One Piece: How Fast Is Luffy? (& How He Compares With Other Heroes)

One Piece flaunts a wide range of amazing and talented protagonists, but Luffy remains one of the fastest heroes to have ever graced the community. Still, many fans still wonder exactly how fast Luffy is – especially compared to other iconic anime characters.

Luffy does not have the best movement speed, but he is faster than light in terms of reaction time and combat speed. He can dodge bullets and lightspeed beams, as well as keep up with One Piece opponents who launch attacks at or above lightning speed, and it’s believed he has developed faster abilities since the time skip.

Although Luffy is remarkably quick on his feet in many situations, he is by no means the fastest hero we’ve ever seen. Stick around to find out about how fast Luffy is in different situations, as well as how fast Luffy is compared to other heroes.

How Fast Is Luffy? (Hypersonic vs. Lightspeed)

The main topic of debate among One Piece fans is whether Luffy has hypersonic speed or if he has in fact reached lightning speed or light speed. What makes it even more perplexing is that many pieces of evidence throughout the anime and manga can occasionally be interpreted as proof for both arguments.

It’s definitely worth noting that there is no way Luffy started off with lightning speed when he was a child, although he has always been exceptionally gifted all along. It is far more likely that Luffy had incredible combat speed as is when he was younger, and later developed his combat skills as the One Piece story progressed – which includes his speedy abilities as well.

Over the years, there have been quite a few fans questioning Luffy’s speed in later segments of the story, and it’s primarily due to a few shreds of content within the manga, some of which have been translated by Kissmanga. The primary panel in question, displayed below thanks to fans on Quora, shows an instance where fluffy struggles to keep up with Enel’s movements during a fight.

That being said, Enel is a lightning logia, meaning that he moves as quickly as lightning in just about any scenario. The fact that Luffy struggles to keep up with him does not necessarily mean that Luffy is not as fast as lightning, it could simply mean that Enel has a base speed of lightning. Enel could potentially move way faster than lightning when he wants to, meaning Luffy could still be slower even if he was as fast as lightning.

Another important thing to mention is that, while images and details may remain the same, the dialogue can often get lost in translation – although, it’s not to point fingers at any manga version, it’s more about how narration is interpreted. As seen above, Luffy is depicted saying that he’s struggling to keep up Enel’s ability that allows him to predict Luffy’s movements – he was not necessarily struggling as a result of Enel’s speed.

This would make more sense when comparing Luffy’s reactions to other main One Piece characters, specifically Nami and Usopp, since they manage to dodge Enel’s lightning attacks. Most fans believe that the Viz translations are generally more accurate in terms of canon and lore.

Luffy Is Faster Than Light

Luffy is said to have started off as hypersonic and has grown to become as fast as a lightning bolt, or faster than the speed of light depending on his form. But, the answer can be found with some solid mathematics and in-depth calculations.

Check out the video below, which goes through specific calculations for Luffy’s speed in various instances, posted by IdeaShock:

With the main areas of debate being covered, the majority of One Piece fans believe there’s over enough evidence to suggest he had developed lightspeed. His speed was proven numerous times throughout Skypiea, and even more in the arc after Skypiea, the Long Ring Island arc.

When taking on Foxy’s Noro-Noro beam, Luffy manages to dodge it many times – all while unleashing a barrage of attacks, meaning he would have need to constantly switch between regular speed and lightspeed.

He then dodges the beams again in another instance, but this time, he states that he has no idea where they are coming from – but, he dodges them anyway. The key point here is that the beams emitted by the device are made of photons, which naturally move at the speed of light.

There is debate concerning when exactly he gained lightspeed, with some people believing it was before Wano. Either way, considering how much Luffy has grown in strength and speed since the time skip, it’s safe to say that current Luffy has surpassed the speed of light.

How Fast Is Luffy Compared To Other Heroes?

While it’s great to know that Luffy is as fast or faster than the speed of light in battle, many anime fans are curious to know how he would pitch up against other legendary anime, manga, and other fictional characters than are infamous for their insane speed. Narrowing down the exact figures for these heroes varies a lot and is always up for debate, but we have outlined the most widely believed averages for comparison.

Below is an estimated comparison between the movement and combat speeds of some of the most infamous fictional heroes, as well as guesstimated max speeds according to fans:

Fastest One Piece Characters

Although Luffy flaunts some insane attack and dodge speed, he is still not the fastest character in One Piece as he doesn’t have lightspeed abilities around the clock.

Below are some One Piece characters that boast either similar or superior speed when compared to Luffy:

Kizaru

Kizaru is one of the Admirals of the Navy and is often considered to be the fastest man in the One Piece universe – primarily due to the powers of his Devil Fruit, the Pika Pika no Mi. Kizaru has become light itself, allowing him to travel at lightspeed as a bare minimum – not only when throwing punches or dodging attacks.

Marco the Phoenix

Marco the Phoenix is the former right-hand man of Whitebeard and is often dubbed one of the strongest people in the One Piece universe. He harnesses the powers of the Mythical Zoan type Tori Tori no Mi, flaunting remarkable strength, and he intercepted Kizaru’s light-based attacks with ease while keeping up with him in terms of speed.

Silvers Rayleigh

Silvers Rayleigh, also referred to as the Dark King, is one of the few characters who can stand up to an Admiral One Piece character or characters that are even stronger. Rayleigh is really fast since he was able to react to stop Kizaru’s light-based kick within only moments after it was fired at Sabaody Archipelago.

Bartholomew Kuma

Bartholomew Kuma is one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Army, harnessing the power of the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi which transformed him into a paw-palmed human. He can repel anything at the speed of light with his paws, is able to attack with lightspeed shockwaves, and can travel at the speed of light himself as well.

Sanji

Sanji is the Cook of the Straw Hat Pirates and is possibly the fastest on the crew. He becomes one of the fastest in the entire series once he puts on the Raid Suit, with powers that are great enough to push him to the speed of light itself – as seen during his fight against Page One.

Luffy definitely boasts a range of amazing capabilities and traits, whether it’s in daily life or when taking on vicious bad guys. Although he’s not the fastest kid on the block, all of his abilities balance out really well and make him the exceptional hero that we all know and love.