For some time now, Eiichiro Oda has made it clear that Kaido is the strongest pirate in the world of ONE PIECE, but not only. After the appearance of Whitebeard, who was considered the strongest man, there was also that of Kaido, defined the strongest being. A term that seems to underscore the emperor’s non-human nature.
So far, however, Kaido has been treated like a human, despite the horns and size that very few people have equal. However, one sentence in ONE PIECE 1025 could change this vision and give the Emperor of the Hundred Beasts a much wilder and darker nature.
During the final chapter published by Weekly Shonen Jump, the Emperor hit Yamato. When he hits his daughter, he reminds her that she is Kaido’s daughter and shouldn’t befriend people. This because Kaido defines himself as “oni”, an “ogre” in the official English version and thus a demon. Well, this could easily be a way to rise above other people and point out your own wild nature.
However, Eiichiro Oda may have returned to Shutendoji’s character, a powerful and gigantic demon in Japanese folklore originally called the “monstrous child” or “kaido”. Shutendoji has always drunk, just like the emperor of ONE PIECE, and at the same time there is the kanji 天 in his name, which can also mean paradise. This symbol can also be seen on Kaido’s water bottle and he himself dreams of dying honorably.
There can therefore be more than one parable, and that could lead to that Kaido shouldn’t be a real person in the world of ONE PIECE.
