One Piece: Luffy's 5 best punches in over 1,000 episodes of the series

In ‘One Piece’, all kinds of blows have been dealt, and Luffy is the one who gives the most. The quest for the title of King of the Pirates will bring you a lot of enemies, but no one said that the road would be all sunsets and moonlight toasts. For this reason, and because we know you like nothing better than a good top list, here are the 5 best punches thrown by the Straw Hat Captain in the more than 1,000 chapters of manga and anime. Some were chosen for symbolism, others for staging, the fact is that Eiichiro Oda made us vibrate inside with all of them.

Luffy’s Punch to Bellamy

We start with the oldest punch on the list and probably one of our favorite moments of the whole series, one of the ones that made us fall in love with ‘One Piece’. Part of its magic lies in the calm and anticipation with which the punch is constructed. We have spent many episodes waiting for it. In episode 147 of the anime (the 225th in the manga), Luffy and Zoro let themselves be beaten by Bellamy to keep their promise to Nami.

Both mugiwaras had promised the navigator to keep a low profile and not to fight on the island of Jaya. So despite the taunts and blows, despite even the cries of despair of a Nami who changes her mind and begs them to defend themselves, neither of our protagonists responds. It’s a display of loyalty and friendship, a tremendous sign of their maturity, reminiscent of Shanks and the first scene in the series where the red-haired man refused to fight in Makino’s bar because, according to him, it wasn’t worth it.

There is no viewer whose blood did not boil at that moment. As exciting as the attitude of both of them was, especially when they came out and heard Blackbeard’s speech, with whom there was a memorable first encounter, we all wanted Luffy to shut Bellamy’s mouth and prove to everyone why he had a 100 million bounty on his head. So when it finally happens (in episode 151 of the anime and 232 of the manga, after Bellamy attacks Mont Blanc Cricket), it’s impossible to be more proud of our captain. One shot.

The final blows to Crocodile

Arabasta marked a before and after in ‘One Piece’. Until then, the longest arc had lasted 14 chapters (and it was Arlong, with the moment you have to reach to know if you like the series). In the desert, we witnessed a plot of almost 40 episodes that told a civil war with surprising drama and depth. A parade of unforgettable moments. The reunion of Ace and Luffy, the fight with Vivi, Sanji as Mr. Pince, the truce with Smoker, the one-on-one confrontations of all the Mugiwaras, the scene where Crocodile killed the Straw Hat and showed him the difference in power between normal pirates and Shichibukais, and so on and so forth. That’s why the final blows to the tyrant tasted so good.

Throughout the series, Luffy has finished off many enemies with either one punch or a rain of blows. We could have mentioned the KO of Rob Lucci that left him breathless, the blows that made Doflamingo lose his air of superiority, the finisher of Moria in his blue version, and many others, but in none of them did Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony play in the background. Although it has been used a thousand and one times in popular culture, a la Wilheim’s Cry or Gilligan’s Island, none has been as successful as this. We don’t know whose decision it was, but between said melody, the slow motion, and the latent rage in Luffy’s screams, the gomu gomu no gatling, this moment had to be it.

Hajrudin’s Punch Silences the Colosseum

What would Shonen be without tournament arcs. There is no greater proof of the deep imprint that ‘Dragon Ball’ and Akira Toriyama have left on their heirs. And what would the fandom be without those fights and confrontations that turn their scales of power upside down and give wings to their little battles over which character is stronger. In Eiichiro Oda’s work, it took a while to get to Dressrosa, but it was worth it. The fight for the devil fruit Mera Mera introduced us to a good number of pirates (Bartolomeo and Cavendish at the top) and left us with memorable fights. And it was in the first one that Luffy took seriously that we had a new demonstration of power.

It may seem insignificant, but not everyone can defeat a giant with one punch. After laying hands on his new best friend, the bull Ucy, Luffy shows the world what happens when someone messes with his nakamas.  It doesn’t matter if it’s the biggest and strongest race, ten heads taller, or the captain of the New Giant Pirates of Elbaf. After the time skip, Luffy doesn’t want to lose anyone, he’s not afraid of a fight, and he’ll make anyone who tries pay dearly. Not only did he impress the entire Colosseum and bring an envious smile to the face of Zoro, who was left out of the event, but he even earned Hajrudin’s respect and made him want to join the Straw Hat Fleet later on.

Luffy’s punch on a Tenryuubito

The one that everyone thinks of when they think of ‘One Piece’ and fisticuffs. It’s also probably the most satisfying one in the whole series. And we say that not so much because of who gets it (Saint Charlos, a Celestial Dragon), but because of what his people represent. Mundane nobles like him hold the world in thrall. They are the tyrants who destroyed the Great Kingdom in the past. They are arrogant slave traders who enjoy total immunity from any crime they commit. They treat others like dirt and consider themselves untouchable. They have the Great Line in fear and the Navy bought and paid for. In short, they are the opposite of what Luffy stands for, the antithesis of his dreams of freedom.

That’s why this punch has so much resonance. That’s why it was animated spectacularly, halfway between manga and anime. Because despite all the warnings of his crew and the inhabitants of Gyojin Island, Luffy doesn’t care. He doesn’t bow down, he doesn’t submit, he doesn’t stay silent in the face of injustice. He proves that he will stand up to anyone to free his friends (in this case, Camie), and he does it in front of all the members of the Worst Generation, Law, Kid, and the pirates he will compete with in the New World. He makes a difference and silences the world.

Luffy’s punch that knocks Kaidou down

“This is a man who challenged the Marines and Four Emperors and was caught 18 times - and endured over a thousand tortures. He was sentenced to death forty times. When he was hanged, the rope snapped. When put under the guillotine, the blade cracked… When skewered, the spear broke. Ultimately, he sank nine different prison vessels. Meaning none of these people were able to kill him! And that included he himself.”

One Piece once introduced Kaidou of the Beasts, the strongest pirate in the New World. A fearsome opponent who had never lost a single fight until he met Luffy. And before he fell, to put it in context, he had faced a dozen opponents and defeated the Straw Hat more than four times (one of them with a single blow and another one killing him and forcing him to resurrect with Gear 5).

That’s why this punch is so important. Because it reflects Luffy’s development. Ten years after the formation of the Pirate Alliance, after 382 manga chapters of preparing to defeat a Yonkou, after going from 500 million berries to 1.5 billion, with his own pirate fleet behind him and the arcs of Dressrosa, Zou, Whole Cake Island behind him, with new allies like Jinbe and new powers like Gear 4, this punch shows that Luffy is ready to take on any opponent. He’s never been so close to becoming the King of the Pirates.

In addition, this hit has many parallels to that of Tenryuubito. Law and Kid are also present here, even Big Mom is impressed as a spectator, here too two radically opposite personalities confront each other and here too we enjoy animation as rarely seen before. Toei Animation made the attack a tribute to the 4 years and more than 100 chapters the series spent in Wano, to the cruel fate of the Akazaya Nine, of Yamato and Tama, to the tragic fate of Oden. It is a beautiful sequence that begins the end of the longest saga of all ‘One Piece’.

And of course, the list could not be completed without a Red Hawk.