How Haki Has Evolved Throughout One Piece

Over time, the combat system of One Piece evolved and grew to power up the characters and up the ante as Monkey D. Luffy’s adventure continued, in terms of both Devil Fruits and Haki. Haki was used before the time skip, of course, but One Piece fans didn’t yet know what it was, while Devil Fruits, Impact Dials, and the Six Powers defined the combat system. At the time, Haki was passed off as other things, which created some ambiguity in the narrative.

After the time skip, Haki came to the fore as a major part of One Piece‘s combat system, and it’s been that way ever since as Luffy and his crewmates explore the New World. Even after Haki was formally introduced and was given a name, though, this fighting style still had room to grow and evolve, allowing One Piece to keep surprising and delighting shonen fans over time with new and better moves in each saga. Looking back, it’s clear that Haki’s gradual introduction was handled well, from Shanks’ first use of it to Luffy’s recent exploits with Color of Arms Haki.

Haki Was Ambiguous in the Pre-Time Skip Era

The evolution of Haki’s depiction in One Piece goes all the way back to the series’ beginning, in the Romance Dawn story arc. At the time, red-haired Shanks had just returned to Luffy’s village when Luffy was only seven years old, and Shanks seemed determined to keep his true strength hidden. He did not use his sword or Haki against Higuma the Bear’s mountain bandit squad at first, but in the second fight, Shanks and his pirate crew let loose and thrashed them. Meanwhile, Higuma took Luffy to the sea and threw him in, just in time for a Sea King to appear. That was when Shanks dove in, rescued Luffy, and gave the monster a hard glare. It wasn’t just charisma or willpower, though — Shanks was using Color of the Supreme King Haki, the first chronological use of Haki in all of One Piece.

Haki appeared a few more times in the days before One Piece‘s time skip, with all three types seeing at least some use. Each instance of Haki was passed off as something else, creating ambiguity to make fans think that each character was using unique abilities to do what they were doing. After all, shonen anime has plenty of characters with unusual powers just because, creating a fine camouflage for Haki’s earliest uses. One major example was Color of Arms Haki being used when Captain Whitebeard and Shanks clashed aboard the former’s ship, and Monkey D. Garp evidently used the same type when he punched Luffy at Water 7, bypassing Luffy’s rubbery defenses against blunt attacks. Also, Enel’s priests used Color of Observation Haki to predict their enemies’ moves, such as Satori, and it’s possible that Zoro’s ability to sense everything around him while fighting Mr. 1 was a form of Haki.

At the time, Haki was already fully functional as a combat system — that is, all forms of it already existed and could be applied in battle, but the narrative kept it hidden from fans. This means the evolution of this fighting style is the evolution of its depiction, not Haki itself. That makes Haki different than Luffy’s various Gears, since Luffy really was inventing them one by one, not just revealing pre-existing combat styles over time. Haki’s next major evolution didn’t happen until after the time skip, when the Straw Hats reunited at the Sabaody Archipelago.

After One Piece’s Time Skip, Haki Shone as Luffy’s Best Weapon — and Worst Enemy

After the Straw Hats convened at the Sabaody Archipelago, all of them had powered up, most of all Monkey D. Luffy himself. He had mastered his Gum-Gum Fruit even more, and was probably already working on how to use Gear 4, which would make its debut in the Dressrosa saga when fighting Donquixote Doflamingo. By then, it seemed One Piece was ready to compensate for the dominance of Devil Fruits in the original Grand Line era, because starting with the battle for Fish-Man Island, Haki was suddenly at the fore of One Piece‘s combat system. Devil Fruits didn’t stop being powerful and important, but still, many characters made a big fuss about Haki, and they gladly showed off its three main forms.

The first example was the battle at Fish-Man Island, where Luffy demonstrated his mastery of Color of the Supreme King Haki, knocking out thousands of Hody Jones’ minions in a single move on that expansive battlefield. Luffy had never done anything like that before, and he was just getting started. He also started using Color of Arms Haki, which became a staple of his, and he began fighting opponents who used the same technique. Even Luffy’s crewmates started facing Color of Arms users, and by the Whole Cake Island saga, it became routine for villains to use Color of Arms Haki to keep the power scaling alive. So, it was hardly surprising when Big Mom showed off her own Color of Arms Haki while fighting the Straw Hat Pirates and the Fire Tank Pirates, along with her mighty Soul-Soul Fruit and her hat-weapon, Napoleon.

This era of One Piece‘s story was when characters started blending their Devil Fruit powers with Haki to become even stronger in battle and invent new moves, such as Luffy himself. Haki was a great way for non-Fruit users to stand up to the likes of Logia-type Devil Fruits, but having both systems could make a character like Luffy immensely powerful. Luffy proved that when he started using Haki with the giant fists of Gear 3, and best of all, he used Color of Arms Haki to enhance his brand-new Gear 4 and stand up to the terror of Donquixote Doflamingo in Dressrosa. Color of Arms Haki became a key part of Gear 4, and One Piece fans can’t imagine Luffy using Gear 4 without it.

Also, in the New World, it became clear which types of Haki were the most common, which evolved this combat system’s depiction further. All three types have been seen both before and after the time skip, but in the early days, it wasn’t clear which was the “main” type when fans look back and recognize Haki for what it is. After the time skip, in the New World, the three types of Haki settled into tiers, with Color of Arms Haki becoming the “main” type. Most major fighters in each arc have used it, from Luffy and Sanji to Big Mom and Charlotte Katakuri, among others. In second place was Color of Observation Haki, allowing users to sense the presence of other people and/or predict an opponent’s moves. In third place was Color of the Supreme King Haki, which has only seen occassional use.

It was in this era when Color of Observation Haki was further evolved, mostly for Monkey D. Luffy himself. He clearly hadn’t mastered the full extent of Color of Observation Haki when he learned to use Haki from Silvers Rayleigh, so he was at a disadvantage when fighting Charlotte Katakuri at Whole Cake Island. Charlotte Katakuri was a match for Luffy in terms of Color of Arms Haki and Devil Fruit-based martial arts, but he had the edge with sharply refined Color of Observation Haki. With it, Katakuri could easily predict Luffy’s moves, and after a point in that lengthy duel, Luffy realized he needed to use that power too, or face certain defeat. Over time, at great cost, Luffy figured out how to use Color of Observation Haki like Katakuri did, earning him a narrow victory. Thus, Luffy became a master of all three Haki types — just in time for it to not matter as much in the Wano saga.

Wano and Egghead Have Taken the Edge Off of Haki’s Prominence

Haki continued to serve a major role in One Piece‘s combat system by the time the Wano saga began, with Luffy using Gear 4 during his battle against Kaido, among other examples. However, by that point, the story needed to up the ante and surprise viewers once again, and not even Luffy’s triple threat of Haki would suffice. Author Eiichiro Oda smartly ups Luffy’s game with each saga, giving him new and better powers to keep things fresh, and that means both emphasizing and de-emphasizing Haki, funnily enough. At first, Luffy’s newfound usage of Haki was how he powered up, but ever since Luffy transformed into Gear 5, Haki has been less of a show-stealer.

Of course, Haki is still used as a powerful tool, but the novelty has worn off, and Haki probably has few, if any, surprises left in store. Since fans can now take Haki for granted, the evolution of its depiction did some backtracking and made Devil Fruits more interesting than Haki once again. Luffy himself is the main example, because while he can use Haki while in Gear 5, that Gear’s unique powers are the main draw, cartoon physics and all. Most recently, at Future Island/Egghead, the Five Elders’ mythical Zoan-type Fruits have emerged as an awesome threat that not even Gear 5 can handle, and Jewelry Bonney has assumed a Nika form, which has little to do with Haki, it seems. Depiction-wise, Haki is now on the decline as Mr. Oda emphasizes fun over everything else as the final saga continues. The ooh-ing and aah-ing over Haki is over, and it’s just as well, because the novelty is gone.