Yamato

Yamato is the son of Kaidou. Born as Kaidou's daughter and groomed from a young age to be his heir, Yamato instead developed a profound admiration for the legendary samurai Kozuki Oden. After his death, Yamato decided to become like him, impersonating him and adopting his mannerisms. As a result of this desire to emulate Oden, Yamato decided to become a man and identify as Kaidou's son, which is why his father and Beasts Pirates refer to him as such as well.

This path has put Yamato at odds with Kaidou, with much of his life being spent imprisoned on Onigashima. Yamato befriended Portgas D. Ace during his visit to Wano Country, and after learning of Ace's death waited for the arrival of his sworn brother, Monkey D. Luffy. Initially desiring to join Luffy's crew, Yamato ultimately elected to remain behind in Wano to help protect it from outside forces, though still intends to join them in the future.

Yamato is a major ally of the Straw Hats during the Wano Country Arc.

Appearance
Being assigned female at birth and not usually choosing to explicitly present as male, Yamato has typically been referred to as a woman by people when they first encounter him. Yamato is taller than an average human, standing at 263 cm (8'8"). He has long, white hair that is bound between orange rods into a ponytail at the back, which fades into aqua green and then blue the further down it goes, and ends in rectangular locks similar to Kaidou. Yamato also has large, orange eyes with prominent eyelashes, wears gold hoop earrings on both ears, and has horns on the top of his head which are mostly red, but gradually become more flesh-colored toward the base.

Yamato's current outfit is a sleeveless white garment with a diamond-shaped design on both sides and an indigo, wisp-patterned bottom half. He wears a pair of red hakama pants and sandals, and, much like Oden, wears a large purple and white nio-dasuki behind his back.

While in disguise, Yamato originally also wore a hannya mask, which has a blue wig with an extremely long and wild mane attached to the top and a long blue goatee attached to the bottom. The kimono initially had long white sleeves, but were ripped off along with the rest of the disguise making Yamato's kimono more form-fitting.

Four years ago, Yamato wore a similar long-sleeved outfit, but with different symbols near the breasts. The symbols resemble an oden skewer.

At age 8, Yamato's outfit was nearly identical to today, except with a slightly different mask with shorter horns and beard and without the nio-dasuki. In the manga this outfit lacked the diamond-shaped design.

Personality


Yamato greatly admires the legendary samurai Kozuki Oden to the point of even proclaiming to carry his identity. Yamato has self-identified as Oden on multiple occasions and has even emulated his gender, proclaiming to be the son of Kaidou due to Oden being a man. Although initially carrying doubts as to how to present as Oden, Yamato has steadily expressed a straightforward attitude regarding this identity as time has gone on, even proclaiming this as such to Oden's son Momonosuke, to the boy's horror. Although having wholeheartedly embraced this identity, Yamato retains his original persona, referring to Yamato as his "other name". Yamato does not seem to like being misnamed, having quickly corrected Luffy when given a nickname.

Having read of the great exploits documented by Oden in his logbook, which he considers his "bible", Yamato dreams of leaving Wano Country's confines and setting out to sea with the Straw Hat Pirates, much like Oden did with the Whitebeard and Roger Pirates decades before. Yamato also wishes to fulfill the goals that Oden had, namely opening Wano's borders, in direct defiance to Kaidou's wishes for the country. Yamato has shown to be extremely strong-willed, having put up considerable resistance to Kaidou's imprisonment despite taking decades to finally break free. Although initially seeming to be more subordinate to him previously, Yamato's battle with Ace led to him destroying Kaidou's dragon statue in an act of defiance that has since led to more outright rebellion. Yamato has engaged in combat with Kaidou numerous times and has openly expressed opposition and defiance to his plans concerning the two of them, accompanied by insults. When the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance invaded Onigashima, Yamato was immediately willing to help them and had no qualms with attacking members of his father's crew, making his intentions and loyalty clear to them in the process. Yamato is also willing to go to great lengths to achieve his objectives, having basically kidnapped Luffy in order to get to talk to him and following through with this tactic even after Luffy responded by fighting back.



Yamato is more than willing to put his body and life on the line to protect people out of care, believing that Oden would never abandon a comrade in danger. Yamato resolutely withstood a barrage of powerful artillery strikes by the Armored Division to protect Momonosuke, and later confronted Kaidou alone to stall him until Luffy returned despite knowing he was no match for his father.

However, Yamato also takes enjoyment in engaging in combat; despite framing his plan to split up from Momonosuke as a decoy strategy to trick the Beasts Pirates, Momonosuke and Shinobu both noted to themselves that he seemed mainly interested in going to fight.

Monkey D. Luffy


After failing to set sail with Ace, Yamato had been waiting for his brother, Monkey D. Luffy, to arrive at Onigashima. For this reason, Yamato chased and clashed with Luffy after finding him, ignoring his time constraints in order to talk to him, even if for just five minutes. Yamato then trusted Luffy enough to request his help in achieving Oden's dream of opening Wano's borders, and then expressed his wish to be freed from Kaidou and his intent to leave Wano as one of Luffy's crewmates as a means to be free and explore the sea like Oden did. Therefore, after Luffy removed the explosive handcuffs Kaidou had used to imprison Yamato, the two decided they would fight Kaidou together. Their trust has slowly grown and Luffy even entrusted Yamato to help protect Momonosuke.

Luffy refers to Yamato by the nickname "Yama-o" (ヤマ男), similar to the nicknames he uses for Trafalgar Law, Bartolomeo, and Eustass Kid. Yamato appears to not understand Luffy's use of nicknames, as evidenced by his attempt to correct Luffy, as well as his reaction to when Luffy gave Ulti a nickname as well. When battling Kaidou, Yamato openly told his father he would lose to Luffy, believing that the pirate would return and calling him "the one that Oden was waiting for". After that, Yamato announced his desire to join Luffy's crew, which upset Kaidou.

After Kaidou's defeat, Yamato saved Luffy from falling, congratulating on his victory. While meeting the Straw Hat Pirates, Yamato decided to wait for Luffy's confirmation to join the crew. Luffy would approve of Yamato joining his crew. However, Admiral Ryokugyu's attack on Wano made Yamato realize that others would try the same now that Kaidou was gone and he decided to stay in Wano to help protect it. Luffy agreed and entrusted Yamato to protect Wano for him. Before leaving Wano, Luffy told Yamato that he was free to join his crew at any time in the future and that they would come looking for him when he did.

Straw Hat Pirates
When they first met, the Straw Hat Pirates were surprised to learn Yamato was related to Kaidou. Yamato assured them that they were not enemies, and revealed his intention to join them; Usopp and Nami were shocked at the claim, Franky was perplexed by the situation, Brook and Sanji were overcome with joy because of their attraction, and Robin laughed with amusement as usual. Jinbe, however, said he would not be convinced until he heard from the captain himself, with Yamato agreeing that was fair enough, and Jinbe also sensed no hostility after he had witnessed Yamato's anger towards the Beasts Pirates who were attempting to run away. Yamato grew closer to the Straw Hats as Luffy and Zoro recovered, becoming friendly with them by the time the two woke up. When he declared that he couldn't join the crew in order to protect Wano, it hurt Sanji deeply, while Zoro told him to be careful not to hurt Momonosuke's pride, which Yamato understood. Later he went to say goodbye to all of them together with Momonosuke and Kin'emon.

Portgas D. Ace


Yamato met the young pirate Ace a few years ago and was initially antagonistic towards him due to his excessive rampage on Onigashima. The two quickly became friends, however, after Ace recognized that Yamato was being held captive by Kaidou. As they drank sake together, they talked about the current generation of pirates and Ace's little brother, Luffy. Yamato would have liked to sail out of Wano with the Spade Pirates, but was kept prisoner on Onigashima, shackled with explosive handcuffs. However, he created a Vivre Card for Ace so they could meet again.

Yamato thought highly of Ace and believed he would be the one leading the new generation of pirates, until his untimely death at Marineford two years ago. This is also evidenced by his conversation with Luffy, in which Yamato fondly stated that Luffy was reminiscent of Ace and that, although it was impossible to set sail with Ace, it would be possible to leave with Luffy due to them being brothers.

Kozuki Momonosuke
Kozuki Momonosuke!! I am Oden!! I will protect you!! Yamato initially believed that Momonosuke had died 20 years ago in Oden Castle. He had tried to save the boy from Kaidou at the time, but was powerless to do anything. He believes that Momonosuke is important for the "Dawn of the World".

Upon meeting Momonosuke in the present, Yamato referred to him as "my son" due to assuming Kozuki Oden's identity, but Momonosuke was confused by the fact that he proclaimed to be Oden and was initially mistrustful. However, after watching Yamato take on incoming attacks from Sasaki and his Armored Division to protect him, he and Shinobu recognized him as an ally. Later, Momonosuke was shocked to hear that Yamato was Kaidou's son, but did not see it as a point of contention. Later when Momonosuke returned to Onigashima in his adult dragon form alongside Luffy, Yamato was visibly shocked at the sight of another dragon besides Kaidou, but was soon relieved to find out that Momonosuke was in fact that other dragon. After leaving with Momonosuke to stop Onigashima from falling onto the Flower Capital, Yamato decided to help the boy out with his new abilities, trying to explain to him how dragons actually fly, and telling him how to make Flame Clouds to stop Onigashima from falling.

Yamato even showed enough trust in Momonosuke to try to stop Onigashima from falling on his own, while he himself went to prevent Onigashima from blowing up. Their bond even increased to the point when Momonosuke revealed to Yamato that Zunesha told him Luffy was Joy Boy, shocking Yamato.

Due to Ryokugyu's attack, Yamato decided to stay in Wano and help Momonosuke protect it, lying that he intends to explore the country so as to not hurt his pride.

Shimotsuki Ushimaru
20 years ago as a child, Yamato met and became indebted to the former daimyo of Ringo, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, as the two befriended one another while both being imprisoned in a cave on Onigashima. At first Yamato was scared of the samurai killing him simply for being Kaidou's child, but instead Ushimaru, Fugetsu Omusubi, and Uzuki Tempura surrendered their food and even cut Yamato free of his chains. When Yamato asked for Ushimaru's name he simply stated that he was "nobody important", and then they all spent the following days bonding over Oden and the stories in his journal. Ushimaru was the one who freed Yamato as a child, breaking everyone out of the cave and making sure Yamato survived until the day that Oden predicted would happen in 20 years finally came, which lead to the demise of himself and the other samurai. During Yamato's fight with Kaidou, when he stated that his son spent all those years alone without friends, Yamato adamantly rebuked his claim, saying that Ushimaru and the other samurai were his friends.

X Drake
As they were both affiliated with the Beasts Pirates, Yamato and X Drake are acquainted with one another, however Yamato was unaware of Drake's loyalties with the Marines, and was also unaware that he sided with the alliance during the raid. While Yamato raced to find the weapons hidden in the castle, he ran into Drake, Apoo, and some of the Numbers, and immediately attacked Drake at first, thinking that he was still a member of the Tobiroppo. When Drake cleared up the mistake and told Yamato that he also betrayed Kaidou, Yamato immediately stopped attacking him and apologized, before resuming his mission to find the weapons.

Fuga
Despite betraying the Beasts Pirates and Kaidou, Yamato seems to still be on good terms with the Numbers member Fuga, as he delightfully smashed his way through a wall and followed Yamato around, seeming happy to see his crewmate, with Yamato only trying to keep him away rather than attack him. As a large fire apparition began heading to where the weapons were located, Yamato asked Fuga for help in dealing with it.

Kaidou
Damn it, that bull-gorilla!! He was seriously trying to kill me!!! I understand!! He is not a parent anymore!!!

Kaidou is Yamato's father and the two have a strained, spiteful relationship with one another, as Yamato idolizes Kaidou's enemy, Kozuki Oden. When Yamato told Kaidou of his desire to be Oden, Kaidou responded by violently beating him and has subsequently been cruel to his son numerous times since childhood, having kept him imprisoned on Onigashima since the age of eight and earning hatred and contempt for his actions, as Yamato wants nothing to do with Kaidou or his plans. In defiance of Kaido's control over Wano, Yamato had openly fought and opposed his father for much of his adolescence, but was always defeated and punished. When hearing Kaidou's plan for the New Onigashima Project and his desire for him to be Wano's shogun as a part of the plan, Yamato was visibly upset by the news, openly yelling that such a thing would never happen. Kaidou even had Yamato cuffed with dangerously explosive shackles to prevent a possible escape. Despite being openly spiteful against Kaidou, Yamato still showed signs of familial ties with him, as shown when he had doubts about Kaidou's many threats, including using the cuffs to kill him in the event of an escape attempt. Despite Yamato's original doubts that they would explode, after Luffy removed them and they did in fact explode, he realized that Kaidou was actually willing to kill him and, as a result, chose to sever all relations with his father, such to the point of proclaiming that he would not have any concern for Kaidou if he were killed during the raid on Onigashima, and to the point that he did not hesitate to openly side with Luffy and his alliance and to attack any and all Beasts Pirates, despite some members' confusion as to why.

Kaidou's overall view of Yamato is unknown. Although, Yamato has emulated Oden for the past 20 years to the point of even presenting as a man like him, and although Kaidou disapproves of his idolizing of him, he does refer to Yamato as his son. However, Kaidou does not seem to be aware that Yamato wishes to fulfill Oden's dream of opening Wano's borders, a cause which he is opposed to. Furthermore, though he has called Yamato an "idiot," he wished to have him participate in his party during the Fire Festival and later announced across Onigashima his intention for Yamato to replace Orochi as shogun, showing that he places great trust in his son to assume such a position.

Despite Yamato clear hatred for his father and severing all relation with him, Yamato still introduces himself as "son of Kaidou" when meeting new people.

Kurozumi Orochi
As a witness to the Legendary Hour and a strong admirer of Kozuki Oden, Yamato viewed the tyrannical shogun Kurozumi Orochi as an enemy. Wanting to carry on Oden's legacy, Yamato desired to do whatever possible to help liberate the people of Wano from Orochi's rule and finally open Wano's borders. Despite having enmity with him, Yamato personally had little to no interest in dealing with Orochi or his many forces personally beyond saving Kozuki Momonosuke from being executed by him and ending his rule, seeing Kaidou as the actual threat between the two of them. When Kaidou beheaded Orochi and announced his intention of making Yamato Orochi's replacement as shogun of Wano, Yamato was visibly shocked by his action of killing his partner and outraged by his declaration of the New Onigashima Project, not wanting any part in his plan at all.

Beasts Pirates
As the son of Kaidou, the majority of the Beasts Pirates showed a great amount of respect towards Yamato, whom they addressed as "Lord Yamato", and had a great respect and fear of Yamato's strength, though most are perplexed by his self-declarations as "Kozuki Oden". Despite this, they openly followed Kaidou's every order to restrain and keep watch over Yamato for the last 20 years, and after officially cutting ties with Kaidou, Yamato openly attacked any and all members of the Beasts Pirates, hardly caring about the members' confusion as to his reasons for fighting with the enemy. After Yamato's rebellion from the Beasts Pirates was made apparent, they were ordered to immediately fight back, cementing them officially as enemies.

Ulti
Despite Yamato being Kaidou's son, Ulti does not regard the former very highly and expressed annoyance at Kaidou's repeating "family problems" involving Yamato. After Yamato had interrupted Ulti's battle with Luffy by knocking her unconscious, Ulti tried minimizing what had happened by denigrating Yamato's strength, while at the same time swearing she would avenge herself against him, right before passing out from the attack. Later, upon finding Yamato on the Live Floor, a vexed Ulti immediately went ahead with attacking and fighting him. Annoyed with Ulti repeatedly getting in the way, Yamato fully went on to fight her, and ultimately got her out of his way. In the anime, when Ulti berated Yamato for not treating Kaidou with more respect, Yamato angrily stated that Ulti should take her own advice with her brother Page One.

Aramaki
He beat up the admiral Aramaki for his disregard for human life and his attempt to murder the citizens of Wano.

Abilities and Powers
I recognize your value as a soldier, Yamato!! Yamato is an extremely powerful warrior, with Black Maria noting that bringing him back to Kaidou's fortress after he had escaped would be a difficult task. In the past, Yamato was able to clash against Ace, a powerful Logia user, on equal ground. Afterwards, Ace acknowledged Yamato's abilities, saying he could not believe someone so strong was not the captain and lamenting that he could not join his crew.

During the raid on Onigashima, Yamato clashed with Kaidou, a particularly notable feat considering the Emperor's nearly unparalleled physical might, with Kaidou himself acknowledging his son's strength and value as a soldier. Luffy also greatly respects Yamato's abilities, trusting him with protecting Wano after it became vulnerable to outside forces following Kaidou's defeat, despite wishing for Yamato to join his pirate crew.

Physical Abilities
Yamato possesses immense physical strength resembling that of Kaidou, being capable of wielding a large and heavy kanabo and using it to knock out Ulti, an Ancient Zoan user and one of the Tobiroppo, with just one blow. Yamato was also able to physically match Luffy's strength with relative ease, even when he increased his strength exponentially with Gear 2 and Gear 3. When he countered a punch from Luffy with a kick, the powerful collision destroyed part of the nearby wall and ceiling and blew back the Beasts Pirates around them. Yamato could easily run while carrying Luffy with just one arm and was able to shatter the extremely tough armor and weaponry of the Beasts Pirates' Armored Corps.

Yamato is extremely fast, being able to lunge forward with blinding speed to attack, as well as outrun members of the Beasts Pirates in pursuit, and eventually completely elude the pirates and escape to the attic with Luffy without anyone seeing them.

Yamato possesses tremendous levels of durability and endurance, having emerged from being struck by multiple explosive bazooka blasts with only superficial bruises and cuts, though eventually began taking more serious wounds as the bazooka strikes continued. During the fight against Kaidou, Yamato was able to withstand the Emperor's powerful attacks and continue to fight effectively.

Devil Fruit


Yamato ate the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a divine wolf, as well as a human-divine wolf hybrid. According to Kaidou, this beast is a "Guardian Deity of Wano Country". Yamato ate this fruit purely out of hunger, with Kaidou not intending for him to be the one consuming the fruit.

As a Zoan, this fruit greatly bolsters Yamato's physical abilities. He was able to clash near-evenly against Kaidou, an Emperor of the Sea, while the latter had assumed his extremely powerful human-dragon form. Furthermore, being a carnivorous animal, this animal transformation grants Yamato heightened predatory instincts, as well as equipping fangs and claws that are well-suited for combat.

Being a Mythical Zoan, this fruit bestows special powers that a regular wolf does not possess. Yamato is able to generate ice, using it for augmenting weapons, creating protection with ice armor or walls, and even releasing a powerful blast of ice from his breath that can clash evenly with and cancel out Kaidou's flame breath blast.

Haki
Yamato is one of very few people in the world who is capable of using all three types of Haki.

Haoshoku Haki


Yamato is an immensely skilled user of Haoshoku Haki, a very rare form of Haki whose users are said to have the qualities of a "king". It was first awakened 20 years ago as a result of Yamato running wild throughout Onigashima as a child, knocking out Kaidou's subordinates. As an adult, Yamato demonstrated its advanced application of "infusion", something that only a "handful" of people can do, often imbuing his weapon Takeru causing a stream of black lightning to be emitted from it, as shown when performing Raimei Hakke and Shinsoku Hakujaku.

Busoshoku Haki
Yamato is an extremely skilled user of Busoshoku Haki, as shown by facing off against Ace, a Logia user and clashing against his flames, managing to wound him. Two years later, Yamato was shown projecting a long-distance swing using a hardened Takeru that knocked out Hatcha. Yamato's Busoshoku Haki is strong enough to wound Kaidou whose skin is impervious to all but the strongest Haki attacks.

Kenbunshoku Haki
Yamato is a very skilled user of Kenbunshoku Haki, which allowed him to sense a burst of Shanks' Haoshoku Haki.

Weapons


Yamato wields a giant kanabo club named Takeru, which is much like Kaidou's club Hassaikai, though it is studded and more slender while Hassaikai is spiked and a bit thicker. Coupled with Yamato's immense strength, the kanabo can cause tremendous damage to objects and opponents with a single hit, and with Yamato's strength and Haki, it can be used to perform flying strikes that can even resemble energy blasts. Yamato has masterful technique with his kanabo despite its great size and weight, being capable of moving it to counter Luffy's rapid attacks with little effort.

Past
Yamato was born 28 years ago in an unknown location.

Twenty years ago, at the age of eight, Yamato witnessed Kozuki Oden's execution during the Legendary Hour and developed an immense admiration for the samurai. Following Oden's death, Yamato went to Kuri Castle to try and help save Oden's family, but he was too weak to intervene and was forced to helplessly watch Kaido as he threatened to kill Momonosuke. Yamato then discovered Oden's logbook floating in a nearby stream. As a result of this, Yamato developed the desire to become Oden and carry on his dream of opening Wano Country's borders, but when he told Kaidou about this, his father responded by beating him up and putting shackles on his wrists that would ostensibly explode if he left the country.

Yamato sowed riots for a week in Onigashima, where he was chained to a post. This then caused him to unknowingly knock out many of his father's subordinates, while he continued to declare his admiration for Oden. Seeing the men on the ground, Kaido asked him if it was his fault and Yamato replied that he didn't know, but was hungry and wanted some food. His father told him that it was promising since he possessed Haoshoku Haki, however, since he impersonated Oden, he would have to die. In order to help Yamato see sense, Kaidou imprisoned him inside a cave for a month with some powerful imprisoned samurai, who were also being held until their spirits broke and they joined him. Noting that everyone inside was hungry, Kaidou gave them enough food for one person as well as swords they could use to fight over it. Yamato became extremely scared that the samurai would attack him due to him being Kaidou's son, but one of themi proceeded to immediately give him the food, saying they did not feel hunger. One of them, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, cut Yamato free from his chains and was friendly to the young child, as Oden was a friend to him and the other samurai. Yamato asked if the samurai could help him read Oden's logbook, and they did so with great interest, reading his accounts with great fascination.

Ten days later, Yamato was greatly weakened from starvation, so the samurai, seeing that Kaido was really going to let him die, tell Yamato that at this rate, he may not be able to see the battle that Oden predicted would occur in twenty years. Yamato tells them that he will fight for Wano that day and then go to sea, becoming much stronger. He then watches as the samurai emerge from the cave, where they plan to make a likely suicidal attack on Kaidou in order to free Yamato.

Not long after, one of his father's subordinates found him and gave him blankets and food; however, Yamato later watched as he was executed for it.



Four years ago, the pirate Portgas D. Ace and his crew came to Wano in order to kill Kaidou. With Kaidou and his top officers away on an expedition at the time, Yamato did battle with Ace instead because of boredom. However, as the battle between the two progressed, Yamato made it clear that he wished to get away from Kaidou and Ace encouraged him to do so. This culminated in Yamato destroying a prized dragon statue belonging to Kaidou while declaring his desire to go out to sea, and Ace commended Yamato for this before doing further damage to the statue. As night fell, Yamato and Ace talked over a campfire and Yamato expressed regret at being unable to go out to sea with the pirate due to the exploding handcuffs on his wrists. He then asked Ace if there were any other rookie pirates attaining infamy, and Ace replied that his younger brother Luffy, who would not be setting sail for a couple more years, would be the toughest one of them all. Ace ended up revealing Luffy's dream to Yamato and quickly begged him not to laugh at it, but Yamato did not do so as Luffy's dream was the same one that the Pirate King Roger was recorded to have in Oden's logbook. The next day as Ace prepared to depart, Yamato gave him a Vivre Card so they could find each other again.

Two years later, however, the Vivre Card disappeared and soon afterward Yamato learned via the newspaper that Ace had been killed. At the same time, however, Yamato learned that Luffy was active and gaining infamy as a pirate, and with the words of both Oden and Ace in mind, Yamato began to wait to meet Luffy as well as for a new generation of pirates to arrive in the New World and bring down Kaidou.

Wano Country Arc


On the day of the Fire Festival, Yamato went missing as the Beasts Pirates prepared to begin their festivities. Upon seeing Luffy battling Ulti within the fortress, Yamato interrupted the fight by knocking out Ulti with Raimei Hakke. He then picked Luffy up and carried him away as the Beasts Pirates started chasing after them, introducing himself to the pirate he had been waiting to see. Luffy did not wish to accompany Yamato and started attacking him, though Yamato managed to counter his attacks without issue. One of their clashes created a powerful blast that knocked away all the onlookers, and Yamato was able to use this distraction to take Luffy to an attic space where the pirate agreed to listen to him for five minutes. Yamato told Luffy about his desire to become Oden and carry on the samurai's will, and how as a result he intended on fighting on Luffy's side. Yamato took off his disguise as he did this, and Luffy was confused by his appearance, but Yamato explained that he had become a man because Oden was a man.

Yamato also revealed to Luffy that he knew his brother Ace, but had been prevented from leaving with him due to his explosive shackles. Luffy offered to remove the shackles, but was interrupted by Kaidou broadcasting himself across Onigashima. The duo spied on the event through the floorboards, but ended up breaking through the floor and falling back down into a populated corridor. During this time, Kaidou announced his intention of making Yamato the next shogun of Wano as part of his New Onigashima Project, which Yamato immediately refused.

The two then began fighting some Beasts Pirates, where Luffy revealed to him that the boy his father was going to execute was Momonosuke, who was still alive just like the Nine Red Scabbards. Luffy ripped off Yamato's handcuffs and tossed them aside. The cuffs then exploded, sending the two of them flying into the Live Floor where Kaidou was speaking. Enraged that his father had actually intended to kill him if he escaped, Yamato disowned Kaidou and tried charging to attack him. But Luffy stopped him, telling him that it's not up to the two of them to start the war. Where the Red Scabbards then appeared and attacked Kaido.



When all of these landed on the lower deck, Yamato and Luffy ran to help the samurai finish off Kaidou. But suddenly Ulti attacked him and asked him why he had attacked her earlier. To which Yamato simply proclaimed that it would be the day he would finally become Kozuki Oden. In addition to being informed by some of the Beasts Pirates that his father had been attacked, Yamato surprised them by saying that he was allied with the enemies and that he doesn't care if his father died.

As he continued to face Ulti, Luffy told him to protect Momonosuke and Shinobu. Although he was a little hesitant, Yamato accepted stating that, considering himself Oden, Momonosuke is like his son.After Luffy told the latter and Shinobu that he was an ally, Yamato introduced himself to the two as the real Kozuki Oden and declared to Momonosuke that he will protect him. However, both Momonosuke and Shinobu felt confused by that, so they moved away from him.



Yamato chased after the duo until they came across Sasaki and his Armored Division, who swiftly began attacking Momonosuke. Yamato rushed to protect him by knocking out the one about to attack them, making clear his intention of fighting on the Kozuki Family. When Shinobu asked him to run away with Momonosuke alone, Yamato refused. Where he then revealed revealed that he was present at Oden's execution, telling the kunoichi that her words seriously moved him. But at that moment Yamato is attacked by Sasaki's troops, although he managed to resist it. Where he later revealed to Momonosuke how he tried to save him that day from Kaido but couldn't. In addition, after defeating another of the enemies, he revealed his real name to Momonosuke and declared that he was going to give his life for him. Yamato was able to overwhelm the Armored Division members, but his body began accumulating damage from constant bazooka strikes. Refusing to leave Shinobu behind and run with Momonosuke, Yamato began activating his Devil Fruit transformation to battle Sasaki. However, the Straw Hat shipwright Franky came running in, pursued by Hatcha, where the latter smashed his massive club into the floor, creating a hole. Yamato then remembered that there was a floor below, so he grabbed Momonosuke and Shinobu to escape through there. As he fell, he told Franky that Luffy had entrusted him with the protection of Momonosuke and Shinobu, so he would leave Sasaki and his forces to him. Where he then helped him out a bit by launching a long range attack towards Hatcha, which knocked him out quickly. When he landed, he quickly ran to escape from the enemies; while he tells Momonosuke that he must survive as he believes that he is the one who will guide the world towards the dawn.

Yamato took Momonosuke and Shinobu outside the Skull Dome to find a ship and leave Onigashima, but found upon reaching the coast that Kaidou had lifted the island into the air using Flame Clouds for the purpose of moving it to the Flower Capital.

The three of them hid inside a storeroom, where Yamato saw the dragon stature that he and Ace had destroyed causing him to reminisce about their meeting. Yamato told Momonosuke and Shinobu about Ace and his relationship with Luffy, saying he believed that them bringing Luffy to Wano was no less than an act of fate given what Oden had foretold in his logbook, which Yamato proceeded to give to Momonosuke.

Later, Yamato spotted a mouse Mary in the rafters and destroyed it, but the Beasts Pirates had already been tipped off about their location and were racing to break into the storeroom. Yamato told Momonosuke to get inside his clothes as he and Shinobu burst out of the room and attacked the oncoming pirates. They then started racing down the corridors, fighting off any enemies they encountered. As they were running through the Right Brain Tower, Momonosuke got agitated while talking to the other two and suddenly transformed into a dragon not unlike Kaidou's transformed form. He quickly reverted back to human form after calming down, and Yamato commented that his transformation could be quite helpful if he was as monstrous as Kaidou. The trio managed to shake off their pursuers and hide in a first-floor crawlspace, and Yamato decided to go out and act as a decoy to keep the Beasts Pirates off Momonosuke's trail, though the boy and Shinobu noted that Yamato was clearly interested in going out and fighting. As Yamato headed out, Momonosuke informed him that he sensed that Luffy and Kaidou were currently fighting one-on-one atop the Skull Dome.



Yamato took down numerous additional Beasts Pirates while racing to the roof, and upon getting there he called out to Kaidou, who had defeated Luffy and was on ground level chasing after Momonosuke and Shinobu. Kaidou quickly returned to the roof and claimed that Luffy was dead; Yamato did not believe this and said that he would be going out to sea with the Straw Hats. In the meantime, he intended to hold off Kaidou until Luffy came back; the two then engaged in a powerful Haoshoku Haki-infused clash. Yamato and Kaidou both transformed into their Mythical Zoan Human-Beast forms during the battle, and exchanged multiple blows using their kanabos and Devil Fruit techniques, with Kaidou not holding back at all. They also exchanged numerous questions and declarations, centering mainly on what Yamato's future would be and why Kaidou wanted control over Wano. Kaidou then gained a decisive advantage in the fight, taunting that no one saw Yamato as a friend and the few who did ended up dead as he pummeled his son into the ground. Yamato got back up and prepared to launch another attack; as he did so, Luffy arrived on the back of a pink dragon identical to Kaidou and punched the Emperor at the same time Yamato's strike connected. Yamato was shocked to see another dragon there, but soon learned that it was none other than Momonosuke.

Yamato then watched as Momonosuke assisted Luffy in attacking Kaidou despite his fear, and afterwards Luffy asked Yamato to go with Momonosuke while he fought Kaidou alone again. Not intending on letting them leave, Kaidou launched himself at Yamato and Momonosuke to attack them, but Yamato was able to parry his strike before Luffy restrained the Emperor. Yamato and Momonosuke started falling off Onigashima, but the former was able to instruct the latter about how to create Flame Clouds to hold onto. Once they regained their footing, Yamato noticed that the Flame Clouds holding up Onigashima were weakening as it drew very close to the Flower Capital; he told Momonosuke that the boy needed to create his own Flame Clouds to hold it up because if Kaidou went down and Onigashima fell, the large amount of weapons stockpiled inside the island would create a massive explosion. Yamato then left Momonosuke to do this on his own as he went off to the armory to try and neutralize as many of the explosives as possible.



Yamato ran through Onigashima and the Skull Dome in his full wolf transformation as fast as he could muster, and burst into a cave chamber where he encountered X Drake, Scratchmen Apoo, and three Numbers. Yamato attacked Drake to keep him from getting in the way, but Drake informed him that he had turned against the Beasts Pirates as well, allowing Yamato to continue running; however, the number Fuga followed him out of the chamber. Yamato tried to keep Fuga away from him, but then saw a flaming apparition named Kazenbo heading toward the armory; knowing that the danger was now imminent, Yamato asked Fuga to help him. The two of them ran down to the armory door which the Number Rokki was guarding, and Yamato told Fuga to take the key from him and operate the lever for the door, but Fuga instead charged into Rokki and crashed through the door, allowing Yamato to continue running unabated. Yamato arrived in the armory at the same time as Kazenbo, and quickly used his ice breath to freeze the bombs. Yamato then made Kazenbo recoil with an ice-infused kanabo strike, but Kazenbo retaliated by forming a flaming appendage and striking him with it. However, Trafalgar Law then created a massive hole through the armory and entire island which he and Eustass Kid sent Big Mom down. When Big Mom fell through the armory, she punched a bomb which caused it to explode, destroying much of Onigashima's bottom as she fell toward the Wano mainland. Yamato was able to further freeze the other bombs to keep them from detonating, and the bomb blast also weakened Kazenbo and caused it to depart.

The hole allowed Yamato to reunite with Momonosuke, who informed him that the giant elephant Zunesha from Oden's journal had arrived. The two of them then talked about what Momonosuke had read in Oden's journal, and the boy questioned whether or not it would be wise to open Wano's borders. Kaidou then defeated Luffy again and declared that the pirate was dead, demanding Momonosuke to surrender and end the war. Momonosuke was inclined to follow this suggestion, but Yamato refused to let him do this, saying that the sacrifices of the last 20 years would all be for nothing if he did; Yamato assured Momonosuke that he would go with him to battle Kaidou and face death together. However, Momonosuke then heard from Zunesha that Joy Boy had arrived in the form of Luffy, and he and Yamato watched as Luffy activated a new form and resumed attacking Kaidou. Yamato then told Momonosuke that he needed to continue to make more Flame Clouds to prepare for Kaidou's to disappear, and the two of them looked on in shock as Luffy prepared to unleash a punch so massive it would demolish Onigashima, necessitating Momonosuke move it out of the way. Kaidou's Flame Clouds disappeared as Luffy struck him with his finishing blow, and with Yamato's encouragement, Momonosuke was able to successfully generate his own and use them to move the island away from danger before bringing it to a gentle landing on the mainland near the Flower Capital.

Luffy immediately lost consciousness following the punch and fell to the ground, but Yamato was able to catch him and smiles, congratulating him and Momonosuke. Here he also hears Luffy asking Momonosuke not to reveal his role in Kaido's defeat to the citizens, as he did not want to be considered a hero. The remaining Beasts Pirates continued attacking, not believing their captain was defeated, but Yamato told them to stand down or he would attack them.



Yamato then introduced himself to Luffy's crew and announced that he would be joining them, much to their mixed reactions; Jinbe suggested they should wait for Luffy to confirm this and Yamato accepted. The group then watched a broadcast of Momonosuke taking the title of shogun, to their excitement.

A week later, Yamato was on the roof of the Flower Capital castle, while trying to deny the hunger he is feeling. At that moment, he heard Hiyori announce to Momonosuke that Luffy and Zoro have woken up, so he goes towards them, where he hugs the former. After Momonosuke is beaten by Nami, Yamato approaches him, where he places a plate on his head, while telling him that he has the mind of a child and the body of Oden. In addition, to tell him that he owes his parents the body that has now and that he will surely become the greatest samurai in the country, to which Momonosuke replies that he will do everything possible. Yamato then eats onigiri, while revealing to Luffy that he hasn't eaten and taking a bath until he and Zoro recover. He then tells Nami that there is no mixed bath, so he goes with the men to bathe, saying that the temperature is excellent.

Yamato then participated in the Flower Capital's celebration festivities with the Wano civilians, elated due to his first time at a festival.

During the celebration, Denjiro, Raizo, Kawamatsu, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Shinobu head off to intercept Admiral Ryokugyu, who stated that he was going to kill as many Wano residents as he wanted to get to Luffy; whereupon, Yamato joins the battle and replies that what he said is unforgivable, hitting the admiral over the head with his Haki-imbued club. Yamato then tells him that he won't let anyone ruin the celebrations for his new freedom after twenty years of tyranny, to which Ryokugyu asks who he is and Yamato introduces himself as Kaidou's son. Momonosuke arrives in dragon form and agrees with him, where he prepares to fight the admiral, much to Yamato's concern. Despite the shogun's best efforts, Ryokugyu quickly subdued him with his powers, so Yamato tries to help him, but Momonosuke tells him that he shouldn't fight. When the shogun again tells him not to fight, Yamato asks why, before Ryokugyu throws the shogun to the ground. Seeing this, the samurai and Yamato try to help, however they are also subdued by the admiral. Yamato asks Momonosuke to call Luffy and his crew to defeat him; to which Momonosuke explains why he doesn't want his or Luffy's help. There, the shogun manages to free everyone with his Bolo Breath, which destroys the plant body of the admiral, leaving them astonished. However, Ryokugyu rebuilt itself and again prepared to attack them. a force outside of Wano stopped Ryoguyku and forced him to leave Wano. But at that time, a force outside of outside of Wano that made the admiral leave the country; so Yamato was glad.

Sometime later, Yamato had a conversation with Luffy and some members of the Straw Hats, to inform them of the decision not to go with them since the country was only saved from the admiral thanks to the powerful haki of the previous presence. In addition to knowing that now that Kaido is gone, others like Ryokugyu could try to take over the country; therefore, he decided to stay to protect him. Despite this, he declared to Luffy that he still wants to join his crew. Luffy understands, so he trusts Momonosuke and the others, while Zoro tells him not to hurt Momonosuke's pride, to which Yamato tells him that he will find an excuse for that. Suddenly Marco appeared flying towards them to say goodbye to Luffy.

A few days after the festival ends, Yamato climbs onto the roof of the Flower Capital castle, where he suddenly hears Momonosuke's scream, asking where he was. Yamato tells him that he is still here; in addition, he declares his intention to join the Straw Hats and live as Kozuki Oden did.

As Momonosuke rushed towards Udon in his dragon form while carrying Kin'emon and Yamato, the latter gave them an excuse he came up with, claiming that he was planning to stay in Wano and explore the country just as Oden did. The three soon reached the port, with Momonosuke tackling Luffy and Yamato embracing him. The Shogun started pleading for Luffy to stay, though the pirate instead gave him their flag and declared that Wano was now protected by him. Luffy then offered Yamato a position in the Straw Hats should he ever decide to become a pirate, alongside Momonosuke and Kine'mon. After the Straw Hats departed, Yamato returned to the Flower Capital with Momonosuke, Kine'mon, and the Straw Hats flag.

Major Battles

 * Yamato vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Yamato vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Yamato vs. Ulti (Onigashima Live Floor)
 * Yamato vs. Armored Division
 * Yamato vs. Kaidou
 * Yamato, Luffy and Kozuki Momonosuke vs. Kaidou
 * Yamato vs. Kazenbo
 * Yamato, Denjiro, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, Raizo, Kawamatsu, Shinobu and Kozuki Momonosuke vs. Ryokugyu

Filler Battles

 * Yamato and Shinobu vs. several Beasts Pirates

Anime and Manga Differences
In the anime, Yamato was shown to be the unknown figure who observed Robin and Jinbe when the Straw Hats enter into Onigashima's castle. The manga has yet to clarify whether the person was Yamato or not.

Gender
There are discrepancies in how Yamato is referred to between how he is referred to by characters in the story including himself and how he is referred to in narration and promotional material.

Given that the Japanese language rarely uses third person pronouns, it is less frequent for characters to be referred to in a gendered fashion and so a bit more difficult to resolve this discrepancy. However, based on what has been said and done so far by characters, it is generally interpreted that Yamato refers to himself as a man and characters who are acquainted with him address him as such as well:
 * Yamato consistently calls himself the son of Kaidou and Kaidou and his crew consistently refer to him as such as well. The only time characters have been shown referring to Yamato as a female is when first meeting him.
 * Yamato was called "Oni Princess" as a child, but only in a flashback to 20 years prior when he was just starting to adopt the identity of Oden.
 * Yamato elected to bathe with the men when the Straw Hats and their friends went to the bathhouse.
 * Yamato uses the first-person Japanese pronoun "boku", which is typically used by young boys. It should be noted, though, that this not a universal indicator of one's preferred gender as a few female characters have used predominantly male pronouns.
 * Luffy's nickname for Yamato, "Yama-o" (ヤマ男), uses the kanji for "man" (男) in the suffix which has typically been translated as "-guy" in the official translations.

Because of these reasons, the official translations from VIZ Media and Funimation have chosen to have characters refer to Yamato as a man with masculine pronouns.

However, outside of the story, Yamato has typically been referred to as Kaidou's daughter. This has occurred in his introduction box in Chapter 984, in the characters section at the beginning of volumes, and in merchandise. Additionally, the Vivre Card databook explicitly labels Yamato as female (in contrast with another transgender character Kikunojo who was labeled as "Male (Woman at Heart)"). In Chapter 1084, the cover page is a color spread showing Yamato along with Nami, Nico Robin and some of the various female allies and acquaintances of the Straw Hat Pirates, further alluding to Yamato being considered female outside of the story.

The reasons for these discrepancies have not been addressed by Eiichiro Oda, and Oda himself has not yet made any comments regarding Yamato's gender identity. Given the points listed above, however, this wiki will refer to Yamato as male as the official translations do.

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Bounty Rush
 * One Piece Thousand Storm

Trivia

 * "Yamato", meaning "Great Harmony", is an ancient name for Japan (originating from the Yamato Province) and can also refer to the Yamato period of Japanese history, which lasted into the 8th century. Relating to that, Yamato is the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan and further refers to the dominant ethnic group of Japan, the Yamato people. Otherwise:
 * Yamato Takeru is a legendary Japanese prince of the Yamato dynasty, prominent in mythology. Yamato's kanabo being named Takeru makes it nearly certain that his name was based on this figure.
 * Yamato nadeshiko is a phrase that refers to the idealized image of a Japanese female.
 * Hannya, which Yamato's mask is based on, are well known in Japanese theatrical stage culture for representing characters who are the physical manifestation of twisted female souls.
 * Yamato seems to be inspired by Oscar François de Jarjayes, from the shōjo manga The Rose of Versailles, who is a woman raised by her father as if she were a boy in order to succeed him as the commander of the Royal Guard at the Palace of Versailles.
 * Additionally, in the Chapter 945 author's comment, Oda talks about reading The Rose of Versailles for the first time and being surprised to find out Oscar was a woman.
 * Yamato's Vivre Card entry revealed design concepts, including designs with differently shaped horns, and also includes concept art for Fugetsu Omusubi.
 * Yamato possesses some notable parallels to Kozuki Momonosuke, with both of them being born 28 years ago and given the shogunate of Wano as their birthright. Interestingly, however, each of them share traits and goals more so with the other's father rather than their own. Yamato has been trapped on Wano for a large portion of his life and wishes to leave and set sail with a pirate crew like Oden, while Momonosuke has been out on the sea but wishes to rule over Wano, much like Kaidou. Additionally, Yamato desires to directly become Oden while Momonosuke possesses the very same Devil Fruit transformation as Kaidou.
 * Both Yamato and Momonosuke ate their Devil Fruits purely out of hunger without even knowing what they were consuming.
 * Yamato being forced to wear exploding handcuffs by Kaidou in order to fulfill his plans and be prevented from leaving Wano is very similar to what happened to Sanji in the Whole Cake Island Arc.
 * Yamato battling Ace to a draw to defend the territory of one of the Four Emperors, then later befriending Ace and taking an interest in Luffy due to Ace's relationship with him, also occurred with Jinbe.
 * In the 7th fan poll of most popular characters, Yamato was ranked 11th.

SBS-Based Trivia

 * Yamato's birthday, November 3, in Japan is known as 'Culture Day' (文化の日).
 * On a request from a fan, Oda drew a personification of the side of Yamato's breast, or "sideboob" (横乳).
 * Yamato's favorite foods are oden and raw salmon eaten by biting into it, and his least favorite food is anything spicy.

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