He is the man who sailed aboard the two most legendary ships in history — those of Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger — before returning to die in a bath of boiling oil to protect his country.
Kozuki Oden, Daimyo of Kuri in the Land of Wano, is the samurai who literally carried the future of an entire nation on his shoulders. His life is a constant back-and-forth between total freedom and absolute duty — one of the most powerful flashbacks in One Piece.
- Identity profile: Who is Kozuki Oden?
- Origins: the thug of Wano who became Daimyo
- Voyage with Whitebeard: the 2nd commander
- Aboard the crews of Roger and Laugh Tale
- Return to Wano: Orochi, Kaido, and the betrayal
- The Legendary Hour: the ordeal in boiling oil
- Enma, the Red Scabbards, and the legacy
- Our Oden-inspired product
- FAQ
⚔️ Identity Profile: Who Is Kozuki Oden?
🐉 Kozuki Oden — Complete Profile
🔥 Origins: The Thug of Wano Who Became Daimyo
An unmanageable child, banished from the capital
Oden is born into the Kozuki family, heir to the shogunate, but from childhood behaves like an unmanageable thug: brawls, fires, visits to shady districts, illegal banquets... He is banished from the capital and sent to the most dangerous region of Wano: Kuri, a lawless territory.
Instead of dying there, Oden defeats the most feared criminal in the area in a duel, Ashura Doji, and subdues all of Kuri's bandits in a single night. He does not execute them: he recruits them, builds a town, and restores peace. Shogun Sukiyaki is forced to recognize him as Daimyo of Kuri — the rejected thug becomes a pillar of the country.
The Kozuki Family is the one that created the Poneglyphs. Oden therefore inherits a central role: he alone in Wano can read these indestructible blocks of history.
⚓ Voyage with Whitebeard: The 2nd Commander
Leaving Wano, an Unforgivable Crime
At the time, Wano is a closed country: leaving the territory is a crime. Yet when Whitebeard's ship runs aground on the coast, Oden literally jumps into the sea, grabs hold of the Moby Dick's chain, and refuses to let go. He wants to see the outside world, whatever the cost.
After a "test" in which he must survive for hours while clinging to the ship, Whitebeard finally accepts him. Oden becomes commander of the 2nd division—the position Ace would later hold—and travels the Grand Line with his retainers, bringing several future Red Scabbards with him.
| Stage | Oden's Role | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Whitebeard's Arrival in Wano | Clash Followed by a "Wild Recruitment" | Wano's First Opening to the Outside World |
| Voyage on the Moby Dick | 2nd Division Commander | Becomes a Legendary Pirate Respected by All |
| Meets Toki | Protects a Woman from the Past | Birth of Momonosuke and Hiyori |
🏴☠️ Aboard Roger's Crew and Laugh Tale
When the Future Pirate King Calls for Oden
When Whitebeard's crew encounters that of Gol D. Roger, the two legends fight on equal terms for three days and three nights. Fascinated by Oden, Roger asks him to join his ship for a year to complete his final voyage.
Oden accepts—with Whitebeard's blessing. On Roger's ship, his role becomes central: he reads the Poneglyphs, deciphers the Road Poneglyphs leading to Laugh Tale, and even carves inscriptions (such as the one on Fish-Man Island). He is present when Roger becomes the Pirate King and discovers Joy Boy's treasure.
On Laugh Tale, Oden learns the truth about the Void Century, Joy Boy, and the promise made to Wano. This revelation drives his obsession with opening the country's borders.
🏯 Return to Wano: Orochi, Kaido, and the Betrayal
A Country Stolen in His Absence
When Oden finally returns to Wano, Shogun Sukiyaki is dead and the throne has been usurped by Kurozumi Orochi, with the secret support of Kaido. The population is oppressed, weapons factories are destroying the landscape, and families are being terrorized. Oden realizes that his country has paid the price for his absence.
He first confronts Orochi, then accepts a rigged "deal" that forces him to dance naked in the street for years in exchange for the fleeting promise of sparing the inhabitants. Oden becomes the laughingstock of Wano, while no one knows about the silent sacrifice he is making to buy time.
None of this plan would be possible without Kaido, who uses Wano as a weapons factory and fortress. Oden understands that he must defeat him to free his country — but the betrayal of a spy among the Scabbards (Kanjuro) seals his fate.
🔥 The Legendary Hour: The Ordeal in Oil
Carrying nine samurai on his shoulders
Sentenced to be boiled alive in a huge cauldron of oil, Oden negotiates one final condition: if he and his Nine Red Scabbards survive an hour in the ordeal, they will be pardoned. He steps into the cauldron with them... but on a plank he carries on his shoulders, keeping them above the oil.
He endures the pain alone for everyone. Just before the countdown ends, Orochi and Kaido betray their promise and order Oden to be shot. Oden then throws the Scabbards out of the cauldron, ordering them to live and prepare for revenge twenty years later — the revenge that will be carried out by Luffy and Momonosuke.
🌸 Enma, the Red Scabbards and the Legacy
Oden's two swords: Enma and Ame no Habakiri
Before his death, Oden entrusts his two legendary swords: Enma and Ame no Habakiri. Enma eventually passes to Zoro through the Kozuki family, while Ame no Habakiri goes to Momonosuke. Enma is one of the few blades to have wounded Kaido, making it a central sword in the battle of Wano.
These swords are among the high-ranking blades detailed in your article on the Supreme Grade swords and high-grade swords. Oden, meanwhile, becomes more than a samurai: a symbol of resistance and sacrifice, cited by all the Minks, the Scabbards, and even Kaido as a man "too dangerous to be left alive."
| Element | Heir | Role in the current saga |
|---|---|---|
| Enma | Roronoa Zoro | Key sword for wounding Kaido and mastering advanced Haki |
| Ame no Habakiri | Momonsuke | Symbol of the legitimacy of Wano's Shogun |
| Nine Red Scabbards | Kinemon, Denjiro, Kawamatsu, etc. | Trigger the Wano rebellion twenty years later |
