Shanks

History

In the Beginning

The first known stage of his life is when he worked on the Oro Jackson as a cabin boy along with Buggy the Clown. They were both under the supervision of Silvers Rayleigh, while on Gol D. Roger's Crew. At one point the crew came in possession of a Devil Fruit, later revealed to be the Bara Bara no Mi (Chop Chop Fruit). A Devil Fruit is a cursed fruit which is said to give superpowers when eaten, but the person who consumes it looses his ability to swim at the same time. Buggy knew its value and wanted to steal it (since it could be sold for 100 million beli) , but when he tried, Shanks came and Buggy hid it in his mouth. Shanks scared him by mistake and Buggy swallowed the fruit. Since then he blames Shanks for loosing his ability to swim.

Years later Shanks was a well-known and dreaded pirate, but a peace main (pirate, who just steals from other pirates and fights only to protect his own life or the life of one of his crew members and friends). He was a legendary swords-fighter, who fought Hawk Eye several times. He often visited the island, on which Luffy lived. When he visited it for the last time, he brought a devil fruit, which was accidentally eaten by Luffy, who then gained his known rubber powers. Later another pirate crew mocked Shanks, while he didn't fight back. Luffy, disappointed about his idol, tried to fight the crew alone. Shanks came to save him but failed. The captain kidnapped Luffy and wanted to throw him into the sea, where Luffy would drown. Shanks came to save him again but was attacked by a monster of the sea, which ate his left arm. Thereafter Shanks chased it away by just scaring it with a glare (later revealed to be Haoshaku Haki or Conqueror's Haki). Luffy was sad about Shanks' arm, then swore to become the new Pirate King. Shanks gave him his beloved straw hat and told him to give it back, when he reached that aim. After that Shanks' crew departed.

Ten Years Later

Ten years later Hawk Eye and Shanks meet again, because Hawk Eye has met Luffy and recognized his hat. He tells Shank about Luffy's bounty, which has an amount of 30.000.000 belly. Later it is shown that Shanks is know one of the four Yonko (Four Emperors) , who rule over the second half of Grand Line (called the New World) . He tries to contact Whitebeard, the most promising hunter for the One Piece (former pirate king Gold Roger's treasure). This alarms the world government , because if the two team-up (the two most powerful pirates in the world) this would cause another disruption of the balance of powers. The other disruption is caused by Luffy, who stops one of the Seven Schichibukai (seven warlords of the sea) after the other. When Shanks and Whitebeard finally meet, Shanks advises to stop Ace from hunting Blackbeard, because Blackbeard would kill Ace, if they met (Crocodile and Gecko Moria). Whitebeard declines his offer and the two clash weapons , causing the "heavens to split".

His latest appearance is when he arrives at Marineford to end the war, and give Ace and Whitebeard a proper burial .

Pirate Alliance Saga

Even though he didn't made a formal debut after the 2 year time skip, he's been mentioned by Killer as the Yonko that they are planning to take down with their newly formed alliance with Hawkins and On Air Pirates. While the battle between was not shown, the Red Hair Pirates dealt them a crippling defeat, even causing Eustass Kid to lose an arm. It was later revealed that they never even got to face off against Shanks himself.

Reverie Arc

During the Reverie Arc, Shanks secretly met with the Five Elders to speak about "a certain pirate", and it has not been revealed who he was referring to.

Wano Arc

At the end of the Wano arc after Kaido and Big Mom's defeat, Shanks arrived outside the shores of Wano, being happy to hear how strong Luffy has become. However he refused to meet with Luffy, and instead sail for Laugh Tale. He also interrupted Ryokugyu's assault on Wano with a blast of Haki, which frightened the Admiral and caused him to retreat.

Egghead Island Arc

During the Egghead Island Arc, Eustass Kid challenged the Red Hair Pirates once again at Elbaf. After Kid refused to surrender his road poneglyphs, they decided to start the battle. However, after Shanks saw into the future the damage Kid would do to his allies due to the latter's increase in power, he decided to take action himself this time and defeated Kid and Killer with a single strike - while Dorry and Broggy destroyed their ship. This resulted in their second crippling defeat at the hands of the Red Hair Pirates.

Powers and Abilities

As one of the original Yonko in the New World, Shanks is one of the four strongest pirates in the world. After Kaido and Big Mom's defeat in Wano, he continued to remain amongst the new generation of Yonko, this time as the most experienced as well as possessing the highest bounty.

Haki

Shanks is one of the few people who can use all three types of Haki. Shanks' mastery of Haki was so great that even Whitebeard complimented his skill.

Haoshoku Haki: Shanks used this Haki against a Sea King while protecting young Luffy. He also passively used it when he entered Whitebeard's ship Moby Dick, going as far as cracking the ship slightly. Only one person in a million can use this type of Haki. His command of Haoshoku Haki is shown to be amongst the most powerful ever shown, being able to knock out as many as 100,000 people and potent enough to cripple even an Admiral. When infusing his strike with Haoshoku Haki, he was able to clash against Whitebeard and cause the sky to split - a feat achieved only by the Pirate King and other Emperors.

Busoshoku Haki: Shanks has displayed this Haki when protecting Coby from a magma fist from Admiral Akainu with his sword at Marineford.

Kenbunshoku Haki: His skill in Kenbunshoku Haki is perhaps the sharpest in the series thus far, being able to not only detect presences in Wano while miles off its coast, but also being able to look a considerable amount of time into the future to see the damage that Eustass Kid would do to his allies during their skirmish at Elbaf.

Swordsmanship

He used to have sparing battles with Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk, who is known as the world's greatest swordsman. He is also able to match blows with Whitebeard, who was hailed as the strongest pirate in the world. With a single attack from his blade, he was able to defeat Eustass Kid and his vice-captain Killer.

Personality

Shanks has been shown to be a calm and laidback man with a tight bond with his crew, often shown to be drinking and reveling, as opposed to the other Emperors who are often more serious and aggressive in nature. He also does not get angered easily, but has shown to drop his kindness the moment his friends or allies are threatened or in danger. While a pacifist in nature, he is ready to fight anybody who challenges him or his territories, as shown when Ace approached him or when Kid challenged him. He is also ready to uphold what he considered is 'right' despite not receiving any benefits in return, such as saving Coby and the Whitebeard Pirates at Marineford, or the Wano citizens from Ryokugyu - which is unusual for a pirate.

At the same time, he also appears to be rather intelligent and even cunning, being shown to possess his own agenda and motives that nobody outside his immediate crew knows about. With this combined with a complicated moral code, Shanks is often considered to a very mysterious person.

Trivia

• In episode 416 Shanks was seen with his both arms. This was a error of animation crew.
• Shanks ranked 3rd in 1st, 7th in 2nd, 11th in 3rd, 8th in 4th, 14th in 5th and 11th in 6th Popularity Poll.
• Oda has mentioned that Shanks is the character who resembles himself the most, due to his calm personality and clever mind.