'One Piece' Character's Appearance Hypes Theory About Emperor's Defeat

The previous chapters of "One Piece" surprised fans when O-Tama, along with Kumachiyo and Hihimaru, appeared just at the right moment when Nami and Usopp were about to be slaughtered by Ulti and Page One. Tama's appearance in this critical junction of the manga seemingly gives weight to the fan theory that speculates about Kaido's defeat. The theory has been making rounds in various community forums and on Reddit.

According to this theory, Tama will use her Devil Fruit power against Kaido and his army. "One Piece" has not yet revealed the kind of Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that Tama possesses. However, this power allows her to create Dango from her cheeks, and any animal that eats it becomes subservient and tame to Tama. Besides obeying her orders, they become willing to defend her and even die for her.

Fans first saw this when Tama tamed Hihimaru and later to Kaido's headliner Speed. It was also the reason why she was kidnapped by Gazelleman and Batman and was delivered to Holdem. The theory also suggests that Tama could use her Kibi Dango to tame the SMILE fruit eaters, which make up a large portion of Kaido's army.

Those who have eaten the SMILE fruit have become part animals and if Tama would feed them with the Kibi Dango, she could order them to go against Kaido. Fans would be delighted if this theory materializes in the manga. Other fans suggested that Tama and Usopp could work together to speed up the process of feeding Dangoes to Kaido's minions by using Usopp's sniping prowess.

The effectiveness of Tama's Kibi Dango on Kaido's minions was put to the test earlier with Speed when Luffy instructed Tama to give her the Dango. It turned out effective and fans later saw Speed defending Tama against Kaido.

The theory is interesting, but fans should temper their expectations since it is just a theory, especially when it comes to Kaido’s defeat. After all, Eiichiro Oda has his ways of telling the story that, as always, almost no one can predict.

There is no release date yet for "One Piece" Chapter 997, but if the rumors are true that there will be no break this week, fans could expect the manga to drop on Nov. 29.