Vegapunk/Atlas

Atlas, also designated as Punk-05 (PUNK-05（パンク ファイブ）, Panku-Faibu^?), is one of the six satellites of Dr. Vegapunk, embodying his aspect of “violence”.

She is an ally of the Straw Hat Pirates during the Egghead Arc.

Appearance

Atlas is an extremely large girl, appearing to be as tall as Kaidou according to Luffy, with a young appearance. She has a floppy downward ear and a short curly hair that is white on the left and pink on the right; she has a very long curl of hair on each side of her head that runs down to her belly. She appears to have a long, bushy tail on her abdomen. She wears a short pink dress with her number on it as well as a downward-pointing arrow on the front. She also wears pink boots, brown gloves with white sleeves attached, an earpiece enabling communication with the other satellites, and a large jetpack on her back.

She seems to be at least partially mechanical, as her face cracked and emitted smoke when damaged by a punch.

Personality

Being designated the “violence” satellite of Vegapunk, Atlas has a short temper and is prone to violence upon getting angry, which has been shown to occur if someone attacks her or if people show an inability to utilize her inventions successfully. She is very talkative and will gladly give detailed explanations on the inner workings of her inventions. She is quite interested in the question of the definition of reality, and though she has a firm view on the matter, she thinks other people need to decide the answer for themselves.

She uses the first person pronoun ore (おれ^?), which is typically considered masculine or aggressive, befitting her violent behavior.

She is also shown to be rather reckless, as she recklessly fought against CP0 despite Shaka warning her that she cannot win against CP0.

Relationships

Satellites

While Vegapunk’s satellites all refer to themselves as Vegapunk, they each exemplify only one portion of Vegapunk’s personality and all have their own wills and desires, and are therefore effectively six unique people. While this normally isn’t an issue as Vegapunk is supposed to synchronize his brain with all of his satellites via Punk Records, York decided to betray Vegapunk and her fellow satellites in an effort to become a World Noble. Once her treachery was revealed, she was effectively treated as an enemy by Vegapunk and the other satellites.

Abilities and Powers

Being a satellite of Vegapunk, Atlas has been a contributor to the genius scientist’s numerous technological developments.

Atlas seems to carry out a human’s basic need of violence, and also possibly, physical workouts on behalf of the other Vegapunks, which she fulfills by attacking holograms. Befitting her large size, Atlas possesses significant strength, as she was able to punch Luffy and send him slamming into a wall with great force, leaving him with bruises. She also possesses great durability, being barely affected by a normal punch from Luffy. Her body made a metallic clanging sound when Luffy struck it, meaning she may wear armor or have cyborg modifications.

According to her, she is capable of changing her mask at will and replace whatever part of her gets damaged. However, how she is possible to do that or if it is something she created has yet to be explored upon.

Engineering Expertise

As one of Vegapunk’s satellites, Atlas has access to numerous futuristic equipment and weapons that she and the other satellites have developed.

• Her gloves, which are called Light-Pressure Gloves (光圧グローブ, Kōatsu Gurōbu^?), allow her to interact with light as though it is tangible. This will cause the holograms on Egghead to react to her actions as though they were real, such as when she punched a dragon hologram and it recoiled.
• The jetpack on her back enables her to fly through the air.

Techniques

• Digestion Punch (腹ごなしパンチ, Haragonashi Panchi^?): A move Atlas uses after York has digested and relieved herself on behalf of the other Satellites.
• Ultra Mighty Punch (ウルトラ マイティ パンチ, Urutora Maiti Panchi^?): Atlas winds up her arm by spinning it multiple times before unleashing a powerful punch. Atlas first attempted to use this technique against Rob Lucci but was interrupted before she could throw the punch.

History

Final Saga

Egghead Arc

Atlas encountered Monkey D. Luffy, Tony Tony Chopper, Jinbe, and Jewelry Bonney as they were exploring a portion of Egghead’s surface and interacting with the illusory holograms. Thinking she was a hologram, Luffy punched Atlas which caused her to attack back in return. The pirates then came across the Automatic Cooking Machine, and Atlas explained how it worked, as well as showing the power of her Light-Pressure Gloves, before introducing herself to the group as Dr. Vegapunk. After the group had had their fill, Atlas left them, returning to her job as being violent, confusing the group. After York had eaten and relieved herself on the other Satellites’ behalf, Atlas threw a “Digestion Punch” at an unseen holographic opponent.

When the CP0 agents infiltrated the island, Atlas was the first of all the Vegapunks to confront them, and immediately rushed into battle, despite the fact that her opponent outnumbered her. Rob Lucci counterattacked with Rokuogan, severely damaging Atlas and knocking her to the floor. While Luffy fought Lucci, Jinbe carried Atlas away, intending to take her to Vegapunk for repairs. S-Snake directed Jinbe and Chopper to the Vacuum Rocket, in which they loaded Atlas and Bonney. Once Luffy rejoined them, they were launched up into the Labophase.

While the other Satellites and the Straw Hats handled the CP0 and Seraphim threats, Atlas underwent repairs. Upon completion, she joined the others in searching for Stella, who had gone missing. She searched inside the lab alongside Robin and Chopper for Vegapunk, until she remembered a long-forgotten lab where she suspected the Stella to be, leading Robin and Chopper towards the lab. Atlas later rejoined with the rest of the surviving satellites, Vegapunk and the Straw Hats after they had captured the traitor York. After finding out that York had put a password on the Frontier Dome, she along with Vegapunk and Edison worked together to attempt cracking the password, being able to crack it successfully, with Atlas rubbing it under York’s nose, much to the latter’s annoyance.

Atlas was later horrified when Kizaru appeared in the Control Room and later more surprised when Kizaru was grabbed by a giant Luffy. While Luffy dealt with Kizaru, Atlas wanted to leave the Control Room to regain control of the Pacifista, with Vegapunk wanting to come with her to save Bonney. After the two left in the Vegatank-08 and picked up both Franky and Sanji, Atlas gave new orders for the Pacifista to target the Marine ships. The group was able to find and rescue Bonney, but they later noticed that the Pacifistas had stopped their attack on the Marines under Jaygarcia Saturn’s command. As Atlas’s group drove back up to the Labophase and witnessed Saturn’s arrival on the island, Kizaru shot the clouds they were riding on and sent them back down. Vegatank-08 crashed upon landing, which left the group in front of Saturn.

When Atlas’s group saw Bonney being grabbed by Saturn, they tried to save her, but found themselves unable to move from some sort of power. They watched as the Marines raised their weapons to execute Bonney, and when a worn out Luffy asked for food to replenish his strength, she reiterated that she still couldn’t move.

Trivia

• Atlas’s namesake may be based on Atlas, the Titan from Greek mythology who is well-known for being forced to carry the heavens.
  • Atlas’s namesake may also be based on Atlas, the name of one of the Earth moon’s craters named after the mythological Titan. This trait is shared with fellow satellites Edison and Pythagoras.
    • Additionally, Atlas’s name may also be based on Atlas, one of the moons orbiting around the planet Saturn.

• During Atlas’s initial appearance, “Punk 06” was erroneously drawn on her outfit.

References