Throughout the course of One Piece, Luffy has had numerous fights, some turning out better than others. No matter what happens in these bouts, the Straw Hat Captain always seems to come out more resourceful than ever. These fights show Luffy at his best, thinking on his feet to take out the enemy before they can hurt others. So, time to rank Luffy’s best fights in One Piece!
Warning that this article contains spoilers for One Piece through Egghead Island in chapter 1092. The manga is available to read online and is definitely the fastest way to catch up. Every chapter is available from Viz or Mangaplus.
Luffy vs. Kuro
Syrup Village probably has one of Luffy’s most tame fights in East Blue, despite how villainous Captain Kuro is. The Straw Hat Pirate seriously ups his speed to take on the traitorous butler, but in the end, it isn’t quite enough for Luffy to land a hit. This is one of the first times in the series that Luffy shows off just how willing he is to use his head in a fight, literally.
When he wraps up the Black Cat Pirates’ Captain to keep him in place, everyone suspected it would be so Usopp could land a hit. Nope, instead Luffy stretches his neck and head way back to ring Kuro with the Gum-Gum Bell. Luffy may be made of rubber, but he’s got a hard head in more ways than just being clueless. It’s a one-hit knockout on Kuro, too, and earns the Straw Hats the Going Merry in return.
Fishman Island: Luffy vs. Hody Jones
It’s not even just Hody that Luffy is fighting during the Fishman Island arc, as the jackass Vander Decken IX is also there. Luffy still manages to fight both of them off while protecting the island and Noah as well, despite their tactics. When Hody downs the entire bag of Fishman steroids, hair turns white and muscles bulk up, things look bleak for the entire island. Thankfully it was just the right time for Luffy to show off his newfound power after their two-year training break.
Holy crap does it show the sheer difference in power of Luffy here versus Luffy before the time skip. He pulls out Armament Haki and his Gear Three ability for the Gum-Gum Elephant Gatling. Hody stands no chance and falls back to the sea floor in defeat, rapidly aging as a side effect of the steroids. The end of this fight doesn’t just signify the Straw Hats are back on their journey, but that Fishman Island is finally close to being free.
Alabasta: Luffy vs. Crocodile
There are so many parts to this battle, but the entire thing is a great look at how Luffy learns to think on his feet in a battle. He barely survives the first encounter with Crocodile, almost falling to the poison on the Warlord’s hook. Luffy persists though, and through this first defeat in the desert figures out how to defeat Crocodile when they next meet. The small barrel of water he was given is the key, and Luffy finds even more to help him against Crocodile in the Poneglyph Chamber.
Kicking out pillars as he runs from Crocodile, Luffy still manages to save Robin and King Cobra in the process. Then when Crocodile starts monologueing Luffy finally reveals that he’s been intentionally missing! He wasn’t aiming for Crocodile at all during their fight, but instead for the pillars holding the chamber up. There’s a load of water above them that Luffy brings crashing down, soaking all the sand and rendering Crocodile powerless. It’s not a huge move for a finisher, but an actual moment of Luffy thinking that saves their biggest battle yet.
Arlong Park
Luffy fighting Arlong gains a spot for the sheer emotional weight of it to the story. The leadup of East Blue, finding out Nami’s history after seeing her run the Straw Hats around, just adds such a personal weight to it. Then the big moment of defeat for Nami, with the simple plea of “Luffy, help me”, pulls this fight into another level of storytelling with the flying fists and teeth. Luffy and Arlong go at it every which way they can, and it takes all the Straw Hats helping to keep Luffy in the fight.
In the final sequence, where Luffy decides to destroy the map room Arlong makes a prison for Nami, and seals it. Luffy bringing the Gum-Gum Ax down on top of Arlong Park, along with Arlong himself, caps the East Blue saga beautifully. Now, Nami is free to join the Straw Hats, and it earns Luffy his very first bounty.
Luffy vs. Impel Down Security
One rubber boy versus the elite guards in the most secure prison ever, who wins? Despite the odds stacked against him, the rubber boy pulls out all the stops with the help of a few friends. Luffy’s fights against Magellan and the various Jailer Beasts are just a fantastic show of his tenacity. Even after taking a massive dose of poison from Magellan, Luffy stays alive with help from Ivankov and Bon to come back for round two.
The second fight against Magellan is even better though, as Luffy uses that same ridiculous combat intuition. With the help of Mr. Three, Luffy gives his hands and feet a protective wax coating so the poison of Magellan doesn’t touch him. The battle is still really close, and the two go at it hard for quite a bit, but Luffy eventually pulls out the win as they escape Impel Down. Of course, the success doesn’t come without sacrifice, as Bon Clay is once more a prisoner of the Navy. Luffy has to come back for him eventually, right?
Battle of Marineford
There are too many moments to count throughout the fever of Marineford’s battles, but Luffy is the center of all of them. He makes a warpath straight through the battle in his efforts to reach Ace, literally falling from the sky into the battle as Whitebeard and Akainu stare each other down. Despite Ace’s pleas for him to leave, Luffy makes his way through the battlefield with a little help from some friends and rescues his brother.
The side-by-side fight of Ace and Luffy is one of the coolest moments in the series, followed by one of the saddest. Despite how hard the two fight, Luffy going toe to toe with Admirals and knocking out his own grandfather Garp, Ace dies. At the end of it all, unable to rescue his brother, Luffy realizes that he has to get stronger before he can hope to take on the New World. He may have lost at Marineford, but Luffy is determined that it’s the last time.
Nightmare Luffy vs. Gecko Moria
When One Piece had just given such a heavy-hitting fight in Enies Lobby, nobody was expecting this in Thriller Bark. Luffy’s fight against Gecko Moria was already wild, with the Straw Hat Captain essentially facing his own shadow in the body of the giant Oars. While Oars’ reanimated body makes use of Luffy’s moves, it’s still not quite enough to overcome the Straw Hat Captain. Until Oars’ body is taken over by Gecko Moria to be piloted like an EVA Unit with a sad teenager inside. Moria sends Luffy flying, and it’s up to Lola’s crew to make sure he can fight back.
Stuffing Luffy full of shadows makes him into Nightmare Luffy, which also gives him one of his best fights. Luffy gets all the power, skills, and pain of the shadows in him, including the ability to suddenly wield a sword correctly. It wouldn’t stick with him though, and Nightmare Luffy would quickly expend all that energy in the fight with Moria before finishing the Warlord off in his regular form.
Luffy vs. Enel
This was a fun battle because it shows how the most ridiculous part of Luffy makes him the worst matchup for a seeming god of thunder. Enel and his Rumble-Rumble Fruit have ruled Skypiea with an iron fist for years, but Luffy being rubber makes him naturally immune. It’s hilarious to see Luffy initially sweep the floor with Enel, complete with the ridiculous reaction panels before Kami decides to take care of him another way. Melting down a load of gold around Luffy’s hand is definitely the easiest way to weigh him down and get rid of him.
Of course, that’s not enough to keep Luffy down. He bounces back, literally, with the Gum-Gum Golden Pistol, ringing Enel’s bell loud enough for Noland the Liar to hear centuries before. Sure, Enel may have made it to the moon anyway, but Luffy got to show him that rubber could beat lightning any day. This fight also gives the classic scene of Luffy’s shadow over the ocean, which is a fantastic foreshadowing of his later Joyboy status.
Enies Lobby: Luffy vs. Blueno and Rob Lucci
This entire arc is like seeing Luffy get upgrade after upgrade in quick succession. He’s ridiculously outmatched during the Blueno fight, completely unable to keep up between the Door-Door Fruit and Shave powers of his opponent. Then Luffy pulls out the power he’s been working on, pumping oxygen rapidly through his limbs and speeding himself up ridiculously. The second half of his fight with Blueno is totally one-sided, and Luffy cleans up before moving on to find Rob Lucci and pull out an even more deadly attack.
Lucci goes all out in his fight with Luffy, and the Straw Hat Captain returns it in kind. The reveal of Gear Three, only to see Luffy on the run from Lucci as a tiny version of himself, is amazing. Seeing Luffy come back from that mini form to kick Lucci’s ass with a Gum-Gum Giant Ax? The two of them destroy most of Enies Lobby in the process, but it makes for one of the greatest fights in the series.
Egghead Island: Luffy vs. Lucci Round 2
Speaking of Luffy and Lucci going at it, they recently got a rematch in Egghead Island. This arc has yet to make it into the anime, but Lucci reveals that Luffy isn’t the only one to Awaken his Zoan Devil Fruit. His Awakened Jaguar form gives Lucci the speed to go up against Luffy in Gear Fifrth, which is no easy feat considering it previously took out Kaido.
There’s not even a real resolution to this fight, as Rob Lucci ends up helping the Straw Hat Pirates instead. There’s definitely still more to go down between these two, but that’ll have to wait until Luffy finishes with Kizaru. Hopefully, this fight will get some more expansion in the coming chapters of the manga, as it can be one of the best fights of Luffy yet.
Gear Four! Luffy vs. Donquixote Doflamingo
The best fights Luffy finds himself in let him show off some new awesome power. After seeing how much he improved Gear Three during the time skip during Fishman Island and Punk Hazard, Dressrosa really had to deliver. When Doflamingo began to restrict the Bird Cage tighter and tighter, it was time for Luffy to spring into action. Despite plumes of string popping up thanks to Doflamingo’s Awakening, Luffy inflates his bones to enter into Gear Four, becoming Bounceman!
Doflamingo doesn’t laugh for long at how ridiculous the form looks, as it quickly starts to kick his ass every which way. Bounceman lets Luffy take his fights to the air with reinforced Haki hits, massive attacks, and a new ability to switch direction mid-stretch. Luffy can bend his limbs in ways that rubber shouldn’t be able to do, and he uses a Gum-Gum King Kong Gun to take out the Heavenly Demon of Dressrosa.
Katakuri vs. Luffy
The fight in Dressrosa as Bounceman was already a huge improvement for Gear Four, but fans weren’t expecting Luffy to pull out an entirely new form in Whole Cake Island. When Katakuri proves too fast for Luffy to keep up with, unable to land a blow or deflect most hits, he unveils the latest Gear Fourth form. Snakeman is built for speed, and Luffy uses it to give Katakuri the beating he’s never felt before. With his punches changing direction midair and chasing Katakuri down at ridiculous speeds, it’s a whole new level of power for Luffy.
When his Observation Haki upgrades along with it the Snakeman form becomes an even more dangerous weapon. Now Luffy has the insane speed and foresight to put it to use, even outpacing Katakuri’s Observation Haki. When the son of Big Mom makes his final stand with Buzz-Cut Mochi, Luffy hits him with Gum-Gum King Cobra. The massive, Haki-coated fist catches Katakuri right in the face and knocks him on his back in battle for the first time, therefore this battle qualifies for one the best fights of Luffy.
Luffy vs. Kaido on Onigashima
Probably the absolute peak of One Piece at this point and for the yet-to-be-determined future. The battle against Kaido in Onigashima is going to be legendary amongst anime for decades to come, from beginning to end. There are so many phases to this battle, from the first fight alongside everyone on the roof to Luffy and Yamato versus Kaido to the final all-or-nothing. It’s a nonstop show of insane powers and near-death moments until finally Luffy seems to be hit by the final blow from Kaido and dies.
Except he hits his peak and Awakens his Devil Fruit instead. Luffy unlocks Gear Fifth, turning into a literal cartoon character during his fights. He whips the ground like a rug at Kaido, uses lightning like a bungee cord, and uses the dragon like a jump rope. Then comes the Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun, a fist the size of Onigashima with Conqueror Haki covering it. There’s nowhere for Kaido to go, and despite a brief stalemate, Luffy sends the Beast King into the ground below, down to a fiery hell.
Luffy still has plenty of fights to come in the manga as it enters the final saga, so don’t expect these fights to stay in the same ranking order. No matter who he’s going against, Luffy will always find some way to pull out the win in a fight, whether it’s silly or serious. The Straw Hat Captain in One Piece doesn’t play around when it comes to his dreams, and his fights just go to prove it!
