Ever wondered how Luffy's strange rubber body operates? Here's everything you need to know about the One Piece captain's unique physiology.

As captain ofOne Piece's famous Straw Hat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy's ambitiousness can lead to him being impulsive at times. But he's still a genius when it comes to combat; possessing the fighting prowess to always get himself and his crew out of most of the sticky situations they find themselves in. This is, in part, thanks to oneof the major staples introduced early on in the series:Devil Fruits, which, when consumed, grant users like Luffy unique abilities.

As a child, Luffy ate the most common of the three types of Devil Fruit -- the Paramecia. The Paramecia fruit encompasses a wide array of abilities and differs from the Zoan and Logia type fruits in that they do not allow their user to transform into an animal or natural element. More specifically, Luffy ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi or the Gum-Gum Fruit, transforming him into a rubber human, akin to Marvel's Mister Fantastic. Here are some of the strangest effects this mysterious foodstuff had on his body.

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The Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit that Luffy ate effectively gave his body the quality of elasticity. The human equivalent of a rubber band, the pirate captain canstretch his limbs to extraordinary lengths, allowing him to reach far-off distances while simultaneously increasing his effective attack range.

And like a rubber band being stretched prior tobeing flung, Luffy's limbs are capable of storing energy to effectively bolstering his attack power. Luffy's body does have a limit to how far it can stretch, however; with seriescreatorEiichiro Oda comically declaring it to be "72 Gomu Gomus," which is quite a distance.

ThroughoutOne Piece, Luffy's body has displayed numerous natural immunitiesand feats of endurance. Luffy is immune to blunt force as his elastic body dulls the impact of bullets, cannons and hand-to-hand strikes, and such attacksbounce right off of him. Luffy can also endure falls from heights that would prove fatal to normal humans anddisplaylittle to no signs of damage from the impact. He's even proven to be resistant to lightning, evidenced during his fight against theGod of Skypeia, Enel, who ate the Goro Goro no Mi allowing him to control the element.

Despite these advantages Luffy is not immortal. Though immune to lightning, he can be damaged by other elements such as fire or ice, attacks involving cutting or stabbing and Haki-infused attacks. Another weaknessdisplayed early on in One Piece isthatLuffy's stretched limbs must be recalled after launching an attack, and if unprepared, can leave Luffy defenseless during the recall period.

Enemiescan exploit this openingand launch a counterattack, or in some cases even use the outstretched limb as a means of transportation, running along an outstretched arm or leg in order to close the distance between themselves and Luffy.

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Luffy's interior organs also behave like rubber and exhibit a balloon-like quality of elasticity. As a result, Luffy's stomach is larger than the average human and as such he requires large amounts of food to sustain activity, explaining his ravenous appetite. Luffy's blood cells are also made of rubber, a property he exploitsto accelerate the blood flow throughout his body when using Gear Second.

In this mode, he stretches these cells and releases the energy stored in them to accelerate his blood flow, vastly increasing his speed and attack power. The elastic property of his bones, other the other hand, is what allows him to inflate them when using Gear Third and Gear Fourth, allowing him to preposterously enhance the size of his body and limbs.

Luffy is capable of further bolstering his offensive and defensive prowess through the application of Busoshoku or Armament Haki. He has also displayed an ability to ignite and apply flames to his attacks through the technique. However, when outside of Gear Fourth, the body part to which Haki is applied loses someof the aforementioned properties of rubber, evidenced his battle against Don Chinjao when Luffy's fist discharges electricity while using Gomu Gomu no Thor Elephant Gun inEpisode 649,"The Fierce Battle Coming to the End - Lucy vs. Chinjao." This is despite the already established fact that his rubber body does not conduct electricity.

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Despite the enormous power that Devil Fruits grant, consumption comes at the cost of losing the ability to swim. Devil Fruit users become like sinking stones when submerged in water and Luffy is no exception. For pirates constantly at sea, this side effect can be quite a nuisance -- and not just in the case of ocean traversal.

Introducedby then Captain Smoker inEpisode 53, "The Legend Has Begun! Head to the Grand Line," Seastone is a special substance that emits the same energy as the sea, allowing even normal soldiers to completely immobilize Devil Fruit users. Despite this weakness, Luffy's body retains its rubber qualities and elasticity even when exposed to the sea, evidenced by Nojiko's successful extension of Luffy's neck despite his body being submerged in waterinEpisode 39,"Luffy Drowning! Zoro vs Octopus Hatchan!"

When the butt of a joke or the target of Nami's rage, it appears that Luffy's normal immunity to blunt force is seemingly nullified, as he's suffered numerous beat downs at the hands of the Straw Hat pirates' navigator. We can chalk this one up to cartoon silliness, though.

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Brandon is a Film and Media Studies Major at Lafayette College, and is now an Anime and Manga Feature writer for Valnet, Inc.

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Anime Anatomy: The 5 Weirdest Things About Luffy's Body, Explained - CBR - Comic Book Resources