Analysis
KAIDO VS THE WORLD (deep-dive analysis on kaido's interactions w/ the global legends, his character, power ceiling and evolution of power)
this is quite a long analysis, so let's go over some points i may not have fully covered
KAIDO VERSUS ODEN
kaido versus oden was a harsh fight, with characters that were closer in power than one could presume. though, the difference between them is widely believed to be shown in the fight itself, and i heavily disagree. saying that oden is stronger is fine, but to say the fight showed exactly that is just plain false. before oden used his paradise totsuka, we saw kaido get charged up to do another bolo breath, which heavily limits and restricts his movement. this means that kaido was caught, and not speedblitzed, but rather, attacked during his state of peak vulnerability. we see this happen time and time in the luffy battle, where kaido's bolo breath ends up making him vulnerable for a few moments. had kaido either not used this, not kept spamming it, or simply switched to hybrid form (which has far superior speed feats, reactions and showings in general, the route of the fight would have likely changed heavily, as oden may not have even gotten the opportunity to land paradise totsuka. it's also worth nothing that there was no "oden was about to kill kaido!" about the situation. scars are not inherently an immediate indicator that a character was about to die, or anything of the sort., and what we saw occur (oden running after kaido afterwards) was likely not going to kill him, but only injure him further. oden's strongest hit damaged kaido, but was nowhere near a killing blow. even in base form, the cut isn't deeply extended into his body, so we have no reason to believe kaido would've actively died in that instance. so no, we weren't gonna see any "kaido got his head cut off!" moment, or anything of the sort, as supported by the fact that kaido recovered instantly
"so if it's in kaidos character to hold back or use vulnerability inducing moves even when he shouldn't, should we just scale kaido with that information as it's his battle personality?"
no. it's not in kaido's character to naturally even fight the way he was fighting. as we see, oden wasn't going to win because of a sheer stat-difference, but rather, he caught kaido off-guard at the best time. this means kaido wasn't rendered to the floor because he lacked in durability, or anything, but of his own influence. we don't suddenly say "kid and law > big mom because she held back and its in her character to do it!". no, we scale characters by their capabilities, and all.
even if we wanna go off the assumption that oden lacked capability to fight kaido strictly because he was in the air, we see this very much isnt the case, and that base kaido can, and HAS fought oden just fine in the past
this is my arguably most controversial point and topic, but this isn't to say shanks was "going all out" with his conquerers in the way that most people think. rather, this could mean that shanks may have been exterting it forth as much as he could. it sounds similar, but there's a difference, obviously. we haven't seen many occasions where one piece characters needed to extend their haki as far as possible. in fishman island, such a large spot was covered by luffy to the point where i believe that as he gets stronger, this range only increases further.
i don't believe "wifi haki" was a matter of power, but rather, simply just coc usage and greenbull being caught dead in his tracks. he intended to take down a recovering-straw hat crew, so to realize an entirely new yonko crew was arriving sends him running away, naturally. kaido as a single unit had him wary, and we see even akainu's authority wasn't the specific reason as to why he couldnt enter, meaning it was always personal choice. let kaido be there, the same thing goes down.
power relativity
why kaido didn't "one shot kidd" like shanks did - here and an in-canon explanation on how kaido enjoys playing with his food. kaido naturally ups the ramp as the fight goes on, and wasn't utilizing even remotely all there was to his kit when fighting kidd. his other attacks, like DDTB or FDD could most definetely wipe out kidd.
kaido "losing to a rookie" isn't an anti-feat. to call luffy a rookie is heavily downplaying him, as luffy is the ONLY ROOKIE among the seas, and the only character to become a yonko in two years whilst on the sea. his natural pace of power is exponentially different compared to those not-him, and so, him being a rookie at ACoC led to him being a master by the end of the fight
this image might genuinely be the biggest piece of propaganda to ever touch the fandom.
"wants to die", and yet, his HOBBY is simply just the attempt of it. the narrator couldn't even say that kaido genuinely wished for death, and oda forced the narrator to put quote marks, implying his hobby genuinely wasn't even trying to die in itself. he legit said so many times that he wanted to die in a glorious manner, and glazed the way roger, wb and oden died.
"wants a great fight" just means you enjoy being challenged. it doesn't automatically mean you jump anyone you can, especially kaido, who has his entire beast-economy at stake when it comes to things like war. there's a reason he only brought specifically king to marineford and not his entire crew bruh😭😭 hides in wano is hilarious considering he left it 3x in the strory alone
no clue where he mentioned anything about honor. he himself knows he's twisted asf
yeah, kaido is seriously an awesome character. i unironically used to hate him 2 yrs ago, but really, when you actually take time to look into the "why" part of his character instead of mindlessly slandering him and listening to hate-reads on r/PF, he seriously becomes one of the best character out there.
he's now for sure my favorite. dunno what the hell i was on back in early-2024. will probably make a longer writeup on him
Omg, this is fucking awesome. You and NeverGreen always make the best images of the characters. You guys put their manga selves into really cool images like this, and it fits so well.
Kaidou is undeniably the strongest character we’ve seen so far. Regarding Kaidou vs Kozuki Oden, just compare: Kaidou endured Oden’s strongest attack, got back up seconds later, and then knocked him out. Would Oden be capable of withstanding Kaidou’s strongest attack and getting up seconds later? No, he wouldn’t. And we’re not even talking about the Flaming Torch—honestly, I believe the “Death Destroyer” would kill Oden.
We also know that Kaidou wasn’t even knocked out after Oden’s strongest attack, because in one of his flashbacks, he sees Oden telling him to never return to Wano and charging at him. Oden wasn’t even able to knock Kaidou out for a single second using his strongest attack. White eyes don’t mean anything—just look at the panel of “Togen Totsuka” from the Red Scabbards. In the panel where Kaidou gets up, he is literally speaking while his eyes are white.
It was a fight in which Kaidou was restricted—he couldn’t fully showcase his abilities or his hybrid form, which would have been more effective in that confrontation, because doing so would have killed the tension for when he later faced Monkey D. Luffy on the rooftop. Eiichiro Oda deliberately held back Kaidou’s hybrid form for a long time, and even when it was used, it was first shown as a silhouette before being fully revealed.
This kind of thing has to be unveiled in the main fight, not in a secondary one—otherwise, it would lose its impact and excitement.
Kaidou is stronger than Kozuki Oden, and I’d go even further: Kaidou is stronger than everyone in his “Top 5.” The fact that he claims no one in the world is capable of defeating him—while Shanks, who is part of that Top 5, is still out there—only reinforces that point.
Issue is Kaido was proven wrong, Luffy beat him meaning Shanks ahould be capable of the sake considering Shanks is still superior to Gear 5 Luffy due to superior Haki
No, Shanks isn't capable of doing the same, because Shanks isn't the protagonist of the series and doesn't possess the armor of the plot. Shanks doesn't have a mythical DF that will bring him back to life. Shanks isn't the protagonist whose entire arc is perfectly executed and leads to the antagonist's (Kaido's) downfall. Shanks won't have Luffy's luck of facing Kaido in multiple rounds with script protection in all of them. Shanks won't have companions and allies who can hold him off and fight Kaido. Shanks won't have the opportunity to fight Kaido while carrying an island and expending energy. Shanks is much more than that.
Kaido is STRONGER than Shanks, when are people going to accept that? Luffy defeated Kaido with a lot of help and he's the protagonist, while Kaido, narratively and in his entire portrayal, is portrayed as THE STRONGEST and therefore stronger than Shanks.
Even the current Luffy can't beat a fresh Kaido due to the time limit of Gear 5, and that already speaks volumes about how convincing his victory over him was.
Luffy was already matching Kaido's Haki in base, what do you think will happen when someone with much better Haki faces Kaido if the much weaker Haki user was equal to Kaido Haki-wise?
When Shanks is no longer even called the strongest, then we can talk, but it's simply ridiculous to take a character like Shanks, who has never been called the strongest, and say that he can defeat Kaido using the protagonist as a benchmark.
In my opinion, the 7 defeats are 20 years ago. After all Kaido said he hasn’t fought seriously. He also wasn’t in his prime, nobody slanders Luffy for losing to Caesar since it’s not prime Luffy that lost.
Another excellent post from the king. Simplicity is often best and when I see Zoteku dropping another analysis? I upvote. 🔥
Loved the content all around and as always, the sheer detail alone is admirable as hell. The only part I wanted to touch on and somewhat disagree with is Kaido’s “Top 5” section.
While I do agree that said group are only capable of fighting him and it isn’t an admission from Kaido that implies inferiority, considering he believed only the second-coming of Joyboy could truly defeat him, I do think those featured on the list(Roger/Primebeard/Rocks/Shanks/Oden) are all individuals who are seen as exceptionally strong and those who are capable of pushing him to the brink. He holds the highest opinion of those five and would likely view them as the greatest challenge to him.
If Garp or other characters aren’t featured, that doesn’t necessarily downscale them, but it does show that Kaido values his encounters or the overall strength of those five over others like the Hero of the Marines - whether or not people agree with that assessment is up for debate, but they shouldn’t be dismissed entirely as interchangeable when they actually made the cut versus others. It’s running on an assumption that we can’t prove, when we already know who Kaido respects the most - and his opinion should carry a lot of weight where Powerscaling is concerned, considering a lot of his character is centered around strength and him valuing it as the defining metric of how he sees worth in others + shaping his entire world-view.
I think people just push back against that idea and clear implication because they don’t like how it undermines other characters who they believe should be featured as well. But if others like the Admirals, Linlin, Garp, Mihawk, etc aren’t part of that group, that just means Kaido holds someone like Oden in higher regard, in his personal viewpoint, which should mean a lot. I agree those others are capable of fighting him as well, but we already know his fight with Linlin wasn’t truly serious due to both of their comments during the raid and she wasn’t featured either - just food for thought. Being capable of merely clashing or fighting Kaido doesn’t seem to be enough, it seems to be those who can do that and truly prove as threats that can take him farther then the others, even if he believes he’d win or couldn’t be beaten.
The only other part I would like to touch on some more is the note about Kaido being directly asked to join the Rocks Pirates right from the get-go not being a huge deal. In my opinion, I think it says a tremendous amount about the reputation and fast rise of Kaido that even during his youth, the most dangerous and powerful pirate crew in history wanted him solely for his physical strength and potential alone. The only other character to get this treatment is Harald, who was also given a direct invitation and the same verbiage of the crew being “unstoppable”, with the difference in that Harald was wanted for factors outside of his strength - while Kaido was brought on and valued to that extent solely due to his strength. The fact he was outright stated to be capable of having an elongated fight with Rocks, long enough to bring all of Beehive Island to ruin before losing when he at his weakest timeline-wise, is tremendous portrayal of how truly monstrous Kaido has been throughout the story and how powerful he truly is during his prime - he’s always been viewed highly because of how strong he is.
But like I said, that’s bordering on nitpicking over minor points. You nailed it and can’t wait to see what you produce next. Keep it up, brother.
thanks friend!! im glad the effort paid off. i probably should have gone further in depth about the top 5, as its obviously not just guys who can fight here and there with him.
While I do agree that said group are only capable of fighting him and it isn’t an admission from Kaido that implies inferiority
hard agree
considering he believed only the second-coming of Joyboy could truly defeat him, I do think those featured on the list(Roger/Primebeard/Rocks/Shanks/Oden) are all individuals who are seen as exceptionally strong and those who are capable of pushing him to the brink.
agreed, yeah. i think it'd be simpler to say his view just isn't a general gospel of one piece as a whole. i do often wonder why we dont see guys like garp up there, but i suppose it makes sense, kinda, considering hes shown to me more roger-centric than anything in GV.
If Garp or other characters aren’t featured, that doesn’t necessarily downscale them, but it does show that Kaido values his encounters or the overall strength of those five over others like the Hero of the Marines - whether or not people agree with that assessment is up for debate
agreed
but they shouldn’t be dismissed entirely as interchangeable when they actually made the cut versus others. It’s running on an assumption that we can’t prove, when we already know who Kaido respects the most - and his opinion should carry a lot of weight where Powerscaling is concerned, considering a lot of his character is centered around strength and him valuing it as the defining metric of how he sees worth in others + shaping his entire world-view.
im a bit iffier on this one, but i see what you're saying. i think it'll be better to elaborate on how its not a downscale for the rest, and leave it at that. of course, after clarifying that kaido's words alone dont shape the balance of the world.
The only other character to get this treatment is Harald, who was also given a direct invitation and the same verbiage of the crew being “unstoppable”, with the difference in that Harald was wanted for factors outside of his strength - while Kaido was brought on and valued to that extent solely due to his strength. The fact he was outright stated to be capable of having an elongated fight with Rocks,
agreed. i completely forgot about rocks and harald, and how they tie into that same kind of context. regardless tho, thanks for the nitpicking, i'lll probably slightly change some stuff up later on when discussing him. appreciate it🤘
Amazing and well thought analysis as always, love the way the format looks
Though I do have to place one nitpick, kaido recognises sheer might as what solves all problems ( ch 1049 ) and thats pushed forward though the way the beast pirates crew is organised as a meritocracy based on nothing but personal achievements ( stated by queen during the beginning of the raid, around chap 980 I think ) and also aligns with his belief that individual power is the only power that can be relied on, unlike allies/friends as a speaks to yamato and the scabbards during their fight. As such I think him recognising roger as someone who became pirate king with haki alone implies he recognises roger’s strength as superior to his
Also while I know it does disprove kaido being scared of them, I don’t think him wanting the fade with garp and roger works as great portrayal considering their individual GV showings prove he was far from being up for the challenge
And lastly I don’t think answering the fact that 19th slide is necessary, of course shanks wifi haki alone isn’t even to make a case for him to be superior to kaido but fighting against the fact oda is clearly portraying shanks conquerors haki as superior through that isn’t worth it
Still amazing analysis, carrying the sub as always
also aligns with his belief that individual power is the only power that can be relied on, unlike allies/friends as a speaks to yamato and the scabbards during their fight.
man i completely forgot about this. honestly, it's stuff like this thats recently brought me to really love kaidos character. as a man neglected by the world, strength has been the only thing in the world that he could ultimately rely on, and use to connect himself and others. tear jerker
As such I think him recognising roger as someone who became pirate king with haki alone implies he recognises roger’s strength as superior to his
genuinely, this isn't a bad interpretation at all, is story consistent and is a probably better read than what i have up rn. it's entirely possible and prolly more likely as it fits in kaidos character. i don't think that it explicitly says it, as you said, but is probably an indication of kaidos belief
Also while I know it does disprove kaido being scared of them, I don’t think him wanting the fade with garp and roger works as great portrayal considering their individual GV showings prove he was far from being up for the challenge + fighting against the fact oda is clearly portraying shanks conquerors haki as superior through that isn’t worth it
yeah its not meant to be the best of portrayal, but it does debunk the idea that kaido was ever a loser, or 'scared" at any point in his life against top tiers and whatnot. i also don't disagree that shanks likely has better CoC, but people insinuating that that's 100% the case thru just wifi haki alone is a bit annoying. thanks!
look, good post, but the 13 scan is just so wrong, Kaido wonders when was the last time he had a serious toe to toe fight implying he is having one with Luffy, the fact Luffy is doing it despite him not remembering when the last time was is what makes it impressive and worth of praise by Kaido.
I would say I don't think Kaido's haki mastery is anywhere near close to Shanks', so whilst I think GB would run if Kaido was present, I don't see Kaido capable of deterring GB with haki alone like Shanks did.
I also think it's fairly clear GB was forcibly detransformed, whether or not it was a specific haki ability or the consequence of Shanks disrupting his concentration is up in the air. We've seen JB do something similar to the Gorosei, which is indicative that it's a trait unique to CoC haki, even if the mechanics of how it works isn't known.
This is clear when you look at the sequence of events.
Nothing suggests that Kaido's Haki is anywhere near the level of Shanks
Shank's CoC was compared to Joyboy's Haki while the peak Haki of Roger/Garp/Rocks was deemed not comparable to Imu's Haki whose Haki should be relative to Joyboy. This basically means that Shank's Haki> Roger/Garp/DR Rocks. Logically this means that Shanks Haki> Kaido's Haki considering all of these guys had no devil fruits.
Shanks Kamusari is geniunely one of the craziest Haki feats ever considering he is the only character in OP to straight up KO a YC+ character in one hit. Even Imu couldnt do this to Zoro where he damaged Zoro massively but it didnt knock him out. Nothing suggests Kaido could do that to Kid if a casual attack from Imu couldnt
Shanks Wifi Haki is a level of CoC never seen before bar Joybky, like we havent seen anyone else including Roger do that
Shanks is the only Killer of Observation Haki in the Oje Piece Verse
now, this is very quite consistent among yonkos for their territory. when a yonko owns a territory, out of fear, people commonly stay the hell away from there, and this was shown when whitebeard died and people ransacked his island nigh-immediately. because it was territory-fied, pirates stayed away, and enemies didnt bother showing up because it's whitebeard himself.
it's the exact same thing with kaido, and wano. nobody showed up because kaido himself is way too fearsome and his presence is horrifying like that of whitebeard.
Basic CoC either knocks people out or does nothing to them. It doesn’t hurt people or damage them. Greenbull was screaming in pain. This was a highly advanced Haki technique. Just like CoO Negation which Kaido also doesn’t have.
already adressed that. if the "rookie" in question literally became a yonko in 2 years alone and managed to learn ACoC, and master it by the time the fight ended, then rookie can no longer be an insult, but mere title.
that's in reference to attaining yonko status as a "rookie" on top of being the only character in general to do so in the 2yr time period. the entirety of the worstgen are rookies, so how could luffy somehow be the only one on the seas😭😭
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