@Ned_Gutters:
Since the "reveal" in 783, some people have been sharing ideas about what gear 4th could be. That info is scattered across the chapter discussion, so I thought I'd start a more focused discussion here.
We've had gear 4th discussions before, but 783 gives us a new context to speculate from. Here are some things that we know about the situation that MAY be relevant to gear 4th:
(1) Gear 2nd is too weak ("It's like you're trying to tickle me!" -Doflamingo)
(2) Gear 3rd is too slow; Doflamingo can easily dodge and counterattack.
(3) Gear 2nd works on Luffy's blood
(4) Gear 3rd works on Luffy's bones
From these bits of information, it has been speculated that:
(1) Gear 4th has to be strong and fast in order to be effective against Doflamingo
(2) Gear 4th may work on Luffy's muscles
Either, neither, or both of those might be the case.
Concerning (1), the extent to which Luffy becomes fast and strong is up for debate - will it be as strong as 3 and fast as 2? Stronger than 3? Faster than 2? Or will it be stronger than 2 and weaker than 3, but faster than 3 and slower than 2 - a kind of moderate position between the gears?
Personally, I think that would be the most interesting option, as it wouldn't let him automatically stomp Doflamingo.
I've seen a lot of people talk about "compression" of Luffy's rubber body, or perhaps gear 4th making Luffy "unstable," and I even saw a fantastic four reference. Would anyone care to explain how that might work?
Besides the things suggested here, what do you think gear 4th will be, and how do you think it will work?
I wrote a fanfic quite a few years ago where I portrayed a pre-Haki form of Gear 4 that had the air pumped into Luffy's spine which would set his whole nervous system on fire, put him into total overdrive and shut off his higher brain function so it was basically giving him the combined speed and strength of G2 and G3 but he'd almost completely lose control over his actions and just be a mindless killing machine, plus it would have a time limit because eventually he'd stop respiration altogether and at least pass out if not die. Disappointed we didn't get an emergency move like that (yet) but based on what happens with his body it definitely looks like it affects his musculature.
I heard theories about vulcanized rubber but rubber loses its elasticity when it gets vulcanized so there would have to be a way to get the increased density and its defense and stopping power without losing its motion. If I had to guess, I would say that Luffy uses Haki as cannon-like propulsion of his limbs when he's throwing a punch. Not only does he use his own strength to throw a punch, but he probably uses Haki a bit like how the Skypiea priest used a jet dial to speed up his punches (or in Pacific Rim where I think one of the Jaegers had a rocket engine on its elbow to strengthen its punches). This would explain Luffy's Snakeman's increase in speed, since if you used a Haki burst at each of the angles in Luffy's arm that would exponentially increase the speed of a single punch.
Compression may not be required but I think it would contribute to the buildup for one of those boosted punches I was talking about. Like pulling a bow string half-way rather than all the way, compressing his arm into himself like that seems like it would be adding a spring-loaded effect onto the already high base speed of his attacks. Even if it doesn't necessarily cause his overall strength to increase to the same level as G3, the added speed probably gives him a comparable boost. Plus the damage is concentrated onto one spot more than the giant fist where a literal fuck-ton of the force is lost because it's so spread out.
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