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One Pieceis known for its incredibly unique and weird art style, which is often best represented by the vast cast of characters that have been introduced within the series since the very first arc. Though they may seem strange to those unfamiliar with the franchise, the choice to make them look like this is deliberate since every character always stands out. This is just as true for the forms that some characters undertake.
One such transformation that is remembered fondly to this day is Nightmare Luffy; a version of the Straw Hat captain that was onlyseen in the Thriller Bark arc. Despite the form’s limited time withinOne Piece, it still exists as a fan-favorite that really goes to show how creative Oda can be with this story. So, let’s take a look at Nightmare Luffy and go over why he’s so memorable.
Story Arc
Thriller Bark
The Thriller Bark arc was a fairly minor one in retrospect, but it has become a beloved one among the fandom over the years, mainly because it introduced everyone’s favorite musician, Brook, and officially made him apart of the Straw Hat crew. However, this arc was also filled with peril, since it saw the Straw Hats fighting against Gecko Moria, one of the 7 Warlords of the Sea.
Moria is an incredibly underrated villain in theOne Piecefandom, since he has quite a formidable Devil Fruit power. His fruit is called the Kage Kage no Mi; a Paramecia Type fruit that allows him to steal his enemy’s shadow and implant it into another body to do his bidding. This new body inherits the skills and personality of the person whose shadow is given to it, while the body the shadow is stolen from will disintegrate if exposed to sunlight, making this an extremely dangerous Devil Fruit in the right hands, since all the new bodies/shadows are loyal to them.
After having his shadow stolen to give power to the corpse of Oars, Luffy was left extremely weak and unable to fight against Moria’s forces well enough. to combat this threat, Luffy is fed 100 shadows tostrengthen his chances against Moriaas much as possible, transforming him into a ghastly zombie that was considerably taller and bulkier than his regular form and far stronger too.
In this form, he was able to fight against Moria and Oars, showing just how considerable of a power-up he truly got. However, due to the unstable nature of the form that came about because of the circumstances of its creation, Luffy was unable to sustain it for too long, though he still managed to defeat his enemies with it.
The Strength Of Nightmare Luffy
Just How Strong Was This Form?
Although the form’s time in the series was quite brief, the strength that he showed was incredible. Due to the huge surge of physical strength that he got due to the 100 shadows, Luffy was able to stop a strike from Oars, a legendary giant so powerful and gargantuan that he wasknown as the ‘Continent Puller’. Not only that, but Luffy was also shown punching him around to do a great deal of damage to him while also lifting him from his horns.
Not only was Oars a giant, he is known to be one who was bigger and stronger than regular ones, so it makes this feat far more impressive. In addition to this amazing increase in strength, Luffy’s body retained its rubber properties, so he was able to do his regular moves as well, making them far stronger than they had ever been before. This newfound strength was so great, that toward the end of their battle, Nightmare Luffy was slinging Oars around from his hair like it was nothing, showing off the true strength of the transformation.
Oi, big idiot. What’re you supposed to be stomping? Nobody is under your foot.
However, such great strain on the body was not sustainable for a long period of time. After dishing out an incredible amount of damage onto Oars, many shadows were seen periodically leaving Nightmare Luffy’s body, showing that this is not a form that he can maintain for too long. This was also hinted at by the restriction that is placed upon the new user of the shadows, where they can’t reside within a body for longer than 10 minutes.
One Piececan be streamed onCrunchyroll.
One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
