Luffy has developed several new and strange abilities over the course of One Piece. He can stretch his body, make his fists hard like iron, knock out weaker opponents with his Haki and even fly. However, there is one unsung hero in his arsenal that doesn't get mentioned a lot-- his immunity to poison.
Thanks to a near-fatal encounter, Luffy now has the ability to take in the most deadly poisons without worry. The worst that can happen to him is he'll be rendered unconscious. Here's how Luffy got his immunity and how effective it is.
How Did Luffy Become Immune to Poison?
The story begins during Luffy's time in Impel Down, a prison for the world's most dangerous criminals. While there, he got in a fight with the prison's chief warden, Magellan. In this long, drawn-out battle, the warden used the powers of his Venom-Venom Fruit to inflict all sorts of poison on Luffy. The Straw Hat captain put up a good fight but ultimately succumbed to the poison.
Due to having so much of so many kinds of poison in his body, Luffy was deemed virtually incurable. Even the doctors of Impel Down couldn't concoct an antidote to deal with all of these poisons all at once. With this, Luffy seemed fated to die within the next 24 hours.
Despite the diagnosis, Luffy's friend, Mr. 2 Bon Clay, believed there was another way to cure him-- Emporio Ivankov. This purported miracle worker was supposedly being held somewhere in Impel Down. If Bon Clay could find them, they might be able to save Luffy's life.
The two eventually found Ivankov, but the process for saving Luffy was not as simple as they assumed. Ivankov needed to use the powers of their Horm-Horm Fruit to enhance Luffy's natural immune system. This caused Luffy's body to break down and heal itself at an accelerated pace in order to fight off the poison. This lasted for a grueling 10 hours, cutting the boy's life short by 10 years, but he was ultimately saved. Additionally, the ordeal gave Luffy a strong resistance to poison.
Is Luffy Immune to All Poison?
As strong as Luffy's immunity is, it's not perfect. In his rematch with Magellan, for example, he wasn't able to make direct contact with the warden; doing so after his incomplete recovery would spell certain doom. The only reason he could fight at all was that Mr. 3 used his Wax-Wax Fruit powers to coat and protect his arms and legs.
Even with Luffy's protective wax, Magellan overcame it with Kinjite, his most potent toxin yet. This powerful substance poisons absolutely everything and spreads rapidly. It's possible that even if Luffy had been exposed to this venom with his fully developed resistance to poison, it would still have had a profound effect on him.
A more successful display of Luffy's resistance to poison came two years later on Fish-Man Island. Here, he went up against the blue-ringed octopus merman Hyouzou, who could poison his enemies with a mere touch. The toxin is presumably deadly, but Luffy survived it with little trouble. He attributes this to the immunity he developed after fighting Magellan. With this, Luffy's immunity to deadly poisons is confirmed to be highly effective.
Another display of Luffy's immunity came up in Punk Hazard. While here, he fought Caesar Clown, who claims that Magellan's venom pales in comparison to his own poison gas. Despite this, Luffy deliberately inhaled the gas surrounding him and made quick work of the scientist. He eventually passed out from the gas, but that was all.
Their second fight didn't go much better for Caesar, despite his upgrade. In this match, Caesar merged with his Land of the Dead chemical weapon to make his gaseous body deadly to the touch. Despite this, Luffy was able to take him out instantly with his Gum-Gum Grizzly Magnum. His hands got petrified, but once again, no permanent damage was done to him.
There is one more moment where Luffy was afflicted by poison, though his reaction to it was not good. On his way to Whole Cake Island, the Straw Hat captain was poisoned after eating poorly-prepared armored stonefish. Normally, the skin of the fish would be enough to kill a man, so the fact that Luffy was merely rendered unconscious before he needed to be saved can still be seen as a testament to his immunity.
Overall, Luffy's immunity to poison is fairly impressive even by One Piece standards. Following his experience with Magellan, he can be exposed to all sorts of deadly toxins and live to tell the tale. Most of them don't even have a profound effect on him in the long run. This isn't one of Luffy's flashier traits, but it's a hard-earned and well-used one.
