One Piece - Chapter 1044 [manga]

[cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Some additional info came out and the power of the Nika fruit is freedom. Luffy can basically do whatever he wants with his body and the environment, and he fights like a looney toon apparently.



It makes a big difference, because him being the second coming of Joyboy (mentioned in a prophecy) and the owner of a legendary fruit now makes it seem like his whole fate was predetermined. Exact same shit as Naruto.

Freedom. Sounds about right. Essentially the removal of limitations of the flesh and environment. Removal of limitations of the flesh would make it look like he was a rubber man.

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Admirals had Luffy dead to rights twice and he managed to get away. A Shichibukai was sent to kill him, had him dead to rights and he managed to get away. He threw himself into a fight with their crack assassination team and managed to win. They've been trying.

Did you miss the part where Aokiji spared Luffy because he felt he was indebted to Garp? Did you miss the part where Rayleigh and subsequently Kuma saved the strawhats from getting annihilated by Kizaru? Did you miss the entirety of the marineford war where Luffy was severely outclassed by the elites and got his ass saved more than once? Luffy managed to get away alright, but not by his own doing like you seem to suggest.

The point is, Luffy wasn't the threat he is now back then. The WG should have and could have eliminated him when they had the chance.

[khoa1708]

this "Nika" model seems like a plot device for Oda to make the fruit as crazy as he wants... to me the fruit allows luffy to fight in a more "free" and "cartoonish" way... it allows luffy to do whatever he wants

[MAX_COLA_POWER!]

Can’t wait to see what happens first. The One Piece 4kids rap dying because there’s no bite of gum gum to take anymore, or how many people will be mispronouncing the fruit’s model from Nika to something else.

[Kaz_]

So Luffy is now so out of this world, on par with Bugs Bunny and The Mask craziness combat-wise. At this rate he will pull sledgehammers out of his pants and break 4th walls by erasing enemies from manga pages

While he definitely wont go fas as the latter, It will be fun watching him go wild with such thing. Im sure sooner or later he will mold his body and limbs into insanely complicated weapons like a huge axe or a battleship.

[Tong]

Oda, you sneaky bastard.

[Gerard07]

Question, if Luffy's fruit wasn't the Gomu-Gomu in the end, why was his body particularly resistant to electricity?.
The other elders say that Luffy's fruit was intentionally avoiding them, perhaps the fruit somehow managed to get to Shanks because of the Straw Hat (which is somehow related to JoyBoy) that is now Luffy's?.

[Galaxian]

Originally Posted by Gerard07

Question, if Luffy's fruit wasn't the Gomu-Gomu in the end, why was his body particularly resistant to electricity?.
The other elders say that Luffy's fruit was intentionally avoiding them, perhaps the fruit somehow managed to get to Shanks because of the Straw Hat (which is somehow related to JoyBoy) that is now Luffy's?.

According to the Elders one of the (many) abilities of the Nika fruit is to give its user's body the properties of rubber.

[cyberdemon]

Freedom is such a vague description that could mean anything.

[Rainbowman]

Who knew that Devil Fruit could change their nature. It was one type in one instance and a different type the next. Whatever the case may be, Luffy’s got The Touch.

[Kanon]

Luffy feels like he's completely high. I wonder if the drawback of Gear 5 will be that he becomes depressed for a while after it. Would be too similar to Perona's power though.

Originally Posted by Rainbowman

Who knew that Devil Fruit could change their nature. It was one type in one instance and a different type the next. Whatever the case may be, Luffy’s got The Touch.

Its nature didn't change. It was always a Zoan, the WG and Shanks just lied about it.

[marvelB]

Alrighty, summary's updated and all that good stuff! Heh, figures that even in-universe they comment on how ridiculous Luffy's new power up is! Still, I like the reveal that it's tied to the concept of "freedom". Because remember, Luffy once said that to him, being the Pirate King represents having the most freedom in the world, so it's all the more fitting that he'd awaken to this type of power. And geez, no wonder poor Who's Who got thrown into the slammer.... he literally lost possession of a god!

Also, why I am I kinda not surprised that Kanjurou pulled a triple cross at this point? I suppose that his battles against the Scabbards were all a part of his "performance", then? At this point, I'm practically expecting him to have saved Yasuie from certain death (recall that he was the one who collected Yasu's body after Orochi executed him). Actually, now that I brought up, it's all but guaranteed to be the case now, isn't it?

[Zolton]

Theory time with a dose of copium: there's no Nika devil fruit, it's all BS and Luffy's fruit is really Gomu Gomu. But Shanks knew how to awaken it (by pushing Luffy to his limits) and tricked the Gorosei into making it happen by scaring them with a myth.

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

When Oda drew Blackbeard as a kid, the background was at night with a moon in the sky. I think this is heavily foreshadowing that he will be associated with the Moon God or some other kind of nocturnal entity, probably through the awakening of his darkness fruit. Teach having never slept a day in his life lends all the more credence to this.

And again guys, don't be surprised if Xebec was the previous wielder of this power. A power so horrible which resulted in Xebec along with the God Valley being erased from history. Plus, it's obvious that Teach has some kind of connection with Xebec. He's the inheritor of his will, and possibly someone else's by extension.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

Did you miss the part where Aokiji spared Luffy because he felt he was indebted to Garp? Did you miss the part where Rayleigh and subsequently Kuma saved the strawhats from getting annihilated by Kizaru? Did you miss the entirety of the marineford war where Luffy was severely outclassed by the elites and got his ass saved more than once? Luffy managed to get away alright, but not by his own doing like you seem to suggest.

The point is, Luffy wasn't the threat he is now back then. The WG should have and could have eliminated him when they had the chance.

I never said he got away by himself, simply that he did manage to get away in front of some of the strongest forces the World Government has to offer.

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

When Oda drew Blackbeard as a kid, the background was at night with a moon in the sky. I think this is heavily foreshadowing that he will be associated with the Moon God or some other kind of nocturnal entity, probably through the awakening of his darkness fruit. Teach having never slept a day in his life lends all the more credence to this.

People have suspected something similar since the Ace fight.

And again guys, don't be surprised if Xebec was the previous wielder of this power. A power so horrible which resulted in Xebec along with the God Valley being erased from history. Plus, it's obvious that Teach has some kind of connection with Xebec. He's the inheritor of his will, and possibly someone else's by extension.

I'm still thinking that he's Xebec's kid.

[The Small One]

Originally Posted by Zolton

Theory time with a dose of copium: there's no Nika devil fruit, it's all BS and Luffy's fruit is really Gomu Gomu. But Shanks knew how to awaken it (by pushing Luffy to his limits) and tricked the Gorosei into making it happen by scaring them with a myth.

Even though I doubt this scenario, it would be a real badass move from Shanks.

Somehow the whole thing feels a bit too much like a retcon (which it most likely is anyways). I mean one of the most notable differece between Paramecia on one side and Zoan and Logia on the other hand was, that the latter are able to 'deactivate' their power. If Luffy's fruit really turns out to be a Zoan, he should be/have been able to deactivate it.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by The Small One

Somehow the whole thing feels a bit too much like a retcon (which it most likely is anyways). I mean one of the most notable differece between Paramecia on one side and Zoan and Logia on the other hand was, that the latter are able to 'deactivate' their power. If Luffy's fruit really turns out to be a Zoan, he should be/have been able to deactivate it.

Paramecia can deactivate their powers just fine. Bellamy for example doesn't constantly have springs as legs. I think Luffy is actually the only DF user who could never deactivate his power.

[itachi-san314]

So Luffy's DF is the "do anything" fruit? No thanks. I'll still read and enjoy OP, but it officially jumped the shark with this chapter. It's like a 5 year old wrote this schlock lol. The amount of retcon bs people will find will probably be over 100 examples. Everyone in the world knew Luffy had rubber capabilities. The WG could have killed him within 24 hours at any time... main character ruined imo. It would have been great for Luffy to just be a try-hard with a mediocre DF who became Pirate King

The Hiyori section of this chapter isn't much better either

[Hoodspirit]

I avoided spoiler for his chapter, the disappointment is huge.

It's like all the bad things were combined.
-Super Saiyan look
-rubber, just becaus, no explanation
-best fruit in the world
-Luffy's acting was influenced by the fruit, which can be considered a form of possession
-Gear5 apparently made up on the spot
-Gear5 + awakening powerup thrown in together and we'll have to gues which action will be based on what ability

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

-Luffy's acting was influenced by the fruit, which can be considered a form of possession

This is the worst part imo. They even go so far as to say that the user of this DF puts smiles on the faces of the people they interact with. It takes so much away from Luffy's character and personality it's insane. He might as well just have been an emotionless android before he ate it because the DF now accounts for his motivation, actions, effect on people, etc... this is the exact thing I didn't want to happen to Luffy

There's a lot of other disappointment like how his DF doesn't even have a defined power at this point. It's the power of imagination. Wtf But Luffy's character was the most important thing to me. It's like you said, he might as well be possessed, which takes everything away from him. It would be like if Zoro had eaten the Swordsman DF that makes him want to become the world's greatest swordsman.