“Red-Haired” Shanks

As a disclaimer, I’m not caught up on the latest chapter of the One Piece manga. So, while I find it unlikely to be the case, something I theorize about in this article may already be based on outdated information.

Also, yes, this article is based on manga content so there may be some spoilers for anime watchers. With that said, today I want to both explain my theory regarding the role Shanks is going to play in the future as well as attempt to discredit some other theories I’ve seen.

I believe that Shanks is going to be killed before Luffy reaches him, or at least before we get a fight between Luffy and Shanks. It seems like a lot of people disagree with that.

Before I get into why I believe this, we need to go over some of the basics of the pirate known as “Red-Haired” Shanks. Shanks is a former apprentice of the Roger Pirates and current captain of the Red Hair Pirates. He’s also one of the Four Emperors who rule over the New World.

Shanks is also potentially the strongest of the Four Emperors. And if he’s not, he’s the most influential at the very least. He was able to put a stop to the Summit War against the Marines and was able to persuade Kaido not to participate in the war somehow.

And finally, Shanks is the one who gave Luffy his straw hat. He gave Luffy the straw hat and made a promise to Luffy that the straw hat would be returned to Shanks when they met as equals on the sea.

So, naturally, it would make sense that Luffy and Shanks are eventually going to go head to head, right?

Why Luffy’s Promise to Shanks Doesn’t Matter

One argument I’ve seen for why Luffy and Shanks have to eventually go head to head is because of their promise. Luffy’s supposed to return the straw hat to Shanks when they’re equals.

And since this is Luffy, he’ll obviously want to fight against Shanks — even if it’s just a friendly match with no real stakes. I’d like to see Luffy fight against Shanks. But I’m not convinced that we’re ever actually going to see it happen.

Why? Because Luffy’s promise to Shanks doesn’t matter. To realize this, you just have to look at what the straw hat Shanks gave to Luffy represents. That straw hat was given to Shanks by Roger and then to Luffy by Shanks. It represents passing the torch to the next generation.

Roger gave Shanks the straw hat to symbolize that he was entrusting Shanks with the future. And Shanks gave Luffy the straw hat for the same reason. So it would make no sense for Luffy to give the straw hat back to Shanks once they met on the seas as equals.

Let’s say I’m wrong about Luffy and Shanks meeting up as equals and fighting. Even in that situation, Shanks wouldn’t take the straw hat back from Luffy. He never intended for that to actually happen when he gave the straw hat to Luffy.

But, then why did the two of them make that promise? Well, that promise has been one of the driving forces behind everything Luffy has done since. Shanks gave Luffy the goal of becoming his equal so that Luffy would become strong enough to fight against the evil of the world.

Shanks doesn’t need to fight Luffy. Luffy reaching the level of an Emperor of the Sea means Shanks already achieved his goal.

Shanks Will Be Killed by the Worst Generation

It makes sense for Luffy to fight and defeat the other three Emperors. Blackbeard is arguably the main villain of the series (Akainu and Im are also contenders), so Luffy is going to fight him. I don’t have any doubts there.

As for Big Mom and Kaido, I think they’re going to be defeated by Luffy by the end of the Wano Arc. Despite what Law and Kid did to Big Mom, Luffy has been Big Mom’s main rival ever since Fishman Island. Luffy explicitly stated that he was going to take down Big Mom — so he will.

And since Kaido is the oppressor of Wano, it only makes sense for Luffy to be the one to defeat him because that’s how it always works. Any time the Straw Hats arrive at an island and there’s a ruler who needs to be overthrown, Luffy is the one to do it.

Just look at Alabasta and Dressrosa as examples.

However, just as Luffy has reasons for taking out those three Emperors, there are two other characters whom I’d argue have reasons for taking out Shanks. I mentioned the Worst Generation in the title of this section because I think it’s either going to be Blackbeard or Eustass Kid.

Blackbeard and Shanks have fought before, with Blackbeard wounding Shanks. And considering I can’t see Blackbeard achieving his goal with Shanks still around, it makes sense that he’d go after Shanks.

Eustass Kid already tried to take down Shanks and lost an arm in the process. He has a vendetta against Shanks now. And if we consider that Oda originally planned for Kid to be Luffy’s main rival, having Kid take out Shanks would be a great way to put them at odds after the events of Wano.

Conclusion

What role do you think Shanks is going to play in the future of the series? I’m thinking that the defeat of the Red Hair Pirates is going to be used to set up a fight between Luffy and either Blackbeard or Kid.

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Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi~ for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Three Ancient Weapons

Although I’ve only recently finished the Whole Cake Island Arc of the One Piece anime, I am up to date on the events of the manga. So, this article is going to include spoilers up to the latest chapter (1040). You’ve been warned.

Now, it looks like we’re going to have the second ancient weapon of the series revealed fairly soon in the manga. And before that happens, I wanted to explain some of my theories surrounding these weapons.

But first, what is an ancient weapon?

An ancient weapon is a weapon created by, or originating from, the ancient civilization that was destroyed during the Void Century. There are three such weapons, named Poseidon, Pluton, and Uranus (Uranos?).

These weapons are said to be the most powerful things on the planet, capable of destroying everything. And because of that, the World Government is very interested in them. They don’t want these weapons to fall into the hands of pirates and they also want to use them for themselves.

Poseidon

Poseidon is the only current ancient weapon we know we’ve seen in the story so far. There are no theories to be had about this one. The true nature of the weapon Poseidon is that it’s a mermaid princess with the ability to talk to and control the Sea Kings.

There’s not always a mermaid princess alive with this ability, but there currently is: Shirahoshi. It’s also implied that the world government, or at least Im, knows that Shirahoshi is the ancient weapon Poseidon.

Even with this knowledge, it’s unclear exactly what they could do to Shirahoshi. Ideally, they’d like to take her power. But I don’t think that’s possible. At best, they could threaten or torture her to force her to control the Sea Kings on their behalf.

Alternatively, they could simply kill her so that she can’t use the Sea Kings against them.

What’s important about Shirahoshi being Poseidon, though, is that it serves as the basis for my other theories. Ever since we learned the true nature of Poseidon at Fishman Island, I’ve thought that the other two ancient weapons would probably be similar.

Poseidon isn’t a physical weapon. It’s a person, or rather an ability that a person has that allows them to do or control something. In my mind, the same would then be true for Pluton and Uranus, despite there seemingly being evidence to the contrary in prior arcs.

I’ll also say now that it’s possible Joy Boy was the original user of all three ancient weapons. We know he has a connection to Fishman Island because of the Noah, which was created to be pulled by Sea Kings.

Pluton

Pluton is the first ancient weapon we heard about way back in Alabasta. It’s also the ancient weapon I believe is going to be revealed soon in the manga. This is probably the most interesting ancient weapon currently because we know a lot about it, but not exactly what it is.

So, what do we know about Pluton?

First, we know that Robin actually knows Pluton’s whereabouts. She’s known this ever since Alabasta. Second, we know that Pluton is a warship of some kind; there were even blueprints for it before Franky burned them.

This may seem obvious at this point in the manga, but ever since the Zou Arc when Momonosuke spoke to Zunesha, I’ve thought their connection would turn out to be what we know as Pluton. I even mentioned this briefly in my Zou review.

Momonosuke can talk to and control Zunesha just as Shirahoshi can talk to and control the Sea Kings. Both of them use the Voice of All Things to achieve this. And while Zunesha isn’t a literal battleship, it functions as one. It roams the seas, has people living on it, and can attack at Momonosuke’s order.

We know that the Minks who live on Zunesha are allied with Wano. Also, we know Zunesha is connected to Wano in some other way. And in the latest manga chapter, it was even revealed that Zunesha was Joy Boy’s “companion.”

Now, “companion” doesn’t really mean ship. But wouldn’t the Straw Hats consider the Going Merry and the Thousand Sunny their companions?

Also, while there were blueprints of Pluton, implying it really is a ship, that doesn’t stop Zunesha from being Pluton. Zunesha could be a ship that was given a mythical Zoan Devil Fruit and forced to wander the seas as a punishment for being so destructive as a battleship.

That would line up with the themes of Water 7 in which the World Government tried to argue that objects themselves could be “evil.”

Uranus

Uranus is the final ancient weapon we know nothing about. Because it’s named after the Greek god of the sky, most people assume it can fly. Some people have even suggested that it’s Eneru’s ship the Maxim or that it’s the Moon itself. I don’t agree with those two theories, though.

It probably won’t surprise you at this point to learn that I believe Uranus is someone with the ability to talk to and control a living creature. What is that creature? I think it’s whatever hatched from the giant egg we’ve seen on Roger’s ship the Oro Jackson.

And, specifically, I’m going to assume it’s a dragon. Many have theorized that the Celestial Dragons are thus named because they once had dragons. The egg on Roger’s ship is probably the last of those dragons and I’m guessing he stole it from the Celestial Dragons.

Now, if that dragon is one part of Uranus, who’s the person who can control it? I think the most natural answer is Vivi. The royal family of Fishman Island possesses Poseidon, the Kozuki Clan of Wano seems to possess Pluton, and so I’m guessing the Nefertari family of Alabasta “possesses” Uranus.

They don’t physically possess it currently. But I’m guessing they were meant to be the protectors of it and Vivi is the one with the power of Uranus. That would explain why Im has taken an interest in Vivi.

Aside from Vivi, my next best guess is Dragon (Luffy’s dad). He has the name and can seemingly control the wind — probably via a Devil Fruit. But aside from that, and having the Will of D, I don’t think he really fits.

Conclusion

Let me know in the comments if you have different theories regarding the ancient weapons. I’m pretty confident in my theories for Pluton and Uranus, though. Pluton seems almost guaranteed at this point, and there’s a lot of evidence for Uranus as well, I think.

If you enjoyed this discussion, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi~ for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.