‘One Piece’: Is Eustass Kid dead? Answered

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for One Piece’s Egghead arc.

Since 1997, Eiichiro Oda has contributed to the manga stratosphere at an astronomical level. At the same time, he has managed to rob us of some of the best characters in fiction, because heartbreak is never not an option with One Piece.

Despite not being exactly known for killing off his characters, Oda does have a knack for sad goodbyes every other arc. Naturally, this has made us somewhat familiar with the author’s tactics and motives after such a long time, but that hasn’t stopped any of us from speculating what’s going to happen in the Egghead arc. However, even after two decades, One Piece is still surprising fans week after week.

Most recently, two of the largest fleets ran into each other for a second time: the Red Pirates and Kid’s crew. We all know how Kid lost his arm the last time this happened, but it bears the question: did he manage to leave this fight unscathed?

How did Shanks and Kid meet again?

Egghead has had a huge amount of information dumped thus far with several side quests happening – with Shanks and Kid’s reunion being one of them. While Blackbeard and Law faced one another – with it likely ending in disaster – the Kid pirates reach Elbaf. The country known for its giant population is currently under Shanks’ care.

At this time, we discover Shanks has the largest Haki radius in One Piece thus far, letting Kid know he was nearby before reaching Elbaf. This chain of events led to an obvious altercation between the two pirate crews. Obviously, the young pirate stood no chance against Shanks once more – despite defeating Big Mom just in the prior arc.

In a swift motion, the audience was met with Shanks fighting for the very first time. The pirate moved at a neck-breaking speed, quickly defeating Kid before the readers even internalized what had just happened. Appearing to have slaughtered Kid’s now-robotic arm once more, Shanks’ ginormous conqueror’s Haki was enough to defeat the rest of the crew. However, this does not necessarily mean Kid has died.

Did Kid die in One Piece?

In what appears to be an obvious defeat of the Kid pirates, it is unlikely that Oda decided to kill the orange-haired pirate out of seemingly nowhere. Unlike Ace, whose body was seen entirely decayed, neither Law nor Kid’s deceased bodies have yet been shown. It would not be the first time Oda has knowingly opted to have major events occur off-screen; however, the author has not once killed any major side characters without notice.

While some fans may theorize that there is no way Kid or Law could’ve survived the two emperors, it is virtually impossible to predict what is on the horizon – Oda may as well just be tying all the ongoing events together. Ultimately, the largest fight in One Piece will undoubtedly render all pirates and marines together, as each fights for their own goals at Laugh Tale.

So there you have it. There is a low – nearly impossible – chance for Kid’s ultimate demise. Even though fans have met with sudden and heartbreaking deaths in One Piece, it has almost become a rule that if there is no body to be found, then it’s almost certain that no one is dead.