Despite his introduction in the first chapter of theOne Piecemanga and being an intrinsic part of protagonist Monkey D. Luffy’s origin,Shanksis still one of the most mysterious characters in the series. In the latest arc, Elbaph, two newcomers showed up similarly to the Gorosei in the previous arc, revealing one of the presumed God’s Knights to be identical to Shanks. With this revelation, many are revisiting Shanks’ defining moment of sacrificing his arm to protect a young Luffy and speculating ifShanks had another ulterior motivebehind letting the Sea King take it all those years ago.
Audiences havetheorized Shanks having an evil twin brotherever since his presumed meeting with the Gorosei during the Reviere arc to talk about a certain pirate. Now that we’ve seen Shanks previously leave Elbaph and the arrival of his lookalike, many believe the thesis has been confirmed. As such, the only visual difference between Shanks and his possible twin is Shanks’ scars, like the marks on his eyes he got from fighting Blackbeard and his missing arm.Shanks allowing the sea beast to take his arm was intentional, but fans believe Shanks’ plan goes deeper than the surface.
Why Shanks Really Lost His Arm To The Sea King
Although Shanks Says He Bet It on the New Era, There May Be Other Reasons
The theory originally appeared on theOne Piecesubreddit, where posterkingJustin900suggests Shanks didn’t lose his arm for all the commonly accepted reasons. Shanks didn’t lose his arm because the Sea King was stronger or even for the future generation, butas a way for Luffy to never be deceived by his evil twin brother. The audience’s knowledge of Shanks is very limited, as are his intentions, but many assumeShanks must know of his Celestial Dragon familyand their ties to the government.
Saint Figarland Garland is assumed to be Shanks’ father, especially given his identical appearance to his sons during the God’s Valley incident. Now that Garland has been promoted from the leader of the God’s Knights to one of the Gorosei, Shanks’ twin may have become the new leader of the faction. Given the defeat (or at least the delay) of the Gorosei by the Straw Hats in Egghead, Garling may have seemingly dispatched his son to intercept Luffy and catch him off guard with his appearance. It’s possible, given Shanks’ haki ability, that he saw this outcome as a possible future.
Shanks Didn’t Sacrifice His Arm Just To Prove Something To Luffy
Shanks Giving Up His Arm Is More Important Than He Lets On
Like many fans across theOne Piececommunity, Redditors don’t believe Shanks just allowed the Sea King to rip off his arms or that Shanks wasn’t able to fend it off. One user suggests Shanks actually has a devil fruit, and his Haki suppresses the weakness of water at the cost of armament haki to protect his limbs. However, each of these reasons would be largely unsatisfying if that were the case, although fans have faith Oda could pull it off somehow. However, would Shanks actually do something like that?
Audiences discovered during his battle with Captain Eustass Kid thatShanks would do anything to protect his friends, even if they relied on his strength to survive. Would he purposely give up his arm as pure motivation for a random kid in the East Blue at the cost of becoming weaker and less able to protect others? Redditors suggest Shanks has complete faith in Luffy becoming a great pirate, which is evident in the fact Shanks never checks on him throughout the series. As such, he wouldn’t need to give up his arm just to cement Luffy to take his faith in him to heart.
Overall, while the theories are many, some wilder than others, what is sure is that Shanks losing his arm remains an odd point for the series. While the scene was poignant and emotional in setting up Luffy’s journey, it now makes little sense in the context of how powerful Shanks was revealed to be later on. Hopefully,One Piecewill address this point soon, and Oda will pull out another amazing trick from his hat.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
