Luffy's first time entering the Gear 5 form

Warning: Contains spoilers for chapter #1118 of One Piece.

SUMMARY

Bonney transforms into Gear Five alongside Luffy by replicating his transformation.
Bonney’s understanding of Nika and Gear Five redefines her role and significance in the series.
Fans are divided over Bonney’s ability to easily use Gear Five, even though it may make her a permanent addition to the Straw Hat crew.

One Piece‘s Egghead Arc has been full of surprises but its latest chapter has single-handedly changed everything fans thought they knew about Gear Five, revealing Luffy’s true successor. Jewelry Bonney has been at the center of the Straw Hats’ adventure at Egghead since the very start, and while many expected Bonney to play a major role in the Straw Hats’ escape, One Piece‘s new shocking twist sees her take on a bigger role than anyone could have anticipated.

According to spoilers that have resurfaced online, chapter #1118 of One Piece sees Bonney finally become Nika in the truest sense of the word. In the chapter, Bonney also transforms into Gear Five along with Luffy, using her Distorted Future ability, sporting the same white hair, white clothes, and even the same ringed pupils as Luffy.

The spoilers reveal that Bonney finally realizes the secret to Luffy’s Gear Five form when she remembers him describing the transformation as the state in which he is most free. Thus, she envisions a future where she too is completely free and finally manages to replicate Gear Five, joining Luffy in an epic tag-team battle against the remaining Marines surrounding the island.

One Piece Reveals Bonney Can Also Use Gear Five

Bonney’s New Transformation Recontextualizes the Significance of Sun God Nika and Gear Five

Bonney uses distorted future to become like Nika in One Piece Chapter 1101 Saturn reveals Bonney's weakness in One Piece gear five luffy and bonney from one piece facing each other Bonney and Luffy in Gear Five from One Piece Bonney and Saturn from One Piece Luffy in episode 1101 Luffy's first time entering the Gear 5 formBonney uses distorted future to become like Nika in One Piece Chapter 1101 Saturn reveals Bonney's weakness in One Piece
 gear five luffy and bonney from one piece facing each other Bonney and Luffy in Gear Five from One Piece Bonney and Saturn from One Piece Luffy in episode 1101 Luffy's first time entering the Gear 5 form

While Bonney has previously tried to turn into Nika, she was unable to truly replicate Gear Five’s strength and abilities as she arguably did not understand the true meaning behind the transformation and what Nika truly represents. Bonney knew Nika as the Warrior of Liberation who goes around bringing joy to people, but did not know that Gear Five and Sun God Nika personified that very freedom.

Bonney finally has this very epiphany in chapter #1118 when Luffy encourages her to fight alongside him, reassuring her that she can do it too. Simple as his words may be, they finally empower her to believe in Nika’s existence and in herself, to let go of her pain and sadness, and to truly be free at last. Inspired by Luffy, Bonney finally takes her destiny into her own hands, just as so many have before her in One Piece, like Koby, Vivi, and Momonosuke.

Moreover, Bonney uses the very devil fruit power that caused her, Kuma, and Ginny so much misery to achieve her dream of becoming like Nika. This means the World Government’s wickedness ironically ended up making their worst nightmare a reality by giving birth to a second Nika, which may end up being Gear Five’s true purpose after all — to inspire others to fight for their own freedom.

One Piece’s New Gear Five Twist Has Fans Divided

As interesting as Bonney’s new transformation and its implications are, the revelation has received mixed reactions from fans. Some have argued that Bonney’s ability to use Gear Five so easily undermines the difficulty Luffy went through to awaken it. Admittedly, Luffy died fighting Kaido before he awakened the Nika Fruit, but his death was hardly the core requirement for the awakening.

Devil fruit awakenings have been described as a process that takes place when a user’s mind and body are aligned with the fruit’s powers and in Luffy’s case, his death arguably allowed his mentality to catch up with the will of the Nika Fruit. Luffy’s willingness to die for Wano’s freedom meant he finally shared the same ideals as Sun God Nika and that is perhaps why he awakened Gear Five.

Bonney, on the other hand, isn’t mimicking Luffy’s devil fruit awakening but is rather simply materializing an alternate reality where perhaps she has the powers of the Nika Fruit just as she did when she previously tried to turn into Nika but now with a better understanding and the same mentality as Luffy needed to truly awaken Gear Five.

Overall, Bonney’s latest feat in One Piece pretty much confirms that she could indeed end up being a permanent addition to the Straw Hat crew. Her childish naivety means she will be a perfect fit with Luffy both as a crew mate and a fighting partner, and it will certainly be interesting to see what kind of goofy attacks the two will come up with together.