Gomu Gomu no Mi

The **Gomu Gomu no Mi** is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that grants the user's body the properties of rubber, effectively turning them into a **Rubber Human** (ゴム人間, *Gomu Ningen*?). It was stolen by Shanks in recent history, and then was eaten years ago by Dansei D. Athermos before the start of the roleplay.

## Etymology

* *Gomu* (ゴム?) means "rubber" in Japanese, being borrowed from the Dutch word *gom* ("gum").

## Strengths

The fruit's major strength, as demonstrated by Athermos, is that the user's body permanently adopts the properties of rubber. This allows their body to stretch, bend, bounce, inflate, and twist like said substance, even when the user himself is incapacitated.

This has allowed for high resistance to blunt anything, i.e. bullets and cannonballs. Situations like falls and heavy collisions end up being non-lethal or even painless, and certain traps and hazards are rendered ineffective. A natural advantage given is the immunity of lightning and the ability to hit the Goro Goro no Mi user without Haki. Stretching and twisting allow for immunity to related injuries that originate from such. Stretching also allows for increased range and potential energy storage.

Similarly, organs become rubber as well, allowing certain actions that would otherwise be impossible to do with a normal body to be accessible. One example is the ability to completely redistribute the weight from one part of your boy and move it to another, or removing the air from your body to flatten yourself and then rapidly re-expand. These abilities allow for an increased boost to speed and power. These same properties may also grant some resistance towards underwater pressure, letting the user fight while surrounded by a deep underwater environment despite the usual Devil Fruit weakness, assuming something allows them to underwater.

The user's ability to stretch and twist like rubber to extreme lengths not only makes them immune to injuries that originate from such, but it also grants them the skill to rebound from hard surfaces or reach people that are far away from their position. For offense, stretching allows the user to drastically increase the range of what would otherwise be considered a powerful close-range attack, turning it into a devastating mid-range or long-range attack. A stretched limb can be used to store potential energy like a stretched spring, increasing the velocity by stretching their arm back, resulting in increased power.

The user of the fruit also has the ability of limited motion in mid-air, by grabbing onto something with an extended limb and pulling himself away from what could have been a fatal attack. With specific skills, they can also control where they go in mid-air to a limited extent. This gives the user the option of several jumping and airborne attacks that would have been disadvantageous to most other people.

## Weaknesses

Despite all the great advantages the user gets by using his fruit, there are a number of weaknesses. One major risk of the user's powers is that their stretched limbs take a moment to retract back into place, leaving them vulnerable to attacks in the moments when their limbs are stretched. Similarly, the user's body is similar to a rubber band at the beginning, requiring excessive motion to "throw" an attack. Though as time progresses, the excessive motion has slowly become less necessary, only required for more devastating and powerful attacks. Additionally, rubber has a maximum limit to how far it can stretch. Attempting to go beyond this length can cause the user to bleed and be at risk of ripping.

One of the biggest weaknesses that Gomu Gomu no Mi users possess is their susceptibility to cutting attacks and bladed weapons. It should be noted however that this does not mean that **Gomu Gomu no Mi** users are weaker to these things than the average person, however, the **Gomu Gomu no Mi**'s effectiveness against blunt attacks simply does not apply to cutting attacks, allowing them to deal critical damage to the user. An additional one is flame-based or even slightly more heated than typical attacks prove quite effective in bypassing the **Gomu Gomu no Mi**'s defenses, as it essentially allows someone to burn into the body of the user.

While the user is normally highly resistant to blunt attacks, things like using flames to attack, Fish-Man Karate and Seastone are able to bypass this durability. While contact with water or Seastone drains the user of his energy and nullifies the rubber-like ability to absorb blunt attacks, the actual body still maintains its rubber-like nature, allowing a third party to stretch the users body. Just like other Devil Fruit users, the user is also susceptible to Busoshoku Haki. However, the usage of Haki only nullifies the user's ability to absorb blunt attacks; it does not revert the user's body to normal flesh. Through the use of Busoshoku Haki, users have shown the ability to hurt Athermos with relative ease, and severely bypass his defenses. This includes causing his body to rapidly stretch back when a significant blow is dealt, sending his body following after the stretched back part and severely damaged.

Interestingly, the user of the Mizu Mizu no Mi has shown the ability to bypass the typical properties of this devil fruit, disabling most of its abilities besides stopping the user's body from being rubbery. This suggests that even without an Awakening, the Mizu Mizu no Mi user can counteract the Devil Fruits abilities. It is unknown at this time why that is, as it has not shown much effectiveness to stopping other Devil Fruit abilities.

## Usage

*Main Article: Gomu Gomu no Mi/Techniques*

The powers of the fruit have been used by Athermos in a variety of ways. These range from simply moving from one place to another in a rather reckless manner, to attacking an enemy with a barrage of fast and strong punches. He has also developed several peculiar methods of combat as time passed, adapting new forms by manipulating his elastic body, most prominent his "Weightless" state, and (unofficially named) "CoEx" (pronounced Coax) form, allowing him to momentarily increase his speed and strength in combat.

Of course, Athermos, being who he is, does not only use his ability for battle. Athermos tends to use his elastic properties for the amusement of others, or using his elastic body to play around or other comedical gags. He also uses his powers for transportation purposes, a primary example being his **Gum Gum Wing Rocket**, which has him grab something with his feet and wrap his arms around his back like wings, slinging himself through the air and maneuvering where he travels. Whenever Athermos would use any technique, he begins it with "Gum Gum".

## History

At some point before the start of the roleplay, the fruit was stolen by the Blood-Hair Pirates. It was then eaten by Athermos at some point after that.

## Roleplay and Official Medium Differences

* The way the power is used is similar, though much different, with more weaknesses being exploited for much deadlier combat earlier on.
* The "Gear System" is replaced through similar, yet different mediums that Athermos discovered during the very first Saga, in contrast to when Luffy discovers in the Fourth Saga.