The story of Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi, the Gum-Gum Fruit, became one of the most interesting in One Piece because Oda completely changed everything we knew about this Devil Fruit during the Wano Country arc. It was revealed that the Gomu Gomu no Mi wasn't actually that, but rather the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, a mythical Devil Fruit that gave Luffy the powers of the Sun God Nika. The Five Elders seemed to be the only ones who knew the truth, but... did Shanks know it too?

Shanks was adamant about getting the Devil Fruit from the World Government.

The story of the Gomu Gomu no Mi is very interesting and involves many secrets and machinations from the history of the Oda world. More than eight hundred years before the beginning of the story, Joy Boy consumed this fruit. After his death, the World Government tried to take possession of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, for eight hundred years, but it always managed to elude them. The organization thus decided to erase its true name from history and pass it off as the Gomu Gomu no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.

Eleven years before the beginning of the story, during the assault on a World Government ship, Lucky Rux found the Gomu Gomu no Mi. The Red Pirates brought the fruit to Foosha, where the following year, it was unknowingly eaten by Luffy, who thought it was just a dessert.

Now, at this point, Shanks knew it was a Devil Fruit, as evidenced by his reaction when Luffy ate it—he charged at the boy and tried to make him spit it out, but it was too late, as Luffy had already been turned into rubber. At this point, Shanks was a bit shocked, which suggested he didn't know what type of Devil Fruit it was, but this was later retconned.

Namely, in Chapter 1054, Oda gave us a flashback, giving us some details about Shanks' attack on the World Government ship that was transporting the fruit. When they were attacked, the CP9 didn't understand why Shanks would attack them if they were transporting such a weak fruit (they said it turned people into rubber), but Shanks was adamant about getting it.

This implied that Shanks was aware of the fruit's true nature, which didn't make sense when we went back in time. But the retcon makes some sense if you interpret it like this: if Shanks knew that the Gomu Gomu no Mi was actually the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, when Luffy turned into rubber, he wasn't surprised because he didn't know what effect it would have, but because he thought it would have a different effect on Luffy. So from there, it makes sense.

Shanks apparently knew he was going to receive the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika.

Now that we've explained the story, let's now explain the Devil Fruit itself. The Gomu Gomu no Mi, which was originally known as Hito Hito no Mi, model: Nika (before the World Government hid the truth), is a mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows you to transform into Nika, thus turning the body of whoever ingests it into rubber. It was eaten by Monkey D. Luffy and previously by Joy Boy. This fruit is a purple melon of the type known as Yubari King, covered with characteristic markings all over its surface.

The greatest advantage of ingesting this fruit is immunity to percussive attacks such as bullets, cannonballs, punches, and kicks. However, some of these attacks can still injure the user. It is one of the ever-active fruit types. To demonstrate this, during the fight with Arlong, Nojiko stretches Luffy's neck even though the boy is underwater. The rubber that makes up the body also allows the user to survive a fall from a great height that would normally kill a person and to be immune to electric attacks, thus presenting a notable advantage over the Goro Goro no Mi.

The elastic properties of the owner's body allow it to at least partially withstand the enormous pressure of ten thousand meters below the surface. Furthermore, it is possible to inhale large quantities of air by inflating it like a balloon and then rapidly exhaling it, producing strong gusts of wind that can even throw the user several meters into the air. The fruit does not offer immunity to blades, and one of the major risks the owner runs whenever they stretch is exposing themselves to being cut by the extended limb. Furthermore, there is a limit to how far one can stretch.

With Armament Haki, it is possible to nullify the rubber's immunity to most punches and kicks. Additionally, this fruit has the same weaknesses as all Devil Fruits.

The awakening of the fruit extends its effects on the surrounding environment, allowing the user to transform it into rubber, making it more flexible and with greater freedom of movement. Luffy is capable of this, as is Joy Boy. The power granted by this fruit is used by Luffy in many ways, but particularly in combat. He typically uses his body's elasticity to attack the enemy with a series of punches and kicks at a high rate, as well as to strike them even if they are at a great distance.

Additionally, Luffy has developed four enhancement techniques he calls Gear Second, Gear Third, Gear Fourth, and Gear Fifth, which allow him to temporarily increase the effectiveness of his blows exponentially. Using the powers of his fruit combined with Armament Haki, Luffy can also ignite his fists through friction. Naturally, given Luffy's personality, these abilities are used more outside of combat situations.

When celebrating with his classmates, he uses his body to cheer them up by making silly faces or stretching playfully; often, throughout the series, he takes advantage of the opportunity to extend his arms to steal food from other people's plates. In addition, Luffy has developed a peculiar mode of transportation based on the catapult to the desired location, transforming into a kind of slingshot.

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