These devil fruits let their user turn into certain animals. The users can either partially, or they can completely transform into animals. In addition to these two modes, zoan users can also morph into a human beast hybrid form.
Crocodile said that Awakened Zoans are regular zoans who somehow enhanced their abilities. Maybe the demon guards don't use a Rumble Ball, but the series has shown that a rumble ball is not needed to make a partial transformation or a different transformation that is not of the three zoan stages.
If Kaido awakens his devil fruit wouldn't he lose because the zoan awakening is strong and provides more durability.
The Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu is quite easily the strongest Zoan Devil Fruit, in terms of raw power, in the story so far. It was eaten by none other than Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, following the major battle on God Valley, 38 years ago.
Zoan-type Devil Fruits grant the ability to transform into a certain animal species. Unlike Paramecia and Logia Devil Fruits, Zoans are said to have "a will of their own," even before consumption.
The first time fans saw Awakened Devil Fruits in One Piece was during the Impel Down arc, where the Jailer Beasts were shown to have Zoan powers. All these Zoan powers were awakened, as explained by Sir Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai.
To everyone's surprise, Luffy, who was always believed to be a user of the Paramecia type Gomu Gomu no Mi, is actually a user of a Zoan type Devil Fruit. Furthermore, this isn't just any Devil Fruit, but a power described to be "the most ridiculous" to exist in the entire story.
Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruits are the rarest subtype of the Zoan class in the One Piece world. Thought to be even rarer than the Logia types, the Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruits offer quite interesting abilities that allow the users to turn into a mythical creature or their hybrid at will.
Logia are considered to be the rarest, while Paramecia are the most common. Zoan are somewhere in between in terms of rarity. Certain Zoan are extremely rare because of their mythical or prehistoric natures, and a number of Paramecia are rare because of their abilities and because of how frequently they appear.
For Luffy, fans are already aware that he enters the Nika state during his Gear 5. However, for Lucci, it was a big surprise for the fans to see him awaken his Devil Fruit. This, however, makes a lot of sense, given that Lucci had incredible control over his Devil Fruit even before the timeskip.
While fighting against Kaido, he showed all the different versions of his devil fruit, including an awakened form. Like Luffy and Lucci's awakened forms, Yamato too had a cloud of smoke surrounding him. While it has not been officially confirmed, it is highly likely that he has awakened his devil fruit as well.
In Chapter 1044, the Five Elders revealed that Luffy's Devil Fruit was actually the Human-Human fruit, and it's not a Paramecia type. It's a mythical Zoan fruit that allows the holder to transform into, and gain the attributes of, the legendary Sun God Nika.
One Piece shows a new awakening of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, confirming that Luffy's version of this rare and powerful ability is absolutely unique. Kaku's awakened form shares an important future with the one shown by his CP0 companion, Lucci, highlighting how different Luffy's Gear Fifth appearance is.
Known to be the rarest type of Devil Fruit in the entire world of One Piece, the Mythical Zoan is up there with the strongest powers to exist in the story. As the name suggests, these Zoan Devil Fruits offer the powers of mythical creatures, which is what makes them incredibly unique.
One of the earliest Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits to be introduced into the series, the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix, consumed by former Whitebeard Pirates first mate Marco, allows its user to transform into the mythical blazing bird.
However, zoan type devil fruits have two different types— ancient and mythical. Mythical zoan type devil fruits even rarer than logia types and naturally they are among the strongest devil fruits.
While the Mythical Zoan ability of Luffy's fruit is quite simple, that is, turning his body into rubber, its actual power is quite amazing. Luffy's Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika gives him the ability to fight with tremendous freedom.
This Devil Fruit is quite powerful and allows her to become a giant spider at will. As with all the Ancient Zoans, it packs tremendous power and durability and moreover, gives her the ability to trap people in her webs.
The Hito Hito no Mi Model: Demon is an Mythical Zoan class devil fruit. It's affects varies on the user. But the common effects that every user has is super strength, very enhanced speed, very inhuman endurance, and possible visions into the future. The powers are only limited to that of a demon's.
It was originally known as the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika and was classified as a Mythical Zoan-type fruit that allows the user to transform into the legendary "Sun God" Nika and gain his attributes before being reclassified by the World Government.
Is Luffy Gear 5 the strongest? Yes! Of course, Luffy's Gear 5 is the peak of his colossal powers. He can literally do ANYTHING with his devil fruit powers right now, as he transforms into the Sun God Nika when using Gear 5, making his devil fruit the strongest in existence so far.
The Gomu Gomu no Mi which is also referred to as “Hito Hito Model: Nika” It is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that enablhes the user's body to stretch, making the user a rubber Human (ゴム人間 Gomu Ningen). "Gomu" means "Gum" in Japanese. In the Viz Manga, 4Kids and FUNimation dubs, it is called the gum-gum Fruit.