Mushi Mushi no Mi, Model: Flower Mantis

[Fox]

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Mushi Mushi no Mi, Model: Flower Mantis

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English Name: Bug-Bug Fruit, Model: Flower Mantis
Classification: Zoan
Owned By: Calpurnia D. Idol

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Appearance

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The Mushi Mushi no Mi, Model: Flower Mantis resembles a pitanga that’s about the size of a cantaloupe. The skin of the fruit is white and pink with vertical stripes with bright green swirls characteristic of Devil Fruits. A long thin stalk protrudes out of the center that scythes down back toward the fruit. Two bright green leaves sprout from the other side. The pulp of the fruit is blood red with a pale bone white seed at the center. The taste is similar to the disgustingly sweet taste of rotten fruit.

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Ability

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This Devil Fruit turns its user into a(n) Flower Mantis Longarm ("Hana Kamakiri Tenaga-zoku"), granting them the following transformations...

• Full Beast Form
  
  In full beast form, the Devil Fruit user takes on the form of the Flower Mantis. They shrink down to only a few inches long, which allows them to fit into spaces they couldn’t ordinarily. They sprout a set of wings from their back, which they can use to glide and expertly maneuver themselves in the air while jumping. Their body becomes hard and chitinous and turns white and pink. Their eyes elongate and become compound and three additional eyes and antennae sprout on top of their head. Their four legs allow them to climb vertical surfaces and even walk normally when upside down. Their mouth turns into the destructive jaws and mandibles of a mantis, allowing an incredibly devastating bite. Their arms turn into long grasping scythes, which allow them to cut into and restrain their prey.
• Hybrid Form
  
  In hybrid form, the Devil Fruit user retains their humanoid form and sprouts an additional set of long arms from their torso. The fingers on those arms have three segmented fingers and a thumb. Their existing arms turn into the long and incredibly sharp scythe-like blade arms of the praying mantis. They sprout wings from their back. Their lower half sprouts an abdomen, which they can control much like a tail. Powerful mandibles sprout from their face and cover their mouth like a mask, which can retract or be opened for an incredibly savage bite. Three additional eyes appear on the forehead and antenna sprouts from the hair. The Devil Fruit user’s body becomes hard and chitinous and turns white and pink in coloration, changing the user’s hair as well. Their eyes become compound and elongated slightly, changing color from green to yellow to pink depending on the light. Their legs also transform to become spiny and give the user the ability to climb vertical surfaces and hang upside down.

This also grants them the following unique abilities while transformed…

• Adaptive Mimicry
  
  The Devil Fruit user may change the color of their body while transformed, allowing them to take on different hues to better blend in with their surroundings and avoid attention. These colors can be bright and vibrant like an orchid or more subdued.
• Enhanced Senses
  
  The Devil Fruit user gains incredible eyesight which allows them to perceive even the slightest movement. They have vision in 360 degrees, making them nearly impossible to sneak up on. Additionally, they have a special sense of hearing that allows them to detect ultrasonic frequencies, such as those used in the echolocation of bats.

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Weaknesses

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• Kairoseki ("Sea-Prism Stone") debilitates the user by sapping their strength and prevents them from consciously controlling or activating their power.
• Submersion in water renders the Devil Fruit user immobile and causes them to sink, preventing conscious control of their abilities.

[Jade]

Hey Fox! Bugs and Zoan in general aren't really my specialty, but I've decided to take a crack at this to earn my keep around here as a challenge!

So, we seem to be condensing a whole family of mantises into one Fruit, hm? Interesting. The one I'm most familiar with (and the one that seems to be the primary inspiration for this Fruit) is the orchid mantis. At a glance, it seems that they do possess an ability to shift color - but not quite as drastic as what you've suggested this Zoan allows in the Adaptive Mimicry section here. However, I readily admit that this is not an area I'm fully confident in; if you have a bit of evidence that this family of mantises does possess the ability to change between a wide array of colors to allow for this ability, I'd love to see it. Without that, though, I would ask that you dial this back to something closer to what you see in the actual species.

That said, that's really the only issue I personally see in the Fruit. I'll likely have another member of staff take a look at this before my next response, so there may be something else then - but for now, this is the only thing I have for you! Show your work or make the required edit and then respond here so we can continue with the approval process.

[Fox]

No problemo, Jade! I have a couple sources so I’ll site em all.

Wikipedia sites that it can go “from pink to brown.”
There’s also this article that explains with a little more depth how they change to match environmental conditions.
And this article has some pictures of the different hues and colorations of orchid mantises in the wild.

Let me know if this isn’t sufficient or I need to modify my wording.

[Jade]

Honestly, the evidence presented helps a little, but isn't much more than I found myself... But, that said, I think I'm being a little too harsh on this. It might be a little unrealistic for a flower mantis to change colors rapidly enough for it to be relevant, I think we can bend reality a little to make something appropriate for the setting. So long as we ensure we keep it to realistic colors for the critter to be mimicking (primarily flowers and dying vegetation), I think we can call it good to go.

Well, with that noted, I think we can call this one approved!

[Jade]

Archived by request.