Den Den Mushi

The Den Den Mushi are snails that are used for communication and/or visual aid throughout the world. They, for the most part, serve the same functions that telephones, fax machines, and cameras do in the real world.

They are classified as type "B" creatures, being "Small Friendly".

About
Den Den Mushi have the mysterious ability to telepathically communicate with each other, apparently through electronic signals; they can also perfectly mimic human speech. For at least twenty years, people have taken advantage of these abilities by attaching buttons, receivers, and other accessories that convert the creatures into long-distance communicators. According to Franky, the conversion process is quite simple, as he offered to make communicators for the Mink Tribe from the wild snails of Zou.



A "ringing" Den Den Mushi will make a purururu (プルルル) sound, rendered identically to the real-life Japanese onomatopoeia for old-fashioned phone-rings. However, the anime (which renders the sound closer to purupuru) indicates that the snails are actually pronouncing these "rings" phonetically (and very dryly), rather than making any noise akin to a genuine ring. Similarly, they will make a gacha (ガチャ) sound when their receivers are removed or replaced.

During active use, a Den Den Mushi will relay the speaker's words and emotions as well as take on the distinctive facial traits. For example, when someone screams, the snail will scream as well. They also seem to be able to change their eye color and even if they lost some teeth (ex. Caesar talking over Law's Den Den Mushi) whenever someone is talking through. Den Den Mushi are usually active when someone answers the phone, but once they are hung up, they go to sleep. It is possible for two Den Den Mushis converse with each other using a third party.



Despite acting like machines, they are actually animals. Since being raised by humans gives them access to plenty of food, Den Den Mushi do not mind being used and tamed. The snails appear to be amphibious, as Fukaboshi was seen using one underwater. However, they do not work in extreme cold. When an S.O.S. signal is sent out, rather than ringing normally as in a regular phone call, the Den Den Mushi cries loudly. When a Den Den Mushi returns to the wild and their receivers are removed, they become a regular snail.

When Oda was asked if the Den Den Mushi have a silent mode and if they can change their ring tone, he confirmed Den Den Mushi do have a "silent" mode. This is normally activated with a simple "shh" and a head nod. However, as they are living creatures they have to be trained to access this ability. The resulting volume depends on the effectiveness of their training and their diet.

Types of Den Den Mushi
The Den Den Mushi appear in many varieties, depending on who owns them and who is talking. They are sometimes designed to resemble their user. Marine Den Den Mushi typically have the Marine symbol painted on their faces and/or shells. Despite their varied appearances, there appear to be general categories by which Den Den Mushi are classified.

Regular Den Den Mushi


The most common type of Den Den Mushi (電伝虫) commonly seen. They are too big to be conveniently carried around, but their signal range is much further than that of a baby. They can also serve as fax machines if the right accessory is attached. They are capable of making long distance calls, and many are large enough to make a worldwide signal. The Marines are shown to often favour these over Babies in field communications due to the range, carrying them around with the help of a shoulder strap.

Baby Den Den Mushi


A Baby Den Den Mushi (子電伝虫) is small enough to fit in a palm or even be worn like a wristwatch, and is favored by many for portable communication. However, its signal is not as strong as that of a standard "mature" Den Den Mushi, and cannot be used for inter-island calls. They can also be used as speakers, in which to broadcast the user's voice throughout the area.

Black Den Den Mushi


The Black Den Den Mushi (黒電伝虫) is a species of Den Den Mushi that remains small for its entire lifespan, and enjoys "eavesdropping" on the signals of the standard variety rather than openly communicating. It can also memorize anything it intercepts, to be repeated at a later time.

For these reasons, Black Den Den Mushi are most commonly used by the Marines to "wiretap" calls between pirates or other miscreants.

White Den Den Mushi


The White Den Den Mushi (白電伝虫) can produce signals that neutralize the Black Den Den Mushi's eavesdropping abilities; as such, they can be attached to any standard Den Den Mushi to encrypt the user's calls.

This breed is apparently very rare; the only known specimen is possessed by the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon.

Horned Den Den Mushi


The Horned Den Den Mushi (ツノ電伝虫) can jam radio transmissions. The range and period of a transmission jamming caused by this type are unknown. This species was first used by a member of the Fire Tank Pirates before Sanji and Pudding's wedding as part of the Retrieval Team-Fire Tank Alliance's plan to take down Big Mom. After the Whole Cake Chateau collapsed, Mont-d'Or was able to communicate through a Den Den Mushi from Sweet City to the rest of Totto Land, alluding to the jamming disablement.

Visual Den Den Mushi
The Visual Den Den Mushi (映像電伝虫) is similar to the Surveillance Den Den Mushi.

The Proko (プロコ) is able to receive, project and broadcast what the Cameko sees onto a bigger video screen. It is an older Visual Den Den Mushi. They are able to broadcast their frequencies between two relatively close locations.

The Cameko (カメコ) is able to store images and videos. It is a younger Visual Den Den Mushi. While taking a photo, it create flashes of light with its eyes in order to perform flash photography. It has an antenna connected to the shell, that allows him to send signals and live video feeds to their connected Proko.

Surveillance Den Den Mushi
The Surveillance Den Den Mushi (監視電伝虫) is a Visual Den Den Mushi used for surveillance. The Cameko are mounted in specific locations around a building. They are all connected to a singular Proko, connected to a machine which produces video feeds to a set of monitors. In the event that the Cameko spots an intruder, it will send a signal to the Proko, which will cause its red eyes to begin flashing in an alternating manner, and make a buzzing noise to alert the security guards watching the monitors.

Self-Propelled Visual Den Den Mushi


Shiki has a variant of the Visual Den Den Mushi called the Self-Propelled Visual Den Den Mushi (自走式映像転送電伝虫). As the name implies they are able to move and look around. They also appear to be close to the same size as the Proko and have attachments that allow them to project what they can see to a monitor.

Golden Den Den Mushi


The Golden Den Den Mushi (ゴールデン電伝虫) is an extremely rare breed of Den Den Mushi, apparently made of solid gold and completely immobile. About the size of a Baby Den Den Mushi, its sole function is to initiate a Buster Call attack; as a result, its only "accessory" is a single button at the apex of its shell, which immediately delivers a signal to the proper receiving line when pressed.

According to Spandam, permission to access a Golden Den Den Mushi can only be granted by Marines of Admiral rank or higher. Only two specimens have been witnessed thus far, both used by Cipher Pol agents: When activated, the Golden Den Den Mushi apparently automatically transmits its location to the receiving line, to guarantee maximum speed of response.
 * Spandine of CP5 used one, supposedly granted by then-Admiral Sengoku, during the Ohara Incident.
 * Spandam himself, as director of CP9, accidentally used one (having mistaken it for his personal Baby Den Den Mushi) during the Straw Hat Pirates' invasion of Enies Lobby. His was supposedly granted by then-Admiral Aokiji.

Silver Den Den Mushi


The Silver Den Den Mushi (シルバー電伝虫) is a special type of Den Den Mushi, apparently possessing a solid silver shell, that serves as Marineford's receiving line for the Golden Den Den Mushi. It is about the size of a standard Den Den Mushi, but does not appear to transmit any voices, instead generating a loud vibrating sound to alert all nearby Marines that a Buster Call has been ordered.

The specimens receiving both Spandine's and Spandam's Buster Call orders were visibly aged, with white mustaches and beards; it is unknown if this is inherent to the breed, or simply an indication that they have been used much longer than regular Den Den Mushi (or, possibly, that only one specimen exists and is linked to every Golden Den Den Mushi in active service).

Translation and Dub Issues
Den Den Mushi are derived from the term でんでんむし (Dendenmushi), an old Tokyo folk-name for snails. While preserving the pronunciation and corresponding hiragana, Oda coupled them with new kanji:
 * (Den), meaning electric (a common component in the words for most electric appliances, telephones included)
 * (Den), meaning communication
 * (Mushi), meaning insect (the only kanji reflecting the original meaning, snails traditionally being lumped in with insects and most other garden pests)

Most English translations, professional or otherwise, do not attempt any kind of similar pun, and variously call the creatures Transponder Snails, Telesnails, or Snail-o-Phones (or Shock Bugs, in the case of the English localization for One Piece: Unlimited Adventure).

In the 4Kids dubbed anime, these creatures do not assume the voices of their users.

Trivia

 * In one of Oda's SBS, a fan asked Oda to apologize to a Den Den Mushi whose receiver was destroyed by Sanji. Oda responded to the fan's question by explaining that Den Den Mushi are actually born naturally without the receivers and buttons commonly seen on them. The people of the One Piece world attach these devices to the snails in order to use the snails' ability to communicate with one another. Breaking these devices attached in truth does not harm the animal at all.
 * Some isolated areas do not have access, or choose not to use Den Den Mushi:
 * Skypiea is the only location seen where they seem completely absent or unavailable for use. However, Dials, the remains of particular shellfish that live in the White-White Sea, are used constantly by the natives.
 * The Tontatta Kingdom's dwarves release the snail back to the wild.
 * Mokomo Dukedom do not have the knowledge on how to turn the wild snails on Zou into communication devices.
 * Wano Country uses Smart Tanishi (スマートタニシ).
 * Regular Den Den Mushi living in the wild appear in both One Piece: Unlimited Adventure and Unlimited Cruise as catchable bugs, used for creating items.
 * In One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, they are said to communicate with one another using radio waves. During Spandam's Special attack he uses a Den Den Mushi to call authorize an artillery strike.
 * Another reference to the fact Den Den Mushi are living creatures can be seen in the Marineford Arc, when Buggy and the rest of his crew were frozen by Aokiji and unfrozen by Akainu's attack, however, the camera Den Den Mushi had yet to be unfrozen, and when it sank in the seawater boiled by Akainu, it became dehydrated as a normal snail would due to the salt content of the ocean. After that, it got extremely scared by Buggy's crew and hid in his shell. It then started crying from joy after Buggy defended the snail, saying it had worked too hard and deserved a break. It then became very happy, loyal, cooperative and grateful to Buggy, following a running gag where Buggy had won favor with people by looking impressive through pure dumb luck.
 * In the 1850s, the French Jacques Toussaint Benoit built a contraption known as the Pasilalinic-sympathetic compass also known as "snail telegraph" based on the hypothesis that mating snails form a permanent telepathic link and can be used to send and receive long distance telegrams.

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