The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1074, “MK. III,” by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
Something unusual happened in the latest One Piece chapter. Luffy is completely exhausted, but it’s not necessarily from fighting — rather, it’s from running around a lot.
Many fans have started to wonder if there’s a greater meaning behind Luffy getting so tired so easily. It could mean that he wore himself out during his fight with Rob Lucci, or maybe he’s just not as strong as everyone thought he was. Naturally, anything bringing a shonen protagonist’s strength into question will raise some controversy, so it’s important to get to the bottom of this.
What Could Luffy’s Exhaustion Mean for the Overarching Story?
There are only a few confirmed facts about Luffy’s exhaustion. The first is that he wore himself out running all around Egghead’s Labophase in search of Dr. Vegapunk’s Stella body and Jewelry Bonney. In doing so, he broke his hover boots and was forced to search the area on foot. He supposedly did all of this running with maximum effort (because that’s just what he does) and wound up having to remain behind to catch his breath while everyone else went out looking for Vegapunk and Bonney. Going off these facts alone, fans have done a lot of speculating.
The most common assumption is that Luffy is still feeling the effects of his recent use of Gear Five. He took on the form in his fight with Rob Lucci not too long ago, after which he was severely drained. It’s possible that he was still feeling the aftereffects of this technique. In that regard, Luffy’s exhaustion did have significant implications, story-wise.
Others have concluded this exhaustion is purely a result of running around with maximum effort. He could have simply walked or jogged around the lab to find Bonney and Vegapunk, but he might have instead sprinted to get the search done as quickly as possible. In this case, it wouldn’t matter how strong Luffy has gotten: no one can operate at 100% for an extended period.
Some have asserted that this whole bout of exhaustion is simply gag. They believe this moment isn’t meant to be taken seriously as a measurement of Luffy’s power or stamina; it’s just him being silly. If there’s another fight coming up in the near future, Luffy should be ready for it, no matter the opponent.
That said, whether Luffy’s exhaustion is a gag or not, the fact is that it’s caused him to stay behind in order to recover. This puts him in a room with Zoro, watching over the unconscious bodies of Lucci and Kaku. This placement for all of these characters at this point in the story could have all sorts of implications for what happens later on.