Highlights
- Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, has a bounty of 4.6 billion berries and is one of the strongest characters in One Piece.
- Kaido's Devil Fruit, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryuu, allows him to transform into a powerful serpentine dragon with incredible abilities.
- Kaido's purple hybrid form, which is larger and bulkier than his usual hybrid form, grants him even greater strength and access to new powerful techniques.
Kaido is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea in the One Piece world and certainly one of the strongest characters that the fans have seen in the entire series so far. As the leader of the Beasts Pirates, Kaido was a menace to deal with and had amassed a bounty of 4.611 billion berries, which is nothing short of staggering.
Kaido's strength was immense and only a handful of characters could hold their own against him. In the Wano Country arc, Kaido had his powers fully explored and fans could see what this Yonko had trained himself to be capable of doing. Of course, among his many incredible powers was a purple hybrid transformation that was quite different from his unique forms. To this day, fans do not have a clear answer to what this transformation was, however, the answer could have been in front of their eyes all this time.
Kaido's Devil Fruit Transformations
Kaido is one of the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit users. His Devil Fruit was revealed to the fans for the very first time in One Piece chapter 921, where Luffy fought against him for the very first time in the Kuri region of Wano. It was revealed that Kaido had the powers of the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryuu, and that this Devil Fruit allowed him to transform into a giant serpentine dragon at will. This dragon transformation was revealed to be incredibly powerful. Kaido could use Blast Breaths capable of vaporizing mountains with ease and even use other powers such as wind slashes and summon lightning as well. His physical strength was tremendous and, most importantly, he gained an incredibly tough skin, which could only be penetrated by the strongest of fighters.
As the story event on, his Devil Fruit powers were explored more and more. Fans got a first-hand view of how much damage Kaido could absorb when he fought in the Onigashima War and, eventually, when he clashed against the Worst Generation, fans saw him bring out his very best when he made use of his hybrid transformation. As is the case with every single Zoan in One Piece, there is a hybrid transformation that allows the user to tap into a form that lets them use their Devil Fruit powers in a humanoid form, making it more suitable for close-range combat.
Kaido's hybrid transformation proved to be incredibly overpowered as he swept through the vast majority of the Worst Generation with ease. At the time, fans assumed that Kaido had reached his peak, however, they were in for a surprise when, later on in the arc, Kaido assumed another transformation.
Kaido's Purple Hybrid Form
During his fight against Luffy, Kaido started getting more serious, and with that, he tapped into powers that the fans had never seen before. One incredible transformation that Kaido underwent was his purple hybrid form. This hybrid form is quite similar to his usual hybrid one, however, it is much bigger and bulkier. Kaido gains more muscle mass, swirly eyebrows, jagged teeth, and a bigger nose, and overall, he just becomes far more dangerous. Fans do not know what exactly this transformation is as Oda has never clearly stated it, however, what they have seen is the strength of this purple transformation. Kaido used this form against Luffy and immediately, fans could notice that his strikes were now much stronger and his movements were starkly different when compared to his other hybrid form.
Kaido's additional strength meant that he hit much harder and he also unleashed quite a few new techniques that he could not use in his previous hybrid form. It goes without saying that this was surely Kaido at his very peak when it comes to his physical strength. Naturally, this transformation has raised several questions among the fans and while Oda has not provided an answer to them just yet, conclusions can be drawn based on what the story has shown so far.
Is The Purple Hybrid Form Awakening?
One idea that many fans hold to be true is that the purple transformation is just one of Kaido's hybrid forms. For instance, Chopper has many hybrid forms, thanks to his Rumble Balls. A lot of fans believe that the same could be true for Kaido, only he doesn't need Rumble Balls to access multiple transformations. The problem with this is that there is no Zoan-type Devil Fruit user in One Piece who has ever done this before. Lucci certainly did have many types of hybrid forms, however, it must be noted that Lucci combined his hybrid form with Life Return, a special ability that he could then combine with one of the Rokushiki arts, known as Kami E, which would then give him access to a slimmer version of his normal hybrid form.
Similarly, Lucci could also increase his bulk if he wanted, following similar rules. Kaido bulking up suddenly is not natural for any Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit on its own. It is possible that Kaido knows Life Return and is combining that with his Devil Fruit power when doing so, which would explain why he bulks up quite a lot. However, if that is not the case, then there is only one explanation as to why Kaido undergoes such a drastic change and appearance and that is Devil Fruit Awakening.
Kaido is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea and for him to have Awakened his Devil Fruit, especially one that he has held for years, should not be a surprise to any fan of One Piece. The fact is, Kaido's purple hybrid foam is unique and it sees him power up drastically. It gives him access to a completely new arsenal of attacks and at the same time, it also makes him much stronger. Kaido himself mentioned that the mark of a Zoan Awakening is a new transformation. This means that Kaido having this transformation could be an indication of Awakening.
While many fans have linked the flame cloud around the neck of users to Awakening, that has not explicitly been confirmed anywhere and is really not the case. Yamato also has a flame cloud despite not having been an Awakened Devil Fruit user. At the same time, the Forcibly Awakened Zoans of Impel Down didn't possess it either. This is purely fan-made and has never been confirmed in the story. For Kaido to be an Awakened Devil Fruit user, all he needs is a unique transformation and stronger power, and both of these boxes are checked by his unique purple transformation. While only Oda can confirm it for sure, the most common assumption at this point would be that this is Kaido's Awakening, despite Oda not explicitly stating it anywhere.
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