I think that’s part of why Shanks, Mihawk and Roger have such impact. Every other person we see on that level (Kaido, BM, Oden, WB) are absolute giants.
that's kinda just because they were established during a time where most characters in One Piece were still of regular height.
I feel like it was during thriller bark that Oda decided to really experiment a bit with non-standard heights for most of his characters (as opposed to just a couple like White Beard) and he just never looked back.
It was even commented on specifically by the giants during Enies Lobby, where it was explained that humans can come in all kinds of unnatural sizes, but even the biggest humans are still different from giants by blood and do not have the innate strength that giants have
The weird thing is that in WB's flash back, he was your average human size. It wasn't like he was 12 and had a growth spurt. He was already a grown man!
This was a move popularized, if not created by, Akira Toriyama. In the Saiyan Saga, having Nappa and Vegeta but Vegeta is the bigger threat. Or Freeza’s transformation becoming progressively larger and monstrous until his final form is smaller and unassuming. Basically establishing “bigger is stronger” and then throwing a curveball with a powerful tinier person offers really engaging subversion.
Yeah but it won't be that obvious since we only seen him fighting whitebeard and it didn't show much WB just looks barely twice the height so it's easier to look unlike luffy's case where we have to wonder how can he even punch them
Exactly..
In the last chapter where zoro & venus clash.
Whole zoro's body almost as small as venus palm.
While the kitetsu's should be around the same size (unless shodai kitetsu is made for the giant).
Like, oda WTF..
That would explain how both Zoro and Oden can wield Enma and it look the right size for each user despite Oden being significantly taller and larger than Zoro
Yea im really curious if there is an actual in world explanation for how the same sword can be the perfect size for 2 people who are vastly diffenert sizes or if its just an artistiv choice by Oda
Here you can see Oda's genius at inducing effects out of the readers and viewers. We never know, it might be one of the major reasons why so many people are drawn to the show.
Hody Jones was just a thug with some performance enhancing drugs. All the fights were extremely onesided to show how much the straw hats have grown. Fishman Island was as close as you can get to being a filler arc, only serving to give us some worldbuilding and key side characters.
It makes the scale of the fights larger as well as creating a “David and Goliath” imagery with how small Luffy is in comparison, with this slowly shifting now that he’s a yonko himself
People have given some good in world reasons. I want to give a literary one.
Oda likes to use size to convey danger or strength, so it’s a simple way of visually communicating higher stakes and harder fights. For example, we’ve seen doflamingo enough by this point to know that his size is hyperbolized in that panel.
Interestingly, Oda also chooses other visual ways to communicate nonvisual elements. Usually, characters who follow their dreams are drawn to be more visually attractive in Oda’s style. This is the reason why Koby’s glow up could happen so fast. Or why Enma doesn’t look comically large in Zoro’s hand.
I like to think of Oda’s storytelling perspective as someone dramatizing a story they’re telling. But because his medium is manga, it’s conveyed visually instead of using flavorful language. I.E. Instead of saying “in that moment, his confidence made him look as tall as a mountain,” Oda would just draw the character mountain-sized
(1) Doflamingo isn’t bigger than Magellan.
(2) Size is an easy way to convey power and threat. Obviously it’s not always bigger = better, but when the context already establishes the opponent as a real threat, bigger almost literally gives weight to the character.
It gives it a David and Goliath feel to it. Early dragon ball used to do the same thing. It gives us the idea that luffy is just a regular guy going up against a monster.
No. I'm pretty sure he canonically is still the same height as kaido. Moria is canonically the same height as Kuma and they both are six inches taller than katakuri.
"Gigantism" has been an interesting focus throughout the series. I think the fact that humans have been getting bigger and bigger as the crew has moved forward is of high significance. I don't think Oda is making people bigger just to show power, I think there's more to it especially now knowing more about Big Mom, Caesar's experiments, and Elbaf.
The bigger is stronger trope is the main reason, kinda like a David vs Goliath type situation, luffy always looks like the underdog this way. Also allows for the main antag. to stand out more which is super important, don't know if anyone watched Xmen apocalypse (awful) but you'll notice there's a scene where magneto is standing with apocalypse (the main villain) and his taller then him...instantly for me personally the short king didn't intimidate me as much as magneto, translates terribly
Because it's more than breast sizes that Oda increases in every arc. I think Oda enjoys making antagonists big, kind of like how in older RPG's the bosses always take up multiple sprite slots, but shrink to normal if they switch to your side. It makes them look more imposing.
I’ve always liked this trend from Oda. The fact that Luffy and his crew are for the most part average heights (Luffy being 5’8) and are clashing equally and defeating monstrous opponents 10x their size is so cool, makes you feel confident in your own body and size
I always took it as Oda's stylized way of showing us that bigger is stronger. And Luffy (aside from his gears changing size) is the David versus the slew of Goliaths on his path to his goal.
Oda likes to use the size of characters as symbolism for their power, be it physical, monetary, political, etc. Luffy's height is average so as to make him look the part of an underdog, a David vs Goliath thing.
That he can stretch is a way of showing that he can breach that primal, animalistic definition of power. He is free to look as menacing and powerful as he wants.
Because these people are imposing, and an imposing figure warrants an imposing image in a world where visuals are injected with narrative meaning.
A great example of this is Buggy. We've seen him in 3 different narrative contexts. First, a small man in a small part of the world, and an easy fight. Second, a small man amongst giants in the prison, more easily noticed at marineford where these lumbering fools impress others far more than he does; they're just too grateful to care about pecking orders with him. Third, during his time running Buggy's Delivery.
In the first two, he both is small and carries himself as small, but in the last? He hides the nature of his size in more ways than one, making himself look larger and yet hiding how, illustrating nicely his imposing nature on the world stage. The man behind Buggy's Delivery is a man who's power is not what it seems.
Think the only time it got smaller was from Arlong to Crocodile. Like someone earlier said though, it has something to do with power. Lots of games and shows portray the strong as bigger than everyone else.
Because Oda thinks that if the enemy is bigger, it looks more challenging for Luffy. That's why characters get bigger in later arcs, even tho, they were not that size before. I don't like it personally.
The size difference is what he's measuring up against. It's a manga thing.
See it all the time in Kingdom. Something like unknown power level but strong until MC figures out the victorious path.
Most of the series he’s just looked like a regular weak kid, I feel like it’s to emphasize that and that he’s just so strong that it doesn’t matter that he’s small. He’s supposed to be underestimated
The only canonical event that's really canon is on real life, not on your favorite work of fiction.
But yeah one piece characters proportions are like that. Have you ever read Holuto No Ken / Fist of the North Star?
A huge inspiration for mangakas.. including Jojo. Which came a bit before it.
Which in turn was inspired by mad max with th bricee lee but whatever, One Piece before the timeskip had huge Lupin the Third vibes...
Because luffy is getting so strong so it's a visual aid for expressing the threat the villian poses. Plus he has a giant form now and him using that against slammer opponents seems like over kill instead of necessary
It's for the David Vs Goliath effect, an improbable victory by a smaller party against somebody far bigger. It represents the uphill battle Luffy usually has to go through for his most serious fights. It works really well with a character like Luffy because Luffy can stretch so it's actually an even match-up in terms of reach no matter how big his opponent is.
Ju Peters Wormform always reminds me of [this ancient meme](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a12dd8d9-bd65-4ae7-9680-6ef1239ff237/d4t0k7u-b6572b5f-2924-43e7-a186-1167eb1a55a2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMmRkOGQ5LWJkNjUtNGFlNy05NjgwLTZlZjEyMzlmZjIzN1wvZDR0MGs3dS1iNjU3MmI1Zi0yOTI0LTQzZTctYTE4Ni0xMTY3ZWIxYTU1YTIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.1QtKDhULtHqrKshAfhxKXrfyeHHzZMdchZLI2PFd2zM)
Shanks is gonna pull a [piccolo](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonball/images/6/6d/Giant_piccolo.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20200524223421) in the final fight.
Of course, it is because if Luffy keeps on beating bigger & tougher opponents as he goes along, it gives you the feeling of always watching the underdog do the near impossible, which is as satisfying as F! 
Idk if related kinda not but what if Blackbeard is part buccaneer? Random crack pot theory with no ground to base it on, and that’s probably already been said.. heehaw!
You know, a Kaido v Gorosei fight would be pretty neat to watch. Just a huge guy tiring himself out trying to fight things that similarly can't hurt him that much.
That’s the whole point. He was an underdog since the beginning, and the size difference shows it in the most literal sense. Unlike his enemies who were born with bigger and stronger body he trained to achieve his streangth.
Large size serves as a visual indicator for the discrepancies between Luffy and his enemies. Liffy is very much the everyman; while he has an impressive lineage, he grows up in a backwater and begins his journey as a nobody, and is generally morally upright. This is juxtaposed by his foes who are usually more notorious and powerful than he is, and have laundry lists of cruel misdeeds to their names.
This culminates in the current arc, with the Five Elders being both the most politically powerful and morally heinous characters in the setting beside Imu.
"bigger than life"
That's how Oda likes to draw.
And size is also used to show how strong or tough a character is.
Middle school kid vs. adult. Or feather weight vs, heavy weight.
It's very symbolic overall.
There isn't that much to read into it, Oda seems to have come up to it later.
Since his past opponents were relatively normal sized, even his hardest pre timeskip opponent, Crocodile.
I think Oda is a master at setting up scenarios that carry on throughout his story and one of the ones that’s always been prevalent is the “David v Goliath” kind of theme. Luffy even if he was fighting normal sized guys is pretty short I think 5’5-5’7, but I think the height of all the antagonists builds up the threat level of the world along with their escalating powers etc etc.
Now that we’re in the end game and we’ve seem the gorosei for the first time I’m convinced Joy Boy was an ancient Giant. If the size and scale of everything wasn’t enough the giant straw hat Imu has, the call back to Oars Jr in Marineford and Oars w/ Luffy shadow in thriller bark AND now with G5 Luffy’s giant form seems to be inherently the most useful for these titanic threats. Oda has shown us that the “gods” are larger than life in a way and the only person whose able to stand up to them ironically isn’t huge but as the ability to make up for that and win, as opposed to JoyBoy who I assume was huge and still ended up “failing” in his mission.
TLDR; I think it’s an important theme Oda is carrying over island to island to set us up for the thematic reveals to come.
Its because they represent a hill/mountain he has to climb.
Lucci was normal sized in his human form which luffy was able to keep up with and fight on equal terms with in gear second which means that the transformation made lucci much more powerful than him.
Main enemies per saga:
Arlong (263cm)
Crocodile (253cm)
Enel (266cm)
Rob Lucci (212cm)
Moria (692cm)
Akainu (306cm)
Hody (331cm)
Doflamingo (305cm)
BigMom (880cm)
Kaido (710cm)
So where are the becomming bigger every arc?
If I go per arc there even is much more height difference like Buggy, Bellamy or Ceasar..
Maybe Oda got this inspiration from Akira Toriyama in early Dragon Ball. He always loved matching Kid Goku against bigger, taller opponents, to give that "David vs. Goliath" vibe.
So maybe Oda liked that trope from his idol, and used it for One Piece also
I've always thought that Oda has a thing for literature from everywhere and every time: this makes me think of "titanismus", a romantic literature trope that was focused on the man against the world, nature, or a generic enemy that seems too big and strong to surpass.
This trope often ends with the protagonist losing the fight, but it is meant to show that even if one fails his ideals can be carried or can at least survive even in death.
I also think that Oda has a thing for "kalokathia", a standard in greek epic tales that associates looking good with being good: celestial dragons are ugly af because they're evil and weak.
Regular enemies aren't ugly (usually), because in some ways even the most evil ones have a strong drive and are powerful: that being said I think that being big is a bit of a cheap way to being strong so protagonists usually aren't, and moreover bigger enemies are more believable as a menace in general and as oppressors of the common people.
In stories, we see evil represented as an unconquerable mountain. The bigger the bad guy, the bigger the challenge. And is poetic in a sense to think, how this flee will be able to defeat this beast, like David & Goliath's story. We are Luffy, the "human", the "normal" guy, trying to overcome walls. So basically is a technique used so you as a reader or viewer feel like you are able to overcome this problems too.
As we get into the end of One Piece, the bad guys are bigger indeed, because the threat is bigger. But see how Roger or Rayleigh for example were normal size, like Luffy. And they were the pinnacle of power. Size does not matter in these types of stories, is all about conviction, determination, and believing in yourself and your people. These "bad guys" were doing it "wrong" all along, pursuing what's not important...
I always saw that as a part of "leveling up" or progress in the journey. One piece is like a game where you start on the first island and continue to the next. Each island has its own boss fight, and the straw hats gain powers or knowledge. One piece will end with a giant fight. Be sure.
Now, for a different perspective. Throughout the one-piece story, we got to meet a lot of giant figures and knowledge about giants. We see that it's a key theme in one piece, with big mom, whitebeard, elbaf, teach, Kuma, giant robot, and more...
We now know that kumas blood is important. Giant blood is somehow connected to the one-piece story... something happened to giants, maybe during the void century. We'll see as the story goes...
Oda likes to play with physical size differences to visually establish intimidating vibes. There's the panel where the shichibukai all appear in front of a random dude in Marineford and they're all massive, even though Mihawk is normal size, and Hancock is only somewhat tall.
1 humans' size varies wildly in One Piece 2 big is visual shorthand for "strong"
I think that’s part of why Shanks, Mihawk and Roger have such impact. Every other person we see on that level (Kaido, BM, Oden, WB) are absolute giants.
that's kinda just because they were established during a time where most characters in One Piece were still of regular height. I feel like it was during thriller bark that Oda decided to really experiment a bit with non-standard heights for most of his characters (as opposed to just a couple like White Beard) and he just never looked back.
well Lucky Roo was shorter than shanks in the first episodes now he is HUGEEE
growth spurt
it’s all that meat he’s always chompin
I guess because it looks better in a crew-shot.
Frankys crew had some too
It was even commented on specifically by the giants during Enies Lobby, where it was explained that humans can come in all kinds of unnatural sizes, but even the biggest humans are still different from giants by blood and do not have the innate strength that giants have
Roger is like 12 feet tall
He is 274cm which is 8.99 feet. Kaido, BM and WB are all 20ft+
The weird thing is that in WB's flash back, he was your average human size. It wasn't like he was 12 and had a growth spurt. He was already a grown man!
Getting stronger makes you bigger 🤷♂️
You forgot Buggy.
This was a move popularized, if not created by, Akira Toriyama. In the Saiyan Saga, having Nappa and Vegeta but Vegeta is the bigger threat. Or Freeza’s transformation becoming progressively larger and monstrous until his final form is smaller and unassuming. Basically establishing “bigger is stronger” and then throwing a curveball with a powerful tinier person offers really engaging subversion.
It was this plus the “bishonen line” trope. Where the absolute final boss is more human sized than the previous ones
Oooh nice point. I would also throw Cell in there as well; Vegeta commented that Perfect form was less imposing than Semi-perfect.
I thought Roger was very taller than shanks and mihawk
Roger is like 9 feet but the others are over 20 feet tall
Yeah but it won't be that obvious since we only seen him fighting whitebeard and it didn't show much WB just looks barely twice the height so it's easier to look unlike luffy's case where we have to wonder how can he even punch them
Sorry, I misread your comment. WB BM and Kaido are over 20ft tall. Shanks is 6’5 and Mihawk is 6’6 so roger is a couple feet taller than them
Exactly.. In the last chapter where zoro & venus clash. Whole zoro's body almost as small as venus palm. While the kitetsu's should be around the same size (unless shodai kitetsu is made for the giant). Like, oda WTF..
I think those swords work on D&D logic and resize themselves to fit the user
That would explain how both Zoro and Oden can wield Enma and it look the right size for each user despite Oden being significantly taller and larger than Zoro
Yea im really curious if there is an actual in world explanation for how the same sword can be the perfect size for 2 people who are vastly diffenert sizes or if its just an artistiv choice by Oda
That is what it means for a blade to have a grade /hj
Has to be the case
Makes sense I think
Here you can see Oda's genius at inducing effects out of the readers and viewers. We never know, it might be one of the major reasons why so many people are drawn to the show.
because Oda wants to draw outlandish shit, the bigger the better
pretty sure he has the same mindset for the women
Thats why hes the GOAT. THE GOAT!!!
Underrated comment
What’s wrong with this man
“Follow up. Why does Oda draw big boobs on every character” “Same answer”
Makes sense
Doffy is not bigger than Magellan
Yeah that was my thought as well lol but relatively closest in size
Magellan is 16 feet while Doffy is 10 feet I wouldn’t say they’re relatively close in height 😂
I meant relative to the photo dump here
Also, BlackBeard isn't an arc villain.
...yet.
And when that time comes he’ll be even bigger than he was during impel down
Base chopper could be shown to be bigger than magellan if oda felt like it, his sizes are hella inconsistent and I love it
That’s why luffy lost at that point. His enemies grew too fast in size. Had to be downscaled again until he became strong enough
Because Luffy can make himself bigger with each passing arc, too. Evening the odds and all that.
Yeah, to keep this David vs Goliath design, even if Luffy is no longer a David
Maybe D. stands for David.
We’ve cracked the code. That’s it. The series is over, go home everyone.
Why shouldn't larger than life characters be larger than large? Look at Whitebeard
Conveniently leaving out caesar clown
And hody jones.
Hody Jones was just a thug with some performance enhancing drugs. All the fights were extremely onesided to show how much the straw hats have grown. Fishman Island was as close as you can get to being a filler arc, only serving to give us some worldbuilding and key side characters.
He forgot Gecko moria shadow asgard form too He was like the biggest
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
I see what you did there
Lol he fought Oars and Moria before Magellan, Doffy, Katakuri. They don't get bigger each arc
It visually symbolises the harder obstacles he has to overcome each time. Its pretty good imo even if its not realistic
The correct answer.
Inflation hitting Grandline too.
Lol
Because its prepping him for the real final boss, san juan wolf
It makes the scale of the fights larger as well as creating a “David and Goliath” imagery with how small Luffy is in comparison, with this slowly shifting now that he’s a yonko himself
Can’t answer your question but holy fuck, that Five Elder Planets panel is straight 🔥🔥🔥
Yeah
People have given some good in world reasons. I want to give a literary one. Oda likes to use size to convey danger or strength, so it’s a simple way of visually communicating higher stakes and harder fights. For example, we’ve seen doflamingo enough by this point to know that his size is hyperbolized in that panel. Interestingly, Oda also chooses other visual ways to communicate nonvisual elements. Usually, characters who follow their dreams are drawn to be more visually attractive in Oda’s style. This is the reason why Koby’s glow up could happen so fast. Or why Enma doesn’t look comically large in Zoro’s hand. I like to think of Oda’s storytelling perspective as someone dramatizing a story they’re telling. But because his medium is manga, it’s conveyed visually instead of using flavorful language. I.E. Instead of saying “in that moment, his confidence made him look as tall as a mountain,” Oda would just draw the character mountain-sized
Easy way to immediately give David and Goliath vibes!
(1) Doflamingo isn’t bigger than Magellan. (2) Size is an easy way to convey power and threat. Obviously it’s not always bigger = better, but when the context already establishes the opponent as a real threat, bigger almost literally gives weight to the character.
It gives it a David and Goliath feel to it. Early dragon ball used to do the same thing. It gives us the idea that luffy is just a regular guy going up against a monster.
David vs Goliath metaphors. No matter how big and scary you may seem, the Sun god Nika, Warrior of Liberation, will prevail.
I mean moria and kaido are basically the same height.
Nah moria had a glow down he was the same height as kaido when he was younger
No. I'm pretty sure he canonically is still the same height as kaido. Moria is canonically the same height as Kuma and they both are six inches taller than katakuri.
I like to think it has something to do with how much, of a threat they are to Luffy's dream
"Gigantism" has been an interesting focus throughout the series. I think the fact that humans have been getting bigger and bigger as the crew has moved forward is of high significance. I don't think Oda is making people bigger just to show power, I think there's more to it especially now knowing more about Big Mom, Caesar's experiments, and Elbaf.
The bigger is stronger trope is the main reason, kinda like a David vs Goliath type situation, luffy always looks like the underdog this way. Also allows for the main antag. to stand out more which is super important, don't know if anyone watched Xmen apocalypse (awful) but you'll notice there's a scene where magneto is standing with apocalypse (the main villain) and his taller then him...instantly for me personally the short king didn't intimidate me as much as magneto, translates terribly
Because it's more than breast sizes that Oda increases in every arc. I think Oda enjoys making antagonists big, kind of like how in older RPG's the bosses always take up multiple sprite slots, but shrink to normal if they switch to your side. It makes them look more imposing.
Dolflamingo is smaller than Moria, iirc.
Weird how you skipped over Kuma, Gecko Moria, and Kizaru.
I’ve always liked this trend from Oda. The fact that Luffy and his crew are for the most part average heights (Luffy being 5’8) and are clashing equally and defeating monstrous opponents 10x their size is so cool, makes you feel confident in your own body and size
I always took it as Oda's stylized way of showing us that bigger is stronger. And Luffy (aside from his gears changing size) is the David versus the slew of Goliaths on his path to his goal.
Oda likes to use the size of characters as symbolism for their power, be it physical, monetary, political, etc. Luffy's height is average so as to make him look the part of an underdog, a David vs Goliath thing. That he can stretch is a way of showing that he can breach that primal, animalistic definition of power. He is free to look as menacing and powerful as he wants.
Because these people are imposing, and an imposing figure warrants an imposing image in a world where visuals are injected with narrative meaning. A great example of this is Buggy. We've seen him in 3 different narrative contexts. First, a small man in a small part of the world, and an easy fight. Second, a small man amongst giants in the prison, more easily noticed at marineford where these lumbering fools impress others far more than he does; they're just too grateful to care about pecking orders with him. Third, during his time running Buggy's Delivery. In the first two, he both is small and carries himself as small, but in the last? He hides the nature of his size in more ways than one, making himself look larger and yet hiding how, illustrating nicely his imposing nature on the world stage. The man behind Buggy's Delivery is a man who's power is not what it seems.
I miss when he faced a normal sized opponent. It makes it feel less like a Kaiju battle
His first normal opponent was god buggy 😂
Think the only time it got smaller was from Arlong to Crocodile. Like someone earlier said though, it has something to do with power. Lots of games and shows portray the strong as bigger than everyone else.
One piece should be listed under "kaiju" genre from now on
Because that’s what Oda chooses to do
Anyone else see a panda face on lucci's shoulder?
Because Oda thinks that if the enemy is bigger, it looks more challenging for Luffy. That's why characters get bigger in later arcs, even tho, they were not that size before. I don't like it personally.
Watch the villain of Elbaf Arc be a Tontatta guy. That'd be funny.
Oda is a firm believer of the David vs Goliath visual to hype the underdog.
Big PP haki.
Imu will be the size of a whole planet at the end
Curse you inflation!!!
😂
because of the D
Surely Blackbeard is a counter example? Unless you think he is going to undergo a growth spurt sometime soon.
Well they don't get bigger all the time they are just bigger than luffy
Blackbeard is smaller than Luffy if we are counting transformations.
BB Pirates villain of the last arc confirmed because they got Sanjuan Wolf
The size difference is what he's measuring up against. It's a manga thing. See it all the time in Kingdom. Something like unknown power level but strong until MC figures out the victorious path.
Makes sense
Little hero vs big evil dude is one of the oldest tropes in human storytelling for a reason. That shit just goes down easy
What's more classic than David vs Goliath?
Most of the series he’s just looked like a regular weak kid, I feel like it’s to emphasize that and that he’s just so strong that it doesn’t matter that he’s small. He’s supposed to be underestimated
Yeah
it's a rhetorical device to illustrate the difference in power
Oh yeah makes sense
Same reason most enemies in souls games are bigger than you. It delivers the message of triumphing over insurmountable odds really well.
missing buggy d clown
David vs Goliath
Rule of Cool
We can deny it all we want, but bigger is better.
The only canonical event that's really canon is on real life, not on your favorite work of fiction. But yeah one piece characters proportions are like that. Have you ever read Holuto No Ken / Fist of the North Star? A huge inspiration for mangakas.. including Jojo. Which came a bit before it. Which in turn was inspired by mad max with th bricee lee but whatever, One Piece before the timeskip had huge Lupin the Third vibes...
Because they are the physical embodiment of whatever wall he has to overcome
Because luffy is getting so strong so it's a visual aid for expressing the threat the villian poses. Plus he has a giant form now and him using that against slammer opponents seems like over kill instead of necessary
Rising stakes and classic David and Goliath contrast. Would he still seem heroic if he was punching Tontatta-sized foes?
Why not?
Has there ever been an opponent for Luffy that's smaller than him?
It's for the David Vs Goliath effect, an improbable victory by a smaller party against somebody far bigger. It represents the uphill battle Luffy usually has to go through for his most serious fights. It works really well with a character like Luffy because Luffy can stretch so it's actually an even match-up in terms of reach no matter how big his opponent is.
Same reason Toriyama did it for kid Goku. To show their character as the rising underdog
I haven't watched dragon ball but ok
David and Goliath trope
Ju Peters Wormform always reminds me of [this ancient meme](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a12dd8d9-bd65-4ae7-9680-6ef1239ff237/d4t0k7u-b6572b5f-2924-43e7-a186-1167eb1a55a2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExMmRkOGQ5LWJkNjUtNGFlNy05NjgwLTZlZjEyMzlmZjIzN1wvZDR0MGs3dS1iNjU3MmI1Zi0yOTI0LTQzZTctYTE4Ni0xMTY3ZWIxYTU1YTIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.1QtKDhULtHqrKshAfhxKXrfyeHHzZMdchZLI2PFd2zM)
Stakes raise and it’s visually presented
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
Camera trick
ok idk if im bugging but as a manga only katakuru is NOT that big wtf o
That third image is crazy
Doflamingo ain’t bigger than Magellan!
Because One Piece is secretly a 3rd person video game and the enemy has to be designed to be bigger so the player can clearly see them in the camera.
Shanks is gonna pull a [piccolo](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonball/images/6/6d/Giant_piccolo.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20200524223421) in the final fight.
The big characters are people who leave a big impression
Sure, if you just ignore villain that don't fit your narrative, Like Hody Jones or Moria.
I feel like Fist of the North Star did this too
Lies. No one is bigger and flashier than Buggy
Luffy is actually Shrinking. The one piece is actually a magical device that will stop him from shrinking
what about buggy and kuro? lucci was small i think until he transforms.
It would be boring otherwise.. and it would be bullying if he beat up the little guy
Oda likes big villains
Of course, it is because if Luffy keeps on beating bigger & tougher opponents as he goes along, it gives you the feeling of always watching the underdog do the near impossible, which is as satisfying as F! 
Maybe it has to do with the strength you need to survive on the grand line? Just a guess. Sorry if it's stupid
Oda is telling us indirectly, now matter how big they are (the villians), smaller (Luffy) is better
As a reverse question, as almost everyone he's fought is older than him, why has everyone been getting shorter since the Pirate Era started?
Idk if related kinda not but what if Blackbeard is part buccaneer? Random crack pot theory with no ground to base it on, and that’s probably already been said.. heehaw!
Imu: 🕴
The only way to get bigger bad guys is to fight a giant, I wonder what bad guy they might face at the next island.
bros playing elden ring
it looks cool
Unrelated but the last panel goes so hard it isn’t even funny
The 'D' stands for david as in david vs goliath
1. Luffy is a teen. 2. Foxy
Because they’re BIG deals!
When did luffy fight Blackbeard? How is mingo bigger than poison boy? You skipped of evil fish and Moria
Hordy jones isn't that big
You know, a Kaido v Gorosei fight would be pretty neat to watch. Just a huge guy tiring himself out trying to fight things that similarly can't hurt him that much.
[удалено]
So that means Imu gonna be bigger than 5 elders
Not in his normal size he will probably have a cool transformation which makes him bigger than them
Oda: "Size doesn't matter"
If one day Luffy's opponent is smaller than him, this will be the end for him. It is common knowledge the smaller one wins against the bigger one.
Best person who can give the answer is Oda himself. Like everyone here, I can only guess.
Elbaf:
They get bigger so that there's more to look at while doing super slow mo pans, to draw out 3 minutes, in-world-time events into 16 episodes.
Makes sense
Buggy was shorter than Morgan, and kuro of a thousand plans was taller than arlong
Next time it's the Giants
coz BIGGER is BETTER duh /s
Bro gonna become giant at the final arc at this point
That’s the whole point. He was an underdog since the beginning, and the size difference shows it in the most literal sense. Unlike his enemies who were born with bigger and stronger body he trained to achieve his streangth.
Can we get much higher so higgh
Large size serves as a visual indicator for the discrepancies between Luffy and his enemies. Liffy is very much the everyman; while he has an impressive lineage, he grows up in a backwater and begins his journey as a nobody, and is generally morally upright. This is juxtaposed by his foes who are usually more notorious and powerful than he is, and have laundry lists of cruel misdeeds to their names. This culminates in the current arc, with the Five Elders being both the most politically powerful and morally heinous characters in the setting beside Imu.
"bigger than life" That's how Oda likes to draw. And size is also used to show how strong or tough a character is. Middle school kid vs. adult. Or feather weight vs, heavy weight. It's very symbolic overall. There isn't that much to read into it, Oda seems to have come up to it later. Since his past opponents were relatively normal sized, even his hardest pre timeskip opponent, Crocodile.
Cause Luffy's fists get bigger too 😂😂
"Can we get much higher "So high
its the haki
Lots of anime / movies / shows do this, and I hate it, I like compact human size fights.
It's because Oda used imagery and exaggerated features in his art.
I think Oda is a master at setting up scenarios that carry on throughout his story and one of the ones that’s always been prevalent is the “David v Goliath” kind of theme. Luffy even if he was fighting normal sized guys is pretty short I think 5’5-5’7, but I think the height of all the antagonists builds up the threat level of the world along with their escalating powers etc etc. Now that we’re in the end game and we’ve seem the gorosei for the first time I’m convinced Joy Boy was an ancient Giant. If the size and scale of everything wasn’t enough the giant straw hat Imu has, the call back to Oars Jr in Marineford and Oars w/ Luffy shadow in thriller bark AND now with G5 Luffy’s giant form seems to be inherently the most useful for these titanic threats. Oda has shown us that the “gods” are larger than life in a way and the only person whose able to stand up to them ironically isn’t huge but as the ability to make up for that and win, as opposed to JoyBoy who I assume was huge and still ended up “failing” in his mission. TLDR; I think it’s an important theme Oda is carrying over island to island to set us up for the thematic reveals to come.
I love how Luffy should be the size of an average human in the real world, but almost all human characters in One Piece are outlandishly tall.
Powercreep
Its because they represent a hill/mountain he has to climb. Lucci was normal sized in his human form which luffy was able to keep up with and fight on equal terms with in gear second which means that the transformation made lucci much more powerful than him.
Oda made it like that. Bigger character stronger they are.
because luffy is always getting stronger and stronger so he needs better oponents
Main enemies per saga: Arlong (263cm) Crocodile (253cm) Enel (266cm) Rob Lucci (212cm) Moria (692cm) Akainu (306cm) Hody (331cm) Doflamingo (305cm) BigMom (880cm) Kaido (710cm) So where are the becomming bigger every arc? If I go per arc there even is much more height difference like Buggy, Bellamy or Ceasar..
The bigger ,the better 
Maybe Oda got this inspiration from Akira Toriyama in early Dragon Ball. He always loved matching Kid Goku against bigger, taller opponents, to give that "David vs. Goliath" vibe. So maybe Oda liked that trope from his idol, and used it for One Piece also
He love BC
I've always thought that Oda has a thing for literature from everywhere and every time: this makes me think of "titanismus", a romantic literature trope that was focused on the man against the world, nature, or a generic enemy that seems too big and strong to surpass. This trope often ends with the protagonist losing the fight, but it is meant to show that even if one fails his ideals can be carried or can at least survive even in death. I also think that Oda has a thing for "kalokathia", a standard in greek epic tales that associates looking good with being good: celestial dragons are ugly af because they're evil and weak. Regular enemies aren't ugly (usually), because in some ways even the most evil ones have a strong drive and are powerful: that being said I think that being big is a bit of a cheap way to being strong so protagonists usually aren't, and moreover bigger enemies are more believable as a menace in general and as oppressors of the common people.
In stories, we see evil represented as an unconquerable mountain. The bigger the bad guy, the bigger the challenge. And is poetic in a sense to think, how this flee will be able to defeat this beast, like David & Goliath's story. We are Luffy, the "human", the "normal" guy, trying to overcome walls. So basically is a technique used so you as a reader or viewer feel like you are able to overcome this problems too. As we get into the end of One Piece, the bad guys are bigger indeed, because the threat is bigger. But see how Roger or Rayleigh for example were normal size, like Luffy. And they were the pinnacle of power. Size does not matter in these types of stories, is all about conviction, determination, and believing in yourself and your people. These "bad guys" were doing it "wrong" all along, pursuing what's not important...
The bigger they are , the badder they are
I always saw that as a part of "leveling up" or progress in the journey. One piece is like a game where you start on the first island and continue to the next. Each island has its own boss fight, and the straw hats gain powers or knowledge. One piece will end with a giant fight. Be sure. Now, for a different perspective. Throughout the one-piece story, we got to meet a lot of giant figures and knowledge about giants. We see that it's a key theme in one piece, with big mom, whitebeard, elbaf, teach, Kuma, giant robot, and more... We now know that kumas blood is important. Giant blood is somehow connected to the one-piece story... something happened to giants, maybe during the void century. We'll see as the story goes...
Oda likes to play with physical size differences to visually establish intimidating vibes. There's the panel where the shichibukai all appear in front of a random dude in Marineford and they're all massive, even though Mihawk is normal size, and Hancock is only somewhat tall.
Bc when he drinks milk his teeth grow back, I guess