Mihawk vs. Kaido: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win in a Fight?

One Piece is an anime that certainly has its fair share of strong and powerful characters. This One Piece-related comparison, a one in a series of many on Fiction Horizon, on Dracule Mihawk, the best swordsman in the world of One Piece, and Kaidou, the former Emperor and, for many years the physically strongest character in the whole series. In this article, we will analyze the two, as we will pit Mihawk against Kaidou to finally determine who the stronger of the two is.

Kaidou is stronger than Mihawk and would win in a fight. And while Mihawk is a better swordsman than Kaidou, the fact that Kaidou is physically stronger than Mihawk and that he has a Devil Fruits would give him the win in this duel. Sure, both are among the strongest characters in the whole series, but there is no doubt that Kaidou would eventually surpass Mihawk here and that he would be able to defeat him in a direct fight.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer as we will compare Mihawk and Kaidou in more detail. Through several categories, you will see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Kaidou would ultimately be able to defeat Mihawk.

Physical powers

Mihawk’s enormous superhuman physical strength, which he complements with his mastery of swordsmanship, contributes to his talents as the most formidable master swordsman in the world.

Mihawk has the ability to instantly generate very powerful compressed air slashes or streams of energy with an incredible range that have enough strength to easily destroy battleships and a mountain of ice. He also stopped Zoro, a strong and fierce swordsman, with only the knife he gripped in one hand. Mihawk is extremely agile and is capable of making long and high jumps. He moves swiftly enough to counterbalance the enhanced speed of Luffy’s Gear Second. Additionally, he has excellent reflexes.

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 was sentenced to death forty times. However, no execution, whatever it was, worked.

In addition, Kaido, who enjoys suicide, jumped 10,000 meters to the ground, generating a huge shockwave that could have drowned a nearby ship, but he only experienced a headache. Kaido and Big Mom proved that they were equally as powerful as Charlotte Linlin by being able to split the sky in half with a single blow, much like Shanks and Edward Newgate had done. Big Mom is yet to be vanquished, which is a powerful testament to Kaido’s fortitude.

This is a category in which Kaidou triumphs over almost everyone. The guy is an absolute powerhouse, and there is no denying that he would surpass Mihawk in this category, hence his first point.

Points: Mihawk 0, Kaidou 1

Devil Fruit

Like Zoro, Shanks, and some other powerful characters, Dracule Mihawk has not consumed any Devil Fruit in his life and owes his powers and abilities to his natural skills and his training. Dracule Mihawk is a formidable fighter, and the fact that he has achieved all of that without any help, simply thanks to his training, makes it even more impressive. There is a reason why Mihawk is considered to be the best swordsman in the world of One Piece, and we can only confirm that from this position.

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 form if he sustains too many strong strikes, such as those Luffy delivered. He can growl loud enough to start lightning, too.

An easy one here. Kaidou has a Devil Fruit, and a highly potent one, whereas Mihawk has no Devil Fruit. Due to the obvious difference in power here, we can only conclude that Kaidou also wins this point.

Points: Mihawk 0, Kaidou 2

Haki

Mihawk can use at least two of the three types of Haki. Mihawk has a strong control of Observation Haki, as evidenced by the ease with which he was able to keep up with Luffy while using Gear Second. Mihawk has the same ability to discern people’s emotions as Luffy and Otohime. He can use Armament Haki, just like Zoro did when he battled Pica.

It is demonstrated in a flashback when Mihawk tells him about the strength of his black sword and affirms that he ought to be able to transform his katanas into swords as well. Zoro is even given the restriction that he is not permitted to drink alcohol ever again as long as he doesn’t make it. There is also a possibility that he can use Conquerors Haki, but that has not been confirmed yet.

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 him to use it sophisticatedly and predict the future. Kaidou’s mastery of the Busoshoku Haki is also exceptional. Kaidou is among a very small number of people who can use the Haoshoku Haki. They both generated the typical lightning discharge when colliding with Charlotte Linlin using his Kanabō.

Since we don’t really know if Mihawk can use all three types of Haki, we have to give this point to Kaidou as well since it has been confirmed that he can use all three of them.

Points: Mihawk 0, Kaidou 3

Weapons

Mihawk wears a pendant cross knife around his neck. Despite the fact that he is depicted using it as a tool for eating when combined with his swordsmanship skills, it can also be a lethal weapon that can defeat any swordsman of ordinary or lower skill, including Zoro, who used three swords in their battle.

Mihawk noted that it was the smallest sword he had. Mihawk uses the black sword Yoru as his main weapon. The Yoru is a human-sized, single-edged sword with a cross-shaped tip. When someone challenges him for his title and has the guts or the strength to do so, he only draws this sword; otherwise, his Kogatana is sufficient.

When battling opponents, Kaidou wields his Hassaikai, a massive metal Kanabo that is packed with spikes and matches his size. He has tremendous physical strength and can use it to crush and throw opponents long distances. He was able to use it to break Luffy’s augmented Busoshoku Haki’s powerful defense and knock him out with a single strike.

He used it to deflect Charlotte Linlin’s strike with her incredibly potent sword Napoleon as well. It is unknown what has happened to the double-barreled pistol that Kaidou used to kill Kozuki Oden or whether he still has it in his possession.

This is, without a doubt, the only category where Mihawk wins without a doubt. Mihawk is a more skilled swordsman than Kaidou and wins this category, despite Kaido’s powers and abilities.

Points: Mihawk 1, Kaidou 3

Mihawk is skilled, but Kaido is a beast

In the end, Kaidou is the stronger of the two. Mihawk might be the series’ best swordsman, and he is better than Kaidou in that department, but everything else… well, it is quite obvious why and how Kaido wins this, as he is one of the series’ most powerful characters.