Luffy vs. Lucci: Who Won the Fight and in Which Episode?

One Piece is an anime that certainly has its fair share of strong and powerful characters. And while its protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is certainly among them, there are some characters that are even more powerful than the cheerful and quirky protagonist of the manga. In this article, we are going to analyze one such character, as we are going to pit Luffy against Rob Lucci, one of the creepier characters in the franchise, to see who the stronger of the two is.

Luffy is and was able to defeat Lucci when they fought. Lucci is an exceptionally powerful fighter and has pushed Luffy to his limits during their fight. Still, Luffy was able to defeat Lucci even then and since he has become enormously stronger in the meantime, he would be able to defeat Lucci at this moment without many problems.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Luffy and Rob Lucci in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Luffy was ultimately able to defeat Lucci when they fought.

Physical powers

Luffy is endowed with immense physical strength, enough to lift gigantic boulders and shatter steel with his bare hands. His physical strength derives in part from the workouts his grandfather Garp subjected him to as a child, where he survived critical circumstances and used to face huge ferocious beasts. Even as a child he was able to defeat grown-ups and endure Polchemy’s torture.

His physical strength is such as to overwhelm the strongest fugitives of the eastern sea and to rival even that of the fish-men, as demonstrated in the battles against Arlong and Hody Jones, whose strength was even higher than that of the average of their race. . In particular against Hody, after two years of training, he showed himself clearly superior, so much so that he defeated him despite being powered by Energy Steroids.

As one of the physically strongest characters in the series, Rob Lucci’s great power is recognized even by the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Even at the age of thirteen, Lucci was already known to have killed five hundred soldiers and a crew of pirates single-handedly. It should also be noted that Rob Lucci is the strongest member of CP9 in history.

Franky noted that his strength is above the levels of the rest of CP9, and later commented that if it wasn’t for Luffy, he wasn’t sure how many of them would have been sacrificed. Though Luffy was able to match Lucci’s power after the incident in the Galley-La mansion, the assassin showed to be more agile, fast, and intelligent, being able to overcome Luffy using his martial arts, and although he matched his physical strength, he could not give him any effective hit until he activated gear second.

Lucci is the only person so far to single-handedly bring Luffy back to the brink of death with anything other than brute force. Along with his great strength and superhuman speed, Lucci is a highly intelligent and cunning person

Now, if we only counter brute force, Lucci is very near Luffy’s level, which is an amazing feat in itself. Both have proven themselves to be exceptional fighters and that is why we have to divide the points in the first category.

Points: Luffy 1, Lucci 1

Devil Fruit

Luffy ate Gom Gom Devil Fruit which made him rubber, giving him the ability to stretch his body parts and hit enemies from a long distance. Although as a child he had problems in fully controlling his power, after an intense training of over ten years, Luffy was able to use the fruit to exponentially improve his physical strength and his agility, thus making him a dangerous opponent.

Despite his fighting style sometimes appears improvised, it is precisely his creativity that makes him an unpredictable opponent, capable of overturning critical situations by adapting from time to time to combat. His rubber body also makes him extremely durable and immune to marine bullets, normal punches and even electricity.

However, he is not immune to swords and knives, as well as to dehydration or poison, although after the fight with Magellan he becomes immune to a wide variety of these.

Rob Lucci ate the Neko Neko no Mi: Pattern Leopard, a Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a leopard and a giant human-leopard hybrid. Zoans enhance the user’s physical abilities, which favors martial artists like Lucci and their use of the rokushiki. Also, being a carnivorous animal, Lucci is more bloodthirsty and rapacious than a regular Zoan-type user, proven when he bit Luffy transformed into a real leopard.

Lucci’s Devil Fruit powers are certainly amazing, without a doubt, but Luffy’s recently been identified as Joy Boy and has accessed a plethora of new powers. If Luffy managed to beat Lucci a while ago with not as much powers, he would certainly destroy him now. This point goes to Luffy.

Points: Luffy 2, Lucci 1

Haki

Luffy was trained by Rayleigh to become an expert Haki user. He knows how to use the Observation Haki, which he instinctively used for the first time against Mihawk, avoiding a swing that would have cut off his arms. He also mastered the Armament Haki at high levels, making it an essential part of Gear Fourth. Using this ability in combination with the powers of his own devil fruit, Luffy is also able to ignite his fists thanks to his friction.

He also knows how to use the rarest form of Haki, the Royal Haki, which is the one he prefers. With it, he was able to knock out fifty thousand fish-men at once. During his confrontation with Kaido, he proved to be one of the very few individuals able to use her to enhance his attacks. His third fight against the emperor also ripped through the sky.

Rob Lucci is proficient in the Armament Haki. He was first seen using Armament Haki when his fist and Sabo’s fist clashed in Film Gold. He can also use this type of Haki in the video game One Piece: Burning Blood.

Luffy wins this point as well. Why? Simply because he has mastered more Haki techniques than Lucci. Lucci is proficient in the Armament Haki, but Luffy can use all three Haki techniques, which is why we give him the point in this category.

Points: Luffy 3, Lucci 1

Weapons

Luffy rarely uses weapons in combat, mostly due to his inexperience and the inability to use them. In his childhood, he wielded a metal pipe and that is probably the most sophisticated weapon he successfully handled. In Arlong Park, Luffy briefly tried to fight with swords but failed miserably.

Like Luffy, Lucci rarely uses weapons in combat; we don’t think we’ve ever seen him use a weapon in a fight. Still, knowing how bad Luffy is with general weapons, we assume that Lucci would be better than him.

As we have pointed out on several occasions, Luffy never wins in this category simply because he doesn’t use weapons. On the other hand, we’ve never seen Lucci actually use weapons, so we don’t know whether he is better than Luffy (although he probably is). This is why we divide the points in this final category.

Points: Luffy 4, Lucci 2

Luffy vs. Lucci: Who wins?

We could, actually, give you a proper analysis of the things we have written above but that wouldn’t really do the trick when compared with what we have decided to go with. Namely, as Luffy and Lucci have, indeed, fought in the manga and the anime, we thought that it would be better for us to just recap these events and show you how Luffy managed to win.

The first fight between Luffy and Lucci happened during the Water 7 Arc. At one point, Rob Lucci explains to Iceburg about the existence of the Cipher Pol and CP9. There, he reveals the reason CP9 is a secret organization: because they have permission to kill anyone who doesn’t cooperate. He goes on to reveal that the World Government wants to resurrect the oldest weapon in the name of “justice”.

Suddenly, they are interrupted by Luffy, Paulie, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper. Paulie is shocked when he realizes the situation and lunges at Lucci, who stabs him with her finger after saying shigan. Lucci then explains that the members of CP9 have trained countless hours to make their bodies weapons, mastering numerous abilities that rise above normal human capabilities.

As Lucci is about to finish off Paulie, Luffy attacks him with a Gomu Gomu no Gatling, having no effect due to Lucci’s Tekkai. He then uses Soru to hit Luffy in the neck. Later, Lucci reports that the mansion will be engulfed in flames in a few minutes. The four Straw Hat pirates prepare to attack. Luffy is captured and thrown against the wall while Robin escapes through the window. Kalifa interrupts and announces that it is time for the explosions to begin, and Lucci begins to transform thanks to the Neko Neko fruit: Leopard Pattern.

With a single kick, Lucci destroys the upper levels of the headquarters, and then thrusts his fingers through Luffy, sending him flying somewhere in Water 7. Zoro attacks him, but shares the same fate as Luffy. On the roof, the members of CP9 appear observing the fire caused in the headquarters, and Lucci affirms that there is no one who can prove his crime. During their first fight, Lucci won, but Luffy would soon have his revenge.

Luffy finally meets up with Lucci and starts a second match against him. The two contestants begin to wrestle in an extremely hectic and boisterous match in which Lucci holds a notable advantage. Luffy repeatedly tries to evade Lucci and catch up with Robin, but is stopped and forced to continue fighting.

Later, Franky arrives and begins to fight Lucci alongside Luffy, despite Luffy asking him to go after Robin while he entertains Lucci. Franky’s moves are unsuccessful, and Lucci viciously attacks him. Finally, Franky manages to leave after Robin, and Luffy activates Gear Second. Lucci manages to outmaneuver Gear Second, leaving Luffy in the same situation. Lucci assures Luffy that he doesn’t stand a chance against him.

In response, Luffy laughs and states that he will use a different strategy. Finally, he activates Gear Third and hits Lucci with his left arm, which, according to Luffy himself, after activating Gear Third is a “giant’s arm”. Lucci is thrown by Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol, throwing him into a Buster Call ship, nearly losing consciousness in the process.

However, Lucci takes advantage of Luffy’s lack of speed to charge at him in his leopard form and bite him in the arm. Later, he hits it with Tobu Shigan Bachi and uses Rankyaku Gaichou in the air, cutting through a ship in the process. After the wave of attacks, Luffy deactivates Gear Third and ends up going back to the Tower of Justice, becoming incredibly small.

Lucci states that Gear Third is a very unbalanced technique, and he uses Ressurection to make his hybrid form smaller and thinner, attacking Luffy with Shigan and smashing him into the wall, destroying much of it. Lucci tries to suffocate Luffy and decides to end his life. However, he begins to feel discomfort in his legs due to the previous blow, and Luffy manages to return to his normal form.

After a brief exchange of blows, Lucci decides to show Luffy the most powerful technique of the Rokushiki. Using Soru, he manages to stop in front of Luffy, and hits him with his Rokuogan, severely injuring Lufy, who likens the Rokuogan to an amplified impact dial. Their battle continues with continued brutal physical blows until Lucci manages to hit Luffy again with a Rokuogan, knocking him to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Lucci comments that he still has to kill all of Luffy’s crew, while Luffy can only watch helplessly. Finally, Luffy manages to get up after Usopp’s encouragement and hits Lucci with a brutal Gomu Gomu no jet Gatling. Lucci tries to withstand the blows with his Tekkai, but unfortunately for him, the powerful attack hits Lucci so fast and hard that it seems like he is being hit by dozens of fists at the same time. The attack ends up slamming Lucci into a brick wall which he walks through unconscious and ultimately defeated.

As you can see, this is how Luffy finally managed to defeat Lucci. The second fight was likewise a thought one, but one that Luffy ultimately managed to win.

In which episode does Luffy beat Lucci?

Luffy’s rematch against Lucci takes place in episodes 294 to 309, which aired between January 21, 2007 and May 13, 2007. It was a pretty long fight, but Luffy finally managed to defeat Lucci in Episode 309 of the anime series.