One Piece chapter 1137 teases Kaido's origins via Elbaph's history

Modified Jan 29, 2025 20:30 GMT

One Piece chapter 1137 teases Kaido's origins via Elbaph's history (Image via Toei Animation)

One Piece chapter 1137 was released on January 26, 2024, and depicted the entire Straw Hat crew sneaking into the Giant King's castle. Although the castle had long been abandoned after Loki eliminated Giant King Harold, Harold's portrait, which was still present in the castle, revealed much about his character.

While a lot of focus was placed on King Harold's ideology and his pursuit of peace with the outside world, his appearance and horns became the center of many theories within the fandom. Coincidentally, Kaido had a face that closely resembled Harold. This, along with Kaido and Harold's blood linking them to ancient giants, has led to speculation that Kaido might have been a descendant of Harold himself or of the ancient giants.

Disclaimer- This article contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 1137.

One Piece chapter 1137 nearly confirms Kaido's giant ancestry

Expand Tweet

The Giants have inhabited a special place within One Piece's lore. Although their status as one of the oldest and fiercest living races serves to enhance their larger reputation, the current giants cannot compare to the giants of the past. The anatomy of One Piece characters has always been a point of contention and ridicule.

While the regular sizes of humans have remained inconsistent, with many fans occasionally confusing regular large humans for giants, the exact physiology of giants itself has gone through considerable changes. Despite these changes, giants have remained distinct from other larger races.

Kaido as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

King Harold, the previous king of the giants and Loki's father, remained a mystery throughout the early chapters of the Elbaph arc. However, his actual portrait was revealed in One Piece chapter 1137. Although many expected Harold to resemble Jorul or Jarul, he instead appeared as a giant with scars on his head and an intense frown.

Coincidentally, it was also revealed that Harold was born with a horn on his head a trait inherited from ancient giants, which has become functionally extinct in their modern-day counterparts. While not much about this trait has been explored in the series, a few individuals, such as Oars, Oars Jr., Kaido, and Yamato, have displayed similar features.

While all of them belong to the Oni Tribe, the Oni Tribe itself has earned the epithet of "Ancient Giants" due to their reputation as savage warriors who roamed the seas throughout the Void Century. It is possible that all the horned races are descendants of the Ancient Giants, who themselves were descended from Ymir the progenitor of the giant race in Norse mythology.

Onigashima as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Although King Harold is considered Elbaph's greatest king, he himself must have been a pirate before occupying the throne. Given the giants' overall longer lifespan, it is possible that Kaido was Harold's offspring, conceived during Harold's pirate days, which would explain their uncanny resemblance.

Otherwise, it is possible that the giants, Oni, and other horned races all descend from a singular entity, Ymir whose skull may be the one that rests atop Onigashima.

Final thoughts

One Piece chapter 1138 will be released on February 2, 2024, and will depict the God Knights' next course of action. This is especially significant since they have essentially failed in their mission to recruit Loki into their ranks in One Piece chapter 1137.