Akainu vs. Kaido: Who Would Win in a Fight?

One Piece is an anime that certainly has its fair share of strong and powerful characters. And while its protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, is certainly among them, there are some characters that might be even more powerful than the cheerful and quirky protagonist of the manga. In this article, we are going to compare two such characters, as we are going to pit Kaido against Akainu, or Sakazuki, the current leader of the Marines, to see who the stronger of the two is.
Akainu would not win in a fight against Kaido. This would be an extremely complex match-up, but Kaido would by all probability come out as the winner. Akainu is incredibly strong and he is roughly on the same level as Kaido, but two things speak in Kaido’s favor. First of all, were Akainu able to take down Kaido, he would probably have at least tried it once, yet he did not. Secondly, it took Luffy’s Gear 5 to defeat Kaido, and Akainu lost battles to characters with much less power than that.
The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Akainu and Kaido in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Kaido would, according to our analysis, be able to defeat Akainu in the end.
Physical powers
Sakazuki has shown amazing physical prowess during the War on the Summit, such as when he used just one leg to stop the enormous Newgate’s Bisento. He is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant who mixes his skills with those of his lodge to unleash tremendous deadly power. His victories over Inazuma, Ivankov, or Jinbe, as well as his victory over Kuzan in their duel for the position of admiral of the fleet despite the fact that both of them sustained critical injuries, are among his accomplishments.
Sakazuki is incredibly resilient in battle, as evidenced by the fact that he survived two extremely powerful earthquake blows at Whitebeard’s point-blank range—one of which cut through Marineford—and was still able to participate actively in the conflict, going on to engage in combat with Sakazuki, the Whitebeard Pirates’ leaders, and two former Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile and Jinbe. His resistance to damage extends to assaults infused with Busoshoku Haki as well, as neither Marco nor Vista were able to significantly harm him with such an attack. Sakazuki possesses exceptionally keen hearing as well; even before the fight against Whitebeard started, he was able to hear undersea activities.
Due to his muscle mass, Kaido has enormous physical strength. He managed to capsize nine giant prison ships. Kaido is powerful enough that his single scream caused visible damage to the area around him. One of Kaido’s main strengths is his inability to die; indeed, he suffered seven defeats, was captured by the Navy or enemies eighteen times, was tortured over a thousand times and finally, was sentenced to death forty times. However, no execution, whatever it was, worked.
In addition, Kaido jumped 10,000 meters to the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that could have sunk a nearby ship, but he just suffered from a headache; suicide has become a pastime for him. Like Shanks and Edward Newgate, Kaido and Big Mom were able to break the sky in half with one strike, demonstrating that they were equally as powerful as Charlotte Linlin. Big Mom is yet to be overcome, which is a strong indication of Kaido’s strength.
There is absolutely no doubt that Kaido is physically stronger than Akainu. Kaido is enormously strong and Whitebeard was one of only a few characters stronger than Kaido, which means that this point goes to the pirate captain.
Points: Akainu 0, Kaido 1
Devil Fruit
Akainu is in possession of the Magu Magu no Mi, a Logia-type Devil Fruit that enables him to transform his body into magma and control it as he pleases. Akainu can withstand physical blows since he uses the fruit of the Logia type, and only Haki, the Sea Granite, can harm him when Akainu is elementary vulnerable or has let his guard down.
Even after Marco and Vista cut him in the neck with Haki-infused assaults, it appears that Akainu is aware of Haki and has discovered some techniques to escape them. Since the heat of magma is greater than the heat of the fire, his talent is inherently more potent than Ace’s pyrokinetic skills. The innate advantage of his might allows him to finally murder Ace.
With the help of his Devil Fruit, Akainu can easily pursue targets like Emporio Ivankov and Jinbe. Akainu once again showed the ferocious power of his Devil Fruit during the 10-day war on Punk Hazard for the title of Admiral-Commander-in-Chief by turning a portion of the planet into a genuine furnace.
Kaido ate the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu, a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into an oriental dragon, in the same way as Momonosuke, the main difference being that Kaido has a gigantic size in dragon form and appears to be in control of his transformations.
However, he will be unable to keep up this appearance if he sustains too many strong strikes, such as those Luffy delivered. He can growl loud enough to start lightning, too. The entire island of Onigashima was seen to be able to be lifted by Kaido, and he appears to be able to move it all the way to the Flower Capital.
The Devil Fruits that these two characters use are thoroughly different and it was difficult to properly compare them. We do know that both are extremely powerful, but due to their different natures, we decided to share the points in this category.
Points: Akainu 1, Kaido 2
Haki
Given that all vice admirals have Haki, Akainu, who is one level above vice admirals, has access to this power as well. He was seen forming, with the aid of his fellow admirals, a paired shield of their three Haki to counteract Whitebeard’s attempts to demolish the execution platform using his Armament Haki. He also possesses Observation Haki. It is not known whether he can use the Conqueror’s Haki.
One of the few individuals who has mastery over all three varieties of Haki is Kaidou. It was demonstrated that Kaidou could command Kenbunshoku Haki by detecting Kozuki Oden’s presence on Enma while Roronoa Zoro was using it. After his and Big Mom’s joint strike, she also utilized it to detect the voices of the supernovae, enabling her to claim that they were still alive.
Like Charlotte Katakuri or Luffy, Kaidou’s control enables her to use it in a sophisticated manner and predict the future. Kaidou’s mastery of the Busoshoku Haki is also exceptional; according to Law, the Royal Haki was too strong for her to be able to move Kaidou into his room straight. He is also able to have skin that is virtually impervious to common attacks because of his Busoshoku Haki.
Kaidou is among of a very small number of people who can use the Haoshoku Haki. Upon colliding with Charlotte Linlin using his Kanabō, they both generated the typical lightning discharge. Kaidou can use the advanced variant of Haoshoku Haki, imbuing his Kanabō with his will, which expels black bolts violently from its end and makes them extend towards his enemies.
Kaido is able to use all three types of Haki, whereas Akainu is known to use only two types. This is why, according to tradition, we have to give this point to Kaido, as he knows more types of Haki than Akainu.
Points: Akainu 1, Kaido 3
Weapons
As far as weapons are concerned, Akainu rarely uses them. He has been seen using a dagger as a child and was seen with a katana as well, but his actual skills are not known. He does have some skills, that much is certain, but the exact level is unknown.
Kaidou uses his Hassaikai, a giant metal Kanabō that is full of spikes and fits his size, when facing his opponents. Along with his immense physical strength, he can use it to crush his opponents and send them great distances and was able to knock Luffy unconscious with a single blow, breaking the enormous defensive power of his enhanced Busoshoku Haki with his Gear Fourth form. With it, he was also able to block Charlotte Linlin’s attack with Napoleon, an extremely powerful sword. Kaidou killed Kozuki Oden using a double-barreled pistol, but it is unknown what has become of this weapon today and if he still has it in his possession.
Kaido might not be the best swordsman in One Piece, but he is certainly skilled enough to be among the better ones. On the other hand, Akainu’s skills with weapons are a complete mystery and that is why we have to award the final point to Kaido as well.
Points: Akainu 1, Kaido 4
Akainu vs. Kaido: Who would win?
And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.
This duel was relatively easy to compare as the points were clearly in favor of one character and this time, the points actually reflect the actual situation. There is no doubt that Kaido is a stronger fighter than Akainu, but not because Akainu is a Marine – we don’t think that Marines are necessarily weaker than pirates, that is a myth – but because Kaido is actually that strong.
Sure, Akainu’s Devil Power might do some damage to Kaido, but the difference between them is not that big, despite the fact that Akainu’s Devil Fruit is a Logia-type one; namely, even these Devil Fruits have some sort of weakness, and Kaido – with all of his other skills – would be able to expose and use this weakness to his advantage.
We know that Kaido is physically stronger than Akainu and that he is more proficient with weapons, and has mastered all three forms of Haki, which puts him significantly over Akainu’s level and makes him the clear winner of this duel. If you still have some doubts, though, we’re just going to state that Akainu is a hunting dog and that he would have, had he sensed any chance for victory, certainly attacked Kaido at least once; with Akainu actively avoiding a direct confrontation with Kaido, it is clear that the Admiral is aware that Kaido is the stronger character. Also, it took Luffy activating both the true nature of his Devil Fruit and Gear 5 to take down Kaido in Wano Country, whereas Akainu was always defeated with much less power than that. That is why Kaido wins this one.