Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga is full of mysteries and surprises, which is no small feat for a manga that is over two decades old and boasts over 1,000 chapters. Fans have been debating many of these mysteries for some time now, and the one we'll be discussing in this article has to do with Kaidou, a character who is certainly one of the most intriguing in the franchise. Now, the former Emperor of the Sea is among the strongest characters in the franchise, and many of his powers are tied to his exceptionally powerful Uo Uo no Mi, model: Seiryu, a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. Now, we know that Zoan-type Fruits have a will of their own and their full potential is only activated when they are awakened. So, has Kaidou awakened his Devil Fruit? Read on to find out.

Kaido never actually awakened his Devil Fruit, which was indirectly confirmed in the manga. Namely, when we saw Rob Lucci's awakened Devil Fruit form, by comparing it to Kaido's, we could see that Kaido never actually entered that form, meaning he never awakened his Fruit. This is probably because he never cared much about his Devil Fruit powers (he relied on Haki), so he never reached the level of imagination and knowledge necessary to master his Fruit.

The rest of this article will tell you two main things, both related to the answer we gave above. The first will explain Kaido's Devil Fruit in more detail, including what is called Awakening, while the other will explain why Kaido was never able to awaken his Devil Fruit. The article will contain many spoilers from the manga and anime, so be careful how you approach it if you are not fully aware of all the relevant events in the series.

Kaido's Devil Fruit is quite powerful and can be awakened

The Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu is a Mythical Zoo Zoan Devil Fruit that allows the user to transform into a blue dragon and its hybrid. Kaido ate it in God Valley after Big Mom gave it to him when they lost the battle. The fruit resembles a large raspberry composed of blue scales in the inner part, with the characteristic spiral signs, similar to those that cover the skin of a dragon. It has the particularity of having two stems, instead of one, purple in color and reminiscent of the horns of the same mythological creature. They are connected to the fruit by two orange leaves.

The greatest benefit of ingesting this fruit is the ability to transform into a blue dragon about the size of a small city. In this form, the user can create flame-like clouds to move freely through the sky, and can use them to envelop an object and lift it into the air, even if it's an entire island. It also has very durable scales.

He can also control fire, lightning and wind: in fact, he is able to transform his breath into a ray of fire so powerful that it is able to pierce mountains or cut the wind to the point of cutting a person in two, in addition to emitting small electric shocks if he roars.

By wrapping his body in a powerful wind and spinning around, the owner can generate destructive tornadoes, while if he does so with flames, he gains greater defense and is able to liquefy rock.

The hybrid form is ideal for combat because it allows the user to use all of the animal form's attacks while maintaining human dimensions. The dragon form, since it increases the user's size, is disadvantageous indoors and also makes them an easier target to hit. In addition, the fruit has the same weaknesses as all Devil Fruits. Kaido primarily uses this fruit for combat.

He also used it to destroy the ruins of Kuri Castle and lift Onigashima to move it. Kaido's control over his hybrid and animal forms is so high that he can create a kind of blend between the two. In his hybrid form, he uses his tail to immobilize his opponent. While most people who have ingested a Zoan Fruit only have three forms available, Kaido can use a fourth form very similar to the hybrid form but more muscular, with all the sharp teeth, a larger nose, and purplish scales.

Now, while what we've said applies specifically to Kaido's fruits, all Zoan-type fruits have a special form called Awakening, which is a process present in all Devil Fruit types but difficult to achieve. This also carries great risks, as Zoan fruits are usually related to animals, so if a user manages to awaken their fruit, they risk succumbing to the fruit's animal instincts, which would turn them into mindless beasts, incapable of rational action or complex thought; this has actually happened to the Jailer Beasts, at least four of them.

Awakening gives the user a significant power boost, but if the user is unable to harness and control their Devil Fruit, they will become a beast, and it is currently unknown if one can revert to their previous state after becoming a beast. A controlled awakened form creates a hybrid, and its main characteristic is the visible flames around the user, which has confirmed that Luffy, Rob Lucci, and Kaku were able to activate this form; it is also possible that Yamato activated it; however, this has not yet been confirmed.

In appearance, the Awakened Form is similar to a Hybrid, but the difference can be seen by observing whether there are flames around the user. Those who have succumbed to the Zoan Fruit's basic instincts will also lose the flames.

Kaido never really cared enough about his Devil Fruit to bother mastering it.

Now that we've explained Kaido's Devil Fruit and the concept of awakening associated with it, we can confirm that Kaido never actually activated his Devil Fruit. His second hybrid form is actually what confused fans, but we can confirm, now that the mystery of the awakened form has been solved (thanks Lucci and Vegapunk), that Kaido's second hybrid form is not the awakened form. How do we know? Well, it's simple: there are no flames! Yes, unfortunately or fortunately, it's that simple, because flames, as we said, are a distinction that helps identify the Awakened Form.

So why wasn't Kaido, despite his powers, able to awaken his Devil Fruit? Dr. Vegapunk explained that Devil Fruits rely heavily on imagination, meaning they require both a physical and mental aspect to master. Since Kaido, of course, ate the Devil Fruit only because he would have lost in the Valley of the Gods if he hadn't, and never really cared about it (he believed the key to true power lies in Haki, not Devil Fruits), he never really put any effort into mastering it, and that's why he ultimately failed to do so, failing to awaken his Devil Fruit, which likely cost him his victory against Luffy in Wano, as Luffy was able to awaken his true Devil Fruit powers, with which he crushed Kaidou.