One Piece: Is Momonosuke’s Devil Fruit the same as Kaido’s? Explained

First encountered in the Punk Hazard arc of One Piece, Momonosuke is one of the Straw Hat pirates' most consistent allies, from Dressrosa all the way to Wano. The draconic devil fruit user becomes surprisingly far more important as the chapters roll on and his true purpose in the narrative is laid bare.

Interestingly, Momonosuke's Devil Fruit is also incredibly similar to one used by one of the vicious four emperors of the sea, Kaido, who has the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. But how does Momonosuke have this ability? Devil fruits can’t be shared, as established with fruits like Ace’s Flame-Flame fruit. Considering this, how does Momonosuke gain access to the devil fruit's powers?

[Disclaimer: This article will contain spoilers for One Piece.]

---

Momonosuke and Kaido’s Devil Fruit connection in One Piece

Momonosuke and Luffy meet for the first time. (Image via Toei Animation)

The story of Momonosuke’s Devil Fruit is explained late in the Punk Hazard arc of One Piece. Accidentally getting captured alongside other children in Caesar Clown’s horrific enlargement program, Momonosuke refuses to eat the food and candy offered by the experimenters. Instead, he escapes the containment and eats an encased devil fruit.

This devil fruit transforms him into a small dragon, pink in color. The fruit was actually an experimental replica of the original Fish-Fish fruit Azure Dragon model, created by Dr. Vegapunk but deemed a failure. However, it seems the failure was almost entirely cosmetic, as it’s supposed to allow the user to assume an azure form, not a pink form.

Thus, Momonosuke does not have the exact same devil fruit as Kaido, but rather a replica of his that lets him assume a dragon form similar to the world's "strongest creature." But what was author Eiichiro Oda's intent behind this move? But what was the author's intention behind this move? His reason is brilliant, and it is part of what makes One Piece so unique.

---

The parallel between Momonosuke and Kaido in One Piece

Momonosuke and Luffy clash against Kaido. (Image via Toei Animation)

Momonosuke’s true identity is that he is the son of Kozuki Oden of Wano. Oden was going to be shogun of Wano before he was deposed by the traitorous Kurosumi Orochi. In order to save his son, he asked one of his retainers, Toki, to send Momonosuke and other retainers twenty years into the future, with hopes of them finding allies in that time.

Luckily for Momonosuke and his retainers, they met the Straw Hats on Punk-Hazard and proceeded to undermine Kaido’s power in Dressrosa by overthrowing Donquixote Doflamingo and his personal supply of artificial devil fruits. With no way to make any more, Kaido’s grip on his position as Emperor began to wane, especially as Luffy and company closed in.

In a desperate bid to make his powers stronger, Momonosuke aged up after consuming the power of the Ripe-Ripe fruit, allowing him to become a truly massive dragon, and it is here that the parallel between him and Kaido is best illustrated. Between Kaido's fierce, dark form and Momonosuke's brighter, bolder sheen, the usurper of Wano faces its true shogun.

In this sense, Kaido and Momonosuke essentially do have the same Devil Fruit, allowing the two to have an absolutely epic dragon showdown. So while Momonosuke and Kaido’s Devil Fruit powers may not be exactly identical, they are more or less the same and serve to parallel these two rulers of Wano: one a bloodthirsty pirate, the other the true ruler returning from an era past.