Eustass Kidd is the epitome of trash in OP, a character whose hype never matched his actual performance. The more he appeared, the more evident it became that he was nothing more than an arrogant, one-dimensional brute with no real depth, creativity, or ability to back up his inflated reputation. This makes him, without a doubt, one of the most disappointing characters in the entire Worst Generation, if not the series as a whole, or even fiction.
This all starts from the moment he is introduced in Sabaody, where, with a bounty of 315 million berries, he is positioned as a major rival to Luffy. He is supposedly so dangerous that his bounty even surpasses the protagonist’s at the time, which immediately sets up an expectation that he has accomplished something truly remarkable. However, when we actually look at Kidd’s achievements throughout the series, it becomes painfully obvious that his bounty was nothing more than a misleading number. While Luffy’s bounty is tied to significant events like defeating major enemies, toppling governments, and liberating islands, Kidd’s was largely based on his willingness to kill civilians. If anything, this only made him seem more like a generic ruthless pirate than an actual contender in the New World.
This disconnect between hype and reality continues throughout his entire arc. Every time he is expected to prove himself, he either fails spectacularly or gets overshadowed by better, more capable characters. He was portrayed to be a close second to Luffy in Wano Act 1 but his fradulence was so bad, he got outperformed by Luffy, Law, Zoro and his underling Killer. Nowhere is this more evident than in his fighting style. Despite having one of the most conceptually interesting Devil Fruits, the Jiki Jiki no Mi, which grants him magnetism-based powers, he uses it in the most unimaginative way possible. Instead of manipulating magnetic fields creatively, using his abilities to disarm opponents, control the battlefield, or enhance his own movement, Kidd’s idea of fighting is simply making big metal fists and smashing things. This is not only predictable but also far less versatile than other Worst Gen contemporaries like the one who carried his ass in the BM fight, Law, whose Ope Ope no Mi allows for precise, game-changing attacks. But that's ok. Law has arguably the best fighting style in the series. Let's compare Midd to someone more similar like Luffy. Even Luffy continuously evolves his combat techniques through Haki mastery and Gear transformations. Kidd, however, never adapts, never learns, and never changes, making his battles feel repetitive, uninspired, and completely lacking in strategic depth. He blindly charges into fights with the same brute-force mentality every single time, which inevitably leads to disastrous results like getting 0.5 shot by Shanks.
This is evident in his major battles, where he repeatedly finds himself on the losing end. His first encounter with Kaido is a prime example. He is utterly defeated offscreen and thrown into Udon prison without even putting up a meaningful fight. While Luffy uses his imprisonment as an opportunity to grow stronger by mastering ACoA, Kidd simply endures his time in prison without gaining any notable improvements, and doing failed escapes where he comes back with his underling to be stripped of any bit of shame remaining in his empty head every damn time.
Then there is his so-called greatest victory against Big Mom during the Wano arc, where he and Law supposedly “defeat” the Yonko. Even in this moment, it is clear that Law did most of the heavy lifting. His strategic use of Awakening and spatial manipulation inflicted the most damage, while Kidd’s contribution boiled down to hitting Big Mom with increasingly large pieces of metal(yet again reiterating my point of his fucking garbage fighting style). His final attack relied more on sheer force than any actual technique and was only executed by Law's tactics and actual good attacks on BM. Even then, after Law fried Big Mom's insides with Puncture Wille, Kidd couldn't take her down with 2 Damned Punks and needed bombs to win. The only reason he was even given credit for the victory was because Oda needed both him and Law to appear as equals, even though their skill sets and contributions were vastly different.
This issue of Kidd being artificially propped up as a major player without actually proving himself reaches its ultimate conclusion in his humiliating loss to Shanks in Elbaf. After spending the entire post-Wano period hyping himself up as someone ready to take on the Yonko, he gets completely annihilated in a single attack. Well, half an attack since his underling was erased too while his crew handed over Kidd's dream RPs to Shanks. This is a testament to how pathetic Kidd's leadership is that he couldn't even get loyalty from his own crew members. Shanks, recognizing that Kidd is not a legitimate threat, instantly removes him from the battlefield with one strike of Kamusari, effectively erasing him from the story.
This moment is not just a defeat but a definitive statement that Kidd was never on the level fans expected him to be. Unlike Luffy’s losses, which serve as catalysts for growth, or even Law’s setbacks, which he overcomes through intelligence and planning, Kidd’s defeat at the hands of Shanks is so absolute that it leaves no room for redemption. It is not just his fighting ability that is underwhelming but also his character development, or rather, the complete lack thereof. From the moment he is introduced to the moment he is erased from the narrative, Kidd remains the exact same character—arrogant, overconfident, and unable to learn from his mistakes.
Whereas Luffy grows through hardship, learning from figures like Rayleigh, developing his skills, and forming meaningful bonds with allies, Kidd operates in complete isolation. His only real relationship is with Killer, and even then, their dynamic lacks the emotional weight that defines other rivalries and partnerships in the story. While Luffy’s bonds with his crew and allies push him to become stronger, Kidd’s interactions feel hollow, as he never truly inspires loyalty or camaraderie. And no I am not counting that pathetic crush relationship he had with that bitch Victoria lmao. He got rejected like the absolute clown he is.
This further contributes to why he ultimately fails as a rival. A good rival character should challenge the protagonist in ways beyond brute strength, but Kidd is never an ideological or strategic foil to Luffy in the way that characters like Blackbeard or even Law are. When compared to the other major members of the Worst Generation, Kidd’s shortcomings become even more glaring. Luffy, of course, has risen to the level of a Yonko through sheer determination, creativity, and growth. Law has solidified himself as one of the most cunning and adaptable pirates in the world. This is why Law got saved by Bepo, since he has actual writing and is important to the plot. Even Blackbeard, who started as a normal dude who plays dirty and seemed generic, proved all expectations wrong and has methodically built himself into one of the most dangerous forces in the world by strategically acquiring Devil Fruits and assembling a fearsome crew. Kidd, despite having all the narrative setup to be an important figure, never actually delivers on that promise. His ultimate fate serves as proof of that. While other characters continue to develop, Kidd is simply discarded, his story concluding in the most anticlimactic way possible. He was just a plot device to take down Big Mom and make sure Shanks gets his RPs in the race for the One Piece.
This is particularly disappointing considering that other Worst Gen members like Luffy, Law, Zoro and even Bege and Bonney had long character arcs and payoffs, yet Kidd’s character arc, if it can even be called that, amounts to nothing. Which is why his delusional fans cannot cope with such horrible treatment (which is deserved for his trash character) and instead spend time writing cope theories on how Kidd will return, how Gunko is Victoria and since they have been getting neglected from the fanbase since everyone is tired of 2 years of pure cope, they resort to hate towards more relevant characters to get attention from their fanbases like Shanks and Zoro. Especially
some users on this forum spend 7-8 hours writing essays calling out Shanks and his fans because they can't cope with the mental breakdown post-1079.
Kidd is nothing but a failure in the story. Had Oda actually given him proper development, a more refined combat style, or even just a more compelling personality beyond his endless overconfidence, he could have been a genuinely great character. Instead, Kidd is left as little more than an afterthought, a character whose presence ultimately meant nothing in the grand scheme of this story, just a plot device, making him, without a doubt, one of the worst-executed characters in the entire series with an overly braindead fanbase that deserves all the disrespects and insults thrown their way.
Kidd is trash.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT AI, I SPENT 5 DAYS TYPING THIS UP!
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