Why Shanks Is Already Pirate King Level, Explained

The red-haired Emperor, Shanks is a very important One Piece character, especially right now, in the final saga of the story. Fans know Shanks to hold tremendous power, and although many underestimate his strength despite him being a Yonko, Oda most certainly doesn’t. Throughout the story, the portrayal of the red-haired Emperor has been absolutely immense, and time and again Oda has been consistently telling the fans that Shanks is a monster in his own right.

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In fact, with how the story has been portraying Shanks, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he’s a pirate on the same level as the late Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and that he’ll be Luffy’s biggest test in the Final Saga of One Piece before he goes on to claim the treasure and clashes with the likes of Imu, Blackbeard, Sakazuki, among other powerful individuals.

Shanks Is Portrayed To Be Stronger Than Kaido

• Kaido Is Strong, But Not As Strong as Shanks
• Shanks’s Haki Is On Another Level

For the longest time, fans knew that the strongest person in One Piece in the post timeskip of the series was Kaido. From being labeled as the strongest man on land, air, and sea, to literally being called the strongest pirate alive, Kaido was a monster. In Wano, fans finally got a good glimpse of what Kaido was all about, and what level of strength he held in him. It is safe to say that Kaido didn’t disappoint, given that he went up against the Akazaya and the Worst Generation, and still showed that he was impressive. His battles against Luffy showed that despite the Straw Hat pirate having Gear 5, it wasn’t enough to beat Kaido easily.

He put on quite a show against these monsters, and cemented his position as the strongest of the time. However, all that was shattered when the final saga began. Immediately after, fans saw Shanks in action against Kid and his monstrous strength was jaw-dropping, to say the least. Whereas the same Kid, or potentially even a weaker version of Kid, was able to sustain many attacks from Kaido and Big Mom, he wasn’t able to do absolutely anything about Shanks’s attack, which painted quite a picture. Despite Kaido and Shanks both being Yonko, the latter was vastly superior, and the attack that he launched wasn’t even his strongest, which goes without saying. Shanks’s display against a 3 billion berry pirate and his right-hand man was so dominant that he automatically cemented his position at the top for many fans.

But, this didn’t come out of absolutely nowhere. Fans know for a fact that Kaido himself considered Shanks to be one of the five men strong enough to match him in combat. Just like Oden could nearly beat him, Shanks possesses the tools as well, as did Whitebeard, Roger, and Rocks.

All this is already massive for Shanks’s reputation, but there’s more. Recently, in an SBS, Oda seemingly implied that Shanks was a user of Supreme King Infusion before he even hit the age of 15. This means that by the time he was 13 or 14, Shanks could infuse his attacks with Conqueror’s Haki, and perform Kamusari, without anyone even teaching him the skill. Oda went on to claim that Shanks was a massive genius and that also hypes him up even more.

Luffy Is Still Not As Strong As Shanks

Luffy Has Yet To Accomplish What Shanks Did

Although there is no denying the fact that Luffy is strong, and even though they’re both on the same level, that is, they’re both Emperors, it doesn’t mean their exact level of strength is the same. Shanks is most definitely a tier above Luffy, especially based on the portrayal. For instance, in Elbaf, Shanks is held in a completely different light. People of Elbaf believe Shanks to be a mighty monster, and this is largely down to the fact that he beat Loki. Loki is said to be the man strong enough to destroy the whole world. His strength is legendary and before Shanks, nobody in the whole world was strong enough to defeat him. The fact that Shanks was able to defeat Loki quite clearly means that he is a monster.

Luffy, although strong, has yet to reach a similar level. This is clear from the fact that Scopper Gaban, despite knowing that Luffy beat Kaido, wasn’t sure if he would be able to take down Loki. This is largely down to Loki’s ability and the fact that he’s strong enough to do large-scale damage wherever he goes.

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Gaban thinks Loki can destroy the entirety of Elbaf itself, which means that he is a bit too much for Luffy to take down in combat, at least portrayal-wise. Based on this character portrayal, it is only after Luffy accomplishes what Shanks did long ago, that is, beating Loki, that he will be recognized as a man on the same level as Shanks.

Consequently, this just means that even though there are many Emperors in the One Piece world, the one who stands at the top right now is Shanks, and that he’s on the same level as the Pirate King. If that isn’t enough, then, fans should also consider that the Roger Pirates themselves considered Shanks to be the next Pirate King, as acknowledged by Buggy himself. They fully believed he’d accomplish what Roger did. On top of that, Shanks drew comparisons to Joy Boy himself, as he most certainly possesses tremendous Haki. Joy Boy’s Haki was strong enough to knock out Vice Admirals, as was Shanks’s. And, Joy Boy’s Haki, which was used in Egghead, was clearly compared by the Giants to the red-haired Emperor. If Shanks can draw comparisons to Joy Boy, then he is most definitely on a tier above everyone else right now, and up there with Roger.

Shanks Will Be Luffy’s Final Test

Shanks Stands In Luffy’s Path

Of course, fans might be wondering as to why Shanks was never called the strongest and why he never moved against the likes of Big Mom and Kaido. The truth is simple. Shanks was biding his time. He was simply waiting for the arrival of Nika, and once he saw Luffy’s poster and confirmed the white form for himself, he knew it was time to move out. Shanks wants to be Luffy’s final test, because beating Shanks will mean Luffy has surpassed Roger. But, at the same time, Shanks also moved now to aid in the battle against the World Government, which will most definitely be fierce.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1141, is set to be March 2, 2025.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)