Kaido’s Missed Opportunity: Why Ignoring his Devil Fruit Awakening Led to Defeat against Luffy!

Kaido not working on awakening his Devil Fruit could’ve been the reason for his defeat against Luffy.

SUMMARY

All awakened Zoan type Devil Fruit users are shown to have smoke-like scarf sashes flying around their shoulders.

Kaido only had some smoke rings around his arms as we saw in the Wano Country arc, the same characteristic was shown by Momonosuke who had the same type of Devil Fruit as Kaido.
The Five Elders aka the Gorosei have been shown in action for the first time in One Piece.

Devil Fruits are one of the most major plot devices in the world of One Piece. The fruits are categorized into multiple categories and can grant unfathomable powers or abilities to their consumers based on the type and nature of the fruits.

One Piece
Although there are a lot of loose ends in the world of One Piece, we have learned a lot about the devil fruits during the last few years of the anime.

Did Kaido never truly awaken his Devil Fruit?

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is one of the most popular anime and manga series of all time with an ever-expanding universe. Even after almost 27 years of mangas, we’re still nowhere near the end and there are a ton of loose ends in the world of this anime.

‘Awakening‘ of Devil Fruits is one of the most important plot devices in the anime as we’ve witnessed some of the strongest characters in the series have done the same. Irrespective of their category of Devil Fruit, all users can awaken their Devil Fruit and gain abilities that would’ve been even unimaginable before.

Zoan-type Devil Fruit users are considered some of the strongest devil fruit users and we’ve witnessed a lot of them throughout the series. Some of the strongest characters in the series like Kaido, Luffy, Marco, Sengoku, and the Five Elders are also Zoan-type Devil Fruit users.

In the ongoing arc of Egghead Island, we have witnessed a few more Awakened Zoan Devil Fruit users like Rob Lucci and Kaku. When the characters were shown engaging in battle against the Straw Hats, the fans noticed that all awakened Zoan-type Devil Fruit users get a smoke-like scarf around their shoulders just like Luffy and Yamato.

Kaido probably never awakened his devil fruit | Source: One Piece
However, Kaido never had a smoke scarf sash flying around his shoulders although he had awakened his devil fruit. Although he did have some flame rings around his arms, even Momonosuke had the same features as him. Implying that it was most probably just a characteristic of their devil fruit.

While battling Luffy on Onigashima, Kaido described Devil Fruit’s awakening as “when a Devil Fruit user’s mind and body catch up to their powers.”  But, it seems like Kaido never truly awakened his Devil Fruit himself as the character believed the only way to become the strongest individual was to become proficient in Haki.

Considering how the fight turned out, maybe Kaido should’ve focused a bit more on awakening his Devil Fruit abilities.

[SPOILER ALERT: This piece contains spoilers from One Piece’s Egghead Island Arc ahead.]

The Five Elders also have a smoke-like scarf sash flying around their shoulders

The Five Elders, more popularly known as the Gorosei are the highest authorities of World Government in the world of One Piece. A lot of fans used to wonder about the powers and abilities of these individuals before the characters were finally shown in action for the first time in 27 years in the Egghead Island arc.

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Initially, Saint Saturn arrived at the island to help Admiral Kizaru take down and capture the Strawhats, Bonny, and Dr. Vegapunk. However, with his back against the wall against Luffy who was absolutely destroying him and Kizaru in a 1v2, Saint Saturn called for backup and all the Five Elders appeared in action for the first time in the history of One Piece.
The Gorosei in action | Source: One Piece: Chapter 1110
All members of the Gorosei turned out to be Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit consumers just like Luffy and they also had a smoke-like scarf sash flying around their shoulders. However, unlike Luffy and Yamato whose sashes are white in color, their sashes are black in color like Lucci’s. There have been speculations that the colors of the sashes represent the morality of the characters but no hints about the same have been dropped in the manga as of yet.

The next chapter of One Piece, Chapter 1112 is all set to be released later this month on April 2021.