-old, from the weakest of the four seas, the East Blue. It did not take Luffy long to make a great name for himself. In fact, in just a short span of time, Luffy ended up becoming the meanest man in the east, with a very high bounty of 30 million berries. In this short span, he took down skilled individuals, such as Alvida, Captain Kuro, Don Krieg, and of course, Arlong, who was a seasoned pirate from the Grand Line. These individuals stood absolutely no chance against him in battle and it was clear for the fans to see that Luffy was ready for the next step.

As soon as Luffy entered the Grand Line, he did face some setbacks, in the form of the Shichibukai, Crocodile. It was clear for the fans to see that Luffy would not find things as easy in this sea. However, he persevered and, with his incredible willpower, he was able to take down Crocodile as well. He then proceeded to fight against individuals who dared to call themselves God, such as Enel, and beat him down as well. He even crushed the CP9, and later down the line, another Shichibukai in Gecko Moria. Luffy continued to grow significantly, right until the end of the first half of the series, where he faced defeat after defeat, which eventually compelled him to grow stronger, and forced him to learn Haki.

After training for 2 years, Luffy returned stronger than ever before and set sail for the New World, which is where the strongest of the pirates, known as the Four Emperors, are located. Luffy made it his goal to take down the Four Emperors, given that it was the only way for him to become the Pirate King. Of course, he did not hesitate in facing them in combat despite being inferior to them and that is one of the biggest reasons why he is as successful as he is. By learning with every setback, Luffy grew tremendously and he took down one powerful individual after another. From Dofflamingo to Katakuri to Kaido himself. Luffy ended up crushing them all and eventually, he became one of the Yonko of the Sea. Luffy currently has a bounty of 3 billion berries, and he’s the newest of the Four Emperors, along with Buggy the Clown, who has hilariously found himself in the same position.

Luffy’s Current Strength

As a Yonko, Luffy possesses insurmountable strength. He is a pirate that not many can stand up to in battle and much of that is down to the fact that he has access to an incredibly overpowered Devil Fruit ability. While this Devil Fruit was not all that special at first, Luffy managed to learn every single aspect of it and ended up Awakening it. It is the awakening of this Devil Fruit that grants Luffy limitless freedom in battle and the ability to do whatever he can imagine.

Truly, the only restriction that Luffy has is his imagination, and of course, his stamina that he requires to keep this power going. Luffy is still

learning this aspect of his ability, however, it is clear to see that his control over Gear 5 is growing with each passing fight. That said, Gear 5 is not the only trump card that Luffy has up his sleeve. He is also an incredible user of Haki. In fact, Luffy is only one of the two individuals known to possess all three advanced forms of Haki. Luffy we can see the future with Observation Haki very well.

He can use advanced grade Armament Haki to cause internal damage, and of course, he can infuse his attacks with Conqueror’s Haki as well. It is clear to see that Luffy’s Haki is trained to the very highest level and, while there is still some room for improvement, he does possess incredible control over it. As such, it is clear for the fans to see that not many would be able to take him on and combat now, especially since One Piece is in the endgame.

How Oda Nerfs Luffy

Luffy has become so strong in One Piece that Oda himself has to take some steps so that he doesn’t defeat his enemies easily. Oda had this to say about Luffy around 12 years ago:

“Luffy bothers me the most. I have to put brakes on him with obstacles, or he’ll soon defeat the villain. My characters act as if they have a will of their own. When I forced them to move for the sake of the story, my audience complained.”

Judging by his words themselves, even back in 2012, Oda considered Luffy to be so powerful that enemies were not strong enough to take him down in combat. As such, Oda has often had to rely on various nerfs to make sure that the enemies and the enemy groups stood a chance against him. This usually came in the form of some restrictions placed on Luffy. For instance, in the fight against Doflamingo, Luffy resorted to fighting the vast majority of the fight in Gear Second and Gear Third, even when he had access to Gear 4. When he could have finished the fight with Gear 4, Oda made it so that Gear 4 ran out right before the finishing blow. This helped him raise tension in the arc, and of course, made everything more intense as well.

This was true in 2012, and it is true even now, given that Luffy is now an Emperor of the Sea. This situation can be seen clearly in the Egghead Island arc of One Piece. Luffy has already fought against Admiral Kizaru here, and once again, Oda has created nerf in the form of Gear 5 running out too quickly. Then, Oda made sure that Luffy ate his fill and only returned when the climax battles of Egghead began. Earlier in the arc, Luffy resorted to using Gear 4 against the Seraphims, because had he tapped into the power of Gear 5, the fight could have not lasted long.

Luffy being nerfed and taking detours that pull him away from the main enemy in many ways just goes to show how powerful he is. In fact, now that he is a Yonko, fans should expect this to happen more often. If Oda lets Luffy run wild, then he will easily defeat the vast majority of the foes that he comes up against. As such, nerfing him and keeping him away from the final bosses of the arcs is important, at least most of the time.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1107, is set to be February 18, 2024.