Since Dragon Ball‘s Goku and One Piece‘s Luffy are two of the most popular anime heroes of all time, and especially since they both have an ever-expanding slate of abilities and superpowered forms, it’s inevitable that the fans would depict a hypothetical showdown between the two.
Artist Thirdphp has posted on their X account some fantastic art of Ultra Instinct Goku and Gear 5 Luffy. However, the artwork itself doesn’t really provide an answer one way or another. Instead of weighing on whether Ultra Instinct Goku or Gear 5 Luffy would win, Thirdphp’s art depicts the hypothetical showdown between the two anime icons in its opening moments, with Goku and Luffy aiming attacks at each other.
Neither has a clear advantage and even the artistic composition of the image is fairly balanced, with Goku and Luffy each taking up approximately half of the image. Even the color scheme uses complementary colors to further balance out the image.
Goku And Luffy’s Most Powerful Forms Prove Their Status As Anime Icons
Goku’s silver-haired Ultra Instinct form first appeared in chapter #41 of the Dragon Ball Super manga and episode #129 of the anime. Luffy’s Gear 5 form, coincidentally also silver-haired, first appeared in chapter #1044 of One Piece and episode #1071 of the anime. Both anime episodes were so anticipated by fans that the sheer demand caused Crunchyroll’s servers to crash. In both cases, these forms debuted decades after the start of their respective series, and the success they have among fans proves how both franchises and their protagonists have become true pop culture icons, transcending the times and the genre.
Almost as soon as Luffy’s Gear 5 form was revealed, fans began asking the question of whether Luffy’s new Gear 5 form could beat Goku, which is the basis for Thirdphp’s art. While the artist smartly avoided providing a clear answer, Thirdphp’s fans have been quick to weigh in their thoughts. The comment thread on the X post is full of the fans’ opinions on who would win the fight between Goku and Luffy. While Luffy has his supporters, Goku is the slight favorite to win the fight, and most of the comments in support of Goku give him an easy win. However, many fans are also quick to note that since Goku and Luffy are both heroic characters with incredibly similar personalities, they would be much more likely to befriend each other than fight each other, proving that anime fans are not necessarily looking for any excuse to fight each other.
The question of which two characters from different universes would win in a fight is one of the most enduringly popular discussions among fandoms, whether it’s movies, TV comics, or anime. The question is always a fun thought experiment, perhaps in part because there’s no clear answer. No matter where the fans come down on whether Ultra Instinct Goku or Gear 5 Luffy should win, they should definitely check out Thirdphp’s fantastic artwork on X, which has covered many fan-favorite characters of beloved franchises.
One Piece and Dragon Ball are both available to read form Viz Media and Manga Plus, and the anime are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
