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One Piece episode 1062, titled Three Sword Style of the Supreme Ruler! Zoro vs King, saw Roronoa Zoro, the second strongest member of the Straw Hat Pirates, using a tremendous Haki-enhanced attack to defeat King, the most powerful subordinate of Kaido.
Although in the end he was no match for Zoro, King was highlighted as one of the strongest Yonko Commanders. Combining the godlike powers of the Lunarian race with the abilities of an Ancient Zoan Fruit, King showcased that there's a good reason why Kaido chose him as his right-hand man.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga for anime-only viewers.
King is one of the most powerful Yonko Commanders in One Piece
King "The Wildfire" is Kaido's strongest subordinate
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When Kaido first met the research subject Alber in Punk Hazard, he was impressed by the latter's fighting capabilities. Thus, he decided to recruit Alber as his right-hand man, and named him "King". This inherently makes King the strongest member of the Beasts Pirates' All Stars.
The Beasts Pirates are a meritocracy. Kaido is the captain because he is the strongest of the group, King is the second-in-command because he is the second strongest, and so on. The fact that Queen and Jack couldn't compete for the position of "King" emphasizes that they are notably weaker than the formerly called Alber.
The hierarchy of the All Stars is clearly based on poker, where the "king" card holds more value than the "queen" and the "jack" cards. Likewise, King is stronger than Queen and Jack. No technique in their arsenal even remotely compares to King's powers as a Lunarian, a race hailed as gods.
As Kaido's right-hand man and the Beasts Pirates' number two, King is special compared to Queen and Jack. King is the only one who assisted Kaido in his attempted raid on Marineford. The special connection between him Kaido and the formerly called Alber is emphasized several times.
When Kaido and King were about to lose their respective battles, they thought of each other. Interestingly, both Kaido and King's strongest attack involves sending a giant dragon of magma towards their foes, with the only difference being that the former's is empowered with a mightier Haki.
One Piece author Eiichiro Oda featured King together with Rayleigh, Zoro, Benn Beckman, Marco, and more, in the color spread which confirmed the second-strongest members of the major outlaw groups. Even among the second-in-command men, however, there's a distinction.
In certain crews, the number two is notably weaker than the captain. This is the case of Marco with Whitebeard, King with Kaido, and Katakuri with Big Mom. In other crews, the number two is close in strength to the captain, acting as a brother to him, like Benn with Shanks, and Zoro with Luffy.
A Lunarian god with insane defense and tremendous offense
King is the only known Lunarian survivor. Long ago, this tribe inhabited the Red Line, but at one point almost all its members were wiped out under yet unknown circumstances. The culprit may be the World Government, who nowadays rewards anyone with information on the whereabouts of a Lunarian survivor with no less than 100 million berries.
Owing to the flames on their backs, the Lunarians can endure frightening strikes without receiving any injuries. By switching off the flames, they can temporarily swap some of their toughness for a sudden speed boost. These abilities earned Lunarians the reputation of gods who can survive in every situation.
King's fighting style is a blend of swordsmanship, Zoan powers, and Lunarian abilities. King was able to enhance his blade with Armament Haki Hardening and clash equally with Zoro, if not even towering over him before the power up of the green-haired swordsman.
Another testament to King's physical might is that he could easily overpower a Raid Suit-wielding Sanji, blocking the latter's kick and grabbing his neck with one hand. After King used the Ancient Zoan of the Pteranodon, Sanji was sent flying helplessly, and only survived a following hit thanks to the Raid Suit.
With his Zoan-enhanced strikes, Imperial Archer and Imperial Deep Pride Strike, King packed enough power to destroy large pieces of Onigashima. The latter move, a slingshot-like attack performed by propelling the head forward at extreme speed, was especially fast and powerful.
Combining his pteranodon wings and his Lunarian abilities, King could totally block Zoro's Black Rope Dragon Twister, a move that cut through Kaido's dragon scales, wounding the Emperor. King, instead, received no damage from that attack.
Using his natural-born powers as a Lunarian, King can create and control fire, enhancing his punches, kicks, and slashes with flames. He can also unleash tremendous fire blasts from any range to incinerate his foes. King's flames are the same as magma, a peculiarity that made him famous as the "Wildfire."
The entry-level technique is Imperial Flaming Wings, a serpentine dragon of flames with the same properties as magma, which in the One Piece world is stronger than normal fire. King's strongest move is Extra Large Imperial Flaming Wings, an enormous dragon created out of his Lunarian fire.
King can use his pteranodon features to fly at high speed. Moreover, switching off the flame on his back he can temporarily trade some of his durability to boost his quickness even further, becoming so fast that he seems invisible, as his movements completely disappear.
Due to his Lunarian powers, King is almost invulnerable
With regards to resilience and durability, King was even superior to Kaido, one of the Four Emperors and a fighter renowned for his toughness. Despite being struck with Zoro's Death Lion Song, a move even stronger than Dragon Twister, which could cut deep through Kaido's body, King didn't even shed a single drop of blood.
A further testament to King's exceptional traits, Vegapunk used his Lunarian DNA to enhance the Seraphims, fearsome living weapons created to substitute the Seven Warlords. These cyborgs are incredibly durable, as they can bear attacks from the likes of Blackbeard, Luffy, Zoro, and other powerful fighters, with no damage.
Astonished by the unbelievable display of resilience from the Seraphims, Luffy even likened their durability to that of the mighty Kaido. By extension, this only reinforces King's reputation for strength, as his DNA is the only reason for the Seraphims to be so tough.
King is an adult, so his Lunarian traits are logically more developed than the Seraphims, who are children with room to grow. Thus, any feat they can perform, including enduring Gear 4 attacks completely, he should be able to replicate even better. Unsurprisingly, Zoro declared that King was practically invincible when using his Lunarian powers.
King's actions throughout One Piece
After becoming King's right-hand man, King has served the latter as his strongest and most loyal subordinate. In Wano, he was one of the most prominent antagonists. At the beginning of the arc, King proved his might as the second-in-command of the Beasts Pirates.
He single-handedly repelled the Big Mom Pirates' ship, despite Charlotte Linlin as well as Perospero and Smoothie being on it. Later in the arc, King overpowered Sanji who was using his Raid Suit. King and his crewmate Queen then fought Marco, forcing him to consume most of his energies.
Exploiting Marco's fatigued state, King cornered him, leaving him almost exhausted. King was later challenged by Roronoa Zoro. After a heated fight, Zoro defeated King, striking him with a devastating attack that left him mutilated. However, this required the green-haired swordsman a notable effort.
Zoro had to understand the secrets of King's body. Moreover, he needed to enhance his strength even further, despite being already might enough to significantly wound Kaido. Zoro was only able to beat King after unlocking the all-powerful Advanced Conqueror's Haki, the signature ability of the absolute mightiest.
A few days later, still weakened by the grievous damage suffered against Zoro, King was overwhelmed by Marine Admiral Ryokugyu. Since then, he is yet to reappear again. Given King's previous feats, many One Piece fans wondered how he could lose so brutally against Ryogyoku.
When King and Queen faced Ryogyoku, they were yet to recover from their injuries. King was especially weakened, being deprived of his sword and a limb. Such nerfs can certainly justify a loss against an Admiral. Moreover, while Queen was completely drained by Ryogyoku's power, King, despite not having his flame active, was only superficially pierced.
Summing up, how strong is King in One Piece?
As a Lunarian and Kaido's second-in-command, King is stronger than most Yonko Commanders. He has been portrayed as more powerful than an incarnation of Zoro who, in turn, showcased notably superior strength than the version of Luffy who drew with Katakuri. Thus, King is bound to be stronger than Katakuri and whoever is equal to him or below.
A very complete fighter, King can perform devastating attacks at both short and long range using either his Ancient Zoan powers or his natural-born Lunarian abilities. He can use his tough pteranodon wings to block attacks strong enough to wound Kaido.
King has flawless mobility with high-speed flight, and can boost himself even further, becoming invisible at the cost of diminishing his natural durability. His Lunarian powers grants him magma-like flames meaning his fire is much stronger than Mera Mera fire.
King's Zoan attacks destroyed pieces of Onigashima as if it were nothing. His overall strongest move, the final magma dragon that Zoro cut through, must have been even more devastating. Factoring in his durability, which is even higher than Kaido's, King is truly a force to be reckoned with.
