I found myself obliged to explain the Kidd's future relevance a lot of times, repeating myself, so I decided to make a thread in which I'll explain my POV providing facts/panels that prove what I think. Let's be clear that I'm taking this discussion on a narrative-wise/portrayal-wise point of view, I'm not going to discuss his power level since he'll show what he can do soon and as of now is all speculation and also cause this is not the right section to do it. I'll try to be as synthetic as possible, now let's give a look at Eustass "Captain" Kidd.
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PRE TIME SKIP
Let's start from the Sabaody Archipelago, where we met the Supernovas: a group of pirates that chose a route at the start of the Grand Line and arrived in Sabaody (the last island of the Gran Line) with a bounty that surpasses the 100 millions Berry. Out of all of them Kidd was the only one with a Supernova as first mate (Killer) just like Luffy with Zoro
Their bounties exceeded those of Luffy and Zoro by 15 and 42 millions respectively, probably cause of their tendency towards violence (evincible since they were both introduced while fighting another supernova) as Shakky said. Him and his crew were also highlighted in chapter 500, same for Law's crew, and fought the Marines shoulder to shoulder with Luffy and Law outside Doflamingo's Auction House (the iconic "Supernova trio"). In this occasion he declared his dream of finding the One Piece.
He came to see with his own eyes the end of Marineford war and hinted at his intention of taking on the Yonko, then entered the New World remarking how Luffy stood out in confront of the rest of the SN and aknowloging him as the pirate to keep under check. We had a show of his violence too and 'Do or Die' attitude
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DURING THE TIME SKIP
As he said in Udon he fought the Red Hair Pirates and lost the left arm in the process, he then invaded Big Mom's territory, injured a Sweet Commander, stole something and managed to flee. Not much is known apart from this except that he was the only SN to build his indipendent position in the NW, especially in the Underworld as he was one of those contacted by Caesar Clown to sell his new weapon. It's also worth to say that has his own base of operations.
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POST TIME SKIP
During the SH reunion in Sabaody Archipelago he sunk 2 ships of the Big Mom's Pirates, as Tamago said
He then was presented once again as the pirate with the highest bounty between the SN and formed the Kid-On Air-Hawkins Alliance (composed of himself, Killer, Apoo and Hawkins) paralleling the Strawhat-Law Alliance (composed of Luffy, Law and Zoro) but with a different objective from them: "Red Hair" Shanks instead of "Hundread Beasts" Kaido
Right after Luffy-Law Alliance success in Dressrosa (defeating Doflamingo and destroying the SMILE factory), Kaido fell on Kidd base and confronted the Kidd-On Air-Hawkins Alliance. Apoo was revealed to be Kaido's informant since the beginning, Hawkins checked his chances and decided to submit but Kidd dedided to not kneel in front of Kaido so fought against him with Killer until both of them couldn't move. After that him and his crew were captured.
He got mentioned by Kaido right after he fought with Luffy and reappeared in the cell next to Luffy in Udon. They closed Act 1 declaring at the same time their intention to take down Kaido
Then they started competing in everything possible way inside the prison (strenght, velocity, eating and so on) becoming the 'shining stars' of the prison yard
At some point Kidd managed to escape, but surrended himself when he recognized Killer carried by Kaido's men towards Udon. They were both tortured with drowning but got saved by Big Mom's irruption inside the prison.
When Luffy proposed him to join his Alliance he refused, seen where the alliance with Hawkins and Apoo bought him, and decided to go for his own way and free his crewmates as the first thing to do
He reappered the night of the Onigashima Raid: forming the Supernova Trio again and heading for Onigashima (competing with Luffy again and declaring his intention of taking Kaido's head in the meantime).
Once inside the castle him, Killer, Luffy and Zoro blew their covers and fought shoulder to shoulder, in particular he had the occasion to payback Apoo for snitching him.
After that he opened the way of the tower climb and reached the rooftop where him, Killer, Luffy, Zoro and Law faced Kaido and Big Mom, as the prophecy said.
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At this point my questions are:
Do you really think that Kidd will not have a primary role in Kaido/Big Mom fight?
Do you really think he will not become a great pirate?
Do you really think that he will not be relevant in the following arcs?
If you think so, elaborate it and let me know why
Possible future implications for Kidd's story that I agree with in the spoiler below here
_____________________________________________
PRE TIME SKIP
Let's start from the Sabaody Archipelago, where we met the Supernovas: a group of pirates that chose a route at the start of the Grand Line and arrived in Sabaody (the last island of the Gran Line) with a bounty that surpasses the 100 millions Berry. Out of all of them Kidd was the only one with a Supernova as first mate (Killer) just like Luffy with Zoro
He came to see with his own eyes the end of Marineford war and hinted at his intention of taking on the Yonko, then entered the New World remarking how Luffy stood out in confront of the rest of the SN and aknowloging him as the pirate to keep under check. We had a show of his violence too and 'Do or Die' attitude
_______________________________________
DURING THE TIME SKIP
As he said in Udon he fought the Red Hair Pirates and lost the left arm in the process, he then invaded Big Mom's territory, injured a Sweet Commander, stole something and managed to flee. Not much is known apart from this except that he was the only SN to build his indipendent position in the NW, especially in the Underworld as he was one of those contacted by Caesar Clown to sell his new weapon. It's also worth to say that has his own base of operations.
POST TIME SKIP
During the SH reunion in Sabaody Archipelago he sunk 2 ships of the Big Mom's Pirates, as Tamago said
He then was presented once again as the pirate with the highest bounty between the SN and formed the Kid-On Air-Hawkins Alliance (composed of himself, Killer, Apoo and Hawkins) paralleling the Strawhat-Law Alliance (composed of Luffy, Law and Zoro) but with a different objective from them: "Red Hair" Shanks instead of "Hundread Beasts" Kaido
Right after Luffy-Law Alliance success in Dressrosa (defeating Doflamingo and destroying the SMILE factory), Kaido fell on Kidd base and confronted the Kidd-On Air-Hawkins Alliance. Apoo was revealed to be Kaido's informant since the beginning, Hawkins checked his chances and decided to submit but Kidd dedided to not kneel in front of Kaido so fought against him with Killer until both of them couldn't move. After that him and his crew were captured.
He got mentioned by Kaido right after he fought with Luffy and reappeared in the cell next to Luffy in Udon. They closed Act 1 declaring at the same time their intention to take down Kaido
Then they started competing in everything possible way inside the prison (strenght, velocity, eating and so on) becoming the 'shining stars' of the prison yard
At some point Kidd managed to escape, but surrended himself when he recognized Killer carried by Kaido's men towards Udon. They were both tortured with drowning but got saved by Big Mom's irruption inside the prison.
When Luffy proposed him to join his Alliance he refused, seen where the alliance with Hawkins and Apoo bought him, and decided to go for his own way and free his crewmates as the first thing to do
He reappered the night of the Onigashima Raid: forming the Supernova Trio again and heading for Onigashima (competing with Luffy again and declaring his intention of taking Kaido's head in the meantime).
Once inside the castle him, Killer, Luffy and Zoro blew their covers and fought shoulder to shoulder, in particular he had the occasion to payback Apoo for snitching him.
After that he opened the way of the tower climb and reached the rooftop where him, Killer, Luffy, Zoro and Law faced Kaido and Big Mom, as the prophecy said.
_____________________________________
At this point my questions are:
Do you really think that Kidd will not have a primary role in Kaido/Big Mom fight?
Do you really think he will not become a great pirate?
Do you really think that he will not be relevant in the following arcs?
If you think so, elaborate it and let me know why
Possible future implications for Kidd's story that I agree with in the spoiler below here
"The amount of connections that Oda has drawn between Luffy, Kidd, and Shanks can’t be a coincidence:
- Kidd’s appearance is near identical to Shanks. (Red Hair, missing left arm, scar across the left side of his face).
- Luffy looks up to Shanks, Kidd very badly wants to kill Shanks
- Shanks gave his arm for Luffy while he took Kidd’s arm
- Shanks taught Luffy in chapter 1 to ignore people who laugh at you, Kidd specifically notes in Saboady that he kills people who laugh at his dream.
- This point is a bit off topic, but is interesting to think about. In New World we know that Luffy and Kidd have had run ins and interactions with multiple Yonko. I find it interesting that the only Yonko Luffy hasn’t had any interaction in NW yet is Shanks while the only Yonko Kidd hasn’t interacted with yet is Blackbeard. And we all know the connections and parallels that Shanks and Blackbeard share.
I’m willing to bet that the main players of the next saga of One Piece will be Luffy, Kidd, Shanks, and Blackbeard. Wano will be used as an arc to hype up Kidd before the next saga of One Piece begins. Sort of like what Punk Hazard did for Law. I guess that come end of Wano Luffy and his alliance will be credited for taking down Kaido, while Kidd gets credit for taking down Big Mom. Kidd might even recruit some beast pirates to strengthen his crew/fleet. Then Luffy and Kidd leave Wano as the main guys who took down the Yonko and it becomes a race for the One Piece." by @ReggieZoldyck21
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"I don't really have much to add other than the fact that I think Kid will play a prominent role going forward. But about lodestar, I've been thinking for a while now that Kid would be the major antagonist there and the main reason for that is because the island thematically represents Kid as a character and his abilities.
In sailing terms a "lodestar" is usually referred to as the "North Star" or "Pole Star" and as we all know a compass always points North due to the Magnetic Field. As we all know Kid’s ability allows him to create magnetic fields around him. Furthermore, the term “lode” literally refers to a collection or vein of metal ore which we know is what Kid uses to attack.
From these two things alone we can see the island is being built around two things, The ‘final’ destination and magnetism (Of course we know that laugh tale is the final destination, but symbolically Lodestar is the “end of the road” kind of island). People may see this as a ‘reach’ but Oda ALWAYS heavily creates antagonists that fit thematically to an arc. Just a few examples:
- The underground broker hidden in the shadows, uses sand abilities, Crocodile in a desert arc (Alabasta)
- A God high up in the skies, uses lightning abilities, Enel in a Sky arc (Skypeia)
- A Gluttonous witch-like queen, uses soul-based abilities, Big Mom in an arc about food and based on European fairy tales (Whole Cake Island)
There’s A LOT more but I don’t want to waste time. You can obviously see how an island based on metal and magnetism would be about Eustass Kid. But even more than that, thematically it fits Kid’s character. The “North Star” (Lodestar) is said to be the brightest star in the night sky (As a saying, its not actually the brightest lol) and what better way to represent that than having the last two supernova’s (Literally some of the brightest explosions in the universe) fight it out at the very end of their adventure, to see who truly is the brightest (Obviously it’s going to be Luffy). Once Luffy wins then their relationship and arc can finally end with Kid acknowledging Luffy and recognizing his own faults. I think Luffy and Kid will always be competitive but their relationship (imo) is supposed to grow as they gain more respect for one another. I HEAVILY doubt that Oda would mention an island like “lodestar” and not visit it or do anything interesting with it.
Also as a side note, I think the previous user of Kid’s devil fruit is what artificially created the random magnetic fields in the grandline which would again add another interesting tidbit to his character. All this to say that, while he doesn’t seem important to you all now, there are MANY MANY things Oda can do with his character and of course I can be wrong but I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say that he’ll be irrelevant after Wano." by @edwss
- Kidd’s appearance is near identical to Shanks. (Red Hair, missing left arm, scar across the left side of his face).
- Luffy looks up to Shanks, Kidd very badly wants to kill Shanks
- Shanks gave his arm for Luffy while he took Kidd’s arm
- Shanks taught Luffy in chapter 1 to ignore people who laugh at you, Kidd specifically notes in Saboady that he kills people who laugh at his dream.
- This point is a bit off topic, but is interesting to think about. In New World we know that Luffy and Kidd have had run ins and interactions with multiple Yonko. I find it interesting that the only Yonko Luffy hasn’t had any interaction in NW yet is Shanks while the only Yonko Kidd hasn’t interacted with yet is Blackbeard. And we all know the connections and parallels that Shanks and Blackbeard share.
I’m willing to bet that the main players of the next saga of One Piece will be Luffy, Kidd, Shanks, and Blackbeard. Wano will be used as an arc to hype up Kidd before the next saga of One Piece begins. Sort of like what Punk Hazard did for Law. I guess that come end of Wano Luffy and his alliance will be credited for taking down Kaido, while Kidd gets credit for taking down Big Mom. Kidd might even recruit some beast pirates to strengthen his crew/fleet. Then Luffy and Kidd leave Wano as the main guys who took down the Yonko and it becomes a race for the One Piece." by @ReggieZoldyck21
___________________________________
"I don't really have much to add other than the fact that I think Kid will play a prominent role going forward. But about lodestar, I've been thinking for a while now that Kid would be the major antagonist there and the main reason for that is because the island thematically represents Kid as a character and his abilities.
In sailing terms a "lodestar" is usually referred to as the "North Star" or "Pole Star" and as we all know a compass always points North due to the Magnetic Field. As we all know Kid’s ability allows him to create magnetic fields around him. Furthermore, the term “lode” literally refers to a collection or vein of metal ore which we know is what Kid uses to attack.
From these two things alone we can see the island is being built around two things, The ‘final’ destination and magnetism (Of course we know that laugh tale is the final destination, but symbolically Lodestar is the “end of the road” kind of island). People may see this as a ‘reach’ but Oda ALWAYS heavily creates antagonists that fit thematically to an arc. Just a few examples:
- The underground broker hidden in the shadows, uses sand abilities, Crocodile in a desert arc (Alabasta)
- A God high up in the skies, uses lightning abilities, Enel in a Sky arc (Skypeia)
- A Gluttonous witch-like queen, uses soul-based abilities, Big Mom in an arc about food and based on European fairy tales (Whole Cake Island)
There’s A LOT more but I don’t want to waste time. You can obviously see how an island based on metal and magnetism would be about Eustass Kid. But even more than that, thematically it fits Kid’s character. The “North Star” (Lodestar) is said to be the brightest star in the night sky (As a saying, its not actually the brightest lol) and what better way to represent that than having the last two supernova’s (Literally some of the brightest explosions in the universe) fight it out at the very end of their adventure, to see who truly is the brightest (Obviously it’s going to be Luffy). Once Luffy wins then their relationship and arc can finally end with Kid acknowledging Luffy and recognizing his own faults. I think Luffy and Kid will always be competitive but their relationship (imo) is supposed to grow as they gain more respect for one another. I HEAVILY doubt that Oda would mention an island like “lodestar” and not visit it or do anything interesting with it.
Also as a side note, I think the previous user of Kid’s devil fruit is what artificially created the random magnetic fields in the grandline which would again add another interesting tidbit to his character. All this to say that, while he doesn’t seem important to you all now, there are MANY MANY things Oda can do with his character and of course I can be wrong but I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say that he’ll be irrelevant after Wano." by @edwss
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