One Piece Endgame: The Major Death That Could Turn Nika Into Luffy’s Greatest Enemy

One Piece has been teasing something wild ever since Luffy hit that Gear 5 switch: his Devil Fruit might not just be power-ups and rubbery gags. It might actually want things. And yeah, that opens the door to a very specific nightmare scenario fans keep bringing up — Nika taking the wheel if Luffy loses someone he loves. The leading candidate to light that fuse? Grandpa Garp.

Nika vs Luffy: Who is driving in Gear 5?

Luffy is usually goofy between fights and dead serious during them. Gear 5 breaks that pattern. Once he goes cartoon god mode, the tone shifts — he laughs more, taunts more, treats huge battles like playtime. It’s fun, sure, but it also doesn’t fully feel like Luffy-when-the-gloves-are-off.

Could that be confidence? Maybe. But there’s a more unsettling read: the fruit’s will bleeding into his personality. Inside baseball alert — in One Piece, awakened Zoan fruits have a reputation for messing with the user’s mind. Shaka (one of Vegapunk’s satellites) spells that out: when a Zoan awakens, it can nudge or even override the host’s personality. And the Elders straight-up treat Luffy’s fruit like a living thing.

The Five Elders in Chapter 1044 frame Luffy’s fruit as a troublesome entity with a will — one that’s slipped through the World Government’s hands for 800 years.

Oda’s been winking at this idea in other places too. In SBS 111, he drew Nika almost like its own Straw Hat crew member. Not subtle.

The trigger nobody wants: Garp

We’ve already seen what grief does to Luffy. After Ace’s execution, he broke — collapsed, woke up raging blindly, and nearly lost himself if not for Jinbe pulling him back. He’s stronger now, trained under Rayleigh, sharpened his Haki, and carries the Will of D with the weight it deserves. Still, grief suffocates. If that kind of loss hits again, all bets are off.

Enter Garp. The man is covered in death flags. He’s currently a prisoner of the Blackbeard Pirates, and he carries a history that gives Teach plenty of motive — Garp played a key part in Rocks D. Xebec’s downfall and sided with the World Government at God Valley. If Blackbeard wants to make a statement (or twist the knife during the inevitable clash with Luffy), Garp is the perfect pressure point.

If Luffy watches his grandfather die, that could be the exact window Nika needs to push past him. Yes, Luffy’s will is monstrous. But if the opponent in that moment is basically a god baked into his own Devil Fruit? That’s a different fight entirely.

The evidence pile (and why it matters)

• Gear 5 shifts Luffy’s behavior mid-fight — lighter tone, playfulness, even a different laugh — which doesn’t line up with his usual 'I’m taking down the villain' mode.
• The Five Elders acknowledge the fruit as if it’s alive and scheming, evading capture for centuries. That’s not normal Devil Fruit talk.
• Shaka notes awakened Zoans can overwhelm the user’s personality — exactly the kind of risk Gear 5 walks into.
• Oda drew Nika as a separate Straw Hat in SBS 111, basically treating Nika as its own 'character.'
• Garp is in Blackbeard’s hands, and his God Valley history gives Teach a personal reason to finish the job.
• Some fans float Shanks as a possible trigger too, but given the current setup, Garp feels more likely.

Where this probably goes

I doubt Oda lets Nika permanently replace Luffy. It’s Luffy’s story. But a real internal showdown? That feels inevitable. If Garp falls — especially in front of him — we could see Nika surge and Luffy have to wrestle back control mid-battle. Honestly, that would be peak One Piece: ridiculous, mythic, and deeply personal all at once.

One Piece is streaming on Crunchyroll and the manga’s up on VIZ Media. If you’ve got a theory on how a Luffy vs Nika clash plays out — or whether Garp is the domino that tips it — hit the comments and make your case.