Spoilers ahead for One Piece Chapter #1056!
Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, was recently recognized as one of the Yonko, the four most powerful pirates in the One Piece world, but one of Luffy’s rivals actually deserves the title more. Eustass “Captain” Kid is also a pirate of the “Worst Generation” who helped defeat Big Mom and Kaido during the final battle in Wano, but his previous exploits show that he already proved to be better than Luffy many times.
Kid was introduced as one of the twelve pirates of the “Worst Generation” who became widely known on the Grand Line shortly before the Summit War at Marineford. As the captain of the Kid Pirates, he commands a dangerous crew known for causing many civilian casualties. Kid is a powerful fighter who ate the Jiki Jiki no Mi Devil Fruit, which gives him the power of magnetism. Kid is bloodthirsty, temperamental, and often reckless, which is proven by the fact that he went after three of the four previous Yonko already, even when he was completely outmatched, which cost him an arm against Shanks. Kid immediately developed a heated rivalry with Luffy for who should be the best pirate of the new generation. In the battle at Onigashima, however, the two formed an alliance and Kid took down Big Mom, together with Law, but neither of the two young men was awarded the title of Yonko, it went to Luffy instead.
However, new details about Kid’s recent past, shared in One Piece‘s chapter #1056 proved that he outperformed Luffy many times. In the past (more specifically in chapter #651), it was revealed that, during the “two-year timeskip,” Kid attacked and sunk two of Big Mom’s ships. Later (in chapter #928), Kid explained that, on that occasion, he injured one of Big Mom’s Sweet Commanders, the strongest fighters in the former Yonko’s large crew. This was an incredible feat by itself, but chapter #1056 further added that, in that same battle, Kid stole a copy of the inscriptions on Big Mom’s Road Poneglyph, making him the first pirate of the Worst Generation to obtain a piece of the map that leads to Laugh Tale and the legendary One Piece treasure.
Kid’s achievement really put Luffy’s to shame. The Straw Hat captain was able to defeat two of the Sweet Commanders, but only after training for two entire years in the use of Haki under the tutelage of the legendary Silvers Rayleigh, the second-in-command of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Kid never had this kind of training, but he still managed to beat a Sweet Commander and force him to hand over one of Big Mom’s most prized possessions. On top of that, Kid awakened his Devil Fruit before Luffy, because he was already able to use that power during the battle in Onigashima, while Luffy unlocked it only after being almost killed by Kaido.
The reason why Kid picked so many fights against the Yonko is that he was actively going after their Road Poneglyphs, while Luffy basically stumbled into them by chance. Considering his long list of achievements, his own personal strength, and the fact that he also defeated a former Emperor, Kid should have been granted the title of Yonko. Luffy may be the uncontested protagonist of One Piece, but Kid actually reached many important milestones before him, proving that he should also be recognized as one of the most powerful pirates in the world.
One Piece Chapter #1056 is available now on Viz.