The Red Hair Pirates are some of the most
mysterious and powerful characters in One Piece. And as Shanks is joining the race to become
pirate king, we are finally learning a ton of new stuff about his origins and true powers. So here is the complete story of Shanks and
his crew. Starting with Shanks’ hometown. In chapter 434, we learn that Shanks was born
in a town somewhere in the west blue. The only random fact that we have about this
place, is that it makes fine wine. Okay. However, he did not stay there for long as
only one year after Shanks’ birth, the former pirate king Gol D. Roger found him in a treasure
chest after his legendary battle on God Valley with the pirate Rocks D. Xebec. In Film Red, which actually dropped a lot
of new canon information about all the Red Hair Pirates, it is heavily hinted that Shanks
is from the Figarland family, which we only know because it was specifically mentioned
by the leaders of the world government during Film Red. And while we know nothing else about this
mysterious family, the fact that they are specifically mentioned by the Five Elders
here, means that the Figarland are very likely a family of celestial dragons. This makes sense, because we know there were
Celestial Dragons present on God Valley during the battle between Roger and the former pirate
Rocks D. Xebec. And it would also explain, why Shanks is able
to get a private audition with the Gorosei [ch 907]. But regardless of his true family, little
baby Shanks is now a part of the crew of the first pirate king. And he, along with his childhood friend Buggy
the Clown, become apprentice pirates on the crew at a very young age. Before the age of nine, Roger already gave
Shanks the straw hat [ch 964] and by the time Shanks is twelve, he is fighting alongside
the rest of the crew, as we see in their clashes against Roger’s former rival Shiki [ch 0]
or against a young Whitebeard [9654]. Not exactly the greatest parenting in the
world. Shanks is thirteen during that battle with
Whitebeard’s crew and it was here that Shanks’ fated rivalry with Blackbeard begins. After the battle, Shanks and Buggy note that
the young Blackbeard appears not to sleep, and while Shanks initially thinks that sounds
like fun, their rivalry will come to shape the future of the One Piece world. But speaking of Buggy, these two have a particularly
long history and friendship. They fought many battles together with Roger’s
crew [chapter 0 strong world, 434, 966]. Shanks was the one who hilariously caused
Buggy to accidentally eat his devil fruit [ch 19]. And Shanks even stayed behind with a sick
Buggy when Roger and the rest of the crew finally reached Laugh Tale [ch 967]. They cried together [ch 968] after Roger disbanded
the crew when Shanks was fourteen. And while these friends eventually separated
after Roger’s execution [ch 434], Shanks still knows how to get under Buggy’s skin,
as we see in Marineford [ch 580] when he tricks Buggy with a promise of fake treasure. This rivalry is bound to continue in the current
story because by some strange twist of fate, they are both currently Emperor’s of the
Sea. So after Roger’s death, we now move beyond
Shanks’ time with Roger. At the age of seventeen, he sets out to find
a crew and become a great captain himself. It is well known that during his younger days,
Shanks had legendary duels with the strongest swordsman in the world, Dracule Mihawk. According to Whitebeard, these duels were
such powerful clashes that they left the world desperate to know who had won each fight. However, now these two have a very curious
relationship. They were obviously fierce rivals, but after
Shanks lost his arm, Mihawk refused to fight him. He seems to regret that his most challenging
rival can no longer use his strongest sword arm. Despite this, Mihawk still shows Shanks tremendous
respect as refuses to fight against him on in the war at Marineford. [ch 580]. Even further, Mihawk is the one who brought
Luffy’s first bounty to Shanks in chapter 96 so it’s likely that he holds Shanks’
Vivre card, as how else would he find the elusive Red-Hair pirates. So it looks like Shanks and Mihawk have become
close friends over time. And even though both Mihawk and Buggy declined
joining the Red-Hair pirates, Shanks did gather a truly impressive crew after Roger’s execution,
most of which appear in the very first chapter of the story. This core group of members are known as the
Red Hair pirate executives: Starting with Benn Beckmann, the vice-captain
who surprisingly is a serious womanizer, a gun specialist, and the smartest character
from the entire east blue. Similar to Rayleigh or Zoro, it is said that
he is not too far away in power from his captain. He is even strong enough to make an admiral
like Kizaru [ch 579] hesitate and it is also suggested that he is the one who took the
arm from Eustass Kid. Next, quite unsurprisingly, Lucky Roux is
the Red-Hair pirates cook, because we fittingly almost never see him without a slab of meat
or a drink. This fun loving mountain of a man fights with
a gun and also by rolling his massive body into a ball to smash into opponents. Interestingly, he is also the first person
to kill somebody in the story, aside from Roger’s executioners. Along with Beckman and Lucky Roux, Usopp’s
long lost father Yasopp always appears whenever Shanks shows up. And much of what we love about Usopp is also
shared by his father. They are both jokers who love to encourage
the crew to have fun, although Yasopp is sweating about meeting his son after abandoning him
all those years ago. Naturally, Yasopp is a god level sniper, and
Shanks recruited him specifically because it is said he never misses his target. And while we know much less about the rest
of the crew, we did learn a little more about the main officers from the booklet handed
out alongside the movie Film Red. For example, Limejuice here apparently fights
with this staff charged with electricity and likes to jump around in the air, similar to
Sanji. With his electric theme, he could possibly
clash with Nami one day. Next we have the duo Bonkpunch and Monster,
who are each listed as officers even though they fight as a team. The pair are the musicians of the crew, and
possibly even inspired Luffy to have a musician on his own crew. Bonkpunch fights by charging up devastating
punches, while Monster takes care of the weaker enemies who try to stop his partner. Next, Building Snake is the Navigator of the
crew, and just like Nami he sports some serious ink. He fights with two swords that he apparently
juggles in the air, and he also has a signature stomp kick that he uses to finish enemies. And now we have Hongo, the doctor of the Red-Hair
pirates. While all of the crew love to party, he seems
to be one of the more serious members. After wano [ch 1054], he reminded Shanks that
Luffy’s ally Bartolomeo was causing problems in Shanks’ territory. This reminder convinced Shanks to avoid meeting
Luffy just yet. Naturally, Hongo has incredible knowledge
of medicine but is surprisingly knowledgeable about weapons, as he is said to be able to
take apart any weapon instantly. And while Howling Gab is ferocious to look
at, he apparently has a kind personality and is even timid when not in battle. However, when he does fight, he uses this
super powered roar blast to wreck enemies from a distance. I can only imagine him and Franky shooting
blasts at each other from a distance. We are also told that he can use paralysis
to take out opponents. Finally, we have Rockstar. And while he has only joined the Red-Hair
Pirates more recently, he seems to be a trusted messenger who is tasked with communicating
with other pirate captains. He is a prideful man who fights with a sword
and seems to be able to use it like a drill. We can also assume they are ridiculously strong
with the ability to use both Armament and Observation Haki, as even the marines acknowledge
that the Red Hair pirates are an equally balanced fighting force. Although, we have never seen any of them use
devil fruits. Which makes me wonder, do they just really
love to swim or could it be that Shanks knows a secret condition of getting to Laugh Tale
that requires not having a devil fruit? What ever the answer is, the Red Hair pirates
are truly a powerhouse crew, and keep watching because you don’t want to miss everything
we know about Shanks’ ridiculous powers later in the video. However, there is one other member of Shanks’
family we have yet to discuss. When Shanks is twenty years old, he finds
a baby girl in a treasure chest. This is Uta. And while this is shown to us in Film Red
and we don’t know if the events of of the movie are part of the canon story, Uta appeared
in a single panel in chapter 1055 [ch 1055 next to baby Luffy, Momo, and Hiyori] which
makes her backstory canon. So maybe because Shanks was adopted in the
same way, he takes in Uta as part of his crew. Uta grew up with the Red Hair pirates and
also befriended a young Luffy, with the two forming a fierce rivalry and friendship when
Shanks visited the Goa Kingdom. And while Uta displayed her devil fruit in
Film Red, none of the other Red Hair pirate officers have their own devil fruits. However, they did have an interest in one
particular fruit. Right before we meet them in chapter one,
they had just stolen the mythical Sun God Nika fruit from a government ship [ch 1018]. What is unclear is if Shanks knew the true
powers of this fruit and its awakened form, or if he just stole it by random chance. But come on, do we really believe that it
was random? If this was intentional, then was he trying
to find the next Joy Boy? And if so, who did he have in mind to eat
the fruit? These questions make me wonder what exactly
Roger’s last words to Shanks were that made him cry so much [ch 968]. Could he have told Shanks to find this fruit
and to guide the next Joy Boy to find the One Piece. It is certainly possible. Especially because many former Roger pirates
were scattered along the path to Laugh Tale, seemingly ready to help Luffy when the time
arrived. But again, we have to ask, was this really
to help Luffy? Or does Shanks have his own motivations for
wanting Luffy to succeed? And all of that happened to Shanks before
we even started chapter 1. It is at the start of the story when we first
meet a twenty-seven year old Shanks and the crew in the Goa kingdom. Here Shanks inspires Luffy to become the pirate
king. He even sacrifices his arm to protect Luffy
and gives him the straw hat before he leaves the island. We’ve only recently learned that Shanks
already had a bounty of 1.04 billion berries in chapter one. An insane amount that tells us Shanks was
already a world famous pirate just twelve years after Roger’s execution. Unfortunately, after this chapter we barely
ever get to see Shanks in action. Ten years later in chapter 96, Shanks is thirty-seven
years old and we see him throw a party after Mihawk brings him Luffy’s first bounty poster. Next we see him twice try to warn Whitebeard
about Blackbeard, once via messenger and once in person. When the two Emperors meet, both Shanks and
Whitebeard talk about scars that ache because of Blackbeard, hinting at his importance for
the future. This is also the first time we hear about
haki and see what the power of conqueror’s haki can do [show crew passing out, sky splitting
in chapter 434]. But this is nothing compared to Shanks’
biggest haki feat that we will discuss later in the video [animation of shanks radiating
haki]. And while all those examples are brief, Shanks
first major involvement after chapter 1 comes during the war at Marineford. First he stops the strongest creature in the
sea, Kaido, from coming to the battle and then Shanks does this [Shanks stopping Akainu]. Stopping the rampaging Akainu who even Whitebeard
couldn’t keep down. With Shanks’ arrival, the war at Marineford
ends, as not even Blackbeard or the fleet admiral Sengoku are willing to fight the Red-Hair
pirate crew. In fact, we learn that Shanks has earned great
respect from Sengoku, something no other pirate has done since Whitebeard. And man does he deserve it, as we see he respectfully
buries both Ace and Whitebeard after the war. He’s not just a badass, but he’s a classy
dude as well. Now if you are an anime only watcher, you
might not know that it is possible that Shanks is married AND has a kid, and no I’m not
talking about Uta. While this isn’t confirmed, there are a
few cover pages from the manga [615, 806, 838] that show Shanks at a wedding, and Makino,
this barkeeper from chapter 1 who Shanks was fond of, with a wedding ring and a baby. If this is true, it seems that Shanks has
been doing a lot more than just sitting around drinking booze, if you know what I mean. After Marineford, we don’t see him again
in the main story until chapter 903 when he is reacting to Luffy’s bounty after Whole
Cake Island. During this appearance, the now thirty-nine
year old Shanks claims that Luffy is still not ready to meet with him, which makes me
think that he is waiting for Luffy to awaken the Nika fruit and become Joy Boy. Just another clue that he really did know
what the fruit was when he stole it. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait long
until his next appearance. We see him again just four chapters [ch 907]
later doing something NO ONE expected. Having a private conversation with the Gorosei
themselves. In a scene that is still unexplained, Shanks
wants to discuss a certain pirate with the Five Elders, who are for some reason completely
comfortable being in the same room with Shanks. While we don’t know who he wants to discuss,
it is likely either Blackbeard or Luffy, and it makes me wonder if he was warning them
that Luffy could soon awaken his devil fruit. Now you might be thinking, why would Shanks
tell them this? But there is just so much we don’t know
about Shanks’ past and his motivations. Remember Shanks likely comes from the Figarland
family, who could be Celestial dragons. This could explain how he is able to meet
with the Gorosei. And if that wasn’t strange enough, in the
very next chapter the Gorosei are discussing a great cleansing for the world. What did Shanks tell them that led them to
that conclusion? *blows air*… So many questions from this one scene. And things get even more interesting after
Wano. During the festivities following the victory,
Shanks arrives and chases away the forest logia fruit user admiral Greenbull with a
conqueror’s haki blast from miles away [ch 1054, 1055]. A truly unthinkable feat which shows us just
how ridiculously strong the Yonko is. Yet, this appearance means so much more for
the story because it finally seems like Shanks is ready to acknowledge Luffy as a great pirate. And while he doesn’t want to meet Luffy
yet, after he sees Luffy’s awakened form on a bounty poster, he decides it is now time
to go claim the One Piece for himself. In fact, in chapter 1076, we see Shanks in
Elbaf, the land of giants, about to confront Luffy’s rival Eustass Kid. Now what you have to remember is that to find
the One Piece you have to reach Laugh Tale. And to do that, you need the four Road Poneglyphs
which unbreakable stones created during the void century. The three that we know of are in Zou, Wano,
and Whole Cake Island – all of which Luffy already has found – and it is widely believed
that the missing one is in Elbaf, exactly where we currently find Shanks. So if Shanks wants to find the One Piece,
he can either sail around and find the Road Poneglyphs himself or, in typical pirate fashion,
he can steal the two that Kid has from Wano and Whole Cake Island, leaving him with just
one more to find if he already has the one in Elbaf. Assuming, of course, that he has someone who
can read them, or he can kidnap someone who can [ominous music showing Robin]. But we have to ask, why is Shanks only doing
this now? If he really wanted to, he should have known
where at least three of the Poneglyphs were and collected them years ago because he found
them all when sailing with Roger. So was Shanks waiting because he needed Luffy
to awaken his fruit and become Joy Boy? We don’t know, but there are at least three
possibilities for Shanks’ future. First, he could be guiding Luffy to the One
Piece so that Luffy can change the world for the better. This is the *Shanks is a good guy* version
and how many of us have viewed him for the entire story. There’s also the *Shanks is a villain* theory,
which has a lot of evidence such as his meeting with the Gorosei. It is possible that Shanks has been working
with the Gorosei or Imu all along as they try to erase the threat of Joy Boy and the
One Piece forever. However, the third possibility is that Shanks
is just using Luffy for his own goals. As we’ve already described, Shanks is only
acting now that Joy Boy has awakened. So it's possible this is a requirement to
use the One Piece, and now that Joy Boy is here, Shanks is moving forward with his own
plans. And if that is the case, then the Red-Hair
pirates could be a huge obstacle for the Straw hats to overcome. You see, Shanks is undeniably powerful, with
a bounty of over 4 billion berries. Even Kaido considered Shanks to be one of
the few who could actually fight him. We know Shanks fights with one of the Supreme
Grade blades and has the strongest haki feats in the story so far. He is even known as the killer of observation
haki, blocking out future-sight users like Luffy and Katakuri. We also recently learned that he commands
a large fleet of strong pirates, just like Whitebeard did. Aside from his fleet, he has numerous strong
allies all around the world. Including, it seems, the giants of Elbaf,
who are said to be the strongest fighting force in the world. So when the time comes for Luffy to meet Shanks,
it could be a joyous reunion with lots of food and drinks, or it could also be a terrible
battle and Luffy’s most difficult test yet. But let’s assume that Shanks is the good
guy and he truly wants to help Luffy find the One Piece. If this is true, it brings up a really interesting
question that takes us all the way back to chapter one. Why didn’t Shanks let Luffy join his crew? Surely, the Red Hair pirates could have taught
Luffy so much and helped him uncover the secrets of his legendary devil fruit. Well if you want to know all about what might
have happened if Luffy joined Shanks’ Crew, you can watch this video right here. Shanks for watching.
