Is the Black Monkey in ONE PIECE 1198 Luffy? Four Readings, Checked Against the Page

Quick answer

Very probably Luffy, and the chapter won't say so. We put it at 8/10.

Why: three separate trails in chapter 1198 lead to that roof:

• A giant says Luffy turned into something and went off.
• Jinbe senses Luffy's Haki heading for the West Village first.
• The creature keeps Gear 5's white mane.

Why not 10/10: the face is dark and cat-like, with fangs. An onlooker says 「おいルフィ!?」, hey, Luffy!?, then takes it back: 「いや…!! 違うよな」, no… it isn't, is it. The chapter ends on 「誰だお前はァ!!!」, who are you!!

What it is, if it is him, is the real question. We scored four readings below.

THEORY. Chapter 1198 is PRIMARY — MANGA VERIFIED: we read it on Shonen Jump+, twice. The readings come from Japanese reviews published on release day, checked against the page. English wording is our paraphrase. No leaks.

Every clue on the page

What it looks like (PRIMARY):

• A mane of white hair rising like flames, as in Gear 5.
• A dark, furred face, more cat or Mink than human, with round eyes and a wide grin full of fangs.
• Dark furred arms and legs, huge black fists, white swirl patterns on its body.
• A long, curling black tail.

What it does (PRIMARY):

• Lies on a roof chewing something, laughing 「キッキッキ〜♪」.
• Grabs the Rain God's face and pulls at it, 「ウッキキー♪」.
• The Rain God's head swells up 「ぷく〜」 and bursts.
• Laughs 「ウキャキャキャ!!!」 as people shout who are you.

What it never does: speak a word.

Two of the Japanese reviews' points we could not find in 1198:

• A scene where Luffy's heartbeat, the Drums of Liberation, nearly returns to normal and he says 「ん?」. One review places it in the fight with Imu. We read the chapter twice and didn't find it in 1198. It may refer to an earlier chapter.
• A name, "Zaza", for the Rain God. In 1198 the kidnappers only call it 〝雨の神〟.

A — Luffy, at a Zoan's "crucial moment"

The reading: Luffy's Mythical Zoan, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, is going through something, and this is what it looks like.

What the page gives (PRIMARY):

• When Usopp asks what happened to Luffy, an older warrior answers: 「ウ…あいつ 動物系の… 正念場かもな…」, for a Zoan… this may be his crucial moment. Japanese reviews identify the speaker as Gaban.
• The swirls on the body. Japanese reviews compare them to the pattern on a Devil Fruit.

What pushes back: nobody explains what a Zoan's "crucial moment" is. 正念場 means a moment of truth, a make-or-break point. It doesn't say what breaks.

Score: 7/10. The only explanation anyone in the chapter offers, from someone who knows Luffy's fight.

B — Nika's other face

The reading: this is the "destroyer" side of Nika, not the "hero" side.

Where it comes from: the Harley, Elbaf's holy text, calls Nika 「世界が壊れぬ様に現れた英雄か　全てを壊した破壊者か」, a hero who appeared so the world wouldn't break, or a destroyer who broke everything (chapter 1136). Two Japanese reviews read the black form as Nika's will taking over Luffy: one calls it a "ruler" Nika rather than the Warrior of Liberation.

Japan called this months ago. In July 2026 the Japanese blog SaltyDog argued that Luffy's "demon" moments foreshadow a "god of destruction" Nika: the 荒御魂 (aramitama), the rough, violent side that Japanese belief gives every god. It cited Nightmare Luffy (volume 49) and the barefoot Nika of chapters 1186–1187. It didn't predict a monkey or a black form. But the idea of a second, wilder Nika was already there.

What the page gives (PRIMARY): Imu, worn out, thinks one word in the same chapter: 「ニカ」.

What pushes back:

• The creature attacks the kidnappers' Rain God. So far it fights on Luffy's side.
• Nothing on the page connects this form to the Harley.

Score: 4/10. It fits the arc's big question. The chapter gives it one word from Imu and nothing more.

C — Out of control

The reading: Luffy isn't steering this form.

For:

• He doesn't speak, only monkey noises.
• His crew can't understand why he left. Jinbe: "What is he doing? It makes no sense." Nami: Luffy would never run off alone.
• Loki, beaten down, decides Luffy ran away.

Against: whatever it is, it went straight for the Rain God, the thing carrying Elbaf's children. That is what Luffy would do.

Score: 5/10. He looks out of control. Where he went does not.

D — Someone else entirely

The reading: the creature isn't Luffy at all.

For: the face, the fur and the tail. The onlooker who takes back "Luffy". The last line, who are you.

Against: everything in A. And no other character has been set up to turn up in the West Village.

Score: 2/10. The page invites the doubt. It doesn't support it.

What about "Monkey God"?

The name is going around, but it isn't in the chapter. English and Japanese posts are calling the form a "Monkey God", 猿神. We didn't find that word in 1198. One Japanese post using it is dated two days before the chapter came out, so the name seems to come from leaks. We don't use leaks, so we won't use the name until a chapter does.

An aside: "Monkey" D. Luffy

One Japanese review points out the obvious joke: Monkey D. Luffy, turned into a monkey. The chapter title, 「怪物達のいる島」 (The Island with Monsters), puts him next to Imu's new form and Loki's dragon. We'd call that the theme of the chapter, not evidence.

What 1199 has to answer

ONE PIECE is off next week. Chapter 1199 is set for Weekly Shonen Jump issue 52, expected on Shonen Jump+ at 00:00 JST on Monday 23 November (times in your zone).

1. Does anyone name the creature, or does it speak? That settles D.
2. Does it change back, and does Luffy remember? That decides C.
3. Does anyone explain a Zoan's "crucial moment"? That decides A.
4. Does Imu say what it meant by "Nika"? That's B's only way up.

Read next

• What happened to Luffy in ONE PIECE 1198? The full report
• Do Zoro and Sanji unlock Luffy's next Nika awakening?
• Luffy rejects the "Nika" and "Joy Boy" labels in 1192