Kozuki Oden

**Kozuki Oden** is the daimyo of Kuri in Wano Country and the son of the former shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki, being a member of the Kozuki Family. He was the husband of Kozuki Toki and the father of Momonosuke and Hiyori. Additionally, he was the leader of a group of legendary and powerful samurai known as the Nine Red Scabbards, with all of them serving as his retainers and most trusted allies.

For 5 years of his life, Oden set out to sea and became a pirate, serving as the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and later becoming a member of the Roger Pirates. After finding Joy Boy's treasure on Laugh Tale, Oden journeyed home and made it his goal to open Wano's borders to the world by finally taking his father's place as shogun. However, he met opposition from his usurper Kurozumi Orochi and the pirate Kaidou, who executed him 20 years before the present, in an event known as the Legendary Hour.

Oden's name was first mentioned during the Zou Arc. He is the posthumous overarching protagonist of the Wano Country Arc, being the protagonist of a series of events taking place in and outside Wano in the past. After his death, he was resurrected.

## Statistics

### Epithet:

"Idiot Lord" (バカ殿, Bakatono?, VIZ: "Fool of a Lord")[4][5]

## Personality

Oden was an extremely brash, confident, carefree, and self-willed man. This motivated him to commit outrageous and violent actions for his own benefit during his youth and adolescence, such as fighting gamblers in a drunken rage, burning down the yakuza casino after being banned from it, and kidnapping women at night to form a harem in the mountains. Similar to his son Momonosuke, Oden was a pervert as a kid as he was regularly roaming the Red Light District at age 6 and spent the castle's money at the pleasure halls, not to mention forming a harem at the age of 15. However, that toned down over the years as he already grew out of that phase by the time, he became an adult. Overall, Oden was known for getting into a significant number of violent fights, and he cared little for the consequences of his actions, as he gladly stood his ground against the yakuza and the loved ones of the women when fighting broke out as a result of the two aforementioned incidents, making Oden a thrill-seeker, as he always loved getting into fights. Although most men were appalled by his actions, his attitude made him very attractive to women, including the ones he kidnapped for his harem, as they stayed with him willingly, even though they were always free to leave.

After being sentenced to work in the quarries, Oden became less selfish and started acting to improve the lives of the Flower Capital citizens around him. However, these actions were just as outrageous and ill-thought-out as the ones Oden committed to benefit himself. The most notable example is when he attempted to help out the citizens during a drought by diverting a river into the city, which caused the city to become flooded. Additionally, when a Mountain God attacked the Flower Capital, Oden quickly went to action to try to deal with it and even took responsibility for causing the crisis in order to shift blame from Kin'emon, who caused the incident on accident. Oden seemed to often mean well but acted in ways that were reckless and potentially alienating to those around him. For example, to honor a deceased man he once knew, Oden cooked a pot of oden soup over his cremated remains to "share one last drink" with his former friend, much to the dismay of his mourning family members, although Oden then apologized to them for the disturbance.

Unlike the other people in Wano, Oden didn't follow its strict rules and always did things to help others in his own way. He didn't care what others thought about him and also never wanted to be thanked whenever he helped others. Although many men blamed Oden for the Mountain God Incident, they secretly envied Oden for his carefree attitude because he's not bound by Wano's strict rules. After being exiled by Sukiyaki, Oden seemed to have found an outlet for his unconventional attempts at heroism, as he was able to bring peace to Kuri and rebuild its infrastructure in only two years.

Oden was also extremely adventurous and wanted to illegally set sail away from Wano Country, viewing it as too cramped. In his youth, he viewed this dream as more important than preparing to succeed his father as shogun. In fact, Oden's determination to set sail was so great that he kept trying to do so 38 times by the time he was only 18. When Whitebeard constantly refused and tried to secretly set sail without notifying him, Oden jumped straight into the sea holding onto the Moby Dick by a chain, shocking the Whitebeard Pirates. Thus, Whitebeard imposed him an extremely difficult challenge which Oden readily agreed to accept it as Oden could brave through the harshest weathers and obstacles without flinching. After he officially joined the Whitebeard Pirates, Oden became immensely excited and curious when they arrived at every new island, learning new discoveries which were unknown to Wano, to the point he ended up recklessly throwing himself into danger. After sailing with the Roger Pirates, Oden became more mature and responsible, and decided that he wanted to succeed his father as shogun and open Wano's borders, to prepare for the return of Joy Boy, and because he wanted to change the entire world.

Despite having a first bad impression of Orochi, who Oden considered nothing more than a "creepy weirdo", when Oden became a daimyo and Orochi frequently came to him and asked to borrow money from him, Oden always obliged despite never being paid back, doing so because he felt sorry for Orochi and out of respect for his relationship with Yasuie; something Denjiro constantly scolded him for. This makes Oden also a rather naive man as he was easily used by Orochi who approached him humbly and used Crocodile tears, which led Kaidou to call him a foolish lord later on, saying that Oden is mighty, but soft, like Gol D. Roger and Edward Newgate. Because Oden was a honorable man who always kept his word, he believed that Orochi would do the same and honor the agreement that Orochi and Kaidou would leave Wano if he humiliated himself for five years to save the hundreds of hostages and stop the kidnappings and killings of the citizens of Wano. Oden was always someone who would take all the burden on his shoulders as he was afraid that his family and the people, he cares about would get hurt if they get involved, especially after he learned that Momonosuke was attacked, and Toki hit by an arrow. Ultimately, that would indirectly allow Orochi to rise to power and turn Wano into a wasteland.

Despite his rowdy behavior, Oden was an extremely compassionate man. While at first annoyed by Kin'emon and Denjiro acting as his followers, he still cared for their well-being and took them in. He also took in other people like the orphaned Izou and Kikunojo, the persecuted Kanjuro, and the lonely Raizo. After subduing the criminals and outlaws of Kuri, Oden chose to reform them rather than execute them as criminals. Oden did not tolerate discrimination, considering it a symbol of ignorance. He saved Kawamatsu, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi from being publicly humiliated and tortured, beating up the ones responsible for it. He also saw the three as helpless children rather than monsters and was amazed by their uniqueness. Additionally, Oden willingly gave up on his trial to join the Whitebeard Pirates when he heard Amatsuki Toki calling out for help, choosing to save her even if it meant he could not join their crew, even though he held onto the chain attached to the Moby Dick for nearly 3 full days and was about to pass the test. When Toki got sick and was forced to return to Wano in the middle of their voyage with Roger, Oden wanted to abandon his dream of going to the last island and instead go back to Wano with Toki and their children, so Toki had to threaten to divorce Oden to force him to continue the journey to the last island.

When Oden learned how Orochi abused his power and authority as the shogun by enslaving Wano citizens for his tyrannical greed, including executing an innocent man along with his family for defiance, Oden was outraged and did not blame his retainers for attacking Orochi for the injustice he caused, as he personally stormed into the Flower Capital to execute Orochi himself. When Oden learned from Orochi how his family was unjustly persecuted for his grandfather's crimes and Orochi showed Oden a room full of hundreds of hostages to blackmail him, Oden accepted his demands of dancing naked weekly in the Flower Capital as an apology to the Kurozumi Family in exchange for protecting the citizens from Orochi's vengeance, including saving the hundreds of kidnapped citizens that were meant as a tribute to Kaidou.

Oden was extraordinarily humble and impartial. Despite being the Daimyo of Kuri and son of the Shogun, as well as the strongest Samurai, Oden referred to everyone as his equal and despite the deeds and sacrifices he performed to help others, he didn't like getting any credit for them. When Ashura was grateful to Oden for showing him how peace looked like, Oden became annoyed, telling Ashura to stop being creepy. Oden cared greatly for his retainers and the citizens of Wano. He saved the Flower Capital and its citizens from the Mountain God despite the fact that the citizens threw stones at him and insulted him when he appeared. When Yasuie informed Oden about the lawless region of Kuri which even Oden's father considers as the "cancer of Wano", Oden became interested, travelled there by himself, and defeated every bandit in there in the span of a night, as well as saving all the innocent people who were still living there. He then brought peace to the hellish wasteland that is Kuri, building a village for the citizens to live in, and a Paradise Farm to feed them. Oden also saved Kawamatsu, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi from people who tried to set them on fire, took them in, and fed them, expecting no credit for it. When Oden and his retainers were short on food, Oden even refused to eat just so his retainers don't starve. When Oden was about to pass Whitebeard's test after holding onto a chain attached to the Moby Dick and having faced the many dangers and climates of the New World Ocean with no protection for three days, Oden heard a woman in trouble and let go to save her, willing to abandon his childhood dream for a stranger. After saving her and waking up the next day, Oden was more thankful to her for treating his wounds, not wanting any credit from her for saving her life from a bunch of kidnappers. An ultimate act of loyalty and selflessness, Oden sacrificed his own pride, honor, and reputation for 5 years to protect and save hundreds of hostages, as well as the entire civilization of Wano from Kaidou and Orochi's tyranny. Oden never explained the motivations for his actions to anyone, not even his wife, children, and retainers, willing to take the truth that he did it to protect and save them all, to his grave. The citizens of Wano who treated Oden like scum for those 5 years learned the truth only thanks to Shinobu, who spied on the deal between Oden and Orochi. In the end, Oden sacrificed his own life for his retainers, willing to go through hellish pain by holding up all of 9 of them on a plank for an entire hour while he alone was getting boiled alive in the oil during the Legendary Hour.

Oden's favorite food was oden soup, which he cooked to feed his retainers during his journey around Wano and also after becoming the daimyo of Kuri. Oden was even proud to be named after his favorite food, declaring he was born to be boiled like oden soup as he died in a pot of boiling oil. Oden also loved to drink sake, having started drinking alcohol when he was only 8 years old.

Like many other people, Oden had a unique laugh: "Wahahahaha" (わはははは?)