Poison

The word applies to any toxin dangerous to organic life, whether cooked up through chemistry or oozed by creatures and plants for self-defense. Its states and forms differ widely, and the outcome shifts with composition, spanning simple sickness, paralysis, and death. To fight it, many toxins have a matching cure known as an antidote, which neutralizes the poison inside a victim's body, though some toxins resist any remedy or require one that is slow and tricky to brew.

A handful of rare abilities also undo poison. Emporio Ivankov relies on hormone therapy drawn from the Horu Horu no Mi, Vinsmoke Reiju can pull toxins straight out of a body, and Charlotte Smoothie's Shibo Shibo no Mi lets her squeeze liquids, poison included, out of a person.

What makes poison so prized in a fight is that enemies seldom grow used to it, unlike a swordsman who parries slashes or a rubber-bodied Luffy who ignores blunt hits. By sapping a target's strength, it opens a window for the finishing blow. Luffy himself built up a near-immunity after almost dying to Magellan's toxic fruit, his body afterward churning out antitoxins, yet he still succumbs to the deadliest toxins, such as an Armored Stonefish's skin.

Reiju, tagged Poison Pink, is completely immune and can even eat poison as food, calling that same stonefish venom a treat once she drained it from Luffy. Certain Devil Fruit users share this protection through their powers, among them Magellan, whose Doku Doku no Mi grants total resistance, and Caesar Clown, shielded against gaseous forms by the Gasu Gasu no Mi, though Magellan still gets diarrhea from the poison he happily swallows.

Plenty of characters make poison their weapon. Don Krieg wields the lethal MH5 gas grenade launcher along with venom-tipped spears, and Crocodile's concealed hook oozes acidic scorpion toxin that brings on paralysis and cardiac arrest. Wanze, Duval, Hyouzou, the Yeti Cool Brothers, Gladius, and Reiju all rely on toxin-coated arms or strikes, and one poison unit, a Hyper Toxic Squadron, was fielded by the New Fish-Man Pirates.

Caesar Clown built gas weapons such as Shinokuni, Smiley, and Koro, the last later unleashed on the Mink Tribe by Jack. Devil Fruit poison-makers include Boa Marigold with her cobra venom, Magellan whose Doku Doku no Mi produces Hydra, Chloro Ball, Poison Cloud, and the ruinous Kinjite, and Jaygarcia Saturn with his corrosive limbs. The natural world offers its own perils too, from Amber Lead ore and the Amiudake fungus to the Desert Strawberry, the Armored Stonefish, and ergot.