AWAKENING AND SPECIAL PARAMECIA

This is a theory on the existence and identification of special paramecia. This category was introduced in Whole Cake Island by Oda classifying Commander Katakuri as a special paramecia instead of a logia.

This makes sense since most logia devil fruits are elemental based and some are fluid in nature but still connected to the elements e.g. Magma devil fruit (earth and fire) which Akainu has and Mud devil fruit (earth and water).

I think there may be two main types of special paramecia:
Category 1: Special paramecia with inherent properties of logia devil fruits.

 e.g. Mochi Mochi No Mi which Katakuri has. Katakuri’s devil fruit is fluid based and can allow attacks to pass through him. Haki attacks can also pass through him which may be as a result of having complete control of his devil fruit. Luffy used Hawk gatling but they are passed through him. Some people speculate that its because Katakuri has greater armament than luffy but i think in that scene, Katakuri due to his high level observation haki, he could predict where each hit would land and thus manipulated his body using the fluid nature of his devil fruit to let each hit pass through him.
Katakuri doesn’t produce Mochi only but he is also made of Mochi thus making him superior to most producer based paramecia such as the Ito Ito No Mi which Doflamingo had and Cracker’s Biscuit devil fruit (They produce but are not made of their devil fruit substance).

Category 2: Special paramecia with inherent properties of zoan devil fruits.

 The Gomu Gomu No Mi may fit into this category. Unlike most paramecias, Luffy is made of rubber but cannot produce it, however he can manipulate and transform his own body to different forms like a zoan devil fruit user. This is shown in the different types of gears Luffy has just like the 3 types of transformations that most zoans have. Because Luffy is a paramecia, he is not limited to three forms thus he is superior to zoans in that regard.

How does this two facts relate to Awakening?

1. Category 1 special paramecia can awaken like other producer devil fruit awakenings i.e. Change the environment around them into their devil fruit substance. Katakuri turned the whole mirror world into mochi.
2. Category 2 special paramecia can awaken like zoans i.e. Increase durability and strength. Awakened zoans have greater strength than normal zoans and heals extremely fast thus they are very durable.

Luffy’s condition may be a little different than the two established categories, how?

Fast we need to know why Shanks had the Gomu Gomu No Mi in his possession when he was in east blue. Yonko’s and the World Government are the two entities in the One Piece World that can get hold of devil fruits easily since they are rare to find. An example of this is Big Mom’s crew which has multiple food based devil fruits making them look like they aren’t even rare. She got them because of her status thus different underworld individuals or the islands she rules over could give her a devil fruit as payment or as a gift during her tea parties.

Due to this reason, i am inclined to think there may be a Category 3 special paramecia that is rare than Mythical Zoans that is why most people in the One Piece World don’t know about them. Shanks may know about them because of Ben Bechman who is reffered to as the smartest man in all of East Blue in an Oda’s SBS.
What is a Category 3 special paramecia?
This is a a paramecia devil fruit with inherent properties of both zoans and logia devil fruits.
I think the Gomu Gomu No Mi may likely fit in this category instead of category 2.
Rubber is a hard substance that can elongate, it’s resilient, it can compress, it is tear resistant to a specif degree. Due to this factors, Luffy can change forms such as a zoan.
I think Luffy’s awakening will be of that of a Zoan and also be able to change the environment but not by turning the environment to normal hardened rubber but liquid rubber.
Liquid rubber can be applied to most surfaces to form a seamless waterproof layer. … It cures to form a tough, durable and waterproof fully adhered flexible membrane (aka a protective layer) which prevents water ingress and resists damage from UV, salt, thermal cycling and harmful chemicals. By turning the environment into liquid rubber, elemental harm by other devil fruits in that environment will be very difficult due to said properties of liquid rubber. Luffy could also turn the some parts of liquid rubber to normal rubber, especially an enemy’s location or his own so as to bounce himself to increase speed or make his enemy lose balance.

*Theory by Misle D Dawn