ARMS (extendable)

This article is about the extendable limbs. For other uses, see ARMS (disambiguation).

"ARMS, capital A-R-M-S, can extend like springs. An unusual ability shrouded in mystery..." —Biff

ARMS fighters do not fight using ordinary human arms. Instead, they use a pair of extendable limbs called ARMS. Most fighters have extendable ARMS where their arms would normally be, but this is not always the case.

Fighters make use of various weapons, also called ARMS, while fighting. They wear the weapons on their hands, just as boxers wear boxing gloves.

Description

The origins of extendable ARMS are unknown. Debated origins include heredity, mutation and even experimentation by extraterrestrial life. All attempts by historians to find answers have ended in failure. Individuals with the "gift of ARMS" often participate in the sport also named ARMS, which involves fighting with the ARMS and is authorized by the ARMS League.

The earliest depiction of the phenomenon discovered so far dates about 1500 years, but experts argue that these ARMS may have existed since 4000 years ago. This phenomenon is also found in animals and plants. Old tales have described the bearers of this ability as a rarity, which led to those with ARMS in ancient times being revered by many, but the number of people with ARMS has increased dramatically since, with about 20% of the worldwide population having it at present—possibly more, as the statistic discounts anyone who may not have reported the ability.

Most cases of ARMS transmutation happen overnight and are noticed when the individual wakes up. This transformation happens most commonly to those around the age of 10, but has in some rare cases happened to people as old as 74. There are also some exceptionally rare cases of people having ARMS from birth. The probability of ARMS being congenital appears to be about 1 in 100,000, with Kid Cobra being an example of a person who has had ARMS since birth.

Dr. Coyle is unique in that, although she does possess the ARMS ability, she gained it artificially via experimentation on herself. Twintelle is another unique case, being the only person known to have developed the ARMS ability in her hair rather than her actual arms. Additionally, machines (such as Byte & Barq and Springtron) and artificial creations (such as Helix and the Cell) cannot get the ARMS ability naturally but can be designed to have arms that mimic the ability.

All ARMS users also exhibit a change to their eyes, as a black spiral appears in both irises. This spiral always travels counterclockwise out from the pupil to the sclera, regardless of which side the eye is on.

The masks worn by people with ARMS stabilize the coil shape in the ARMS, and the arms return to normal when the mask is taken off. Attempting to use ARMS without the mask typically results in them changing shape or unraveling involuntarily, hence why all fighters with ARMS wear the masks to allow for the ability's use in sport.

Examples

Each fighter has extendable ARMS that are based on the fighter's theme. For example:

• Spring Man's ARMS are made of blue metallic springs with red insides.
• Ribbon Girl's ARMS are made of magenta ribbons with a single white stripe.
• Ninjara's ARMS are made of large, silver chains.
• Master Mummy's ARMS are made of off-white linen strips with faded purple shapes on them.
• Min Min's ARMS are made of ramen noodles. One of her powers has her change her left arm to have green dragon scales.
• Mechanica pilots a mech that has artificial ARMS made of bright yellow metal plates and black electrical cables arranged in a coil shape.
• Twintelle's actual arms are normal and not extendable, but she instead has ARMS in the form of her silvery twin tails.
• Byte's ARMS are made of golden clockwork mainsprings.
• Kid Cobra's ARMS appear similar to the body of a purple snake with a light blue underside.
• Helix's ARMS are made of giant blue and pink DNA molecules or are at least designed to look like them.
• Max Brass's ARMS are made up of championship belts he has won over the years.
• Lola Pop's ARMS are made of pink and yellow taffy with a sugary coating.
• Misango's ARMS are made of misangas.
• Springtron's ARMS are made of metal.
• Dr. Coyle has copper arms with coils going around them, possibly referencing electromagnetic induction.
• Biff appears to have yellow ARMS matching the rest of his body.
• Hedlok's ARMS are made of silver metallic springs with red insides, resembling Spring Man's.
• The Cell has DNA molecule ARMS like Helix, but they are gray instead of pink and blue.

Trivia

• Mechanica and Twintelle are the only fighters with normal human arms.

Gallery

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  ARMS history files, detailing their first sighting among humans, animals and plantlife.

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  ARMS history files, detailing the increase of ARM bearers over the years.

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  ARMS lab reports, detailing when the transformation occurs and in which age groups.

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  ARMS lab reports, detailing Kid Cobra's congenital ARMS and his ambiguity.

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  Reports in the masks that apparently keep the ARMS coils stable.