Are Big Mom and Kaido Still Alive?
Everyone believes Big Mom and Kaido died beneath Wano.
But what if Oda never intended us to believe that?
What if two of the strongest pirates in history are still alive, hidden beneath Mount Fuji, waiting for the right moment to return?
Let’s look at the evidence.
After decades of building two of the most powerful pirate empires in history, the two Yonko lost everything in a single night during the Raid on Onigashima. Their crews were defeated, their territories were liberated, and Luffy, Law, and Kid’s final attacks sent Big Mom and Kaido crashing deep beneath Wano into the magma chambers below Mount Fuji.
To most fans, that was the end.
The Beast Pirates collapsed, the Big Mom Pirates retreated, and before long, the world moved on.
But what if that’s exactly what Eiichiro Oda wants us to believe?
What if the defeat of two of the Four Emperors wasn’t the end of their story, but the beginning of something much bigger?
After all, this is One Piece—a series built on mysteries, long-term foreshadowing, and reveals that sometimes don’t pay off for hundreds of chapters.
So…
Are Big Mom and Kaido still alive?
If they survived, what have they been doing since their defeat?
Today, we’re going to examine every major clue Oda has left behind to determine whether Big Mom and Kaido are still alive—and why Mount Fuji may hold the answer.
Oda Rarely Kills Major Characters
One of the strongest arguments supporting this theory has nothing to do with Devil Fruits or Ancient Weapons.
It has everything to do with Oda’s storytelling.
Longtime fans know that Oda rarely kills major characters unless their deaths serve an important purpose. When he decides a character’s story is truly over, he usually leaves little room for doubt.
Oda showed Ace’s death in heartbreaking detail.
The entire world witnessed Whitebeard’s final moments.
Pedro sacrificed himself on Whole Cake Island.
Even Cobra’s assassination was confirmed on-panel.
That’s why Big Mom and Kaido’s supposed deaths feel so different.
Neither received a confirmed death.
No bodies were recovered, no narrator declared them dead, and no character ever confirmed they had died.
Instead, Oda simply showed Big Mom and Kaido falling into the magma beneath Wano before immediately shifting the story toward the country’s celebration.
For two of the greatest pirates in history, that ending feels surprisingly open-ended.
The Eruption That Changed Everything
Then something even stranger happened.
Shortly after Big Mom and Kaido disappeared beneath Wano, a massive earthquake shook the country before Mount Fuji violently erupted, launching magma high into the sky.
At first glance, it looks like nothing more than a dramatic conclusion to the battle.
But what if it wasn’t?
Could Oda have quietly shown us the exact moment Big Mom and Kaido survived?
Before answering that question, we need to look at the Yonko whose Devil Fruit may have given her the greatest chance of escaping the magma itself.
Big Mom.
Why Big Mom Could Have Survived
Of the two emperors, Big Mom may possess the Devil Fruit best suited for surviving what happened beneath Wano.
Charlotte Linlin’s Soul-Soul Fruit is unlike almost any other Paramecia.
Rather than simply manipulating matter, it allows her to manipulate souls themselves.
One of the most overlooked demonstrations of that power came during the Whole Cake Island Arc, when Big Mom animated an ocean wave and rode across the sea on it.
That moment established something extremely important.
The Soul-Soul Fruit isn’t limited to ordinary objects.
It can animate elements of nature.
If Big Mom could give life to fire…
If she could create living storm clouds…
If she could even animate the ocean itself…
Then could she also animate magma?
The answer isn’t confirmed.
But everything we’ve learned about her Devil Fruit suggests it’s possible.
Throughout Whole Cake Island, Oda repeatedly showed Big Mom placing fragments of her own soul into inanimate objects, plants, trees, and natural phenomena to create the living beings she calls Homies.
Prometheus came from fire.
Zeus—and later Hera—from storm clouds.
Each one follows the same rule.
Big Mom gives life to something that normally shouldn’t be alive.
Could Big Mom Turn Magma Into a Homie?
Nothing in the manga confirms that she can.
However, everything we’ve seen from the Soul-Soul Fruit suggests it would fit within the established rules of her ability.
Imagine what happened after Big Mom and Kaido crashed beneath Mount Fuji.
Badly injured and surrounded by magma, Big Mom could have sacrificed another fragment of her own soul, infusing it into the molten rock and creating a living Homie capable of shielding both herself and Kaido from the extreme heat.
At first, that sounds unbelievable.
But we’ve already watched her animate fire, storm clouds, and even the ocean.
Instead of resisting the magma, she could simply make it obey her.
If that’s what happened, it would explain how Big Mom and Kaido survived an environment that should have been impossible to escape.
Even so, this isn’t the strongest evidence supporting the theory.
That clue wouldn’t appear until much later…
In Elbaf.
Goldberg’s Living Shield
Up to this point, everything we’ve discussed about Big Mom and Kaido surviving has relied on what we already know about Big Mom’s Devil Fruit.
The next clue, however, comes directly from current canon.
When the Straw Hats arrive in Elbaf, Oda quietly introduces Goldberg, the cook of the New Giant Warrior Pirates.
At first, nothing about him seems unusual.
Then Oda reveals that Goldberg carries a living shield named Nash—a Homie that still contains a fragment of Big Mom’s soul.
That single detail raises an important question.
Why Doesn’t Big Mom’s Homie Die With Her?
If Big Mom truly died beneath Wano, why is one of her Homies still alive?
We’ve already established that Big Mom creates Homies by placing fragments of souls inside objects, and in several cases, those fragments come from her own soul.
Goldberg’s shield confirms that at least one of Big Mom’s soul-infused creations survived Wano. Zeus provides another example, continuing to exist inside Nami’s Clima-Tact after Big Mom’s defeat.
Does that prove Big Mom survived?
No.
It’s entirely possible that Homies continue existing even after their creator dies.
But Oda hasn’t confirmed that either.
Until he does, the continued existence of these soul-infused creations leaves the possibility that Big Mom and Kaido are still alive very much open.
And if Big Mom survived…
Kaido becomes much harder to dismiss.
Why Kaido Could Have Survived
Unlike Big Mom, Kaido didn’t possess an ability that could manipulate his surroundings.
His greatest weapon has always been his own body.
From the moment Oda introduced him as the “Strongest Creature in the World,” Kaido’s defining trait wasn’t simply overwhelming strength—it was his incredible durability.
The story repeatedly tells us that Kaido was captured by the Marines, sentenced to death multiple times, and subjected to countless execution attempts.
Every one of them failed.
Weapons shattered.
Guillotines broke.
Chains couldn’t restrain him.
Eventually, Kaido stopped searching for ways to survive and began searching for someone capable of killing him.
That history alone makes it difficult to believe that falling into magma would finally accomplish what years of executions never could.
But Oda may have left an even bigger clue during Kaido’s final battle against Luffy.
Kaido’s Magma Form May Have Been Foreshadowing
During the climax of the fight, Kaido unveils one of the strongest techniques we’ve seen from any Mythical Zoan user:
Flame Dragon Torch.
Rather than surrounding himself with ordinary fire, Kaido transforms into an enormous dragon cloaked in flames so intense that his body begins to resemble molten magma.
The heat becomes so overwhelming that even Luffy burns his hand simply by making contact with Kaido.
That detail becomes especially interesting once Big Mom and Kaido are blasted into Wano’s magma chamber only moments later.
If Kaido’s ultimate technique already allows him to withstand temperatures approaching molten rock, then surviving inside magma no longer seems as impossible as it first appeared.
Nothing in the manga confirms that Flame Dragon Torch grants immunity to magma.
However, it fits remarkably well with everything Oda has already established about Kaido. He’s an Oni with extraordinary physical toughness, a Mythical Zoan whose durability borders on the unbelievable, and his strongest transformation generates heat comparable to molten rock itself. None of those details prove Kaido survived on their own, but together they make the possibility much harder to dismiss.
Big Mom and Kaido’s Abilities Perfectly Complement Each Other
This is where the theory becomes especially compelling.
On their own, Big Mom and Kaido surviving already seems plausible.
Together, their abilities complement each other perfectly.
Big Mom could manipulate the magma surrounding them.
Kaido could withstand the extreme temperatures long enough to escape.
One controls the environment.
The other endures it.
For two pirates who had just formed an alliance to conquer the world, it’s fitting that their abilities work together so naturally.
If they truly escaped Mount Fuji, it likely wasn’t because one of them survived alone.
Big Mom and Kaido survived together, relying on the strengths that made them two of the most powerful pirates of their generation.
That naturally leads to one final mystery.
What caused the massive earthquake and volcanic eruption immediately after their defeat?
Because that event may be the biggest clue Oda left behind.
The Volcano, Earthquake, and Magma Eruption
Even if we assume Big Mom and Kaido survived the initial fall into Mount Fuji, one question still remains.
How did they escape?
Interestingly, Oda may have already shown us the answer.
Shortly after Big Mom and Kaido disappeared beneath Wano, a massive earthquake shook the country before Mount Fuji erupted, launching an enormous column of lava into the sky.
At first glance, the eruption seems like nothing more than a dramatic way to conclude the Wano Arc. The villains are defeated, Mount Fuji erupts, and the curtain closes.
But if that eruption served no purpose beyond spectacle, why dedicate so much attention to it after the battle had already ended?
Was the Eruption a Hidden Clue?
Oda has built his reputation on hiding major revelations inside moments that initially seem ordinary.
This eruption could be another example.
If Big Mom used the Soul-Soul Fruit to animate the surrounding magma while Kaido recovered and transformed into his dragon form, the violent eruption suddenly becomes much easier to explain.
Instead of random volcanic activity…
It may have marked the exact moment Big Mom and Kaido escaped.
Big Mom infuses the surrounding magma with a fragment of her own soul, creating a living Homie capable of carrying them upward.
At the same time, Kaido transforms into his dragon form, enduring the intense heat while helping force a path through Mount Fuji’s volcanic chamber.
Together, they generate enough pressure to trigger the earthquake and eruption witnessed across Wano.
Of course, volcanic activity remains a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Wano sits atop an active volcanic region, making eruptions completely natural.
But Oda has repeatedly disguised major developments as ordinary events before revealing their true significance much later.
Whether it’s Laboon waiting outside Reverse Mountain, Joy Boy’s earliest mentions, or countless other long-term mysteries, seemingly minor details often become much more important in hindsight.
If Big Mom and Kaido are still alive, this eruption may eventually be revealed as the moment they escaped.
But escaping the magma may not have been their immediate objective.
What if they never left Mount Fuji at all?
What Were Big Mom and Kaido Doing Inside Mount Fuji?
Most theories assume Big Mom and Kaido escaped Wano shortly after surviving the magma.
But what if they never had a reason to leave?
Remember where they landed.
Luffy, Law, and Kid’s final attacks didn’t send them into a random underground cavern.
They sent Big Mom and Kaido directly into the volcanic system beneath Mount Fuji—the same mountain connected to one of Wano’s greatest secrets.
The Ancient Weapon Pluton.
That changes everything.
If Big Mom and Kaido survived, they may have awakened closer to Pluton than anyone has been in over 800 years.
Mount Fuji Becomes the Perfect Hiding Place
Think about their situation.
Both pirates had lost their crews.
Both had lost control of Wano.
Both were badly injured after one of the toughest battles of their lives.
Returning to the surface immediately would have accomplished nothing.
Recovering beneath Mount Fuji would have been the safest possible choice.
Hidden beneath Wano’s sealed borders, Big Mom and Kaido could regain their strength while the entire world believed they had died.
Ironically, the place everyone assumes became their grave may actually be the safest hiding place in the world.
But surviving beneath Wano isn’t the most interesting part of this theory.
It’s what they may have discovered while they were there.
Pluton Changes Everything
Until now, this theory has focused on one question.
Did Big Mom and Kaido survive?
Pluton introduces an even bigger one.
What if they did?
We already know from Sukiyaki that the Ancient Weapon Pluton rests beneath Old Wano, sealed below the flooded kingdom. Opening Wano’s borders would expose both the ancient city and the weapon hidden beneath it.
That part is confirmed.
Now consider where Big Mom and Kaido landed.
Not simply beneath Mount Fuji…
But inside the same underground region connected to Pluton’s location.
That doesn’t prove they found the Ancient Weapon.
But it creates an opportunity that no other character currently has.
What If Big Mom and Kaido Found Pluton?
If Big Mom and Kaido survived and remained hidden beneath Wano, they would have more time than anyone else to explore the underground passages surrounding Mount Fuji.
Finding Pluton isn’t guaranteed.
But it’s certainly possible.
And if they did…
Their defeat suddenly becomes one of their greatest advantages.
Before Wano, Big Mom and Kaido’s alliance shared one objective:
Claim the One Piece.
Conquer the world.
Pluton would bring that dream within reach.
Instead of returning as two defeated Emperors, they could return with one of the three Ancient Weapons, immediately restoring themselves as one of the greatest threats in the world.
And that’s where this theory reaches its most interesting conclusion.
If Big Mom and Kaido really survived, they may still be hidden beneath Mount Fuji, recovering their strength while the rest of the world believes they’re dead.
Because Pluton may not be the only thing hidden beneath Wano.
Two former Emperors could still be waiting there as well.
And if that’s true, Wano may still be hiding the greatest secret left beneath its borders.
Why Their Survival Matters
At its core, this theory isn’t simply asking:
“Are Big Mom and Kaido still alive?”
It’s asking a much bigger question.
Why would Oda keep them alive?
From a storytelling perspective, eliminating two of the greatest pirates in history entirely off-screen feels unusually anticlimactic—especially for an author who almost always gives major deaths clear and unmistakable conclusions.
Instead, Oda left behind a trail of unanswered questions.
He showed Big Mom and Kaido disappearing beneath Mount Fuji without ever confirming their deaths.
He immediately followed their defeat with a massive earthquake and volcanic eruption.
He later revealed that Goldberg still carries Nash, a Homie created using Big Mom’s own soul.
He gave Kaido an ultimate technique capable of generating heat comparable to molten magma.
And he confirmed that the Ancient Weapon Pluton rests beneath the very country where Big Mom and Kaido disappeared.
Individually, none of those clues prove they survived.
Together, however, they create enough doubt that it’s difficult to accept their deaths as fact.
The more you examine the evidence, the harder it becomes to ignore one possibility.
The evidence suggests Big Mom and Kaido are still alive.
Are Big Mom and Kaido Still Alive?
So…
Are Big Mom and Kaido still alive?
Right now, no one knows for certain.
Oda hasn’t confirmed that they survived.
But he also hasn’t confirmed that they died.
Instead, he left just enough evidence to keep the mystery alive.
If this theory is correct, then Wano wasn’t the end of Big Mom and Kaido’s story.
It was simply the moment the rest of the world stopped looking for them.
Meanwhile, two of the strongest pirates in history may still be hidden beneath Mount Fuji, recovering their strength while sitting closer to the Ancient Weapon Pluton than anyone else in the world.
If that’s true…
Their return won’t just shock the world.
It could completely change the race for the One Piece.
If you enjoyed this theory, let me know what you think.
Do you think Big Mom and Kaido are still alive, or do you believe they really died beneath Mount Fuji?
I’d love to hear your reasoning in the comments.
If you enjoyed this breakdown, don’t forget to like the video, subscribe for more One Piece theories, and share your own predictions.
Do you think the evidence is strong enough to prove Big Mom and Kaido survived Wano, or do you think Oda really killed them off?
If they really are alive, though… their next move could reshape the entire world.