Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1045

The incredible fight between Luffy and Kaido has monopolized the attention of fans of One Piece for months. With the battle for Wano Island raging around them, the two opponents have spared nothing, as the outcome of their confrontation will determine the war's outcome. When Luffy was apparently beaten for the third time, he awakened the powers of his Devil Fruit and from that moment everything changed. Surprisingly, Luffy did not dominate Kaido after his power-up, which just proves how strong the captain of the Beasts Pirates his, and how One Piece is great at avoiding the cliches of the shonen genre.

As one of the Four Emperors, Kaido is one of the four strongest pirates in the world of One Piece. In his first appearance, he is introduced to readers in a memorable scene as he jumps from the island of Skypeia, thousands of meters up in the sky, and lands without a scratch. His nickname is the world's "strongest creature", and he lives up to it thanks to his strength, resilience, his mastery of the ultra-rare Haoshoku Haki, and the powers of his Devil Fruit, the Mythical Zoan Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, which allows Kaido to transform into a colossal dragon. Overall, Kaidou has been said to have only lost seven battles in his lifetime and has only been injured twice. When Luffy challenged him for the first time, he was defeated with a single blow, setting up the stage for how difficult and important the battle against the Beasts Pirate would be.

Related: One Piece: Kaido's Dream Was Just Crushed by the World Government

During the raid on Onigashima, the pirates-samurai-Mink alliance did everything possible to even the odds against Kaido's Beasts Pirates. Kaido's strongest and most trusted lieutenants were all defeated, and even the fellow Emperess Big Mom was defeated by the pirates Kidd and Law. However, all would be pointless without beating Kaido. The Emperor took on first the Nine Scabbards, the strongest samurai and former retainers of Kozuki Oden, and emerged with barely a scratch. Then he faced five pirates of the Worst Generation, Luffy, Zoro, Kid, Killer, and Law, and still managed to not take any serious damage, and defeated Luffy for the second time. When the Straw Hat captain came back, fans who were expecting this fight to end with the predictable victory of the good guy were surprised, as Luffy was defeated one more time. That's when he awakened his Devil Fruit, but even that seems to not be enough.

One Piece: Kaido dominates Luffy

Recently, Luffy's powers have become nothing short of ridiculous. He is able to modify the shape and form of his body, he can affect his surroundings making objects and people malleable and rubbery, and he is coated with both Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki. Luffy's weird powers make himself and everything around him look like a comedy cartoon, and that's certainly not what fans expected from the biggest fight in the series. Even more surprising is that, despite this power-up, Luffy still struggles against Kaido. This proves that One Piece will never be predictable, as even after a classic power-up moment, the victory of the protagonist is still not guaranteed.

Luffy's last attack finally sent Kaido flat on his back for the very first time since the beginning of this assault. Fans' expectations were subverted many times during this fight: first, Luffy was defeated apparently for good, then he came back with a set of ridiculous powers that totally changed the tone of the fight, and finally Kaido proved to be strong enough to handle this sudden power-up. These amazing back and forths during the biggest battle in the history of One Piece prove that, after 25 years, this manga is still capable to surprise its fans and being totally unpredictable.

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