Is One Piece’s Gear 5 Luffy Stronger Than Dragon Ball’s Ultra Instinct Goku?

One Piece has debuted a powerful new Luffy transformation with the anime’s newest episode, and one question that immediately started popping up among fans was whether or not Gear 5 Luffy would be stronger than a fully powered Ultra Instinct Goku. Whether it’s because Goku and Luffy’s strengths have been compared in the past, or whether it’s because their respective peak transformations both have white hair, but fans have been racking their brains over whether one is stronger than the other. There is an answer to this question, however, as one of their transformations currently doesn’t seem to have any limits. 

One Piece Episode 1071 fully introduced Gear 5 Luffy to the anime, and revealed that it was the true power of Luffy’s Gum-Gum Fruit that would give him “ridiculous” abilities. Fans got to see this in action as he turned the very serious fight against Kaido into a classic cartoon, and Kaido was bereft at how to fight back such a wild opponent. But against Ultra Instinct Goku, that power could be balanced in a way as Goku’s martial arts skills could make up the gap against such a wild fighting style. 

Who Wins Between Gear 5 Luffy and Ultra instinct Goku?

Goku’s Ultra Instinct (at the current level of control that he has with it in the manga) is still incomplete as he’s constantly training to have a better control over it. At his peak, this form is shown to give him both increased offensive and defensive abilities. But the main difference with Gear 5 is that it’s a form that he needs to maintain through concentration and stamina. Regardless of its godly power, it’s one that is still limited by Goku’s own body and mind. The god power flows through him, but only so much that his training has allowed. 

This just wouldn’t work against Gear 5 Luffy, whose transformation is not only innate (as he was quite literally dead before his Devil Fruit awakened its true potential) but impacts more than his offensive and defensive abilities. Luffy’s Gear 5 ability might also be tied into his body’s stamina, but it also allows him to fight in any way he wants. He can quite literally bend the world around him, and thus a straightforward fighter like Goku would have some trouble. 

It’s likely the duo would adapt to one another as their fight continued, and likely wouldn’t actually come to a decisive winner. They would just enjoy the fight too much. Gear 5 Luffy is the inherently stronger of the two because his new form also affects the world around him, but Ultra Instinct Goku could theoretically adapt to even the most cartoonish of techniques. 

Who do you think is stronger between Gear 5 Luffy and Ultra Instinct Goku? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!