The Gomu Gomu no Mi is among the most maxed-out Devil Fruits when it comes to raw power. This is the first time readers have been introduced to such a powerful devil fruit.
Luffy eats it at the beginning of the Romance Dawn arc and has been continuously training its powers ever since. The actual aspect of its powers was revealed to the fans only recently in the story, while Luffy made this Devil Fruit as overpowered as it is today.
But there is a rich history that adds to the narrative of this legendary Devil Fruit.
Origin story
The Gomu Gomu no Mi is a Paramecia Devil Fruit in One Piece that grants the user phenomenal flexibility, allowing them to turn into a rubbery entity literally. The real name of this fruit was Hito Hito no Mi. It was first classified as a “Mythical Zoan” type fruit, allowing its user to transform into the legendary “Sun God” Nika and acquire his rubbery abilities before the World Government changed the name and reclassified it to tuck it away.
Only Imu, Vegapunk, and the five elders know of it, and it was officially never recorded in existence.
The World Government managed to lay their hands on the fruit at least 13 years ago after chasing it for eight long centuries. The fruit avoided them every single instance before they actually managed to lay their hands on them. It seemed as if it had a thought process of its own. But then, Shanks and his gang hijacked it en route. In a matter of speaking, the hero of the series, Monkey D. Luffy, unknowingly consumed the same Devil Fruit.
The True Capabilities of this Devil Fruit is Crazy
Since Luffy had his Mythical Zoan awakening, he gained the ability to undergo a complete change.
Furthermore, he had several unique abilities that he initially needed access to. In addition to changing, Luffy acquires the capacity to disseminate his abilities across his surroundings.
These are the Paramecia type’s newfound talents, as shown in the novel. Each Paramecia awakening can affect anything in their proximity with their abilities. For instance, Doflamingo was able to transform everything around him into strings. In a similar vein, Katakuri was able to accomplish the same thing, except his surroundings changed into Mochi.
Kaido mentioned that the ability to spread the Devil Fruit’s influence to the surrounding area is a sign of Paramecia’s awakening.
In Luffy’s case, he was able to shroud everything around him with a rubbery essence, transforming the topmost floor of Onigashima into a rubbery playground for bouncing. Even more remarkable, Luffy found a way to pass on his abilities to other living beings, an entirely unprecedented phenomenon. Up until now, there’s been no instance where awakened abilities could be transferred to other living entities, be they humans or animals.
Because of the Gomu Gomu no MI, Luffy also gains access to add another weapon to his arsenal of moves. The Gomu Gomu no Cannon enables Luffy to throw a barrage of fast punches at his target before finishing them off with a singular double-palmed blow.
