History Main / RubberMan

For the performers traditionally known as rubber men, see {{Contortionist}}. Not to be confused with {{DressedAllInRubber}}

For the performers traditionally known as rubber men, see {{Contortionist}}.

Compare AbnormalLimbRotationRange. Compare and contrast ForciblyFormedPhysique, which can entail some of the same physical characteristics but is sight gag rather than an acknowledged ability of the character.

[[JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith Has nothing to do with]] the {{leatherman}}, the [[TheWarOnStraw strawman]], the [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]], or the song "Rubberband Girl" by Music/KateBush. For the performers traditionally known as rubber men, see {{contortionist}}.

* ''WesternAnimation/KidCosmic'': Fry receives this superpower from the pink cosmic stone.

** As a note, Luffy is more literally rubber than most examples -- it requires energy for him to stretch himself, when released he snaps back into shape (he even uses the associated recoil to enhance his attacks), and he's [[ElementalRockPaperScissors completely immune to electricity]] as well as most blunt-force attacks (unless they're coated with Haki). He can also use his rubber properties to make his blood flow at a rate that would normally make one's arteries explode, exponentially increasing his strength and speed for as long as it lasts,[[note]]Gear Second, dubbed Second Gear[[/note]] or inflate his bones to be large enough to crush a battleship with one attack.[[note]]Gear Third, dubbed Third Gear[[/note]] He later learns [[spoiler:how to inflate his muscles rather than his bones, and to pump his entire body's matter around rather than just his blood, essentially combining both Gears and taking them even further. This essentially allows him to strike by ''ejecting'' his limbs rather than kicking or punching, at such high speeds that he punched someone across an entire island. This, combined with all his other techniques, is what he calls Gear Fourth. And even that isn't its strongest form, his fruit isn't the Gomu Gomu no Mi, it's actually the Hito Hito no Mi (Human-Human Fruit), Model: Nika which turns his RubberMan [[ToonPhysics abilities to their absolute limit]] as Luffy's Gear Fifth]].

A character with a limited VoluntaryShapeshifting power, that results in his body acting like it is made of rubber. This can be a very versatile ability as long as the user is creative and not afraid to look silly, though the silliness potential means this tends to be a power given to FunPersonified characters.

** As a note, Luffy is more literally rubber than most examples -- it requires energy for him to stretch himself, when released he snaps back into shape (he even uses the associated recoil to enhance his attacks), and he's [[ElementalRockPaperScissors completely immune to electricity]] as well as most blunt-force attacks (unless they're coated with Haki). He can also use his rubber properties to make his blood flow at a rate that would normally make one's arteries explode, exponentially increasing his strength and speed for as long as it lasts,[[note]]Gear Second, dubbed Second Gear[[/note]] or inflate his bones to be large enough to crush a battleship with one attack.[[note]]Gear Third, dubbed Third Gear[[/note]] He later learns [[spoiler:how to inflate his muscles rather than his bones, and to pump his entire body's matter around rather than just his blood, essentially combining both Gears and taking them even further. This essentially allows him to strike by ''ejecting'' his limbs rather than kicking or punching, at such high speeds that he punched someone across an entire island. This, combined with all his other techniques, is what he calls Gear Fourth. And even that isn't its strongest form, his fruit isn't the Gomu Gomu no Mi, it's actually the Hito Hito no Mi (Human-Human Fruit), Model: Nika which turns his RubberMan [[ToonPhysics abilities to their absolute limit]] as Luffy's Gear Fifth]]]].

** As a note, Luffy is more literally rubber than most examples -- it requires energy for him to stretch himself, when released he snaps back into shape (he even uses the associated recoil to enhance his attacks), and he's [[ElementalRockPaperScissors completely immune to electricity]] as well as most blunt-force attacks (unless they're coated with Haki). He can also use his rubber properties to make his blood flow at a rate that would normally make one's arteries explode, exponentially increasing his strength and speed for as long as it lasts,[[note]]Gear Second, dubbed Second Gear[[/note]] or inflate his bones to be large enough to crush a battleship with one attack.[[note]]Gear Third, dubbed Third Gear[[/note]] He later learns [[spoiler:how to inflate his muscles rather than his bones, and to pump his entire body's matter around rather than just his blood, essentially combining both Gears and taking them even further. This essentially allows him to strike by ''ejecting'' his limbs rather than kicking or punching, at such high speeds that he punched someone across an entire island. This, combined with all his other techniques, is what he calls Gear Fourth. And even that isn't its strongest form, his fruit isn't the Gomu Gomu no Mi, it's actually the Hito Hito no Mi (Human-Human Fruit), Model: Nika which turns his RubberMan [[ToonPhysics abilities to their absolute limit]] as Luffy's Gear Fifth]].

** As a note, Luffy is more literally rubber than most examples -- it requires energy for him to stretch himself, when released he snaps back into shape (he even uses the associated recoil to enhance his attacks), and he's [[ElementalRockPaperScissors completely immune to electricity]] as well as most blunt-force attacks (unless they're coated with Haki). He can also use his rubber properties to make his blood flow at a rate that would normally make one's arteries explode, exponentially increasing his strength and speed for as long as it lasts,[[note]]Gear Second, dubbed Second Gear[[/note]] or inflate his bones to be large enough to crush a battleship with one attack.[[note]]Gear Third, dubbed Third Gear[[/note]] He later learns [[spoiler:how to inflate his muscles rather than his bones, and to pump his entire body's matter around rather than just his blood, essentially combining both Gears and taking them even further. This essentially allows him to strike by ''ejecting'' his limbs rather than kicking or punching, at such high speeds that he punched someone across an entire island. This, combined with all his other techniques, is what he calls Gear Fourth]].

** ComicBook/PlasticMan, originally of Quality Comics, has the classic jokester personality. Ironically, he started as a serious guy with somewhat silly powers who evolved into a fairly ridiculous character who came up with progressively more bizarre shapes to assume (although even at the end of his first appearance, he commented, "Fighting crime sure is fun!")

*** Creator/WarrenEllis, being Warren Ellis, gave him a plausible if slightly {{Squick}}y BizarreHumanAnatomy in ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour''; [[HumanOutsideAlienInside no internal organs save a pliable aerobic bacterial stack that isn't torn by his stretching]]. That's right, tropers -- he's a human ''stress ball'' with a ''sourdough starter'' for a heart.

* Franchise/TheDCU:

*** Offspring, Plastic Man's son in ''Comicbook/KingdomCome'', is a completely dour and serious individual who is ''[[PowerStereotypeFlip sick]]'' of the "silly stretcher" stereotype and can't stand his father.

*** In the comics, on the rare occasions where Elongated Man and Plastic Man meet up, a bit of friction between them becomes apparent; Plastic Man's powers are straight up ''better'', pretty much making him a shape shifter, but Elongated Man can simply... become longer, not change shape. On the other hand, Elongated Man is a brilliant detective said to be Franchise/{{Batman}}'s equal.
** Among the various superheroic personas adopted by ComicBook/JimmyOlsen during the Silver Age is "Elastic Lad". This eventually leads to an issue of ''ComicBook/DCComicsPresents'' where the three stretching heroes are teamed up with Superman to fight a one-shot villain who also has stretching powers.
** Elastigirl of the Comicbook/DoomPatrol, pre-dating ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' by nearly forty years, is a stretcher (who admittedly rarely changes shapes) who can also grow and shrink. Her size-changing powers are the only ones she uses on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. Later, this power was "upgraded" to full-blown shapeshifting, though she still rarely uses it to its full extent, partly for her discomfort at being a "freak", and partly because she lacks the RequiredSecondaryPowers needed to maintain a cohesive shape without constant concentration (she literally has to reconstruct her ShapeshifterDefaultForm every morning from the bucket of slop she degenerates into in her sleep).

** Rubberduck of ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew''. A rich actor and CasanovaWannabe who gained superpowers when a meteor fell in his hot tub (his civilian name is "Byrd Rentals", can you guess who [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed he's a parody of]]?)

** A large number of Martians in the DC universe seem to have this power.
*** The ComicBook/MartianManhunter and Miss Martian being two prime examples
** The Albino, a villain from the Wildstorm imprint's ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}''
** Yo-Yo of ComicBook/SuicideSquad discovers his stretching powers after he survives being eaten by King Shark. Prior to being eaten, he could only yo-yo his size from [[{{Kevlard}} extremely obese]] to freakishly thin.
** Malleable Man was an associate of Plastic man's secret identity who gained his powers and became a criminal.

** ComicBook/{{Primer|2020}} is a young superheroine with a variety of bodypaints each one gives her a different superpower the lime green paint makes her body stretchy.

* Creator/ImageComics:

** Lastic, an AxCrazy albino from ''The Tenth''

* {{Franchise/Marvel|Universe}}:
** Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards of the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour.'' This one's ''not'' a jokester, but a brilliant ([[ReedRichardsIsUseless if useless]]) [[TheProfessor scientist]].

*** Creator/WarrenEllis, being Warren Ellis, gave him a plausible if slightly {{Squick}}y anatomy; no internal organs save a pliable aerobic bacterial stack that isn't torn by his stretching. That's right, tropers. He's a human ''stress ball'' with a ''sourdough starter'' for a heart.
** Val Ventura, aka Flatman, from the ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers is one of these. Like his teammates, he's often portrayed comically and is typically seen being tied into knots or twisted into various shapes. He's also almost never seen in his normal, unflattened state.
** One of Comicbook/SpiderGirl's villains is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} named "Mr. Abnormal", whose name describes his personality. Ironically, he seems to be more creative with his powers than Mr. Fantastic, shaping his limbs into such things as nets, tennis rackets, ramming horns, and elephant's feet. Being that he was actually a pastiche of Plastic Man, this makes perfect sense.
** Morph, of the ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'', is both this and a more straight-up VoluntaryShapeshifter, depending on what the situation calls for.
** Super Skrull, possessing AllYourPowersCombined of the Fantastic Four, has this power as well. Once he used this and the Thing's superdurability to make paper-thin razor wire of himself. Pretty awesomesauce.
** Xavin from ''Comicbook/{{Runaways}}'' has the same powers as the Super Skrull, but can only use them one at a time.
** Angelo Espinosa, a.k.a. Skin from ''ComicBook/GenerationX'', possessed approximately six feet of extra skin. He was capable of stretching, deforming, wrapping, expanding, and compressing this extra amount of epidermis like all the other examples on this page, but in much more limited ways; where Mr. Fantastic might be able to reach across or even around a city block, Angelo would strain to reach across a street. In addition, he had very little elasticity, and his bones remained solid and couldn't be reshaped. He could never turn into a bouncing ball; even if he could reshape himself enough for that, he wouldn't bounce.

** The late mutant Andrea Margulies, AKA Rubbermaid.

** Serpentina of ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 X-Men 2099]]'' had the ability to extend only her arms -- though, as her name implies, they're very powerful and can be used to constrict or crush enemies.
** This is the new [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]]'s (Kamala Khan) most useful ability in battle, together with SizeShifting. In powerset she is close to Plastic Man, meaning she is a quite versatile {{Voluntary shapeshift|ing}}er.

** ''Tiramolla'', an Italian humour comics character created in 1952 by Roberto Renzi, is a filiform guy with white face and hands and a (filiform) black body, similar to a doodle, wearing only top hat and bow-tie. He can stretch indefinitely, shrink and change shape. His stories can be silly or adventurous. Later he acquired a dog and a grandson with the same powers.

* PlayedForHorror in ''Film/{{Society}}'' with [[spoiler: the Shunt, an absolutely BodyHorror-[[UpToEleven filled]] party where [[AristocratsAreEvil the upper echelons of society]] twist themselves into Lovecraftian masses of flesh in order to spike the gene pool by [[ImAHumanitarian consuming]] [[KillThePoor the working class]].]]

* Glen from ''{{Series/Charmed|1998}}'' is given this power as a result of a spell gone wrong,
* Season 4 of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' introduces Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man. Incidentally, this incarnation is a CompositeCharacter with Plastic Man (see both above in the Comic Book folder) having a personality and powerset more akin to the latter.

* Parodied/[[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrhpw1d6GfU this]] ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' sketch. The military has indeed created a "super soldier" with "rubberized muscles." The end result is that he lacks rigidity and muscle strength to do much of anything, including standing up.

* One of the earliest and most-memorable villains on ''Series/TheXFiles'' was the liver-hungry mutant (?) Eugene Victor Tooms, from "Squeeze". He used his unnatural stretching ability to invade victims' homes and escape through tiny openings, and is a rare example of this trope played ''absolutely seriously'' and for horror.

* The two versions of Majin Buu seen in ''WebComic/DragonBallMultiverse'' keep this ability from their appearances in the source material. "Zen Buu" at one point, stretches enough to cover [[spoiler:the entire stadium]].

* Elastic Man of Brad Guigar's ''WebComic/EvilInc'', is a fairly straightforward Plastic Man ripoff down to him being the designated comic relief. Seems to be made entirely out of a green gel and cannot change colors.
* [[Webcomic/HeroesUnite Heroes Unite/Heroes Alliance]] has two. ''The Impractical Mr Imp'' plays the trope fairly straight as your wisecracking 'fun' stretchy guy, while ''Azumorph'' is a more serious quiet achiever.

* ''Webcomic/{{Something Positive}}'' has an animal example: the protagonist's cat, Choo-Choo Bear, was born without bones, and thus manipulates its body like a sort of adorable BlobMonster. More than one {{Crossover}} storyline has simply involved Choo-Choo Bear slithering down the drain and coming out in another webcomic.

* ''Literature/RubberGirl'' has Katie Elaz getting melted and mixed with a fabric called [[Unobtainium Elaztixium]] at her parents' clothing factory to become the [[ProtagonistTitle titular hero]].

** This is the new [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]]'s (Kamala Khan) most useful ability in battle, together with SizeShifting. In powerset she is close to Plastic Man, meaning she is a quite versatile {{shapeshift|ing}}er.

* Stretchable super-hero Stretch Armstrong was a large, gel-filled action figure first introduced by Kenner in 1976 and produced until 1980. A new version of the line (where he had a more comical face) was introduced in the 1990's. Two new versions were introduced in the 2010s, one which resembles the original, and one which ties in with the Creator/{{Netflix}}[=-=]exclusive cartoon ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters''.

* Longarm Prime from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' has the ability to stretch his limbs. [[spoiler:(Possibly) subverted, however, as it turns out it's just a simplified form of Shockwave's shapeshifting ability.]]

* Captain Silver from ''VideoGame/BattleCircuit.'' Here, rubber powers are interpreted as a form of shapeshifting, a la Plastic Man.

* Vice from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', in a manner similar to Necro.

* Ms Modulus, from ''Videogame/LegacyOfHeroes''.
* Zelos, the seventh boss of ''Videogame/TheNinjaWarriorsAgain''.
* [[VideoGame/{{Ristar}} Ristar]] can also stretch his arms out to great lengths to make up for his lack of a jump not twice his height (as is typical for most platformers). He also uses it to headbutt enemies.
* Kotarou Fuuma from the ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' games. He is basically an evil Dhalsim.

** Due to being a creature made of water, [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Chaos]] can stretch its limbs, the most common being its' arms, to attack.

* Dhalsim and Necro from ''Franchise/StreetFighter''. While Dhalsim can apparently stretch at will, Necro needs momentum, making him a more technical character and not as good at distance fighting.

* Madam Rouge from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is known to be one of the most dangerous criminals in the Teen Titans world, and can stretch her limbs for entire city blocks, and is resistant to physical harm. She also has VoluntaryShapeshifting powers more generally, to the point of being able to accurately impersonate characters who look and sound nothing like her, but the "Rubber Man" trick is by far the most used in her arsenal.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeVobSquarePants'': In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V", [[SuperheroEpisode every character receives superpowers and become superheroes]], and Patrick became the "Elastic Waistband" and gained the ability to stretch. [=SpongeBob=], on the other hand, has this power throughout the series.

* Mr Tickle in ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' can stretch his arms to any length in order to tickle someone.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror X" Bart gets stretching powers in the segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena" and becomes a superhero called 'Stretch Dude'.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': In one episode, [[SuperheroEpisode every character receives superpowers and become superheroes]], and Patrick became the "Elastic Waistband" and gained the ability to stretch. Spongebob, on the other hand, has this power throughout the series.

** Comic Book/{{Primer|2020}} is a young superheroine with a variety of bodypaints each one gives her a different superpower the lime green paint makes her body stretchy.