Iconic character of One Piece and great friend of Luffy, Shanks Le Roux could well be the great villain of Eiichiro Oda’s manga according to our theory, based on many clues.
Warning: to read this article, we recommend that you have read the manga One Piece at least until chapter 1044.
A character loved by all…
Without a doubt, Shanks Le Roux is a fan-favorite character, and this since its first appearance, from the first volume of the manga. First of all, Shanks Le Roux is, with Kaido, Big Mom and Whitebeard, then Blackbeard, one of the Four Emperors of the New World, and therefore one of the most powerful pirates in the One Piece universe. It is recalled that his bounty exceeds 4,000,000,000 berries.
Feared and respected by all, he succeeded in ending the War at the Summit, opposing the army of Whitebeard and the World Government. In addition, he also managed to have a privileged interview with the Council of Five Deans, proof of his influence and the respect he commandseven among his greatest enemies.
Furthermore, Shanks Le Roux must necessarily face Blackbeard, whom everyone perceives as the manga’s greatest antagonist.. Not only was it Shanks Le Roux who tried to dissuade Ace from confronting Blackbeard through an interview with Whitebeard, but it seems that the animosity between the two characters goes back a long, long time, as in testifies the Journal of Oden.
At last, the privileged relationship that Luffy has with Shanks, whom he admires to the highest degree, and which is the very basis of his desire to become the Lord of the Pirates, makes Shanks a character to whom we immediately attach. Shanks also follows Luffy’s career as a pirate with great interest, and he celebrates his many exploits. However, it may well be that Shanks is actually hiding his game well…
who hides his game well?
Several elements seem to support us in this hypothesis. First of all, everyone will agree, Shanks is an extremely intelligent character. Before anyone else, he had foreseen that the confrontation between Ace and Blackbeard would result in the War at the Summit. Le Roux seems to be able to predict major upheavals in the world of One Piece.
When Whitebeard asks him in volume 45 the reasons for the loss of his arm, Shanks Le Roux explains that he sacrificed him for the birth of a new era. His enigmatic smile seems to define the nature of this sacrifice: it’s a bet on the future. Could Shanks be the visionary instigator who paved the way for a new generation pirate, Luffy, to become the Pirate Lord?
Possible, but this bet could be a bit more complex than that. As most up-to-date readers know, Shanks Le Roux stole the fruit the Hito Hito no Mi, model Nika, owned by the World Government. An extremely powerful fruit, which Luffy swallowed as a dessert in his childhood.
A question comes to mind: why did Shanks bother to steal this extremely powerful Devil Fruit, only to swallow it next? Some readers will doubtless retort that Shanks did not know the true nature of this fruit. It seems to us that on the contrary, Shanks knew her. We have seen it, Shanks is a character characterized as one who knows more than everyone else. As for those who oppose the idea that Shanks did not want to eat it so as not to lose his ability to swim, remember that he is the only one of the Four Emperors not to have eaten, to our knowledge, a Devil Fruit.
We can therefore, at this stage of reflection, assume that despite the reaction he had in volume 1 of One Piece, Shanks wanted Luffy to eat the Hito Hito no Mi model Nika.. And for one simple reason:suppose that this fruit only truly reveals all its abilities when its holder is a D, and that only the combination of these two factors (the Hito Hito no Mi model Nika) and the D allows its holder to become Joy Boy? However, as everyone knows, Shanks is not the holder of the D, nor any member of his crew. He therefore needed a naive young boy, with great physical predispositions: Monkey D. Luffy, son of Monkey D. Dragon and grandson of Monkey D. Garp.
Why would Shanks need Luffy to become Joy Boy? In Oden Kizuki’s diary, we learn that Gol D. Roger would have liked to live in his time, and that Joy Boy had hidden a great treasure on the island of Laugh Tale, on which the One Piece is located. We remember that Shanks had not been able to go to the island, when he was in the crew of Gol D. Roger, because he had to stay with Buggy the Clown, then in bad shape. In other words, Shanks still doesn’t know where Laugh Tale, Joy Boy’s island, is. We can therefore assume thatby creating the conditions for Joy Boy to return, and for the latter to idolize him, this would allow him to arrive at Laugh Tale.
Moreover, during his meeting with the Council of Five Deans, Shanks Le Roux explains the reason for his presence. He wishes “talk about a certain pirate“. If everyone understands that it is about Blackbeard, and the threat he poses to the world, we can also assume that this “certain pirate“not named is Luffy. Note also that if our theory works well and truly, Shanks’ interest in Blackbeard can also be explained by his ability to absorb the powers of others.. If Marshall D. Teach, also holder of the D., manages to take the powers of Hito Hito no Mi model Nika, maybe he would become Joy Boy?
To end this article, we remember that Eiichiro Oda had confided that Shanks Le Roux was the character who resembled him the most. Always cheerful, calm and relaxed, the Emperor also wears clothes that are ultimately quite similar to those worn by the mangaka. Corn if there is one character trait that defines Eiichiro Oda and his work, it is the fact that he is a fine and patient calculator, always fifteen steps ahead. This is what makes the great strength of One Piece. What if Shanks Le Roux was also a fine and patient calculator, able to make a bet on the future to obtain what he seeks? After all, Shanks doesn’t seem to be intensely searching for the treasure (he doesn’t have a Road Poneglyph, unlike Big Mom and Kaido), but rather setting up some pawns (his discussions with Whitebeard and the Five Elders, his confrontation with Kaido, his future confrontation with Blackbeard).
If you liked this article, we remind you that the film One Piece: Redsoon to be released in cinemas, will be centered on the character of Shanks Le Roux, and is the subject of fan theories, especially about this new character.
