King is the 1st Commander of Kaido’s Beast Pirates and one of the strongest creatures in the One Piece world.
As far as we know, Kaido’s territory (Wano) is strongly inspired by Japan and its cultures. That’s why Oda will have used Japan’s mythology as an inspiration for Wano and its characters. So we should look for King’s skills in Japanese mythology.
Kaido’s commanders and liaison officers all carry a codename that represents a reference to card games and at the same time determines the ranking according to the card value (King, Queen, Jack and Joker).
King is the highest ranking commander. Another conclusion is that their names used by Kaido are not their real names (see Doflamingo = Joker).
Many have wondered what abilities King could have and what devil fruit he uses. Because of his appearance, most of the speculation was aimed at giving him a devil fruit that allowes him to fly and/ or to control fire. Because he has wings and there were flames on his body.
In chapter 930 his devil fruit was finally revealed. A Pteranodon. A pterodactyl. OK. Cool. But … many have noticed that the wings of a Pteranodon are different from Kings’ wings in its human form (where its wings are feathery). And no matter what sources you search, a Pteranodon has nothing to do with fire at all … weird.
That leaves only one assumption: His devil fruit has nothing to do with his appearance. So he had the wings and the fire before he got his devil’s fruit and it belongs to his natural appearance.
So King may belong to a special race? And we got a looooot of races in One Piece.I think a new race was already introduced to us in Wano Kuni. And that is no coincidence.
The old Tenguyama Hitetsu. He is very similar in appearance to the classical image, which we associate with a Tengu.
Even his name (Tenguyama) implies this: Long nose (Like Ussopp), wings and a classic gown. Typical for a Tengu. Everyone has also given him the nickname “Tengu”. We also know that Hitetsu is a master of swordsmithing. And a direct descendant of Kotetsu (Tenguyama Kotetsu), a legendary blacksmith.
King’s wings are just like the wings of Hitetsu and both are considerably tall. Only King does not own these eye-catching nose of a Tengu. But not all tengu are equal. There is a distinction between Daitengu and Kotengu. Daitengu are often pictured in a more human-like form than their underlings, and therefore they are called hanatakatengu.
Kotengu may conversely be pictured as more bird-like.
Even though King does not have a big nose, he should be classified as a Daitengu, the stronger form of them. Because Kings appearance resembles that of a human being. Maybe his nose was cut off in a fight and since then he wears this mask? Who knows
And yes, King’s wings are black and those of Hitetsu are white. Maybe King is permanently using the Armanent Haki.
As a result, I think that King’s appearance has inspired Oda to give him the fruit of Pteranodon and King’s appearance is not a result of his devil’s fruit.
But there are more evidence that King is a Tengu. Tengus are often associated with a particular mountain and with fire. In chapter 934 we were shown a map of Wano.
It showed that there is a mountain right next to Orochi Castle. This one is called Fuji. So like the Japanese Mount Fuji.
In Japanese Mythology the Tengu Daranibo is considered as the patron saint of Mount Fuji. So there might be a connection between the mount Fuji in Wano and the Tenguyama family. Daranibo is also said to have the resposibility to protect the border of Japan (Wano) from intruders. And who was in chapter 930 responsible for blocking the Big Mom Pirates at the border of Wano? Right, Border patrol King.
So there may be a connection between the mountain in Wano and the Tengus. Daranibo is also credited with being responsible for protecting the borders of Japan from intruders. And in Chapter 930, who was responsible for dismissing the Big Mom pirates on the Wano border? Right, Border Guard King.
There are also some Tengus who are very similar in appearance to King. The Tengu “Izuna Gongen” appears in the shape of a karasu tengu riding a white fox. His Sword, shield and flames are reminiscent of Fudō Myōō.
Fudo’s typical attributes are fire and sword. Often he also holds a rope in his left hand to catch demons. His skin is mostly black or blue.
Many people believe that King’s skin is guarded with Armanent Haki. But I think he just has a dark skin.
The Japanese Tengu are holding swords, pilgrims’ rods, scrolls, prayer beads or fans in their hands. As we know, both King and Higetsu wear a sword. Tengu are also said to have triggered obsession, attacking and abducting monks and children, being aggressive andvery skilled in armed combat. A guy called Minamoto no Yoshitsune (prominent in japanese culture) is said to have learned the sword art from the Tengu Sōjōbō. That both Hitetsu and King are skilled in armed combat, should be out of question.
What I also think about it is pure speculation.
We know that Wano Kuni is the land of the Samurai and houses the best weaponsmiths. One of them is Hitetsu. I believe that Hitetsu’s family (the Tenguyama) owned a kind of blacksmith monopoly and made the best swords. They could also have been a personal blacksmith for the former shogun. I think everyone in this blacksmithing family belongs to the Tengu race. And so does King.
We also know that the seemingly indestructible poneglyphs and seastone is originally from Wano Kuni. However, someone had to be able to carve words into the stone, shape the porneglyphs, shape seastone handcuffs, and regulate their effect. That almost borders on magic. And that’s the main point. Tengus are said to have magical powers in mythology and we know that they are blacksmiths. So it is very likely that Hitetsu’s clan was responsible for the production and processing of seastone and therefore poneglyphs. Therefore they used their masterful blacksmithing, the seastone and their magical powers. Maybe the Tenguyama from Wano use the lava of the mountain to forge the seastone (referring to Lord of the Rings?)
Have you ever wondered how Kaido gets so much seastone in a specially crafted form, when it’s classified as very rare? I mean even as a special gift, Smoker got just a small amount of seastone for his weapon. It would make sense if King is part of the Hitetsu clan, who mastered magical blacksmithing and thus can process the seastone for Kaido according to his special wishes.
That’s it!
I do not highly believe that Oda is going to explain King’s origin in detail, but I thought it would be nice for us fans to have a logical theory about Kings connection to Wano. Just for fun.
So I hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day. Bless you.
*Theory by Sebastian Albert
