In One Piece what causes the Devil Fruit users to be immobile when immersed in water?

Abstract

This paper explores two reasons why characters in the anime One Piece are rendered unconscious when submerged in a body of water. The ‘Devil Fruit’ is an ingested substance that gives supernatural powers but also an apparent immobility in water. This paper theorises that the phenomenon caused by the ‘Devil Fruit’ may be attributed to mutations in the mechanoreceptors that regulate tolerance to water pressure. Alternatively, characters begin to claw at their throats before fully submersed suggesting a narrowing of the airways, symptoms commonly observed during anaphylaxis (allergic reactions). The ‘Devil Fruit’ may therefore cause mutations that render filaggrin, a gene central to the monitoring of inflammation and thus allergic reactions, non-functional.