- Best Naruto Statues Guide - July 7, 2023
- Attack on Titan Tattoo Ideas - January 6, 2023
- Best My Hero Academia Posters - January 1, 2023
One Piece is a long but beautiful story about a pirate named Luffy and his adventures, and what makes the world-building great is the characters in it alongside him. The story has already reached over a thousand chapters, yet the author is still introducing new characters into the fray even now. One example of such a character is Yamato.
In chapter 983 of the manga, a masked person appears and interrupts Luffy’s fight against an enemy named Ulti. Before Luffy could throw in a punch at the enemy, this masked person defeats Ulti with a powerful attack. It is revealed that she is Yamato, Kaidou’s daughter, and she wants to help Luffy in his mission to defeat his father.
Some fans were left stunned by this revelation. After all, Kaidou referred to Yamato as his son, and she referred to herself as a man.
Furthermore, why would Yamato want to help Luffy defeat her father, Kaido? Perhaps you have recently returned from a hiatus and want a quick refresher about this new character. If you are confused, feel free to read up on this extensive yet clear guide about Yamato.
Who Is Yamato From One Piece?
- First appearance: Chapter 971 (manga); episode 972 (anime)
- Age: 28
- Birthday: November 3
- Height: 8’8” (263 cm)
- Residence: Onigashima, Wano
- Epithet: Oni Princess; Ogre Princess
- Devil Fruit: Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami; Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Okuchi-no-Makami
Yamato is Kaidou’s daughter and a major ally of the alliance between the Straw Hat Pirates, the Heart Pirates, the Kozuki Family, and the Mink Tribe. Kaidou is one of the Four Emperors, notorious and extremely powerful pirate captains with enormous influence, and Yamato was supposed to be his heir. However, Yamato chose to admire Kozuki Oden, a samurai of Wano and an enemy to his father.
After Oden died, Yamato chose to become Oden by impersonating him and his mannerisms. Because of this devotion, she refers to herself as Kaidou’s son despite being a woman, and everyone in Kaidou’s crew, including Kaidou himself, refers to her similarly. For most of her life, Kaidou imprisoned her on Onigashima. This act served as punishment for looking up to Oden instead of following his orders.
Yamato met and became friends with Luffy’s sworn brother Portgas D. Ace years before the crew arrived in Wano. After she learned that Ace had died, she waited for the Straw Hat Pirates to arrive to help them in their mission of defeating Kaidou and set sail with them. She first appeared in chapter 971, although only half of her body is visible. In the anime, she first appears in episode 972.
What Does Yamato from One Piece Look Like?
Yamato is a tall woman reaching 8’8” (263 cm), which is taller than the third tallest Straw Hat Pirates member (Franky, at 7’10½” or 240 cm). She has long, white hair tied into a ponytail by orange rods. The tips of her hair fade from white to aqua green and blue. Her eyes are large and orange, and she wears gold hoop earrings on both ears. She has red horns protruding from her head.
Throughout her appearance in Wano, she wears a sleeveless white top with indigo wisp-like patterns. She wears red hakama pants as the shrine maidens wear, and her footwear is a pair of sandals. Her hakama is tied with a large purple and white knotted rope fashioned like what kabuki actors wear.
She wears a hannya mask (a mask representing a female demon with bull-like horns and fangs) when in disguise. The mask comes with a blue wig with an extremely long mane and a long goatee. Initially, she had seastone shackles on her wrists, but Luffy successfully removed them from her after meeting him. She carries a kanabo club, her signature weapon similar to her father’s club.
How Strong Is Yamato in One Piece?
Yamato is a strong and powerful fighter capable of clashing equally with Ace, a Logia devil fruit user. She has clashed with his father, an emperor well-known for his immense physical strength, during the battle on Onigashima, to which Kaidou complimented her for her combat capabilities. Aside from her physical strength, she has a devil fruit, can use all three forms of Haki, and can use her weapon to good use.
She is so strong that she can carry Luffy with one arm and run easily. Using her weapon, she knocked out Ulti, a devil fruit user who can transform into a Pachycephalosaur (a thick-headed dinosaur). Apart from her physical might, she is also extremely fast, as shown when she outran several Beast Pirates members who were chasing after her.
Can Yamato Use Haki in One Piece?
Yamato has shown her capabilities in using Haki. Even when she was still a child, she could use Haoshoku Haki, also known as Conqueror’s Haki or the Color of the Supreme King. She would often knock out her father’s subordinates as she ran wildly through Onigashima. Now that she is an adult, she can use it with advanced techniques to imbue it on her weapon.
She can also use Busoshoku Haki, also known as Armament Haki or the Color of Arms Haki, as she imbues it on her hands and her weapon when dealing with enemies. One instance of her using it is her attack against a gigantic enemy known as Hatcha. However, it is interesting that she cannot use it to destroy something internally, as she needed Luffy to do it for her shackles.
The story does not show her using the Kenbunshoku Haki yet, also known as Observation Haki or Color of the Observation Haki. However, the author revealed information about her, stating that she knows how to use it.
What Is Yamato’s Weapon in One Piece?
Yamato’s weapon is a gigantic and slender kanabo club, a heavy, studded, and two-handed iron club. The author revealed that the weapon’s name is Takeru. Yamato can wield her weapon thanks to her immense strength, and she can do great damage to opponents and objects alike with a single strike. She would imbue Haki on the weapon to make her attacks more powerful.
What Is Yamato’s Devil Fruit in One Piece?
Yamato has the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami devil fruit, also known in English as the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Okuchi-no-Makami. It is a Mythical Zoan devil fruit, and it allows Yamato to transform into an ancient wolf deity. It also allows her to use the different abilities of the mythical animal. Kaidou refers to the wolf as the “Guardian Deity of Wano,” properly introduced in chapter 1019.
The devil fruit’s transformation boosts Yamato’s physical abilities to greater heights, and since she can transform into a wolf, she gains intense predatory instincts and sharp canine fangs and claws. It also boosts her physical strength, allowing her to fight against his father in a nearly-even match.
The mythical wolf can generate ice, which Yamato uses to attack through blasts from her mouth and other useful ways. Her ice can freeze her opponents, and she would cover her weapon with ice to increase its damage. Defensively, she would utilize her ice by creating armor. Sometimes, she would make armor of ice or an ice wall perfect for absorbing damage.
In real life, this mythical wolf is a deification of an extinct Japanese wolf that roamed the Yamato Province and the other provinces of Japan. People hailed the mythical wolf as a guardian deity who could understand humans and protect them from bad luck, fire, and theft. However, other folklores say that it will eat humans alive. The Japanese wolves went extinct in the early 1900s.
What Is Yamato’s Personality In One Piece?
Yamato’s personality mainly revolves around her desire to become the legendary samurai she admires: Kozuki Oden. She would refer to herself as a man because of her desire, although she initially had doubts about representing Oden fairly and respectfully. Now, she is determined and steady with her identity as Oden, much to Momonosuke’s, Kozuki Oden’s son’s, horror.
After reading his logbook, she thinks highly of Oden, which she refers to as her “bible.” She dreams about leaving Wano like Oden, although she could not do so at first due to her father’s shackles. After Luffy blew them up, she wanted to leave Wano and set sail on the open seas alongside his crew. She also wants to fulfill Oden’s desire to open Wano’s borders, which is the direct opposite of what his father wants.
Meanwhile, she hates her father and has fought him multiple times before. She openly defies his father’s wishes, and her open defiance is thanks to Ace’s encouragement and friendship. One time, Kaidou put her in prison, yet Yamato resisted against the odds faced against her. She likes fighting and is interested in engaging in combat.
Yamato is determined in what she believes is the right thing to do. She is willing to sacrifice herself to protect those she cares about, as she thinks that Oden would never leave a friend in danger. She had shown her resiliency of protecting others when she stood in the way of artillery strikes to save Momonosuke.
Yamato’s History in One Piece
Why Does Yamato Want to Be Like Oden
When Yamato was eight, she witnessed Kozuki Oden’s execution known as the Legendary Hour, and she became extremely sad about it. She raced towards Kuri’s castle, a region in Wano, after the execution to rescue the samurai’s family. However, she was too late as she witnessed her father attacking them. After the Beast Pirates destroyed the castles, she found Oden’s logbook in a nearby river.
Oden’s death made a huge impact on her. After the events that transcribed, she wished to become like Oden, much to his father’s disapproval. He would imprison her on Onigashima, beat her up, and set her wrists with exploding handcuffs, but this did not stop her from admiring Oden.
Yamato Imprisoned With Three Samurai
One day, she ran wild around in Onigashima wildly until she was chained by his father. Kaidou witnessed his daughter use Conqueror’s Haki as she knocked out his nearby subordinates. He imprisoned her in a cave where three other samurai were locked in, but instead of lashing out at Yamato for being Kaidou’s daughter, they instead offered her food, saying, “samurai do not feel hunger.”
They cut Yamato’s chains and helped her read Oden’s logbook. Here, Yamato and the three samurai learned about Oden’s adventures out at sea, strengthening their admiration for him. After ten days, they told Yamato that they could not be around in 20 years when the anticipated battle would happen. So, they escaped prison to fight Kaidou and help Yamato get out of there until the day arrived.
At one point, Yamato ate the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami out of starvation, but did not realize it was a highly valuable one. Furthermore, the devil fruit was something that Kaidou had a hard time getting.
How Yamato Met Portgas D. Ace
Four years before Luffy and his crew arrived in Wano, his sworn brother Portgas D. Ace and his crew arrived first to invade Onigashima to slay Kaidou down. However, Kadiou was on an expedition and instead faced Yamato. They fought each other in a duel, and from their duel, Ace learned that Kaidou trapped Yamato on the island. They became friends eventually.
He inspired her to be free from Kaidou’s influence and openly showed her defiance to his orders. She expressed her goal to become free from her shackles and to set sail on the open seas. During their conversations, Ace talked about Luffy and his dream, and Yamato became excited about meeting Luffy as he shares the same dream as the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, according to Oden’s logbook.
After their time spent together, Yamato gave Ace a Vivre Card of him, which is a piece of paper connected to Ace’s life. They promised to meet each other again one day, but two years later, the card burned up. A burnt-up Vivre Card means that the person connected to it is dead, and so Yamato learns of Ace’s fate. Still, she looks forward to meeting Luffy one day as she reads newspapers about him and Ace.
Yamato In the Wano Country Arc in One Piece
How Yamato Met Monkey D. Luffy
Kaidou ordered his subordinates to find Yamato, who went missing before the planned festival started. When the rebellion began their invasion of Onigashima, she interrupted the fight between Luffy and Ulti by defeating the latter with her weapon. She then carried Luffy to introduce herself. At first, he did not want to talk with her, but after a while, he gave her five minutes to talk.
She revealed to him that she is Kaidou’s child and that she wishes to help Luffy in their goal to defeat her father and open Wano’s borders. She also revealed that Kaidou put exploding shackles on her wrists, and Luffy offered to help her remove them. Suddenly, they heard Kaidou giving a speech, and as they peeked through the floorboards, they collapsed to the main floor.
How Luffy Removed Yamato’s Shackles
They are once again chased by the Beast Pirates, but as the chase goes on, Luffy removes her shackles from her, using Armament Haki to internally destroy them. At first, Yamato was doubtful that her father would try to kill her with them, but after the handcuffs exploded upon removal, she became angry. The explosion sent them flying towards the Live Floor where Kaidou was.
While they were on the Live Floor, the Scabbards arrived and ambushed Kaidou. Yamato wished to help them kill his father off, but Ulti stopped her, and the two had a fight. During their battle, Yamato shocked the Beast Pirates as she revealed to them that she was not on their side and that she wished to defeat Kaidou.
Why Yamato Helped Momonosuke
Yamato ran away from her fight with Ulti as Luffy told her to help in protecting Kozuki Momonosuke, Oden’s son. She affirmed herself that Oden would go to any means to protect his son, so Yamato hurried along to aid Shinobu. However, the pair did not know Yamato’s intentions, and when she declared to them that she was Oden, they became horrified and escaped from her using a smoke ball.
As the pair ran away from Yamato, Sasaki and his Armored Division ambushed them. Luckily, Yamato protected them at the right time, and she declared her intention to lay her life and fight for the Kozuki Clan. She revealed her identity to them and proceeded to take down the enemies. She started activating her devil fruit transformation after taking several hits, but Straw Hat crew member Franky intervened.
Yamato’s Failed Escape Attempt
She left Franky to deal with Sasaki, a devil fruit user who can transform into a Triceratops, and Hatcha, a gigantic enemy. Yet as she left, she took down Hatcha using her ice powers. They tried to escape Onigashima by going to the ports to sail away, but they found out that Kaidou lifted the island into the air using his powers. So, they moved to a discrete location.
As they hid from their enemies, Yamato began telling her stories about meeting Ace and how their friendship paved the way for Momonosuke’s encounter with her. She then gave him his father’s logbook, noting Oden’s prediction of a new generation of pirates arriving 20 years after his death to take down Kaidou.
Yamato vs Kaidou
As they hid, Yamato heard a mouse nearby and confirmed that it was a mouse that the Beast Pirates use as surveillance. Their cover is blown, so Yamato decides to face Kaidou, leaving Shinobu to take care of Momonosuke. When she arrived at the rooftop where Kaidou fought with Luffy, she only saw his father standing. She refused to call him a father and told him her desire of going to the sea with Luffy.
Kaidou informed her that Luffy was dead, but she believed that Luffy would come back, and until he did, she must fight her father off. During their battle, Yamato transformed into her devil fruit’s hybrid form, giving her immense strength and speed.
They fought and clashed for a long time using their abilities and weapons. Kaidou unleashed his deadly Bolo Breath at her, but Yamato countered with her version.
Yamato noticed that Kaidou was attacking her with full intentions of killing her, and Kaidou responded that if she wanted to become Oden, she must be prepared for war. She asked why he took away Wano’s freedom, but he responded that there was no easy answer, and they clashed with their weapons. This fight shattered Yamato’s ice covering, which helped her absorb damage and prevent any injury.
Yamato, Luffy, and Kozuki Momonosuke vs Kaidou
At one point, Kaidou mocked her for her devotion to Wano and that everyone who cared for her died, like Ace, the three samurai imprisoned with her when she was a child, and more. Yamato let her guard down as she became sad about this realization, allowing Kaidou to knock her out to the ground and beat her. Kaidou exclaimed that one should rule others through fear and might.
As Yamato began to fight Kaidou again, Luffy arrived, and together they hit Kaidou with a blow, sending Kaidou flying. She was ecstatic to meet Luffy again and became surprised that Momonosuke had transformed into a gigantic dragon, like his father. Yamato watched as Luffy and Kaidou clashed but then went to help Momonosuke in stopping the island from crashing to the capital.
How Yamato Tried Stopping the Island
She and Momonosuke jumped off the roof and told the scared dragon to grab on the clouds. According to her, dragons fly through, creating clouds and using them as footholds to move in the sky. He succeeded in doing so, and together they tried to find a way to stop the island from crashing to the Flower Capital. Yamato realized that the island was crumbling because Kaidou was weakening.
Yamato urged Momonosuke to create more powerful clouds to counter Kaidou’s, but he is not confident in this mission. He thought of getting Luffy to help them stop the island, but Yamato smacked him, telling him that Luffy was fighting her father on the roof. She realized again that there were a lot of weapons and gunpowder on the island, so she ran to nullify the explosive catastrophe that might occur.
How Yamato Stopped Kazenbo
As she ran to the weapon stock, she saw the ally pirates Law and Kid fighting with Big Mom, another Emperor who allied with Kaidou. Still, she needed to go to the stock fast, so she dismissed the fight. She broke through the Cave Chamber and saw the two pirates, Apoo and Drake fighting each other.
Apoo tried to ally with her, but she dismissed him. She became shocked upon knowing that Drake left the Beast Pirates to fight them. Despite all of this, she rushed towards the stock. She saw a massive creature made of fire known as Kazenbo heading down to the stock as well, melting through the floors.
She became extremely worried that if this fire monster made its way to the stock, the whole island would explode. With the help of Fuga, a gigantic creature who is friends with Yamato, she breaks through the humongous guard Rokki.
Yamato vs Kazenbo
She reached the armory just as Kazenbo melted through the roof. She coated the room with ice using her powers to prevent the explosives from igniting. She attacked the creature in hopes of distracting it from its trajectory. However, their fight is cut short as Law’s sword pierces through the room, creating a massive hole on the island.
She then witnessed Big Mom falling through the hole. Yamato became amazed at the sight as the emperor fell without making a sound. In a desperate attempt of clinging on, Big Mom punched the frozen bombs, causing them to explode. Yamato quickly made an ice wall to protect herself, and luckily, most of the bombs blew up to the bottom at Wano’s ground, effectively defeating Big Mom.
Fun facts about Yamato in One Piece
Oden and raw salmon are Yamato’s favorite food.
Her name can be a reference to many things:
- Firstly, it means “great harmony,” and it is an ancient name used by the dynasty of Imperial Japan.
- Secondly, it can be a reference to Yamato Takeru, a legendary Japanese prince. Coincidentally, her weapon’s name is Takeru.
- Thirdly, it is the name of a famous Japanese battleship during World War II.
- Fourthly, Yamato Nadeshiko is a phrase in Japan that refers to their ideal image of a Japanese female.
Yamato’s early concepts had different appearances, such as differently shaped horns. Yamato ranked 11th in the 7th conducted popularity poll. One Piece’s author drew a personification of Yamato’s side boob and it is a fat man squatting with half of his body being covered by a white cloth similar to what Yamato wears.
FAQs
Question: Is Yamato human in One Piece?
Answer: As of the time of writing, Yamato’s race is not yet revealed. It is not confirmed if she is human since she has red horns coming out from her head, similar to her father. However, it is largely hinted that both are not human. Many fans speculate that they belong to a race of demon-like creatures called the oni.
Question: Is Yamato a girl in One Piece?
Answer: Yes, Yamato in One Piece is a girl, as revealed by the author. She refers to herself as a man because she wants to become Kozuki Oden, a samurai she admires. Kaidou and all of his crew also refer to her similarly.
Question: Is Yamato stronger than Luffy?
Answer: There is no way of knowing which of these characters is stronger than the other as they have not fought against each other. I think that they are equally the same in terms of strength, although Luffy has an advantage in terms of versatility due to his devil fruit, wits, and combat experience.
Question: Is Yamato a traitor in One Piece?
Answer: Technically, Yamato is a traitor to his father and his crew, the Beast Pirates, since she wants to help Luffy defeat him. She is Luffy’s ally, though, and she has proven herself to be devoted to her goal to be like Oden.
Question: Who is Yamato’s mother in One Piece?
Answer: Yamato’s mother is not revealed yet in the story, and she is not mentioned and does not make an appearance. It could be a case similar to Luffy’s, where his mother is shrouded in mystery but could just be useless information. We still have yet to know who Yamato’s mother is.
Conclusion: Will Yamato Joins the Crew In One Piece?
I think that she will join the Straw Hat Pirates, but not as a crew member like the others. I think she will share the same fate as Kozuki Oden, who became traveled with the Whitebeard Pirates temporarily. Oda, One Piece’s author, loves parallelisms in his work, and I can see how Yamato temporarily joining the Straw Hat Pirates would be like Oden temporarily joining the Whitebeard Pirates.
She insisted on Luffy letting her join his adventures out at sea when she first met him. She shares the same passion as Kozuki Oden, who went out to sea by joining the Whitebeard Pirates. Her exploding handcuffs were the ones stopping her from waltzing out of Wano, but now that Luffy took them away from her wrists, nothing can stop her now except for her father.
She is helping Luffy and the crew to defeat her father so that Wano can be free, like what Kozuki Oden tried to do but failed. After recent events concerning Big Mom and a certain large elephant, I can see how Yamato’s mission of defeating her father and opening Wano’s borders may be coming to an end. At the end of the arc, I believe she will join the crew as an honorary member.