What is Haki in One Piece Explained

Among the vast worldbuilding that Oda has set up in the One Piece universe, there’s one concept of power that’s incredibly important to the story—Haki. This power taps into the spiritual energy of the user, allowing them to manipulate it in different ways.

Everyone is capable of learning Haki, but it has to be awakened. Haki was first introduced when Shanks scared off the Sea King that was about to attack Luffy, but we only found out that it was Haki later on in the story. There are three main types of Haki: Observation (Kenbunshoku) Haki, Armament (Busoshoku) Haki, and Conqueror’s (Haoshoku) Haki.

What is Observation Haki Explained

Observation Haki works like a sixth sense. A user of this Haki is granted extra perception and has the ability to sense others (presence, aura, etc). They can also use this to measure someone else’s Haki or strength, as seen with Blackbeard’s comment about Luffy’s Haki in Impel Down. Other variations include greatly sensing one’s emotions. It can also sense or predict a person’s actions. It’s great for battle since the user can easily dodge attacks with it. (ex. Luffy vs. Enel) In Skypiea, this was called Mantra.

An advanced form of Observation Haki is the ability to see shortly into the future. Katakuri is probably the most well-known user of this. He maximizes this ability as a countermeasure against attacks that’ll work on his Devil Fruit type. In his fight with Luffy, he used this to transform his body accordingly, to give off the illusion that Luffy’s attacks weren’t working.

Eventually, Luffy also gained this ability.

What is Armament Haki Explained

This Haki functions like invisible armor. It’s a way to hit certain Logia or Paramecia-type Devil Fruit users when physical attacks are futile. It enhances a part of or the whole body; making it more powerful and durable, hence the invisible armor. Another variation is Hardening, where the user concentrates their Haki around the body to harden it. Their body turns shiny and black when this happens. 

This Haki can also be imbued into objects, just as how Zoro did it with his swords in Dressrosa to strengthen them. We also saw this in Amazon Lily, with the Kuja’s arrows. Another form is emission, where the user can shoot out their Haki’s flow. We saw this with Rayleigh and the elephant’s foot on Rusukaina. 

An advanced form is internal destruction, where the user emits Haki and destroys an object from the inside out (Rayleigh in Sabaody & Luffy with Hyogoro). In Wano, Armament Haki is known as Ryuo.

What is Conqueror’s Haki Explained

Considered as the rarest type of Haki, apparently only one in a million people have this. Someone who has Conqueror’s Haki is said to have the qualities of a king. This Haki gives the user the ability to exert willpower over others. Unlike the two previous types, this can’t be attained through training. 

The user can dominate others with this. This explains how Shanks scared off a Sea King and knocked out a significant amount of Whitebeard’s crew. The effects of this Haki on someone depend on the level of their willpower compared to the user. This likely explains Luffy’s advantage towards animals. Another variation of this Haki is the ability to incapacitate, such as with Luffy knocking tons of people out in Marineford and Fish-Man Island.  

A clash between two users of Conqueror’s Haki can result in a sort of shockwave or lightning effect. We saw this with Luffy and Doflamingo. Additionally, a clash can also result in damaging stuff around the two users’ vicinity. 

We still have much to find out about the variations of these Haki. If you’re up to date with the manga, we’re slowly starting to learn more about how else Haki can be applied. Hopefully, we get to learn more interesting stuff from the amazing universe of One Piece!

Related: One Piece Chapter 1,015 RELEASE DATE and SPOILERS!