Luffy’s Gear 5 debut in the One Piece anime has taken the world by storm, but both the anime and the manga proved that Kaido was actually stronger.

After defeating a shocking number of powerful opponents, Kaido is finally being put on the back foot in the One Piece anime against Luffy’s Gear 5 transformation, however, looking at the entirety of the fight as it has developed in both the manga and the anime, it’s possible to argue that Kaido was actually stronger. Throughout the Raid on Onigashima, the Pirate Emperor Kaido has proven time and time again why he is known as “The Strongest Creature” of One Piece‘s world. Despite his ultimate fate that the anime is quickly approaching, the durability and strength that Kaido has displayed during his time in the series surpass Luffy in almost every aspect.

The incredible recent episodes of the anime showcased Luffy’s Gear 5 transformation that broke One Piece with the form’s “toon-like” abilities. Still, Kaido has been able to keep up with Luffy’s ridiculous attacks and continues to land considerable hits on the Straw Hat Captain. Episode #1072 finally saw Wano’s ultimate antagonist start to waver and even fall to his knees. While Gear 5 is proving effective, it should be remembered that Kaido has taken so much damage during the entire Raid of Onigashima that it’s likely helped Luffy gain as much ground as he has.

Luffy Would Not Survive The Damage That Kaido Has Taken

Since the Raid of Onigashima began, Kaido has fought and sustained many large-scale attacks from Wano’s Legendary Nine Red Scabbard Samurai, several hard-hitting blows from Zoro, Law, Kid, and of course, Luffy. Yet after being impaled, blasted, punched (a lot), slashed, smashed, and even damaged internally, Kaido showed no signs of slowing down. On top of all this, Kaido even had to fight his son Yamato, who is one of the strongest characters in One Piece, possessing not only the abilities of a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, but also Conqueror’s Haki, one of the strongest and rarest powers in the world, and the only thing that can damage Kaido’s impervious body.

Yamato did everything they could to slow their father down. In that time, Luffy was able to recover from his second loss against Kaido and return to deliver a devastating combo attack with Yamato that sent Kaido flying. Yet, it wasn’t enough to put Kaido down for good, and he got right back up to continue battling Luffy. The amount of damage Kaido had taken at this point in the story is something that Luffy would not have survived. However, everything that Eiichiro Oda has revealed about the Captain of the Beast Pirates explains why Kaido was so strong, and it’s because he isn’t entirely human.

Kaido’s Built Different Because He’s Literally An Ogre

Kaido’s backstory was one of the Wano arc’s least explored mysteries, but what little information was shared paints an intimidating picture of Luffy’s formidable foe. Chapter #1025 teased that Kaido and Yamato are the spawn of “Ogres” (Oni). The world of One Piece is filled with many intelligent species like Fishmen, Mink, and the tiny Tontatta of Dressirosa. Unfortunately, some species have become extinct or made incredibly rare, like King’s powerful Lunarian Tribe. While it’s not confirmed that the references to Oni meant that Kaido and Yamato really belong to a specific race, and it could have just been a way to describe the villain’s savagery, it should be remembered that both characters have distinctively non-human horns sprouting from their heads.

Throughout Kaido’s 59 years of life, he’s been captured and sentenced to death more than a dozen times. However, during his youth, he was usually arrested on purpose to get access to food in jail, which he easily broke out every time. Dozens of executions have been attempted on Kaido, which all failed. His body proved to be so tough that it broke every weapon that was used to kill him. With so many attempts failing to kill, let alone injure him, the brutal attacks that have hurt Kaido during the Wano arc are made all that more impressive. The only attack that actually injured Kaido before his final battle with Luffy was Kozuki Oden’s powerful sword strike, which left the only scar on his body.

Being drowned by sea water should be a simple solution to silence a powerful devil fruit user. But even that was proven superfluous due to Kaido’s specialized Fish-Fish Devil Fruit Model: Azure Dragon. Former Rocks Pirate crewmate Big Mom gifted the rare Fruit to him, which allowed him to swim and survive being drowned. Everything Kaido has been able to survive against can’t be said for Luffy. Still, Kaido has known defeat more than a few times in his life.

Despite Kaido’s Strength, He Is Not Unbeatable

The fearsome power of Kaido has been shown to obliterate mountains in Wano, demonstrated lightning-like speeds, and helped clear the sky of clouds with powerful impacts. Still, One Piece‘s narrator first introduced Kaido as the World’s Strongest Creature and shared that the seemingly unmovable object has lost at least seven battles in his life (before meeting Luffy). These defeats have not been shown in the anime or manga. Still, being one of the Rock’s crew’s youngest members, he was likely overpowered by legendary figures like Rocks D. Xebec, Gol D. Roger, Monkey D. Garp, and even Big Mom at some point in his life. However, Kaido has gotten stronger since his younger years.

Kaido was also bested by Red Haired Shanks during the Marineford arc when Shanks intercepted Kaido before he attempted to assault Whitebeard during Ace’s rescue attempt. Shank’s crew arrived to end the War for the Summit unscathed, while Kaido’s Beast Pirates did not. It’s unclear how Shank diverted Kaido’s forces, but it would have not happened without a fight between the two Captains. Most importantly, Kaido was defeated once and for all by Luffy after he awakened his Devil Fruit and unlocked Gear Fifth. Without taking anything away from this incredible transformation, it’s hard to call that a fair fight considering that Kaido had been fighting nonstop since the beginning of the Raid. Moreover, Kaido was also using his powers to sustain the entire Onigashima in the sky, with the aim of dropping it on the Flower Capital.

Luffy Did Not Beat Kaido On His Own

An interesting point in this debate is that One Piece never openly stated that Kaido awakened his Devil Fruit, despite the fact that, by all metrics, he should be able to do so. One cool hypothesis is that Kaido never cared about doing it because, as he states during the duel with Luffy, only Haki can lead to true dominion over the Seas, hinting that he does not keep Devil Fruit abilities in high regard, but this then contradicts the fact that he makes massive use of them. If Kaido really refused to awaken his Devil Fruit out of arrogance, then that would prove his superiority to Luffy even more.
The final point to consider is that Luffy did not technically beat Kaido with his own hands. Gear Fifth’s massive final attack indeed penetrated through Kaido’s defenses and his own strongest attack, but it also ended up pushing Kaido to Wano’s underground, where he landed in a sea of lava, which shortly after exploded due to an influx of seawater. In conclusion, considering everything that it took in One Piece to eliminate the World’s Strongest Creature, and that Luffy needed more than a little help, it’s possible to argue that Kaido was indeed stronger even than the overpowered Gear 5.