One Piece has a large collection of fun, interesting characters that spice up the adventure-lined story differently. The core reason behind the story's large number of characters is the length of the anime's episode. Furthermore, Eiichiro Oda, One Piece manga creator, hasn't confirmed the total number of episodes One Piece will have, so fans can expect more interesting characters to show up in the future story arcs.

Among the newest characters, One Piece revealed in the Wano Arc, Yamato has been the most controversial. The character's gender identity, ideals, and mannerisms have sparked debates among One Piece fans as the anime has revealed contrasting details about the character. Also, Yamato's claim to be Oden is another unsettling occurrence that needs to be debunked for everyone to understand. So, what is to know about Yamato?

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Who is Yamato?

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One Piece recently added Yamato to its fairly large cast in the Wano arc, pulling a new twist to the story. Yamato is Oden's daughter and has been referred to as such; however, on numerous occasions, Yamato has been called "Kaido's son." Even Kaido openly calls Yamato his son, causing confusion over the character's gender identity. Due to the conflicting details revealed about the character, many One Piece fans believe Yamato is Transgender. This was supported by Yamato's introduction as a male character in the One Piece manga series. In other words, Yamato's confusing identity wasn't an anime-only occurrence but a major detail present in the anime's source material.

While this may have brought something unprecedented to the franchise, the official Vivre Card for the character adds some confusing contradictions to the debate. The Vivre card states that Yamato is canonically female, contrary to the majority view of One Piece fans. On the other hand, since Yamato is female, a possible reason for this occurrence is that Kaido wants Yamato to claim the male-only title of Shogun in the Wano Kingdom. Hence, the reference as a male character. However, this is just a conjecture since One Piece hasn't officially revealed the reason for Yamato's identity conflict.

Oda, however, hinted at his reason for Yamato being referred to as male by One Piece characters in chapter 945 of the manga series. Oda referenced the character Oscar Franois de Jarjayes from The Rose of Versailles manga series. The story features a woman trained and raised as a boy to succeed her father as an army commander. Following this logic, Kaido may be behind the reason for Yamato's conflicting identity since he wants Yamato to be his right-hand man.

Yamato's Traumatic Childhood

yamato's traumatic childhood

To fully understand Yamato's reason for calling herself "Oden," it's necessary to take a look at the character's tragic past. One Piece fully revealed the details of Yamato's dark childhood in episode 1013 of the anime. The flashback featured the meeting between Ace, Luffy's brother, and Yamato. Apparently, Ace was on a mission to rescue children kidnapped by Kaido. On his way, he encounters Yamato and starts a fight between the both of them.

Ace's strength is already well-known to fans; however, the battle gave fans an insight into Yamato's strength. She was able to stand toe to toe with the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard pirates in a fight, proving that she also inherited Kaido's monstrous strength. During the fight, Ace questioned Yamato, asking the character why she remained on Onigashima despite being strong enough to be a captain.

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The question triggers Yamato, and she reveals her past to Ace. Yamato was raised as a power tool for Kaido, who stated that Yamato was crucial to his plans in the Wano kingdom. It was subtly revealed that Yamato often begged her father to allow her to venture off the island, but he refused. Worse, he cuffed Yamato with explosive chains that would activate if she leaves Onigashima Island and imprisoned her as a child, creating a sad early life for the character.

These depressing events traumatized Yamato, resulting in her final acceptance that she could never escape from Kaido. Kaido's abuse of his daughter left a deep psychological scar on her, chaining her to the island mentally and physically. Undoubtedly, Yamato is strong enough to escape from Onigashima, but she never considers it because of the mental scars Kaido inflicted on her since childhood.

Oden – The Embodiment Of Freedom

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During her dark childhood, Yamato managed to find a light that influenced her mentality: Oden. Yamato idolized the samurai pirate who sacrificed his life for his retainers. Further, Yamato found Oden's journal after his death and read about all his adventures. These two factors led to the character's adoption of the character, "Oden," whenever she thinks about freedom. At first, Yamato calling herself "Oden" can be a bit jarring, but on a closer look, you will discover that it is more of a declaration than an identity change. So instead of Yamato saying, "I want to be Oden," or "I want to be like Oden," she says, "I am Oden," suggesting that she shares a child-like fantasy to be like the samurai she idolizes.

Just the way an excited kid wants to be their favorite superhero, Yamato wants to be "Oden." So the reason Yamato calls herself Oden does not stem from delusion but a strong yearning to become "free" like Oden, who lived "freely." Yamato has never truly been free, considering her backstory; Oden serves as a form of "escapism" for the character since he is everything the character dreams of becoming. The Straw Hats' invasion of Onigashima signifies that Yamato will soon escape from her current predicaments and become as free as she wants. The character might even join the Straw Hats crew as a new pirate; who knows?

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