Yamato

Yamato is the daughter of Kaidou of the Four Emperors and proclaims to be "Kozuki Oden". Her profound admiration for the legendary samurai has led Yamato to embody everything related to the samurai to the extent of proclaiming to be a man as well, and she is widely referred to as Kaidou's son.

After meeting Monkey D. Luffy, Yamato decided to defect to the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance waging war against Kaidou, and once her father is defeated, Yamato intends on going out to sea with Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.

Appearance
Yamato is tall, being almost twice Luffy's height but not nearly as tall as Kaidou. She 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, and wears gold hoop earrings on both ears and has red horns. Clothing-wise, she wears a pair of red hakama pants and sandals, and, much like Oden, wears a large purple and white nio-daisuki behind the back.

Yamato's current outfit is a sleeveless white garment with a diamond-shaped design on both sides and an indigo, wisp-patterned bottom half. This garment was originally a sleeved kimono with long white sleeves, but these were later ripped off, leaving the garment sleeveless and making it more form-fitting. Also, 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.

Around four years ago, Yamato wore a similar long-sleeved outfit, but with different symbols on the breast area. 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-daisuki. In the manga her 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. She has referred to herself as Oden on multiple occasions and has even emulated his gender, referring to herself as the "son of Kaido" 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 herself as such to Oden's son Momonosuke, to the boy's horror. Although having wholeheartedly embraced this identity, Yamato has not cast aside her original persona, having referred to Yamato as her "other name". Yamato does not seem to like people getting her name wrong, as she quickly corrected Luffy when he referred to her with a nickname.

Having read of the great exploits documented by Oden in his logbook, which she considers to be her "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 herself to be extremely strong-willed, having put up considerable resistance to Kaidou's imprisonment of her despite having yet to fully break free. Although initially seeming to be more subordinate to him previously, her battle with Ace led to her destroying Kaidou's dragon statue in an act of defiance that has since led to more outright rebellion. Yamato has engaged in combat with her father numerous times and has openly expressed opposition and defiance to his plans for her, 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 her father's crew, making her intentions and loyalty clear to them during her attacks. Yamato is also willing to go to great lengths to achieve her objectives, having basically kidnapped Luffy in order to get to talk to him and following through with this tactic even after Luffy responded by attacking her.

Yamato is more than willing to put her body and life on the line to protect people she cares about, as she believes that Oden would never abandon a comrade in danger. She resolutely withstood a barrage of powerful artillery strikes by the Armored Division to protect Momonosuke, and later confronted Kaidou by herself to stall him until Luffy returned despite knowing she was no match for him. However, Yamato also takes enjoyment in engaging in combat; despite framing her plan to split up from Momonosuke as a decoy strategy to trick the Beasts Pirates, Momonosuke and Shinobu both noted to themselves that Yamato seemed mainly interested in going to fight.

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 her desire to be Oden, Kaidou responded by violently beating her and has subsequently been cruel to Yamato numerous times since childhood, having kept her imprisoned on Onigashima since the age of eight years old and earning her hatred and contempt for his actions, as Yamato wants nothing to do with Kaidou or his plans. When hearing Kaidou's plan for the New Onigashima Project and his desire for her 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 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 she had doubts about Kaidou's many threats, including using explosive cuffs to kill her 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, she realized that Kaidou was actually willing to kill her and, as a result, chose to sever relations with him, such to the point of proclaiming that there would not be any concern for Kaidou if he were killed during the raid on Onigashima, and to the point that she 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 dressing up as a man like him, and although Kaidou disapproves of this 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 Yamato 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 her to assume such a position.

Beasts Pirates
As the daughter of Kaidou, the majority of the Beast Pirates showed a great amount of respect towards Yamato, referring to her as "Lord Yamato", and having a great respect and fear of Yamato's strength, though most are perplexed by her 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 Yamato officially cut ties with Kaidou, she openly attacked any and all members of the Beasts Pirates, despite some members' confusion as to why she was fighting with the enemy. After Yamato's rebellion from the Beasts Pirates was made apparent, they were ordered to immediately fight back against her, cementing them officially as enemies.

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 told him that Kaidou was her father and then expressed a wish to be freed from Kaidou and an intent to leave Wano with Luffy's crew 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 her attempt to correct Luffy with her actual name, as well as Ulti's name when Luffy gives her a nickname as well. When battling Kaidou, Yamato openly told him that he would lose to Luffy, believing that he would return, calling him "the one that Oden was waiting for", and that after that, she would go to sea with Luffy and the Straw Hats, which upsets Kaidou.

Portgas D. Ace


Yamato met the 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, she 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 the conversation with Luffy in which Yamato fondly stated that Luffy was reminiscent of Ace and that, although it was not possible 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. Yamato had tried to save him from Kaidou at the time, but was powerless to do anything. Yamato 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 Yamato proclaimed to be Oden and was initially mistrustful. However, after watching Yamato take on incoming attacks from Sasaki and his Armored Division to protect Momonosuke, he and Shinobu recognized her as an ally. Later, Momonosuke was shocked to hear that Yamato was Kaidou's daughter, but did not hold it against her.

Overview
I recognize your value…as a soldier!!!

Yamato is a very powerful warrior, with Black Maria noting that bringing her back to Kaidou's fortress after having 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 as strong as her was not the captain and lamenting that Yamato could not join his crew. During the battle on Onigashima, Yamato clashed with Kaidou, a particularly notable feat considering the Emperor's nearly unparalleled physical might.

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 Second and Gear Third. When Yamato 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 also possesses tremendous durability, having emerged from being struck by multiple explosive bazooka blasts with only superficial bruises and cuts, though she eventually began taking more serious wounds as the bazooka strikes continued.

Devil Fruit


Yamato ate the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that enables transformation into a divine wolf, as well as a hybrid between a human and that animal. According to Kaidou, this beast is a "Guardian Deity of Wano Country". Yamato ate this fruit purely out of hunger despite the fact it was not meant for her.

As a Zoan, this fruit greatly bolsters Yamato's physical abilities. Yamato was able to clash near-evenly against her father, 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 her with fangs and claws that are well-suited for combat.

Being a Mythical Zoan, this fruits bestows special powers that a regular wolf does not possess. Yamato is able release a powerful blast of fire/ice (unclear which one) from her mouth that can clash evenly with and cancel out Kaidou's flame breath blast.

Busoshoku Haki
Yamato is a highly skilled user of Busoshoku Haki, having imbued her hand and kanabo with it while preparing to attack Hatcha, resulting in a lightning-like effect. Yamato can use Busoshoku Haki to an advanced degree, being capable of projecting it a great distance forward and hitting faraway opponents with tremendous force with a simple kanabo swing. Yamato can also use it to hurt Logia users, having clashed against Ace's fire when they first fought and managing to successfully injure him.

Kenbunshoku Haki
Yamato also possesses Kenbunshoku Haki.

Weapons


Yamato wields a giant kanabo club much like Kaidou, though hers is studded and more slender, while Kaidou's is spiked and a bit thicker. Coupled with Yamato's immense strength, the kanabo can wreak 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 her kanabo despite its great size and weight, being capable of moving it to counter Luffy's rapid attacks with little effort.

Attacks

 * Raimei Hakke (雷鳴八卦): A technique used by Kaidou and imitated by Yamato, in which she lunges forward at their target with blinding speed and swings her kanabo horizontally, striking the target with tremendous force. The attack was first seen used against Ulti in her full-beast transformation, knocking her out instantly. It is called Thunder Bagua in the VIZ translation. However, while Kaidou uses only one hand to swing his kanabo, Yamato swings it with both hands instead. Ulti disdainfully calls this Raimei Yonke (雷鳴四卦) instead, but coughed blood while doing this.




 * Narikabura (鳴鏑): Swinging her kanabo upward, Yamato unleashes a vertical energy projectile to hit opponents from below with great force. It was first used against Hatcha, and immediately knocked him unconscious upon striking him in the head. Narikabura is another term for Kabura-ya ("turnip-headed arrow"), arrows used by samurai which made a whistling sound when fired. It is called Narikabura Arrow in the Viz translation.

Past
Twenty years ago at the age of 8, Yamato was present at Kozuki Oden's execution in the Legendary Hour, being extremely saddened yet also inspired at the great samurai's death. Immediately afterwards, Yamato ran to Kuri Castle to try to save Oden's family, but could only watch as her father Kaidou attacked them. Following Kuri Castle's destruction, Yamato found Oden's logbook in a nearby river and quickly became attached to it and the exploits contained within, treasuring it more than anything else. However, at some point Yamato told Kaidou that she wanted to become Oden, leading to Kaidou beating her up and imprisoning her on Onigashima with exploding handcuffs on her wrists. However, this did not deter Yamato from continuing to emulate Oden. One time, whilst starving, Yamato found the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami and ate it, not realizing it was a highly valuable Devil Fruit that Kaidou had worked hard to acquire.



Four years before the present day, Yamato confronted the pirate Portgas D. Ace as he and his crew invaded Onigashima to kill Kaidou, who was on an expedition. Yamato and Ace engaged in a fierce duel, during which Ace learned of Yamato being trapped by Kaidou and thus encouraged her to break free from his control. This ultimately led Yamato to destroy a large dragon statue that her father valued in an act of defiance as she expressed her dream to be free and set sail. Yamato and Ace then had drinks together, and she asked him about other pirates making a name for themselves. Ace told her about several up-and-coming ones, but spent most of the time talking about his little brother Luffy. Ace ended up accidentally mentioning Luffy's ambitious dream and, realizing his error, begged Yamato to not laugh at it; however, Yamato reacted with excitement and quickly affirmed she would not do so, as Luffy's goal was the exact same as that of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger which she read about in Oden's logbook. Following their time together, Yamato gave Ace a Vivre Card which would allow them to meet again one day as he set sail. Two years later, however, the card burned up and Yamato learned about Ace's death soon afterwards from the newspaper. In that newspaper, she also learned about the exploits of Luffy and gained the desire to meet him one day.

Wano Country Arc


Right before the planned Golden Kagura festivities on the day of the Fire Festival, Yamato went missing and no one on the Beasts Pirates knew where she had gone. Later, after Monkey D. Luffy had invaded the Skull Dome and began clashing with Ulti of the Tobiroppo, Yamato came charging in and knocked Ulti out with Raimei Hakke. She then grabbed Luffy and carried him off as she introduced herself; however, Luffy was not willing to stay and talk with Yamato and so the two of them clashed as the Beasts Pirates gathered around. Eventually, however, Yamato was able to take Luffy into an attic space and he agreed to talk for five minutes. As she revealed her true appearance, Yamato explained to Luffy her goal of becoming Oden and fulfilling his goal of opening Wano's borders and thus expressed her intention to fight on his side.

Yamato also told Luffy about her exploding handcuffs, and Luffy offered to remove them. The duo then peeked from a crack in the floorboards to watch Kaidou give a speech, but the floorboard eventually collapsed and caused them to fall onto the main floor, where they were once again chased by the Beasts Pirates. As they fended off the pirates, Luffy removed Yamato's handcuffs and tossed them aside. The cuffs then erupted, sending the duo flying toward the Live Floor where Kaidou was as Yamato grew angry at her father for actually being willing to kill her for escaping and thus disowned him. However, she was prevented from going after him by Luffy, who knew the Nine Red Scabbards would shortly be coming to initiate the assault on the Emperor.

Once the Scabbards arrived and ambushed Kaido, Yamato raced to help them finish him off, only to be confronted by a vengeful Ulti. The two of them clashed with their clubs as Yamato explained her intent to become Oden, and when alerted to the attack on her father by other members of the Beasts Pirates, Yamato shocked them by revealing she was not on their side and was rooting for Kaidou to die. After Kozuki Momonosuke was freed from Kaidou's captivity and sent to escape with his vassal Shinobu, Luffy told Yamato to go help protect him. Yamato was initially unsure if she should, but then realized it would be natural to protect Oden's, and thus her own, son. Yamato chased after Momonosuke and Shinobu and called out to them, saying she was Oden and would protect them; this left the duo horrified and caused Shinobu to unleash a smoke ball to try to get away.



While running from Yamato, Momonosuke and Shinobu were ambushed by Sasaki and the Armored Division, but Yamato stepped in to protect them in the nick of time, fully declaring her intention to fight for the Kozuki Clan to Sasaki. Yamato attended to Momonosuke and Shinobu, and as she used her body to intercept a bazooka strike, she revealed to them her identity as Yamato and intention to protect them. Yamato began battling and taking down members of the Armored Division, but her body started taking serious damage from constant bazooka strikes. Sasaki then prepared to intervene, and to deal with him, Yamato began activating her Devil Fruit transformation. However, the Straw Hat member Franky then came running in while being chased by the Number Hatcha. Hatcha smashed the floor with his club, creating a hole in the ground that enabled Yamato, Momonosuke, and Shinobu to escape by falling to a lower level. Yamato left Franky to take care of Sasaki's troops, but to aid him, she unleashed a long-range strike with her club which knocked out Hatcha. After landing on the floor below, Yamato continued running while holding Momonosuke and Shinobu, telling the former he must survive as he would be the one to guide the world to the "dawn".

The trio went outside to the port to try to sail away from Onigashima, but found that Onigashima had been lifted into the air by Kaidou's Flame Clouds and was heading toward the Flower Capital. The trio moved to a storeroom inside the Skull Dome, and upon seeing the dragon statue that she and Ace had broken, Yamato told Momonosuke and Shinobu about their encounter. While recounting what Ace told her about Luffy, Yamato believed it was an act of fate that caused Momonosuke's group to bring him here, especially considering the initial D. in his name. Yamato gave Momonosuke his father's logbook while reflecting that Oden's record foretelling a new generation of pirates coming 20 years after his time to strike down Kaido was on the verge of coming true.

Later, Yamato heard a voice coming from within the room and found a mouse Mary lurking nearby, which meant the Beasts Pirates had surveillance of their location. The trio then heard a group of Beasts Pirates gathering outside the storeroom to attack, and Yamato had Momonosuke hide inside her garment as she and Shinobu fought their way out of the room. As they resumed running through the Skull Dome, Momonosuke suddenly transformed into a dragon, causing him to pop out of Yamato's garment to her and Shinobu's great shock. Momonosuke quickly managed to calm down and revert back to human form, and Yamato noted his transformation's similarity to her father's as she expressed the desire to get a shot at defeating him.



The trio hid inside the first floor crawlspace, and Yamato prepared to go out on her own. She claimed it was to serve as a decoy, but both Momonosuke and Shinobu knew she was wanting to go and fight Kaidou. Yamato rampaged through the castle, taking down any Beasts Pirates in her way. Upon arriving at the dome roof, Yamato confronted Kaidou, who told Yamato to refer to him as "Father", but Yamato refused and expressed the desire to break the chains holding them together as well as to go out to sea with Luffy after Kaidou was defeated. Kaidou stated that Luffy was dead and there was no way Yamato could beat him; Yamato acknowledged the latter, but still believed Luffy would return and so was prepared to hold Kaidou off until then as the duo clashed. Soon into their battle, Yamato had transformed into her Okuchi no Makami hybrid form as she made clear her intent to fulfill Oden's vision for Wano and refusal to rule over Wano the way Kaidou had intended her to. As Kaidou unleashed a fiery Bolo Breath attack at her, Yamato countered with a breath attack of her own.

Major Battles

 * Yamato vs. Portgas D. Ace
 * Yamato vs. Monkey D. Luffy
 * Yamato vs. Ulti (Onigashima Live Floor)
 * Yamato vs. Sasaki and Armored Division
 * Yamato vs. Kaidou

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 show whether the person was Yamato or not.

Trivia

 * "Yamato", meaning "Great Harmony", is an ancient name for Japan (originating from the Yamato Province) and can 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 is the name of a prominent WWII-era Japanese battleship.
 * Yamato nadeshiko is a phrase that refers to the idealized image of a Japanese female.


 * On a request from a fan in Volume 99's SBS, Oda drew a personification of the side of Yamato's breast, or "sideboob" (横乳).
 * 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 favorite food is oden and raw salmon eaten by biting into it.
 * 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 moreso with the other's father rather than their own. Yamato has been trapped on Wano for much of her 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 Kaido. Additionally, Yamato desires to directly become Oden while Momonosuke possesses the very same Devil Fruit transformation as Kaido.
 * 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 her father in order to fulfill her father's plans for her and prevent her from leaving their homeland 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.

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