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Recent One Piece chapters featured the triumphant comeback of Lucci and Kaku, two old acquaintances of Strawhats. Having become much stronger than they were before the time skip, Lucci and Kaku are now elite agents of CP0.
Together with Stussy, another elite member of CP0, Lucci and Kaku have been tasked with raiding Egghead Island and killing Dr. Vegapunk, the greatest scientist in the One Piece world.
According to spoilers, Lucci isn't wasting his time. Merciless and cold-blooded as always, he has already shown that he is on a whole different level compared to his old self from the Enies Lobby Arc.
Follow this thread to find out how strong Lucci has become, as well as how he ranks compared to other powerful One Piece characters.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1069 and reflects the opinions of the writer
One Piece 1069 emphasized Rob Lucci as a fighter above the average Commander level
Who is Rob Lucci in One Piece?
A bloodthirsty and ruthless assassin, Lucci is a strict follower of Dark Justice. He firmly believes that anyone or anything that goes against the World Government's interests must be crushed.
Within the CP9, Lucci had the highest Doriki. Thus, his basic physical capabilities were the best in the group. He also had the best mastery of Rokushiki, being the only agent who was able to use Rokuogan, a secret technique.
Using the Cat Cat Model: Leopard Zoan Fruit, Lucci can transform himself into a human-leopard hybrid, increasing his speed and strength. Combining his Rokushiki martial arts and Zoan powers, Lucci was a rather powerful individual even before the time skip.
Lucci's strength was even praised by Seven Warlords member and former Revolutionary Army officer Bartholomew Kuma, who was remarkably surprised to hear that the agent lost against Luffy.
He was able to fight on equal grounds with Luffy, despite the latter using his Gear 2 and Gear 3 transformations. Luffy struggled to take Lucci down. To beat him, he needed every bit of strength that his body had.
After two years of time skip, Lucci came back much stronger than he was before. He and Kaku, his right-hand man, were shown to be prominent members of the CP0, the greatest secret agency of the World Government.
Lucci's recent feats in One Piece's Egghead Arc
Along with Kuma Seraphim and some foot soldiers, Lucci, Kaku, and Stussy arrived at Egghead and entered Vegapunk's laboratory. As they were exploring the area, Punk Atlas appeared in front of the group.
One of the six satellite bodies Dr. Vegapunk managed to split his being into, at the sight of CP0 agents, Atlas immediately went on to attack them. However, Lucci easily handled the situation.
He transformed into his Animal-Human hybrid form and moved in front of Atlas, blitzing her with his speed. Without a second thought, Lucci unleashed his Rokuogan on Punk Atlas, instantly beating her. The cyborg's face was cracked and partially destroyed.
The first spoilers of One Piece 1069 emphasized Lucci's strength even more. According to reliable leaker Redon, Lucci gained the spotlight with a series of shocking actions and feats.
Due to Lucci injuring Punk Atlas, Luffy started fighting his past enemy. Luffy used his Gear 5 transformation, while Lucci revealed the Awakened form of his Cat-Cat Model: Leopard Fruit.
Lucci's new transformation is very similar to the slender version of his Animal-Human hybrid form, but with his fur looking like black flames, and his body surrounded by clouds of black steam.
Lucci tried to hit Luffy, but the latter was able to dodge several attacks from the former. They then clashed. Meanwhile, Sentomaru, Dr. Vegapunk's personal bodyguard, appeared on the battlefield, leading three Seraphims and ordering them to attack CP0.
At one point, Luffy used an attack called "Gom-Gom Mole". The move struck Lucci, making him cough blood and blow him away. After seeing Sentomaru, Luffy stopped for a friendly talk with him. However, Lucci was absolutely not done after the hit he previously received.
Promptly recovering, Lucci quickly dashed towards Sentomaru, blitzing him and striking him with a new technique called "Hand Pistol". Lucci's intent was to take down Sentomaru, aiming to seize the latter's control over the Seraphim cyborgs. As a result of the attack, Sentomaru was badly hurt.
How strong is current Lucci in One Piece's world scene?
Lucci has become much stronger compared to how he was before the time skip. Not only did he declare that to Luffy, but also factually proved it. During the Enies Lobby Arc, using Rokuogan heavily exhausted him. He only used that technique as a last resort.
Instead, One Piece 1069 featured Lucci using Rokuogan very casually as his starting move against the first opponent he was confronted with. After using it, Lucci wasn't shown to be panting at all. This hints at his remarkable growth in power and skill.
After all, Lucci was not only promoted from CP9 to CP0, the greatest secret agency in the World Government's employment but also appointed as a masked agent of the organization. Within CP0, masked agents are the strongest members, and on a whole different level compared to the other members.
Due to his narrative prominence, Lucci is likely stronger than other CP0 masked agents such as Guernica and Maha. This is significant, given that Guernica is much stronger than SWORD member and Worst Generation Supernova X Drake, while Maha is more or less as strong as Whitebeard Pirates officer Izo.
By mere virtue of this, Lucci would be at the very least at the level of the lowest Commander-tier fighters, such as Cracker, Jack, Perospero, and Smoothie. Given the feats he showed in One Piece 1069, Lucci is clearly far more powerful than that.
In his newfound Awakened form, Lucci's physical strength and Armament Haki were powerful enough to clash on par with Gear 5 Luffy's own strength and Armament Haki. Given the immense power Gear 5 grants to Luffy, this is an outstanding feat for Lucci.
Lucci was also able to endure a named attack from Gear 5 Luffy. Lucci not only immediately recovered, but also proved that he didn't suffer any meaningful damage from such a powerful hit.
A testament to this, he maintained enough energy to blitz Sentomaru with his Soru and severely injure him with a single strike of his Shugan, an upgraded and Armament Haki-enhanced version of Shigan.
Sentomaru is the commander of the Marines' Science Unit and the personal bodyguard of Dr. Vegapunk. He is also a skilled user of the Advanced Armament Haki. It's impressive that Lucci was able to easily take down such an individual.
Lucci's latest feats shocked One Piece fans. No one expected him to be able to clash with Luffy, who was using his Gear 5 form. The same form allowed Luffy to fight on par with Kaido, the World's Strongest Creature and one of the Four Emperors, and ultimately defeat him.
Moreover, Luffy is an Emperor himself now. Thus, Lucci's ability to somehow keep up with him is rather stunning. However, Lucci's feats must be understood in the context of One Piece's unwritten rules.
Several times throughout the series, it has been emphasized that Luffy holds himself back in fights that occur before the decisive phase of the arc. This happened with Hyozo in Fishmen Island, with Monet in Punk Hazard, and with Ulti in Wano.
As such, Luffy was troubled by opponents he would clearly crush if he fought at his fullest ability. Admittedly, against Lucci, Luffy used his strongest form, Gear 5, right off the bat. However, this doesn't mean he gave his all on that issue.
While Lucci faced Luffy's Gear 5, he wasn't confronted with the same powerful moves the latter used in the battle against Kaido. Moreover, Luffy used his Armament Haki against Lucci but refrained from using the upgraded version of Armament and the outstanding Advanced Conqueror's Haki.
Had Luffy used the real power of his Devil Fruit and Haki, it's highly uncertain that Lucci would have been able to clash on par with him as well as effortlessly endure the brunt of his attacks.
As such, it seems rather improper to rank Lucci on a level equal to or higher than characters such as Benn Beckman, Zoro, Kid, Law, Sabo, or Yamato. These individuals represent the borderline between Commander level and the tier of the absolute top dogs, i.e. Admirals and Emperors.
At the moment, it appears more logical to consider Lucci to be as strong as Marco, King, and Katakuri. Being the second strongest members of their respective crews only after the Emperor himself, they are the most powerful Commander-level fighters.
Apart from Marco, King, and Katakuri, who are the strongest representatives in the category, Lucci is clearly stronger than any other Commander-level fighter. He should be able to defeat individuals such as Queen and Jinbe, and even Jozu and Sanji, with relative ease.
Final Thoughts
Several hundred chapters later, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda decided to bring Rob Lucci back into the series. The iconic main villain of the Enies Lobby Arc is indeed living up to expectations. He has returned stronger than ever.
With his fighting capabilities enhanced by a completely new Awakened form, Lucci has become a threatening fighter even for Commander-level individuals. He possesses Armament Haki strong enough to equally clash with Luffy, which is no common feat, given the latter is now one of the Four Emperors.
Impressively enough, Lucci was able to clash on par with Luffy, who was using his Gear 5, the same form which allowed him to fight and defeat Kaido. However, this doesn't mean Lucci is a fighter at the same level as Emperors and Admirals.
Luffy held back Lucci with the most powerful abilities of his Gear 5 transformation as well as the true power of his Conqueror's Haki. Admittedly, if he had used such abilities, the outcome may have been really different.
Should the next chapters demonstrate that Lucci is able to keep up with a fully serious Luffy, then the CP0 elite agent may be worthy of being ranked at the same level as Zoro, Kid and Law, if not even above these powerful Supernovas. However, this seems like wishful thinking as of now.
For the time being, Lucci's strength seems to be comparable to that of Marco, King, and Katakuri. Being the "number twos" of an Emperor, they should be able to keep up with an Emperor who is holding himself back, just like Lucci did with Luffy.
