Theory Gear Fourth predictions and theories

[chess4]

I think it will be a faster, stronger version of gear 2nd

 

[Alberto]

I have 2 theories for Gear 4th:

1. Something like Toriko´s Kugi Punch. Luffy pushes his skin downwards from his arm, making it look a like his legs when he goes gear 2. So, when he punches, the accumulated skin will go back and forth on his arm, creating shockwaves, or multiple after-punches. He would have to hold his oponent so all the effect can happen. Also, this should take a toll on his arm, as he would also take the shockwave damage.

2. If Gear 2 is speed and Gear 3 is strength, Gear 4 could be about defense. Luffy could stretch the part of his body that was gonna take an attack, so the area affected by a hit or even a cut would be smaller. In this case, even if the hit used haki, it wouldnt diminish the effect of this defense.

 

[keeper1h]

I have noticed two things:

1) Luffy asked all the people around to leave, despite the cage is shrinking. Why, since Doflamingo can't damage anyone of them? (Cavendish Firewall: ON)

2) As someone told already, this scene is just like what Trunks did with Cell, it's just to explain the limit of previous tecniques against the new enemy.

To me, The attack must be something comparable to King Punch, but realized using Luffy's DF properties in a completely new way. It will be the same as saying "Luffy is going SSJ2!!!".
And as the one who told "it must be a spring!", I must now say that if it's a spring... I would be a little disappointed.

 

[M3J]

I think LadyLola is more correct in assuming/wishing for Luffy to contract to increase or keep his speed while increasing his power. His muscle mass contracting and being more focused would give him more power, while being smaller would give him the speed that he needs to hit Doflamingo. Luffy will probably suck the air out or something from his thumb and force his muscles to be more focused.

I can see the side effect being that one or two uses takes Luffy completely out, while Gear 2 just exhausted Luffy even more and gave him shorter lifespan while Gear 3 made him a midget.

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

I think LadyLola is more correct in assuming/wishing for Luffy to contract to increase or keep his speed while increasing his power. His muscle mass contracting and being more focused would give him more power, while being smaller would give him the speed that he needs to hit Doflamingo. Luffy will probably suck the air out or something from his thumb and force his muscles to be more focused.

I can see the side effect being that one or two uses takes Luffy completely out, while Gear 2 just exhausted Luffy even more and gave him shorter lifespan while Gear 3 made him a midget.

The theory isn't mine, I think it originated with amitnaruto's post.
Basically having Luffy compress his muscles instead of inflating them could have a "spring" effect like Bellamy, hopefully without that visual effect. The more Luffy compresses his arm the more it releases power when it's released, this would allow him in theory to deal more damage, while staying fast, which in this chapter seems to be his forte.
The Gear 3 and Nightmare Luffy while having destructive power are slow, and as many have pointed out Luffy needs both speed and strength to take out DD. So a technique that would allow him to stay fast and deal more damage seems to be more logical at this point. Luffy cannot afford to be slow since DD is pretty fast too so he needs to keep up with him.
Now if he adds Haki to that and uses red hawk on both of his arms it will be even more destructive

 

[DutchPhoenix]

I think it will be a combination of gear 3 and gear 2, like he used in the battle against moriah, having both power and speed.
However unlike at the time in hes fight against Moriah, now he has mastered it.

On the other hand, i think Zoro might have a simeliar secret new or more advanced power, hence the reason why we havent seen Asura even once in in the last 3 arcs, Fishman island, Punk Hazard and Dressrosa.
I think its also the reason why hes keeping hes eye closed.

What Sanji could have as a new powermode, will have something to do with Okama's, so he most likely will not use it, when any of hes nakama are around.

 

[Fox666]

Gear 2 was related to blood, Gear 3 to bones, my guess is that Gear 4 will be about muscles, but I don't really know where that could lead, maybe he will achieve a form similar to "nightmare Luffy".

I think you nailed it.

It would also give us an idea of what the side-effect is. By increasing his metabolism, it shortens his life-span. By inflating his bones, he becomes a midget. If it affected him right after using the technique, he would have an anorexic appearance. But that would be too much like Gear Third, and the two gears have somewhat distinct effect. It may be something more simple, like he suffering of pain for the next days, to the point he would be out of combat.

His G4 attacks would most likely have shorter range. The overall nature of G4 would be that of a shotgun.

You may be getting somewhere. Gear Second and Third have pros and cons. It would make sense to limit the range, if not completely remove his stretching ability. Then you could presume Gear 4 would solidify his body for this to happen, as many have already speculated.

 

[Madness20]

I feel gear four might just be an extension to gear second, in the way that it's an extreme pressure and heat that makes luffy actually become "on fire" like red hawk.
If not that, it might be that it is luffy's version of full body haki with the speed of gear second as well.

Well, only Oda knows in the end, we'll wait and see. It's bound to be good xD

 

[M3J]

I really hope Luffy doesn't get anything fire related, that's so dumb, especially after Luffy chose not to get mera mera no mi.

 

[Madness20]

I really hope Luffy doesn't get anything fire related, that's so dumb, especially after Luffy chose not to get mera mera no mi.

This is one piece man! xD I mean, we're seeing a story based on a rubber man as a hero, how dumb or not motivational did that seemed to you at first sight just by curiosity?

 

[Holt]

Already been mentioned but amitnaruto's theory of contraction is the most reasonable at this point. Gear 4 will likely be something related to contraction.

The stuff about a combination of the other gears has already been done before. If gear 4 is just that + Haki, it'd be extremely lazy on Oda's part imo. The one about full body coating is even more unlikely. That is already an ability shown by 2 characters so Luffy tagging it a gear as though it was unique to him doesn't make any sense. A full body coating + an existing gear is also nothing special and therefore wouldn't fit if it was called gear 4. I doubt it's anything fire related either. Luffy isn't a logia with fire powers. Using one attack which seemingly produces a little fire effect doesn't mean he goes 'flame on' for gear 4. The mechanics and explanations for such a thing wouldn't fit either.

 

[M3J]

This is one piece man! xD I mean, we're seeing a story based on a rubber man as a hero, how dumb or not motivational did that seemed to you at first sight just by curiosity?

but I'm not talking about the premises of the manga itself (wasn't dumb to me in the first place), I'm talking about what's in the story. It makes no sense for Luffy to be able to use fire, given only very few can. I don't know about Sanji, but isn't his leg usually hot/flamed up, not on fire?

 

[Hannibal Psyche]

Somehow, I picture Gear 4 transforming Luffy into a Popeye double; mass concentration of muscle on all limbs, but remaining the same in overall appearance.

 

[Syphin]

Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

The big question on everyone's mind is 'what is Gear Fourth'? How has Oda developed Luffy's abilities and allowed him to push himself beyond his current limits? And how will Luffy's fighting style and attacks evolve with Gear Fourth?

A theory I have for Gear Fourth is Luffy incorporating the use of vibrations into his attacks. With his rubber body Luffy can create vibrations/enter into a "vibrating state" through rapidly stretching and contracting his body (vibrating his muscles). By hardening his limbs with Haki, Luffy can amplify the vibrations created within his body and apply them to his attacks where the vibrations being produced within him are transferred onto and into his opponent when the attack lands. In effect Gear Fourth will allow Luffy to perform piercing/focused attacks with vibrations that can bypass the defense of his opponent.

Ever since witnessing the destructive nature of the Happo Navy's Hasshoken (and how unblockable such attacks are), I have been of the opinion that such a technique/form would be incredibly useful in evolving the way Luffy attacks and fights. Vibrations imbued onto Luffy's attacks would make them incredibly destructive as they would be able to pierce beyond the opponents defense and leave substantial damage. Vibration based attacks also don't have to directly land on the target, they can affect the surrounding area of the source. Gear Fourth will leave Luffy in a "vibrating state" (like an active car engine) allowing Luffy to perform attacks that generate shock waves. With such a Gear, Luffy can increase the destructive nature of his attacks and avoid having to inflate his limbs, which slows him down, to increase his strength.

Using vibrations against Doflamingo would be an effective way to bypass Doflamingo's defense and injure Doflamingo internally, which will also have the added effect of interrupting Doflamingo's internal "repairing" whenever he has it active. Doflamingo did ridicule Luffy for having weak punches but with vibrations imbued onto his attacks, Luffy can soon have Doflamingo eating those very words when his attacks are able to penetrate through Doflamingo's defenses. Vibrations can also be a good way for Luffy to affect the "string" power of Doflamingo by disrupting the resonance of the strings. I can imagine Luffy's finishing move sending Doflamingo flying into the Bird Cage and with the vibrational power behind that attack being transferred onto the Bird Cage, the strings forming the cage around Dressrosa would end up being disabled and undone, thereby destroying Bird Cage along with Doflamingo (and removing the "thorn" in Luffy's side).

The initial source of inspiration behind Gear Fourth is most likely Whitebeard and the way he utilised his Gura Gura no Mi during the Marineford War. Whitebeard's vibration imbued attacks were devastating and completely overwhelmed all those who were subject to it - including Akainu, Blackbeard and the Marineford Island. Luffy may have gotten an idea from that experience about how to make his attacks more destructive.

The reason Luffy wanted his nakama away from the nearby area may be because of the destructive nature of Gear Fourth. Thanks to Luffy witnessing Whitebeard's magnificence two years ago he realises how destructive vibrations can be and is aware that with the release of Gear Fourth (if it is focused around vibrations), not even the Palace on top of the plateau would be safe.

Another significant point to note is by Luffy having a Gear that can utilise vibrations in his attacks, a means to combat Blackbeard, the current user of the Gura Gura no Mi, has opened up. Luffy's battle against Blackbeard will happen sometime in the future, it is an inevitable fate the two share. It is possible that with a Gear utilising vibrations Luffy can develop a way to counter Blackbeard's Gura Gura no Mi attacks and avoid being completely overwhelmed by it. Additionally Luffy can give Blackbeard (and Akainu) a taste of what the Gura Gura no Mi's power (vibrations) taste like again.

Gear Fourth incorporating vibrations (produced by Luffy's muscles) would help to evolve the way Luffy fights. Overtime Luffy may find ways to use Gear Fourth in conjunction with Gear Second and Third, if he hasn't already. A Gear Third attack used in Gear Fourth (vibrating state) would be a sight to see. A downside to Luffy using Gear Fourth would be overusing his stretching ability and tiring his muscles out ultimately leaving him in a fatigued state where he has reduced stretching ability. Upon using Gear Fourth Luffy will have to wait a while for his body to recover before being able to fully utilise the stretching ability his body offers.

Vibrations can evolve Luffy's fighting style in an interesting way, but ultimately it rest with Oda to determine how Luffy grows stronger. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Thanks for reading.

 

[ShenGao]

Re: Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

This theory sounds really good and much better than the Gear 2+3+Haki ones, but i'm confused how Luffy would be able to attack. If his body would be in a permanent state of vibrating wouldn't his normal attacks be useless? Most of the times Luffy stretches his body parts to his back so that when they shrink to their original size they gain speed for a strong attack, like his jet bazooka against Blueno. But if his arms would be non-stop vibrating wouldn't they be vibrating in every direction and instead of a bazooka he would have a attack like this:

Spoiler

What i mean is that this vibrating fighting style would only be possible on a very close battle where stretching his body parts is out of question. So with this Gear 4 Luffy would have the strength of a jackhammer, but also the disadvantage that he can only fight very close to an enemy.

Still, that theory is good and would also give a tremendous destructive power boost to Luffy which he needs for now and the future.

 

[Syphin]

Re: Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

but i'm confused how Luffy would be able to attack.

I imagined it as Luffy vibrating his muscles to produce the vibrations but still being able to stretch.

I admit I did kick the logicality of my theory out the window the moment I decided to come up with a theory focusing instead on the creativity and usefulness of a new power-up for Luffy in the story.

 

[ShenGao]

Re: Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

I imagined it as Luffy vibrating his muscles to produce the vibrations but still being able to stretch.

I admit I did kick the logicality of my theory out the window the moment I decided to come up with a theory focusing instead on the creativity and usefulness of a new power-up for Luffy in the story.

Logic shouldn't matter in One Piece. I was just wondering if Luffy would still be able to fight like before or if he would have to develop a new way of fighting.

 

[henhead]

Re: Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

Logic shouldn't matter in One Piece. I was just wondering if Luffy would still be able to fight like before or if he would have to develop a new way of fighting.

I don't think Luffy will be vibrating himself like a guitar string while fighting Doffy. By vibration, I think he meant it's the CoC sending out bursts of haki that would be similar to a vibration/shock-like attack. All this foreshadowing of CoC could make this a possibility. Notice the streaks of black being shown when Luffy and Doffy are fighting with their CoC in 782. Now, if Luffy were to lets say imbue himself with CoC for gear 4, the types of attacks he could do might be filled with black streaks of haki bursting out and literally pulverizing Doffy to a point where he can't regenerate himself any further. For all we know so far about gear 4, it could be a combination of gear 2 and 3 and CoC, or purely the former or the latter mentioned in this sentence, etc. It's time I step back and just wait regarding this topic because the long wait for the next issue is driving me nuts.

 

[Lighty]

Somehow, I picture Gear 4 transforming Luffy into a Popeye double; mass concentration of muscle on all limbs, but remaining the same in overall appearance.

I also don't expect his outer appearance to change much. It would feel wrong for me.

 

[hiper05]

Re: Gear Fourth - The Power of Vibrations (theory)

I got to say excellent read. Vibrations inspired by whitebeard is great way to give more power to Luffy. A lot of other forums where suggesting a nightmare Luffy form that combined speed and strength but I don't like the idea too much because if the form exists it would outclass g2 & g3 making the need to use these gears vanish.

My own idea also included vibrations as a power up but the end attack in my mind would be similar to shockwave like the one produced by Rob Lucci, a pure close range attack. But, reading your theory has introduced to me possible inspirations for the powerup and increased range like padho or whiteboards vibration attack.