Luffy vs. Ichigo: Who Would Win in a Fight?

One Piece and Bleach are certainly one of the most popular shōnen manga and best anime franchises in modern history. A lot of people who have read/watched the one, also did that with the other and One Piece and Bleach have a very similar fanbase, as the two franchises themselves do share some similarities. And while One Piece is still ongoing, Bleach has been over for years now, but both are still enormously popular. Since both franchises rely on fighting, we have decided to compare the two protagonists – Monkey D. Luffy and Ichigo Kurosaki – and tell you which of them would win in a fight.

There is no clear winner in a duel between Luffy and Icihgo. While Luffy is a better fighter, Ichigo’s combined skills certainly outmatch anything Luffy has to offer. The fight between these two protagonists would absolutely be an epic clash, but from what is known about them, it would probably end in a draw, without a clear winner.

This article is going to be all about comparing the protagonists of One Piece and Bleach. You’re going to find out who Monkey D. Luffy and Ichigo Kurosaki are, as well as what their exact powers and abilities are. In the end, based on what we have presented earlier, we’re going to give our final verdict on who is stronger. It’s promising to be a fun story so keep reading until the end!

Monkey D. Luffy and his powers

Monkey D. Luffy is the main protagonist of the anime and manga One Piece created by Eiichirō Oda. His body is made of rubber after eating a devil fruit, specifically the “Gomu Gomu fruit” He is the captain of the pirate crew known as the Straw Hat Pirates, founded by himself to fulfill his dream of finding the One Piece. He is originally from East Blue.

Luffy has shown to have an incredibly superhuman strength, and a good capacity for fights, at first glance his thin appearance makes him seem to show weakness, which the latter is usually deceptive for the enemy’s eyes.

Through the series Luffy has shown a force far superior to human, even defeating a sea king with one punch, this is due to the intense training that his grandfather Monkey D. Garp subjected him, which consisted of throwing him away in the middle of dangerous jungles, tying him to some balloons to raise him to great heights, making him one of the most powerful characters in the series.

Luffy, despite not being very smart or strategic, has shown to have an inverse effect when facing users of Logia-type Devil Fruits, for example: his fight against Crocodile, and the idea of ​​using water to hit him (since his devil fruit the Suna Suna cannot control the sand and manipulate it), Luffy could not hit him because Crocodile was made of sand and Luffy discovered that wetting his fists with water could hit him, even using his own blood to defeat him.

In Skipiea, Luffy was able to counter Enel’s Mantra (Mantra is the way of saying Haki for the inhabitants of Skipiea); Luffy discovered that blanking his mind, meaning acting like an idiot, could counter Enel’s Mantra / Haki, so that Enel could not read his movements. When Luffy was a child, he unknowingly ate a devil fruit, which belonged to Shanks’ crew. The fruit was the Gomu Gomu no mi that gave him elasticity powers.

Luffy possesses the elastic properties of gum, but as a side effect he cannot swim, since the water cancels his energy, paralyzing his body. In fights, Luffy takes advantage of his elastic properties to stretch one or more of his limbs and make them return by throwing them towards his opponents. This, combined with his outsized strength makes Luffy a highly powerful character.

Luffy can reach places that no one could reach just by stretching the parts of his body (his arms or his legs or his neck) he can even inflate himself to be able to block enemy attacks, (like cannonballs), Luffy is totally Immune to bullets and these usually bounce off Luffy’s body and return to the shooter or fly elsewhere.

He is also totally immune to physical blows, thanks to its great rubber resistance, however, throughout the series the latter has been contradicted many times, when some member of the crew (more specifically Nami), hits Luffy for his irresponsibility and Luffy ends up with his face bruised and swollen. The fans believe that this is a “mistake”, since it must be taken into account that Luffy is made of rubber and the blows should not affect him.

If there is something that can affect him, it is the cuts of swords or knives, since Luffy’s body is totally flexible, which makes him very vulnerable to cuts. After the Lobby battle, Luffy developed a technique to eat while sleeping as after a great battle he ended up knocked out for several days and according to Sanji: “He hates missing meals”. This technique allows him to eat as if he were awake.

However, this “technique” itself, does not seem like a technique in reality, as Luffy seemed to be in a sleepwalking state so that may be more of an act of sleepwalking than a technique itself.

Ichigo Kurosaki and his powers

Ichigo Kurosaki is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga Bleach, as well as the anime adaptation of the same name. He was created by Tite Kubo and is a 17-year old high-school student who can see ghosts. After an unfortunate incident, a Soul Reaper named Rukia Kuchiki transfers her powers to him so he can save his family, after which he becomes a Soul Reaper himself.

Ichigo does not rank like Shinigami but his strength is great enough to fight on par with captain-level Shinigami. When in his Shinigami form, he already has great speed and his strength is much greater. Because Ichigo has more spiritual power than his body can handle, he is constantly leaking power. This prevents him from suppressing his spiritual power.

Ichigo’s Zanpakutō is called Zangetsu. Unlike other Shinigami, Ichigo’s Zanpakutō is always in the Shikai form. The Zanpakutō is so big because Ichigo cannot control his spiritual power. Zangetsu’s soul is a middle-aged man with sunglasses and a long cloak. He is portrayed as a wise and calm man who likes to test Ichigo in unusual ways.

Zangetsu’s Bankai is called Tensa Zangetsu. Ichigo’s Bankai causes his Zanpakutō to shrink and his uniform changes. He can also move faster and his reflex has improved. Zangetsu’s special attack is the Getsuga Tenshō, which launches an energy attack from the top of Ichigo’s sword. The soul of Tensa Zangetsu is a younger version of Zangetsu, about Ichigo’s age. He is also aggressive.

In addition to his Shinigami powers, Ichigo also has Hollow powers. After losing his first fight with Byakuya Kuchiki and losing his Shinigami powers with it, he went to train with Kisuke Urahara to regain the Shinigami powers. During that training, Ichigo also partially became a Hollow. The Hollow’s strength grows throughout the series.

Unlike Ichigo, the Hollow fights like a berserker. The Hollow disregards Ichigo’s injuries and surpasses Ichigo’s speed and strength. Ichigo has been taught to control the Hollow by the Vizards, who let him summon his Hollow powers without the Hollow taking control. After controlling the Hollow, Ichigo trains to extend the time he has to use the power. His limit is 11 seconds, but during his fight with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, it is considerably longer.

After his fight with Aizen in Karakura city, all Ichigo’s powers have disappeared and he has become an ordinary person. But after training with Xcution, Soul Society has given him back his powers.

Monkey D. Luffy vs. Ichigo Kurosaki: Who would win?

We’re, of course, aware that a clash between Ichigo Kurosaki and Monkey D. Luffy would be one of the most epic ones in the history of anime. The protagonists of Bleach and One Piece both have a solid reputation and are excellent fighters, but they are very different in nature, and that is why we had to approach our article like we did. So, who would win?

Well, when it comes to Luffy, we know that he is a great fighter and has amazing willpower; in fact, he is one of the most resilient fighters in the world of anime. With him activating Gear Fifth and accessing the true powers of his Devil Fruit, he was able to defeat Kaidou, which is an amazing feat in itself. Although Luffy is certainly not invincible, he is especially difficult to defeat in any form of battle.

On the other hand, Ichigo Kurosaki’s experience with a diverse set of opponents gives him the upper hand in most battles. He uses his Zanpakuto to defeat the likes of Hollows, Arrancars, Soul Reapers, Stern Ritters, and Fullbringers. Zangetsu is one of the more powerful Zanpakuto in the series, and with Ichigo having an unique Shinigami/Quincy combination of skills (all that while having accessed Hollow, Vizored, and Fullbringer powers in the meantime), he is exceptionally powerful.

The thing with these two guys is that where one is stronger, the other is weaker, and vice versa. So, Luffy is a great fighter and is very difficult to defeat in traditional combat, which is not Ichigo’s forte. On the other hand, Ichigo wields a weapon like a true master, is exceptionally fast, and can manipulate different types of skills and powers, which is not Luffy’s forte.

From that percpective, it is almost impossible to determine a winner here, as both of these guys are powerful where the other one is weak. The outcome might be pure luck for either of them, or it could – and we think this is the most likely outcome – end up in a draw, as the two would exhaust each other, but not win in the fight. Luckily for everyone, they’re both on the side of good.