 Warning! This video will contain spoilers up to chapter 1042. You've been mourned! Hello Manakama Tachi, this is Joygirl and I want to talk about the Gomu Gomu No Mi. If you can even call it the Gomu Gomu No Mi because it might actually be named something entirely different. And that's actually what I want to discuss in this video, the true name and the substance of Luffy's Devil Fruit which may be revealed to be quite different from the simple rubber fruit that we have known it to be. Because up until chapter 1017, Luffy's Devil Fruit seemed to be a pretty insignificant Devil Fruit. It was a paramecia that gave its user elastic properties so that they could stretch their bodies like rubber. And the general consensus was that the only reason why it was such a crafty combative power was the way that Luffy was wielding it, you know, through his creativity, through his rubbery ingenious and effort. So then in chapter 1017, when Who's Who revealed that the Gomu Gomu No Mi may actually be a prized possession, that it was on its way to marriage while with the CP9 members actually tasked with personally escorting its transportation, and even more still that Who's Who having failed that task was not only fired from the CP9, but was actually also imprisoned in Impel Down. That was a pretty huge deal. And it obviously sparked a whole lot of discussions and one strand of thought was that the Gomu Gomu No Mi might not actually be specifically special and that maybe all Devil Fruits were important and were given this sort of priority. I mean, Devil Fruits are supposed to be rare after all. But then again, Who's Who was imprisoned for his transgressions? And I do think that I have to reiterate this because even Rob Luchi and the other CP9 members that we encountered in the Water 7 saga, despite the fact that they failed pretty miserably in their task of capturing Robin and defeating the Straw Hats, which then actually led to the destruction of Enius Lobby. Okay, yes, they were fired from CP9 temporarily and Spandem did send Marines to capture them. But those members that we saw back then have made quite the comeback. And now they're actually even a part of CP Zero. So that's quite the contrast in treatment from Who's Who. Almost as if failing to protect the Gomu Gomu No Mi was an even greater failure than losing in an open challenge against the world government, letting the sole survivor of Ahara survive and also one of the world government's three strongholds getting completely destroyed. And then there's also the fact that along with the information that we got from all the way back in chapter one, we know that the Red Hair Pirate seemed to be specifically after this Devil Fruit as well. The fact that they had already possessed a drawing of it and they went to quite great lengths to steal it from CP9, I think it does point to the fruit being a pretty huge deal because even if it wasn't so clear to us all the way back in chapter one, we now know that Shanks is a major world figure. As a former Roger Pirates member, he does remain quite a bit of a mystery. But what we do know is that he is on some sort of mission and also that he's quite clued in in all the worldly events. So for Shanks to be after this Devil Fruit 2, it really does boost the level of intrigue and the seeming importance surrounding the Gomu Gomu No Mi. And ever since this importance of Luffy's Devil Fruit was first teased to us, courtesy of who's who, Oda has been continuing to drop sprinkles of little information, tidbits of teasers to continue suggesting that there may be more than it seems. For example, another bombshell of a tease that we got was in chapter 1037 where we get to drop in on the conversation between the Gorosei. We see the short and stout one of the five elders commenting that a certain Devil Fruit is only a legend now and that it hasn't awakened for centuries, suggesting that it shouldn't be of any concern. Which then prompts the young looking member of the elders to respond to the contrary asking why then would the world government have chosen to rename that specific Devil Fruit, suggesting that it was to remove its true name from the annals of history. And again, of course, this also sparked a huge flurry of speculations from the fanbase, with the most popular one being that the Gorosei were talking about the Gomu Gomu No Mi, but then there were also speculations that this specific Devil Fruit that the Gorosei were talking about wasn't actually about Luffy's Devil Fruit, the Yami Yami No Mi or the Ope Ope No Mi being the popular ones that I see being mentioned more frequently. And back then, when I was reading chapter 1037, it did seem at least possible that the Gorosei were talking about another Devil Fruit other than Luffy's. But now after chapter 1042, that seeming a little more unlikely. Because in the latest chapter, we see Kaido make a very interesting comment. Mid battle, during an onslaught of Luffy's punches, Kaido wonders as to how Luffy is changing the trajectory of his punches and notes that Raba should not be able to do this. And this could be very suggestive. On one hand, maybe it's just another cool feature in the way that Luffy is making use of his Gomu Gomu No Mi and maybe it just speaks to his unique ingenious. For example, when I first witnessed Giz second, it didn't seem like a particularly rubbery based power, but it was explainable through a mixture of science and creativity. So maybe his punches changing directions is just another case of Luffy's ingenious being on show. Or as most of us are now speculating, maybe this has to do with the mystery that Oda has been teasing us with, the fact that Luffy's Gomu Gomu No Mi may not actually be the Gomu Gomu No Mi after all. Now the most popular theory that I've seen people commenting on my chapter 1042 review was that Luffy's Devil Fruit is actually a mythical Zoeyn Devil Fruit model Sun Wukong. And for those of you who don't know, Sun Wukong is a figure from a popular Chinese legend, Journey to the West. And I can understand why this has become such a popular theory. Luffy does certainly seem to be inspired by the Monkey King in a number of ways. In terms of his characterization, there's obviously his name for starters, but also his reckless and fun loving, but also righteous personality, his ability to make friends, as well as the fact that Oda has told us that Luffy was inspired by Sun Goku and in turn, Goku was quite obviously heavily inspired by Sun Wukong. So therefore, Luffy was then also inspired by Sun Wukong. And also from a plot development standpoint, Luffy's journey in making Nakama to help him along in his quest to become the Pirate King and maturing and developing his strength and powers along the way is quite fitting to the story of Journey to the West. So again, I can see why this has become such a popular idea with even other content creators discussing the topic. But now the question that I have is how does this then explain and fit in with what we currently know of Luffy's devil fruit? The connection that seems to be made is that as the Monkey King carried a staff which could expand and contract in size, that that's been then adapted into Luffy's rubbery body, which can also expand and stretch in size and then also contract. And I do have to say that I do personally find that to be a little bit of a stretch. But as you guys know, I'm no stranger to far-fetched ruminations and possibilities, so I am prepared to accept that explanation. And I can also see the connections between Luffy's animal-themed, gearful forms and Sun Wukong's ability to transform into animals. But the question that really sticks with me is how then do you explain Luffy's resistance to Enel's lightning? One of the most impressionable moments in the series for me about Luffy's devil fruit was that his powers as goofy and as unspectacular as it may seem was actually the natural enemy against Enel's lightning. Drawing on science, rubber is a great insulator for electricity, so it makes sense that Luffy's rubber can naturally resist the electric forces of Enel's lightning. And so then, if Luffy's power was never a rubber-based fruit in the first place, how do you then explain his ability to withstand against the Gorogoronomi? And I have a similar question against other popular theories such as the Sarasarunomi, the Model Hanuman, which is based on a Hindu monkey deity, or even the idea of Luffy's devil fruit being one of the five wisdom kings. Because as far as I was able to research, none of these figures have an explanation or have any sort of connection to lightning or electricity. Unless the argument is that the devil fruit changes its form quite drastically when it's awakened, and that it's when it's awakened that it fully unleashes its true form. Because that is actually a really interesting question as well. What did the Gorosei mean in chapter 1037 when they said that the fruit hasn't awakened in centuries? Back then when I first read the chapter, I was thinking of the possibility that the Gorosei weren't talking about awakenings in the sense that we just witnessed kid and lore achieve, but maybe the fact that they were simply talking about a fruit's consumption, meaning that the devil fruit and its ability has now come to life within its user. Which gets a bit confusing because the Japanese word that was used for awakening in that chapter was the same awakening that we use that we've come to understand. But now that there are more hints pointing to the fact that they were indeed talking about Luffy's devil fruit, I'm now more inclined to say that they were referring to an awakening in the sense of a devil fruit unleashing its further potential. And part of why I say that is because that would then answer another question that we all had back then. If the Gorosei were indeed talking about Luffy's devil fruit, why are they so concerned about it now? I mean they've known about Luffy's consumption of the Gomu Gomu no Mi for a while now, and it never seemed to be such a top priority. So why is it only now that they're so concerned? But now I think this actually relates to an earlier conversation that we saw of the Gorosei in that same very same chapter. Because we also saw in chapter 1037 that the Gorosei were talking about taking care of an individual who would prove to be an inconvenience. And the reason why they seem to be so concerned about that individual now seemed to be because the fighting at Wano was heating up and it became too intense. And whilst back then it was also pretty unclear as to who that individual in question was, the world government have made it pretty clear now that they want Luffy dead and we actually saw the Cp0 member try to fulfill that order in the last chapter. So then piecing this together, the concern seems to be that the world government never expected the fight between Luffy and Kaido to last this long or to become this intense. And the reason why this has become such a big problem now is because of what we know about these sorts of advancements in power, that powers like awakenings unleash and that they blossom in moments of immense pressure. It's what we witnessed of kid and law against Big Mom and the potential and possibility of Luffy achieving the same against Kaido is extremely high and the world government is also aware of this. And so whilst Luffy's consumption and use of his devil fruit was probably always considered a nuisance, the chance of Luffy actually awakening the devil fruit and tapping into its full potential, its full powers, that has become now too great a risk for the world government to take, which then of course takes us back to what exactly this devil fruit is. So going back to the Sun Wukong idea, I have to say that I'm a bit on the fence. On one hand, I like the idea of something as goofy as the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which was actually created and intended for that very effect. Oda has told us before that he chose Luffy's devil fruit and its ability to ease the tone of the series that even when battles, even when fights get so intense and so serious, you could still lighten the mood with how goofy his ability is. So I do sort of like the idea that the very goofy devil fruit actually always had such a cool epic title and ability. But then on the other hand, I also don't like how OP it is, how overpowered it is. And I also do think that it just strays too far from its current ability of just stretching. Luffy becoming an actual deity through his devil fruit wouldn't be just too OP, but it would also encompass a whole drastic change away from his current devil fruit, even from being a paramecia type fruit. And now an idea that I've long held and have also discussed in the past before, it's the idea that Luffy's devil fruit awakening is actually going to be something along the lines of dragonification. And I do think that I still lean towards this idea. Maybe the name of the devil fruit could change to reflect the true ability of the devil fruit being that it turns its user into a giant, but it would still make sense in terms of how the fruit could still retain the rubber elastic properties that we've come to know. And it would also make sense from a story standpoint and what we know of the world government having been obsessed with giants and so why they would find the Gomu Gomu no Mi so crucial and why they would be so scared of Luffy awakening the devil fruit to use its giant abilities. We know that the world government has been attempting to recreate giants for quite a while now, and so it could make sense that the reason why they wanted the devil fruit is so that they could conduct experiments on it, most likely extract its lineage factor so that they could recreate it and build an army of giants. I mean that really seems to be Vega Punk's MO, using the lineage factor from devil fruits to recreate it, and we saw it in the case of Kaido and now Momonosuke's artificial devil fruit. So perhaps Vega Punk was previously tasked, was maybe even originally tasked with doing the same thing with the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and this way even though Luffy being able to turn into a giant would still make him quite OP in my opinion, it wouldn't be such a drastic change away from his elastic rubber properties because it would still be the rubber, the elasticity that allows its user to turn into a giant to inflate like a giant and the stretching ability is just the beginning. Anyways I do discuss why Luffy turning into a giant through his awakening could actually make a whole lot of sense for the story so do make sure to check out that video. Part of the reason why I am still stuck on this giant ability is still the question that I asked earlier about how Luffy was able to withstand against electricity because at least if the giant ability is still at its core linked with rubber, it at least fits with what we saw. And I have tried researching other elements or materials and metals that can withstand electricity can withstand lightning and try to fit with something that really stretches but I haven't been able to find one but then again I am no scientist so if you have a better idea or understanding of all of this then make sure to let me know by leaving comment below and on that note I would love to hear all of your opinions on this topic so make sure to leave a comment below. 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