Kaidou

Kaido of the Beasts, renowned as the "Strongest Creature", is the Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates and one of the Yonko ruling over the New World.

From his base on Onigashima, Kaido has occupied Wano Country along with his crew and allied with Wano's shogun, Kurozumi Orochi. Decades ago before the formation of his own crew, Kaido was an apprentice in the legendary Rocks Pirates, and he is currently in an alliance with his former crewmate from that time and fellow Yonko, Big Mom.

Kaido was first referred to by Monkey D. Garp in the Post-Enies Lobby Arc and then directly mentioned by Gecko Moria in the Thriller Bark Arc, with his status as a Yonko revealed after the Straw Hat Pirates defeated Moria. Thus, Kaido is the third Yonko mentioned by name and the last to debut. Before he debuted in person, his voice was heard in a flashback that Kozuki Momonosuke had when first disembarking on Dressrosa.

Kaido is the primary antagonist of the Wano Country Arc and one of the central antagonists of the Yonko Saga.

Appearance
Kaido is a tan, middle-aged man who cuts an imposing figure due in equal measure to his extreme height (somewhat comparable to Big Mom's 8.8 m) and muscle bulk, easily dwarfing normal humans. Overly top-heavy in build, he has a broad, well-muscled torso with wide-set shoulders attaching to strong, thick arms, and somewhat out-of-proportion legs; far less heavily built than his arms yet about the same length (with his feet much tinier than his hands). Kaido's head, atop his bulky neck, is disproportionally small as well (smaller than his hands) and has a massive pair of gray-white, sharp-pointed horns come out of its sides, curving slightly to the front, then upward. He has a longish face with a heavy, hairless brow ridge topping sharp, often bloodshot eyes (parent to small, yellowish irises), plus a hook nose and large, full-lipped mouth. Kaido is near-always seen wearing a frown and has moderate wrinkles: particularly prominent being his crow's feet below his eyes, forehead lines, and laugh lines from always sneering. His black hair consists of an unruly, mostly swept-back mane reaching his mid-back, and forming distinctly flat, rectangular locks of which some fall down near the front, over his ears, or jut upward. His facial hair is neat, done in a wavy, waist-length Fu Manchu mustache that pairs with a spiked goatee across his chin. Right of his defined abs is his only scar: a massive, recessed X-shape whose upper points reach to his pectoral, given to him by Kozuki Oden using his swords. A tattoo of dim-red segments resembling reptilian scales, individually bordered in orange, goes from his left pectoral down the front of his left arm, ending in correspondence to the wrist with a white (dark in the manga), traditionally shaped skull on the lower forearm.

Clothing-wise, Kaido dons a blue-purple, feathered overcoat draped on his shoulders, sleeveless, and below a lavender, tight-fitting, open shirt with long sleeves. He has a black bracelet with golden (dark in the manga) spikes above each wrist. Upholding said shirt is a thick, off-white belt of laid rope festooned with a pair of white, hanging shide in the front. More outwardly from below the rope hang two additional pieces of fabric: rectangular, hemmed flaps (which may be the bottom of said shirt) that each have, from two hemmed holes at their bottom, a short, thick, golden torus chain attached to themselves. Two yellow straw cords are below the shimenawa, serving as waistbands to secure a short, hanging row of thin, red ribbons. Finally, the rest of his lower wear consists of simple, baggy pants of gray-green color, tucked below the knees into simple, blackish boots.

20 years before the current storyline, Kaido's Fu Manchu was only chest-length, he lacked his current beard, had much fewer wrinkles, and until his battle with Oden did not have any visible scars on him. During Oden's execution, he wore the pairing of a black, sleeveless leather jacket and black, tight leather pants, with a belt featuring his crew's Jolly Roger on its big, round buckle. At the time due to the injury he suffered from fighting Oden, Kaido's chest and abdomen were heavily bandaged.

Personality
Kaido is a merciless, aggressive, and confident warrior who never misses an opportunity to gain an advantage in war, as evidenced by his plan to attack Whitebeard during the latter's attempt to save Ace from execution.

Kaido suffers from bouts of ennui and boredom, harboring a general sense of unconcern for most things including the very nature of the world and the lives of himself and his subordinates. He keeps a grumpy disposition with little pleasure and excitement in his life and is constantly frowning most of the time. As such, he craves excitement and chaos, as he is prepared to start the largest war in the world because he felt it was too mundane. This recklessness, coupled with his apparent inability to die, has caused Kaido to make attempting suicide as his hobby. The rare occasions where Kaido was shown smiling were when he watched Orochi celebrate Yasuie's execution and when he held a party to celebrate his renewed alliance with Big Mom during which puts him in a jovial mood.

Kaido ultimately seeks to form the strongest crew of Devil Fruit users, which he actively sought out formidable manpower in the New World to recruit into his growing army, including Super Rookies like Basil Hawkins, Scratchmen Apoo, and X Drake. Rather than kill those who resist him, he makes attempts to break their spirit until they submit. He was even invested with Doflamingo to supply his crew with artificial SMILEs to the point where he tried drowning his sorrows in alcohol at the thought he could no longer add any more Gifters to his crew. Kaido also has a great interest in Laugh Tale, having taken a Road Poneglyph under his ownership and also went to the brutal extent of threatening Kozuki Oden for his knowledge and ruthlessly hunting down his son Kozuki Momonosuke and three retainers Kin'emon, Raizo, and Kanjuro.

He is also pitiless and not usually open to negotiations or excuses, making it unwise to provoke or underestimate him; this is enforced dramatically when Donquixote Doflamingo, a former Shichibukai and former World Noble known for his fearless attitude, became disturbed at the prospect of angering Kaido when he became potentially unable to fulfill his end of their business deal due to Trafalgar D. Water Law holding Caesar Clown hostage. One of his crewmates later stated that Kaido would be very angry once he heard the news of the SMILE Factory's destruction. This unreasonable attitude caused a group of Kaido's subordinates including X Drake to attempt to deliver the news of Doflamingo's defeat to the Yonko from a distance rather than approaching him in person. Despite this, he is not completely unreasonable as Hawkins was able to convince him to target Oden's castle after telling him that Luffy and Law were hiding there and Kaido later agreed to ally with Big Mom again despite having threatened and tried to kill her before.

Kaido has also shown to be extremely cruel, even towards children. After he murdered Kozuki Oden, he viciously insulted Oden right in front of his son Momonosuke, adding mockery to Momonosuke's sorrow and hopelessness. Adding to this, he brutally attacked Tama, even though she was no threat to him, and left her for dead. Kaido bluntly informed Queen about Komurasaki's "death" while casually laughing at Queen's despair over the death of his idol. He later smiled and laughed upon seeing Orochi's spiteful execution of Yasuie, being amused by his ally's cruelty in feeding his citizens faulty SMILE fruits and mocking their inability to express sorrow. He also has a low opinion on pacifism as he mocked Oden for his decision to avoid conflict for five years and he scorned Roger and Whitebeard for having a soft side.

Kaido is highly confident in his power and considers himself to be far above the likes of Supernovas, referring to their actions as "little pirate games", even refusing to take the Straw Hat Pirates and Heart Pirates seriously despite them crippling his SMILE trade; this is reinforced by his belief that defeating a Shichibukai is nothing to be impressed with and his dismissal of Donquixote Doflamingo as being weak. He was also quick to threaten to kill Big Mom when she announced her intention to come to his territory, showing no reservations despite Big Mom possessing power equivalent to his own.



Kaido is a heavy drunkard who loves to drink sake and while drunk, his mood changes erratically, such as when he quickly went from being melancholic over his inability to increase the number of his Gifters and fulfill his dream of having a crew consisting of only Devil Fruit users to becoming angry and violent, brutally beating his subordinates and cursing Luffy and Law. In fact, Kaido is such a habitual drinker that he even dislikes being sober at any given time.

Despite his immense arrogance and confidence in his power, Kaido does acknowledge other individuals of exceptional strength as he sought to recruit powerful individuals into his crew such as Shutenmaru and also Eustass Kid. This extends to enemies who offended him such as Luffy who had caused him to lose his SMILE supply when he intentionally held back when defeating the latter and expressed his intention to recruit Luffy into his crew as he still considered Luffy to be a potentially formidable soldier, and opted to try to break his spirit and recruit him as a subordinate instead of killing him immediately. Due to his respect for power, Kaido is willing to offer powerful subordinates a chance to be promoted to an All-Star in his crew as long as they proved they are stronger than the current All-Stars by defeating them in an authorized challenge.

He is also still pragmatic enough to avoid some fights that could devastate his forces and territories. When Big Mom attempted to enter Wano, Kaido feared it would become an all-out war and furiously ordered his crew to stop her and her crew. He also wanted to know if Big Mom brought her whole crew with her, being aware of them being very powerful fighters. After Oden returned to Wano Country from his journey, Kaido agreed with Orochi to trick Oden into submission by making a fake deal with him, giving Kaido the time to reinforce his forces. Kaido even admitted to being unsure of fighting Oden during the time of their first meeting.

While Kaido is extremely ruthless and cruel to his enemies, he does have some form of honor. When he met Big Mom again for the first time in years, he told his men to take her Seastone cuffs off before trying to kill her, strictly preferring to fight his enemies fair and square despite having an easier chance to kill his fellow Yonko in a weakened state. When a member of the Beasts Pirates seemingly captured Kozuki Momonosuke (in truth Kurozumi Higurashi in disguise) as a hostage to distract Oden, Kaido only attacked a distracted Oden from behind because he did not know of the situation until afterwards. Intolerable of foul play in regards to his own battles, he killed Higurashi for interfering regardless of her being one of Orochi's closest supporters. Upon Oden successfully survived being boiled alive in oil for an hour while holding up his retainers during his execution, Kaido was solemnly impressed by Oden's strength and willpower. As a last sign of respect, he informed Oden about Higurashi's demise while apologizing for her interference in their battle and opted to kill Oden himself with a head-shot. However, Kaido is not above making false promises. He promised Oden that he would eventually leave Wano Country but had no intention of doing so. Prior to Oden's execution, he agreed to allow those who survived the boiling pot for one hour to go free, but after the Legendary Hour, Kaido killed Oden anyway and allowed Orochi to try to kill the Scabbards with a firing squad.

Kaido is also greatly annoyed at the number of people capable of Haoshoku Haki, stating that the world does not need so many people who could use it.

Like other people, Kaido has a unique laughing style: "Worororo" (ウォロロロ). A second one of his has been observed as he was drunk: "Fuhihihi" (フヒヒヒ).

Crew
Kaido is determined to build his crew into the strongest army of Devil Fruit users ready for war. Thus, he actively sought out strong and formidable manpower in the New World to draft into his ranks, from pirates such as the Super Rookies from the Worst Generation to the leader of the Mt. Atama Thieves, Shutenmaru. Those who resist or defy his attempts are often sent to slave away at the mines of Udon until they either die or their spirits break and submit to Kaido.

Kaido himself has not demonstrated much concern for his crew, although he does seem to care about them to a degree, as Scotch stated that Kaido would go after X Drake if Drake attacked him. Kaido seems particularly interested in making his crew stronger by giving them artificial Zoan powers with SMILE, and became very emotional when he found out that his SMILE supply had been stopped. When Kaido gets drunk and emotional, he can be very violent against his subordinates, as he smashed a few of them through his lair with his mace when they expressed concern over the threats of Monkey D. Luffy and Trafalgar Law.

When he heard about Jack failing to rescue Doflamingo from the Marines, Kaido was more concerned about the loss of his SMILE, knowing he can no longer add anymore Gifters to his army. When Kaido came to Kuri after Luffy and Law had made a disturbance, Holdem became worried that Kaido might kill him for being beaten by them, though a drunk Kaido paid him no mind. Kaido's subordinates have all demonstrated an unwavering loyalty to him (save for X Drake who is operating as an undercover Marine), although Jack and Basil Hawkins became very concerned when Kaido went on a drunken rampage through Okobore Town and wanted to stop him from destroying the manpower of Kuri's factories.

Kurozumi Orochi
Kaido and Orochi, the shogun of Wano Country, have been allies for over 25 years after Orochi bought his loyalty using the money previously borrowed from Oden. Their bond appears strong, as Kaido will attack anyone who threatens Orochi, and Orochi is extremely confident in having Kaido's support, which allows him to do anything including opposing the World Government and exploiting them for his own gains. They are friendly enough to share drinks together in Orochi's castle. Kaido was initially dismissive about Orochi's warning of the Kozuki Family's comeback and even poked fun at Orochi's paranoia. Nevertheless, when Orochi had shown proven information from his spy Kanjuro, Kaido chose to believe Orochi, instructing the latter not to kill the time travelers as he wished to ask them information regarding Oden's journey to Laugh Tale. When he saw the broadcast of Orochi killing Shimotsuki Yasuie and the false laughter of the crowd watching, Kaido expressed amusement at the shogun's cruelty.

Charlotte Linlin
Kaido and his fellow Yonko Charlotte Linlin, better known as Big Mom, have been rivals with each other ever since they were crewmates on the Rocks Pirates, and each of them would like nothing more than to kill the other. Kaido threatened to kill Big Mom if she entered his territory and tried to kill Luffy, whom he wanted for himself, and did not appear to care about Linlin claiming that he owed her a debt. However, Kaido does not wish to kill Big Mom in an underhanded manner but wants to beat her in equal combat, as when she was captured and brought to Onigashima, he ordered his subordinates to release her from her Seastone chains before he fought her.

However, following their battle, Kaido and Big Mom found common ground in their dream of taking over the world and they temporarily put aside their differences in order to achieve their goal. They now act quite jovially around each other as they drank together and were excited about working together again, although they ultimately still wish to kill each other once they achieve their dream.

Donquixote Doflamingo
Kaido and Doflamingo had a business partnership where Doflamingo supplied Kaido with SMILE fruits in exchange for weapons, which he significantly invested in his goal to create the strongest pirate crew of Devil Fruit users. Word of Doflamingo's defeat and the destruction of the SMILE factory brought Kaido mourning at his loss much to his drunken emotional sorrow. Law later states that Kaido would have killed Doflamingo if he ceased producing SMILE, and Doflamingo became very fearful at the possibility of incurring Kaido's wrath when Luffy and Law threatened his production. Despite calling him weak, Kaido heavily valued Doflamingo's business to the degree that when Doflamingo was captured by the Marines, he ordered Jack to stop hunting for one of the Kozuki Family's retainers and to free Doflamingo from an armada of Marine warships escorting him to Impel Down.

Kozuki Family
Kaido became mortal enemies with the Kozuki Family, as he worked with Orochi to kill Kozuki Oden and he killed Kozuki Toki while attempting to kill her and her children, Momonosuke and Hiyori. He told Momonosuke that Oden was a "foolish lord". Despite that, he did see Oden as a worthy opponent and was impressed with Oden surviving the boiling execution, so Kaido decided to kill Oden himself as a sign of respect. Kaido had also threatened to kill Momonosuke, holding him by the throat above the Kuri Castle when Momonosuke declared his ambition to be the shogun. Kaido considered him an immature brat in response due to knowing Momonosuke saying it out of duty towards his heritage rather than it being his own dream. Considering him as pathetic compared to his father, Kaido chose to leave Momonosuke behind in the burning castle rather than kill him personally. Because of Kaido's actions, Momonosuke and his retainers wish to bring him down after being sent 20 years forward in time by Toki and have spent all their time working to form an alliance to accomplish this. When Kaido first saw Momonosuke again after twenty years, he remained unimpressed seeing the him brutally beaten by Kanjuro, and considered him a pathetic weakling compared to Oden.

Nine Red Scabbards
To fulfill Oden's wish of opening Wano's borders, the Scabbards (except Kanjuro, who was a traitor) plotted to defeat Kaido.

Ten years before Momonosuke's return, Ashura Doji gave up hope after his comrades became impatient and perished trying to fight the Beasts Pirates. Kaido was impressed with Ashura's strength and wanted him to join his crew. Although he had stopped following the Kozuki Family, Ashura had no wish to serve Kaido and refused, though Kaido remained open to him joining and offered to forgive Ashura if he did. However, after Yasuie sacrificed himself to give the Kozuki revolution a chance, Ashura eventually rejoined the Kozuki Family and their quest to bring down Kaido. Kaido was shocked to learn that Kanjuro, who he had nearly killed twenty years ago was in reality, a secret ally of Orochi and was very impressed by Kanjuro for his deceptive skill that had also fooled him.

Edward Newgate
Much like with Big Mom, the late Whitebeard was Kaido's fellow Yonko and former crewmate on the Rocks Pirates. While acknowledging and respecting his power, Kaido viewed Whitebeard as too soft because of his morals and honor code. Prior to the Battle of Marineford, Kaido attempted to intercept Whitebeard while he was on his way to Marineford with the intention of killing him, although the attempt was stopped by Shanks. Two years later, he cursed Whitebeard for being able to die while he was unable to.

Monkey D. Luffy
Kaido first heard of Luffy after finding out that he worked with Trafalgar Law to destroy his SMILE production. He refuses to consider Luffy as a serious threat, viewing him defeating Doflamingo as nothing special. However, he still has a grudge on Luffy for his actions and wants to get revenge, as he was angry that Big Mom wanted to come and kill Luffy, and he went to Kuri when he heard that Luffy and Law's alliance had come there. Although Kaido defeated Luffy with a single hit and still does not view him as a threat, he was impressed with the pirate's abilities and so had him imprisoned to break his spirit and make him into a subordinate.

Trafalgar Law
As with Luffy, Kaido became enemies with Law after finding out that the two pirates had destroyed his SMILE production. Like Luffy, Kaido wants to kill Law but does not consider him to be a real threat. He went to Kuri to apprehend them upon finding out they were there, but after defeating Luffy, Kaido notably wanted to go back to Onigashima and get drunk rather than search for Law.

Eustass Kid
Kid encountered Kaido when the latter fell out of the sky and landed at the Kid Pirates' hideout before coming face to face with the rookie pirate. Kid refused to submit to Kaido and tried to fight him only to be defeated and captured. Kaido then imprisoned Kid, hoping to eventually break his spirit. During his imprisonment, Kid is shown to hold a strong grudge against Kaido and firmly told Luffy that he will be the one to defeat the Yonko. However, after seeing what happened to Killer, Kid decided to prioritize finding the rest of his crew and rejected Luffy's offer for an alliance. After getting his crew back, he joined Luffy and Law to take down Kaido but just for the glory of defeating him, not for the Kozuki revolution.

Wano Country Citizens
Kaido is said to be revered in Wano as a "wise king" and protector of their realm, although this only seems to be the case among people who are loyal to Orochi. Anyone who becomes an enemy of Orochi also becomes an enemy of Kaido, as seen when he attacked and killed the remaining daimyo for rebellion and attempted to kill the Kozuki Family and everyone associated with it. Thus, Kozuki Family loyalists consider Kaido to be an enemy, and those who have allied with the family's survivors are working to take down Kaido as well as Orochi. When Kaido attempted to search Kuri for Luffy and Law while drunk, he mindlessly caused damage to Okobore Town without a second thought by flying through it.

Yamato
Yamato is Kaido's son. It is unknown what they think of each other aside from Kaido calling his son an "idiot", but Kaido wanted him to be involved in the Fire Festival feast that he and his crew were partaking in.

Abilities and Powers
People often say "If it's one-on-one, Kaido will win." On land, sea, and air... among all living things, he is a pirate who is known as the "strongest creature"!!!As one of the Yonko, Kaido is one of the four strongest pirates alive, renowned as the "Strongest Creature". Notably, he has a bounty of 4,611,100,000, which is the highest known bounty of any pirate currently alive, surpassed only by the bounties of the late Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. As the Beasts Pirates' Governor-General, Kaido has authority over a massive, 20,000-strong pirate organization, and due to his alliance with Orochi, he and his crew enjoy authority over and cooperation with thousands of Wano's samurai forces serving Orochi.

Kaido attempted to take Whitebeard's life, something very few would dare, and subsequently had an encounter with Shanks, along with clashing against Big Mom two years later. The Five Elders mentioned Kaido as one of the few people able to stop Blackbeard. His strength was also recognized by his fellow Yonko Big Mom, who could not fathom the idea of Monkey D. Luffy defeating him.

According to Trafalgar Law, Kaido could easily kill Donquixote Doflamingo, a world-famous, extremely powerful pirate in his own right; Doflamingo himself, despite his normally always-retained fearlessness, was shown visibly distressed at the prospect of angering Kaido. Additionally, Law speculated that his own crew and the Straw Hats allied together would only have a roughly 30% chance of bringing down Kaido, though the statement is questionable seeing as, at that time, Law was not serious about fighting him. Kaido defeated two other members of the Worst Generation, Eustass Kid and Killer, along with the rest of their crew, with seemingly little issue and refused to take Law and Luffy's alliance seriously regardless of their victory over Doflamingo, viewing defeating a Shichibukai as nothing special. Kaido's confidence was later proven to be warranted when he defeated Luffy with a single blow.

Overall, Kaido has been stated to have only lost seven battles in his lifetime and only been injured once. As stated during his introduction, people consider it a certainty for Kaido to win any one-on-one battle he takes part in, and even most groups and armies have little ability to take him down. When the daimyos rebelled, Kaido crushed them, and when hundreds of samurai went to Onigashima to attack Kaido ten years ago, they were all killed. Kaido also took on the Gecko Pirates 23 years ago and slaughtered all of them except for their captain Gecko Moria.

Similar to the other Yonko, Kaido has many underlings and other pirate crews allied with him and is able to claim self-governing islands as his own territories. With Caesar and Doflamingo as his associates, Kaido has created an army of over 500 Artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruit users, known as the Gifters.

Kaido's has a strong will, as shown when he was completely unaffected by Luffy's Haoshoku Haki.

Physical Abilities
Befitting his bulk, Kaido is legendary for his supreme physical power as the strongest creature in the world. He is capable of swinging his kanabo hard enough to send a normal-sized person flying into the distance in one blow, and he broke past the tremendous defensive power of Luffy's Gear Fourth with great ease. He once sunk nine enormous prison ships singlehandedly.

Kaido also possesses nigh-indestructible durability, even without using Busoshoku Haki. He took multiple powerful hits from Monkey D. Luffy's Gear Third while in his dragon form and transformed back into his human form after being pummeled into the ground, and proceeded to receive a barrage of Gear Fourth hits that were even more powerful, yet he felt nothing more than annoyance, received no injuries, and was able to quickly get back up and counterattack without issue. Kaido also clashed with Big Mom continuously for anywhere from one to three days, and emerged without any injuries.

This durability has given Kaido the reputation of being unable to die. He has been caught and tortured 18 times, and people as powerful as the Marines and other Yonko have attempted to execute him 40 times, only to fail as Kaido survived every single attempt because every single execution weapon broke when being used on him. Most notably, Kaido has jumped from 10,000 meters from the sky onto the ground, creating a massive shockwave strong enough to sink a large ship nearby, and emerged only with a headache; it has even become a hobby for him to attempt suicide, only for it to fail. The only known time he ever suffered an injury was in a battle against Kozuki Oden, a legendary samurai dual-wielding O Wazamono Meito Enma and Ame no Habakiri, gaining the only scar on his body.

Kaido is extremely fast despite his massive size, as shown when he moved past Luffy in an instant while attacking him.

Devil Fruit


Kaido ate a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, allowing him to transform into a massive blue-scaled Eastern dragon with a notable circle of flame around each of his upper arms. In this form, he is capable of moving through the air by creating clouds and using them as footholds. He can also release devastating blasts of fiery heat from his mouth, which can instantly blow apart a large area.

Attacks

 * Bolo Breath: Kaido releases a massive heat blast from his mouth towards a target. It travels very quickly and is extremely powerful, being capable of instantly decimating large structures like the ruins of Oden Castle, and surrounding terrain like mountainscapes are left thoroughly shattered, flattened, and scorched. "Bolo" is a term used in Central America and Mexico meaning "drunk". This is called Blast Breath in the Viz Manga.

Weapons


Kaido wields a giant metal kanabō covered in spikes as his weapon of choice. Using it in conjunction with his immense physical strength, he could send a person flying far away and severely injure them with a single blow. Kaido used it to defeat someone as powerful as Kozuki Oden, which left the latter severely injured and rendered unconscious. He also used it to defeat Busoshoku Haki-enhanced Gear Fourth Luffy, breaking past the tremendous defensive power and even sent him flying away, knocking him unconscious. Kaido has wielded his Kanabō since he was an apprentice of the Rocks Pirates.

20 years ago, he used a double-barreled handgun to execute Kozuki Oden.

Attacks

 * Raimei Hakke (雷鳴八卦): Kaido charges towards his opponent at high speed, swinging his kanabo horizontally to strike them with devastating force. The impact releases several black thunders, similar to that of a Haoshoku Haki clash. It was first used against Luffy in his Gear Fourth form, knocking him unconscious with a single hit. The "Eight Trigrams", or Bagua are the eight symbols of Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality. In the VIZ Manga, this is called Thunder Bagua.

Haki


Kaido possesses Haoshoku Haki, which was first seen when he clashed with fellow Haoshoku Haki-wielder Big Mom, creating the shockwaves that appear when two users clash.

Past


Over 40 years ago, Kaido joined the Rocks Pirates as an apprentice. At some point, his crewmate Charlotte Linlin did something that put Kaido in her debt, which she considered to be a lifelong one. 38 years ago, the Rocks Pirates clashed with Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp on God Valley and were defeated, resulting in the crew disbanding.

Since becoming a pirate, he had been defeated seven times and captured eighteen times by the Marines and the other Yonko. During said captures, Kaido was repeatedly tortured and given the death sentence forty times. However, no method of execution was effective on him, and Kaido managed to sink nine massive prison ships that held him. At least 33 years ago, Kaido started recruiting his crew.

Kaido was not recognized as one of the top pirates in the world until around the time when Gol D. Roger was executed. He, along with Shanks, then joined Whitebeard and Big Mom among the ranks of the Yonko.



After Kurozumi Orochi became shogun of Wano Country, Kaido formed a partnership with him and supported his tyranny. 25 years ago, Kaido confronted Kozuki Oden at the shogun's castle after the latter attempted to kill Orochi. Kaido and Orochi then made a deal with Oden. If Oden danced naked in the Flower Capital once a week, citizens would be spared. They also promised to leave Wano in five years. Afterwards, Kaido flew over the shogun's castle in his dragon form.

23 years ago, Kaido fought with Gecko Moria in the Ringo region of Wano Country and defeated him. Though the exact details of the battle are unknown, Moria lost his entire crew and was left warped and shattered from the experience, holding a grudge against Kaido to this day.



20 years ago when Oden and his nine retainers were on their way to Onigashima, Kaido and his crew confronted them in the Udon region. In the ensuing battle, Oden managed to wound Kaido. However, when Oden was distracted by Kurozumi Higurashi who disguised herself and pretended to be a hostage, Kaido struck him down. Sometime after the battle, Kaido killed Higurashi.

On the day of Oden's execution, Kaido joined Orochi in witnessing the execution. Oden then made a deal with Kaido to let those who survived the execution go free and Kaido gave him an hour. Kaido was amused to watch Oden as the latter endured standing in a pot of boiling oil while holding his retainers with a board. Although Oden successfully survived one hour in the boiling pot, Kaido and Orochi decided to execute Oden and his retainers regardless. As Oden's retainers fled, Kaido apologized to him for Higurashi's interference before shooting Oden in the head.

After Oden's death, Kaido attacked and set Oden Castle ablaze before Oden's retainers returned. While threatening Momonosuke, he told the boy that his father was a foolish lord. However, Kaido decided to leave Momonosuke in the burning castle instead of killing him outright. Kaido also managed to gain possession of a Road Poneglyph, one of the four poneglyphs that when deciphered could reveal the location of Laugh Tale.

Ten years ago, the Kozuki Family's supporters gathered to stage a massive rebellion before the comeback of Oden's retainers, Kaido personally intervened and brutally massacred a majority of the rebels along with their families. At some point after taking over Wano, Kaido additionally faced the thief Shutenmaru.

Sometime within the last four years, Kaido began collaborating with the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo and the rogue Marine scientist Caesar Clown to create an army of artificial Zoan Devil Fruit users, via SMILE.

Marineford Arc
When Whitebeard was on his way to save Ace from his execution at Marineford, Kaido tried to attack him. However, Shanks intercepted Kaido before he could reach Whitebeard. It is unknown how their encounter ended, but Shanks arrived unscathed at Marineford by the end of the war.

Dressrosa Arc


Kaido went up to Ballon Terminal, where he encountered Urouge, who learned of his intention to attempt suicide and allowed him to proceed. Kaido jumped off the sky island and landed 10,000 meters below on the Kid Pirates' base. However, he only received a minor headache and found himself face-to-face with the Kid, On Air, and Hawkins alliance. After cursing Whitebeard for having been able to die, Kaido yelled that Doflamingo needed to make preparations for battle before promising to start a massive war due to the world boring him.

Zou Arc


After their encounter, Kaido badly defeated Eustass Kid and placed him in a cell, while Scratchmen Apoo and Basil Hawkins became his subordinates. After Jack's defeat, Apoo contacted Kaido in his fortress, revealing that they had lost all contact with Jack's fleet after they went to attack Zou for a second time.

After learning that Jack's attempt to rescue Doflamingo failed, Kaido was enraged at not being able to acquire any more SMILEs, which meant he could not gain any more Gifters. As he drowned his sorrows in alcohol, Kaido's despair turned to rage when his subordinates mentioned Monkey D. Luffy and Trafalgar Law, causing him to smash one out of the building with his mace. Kaido angrily stated that the two Supernovas were nowhere near him in power, pointing to the defeated Eustass Kid as an example.

Levely Arc
As the news of Luffy's exploits at Totto Land spread across the world, Kaido read the newspaper and angrily wondered why Luffy was in Big Mom's territory. A few days later, he was contacted by Big Mom, who demanded the right to kill Luffy. He rejected her request since he wished to take care of Luffy himself, but Big Mom was unbending as she reminded him of a debt.

Wano Country Arc


After getting drunk, Kaido flew to Kuri in Wano Country. On the way, he found Speed and Tama and attacked them after hearing a report of the former's treachery. He then went to Okobore Town and called out to Jack to bring Luffy and Law to him. While flying over Okobore Town, he recognized Shutenmaru and asked him to become his subordinate. Kaido was drunk and in a partial stupor, which was a sight that unnerved even the likes of Jack, a subordinate known for his own violent streaks, fearing what Kaido would do in this state.

Basil Hawkins then came and told Kaido that Luffy and Law were hiding in the ruins of Oden Castle, and Kaido immediately flew toward it and shot a heat breath at it, instantly destroying it. However, he was then hit in the head by a giant punch from Luffy.



After Kaido was sent crashing into the ground, Luffy got his attention by yelling at him. Kaido attacked with a fire breath, but Luffy dodged and used Elephant Gatling. Kaido then returned to human form, and Luffy activated Gear Fourth: Boundman and assaulted Kaido with Kong Organ. Luffy's attacks were ineffective, as Kaido then struck Luffy with "Raimei Hakke", rendering him unconscious with just one hit. Kaido stood over Luffy, scoffing at the idea his opponent aspired to be Pirate King after bringing him down with such ease.

Though Luffy was unconscious, Kaido noticed that Luffy was still glaring at him. He then ordered his men to imprison Luffy, deciding to break his spirit and turn him into a subordinate. While walking away, Kaido learned that Luffy possessed Haoshoku Haki when the latter instinctively knocked out some of his men. Kaido found that attribute worth some credit but was equally quick to order Luffy locked up. Deciding to take care of Law later, Kaido departed to go drink again, annoyed that he had sobered up.

When he heard that Big Mom and her crew were attempting to enter Wano, Kaido ordered his subordinates to stop them. He then heard that King knocked Big Mom's ship off the waterfall.

While Queen was at Udon, Kaido informed him through Den Den Mushi about Komurasaki's death. Kaido then watched the broadcast of Shimotsuki Yasuie's execution.



After Big Mom was brought to Onigashima, Kaido ordered his subordinates to release her from her cuffs. The two Yonko then began to argue and clashed weapons, causing the skies above Onigashima to split in two. The two Yonko continued fighting throughout the night. Kaido and Big Mom eventually stopped their fight and came to an agreement. After speaking with Apoo about his return over Smart Tanishi, Kaido announced to his subordinates that he and Big Mom were forming a pirate alliance to take over the world, shocking many who heard the unexpected news.

As the Beasts Pirates were preparing for the upcoming feast on the day of the Fire Festival, Kaido asked for his son before he was informed of the Tobiroppo's arrival. Kaido, King, and Jack then had a meeting with the Tobiroppo. After having Bao Huang go over the day's schedule, Kaido gave the Tobiroppo the mission of finding his son Yamato, saying he would let them battle one of the All-Stars for their position if they succeeded.

Kaido then enjoyed the festival with Orochi and did not mind if Black Maria decided to stay. They were briefly interrupted when Kanjuro arrived with Momonosuke. Kaido told his men to stand down as Kanjuro was Orochi's ally. As Kanjuro delivered Momonosuke to Orochi, Kaido expressed his disappointment with the boy. He also learned that the plot to stop the Kozuki rebellion failed and that Luffy, Zoro, Kid, and Killer were present on the island.

Major Battles

 * Rocks Pirates vs. Roger Pirates and Marines
 * Kaido vs. Gecko Moria's first crew (unseen)
 * Kaido vs. Kozuki Oden
 * Kaido vs. Ashura Doji and Denjiro (unseen)
 * Kaido vs. Eustass Kid and Killer (unseen)
 * Kaido vs. Speed
 * Kaido vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Kaido vs. Charlotte Linlin

Name
Kaido's name was officially romanized as "Kaido" in One Piece Green: Secret Pieces (the long "o" in the name left un-transcribed, matching this wiki's romaji convention of long vowels: a normal o or ō with a macron); however, Kaido's bounty poster has shown his name in-story as "Kaidou".

Epithet
The "hyakujū" (百獣) part of Kaido's epithet is an idiomatic noun meaning "all kinds of beasts/animals" (referring to the animal kingdom), combining the kanji for "hundred" (百) and "beast" (獣); it is usually found in the Japanese title attributed to the lion, "hyakujū no ō" (百獣の王), meaning "king of beasts". With Kaido's title an obvious derivation ("Kaido" replacing "king"), it can be translated as "Kaido of the Beasts". In the VIZ manga translation, Kaido is instead called "Kaido, the King of the Beasts" to make the connection more obvious.

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece Thousand Storm
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Bounty Rush
 * One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum

Trivia

 * As with Big Mom's, Kaido's first-shown silhouettes prior to his debut greatly differed from his actual looks revealed much later:
 * His first silhouetted self was seen when the Yonko were first explained by Garp in Water 7, depicting Kaido as having a much wider face, a pointier, beak-like nose, and a huge, evil-looking grin as opposed to a frown.
 * While Jinbe briefly addressed the Yonko at the end of the Fish-Man Island Arc, the anime showed a similar silhouette of Kaido as the above-mentioned, with his hair much puffier, wavier than it would turn out to be.
 * The anime episode of Kaido's debut first aired on May 1st, which is also Kaido's given birthday.
 * Kaido's bounty is the highest currently (post-timeskip) revealed to be active, the second-highest among the Yonko past and present (below Whitebeard's), and the third-highest known overall.
 * Among the Yonko, Kaido is the only one not yet seen as a child. He is also the only one whose age (as well as his height and blood type) is unknown.
 * Though Kaido's powers are classified as Mythical Zoan, dragons have notably been a real, natural existence in the One Piece world, namely the dragon killed by Shimotsuki Ryuma in Monsters (confirmed in the Thriller Bark Arc to have canonically occurred). However, said dragon more so resembled a Western-style dragon as opposed to the East Asian-style dragon form of Kaido. The other dragons seen so far also were more Western-like, and were artificial lifeforms created by Vegapunk.
 * Kaido's dragon form greatly resembles that of the "failed" Artificial Devil Fruit created by Vegapunk that Kozuki Momonosuke has consumed.
 * Kaido being able to transform into a dragon was first hinted at in the Punk Hazard Arc, well before he was even introduced. Then Kin'emon expressed deep resentment against one of Vegapunk's artificial dragons while fighting it, and when Brook commented that the samurai's hatred was reminiscent of someone trying to avenge their dead parents, Kin'emon replied that it was "nothing less", referring to Kaido being responsible for his master Oden's death.
 * Kaido seems to be inspired by oni, ogre-like yōkai who are among the greatest icons of Japanese mythology:
 * Oni are usually depicted as having a giant, hulking frame, one or multiple horns on their heads, wild hair, and a fierce visage, traits shared by Kaido.
 * Like Kaido, oni are said to possess immense body strength. In addition, they are often depicted carrying kanabō as their signature weapon, like Kaido does.
 * Kaido's residence on Onigashima (literally "island of oni/ogres") is based on the Japanese folktale hero Momotarō's tale wherein he, once matured into adolescence, went to defeat a band of oni dwelling on an island of said name.
 * A Japanese proverb is "oni no me ni mo namida" (鬼の目にも涙), which means "a tear in the ogre's eye", saying that even the hardest of hearts can be moved to tears. This fits Kaido's side as a maudlin drunk prone to weeping.
 * A resemblance of Kaido's character can be also observed to a particular oni of Japanese myth, Shuten-dōji, whose story is one of Japan's most popular oni tales (and whom Ashura Doji is also based on):
 * Shuten-dōji was a giant, powerful oni and leader of a bandit gang who lived at Mt. Ōe in his fortress. He was born human, but as a child was referred to as a "monster child" (怪童) for his supernatural strength and wit (which Kaido's name may derive from, with the word "kaidō" also translatable as "an unusually large or strong youth").
 * Since his youth, Shuten-dōji had a matchless thirst for sake (hence his name that means "sake-drinking boy") and after becoming an oni would often go on drunken rages, similar to Kaido's own drunk persona. In fact, Kaido's sake gourd has the kanji for "heaven" (天) on it, which is also contained in a variant of the name "Shuten-dōji" (酒天童子).
 * In some versions of Shuten-dōji's legend, he was fathered by the legendary monster serpent/dragon Yamata no Orochi (which Kaido's in-story connection to shogun Orochi may be inspired by). Shuten-dōji's lust for alcohol is shared by the Orochi of legend, and in fact, both said dragon and Shuten-dōji were slain by being incapacitated with alcohol.
 * Kaido's name may further derive from Kintarō, also called Sakata no Kintoki, another folk hero of Japanese myth. Not only is Kintarō connected to the figure of Shuten-dōji (capturing him at one point), one of his other (Edo-period) names is "Sakata Kaidōmaru" (坂田怪童丸). In a more fanciful version of Kintarō's tale, he was born to a yamauba (mountain witch or "ogress") who had been impregnated by a thunderclap sent from a red dragon (thunder god) of Mt. Ashigara.
 * Kaido's rank as head of the Beasts Pirates is called "governor-general" (総督), also translatable as simply "governor" or "viceroy". In a Japanese context, such term can refer to certain military commanders that were active in Japan from the Bakumatsu to the early Meiji era. Additionally, from 1910 to 1945, Japanese-administered Korea had a governor-general, as did Japanese-administered Taiwan between 1895 and 1945.
 * Kaido's belt, a twist of white rope with zigzag paper streamers, is based on the ropes (綱) traditionally worn by yokozuna (the highest-ranked sumo wrestlers, hence their name) during their entrance ceremonies so as to denote their rank. Said belts are a variation of the much larger shimenawa used to mark off sacred Shinto spaces like shrines; similar to the shimenawa, the yokozuna belts hold religious meaning as objects of purification.
 * Kaido's Wano-bound reputation as a "wise king" (明王) is based on the Wisdom Kings (their Japanese name), who are Vajrayana Buddhist deities.
 * Kaido's dragon form is that of a Chinese or generally East Asian dragon (or "lóng").
 * Just as Kaido is said to be the world's "Strongest Creature", Eastern dragons are seen as symbolizing power and so are extremely powerful; either semi-divine or literal gods.
 * Eastern dragons are associated with water as well as the weather (such as summoning rainfall). This may correlate to how Kaido appears to have limited ability to influence weather (or at least clouds).
 * Kaido's ability, as a dragon, to fly by generating clouds to use as footholds is based on Chinese dragons' ability to magically fly via clouds.
 * Eastern dragons were traditionally believed to be able to adopt human form, just like Kaido can shift between human and dragon form as a Zoan user.
 * Kaido's dragon form is blue: in Chinese culture, the Azure Dragon (also "Blue Dragon", "Green Dragon" or "Blue-Green Dragon") is a Dragon God who (as one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations) represents the East and spring season. In Japanese, the dragon is called "Seiryū".
 * Corresponding to this may be the fact that Kaido lives on Onigashima, which is to the east of the Wano mainland.
 * Eastern dragons are commonly depicted with hair, including a wild mane, long, tendril-like whiskers appended to each side of their snout, and beard hair. This matches Kaido's wild mane, long and thin mustache, and beard that he retains in his dragon form.
 * Kaido's dragon form has four claws/toes: four-clawed dragons are customarily depicted in Mongolia and Korea (as opposed to the three claws common for Japanese dragons). With respect to China, since its early days of imperial dynasty, four-toed dragons have been a symbol of imperial aristocracy (such as princes) and denoted imperial ranking below that of the emperor himself (who was instead symbolized by five-toed dragons).
 * Eastern dragons are depicted as chimerically amalgamated from multiple animal parts, and there is a saying of "9 resemblances", which commonly are: deer antlers, a camel head, demon eyes, ox ears, a snake neck, a clam's belly, scales of a carp, claws of an eagle, and tiger paws, though there are differing accounts. Further, in addition to assuming human form, Eastern dragons oft can transform into other animals too. All this may correspond to how Kaido is called "Kaido of the Beasts" and commands an army of pirates with animal-based powers.
 * However, Eastern dragons do not typically breathe fire. Those who do were said to be sent from the heavens to earth as punishment. Kaido's ability to breath a heat blast (contrary to Eastern dragon's water association) could be more inspired by European conceptions of fire-breathing dragons or "firedrakes".
 * Kaido's dragon form is also reminiscent of Shenron, a magical, wish-granting dragon god from the Dragon Ball franchise. Notably, dark, swirling clouds accompany the arrival of either character.

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