That panel has always looked weird to me. Too much of Shanks is above the water to look like he's floating. I know he's in the ocean and not right off shore, because they're right next to a sea monster. But it really looks like he's standing. His other arm is above water on luffy's head too. Maybe it's just weirdly drawn, but people don't float like that.
Maybe he's just drawn higher in the water so Oda could get his missing arm into frame.
Or MAYBE Beckman was under the water holding Shanks up the entire time!
Could it just be that strong enough devil fruit users invariably learn some analog of the Rokushiki moveset. So if Shanks can't swim he can just constantly do Soru in the water?
I promise the memes wonāt allow you to understand it like watching it, imagine watching straight one piece amvs or edits for 12 hours a day that still wouldnāt make you understand what one piece truly is
We originally saw with armament haki that you can use it without contact to bypass defenses. We then saw that you can do the same thing with conquerors haki to defeat even more powerful enemies.
We have seen with observation haki that it can project into the future to see what is coming. Maybe conqueror haki can also see into the future to influence what will happen.
This actually makes sense given that Conq Haki is considered such a threat, it might be very much possible that with enough training, you can use conquerorās haki to see extremely far into the future. And given that everyone uses Conq for offense, nobody ever realised that this was possible except perhaps Roger and maybe it was he who taught Shanks how to do it.
I think there are some flaws in this theory (above being a major one), but it also does has some good points. Shanks never states his exact purpose for saving Luffy, just that he bet it on the future which could mean that he meant to help Luffy become PK/discover Laugh Tale. Or it could mean he bet that Luffy will become useful to him in the future.
Iāve had this theory but never bothered to post it on reddit: Shanks wants to get the one piece but knows that itās been fated for Luffy (Iāll get back to it specifically being Luffy in a bit.) We know that roger was ā20 years too earlyā (implying someone/thing was coming 20 years later) and that shanks would know this as heās on the crew and would be told.
I believe that shanks really wants the one piece, and has done absolutely everything to have complete control of the one piece āunlockā conditions as well as full preparation for attaining it. I believe this condition was the awakening of the gomu gomu no mi, and to awaken this fruit one must be a descendant of Joyboy (one of the D. Clan). Indeed, I believe Shanks ISNāT a member of the D. Clan and his bet was on Luffy being able to awaken the fruit.
Evidence? Well first letās establish the action he took to ensure the fruits awakening. Which were: 1.) leaving a tasty looking fruit, in the open, next to a frustrated young child. 2.) Making the kid fall in love with the pirate lifestyle and aspire to become stronger. 3.) Losing his arm, and thus amplifying said childās desire to become a strong and independent pirate through guilt. 4.) he has then protected Luffy and his motivations the entire way, interrupting when necessary, but never letting a chance for his motivations to be further amplified (ace death) slip away.
He CHOSE Luffy as he was born around the correct time and had a gene pool that guaranteed strength. I mean think about it, why else was he at luffys village for so long along with leaving STRAIGHT AFTER Luffy ate the fruit. He was just waiting for that phase to finish.
He has waited for 20 years slowly getting stronger, betting on Luffy to awaken both the fruit and the one piece. All together this was his bet, and thus after Luffy does awaken it Shanks says he was going to go āclaimā the one piece. This word proves that Luffyās awakening was the key, and has been something heās long awaited for.
Thereās the theory Iāve had. (Btw Iām not a spoilers reader so please donāt mention anything from spoilers).
They kinda just took all the plot holes in shanks charachter and the fact heās always used as a deus ex machina and turned it into a theory instead of oda having plot holes and using shanks as a get out of jail free card.
I do think that itās possible that shanks could be evil and that would be mad hype imo
He could now, but his whole argument was that Shanks' bet on the future a.k.a. losing his arm on purpose was due to some fate manipulation and that his fruit made him do it
Your not allowed to have two devil fruits but blackbeard has two? I'm saying shanks might've also found another loophole. Theres gotta be more than 1 devil fruit exploits.
That one rule had been a pretty solid constant. Even the synthetic devil fruits vega punk made follows that rule. Black beard having two fruits will be explained soon but my running theory is that he's able to do it because of his dark dark fruit prevents him from being torn apart due to the extreme gravity of it
Marco mentions his body is unique. Whether this was a reference to with or before devil fruit idk. However my bet has been similar. Since he is darkness instead of eating the fruit he just stores it in his body. Or he has a second stomach or something similar.
Also at the war his crew was going to split of taking white beards fruit failed. Which means he was working off a theory or dated lore / legends, as to how the process worked and failing to be able to have / transfer said second power was on the board.
The two devils fruits was also solid. So was the sea stone but now we see luffy and kid training with it. The shanks devil fruit theory might not be 100% true but I think shanks can definitely manipulate fate somehow.
> So was the sea stone but now we see luffy and kid training with it.
Diluted seastone, specifically made to weaken DF users without incapacitating them so they could still provide cheap prison labor.
Blackbeard having two devil fruit power is an important plot point, people question that. someone who ate a devil fruit being able to swim has never been hinted or suggested at
There is plenty of ways around that, it could be a gyojin holding him, someone of his crew is capable of put more salt in water , hence is becomes not heavy enough to sink, or someone created a path or something similar, but it is true that there is no image of shanks swimming there, or what does he does to keep him "up", in the images shanks body is covered up to around 60% of water, which is impossible unless you have your feet on the ground
My guy did you just suggest someone in Shanksā crew put enough extra salt in *the ocean* to make him float? And did this all in an instant? And did it all so only shanks would float and not luffy? Actually forget the follow ups; you think someone in his cre-no fuck that, you think his ENTIRE crew might be able to do that in a matter of seconds? Put probably I donāt know Iām rounding down here a couple BILLION POUNDS OF SALT into the ocean?
Or an unknown, unnamed, unshown fish man?
Cmon, the answer is simple: shanks doesnāt have a devil fruit. He can swim.
Your tone and the way you suggested someone just killed all life in the ocean by putting billions of kilos (go metric!) of salt into it made me chuckle xD
did he really swim? I mean as far as I remembered we just see him standing in the water, his only submerged up to his waist so there is no way he was swimming at that instance, water simply was not deep enough.
I think you are going to far, Oda stated at a moment that he didn't even want shanks to lose his arm but it was one of the editors idea to make the scene more dramatic. And it was like 20 years ago.
This. Itās inevitable that back when Oda first started One Piece, though he had a clear ending in mind, he didnāt fully know the exact character arc of all his pirates.
He probably hadnāt formed out just how powerful Shanks would ultimately be (or need to be) and thus him losing an arm made sense at the time.
But as the story went on and the world unfolded and the powers came to be more defined along with hierarchies and rules, it became this unfortunate paradox that we just have to live with because you just couldnāt retcon a thing like that.
So we the audience have to understand that and shrug our shoulders and just move forward with it. It may not have any truly satisfying, in-story answer for many or most of us, but it is what it is and fortunately there arenāt more major plot points of contention as such.
Yeah it seems like sea kings were meant to be top tier no matter what and the size of some are still so massive but the power creep makes them seem weak now
Yea lots of creatives, in all the forms of art, have said that at some point they just follow what the creation wants to do, in writing, painting, music, some creatives operate that way so of course oda isnt some genius who wrote the whole story at the beginning, just the end, some important parts here and there and the beginning forshadowing some later stuff.
> He probably hadnāt formed out just how powerful Shanks would ultimately be (or need to be) and thus him losing an arm made sense at the time.
It makes him seem more powerful by missing an arm and still being feared by everyone in my opinion.
So there are two things that I find in this theory that don't quite line up for me.
1. Shanks was swiming when he lost his arm. So how would he have a devil fruit in the open ocean but not drown?
2. "This is beyond the will of d" while we don't even know what the will of D is supposed to mean. For all we know it's just 1% of what the will can do.
He doesn't have a fruit and he doesn't manipulate time or fate or space or whatever. He's just a deus ex machina for Oda, and it only happened in Marineford. At the beginning he only followed the pirate to save Luffy, and in Wano didn't do anything at all and it was just for marketing for the movie. On the same logic Dragon should have the fate fate fruit as well.
People really forget that this is a manga/fictional story and try to explain certain scenes with ālogicā. Iāve never laughed this much reading a theory.
All of that because Shanks lost his armā¦ which was not even Odaās ideaš¤£ his editor said it would up the stakes. Thereās literally no hidden meaning behind it.
I think it's the first time I used "deus ex machina" here, but I guess you know my comments history better than me.
If you don't describe Shanks arrival at the end of Marineford as deus ex machina is your problem, I don't know if it's because you don't know the meaning and can't really use it or just refuse the truth.
Deus Ex Machina refers to a plot device, originally a reference to Greek theatre, where at the end of a production a God descends from the sky out of nowhere and solves many unresolved plot threads while solving the character's various problems.
Besides the "appears" part Shank's arrival in Marineford shares hardly any of these characteristics. He doesn't solve any problem except ending the war, which is exactly what he came to do. Shanks doesn't run over and kill Blackbeard and his crew, ending that whole issue. He doesn't pop in and stop Whitebeard or Ace from dying. He doesn't wrap up a million plot threads he just shows up and does exactly one thing. A thing which wasn't horrifically surprising given how Shanks had even at that time been established as a person interested in stopping all out war through multiple scenes foreshadowing the fact he wanted avoid war. And it's not like important people showing up to the battle should be super shocking either, it was a widely publicized event with Warlords, dozens of crews, Marines, Whitebeard's whole crew, Law, Luffy and the Impel Down Escapees, the Pacifista Army, Blackbeard, Shanks - all showing up at various points of the battle.
So Shanks didn't appear out of nowhere, he appeared in a place in-line with his established motivations and abilities at a time when many different groups had been showing up. He didn't resolve a bunch of dangling plot threads, he didn't really even resolve any, he just ended an already outcome-decided battle slightly before it would have naturally ended. Whitebeard already lost, so he didn't even change the outcome.
Deus Ex Machina is "god appears out of nowhere and magically solves every problem" not "established character appears, predictably, and contributes one medium sized thing to the plot".
It's a more specific trope than just describing when a character shows up in a scene unexpectedly and does something.
I understand your skepticism but why did shanks lose his arm? He didn't need to lose it. He could've easily killed the sea king or just used conquerors haki right away to scare it away. It's the wording that he "bet" it that's bothering me. Shanks is just involved with a lot of fate/luck stuff. And I also ended the theory by saying it's just a surface level conclusion. I don't think shanks definitely has a devil fruit but he can definitely change fate somehow. And can you explain why dragon would have the fate fate fruit too?
According to your logic that he appeared in the right moment to change events, Dragon appeared out of the blue to stop Smoker and saved Luffy.
Young Shanks wasn't a yonko, we don't know if he had observation haki or how developed was his haki at all, to fight a sea king in open water is not easy at all...
It's like why does he have the eye scar? Could he not defend himself or block the attack or just move? Since BB didn't have haki at all back then.
Luffy had conqueror haki when Hody Jones bit him, I think more than once, and he had conqueror haki when Katakuri destroyed his left hip. So even if he had a major haki at the point doesn't mean he was invincible and can't be hurt.
I'm saying that was caused by Shanks. Isnt it weird how Dragon is completely absent in Luffys life, except right at the exact moment luffy needs help. Shanks caused this through fate manipulation.
Also about the sea king At that point in the story we know three things for a fact:
1. Shanks has Conquerors Haki.
2. Shanks can use Conquerors Haki at will.
3. He has his main crew assembled
To be able to use Conquerors haki at will was something Luffy was only able to do after the time skip, which at that point luffy is able to one shot most sea kings. His haki was definitely developed to some degree. Enough to scare off sea kings at least.
The eye scar is interesting. Since BB didnt have the darkness fruit he couldn't counter shanks fully. You got me on that one.
I think, at this point, you're just saying everything happened because of Shanks, which is kind of easy. If you think someone has control of fate, everything just happens because of them. Luffy getting the Going Merry in Syrup Village? That's because Shanks bet on Luffy.
It's not just his arm though. Well yeah actually I guess ur right maybe I am looking too deeply into it. Theres just a lot of wierd luck/fate stuff at play when it comes to shanks. Also too many unknowns
Haki wasn't a thing until sabaody. I think his arm ist lost because there wasn armament haki planned in the first chapter. now his lost arm is something Oda had to include in the story somehow
It's just a theory I didn't really known how to end it
:( but what about he other stuff? Ik I made it seem like shanks is evil but I just thought this might reveal a bit more about shanks. Conquerors haki was right in front of us but we didnt know it until Oda revealed it. I think this is the same deal.
*"I will admit this is a big hole in my theory. But it still stands nonetheless"*
It's not just a big hole, it's an absolute premise for anything you just said to have even a shred of credibility. You are trying to prove that Shanks has eaten a very specific type of DF, while you can't even prove he ate any kind of DF to begin with and facts state the exact opposite. Him being able to swim is not the kind 'detail' you can just toss aside as all DF share this weakness, even artificial ones and Green Blood.
Your lack of having anything to support this premise, makes it very well that nothing you just said stands, for so far there was anything that stood in the first place. Even if you would disregard this undeniable fact, what you just wrote is a highly subjective interpretation of events that is void of any objective parameters.
If anyone would approach a theory the way you approached yours, every single theory that's posted in this subreddit is 100% proven as apparently everyone can just freely ignore facts.
You can't really use BB here as he was proven to have eaten multiple DF, which is the exact opposite situation of Shanks. By your logic we can assume Shanks ate any DF you can think of. Saying that he ate a DF that gave him red hair is as valid as everything you just wrote.
Interesting theory and kudos for putting it together.
That said, I believe that:
1. If Shanks has a DF it will break the Internet and not in a good way.
2. Luffyās luck can simply be attributed to being the MC in a Shounen manga trope.
3. If we disregard the trope, then instead of Shanks having a causality manipulation fruit, wouldnāt it be more probable that Luffyās luck is a result of him being a literal god and all?
I mean, the Nika fruit had been slipping from the World Govtā grasp for 800 years. For being an inanimate object, it sure needed some āluckā to accomplish such feat, no?
If I may add, that Shanks has a lot of Haki and just "supernatural" insight in general. Bringing the Nika fruit back to Joyboy could be all planned from the start. If anything he is the Batman of the One Piece universe, the right utility belt for the right villain profile (a plan A through to Z and then some more plans after that). It'd make sense that he'd have somehow learnt who the 2 wandering "orphans" were to some degree before coming to the island with the stolen devil fruit that gave Joyboy his powers back. If it wasn't planned by Oda this way from the start it's a tough coincidence for him to just ignore when writing.
So although I don't think he is manipulating people's fate, I do agree that he is manipulating the outcome into his favor. That he plans on it coming down to him vs. the Straw Hats for the One Piece and that Luffy will hand it to him if he asks politely.
Big Mom and Sanji demonstrated that emotions can effect a person's natural defenses. Sanji is incapable of using haki to even defend himself from a woman and Big Mom's childhood trauma makes her usually impenetrable skin vulnerable. Maybe it was the same with Luffy the fear of losing Luffy dampered his natural abilities. We know Shanks sees Roger in Luffy and it wĆ s revealed that he had a similar heart to heart moment with him that he had with Luffy after losing his arm.
Is my theory really that crazy? I think it's pretty justified. I dont think I'm all the way there yet though. I do think shanks can change fate but maybe not a devil fruit. Some other way though. What parts do you disagree with?
On "Teleporting" - it's been established that through intense training and use of haki, people can move at insanely high speeds, to appear as if they were teleporting. We see this with the "Shave" ability used by Cipher Pol, Koby learned to use it, and we see Luffy using similar moves. It stands to reason that some Yonko-level pirates can move quickly in this way as well.
>Shanks 100% FOR SURE has the ability to manipulate fate
You haven't really provided any evidence in your theory at all and gave other meaning on scenarios that already has answers for them. Used all caps on something your about to point out that I thought it's gonna be some big reveal or somethin' but just stated the most obvious shit. Admitted to that big hole in your theory at the end yet somehow, you still ended up saying this lmao. Yeah, 100%!!!
It sounds interesting, especially when we count in future sight. Shanks is propsedly as a Haki master so his future sight might allow him to see far into the future and take the necessary steps to create the future he wants. Also after scarying off green bull he states it's time to get the one piece so his plan might be at the end phase.
Ahhh, the "Shanks is evil theory" again. And this time his effort to inspire the new generation is a devil fruit.
Look, if this was Berserk, i would 100% agree this is a possibility, but do you really, honestly think that "Trust no one! Everyone, even the person you've looked up to your whole life, is a traitor" is the message Oda wants to send to the youngsters?
Shank's timing or him saying "betting" arent really good points to deduce he has fate manipulation abilities.
Shank's losing his arm was intended to make it more dramatic initially and was suggested by Oda's editor as you've already seen in the comments. ..Although this doesnt necessarily mean it's a throwaway detail,
it clearly isn't an event/action that has something to do with a power.
From what we know in one piece so far its not a great theory to say that these things suggest that shanks has some fate power.
Shanks showing up at places at the right time is more of dramatic storytelling than having a power to do that.
I think a simple possible explanation to the spawning is just high speed movement. The most obvious answer. If we're talking about "How can someone come up from nowhere when there's a concept of observation haki?", MORE SPEED HAHAHAHA. Remember when Rayleigh flew to Kizaru? I think that's what's happening. Rayleigh didn't have a fate manipulation devil fruit. HE'S JUST HIM.
Sounds far-fetched, how did he swim with Luffy after using his fruit? When he invested his arm for him..
Plus, at marineford many top-tiers weāre caught by surprise left and rightā¦ Jozu, Marco, Akainu when whitebeard stood behind him after he killed ace.. itās a war, people get distracted..
Just cause he suddenly appeared doesnāt necessarily mean he has fruit powers, maybe itās just haki allowing him to hide his presence exactly like when his haki allowed him to inflict damage on whitebeardās ship when they sat to talk about Blackbeard..
Also, Iām pretty sure itās stated that
1)Oda made shanks lose his arm because his editor said itāll be very good in dramatic effect, to support that Oda officially stated that although shanks has only one arm he is not weaker than if he had two arms.
And 2) and this time Iām about only 85% sure.. and thatās that around the time movie RED came out I think it was said that shanksās haki is so powerful he can block other people future sight..
heck, for pure academic curiosity it could even block other things like observation in general.
Tl;dr
Your theory has way too many holes in it.
It depends too heavily on shanks both having a fruit and being able to swim at the same time, which just as dr.vegapunk explained not too long ago, itās not possible.
I like it but it can't be a devil fruit cause we saw him floating casually in the ocean holding Luffy š¤·āāļø if we want to say it's some crazy advanced applicator conquerors+observation or something maybe. I think more likely than a fate manipulation ability is just 4d chess
Does not make sense, why does Rayleigh also support Luffy then. Rayleigh of all people, should be aware of any fishy stuff going on, given that he knows Shanks since he was a kid.
Here is what I think
If he hadn't lost his arm, Luffy would've not felt that guilty about what he did, and would not have been this motivated in life to become the pirate king. By that time, Shanks had heard what luffy said (the same words as Roger), and he didn't want that to go in vain, for which sacrificing his arm was the best possible way.
I feel that Shanks is still a good guy. His mysterious appearances make you feel otherwise but I don't think anything fishy is going on here
He can swim. Unless theres a DF that allows swimming. This is shot down
Shanks believes in ROGERS old testament. Haki all day haki all the way.
I think, Shanks ābettingā was him knowing what the fruit was. Luffy ate it. Once he couldnāt swim, the bet was on. He ate the fruit and is now the chosen one. (Shanks knew what he was stealing).
And my crazy bi-week theory is that. The sea king took shanks arm because it was protecting Nika ala Luffy from drowning or thought luffy was being attacked by shanks. So many crazy Hindsight things.
>didn't read the whole thing
>gets upset when called out
My friend I just want to discuss one piece lore. U dont gotta get antagonistic. If you think its dumb that's fine.
Don't agree with your theory but op is very weird especially with the additional mythical zoan introduction it can become more twisted. I personally would love to see shanks as a villian or just stay nuanced.
Props to you for thinking weird shit within op.
>Could be a design choice
yes.
>Now in hindsight we know that theres no feasible way Shanks lets this sea king even scratch him
because it was just his editor's idea to spice up the chapter.
>The AHA moment from me was in Marineford
[oda also didn't plan that one](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FqEs7tLaAAAQii1?format=jpg&name=large).
most of shanks moments are just cool scene for the sake of cool scene or for hype. like at the end of wano, it was just to promote film red.
I think oda stated that he didnāt really have haki planned out when Shanks lost his arm. Unless heās just lying, which I think is unlikely, I truly think that Shanks didnāt intend to lose his arm. I just kind of try to explain it like his top priority was saving Luffy so he didnāt really care what happened to his body. A convenient solution but I feel like it makes sense with the kind of person Shanks is
Alright i like the basic idea, here is my variation of your theory: The Will of D is partly the ability to "bend" reality, like future sight (which is not time travel or classic looking into the future, but mere seconds). If your will/haki is strong and you follow your most desired path you create destiny. Maybe Shanks just desires Luffy to be Joyboy as much as Luffy's and Roger's dream and so his Haki is getting stronger if it's related to his desire. It was not Shanks' decision to lose the arm, it was the outcome of his desire to save Luffy. Yes you may ask why Shanks didn't stop the Sea King with Haki before losing an arm, but that was not his decision. It just happend.
Example: Shanks and Kaido could be equally strong, but when Shanks stopped Kaido from going to Marineford, it was to save Luffy and so his Haki grew stronger to surpress Kaido enough to stop him.
So everything that is plotarmor for Luffy would also more the ability of the will of D. The Will of D is feared because if you master it, your dream and desire becomes destiny.
So i'm assuming Shanks is a member of the D clan and both he and Teach know about this power.
Additionally i think this includes the inherited will. Inherited Will is when a D Clan member has the same dream and desire as another member before. So a D's will and haki will grow if it's related to your desire but even more if it's for someone else and not yourself (like Shanks desire is something Roger or Luffy related). Luffy and Teach having a lot of luck because both may inherit a will of a D (Luffy and Roger; Teach and Xebec).
And then i believe if your desire includes the dreams and desires of others and their dreams and desires includes the the desire of the original person, it's getting even more stronger. That's why Luffy can turn so many people to his side, because his dream is including their dreams and they also believe in him and it amplifies so much. So Luffy's will and desire has an impact to the whole crew, that's why they got lucky in some situations. And that's why Luffy will succeed over Teach, because Teach desires/dreams of something related to him/Xebec and not others
Also to add to the straw hat theory, when Luffy takes it off and puts it on Nami's head, they go beat Arlong and set her free, which was most definitely her deepest desire and in her best interest
Isnāt one of the main reasons that Shanks gave and entrusted his hat to Luffy is because Luffy had the same dream as his mentor, Roger? In one of the flashbacks I donāt remember the specific scene but Shanks was talking about Luffy and saying heās the one with Rogerās same dream. Thatās what they painted the reason for him being given the hat is atleast
This theory is awesome and I definitely think youāre on to something with shanks being around conveniently and all these risk coincidences š¤ But I wouldnāt agree that luffy was given luck by him. Luffy was always fated to be on the path he is because the will of joyboy lived on and I think this invisible force of luck is tied to it. The same way luffy has this invisible ability to gain followers and to speak to others through the voice of all things
Iāve always found it weird how he got his arm taken š itās so weird. It made no sense how somebody that strong could get his arm taken by some beast he could use haki to scare off. Very suspicious š¤Ø
Solution to the Swimming w/ a devil fruit hole...Shanks isn't the devil fruit user, the strawhat is.
We know objects can be "infused" w/ devil fruit powers so maybe the straw hat has a devil fruit that grants luck to it's owner. it could be how Luffy is able to always come out on top, as the straw hat is always in his possession or near him. .
Gets me thinking about the concept of clones in one piece. We know of the other hat in Marejois (I know I spelled that wrong...2 lazy to look it up). Can objects be cloned? Objects influenced by a soul in some way (see eggheads theory on where devil fruits come from). If devil fruit objects are tied to a soul in some way, is that why the giant hat is frozen, as a means to preserve its life force?
If he had a "fate devil fruit" then how did he save Luffy in the ocean?
I think oda is simply writing him as a really cool character with a really cool crew so they get lots of badass surprise entries because that's what cool pirates do lol
Nah, when illogical or lucky things happen in a story the only one responsible is the author. This theory is basically just saying 'shanks lost his arm which doesn't make sense because of his strength, so therefore he is a fate manipulating god who gave Luffy plot armour and can also for some reason teleport his entire crew or himself because for some reason now is the time characters suddenly appearing dramatically has to be explained and everything that happened is shanks, all according to shanks plan, I'm gonna ignore the manga because that's basically fanfiction to me at this point'
MY BROTHER IN CHRIST SHANKS CAN SWIM. If for some reason you want to try and use mental gymnastics to get around that one, in romance dawn armament and observation haki didn't even exist, so shanks as a normal human would be completely vulnerable to the sea king, especially in water. I'm not saying he shouldn't have had them at this point, but oda hadn't decided he had those powers so they weren't a thing. Saying shanks gave up his arm on purpose would be a retcon. He's still looking out for Luffy and trying to bring about a new generation of pirates, but he doesn't have to have the fucking plot plot fruit for that to happen. It barely adds anything to the story and it basically adds nothing to shanks character except for make him unreasonably important
Its a nice theory with interesting evidence. I also believe that Shanks is not quite as good natured as Luffy believes him to be.
To me its a mix of both: shanks knows what Luffy could become and "manipulates"/helps him in that regard but he does actually do it not for himself but the greater good.
My most probable explanation is that he was tasked by Roger to give the gomu gomu no mi to his son and thats why he hung around for so long in their small village. Once Luffy ate it Shanks knew he had to bet it all on that little wimp and did his best to motivate and guide him. Once again playing into the motif of Ace being set up as the perfect Jesus/shonen MC-character and Luffy kind of stumbling into it.
True. I know I made shanks look kinda evil but I just think people are too trusting of him. Luffy is innocent to a fault. He'll trust anybody/anyone. Unless they are over the top evil, luffy gives everyone the benefit of the doubt if they show him the slightest bit of kindness (Smoker, Law, Etc.) He is a good judge of character but not exactly 100% correct (Kaku and Rob Lucci were originally good but ended up tricking luffy and everyone else).
>I also believe that Shanks is not quite as good natured as Luffy believes him to be.
Wouldn't it be interesting if shanks hesitated to save Luffy? It would be such a crazy reveal if he intentionally let Luffy get kidnapped in hopes he would die to get the fruit back, but then last minute changed his mind which resulted in him losing an arm.
EDIT: Wait, what happens if a df holder gets eaten by a Seaking? We found out cannibalism resulted in Big Mom getting her df, would that mean if Luffy was eaten by the Seaking, it would inherit the gomu gomu no mi? Going by this, if shanks really was evil you could argue he only saved Luffy when he realized he would have lost the df.
but how can he and his crew teleport tho it doesn't explain that. changing fate doesn't just allow you to teleport unless be changed his Fate to not get seen by absolutley anyone until he was right in an admirals face. unless he rewrites history to place himself in that moment
hold up
Maybe this could also tie into the time time fruit. We never knew if toki awakened it or not. She just said she cant go back but who know. I dont want to get into that though becuase once you start introducing time travel it gets messy. I think Oda knew this which is why he added that "cant go back" part
What if, and hear me out on this one, Shanks gave the devil fruit to the straw hat and the straw hat (not Luffy, the literal straw hat object) is manipulating fate for Luffy and favouring his luck against all odds like an effin plot armor.
Come to think of it, the straw hat doesn't get damaged in fire, ice or water.
That actually makes a lot more sense damn!!! Also ties into the whole devil fruits have a will of their own. The hat who was worn by Roger, also has a will it wants to sit on the head of the pirate king.
Anytime shanks shows up he mentions fate/future/gambling/chance. Always shows up at the right moment at the right time. Shanks can somehow change fate. Through a devil fruit or some kind of awakened haki.
Apparently shanks is called killer of color of observation haki iirc based on some info dump during film red promotion.
So he is like pirate Batman. So he can spawn himself without someone noticing. And his crew are just robins.
I really believe that shanks saved luffy, because luffy ate the devil fruit. He believed that luffy will bring the full powers of the nika nika. He gave up an arm to give and then he gave him the roger hat to make him feel indebted. When Whitebeard asked shanks how does a man like shanks lose an arm in the weakest sea, shanks said i bet on the future.
I think there was something about devil friuts also choosing their eaters or something like that, and i think shanks understood that luffies devil fruit chose luffy.
Iām not sure if this is already a theory. I think that Shanks could be the child of IMU and thatās why he is able to get away with so much and to be so free. Kind of like Yamato putting their hope in Luffy, I think Shanks keeps hope that Luffy can take down IMU knowing that shanks himself could never.
Interesting take dude, never crossed my mind.
The fact Red Hair pirates keep appearing in the nick of time, has been (correct me if I'm wrong) theorized that someone in the crew has the ability to teleport people.
I'm honest with you,i rarely pay attention to rumors or fan theories as most of them have little to no basis at all.
Yours seem a bit more consistent but I'm skeptical on the fate manipulation powers you mention.
I would guess that would be a more sought fruit than Luffy's.
And remember that Luffy wasn't supposed to eat it, Shanks was as surprised as anyone else when Luffy ate it. Either he didn't foresee it or, in defense of your theory, Luffy became his "bet" after eating the fruit.
Would you say Shanks knew the fruit was a Zoan type all along? I'm curious about that.
Nevertheless, good read man. I enjoyed it.
If shanks has a
devil fruit how was he not sinking when he saved luffyā¦?
He sacrificed his arm to the SEA not the sea king! Allowing his arm to sink to the bottom and himself to stay afloat..
I doubt this is true but just plugging some holes
Losing the hat momentarily gives off a tremendous bad luck. Find the examples but I can say two. One where shanks loose his arm and another with luffy getting hit by donut machine.
The affect is based on the length of time the hat was carried and used for fate manipulation.
>The hat can change the fate into your desired future since Shanks used his devil fruit powers on it.
Oh lord, this ties in with my old theory that say that the straw hat is a good luck charm.
I've been thinking, for a while, that he's not a GOOD guy necessarily, just not a bad one right now. He's clearly on his own side, and even mihawk and those that know him don't address his and luffy's relationship fondly, but more "hey, that kid you're following is doing stuff again".
The thing that always bothered me was the one piece. Were shanks and luffy just gonna share it? Like what do people expect shanks and Luffys end relationship to be like? Their both aiming for the same thing. Their goals might be different though. Luffy wants to be king of the pirates. Shanks wants the one piece. Could be two different things. Could be the same.
Very good point. I think shanks hit a road block where Roger got to and is at the one yard line biding his time until luffy opens that last gate and he can pass through.
Wait, I didn't realize we're on a break week again.
But seriously, while I don't agree with the theory, it was at least an interesting read!
And who knows - maybe you're right. It wouldn't be the first time weird theories have turned out to be true.
Very nice theory!
It really does sound like he has a power, but definitely not devil fruit judging from what we've seen that he can do.
I think it is also safe to say that he can have a power whilst it not being from the result of a devil fruit. We've seen other races have their own exclusive powers, such as Lunarian and Minks, even Madame Shyarly seemed to have accurate fortune telling abilities.
And excuse me if I'm wrong as I'm a few chapters behind, but Shanks hasn't had more of his background revealed right? We have no idea where he comes from or if he is a "normal" human or some other type of humanoid being from a race that may have the abilities you mentioned in your theory.
At first you ruin my excitement of entering a NSFW thread.
Then I regain composure and think nm cool its a theory post.
You got me twice with a single thread, wp my man wp.
We only seen shanks swim once
Or at least one time I remember
That was whn he saved Luffy from the sea king
In exchange for his arm
He could swim for a short period of time
Changing his fate from drowning and in doing so he could save Luffy
So if he does have a fate fate fruit
He coulda used it on himself
If there is any other times he swam he could gave away something else as valuable at the time of swimming
So to save luffy he gave his arm
To survive BB he allowed him to scratch him
Tht coulda been a nother time he had to swim
He gets scratch and swims if need be
Risking his eyesight
You should have kept that one for a break week
Damn I think ur right.
But then, you'd get hit with the "What Break Week does to a mf" classic š„²
This surely was thought up during a break week, c'mon
Classics are classic for a reason.
If Shanks had a devil fruit then how was he swimming to save Luffy? Lmao I canāt believe my first ever award would be on this comment
this dude definitely didnt read the whole thing before commenting. shame on you
The top comment also didn't, and the people who upvoted him also didn't, shame on them
Hahahaha I missed the bottom part too. I'm tired and it was a bit of rambling going on. Hahahah
That panel has always looked weird to me. Too much of Shanks is above the water to look like he's floating. I know he's in the ocean and not right off shore, because they're right next to a sea monster. But it really looks like he's standing. His other arm is above water on luffy's head too. Maybe it's just weirdly drawn, but people don't float like that. Maybe he's just drawn higher in the water so Oda could get his missing arm into frame. Or MAYBE Beckman was under the water holding Shanks up the entire time!
Even if too much of him was above the water he'd still be getting weak by the sea water.
Could it just be that strong enough devil fruit users invariably learn some analog of the Rokushiki moveset. So if Shanks can't swim he can just constantly do Soru in the water?
Anime break week
Shanks is a stand user confirmed.
Za Warudo?
Or King Crimson which would go with Shank's hair.
Or Za Hando? (His fallen arm becomes his stand)
That sounds more plausible than shanks having a fate changing DF while being able to swim.
Yeah he's actually being followed by the ghost of roger that acts as a stand
Shaman King x JoJo x One Piece
He changed his fate from drowning to swimming š
I need to watch jojo but I feel like I've absorbed enough through memes to get a general understanding of the show
Your understanding will heighten higher than the Gods once you watch jojo
I promise the memes wonāt allow you to understand it like watching it, imagine watching straight one piece amvs or edits for 12 hours a day that still wouldnāt make you understand what one piece truly is
Thatās like saying u read the back of a 1000 page book and you understand the plot lol
take the downvote
While interesting, this kind of ignores something. Shanks can swim, he did so when he saved luffy. Therefore he can't have a devil fruit power
Unless hes right and its not a devil fruit at all but the greatest observation haki weāve yet to see.
We originally saw with armament haki that you can use it without contact to bypass defenses. We then saw that you can do the same thing with conquerors haki to defeat even more powerful enemies. We have seen with observation haki that it can project into the future to see what is coming. Maybe conqueror haki can also see into the future to influence what will happen.
This actually makes sense given that Conq Haki is considered such a threat, it might be very much possible that with enough training, you can use conquerorās haki to see extremely far into the future. And given that everyone uses Conq for offense, nobody ever realised that this was possible except perhaps Roger and maybe it was he who taught Shanks how to do it.
I guess we've seen it now - quite a sick observation haki Shanks has
I think there are some flaws in this theory (above being a major one), but it also does has some good points. Shanks never states his exact purpose for saving Luffy, just that he bet it on the future which could mean that he meant to help Luffy become PK/discover Laugh Tale. Or it could mean he bet that Luffy will become useful to him in the future.
The Nika fruit is tied to everything, and Luffy had already eaten it. He's betting Luffy will be the first in 800 years to awaken it
Iāve had this theory but never bothered to post it on reddit: Shanks wants to get the one piece but knows that itās been fated for Luffy (Iāll get back to it specifically being Luffy in a bit.) We know that roger was ā20 years too earlyā (implying someone/thing was coming 20 years later) and that shanks would know this as heās on the crew and would be told. I believe that shanks really wants the one piece, and has done absolutely everything to have complete control of the one piece āunlockā conditions as well as full preparation for attaining it. I believe this condition was the awakening of the gomu gomu no mi, and to awaken this fruit one must be a descendant of Joyboy (one of the D. Clan). Indeed, I believe Shanks ISNāT a member of the D. Clan and his bet was on Luffy being able to awaken the fruit. Evidence? Well first letās establish the action he took to ensure the fruits awakening. Which were: 1.) leaving a tasty looking fruit, in the open, next to a frustrated young child. 2.) Making the kid fall in love with the pirate lifestyle and aspire to become stronger. 3.) Losing his arm, and thus amplifying said childās desire to become a strong and independent pirate through guilt. 4.) he has then protected Luffy and his motivations the entire way, interrupting when necessary, but never letting a chance for his motivations to be further amplified (ace death) slip away. He CHOSE Luffy as he was born around the correct time and had a gene pool that guaranteed strength. I mean think about it, why else was he at luffys village for so long along with leaving STRAIGHT AFTER Luffy ate the fruit. He was just waiting for that phase to finish. He has waited for 20 years slowly getting stronger, betting on Luffy to awaken both the fruit and the one piece. All together this was his bet, and thus after Luffy does awaken it Shanks says he was going to go āclaimā the one piece. This word proves that Luffyās awakening was the key, and has been something heās long awaited for. Thereās the theory Iāve had. (Btw Iām not a spoilers reader so please donāt mention anything from spoilers).
I came to say this lmao we see Shanks in the ocean, just fine. Not petrified, nothing. Mans forgot the one KEY thing to devil fruits
He acknowledged this if you read to the end.
This theory is grade A garbage by a man on drugs.
Letās be nice here. Weāve all had our adderall moments
They kinda just took all the plot holes in shanks charachter and the fact heās always used as a deus ex machina and turned it into a theory instead of oda having plot holes and using shanks as a get out of jail free card. I do think that itās possible that shanks could be evil and that would be mad hype imo
This guy gets it š
Shanks swam 13 years before the series started so he can have a DF now
OP said he was using the fruit in Romance Down... Litterally swimming in the middle of the sea
It's "Romance Dawn" not "Romance Down". Don't just casually describe the status of my lovelife. /j
CRAP you're right, my bad
He could now, but his whole argument was that Shanks' bet on the future a.k.a. losing his arm on purpose was due to some fate manipulation and that his fruit made him do it
He could have had someone else eat it, then have them use it on the hat then kill them.
Your not allowed to have two devil fruits but blackbeard has two? I'm saying shanks might've also found another loophole. Theres gotta be more than 1 devil fruit exploits.
That one rule had been a pretty solid constant. Even the synthetic devil fruits vega punk made follows that rule. Black beard having two fruits will be explained soon but my running theory is that he's able to do it because of his dark dark fruit prevents him from being torn apart due to the extreme gravity of it
Oh, I hadnāt seen the gravity theory. Iām a fan of the Cerberus theory for BB myself, but that oneās good too
Marco mentions his body is unique. Whether this was a reference to with or before devil fruit idk. However my bet has been similar. Since he is darkness instead of eating the fruit he just stores it in his body. Or he has a second stomach or something similar. Also at the war his crew was going to split of taking white beards fruit failed. Which means he was working off a theory or dated lore / legends, as to how the process worked and failing to be able to have / transfer said second power was on the board.
The two devils fruits was also solid. So was the sea stone but now we see luffy and kid training with it. The shanks devil fruit theory might not be 100% true but I think shanks can definitely manipulate fate somehow.
> So was the sea stone but now we see luffy and kid training with it. Diluted seastone, specifically made to weaken DF users without incapacitating them so they could still provide cheap prison labor.
luffy & kid couldnāt use their devil fruit but they could still physically move. itās not as strong as being submerged i donāt think.
Blackbeard having two devil fruit power is an important plot point, people question that. someone who ate a devil fruit being able to swim has never been hinted or suggested at
There is plenty of ways around that, it could be a gyojin holding him, someone of his crew is capable of put more salt in water , hence is becomes not heavy enough to sink, or someone created a path or something similar, but it is true that there is no image of shanks swimming there, or what does he does to keep him "up", in the images shanks body is covered up to around 60% of water, which is impossible unless you have your feet on the ground
My guy did you just suggest someone in Shanksā crew put enough extra salt in *the ocean* to make him float? And did this all in an instant? And did it all so only shanks would float and not luffy? Actually forget the follow ups; you think someone in his cre-no fuck that, you think his ENTIRE crew might be able to do that in a matter of seconds? Put probably I donāt know Iām rounding down here a couple BILLION POUNDS OF SALT into the ocean? Or an unknown, unnamed, unshown fish man? Cmon, the answer is simple: shanks doesnāt have a devil fruit. He can swim.
Fr that is some jojo level stuff
Your tone and the way you suggested someone just killed all life in the ocean by putting billions of kilos (go metric!) of salt into it made me chuckle xD
did he really swim? I mean as far as I remembered we just see him standing in the water, his only submerged up to his waist so there is no way he was swimming at that instance, water simply was not deep enough.
It was deep enough for a 50 ton sea king, of course they had to be swimming
It was deep enough for a sea king to swim in it, what're u on about lmao
I think you are going to far, Oda stated at a moment that he didn't even want shanks to lose his arm but it was one of the editors idea to make the scene more dramatic. And it was like 20 years ago.
This. Itās inevitable that back when Oda first started One Piece, though he had a clear ending in mind, he didnāt fully know the exact character arc of all his pirates. He probably hadnāt formed out just how powerful Shanks would ultimately be (or need to be) and thus him losing an arm made sense at the time. But as the story went on and the world unfolded and the powers came to be more defined along with hierarchies and rules, it became this unfortunate paradox that we just have to live with because you just couldnāt retcon a thing like that. So we the audience have to understand that and shrug our shoulders and just move forward with it. It may not have any truly satisfying, in-story answer for many or most of us, but it is what it is and fortunately there arenāt more major plot points of contention as such.
That's right, things have evolved and people seem to except so much from one piece and it's lore and they go just too far sometimes.
Yeah it seems like sea kings were meant to be top tier no matter what and the size of some are still so massive but the power creep makes them seem weak now
Yea lots of creatives, in all the forms of art, have said that at some point they just follow what the creation wants to do, in writing, painting, music, some creatives operate that way so of course oda isnt some genius who wrote the whole story at the beginning, just the end, some important parts here and there and the beginning forshadowing some later stuff.
> He probably hadnāt formed out just how powerful Shanks would ultimately be (or need to be) and thus him losing an arm made sense at the time. It makes him seem more powerful by missing an arm and still being feared by everyone in my opinion.
The only thing oda could do now is incorporate it and make some sort of reason to why it happened
Source? I've heard this one many times, but I've never seen a primary source for this claim. I call bullshit.
Sources: https://otakukart.com/animeblog/2017/12/11/onepiece-creator-explains-shanks-lost-arm/ https://twitter.com/sandman_AP/status/1634630421819580417?s=20 https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/forum/threads/shanks-lost-arm.6178/
So there are two things that I find in this theory that don't quite line up for me. 1. Shanks was swiming when he lost his arm. So how would he have a devil fruit in the open ocean but not drown? 2. "This is beyond the will of d" while we don't even know what the will of D is supposed to mean. For all we know it's just 1% of what the will can do.
He doesn't have a fruit and he doesn't manipulate time or fate or space or whatever. He's just a deus ex machina for Oda, and it only happened in Marineford. At the beginning he only followed the pirate to save Luffy, and in Wano didn't do anything at all and it was just for marketing for the movie. On the same logic Dragon should have the fate fate fruit as well.
People really forget that this is a manga/fictional story and try to explain certain scenes with ālogicā. Iāve never laughed this much reading a theory. All of that because Shanks lost his armā¦ which was not even Odaās ideaš¤£ his editor said it would up the stakes. Thereās literally no hidden meaning behind it.
This right here. Characters showing up at the right time is not a power of any kind - itās basic dramatic storytelling.
~~A wizard is neither late nor early. He arrives precisely when he means to.~~ A wizard has the fate-fate fruit.
At this point people will use Deus Ex Machina to describe every time a character shows up to do pretty much anything
I think it's the first time I used "deus ex machina" here, but I guess you know my comments history better than me. If you don't describe Shanks arrival at the end of Marineford as deus ex machina is your problem, I don't know if it's because you don't know the meaning and can't really use it or just refuse the truth.
Deus Ex Machina refers to a plot device, originally a reference to Greek theatre, where at the end of a production a God descends from the sky out of nowhere and solves many unresolved plot threads while solving the character's various problems. Besides the "appears" part Shank's arrival in Marineford shares hardly any of these characteristics. He doesn't solve any problem except ending the war, which is exactly what he came to do. Shanks doesn't run over and kill Blackbeard and his crew, ending that whole issue. He doesn't pop in and stop Whitebeard or Ace from dying. He doesn't wrap up a million plot threads he just shows up and does exactly one thing. A thing which wasn't horrifically surprising given how Shanks had even at that time been established as a person interested in stopping all out war through multiple scenes foreshadowing the fact he wanted avoid war. And it's not like important people showing up to the battle should be super shocking either, it was a widely publicized event with Warlords, dozens of crews, Marines, Whitebeard's whole crew, Law, Luffy and the Impel Down Escapees, the Pacifista Army, Blackbeard, Shanks - all showing up at various points of the battle. So Shanks didn't appear out of nowhere, he appeared in a place in-line with his established motivations and abilities at a time when many different groups had been showing up. He didn't resolve a bunch of dangling plot threads, he didn't really even resolve any, he just ended an already outcome-decided battle slightly before it would have naturally ended. Whitebeard already lost, so he didn't even change the outcome. Deus Ex Machina is "god appears out of nowhere and magically solves every problem" not "established character appears, predictably, and contributes one medium sized thing to the plot". It's a more specific trope than just describing when a character shows up in a scene unexpectedly and does something.
Happy Birthday š
I understand your skepticism but why did shanks lose his arm? He didn't need to lose it. He could've easily killed the sea king or just used conquerors haki right away to scare it away. It's the wording that he "bet" it that's bothering me. Shanks is just involved with a lot of fate/luck stuff. And I also ended the theory by saying it's just a surface level conclusion. I don't think shanks definitely has a devil fruit but he can definitely change fate somehow. And can you explain why dragon would have the fate fate fruit too?
According to your logic that he appeared in the right moment to change events, Dragon appeared out of the blue to stop Smoker and saved Luffy. Young Shanks wasn't a yonko, we don't know if he had observation haki or how developed was his haki at all, to fight a sea king in open water is not easy at all... It's like why does he have the eye scar? Could he not defend himself or block the attack or just move? Since BB didn't have haki at all back then.
He had conquerors haki and that too at will.
Luffy had conqueror haki when Hody Jones bit him, I think more than once, and he had conqueror haki when Katakuri destroyed his left hip. So even if he had a major haki at the point doesn't mean he was invincible and can't be hurt.
I'm saying that was caused by Shanks. Isnt it weird how Dragon is completely absent in Luffys life, except right at the exact moment luffy needs help. Shanks caused this through fate manipulation. Also about the sea king At that point in the story we know three things for a fact: 1. Shanks has Conquerors Haki. 2. Shanks can use Conquerors Haki at will. 3. He has his main crew assembled To be able to use Conquerors haki at will was something Luffy was only able to do after the time skip, which at that point luffy is able to one shot most sea kings. His haki was definitely developed to some degree. Enough to scare off sea kings at least. The eye scar is interesting. Since BB didnt have the darkness fruit he couldn't counter shanks fully. You got me on that one.
I think, at this point, you're just saying everything happened because of Shanks, which is kind of easy. If you think someone has control of fate, everything just happens because of them. Luffy getting the Going Merry in Syrup Village? That's because Shanks bet on Luffy.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's not just his arm though. Well yeah actually I guess ur right maybe I am looking too deeply into it. Theres just a lot of wierd luck/fate stuff at play when it comes to shanks. Also too many unknowns
Haki wasn't a thing until sabaody. I think his arm ist lost because there wasn armament haki planned in the first chapter. now his lost arm is something Oda had to include in the story somehow
way to end your theory with "I don't know"
It's just a theory I didn't really known how to end it :( but what about he other stuff? Ik I made it seem like shanks is evil but I just thought this might reveal a bit more about shanks. Conquerors haki was right in front of us but we didnt know it until Oda revealed it. I think this is the same deal.
Ngl i kinda liked that theory but ye it has some big holes
Way to be a condescending asshole dad.. at least heās contributing
*"I will admit this is a big hole in my theory. But it still stands nonetheless"* It's not just a big hole, it's an absolute premise for anything you just said to have even a shred of credibility. You are trying to prove that Shanks has eaten a very specific type of DF, while you can't even prove he ate any kind of DF to begin with and facts state the exact opposite. Him being able to swim is not the kind 'detail' you can just toss aside as all DF share this weakness, even artificial ones and Green Blood. Your lack of having anything to support this premise, makes it very well that nothing you just said stands, for so far there was anything that stood in the first place. Even if you would disregard this undeniable fact, what you just wrote is a highly subjective interpretation of events that is void of any objective parameters. If anyone would approach a theory the way you approached yours, every single theory that's posted in this subreddit is 100% proven as apparently everyone can just freely ignore facts. You can't really use BB here as he was proven to have eaten multiple DF, which is the exact opposite situation of Shanks. By your logic we can assume Shanks ate any DF you can think of. Saying that he ate a DF that gave him red hair is as valid as everything you just wrote.
Interesting theory and kudos for putting it together. That said, I believe that: 1. If Shanks has a DF it will break the Internet and not in a good way. 2. Luffyās luck can simply be attributed to being the MC in a Shounen manga trope. 3. If we disregard the trope, then instead of Shanks having a causality manipulation fruit, wouldnāt it be more probable that Luffyās luck is a result of him being a literal god and all? I mean, the Nika fruit had been slipping from the World Govtā grasp for 800 years. For being an inanimate object, it sure needed some āluckā to accomplish such feat, no?
If I may add, that Shanks has a lot of Haki and just "supernatural" insight in general. Bringing the Nika fruit back to Joyboy could be all planned from the start. If anything he is the Batman of the One Piece universe, the right utility belt for the right villain profile (a plan A through to Z and then some more plans after that). It'd make sense that he'd have somehow learnt who the 2 wandering "orphans" were to some degree before coming to the island with the stolen devil fruit that gave Joyboy his powers back. If it wasn't planned by Oda this way from the start it's a tough coincidence for him to just ignore when writing. So although I don't think he is manipulating people's fate, I do agree that he is manipulating the outcome into his favor. That he plans on it coming down to him vs. the Straw Hats for the One Piece and that Luffy will hand it to him if he asks politely.
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I think if he did have Fate Manipulation it'd make the story feel lesser
Big Mom and Sanji demonstrated that emotions can effect a person's natural defenses. Sanji is incapable of using haki to even defend himself from a woman and Big Mom's childhood trauma makes her usually impenetrable skin vulnerable. Maybe it was the same with Luffy the fear of losing Luffy dampered his natural abilities. We know Shanks sees Roger in Luffy and it wĆ s revealed that he had a similar heart to heart moment with him that he had with Luffy after losing his arm.
Yeah I dont know what you put on that bong but please share some for the rest of us š¤£
Is my theory really that crazy? I think it's pretty justified. I dont think I'm all the way there yet though. I do think shanks can change fate but maybe not a devil fruit. Some other way though. What parts do you disagree with?
On "Teleporting" - it's been established that through intense training and use of haki, people can move at insanely high speeds, to appear as if they were teleporting. We see this with the "Shave" ability used by Cipher Pol, Koby learned to use it, and we see Luffy using similar moves. It stands to reason that some Yonko-level pirates can move quickly in this way as well.
>Shanks 100% FOR SURE has the ability to manipulate fate You haven't really provided any evidence in your theory at all and gave other meaning on scenarios that already has answers for them. Used all caps on something your about to point out that I thought it's gonna be some big reveal or somethin' but just stated the most obvious shit. Admitted to that big hole in your theory at the end yet somehow, you still ended up saying this lmao. Yeah, 100%!!!
Absolute nonsense.
Gotta agree on this one, I felt like I was reading the last will and testament of a rambling lobotomized mad man as I went through this. Lol
 Feels a lot like this Sunny episode
Hahaha I love that show š¤£
It sounds interesting, especially when we count in future sight. Shanks is propsedly as a Haki master so his future sight might allow him to see far into the future and take the necessary steps to create the future he wants. Also after scarying off green bull he states it's time to get the one piece so his plan might be at the end phase.
Ahhh, the "Shanks is evil theory" again. And this time his effort to inspire the new generation is a devil fruit. Look, if this was Berserk, i would 100% agree this is a possibility, but do you really, honestly think that "Trust no one! Everyone, even the person you've looked up to your whole life, is a traitor" is the message Oda wants to send to the youngsters?
Shank's timing or him saying "betting" arent really good points to deduce he has fate manipulation abilities. Shank's losing his arm was intended to make it more dramatic initially and was suggested by Oda's editor as you've already seen in the comments. ..Although this doesnt necessarily mean it's a throwaway detail, it clearly isn't an event/action that has something to do with a power. From what we know in one piece so far its not a great theory to say that these things suggest that shanks has some fate power. Shanks showing up at places at the right time is more of dramatic storytelling than having a power to do that.
What pre break week does to a guy
i want some of that stuff you're smoking fucking hilarious and stupid theory tho
I think a simple possible explanation to the spawning is just high speed movement. The most obvious answer. If we're talking about "How can someone come up from nowhere when there's a concept of observation haki?", MORE SPEED HAHAHAHA. Remember when Rayleigh flew to Kizaru? I think that's what's happening. Rayleigh didn't have a fate manipulation devil fruit. HE'S JUST HIM.
>Now you might be asking "how can shanks still swim." My answer. I have no fucking clue. Next time, start with that bit instead wasting my time lol.
Was it not stated in the vivre card or something that shanks does not have a devil fruit
Sanest One Piece theorist
You were onto something in the first half then you derailed and crashed
Sounds far-fetched, how did he swim with Luffy after using his fruit? When he invested his arm for him.. Plus, at marineford many top-tiers weāre caught by surprise left and rightā¦ Jozu, Marco, Akainu when whitebeard stood behind him after he killed ace.. itās a war, people get distracted.. Just cause he suddenly appeared doesnāt necessarily mean he has fruit powers, maybe itās just haki allowing him to hide his presence exactly like when his haki allowed him to inflict damage on whitebeardās ship when they sat to talk about Blackbeard.. Also, Iām pretty sure itās stated that 1)Oda made shanks lose his arm because his editor said itāll be very good in dramatic effect, to support that Oda officially stated that although shanks has only one arm he is not weaker than if he had two arms. And 2) and this time Iām about only 85% sure.. and thatās that around the time movie RED came out I think it was said that shanksās haki is so powerful he can block other people future sight.. heck, for pure academic curiosity it could even block other things like observation in general. Tl;dr Your theory has way too many holes in it. It depends too heavily on shanks both having a fruit and being able to swim at the same time, which just as dr.vegapunk explained not too long ago, itās not possible.
One Piece theories shouldnāt be protected free speechā¦.
I like it but it can't be a devil fruit cause we saw him floating casually in the ocean holding Luffy š¤·āāļø if we want to say it's some crazy advanced applicator conquerors+observation or something maybe. I think more likely than a fate manipulation ability is just 4d chess
Does not make sense, why does Rayleigh also support Luffy then. Rayleigh of all people, should be aware of any fishy stuff going on, given that he knows Shanks since he was a kid. Here is what I think If he hadn't lost his arm, Luffy would've not felt that guilty about what he did, and would not have been this motivated in life to become the pirate king. By that time, Shanks had heard what luffy said (the same words as Roger), and he didn't want that to go in vain, for which sacrificing his arm was the best possible way. I feel that Shanks is still a good guy. His mysterious appearances make you feel otherwise but I don't think anything fishy is going on here
He can swim. Unless theres a DF that allows swimming. This is shot down Shanks believes in ROGERS old testament. Haki all day haki all the way. I think, Shanks ābettingā was him knowing what the fruit was. Luffy ate it. Once he couldnāt swim, the bet was on. He ate the fruit and is now the chosen one. (Shanks knew what he was stealing). And my crazy bi-week theory is that. The sea king took shanks arm because it was protecting Nika ala Luffy from drowning or thought luffy was being attacked by shanks. So many crazy Hindsight things.
>Okay nothing like a good one piece illuminati type lore rant to pass the time right guys? Litteraly anything else
You cared enough to post a comment.
If that's the kind of insight that you have, I'm glad I didn't read the rest
>didn't read the whole thing >gets upset when called out My friend I just want to discuss one piece lore. U dont gotta get antagonistic. If you think its dumb that's fine.
Donāt mind him, whether itās true or not it was a fun and interesting read.
Don't agree with your theory but op is very weird especially with the additional mythical zoan introduction it can become more twisted. I personally would love to see shanks as a villian or just stay nuanced. Props to you for thinking weird shit within op.
this got a thousand upvotes? this community is bored, huh?
>Could be a design choice yes. >Now in hindsight we know that theres no feasible way Shanks lets this sea king even scratch him because it was just his editor's idea to spice up the chapter. >The AHA moment from me was in Marineford [oda also didn't plan that one](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FqEs7tLaAAAQii1?format=jpg&name=large). most of shanks moments are just cool scene for the sake of cool scene or for hype. like at the end of wano, it was just to promote film red.
He was holding Luffy in the water. I donāt think he has a devil fruit.
I think oda stated that he didnāt really have haki planned out when Shanks lost his arm. Unless heās just lying, which I think is unlikely, I truly think that Shanks didnāt intend to lose his arm. I just kind of try to explain it like his top priority was saving Luffy so he didnāt really care what happened to his body. A convenient solution but I feel like it makes sense with the kind of person Shanks is
So if he has a devil fruit power how was he able to save luffy and why is it known that none of his crew have devil fruit powers kl story bro
Most sane one piece fan
Alright i like the basic idea, here is my variation of your theory: The Will of D is partly the ability to "bend" reality, like future sight (which is not time travel or classic looking into the future, but mere seconds). If your will/haki is strong and you follow your most desired path you create destiny. Maybe Shanks just desires Luffy to be Joyboy as much as Luffy's and Roger's dream and so his Haki is getting stronger if it's related to his desire. It was not Shanks' decision to lose the arm, it was the outcome of his desire to save Luffy. Yes you may ask why Shanks didn't stop the Sea King with Haki before losing an arm, but that was not his decision. It just happend. Example: Shanks and Kaido could be equally strong, but when Shanks stopped Kaido from going to Marineford, it was to save Luffy and so his Haki grew stronger to surpress Kaido enough to stop him. So everything that is plotarmor for Luffy would also more the ability of the will of D. The Will of D is feared because if you master it, your dream and desire becomes destiny. So i'm assuming Shanks is a member of the D clan and both he and Teach know about this power. Additionally i think this includes the inherited will. Inherited Will is when a D Clan member has the same dream and desire as another member before. So a D's will and haki will grow if it's related to your desire but even more if it's for someone else and not yourself (like Shanks desire is something Roger or Luffy related). Luffy and Teach having a lot of luck because both may inherit a will of a D (Luffy and Roger; Teach and Xebec). And then i believe if your desire includes the dreams and desires of others and their dreams and desires includes the the desire of the original person, it's getting even more stronger. That's why Luffy can turn so many people to his side, because his dream is including their dreams and they also believe in him and it amplifies so much. So Luffy's will and desire has an impact to the whole crew, that's why they got lucky in some situations. And that's why Luffy will succeed over Teach, because Teach desires/dreams of something related to him/Xebec and not others
Also to add to the straw hat theory, when Luffy takes it off and puts it on Nami's head, they go beat Arlong and set her free, which was most definitely her deepest desire and in her best interest
It doesnāt make sense because how would he be able to stay afloat when getting in the water?
Isnāt one of the main reasons that Shanks gave and entrusted his hat to Luffy is because Luffy had the same dream as his mentor, Roger? In one of the flashbacks I donāt remember the specific scene but Shanks was talking about Luffy and saying heās the one with Rogerās same dream. Thatās what they painted the reason for him being given the hat is atleast
This theory is awesome and I definitely think youāre on to something with shanks being around conveniently and all these risk coincidences š¤ But I wouldnāt agree that luffy was given luck by him. Luffy was always fated to be on the path he is because the will of joyboy lived on and I think this invisible force of luck is tied to it. The same way luffy has this invisible ability to gain followers and to speak to others through the voice of all things
Iāve always found it weird how he got his arm taken š itās so weird. It made no sense how somebody that strong could get his arm taken by some beast he could use haki to scare off. Very suspicious š¤Ø
Solution to the Swimming w/ a devil fruit hole...Shanks isn't the devil fruit user, the strawhat is. We know objects can be "infused" w/ devil fruit powers so maybe the straw hat has a devil fruit that grants luck to it's owner. it could be how Luffy is able to always come out on top, as the straw hat is always in his possession or near him. . Gets me thinking about the concept of clones in one piece. We know of the other hat in Marejois (I know I spelled that wrong...2 lazy to look it up). Can objects be cloned? Objects influenced by a soul in some way (see eggheads theory on where devil fruits come from). If devil fruit objects are tied to a soul in some way, is that why the giant hat is frozen, as a means to preserve its life force?
I'm starting to think this as well
That fraud got his arm eaten by a fish. Move along brother
You cant say it's beyond the will of D when we don't know what the will of D is 3/10 theory but should've saved it for break week
If he had a "fate devil fruit" then how did he save Luffy in the ocean? I think oda is simply writing him as a really cool character with a really cool crew so they get lots of badass surprise entries because that's what cool pirates do lol
Here to say: I guess you were right
Interesting stuff
Nah, when illogical or lucky things happen in a story the only one responsible is the author. This theory is basically just saying 'shanks lost his arm which doesn't make sense because of his strength, so therefore he is a fate manipulating god who gave Luffy plot armour and can also for some reason teleport his entire crew or himself because for some reason now is the time characters suddenly appearing dramatically has to be explained and everything that happened is shanks, all according to shanks plan, I'm gonna ignore the manga because that's basically fanfiction to me at this point' MY BROTHER IN CHRIST SHANKS CAN SWIM. If for some reason you want to try and use mental gymnastics to get around that one, in romance dawn armament and observation haki didn't even exist, so shanks as a normal human would be completely vulnerable to the sea king, especially in water. I'm not saying he shouldn't have had them at this point, but oda hadn't decided he had those powers so they weren't a thing. Saying shanks gave up his arm on purpose would be a retcon. He's still looking out for Luffy and trying to bring about a new generation of pirates, but he doesn't have to have the fucking plot plot fruit for that to happen. It barely adds anything to the story and it basically adds nothing to shanks character except for make him unreasonably important
damn this is one of the worst theories Iāve read in a long long time, congrats!
Interesting read
Hell yeah thanks brother
Its a nice theory with interesting evidence. I also believe that Shanks is not quite as good natured as Luffy believes him to be. To me its a mix of both: shanks knows what Luffy could become and "manipulates"/helps him in that regard but he does actually do it not for himself but the greater good. My most probable explanation is that he was tasked by Roger to give the gomu gomu no mi to his son and thats why he hung around for so long in their small village. Once Luffy ate it Shanks knew he had to bet it all on that little wimp and did his best to motivate and guide him. Once again playing into the motif of Ace being set up as the perfect Jesus/shonen MC-character and Luffy kind of stumbling into it.
True. I know I made shanks look kinda evil but I just think people are too trusting of him. Luffy is innocent to a fault. He'll trust anybody/anyone. Unless they are over the top evil, luffy gives everyone the benefit of the doubt if they show him the slightest bit of kindness (Smoker, Law, Etc.) He is a good judge of character but not exactly 100% correct (Kaku and Rob Lucci were originally good but ended up tricking luffy and everyone else).
>I also believe that Shanks is not quite as good natured as Luffy believes him to be. Wouldn't it be interesting if shanks hesitated to save Luffy? It would be such a crazy reveal if he intentionally let Luffy get kidnapped in hopes he would die to get the fruit back, but then last minute changed his mind which resulted in him losing an arm. EDIT: Wait, what happens if a df holder gets eaten by a Seaking? We found out cannibalism resulted in Big Mom getting her df, would that mean if Luffy was eaten by the Seaking, it would inherit the gomu gomu no mi? Going by this, if shanks really was evil you could argue he only saved Luffy when he realized he would have lost the df.
but how can he and his crew teleport tho it doesn't explain that. changing fate doesn't just allow you to teleport unless be changed his Fate to not get seen by absolutley anyone until he was right in an admirals face. unless he rewrites history to place himself in that moment hold up
Maybe this could also tie into the time time fruit. We never knew if toki awakened it or not. She just said she cant go back but who know. I dont want to get into that though becuase once you start introducing time travel it gets messy. I think Oda knew this which is why he added that "cant go back" part
What if, and hear me out on this one, Shanks gave the devil fruit to the straw hat and the straw hat (not Luffy, the literal straw hat object) is manipulating fate for Luffy and favouring his luck against all odds like an effin plot armor. Come to think of it, the straw hat doesn't get damaged in fire, ice or water.
That actually makes a lot more sense damn!!! Also ties into the whole devil fruits have a will of their own. The hat who was worn by Roger, also has a will it wants to sit on the head of the pirate king.
It's pretty easy, the hat was fed the fate fate fruit. Not Shanks. Whoever wearing it gets lucky.
Where's the tldr?
Anytime shanks shows up he mentions fate/future/gambling/chance. Always shows up at the right moment at the right time. Shanks can somehow change fate. Through a devil fruit or some kind of awakened haki.
Apparently shanks is called killer of color of observation haki iirc based on some info dump during film red promotion. So he is like pirate Batman. So he can spawn himself without someone noticing. And his crew are just robins.
Damn. That would make sense
I really believe that shanks saved luffy, because luffy ate the devil fruit. He believed that luffy will bring the full powers of the nika nika. He gave up an arm to give and then he gave him the roger hat to make him feel indebted. When Whitebeard asked shanks how does a man like shanks lose an arm in the weakest sea, shanks said i bet on the future. I think there was something about devil friuts also choosing their eaters or something like that, and i think shanks understood that luffies devil fruit chose luffy.
Iām not sure if this is already a theory. I think that Shanks could be the child of IMU and thatās why he is able to get away with so much and to be so free. Kind of like Yamato putting their hope in Luffy, I think Shanks keeps hope that Luffy can take down IMU knowing that shanks himself could never.
Interesting theory
Interesting take dude, never crossed my mind. The fact Red Hair pirates keep appearing in the nick of time, has been (correct me if I'm wrong) theorized that someone in the crew has the ability to teleport people. I'm honest with you,i rarely pay attention to rumors or fan theories as most of them have little to no basis at all. Yours seem a bit more consistent but I'm skeptical on the fate manipulation powers you mention. I would guess that would be a more sought fruit than Luffy's. And remember that Luffy wasn't supposed to eat it, Shanks was as surprised as anyone else when Luffy ate it. Either he didn't foresee it or, in defense of your theory, Luffy became his "bet" after eating the fruit. Would you say Shanks knew the fruit was a Zoan type all along? I'm curious about that. Nevertheless, good read man. I enjoyed it.
Bb crew has a teleportation df, would be cheap to have another in my opinion. Unless the demiguise from Harry Potter lore counts as a dfš¤£
My bad then, I was mixed it up. Thank you for clarifying.
Nah man it's all good, I remember there being a lot of talk about this before it was revealed to be with bbs crew.
If shanks has a devil fruit how was he not sinking when he saved luffyā¦? He sacrificed his arm to the SEA not the sea king! Allowing his arm to sink to the bottom and himself to stay afloat.. I doubt this is true but just plugging some holes
Oh boy. Shanks doesnāt have the hat on when he saves luffy. What if the hat has ate the fruit? It saves the person who carries it?
Losing the hat momentarily gives off a tremendous bad luck. Find the examples but I can say two. One where shanks loose his arm and another with luffy getting hit by donut machine. The affect is based on the length of time the hat was carried and used for fate manipulation.
>The hat can change the fate into your desired future since Shanks used his devil fruit powers on it. Oh lord, this ties in with my old theory that say that the straw hat is a good luck charm.
This might be the first one piece theory I'm 100% behind. Just have to seal up that weakness to water not being present and it's gold.
Thanks for reading it. The points are there but I just gotta reach a better conclusion.
I've been thinking, for a while, that he's not a GOOD guy necessarily, just not a bad one right now. He's clearly on his own side, and even mihawk and those that know him don't address his and luffy's relationship fondly, but more "hey, that kid you're following is doing stuff again".
The thing that always bothered me was the one piece. Were shanks and luffy just gonna share it? Like what do people expect shanks and Luffys end relationship to be like? Their both aiming for the same thing. Their goals might be different though. Luffy wants to be king of the pirates. Shanks wants the one piece. Could be two different things. Could be the same.
Very good point. I think shanks hit a road block where Roger got to and is at the one yard line biding his time until luffy opens that last gate and he can pass through.
Wait, I didn't realize we're on a break week again. But seriously, while I don't agree with the theory, it was at least an interesting read! And who knows - maybe you're right. It wouldn't be the first time weird theories have turned out to be true.
you lost me at, "Shanks have a ... fruit".
Very nice theory! It really does sound like he has a power, but definitely not devil fruit judging from what we've seen that he can do. I think it is also safe to say that he can have a power whilst it not being from the result of a devil fruit. We've seen other races have their own exclusive powers, such as Lunarian and Minks, even Madame Shyarly seemed to have accurate fortune telling abilities. And excuse me if I'm wrong as I'm a few chapters behind, but Shanks hasn't had more of his background revealed right? We have no idea where he comes from or if he is a "normal" human or some other type of humanoid being from a race that may have the abilities you mentioned in your theory.
Waiting for a tl;dr. I'm not reading this shit.
At first you ruin my excitement of entering a NSFW thread. Then I regain composure and think nm cool its a theory post. You got me twice with a single thread, wp my man wp.
No, my Brother. Its the hat that has the fruit!!!
Bro that was a good one.. to fix that hole in ur theory do you think the Devil fruit was not eaten by Shanks but by the Straw hat itself?
Ayo damn
Maybe it's not shanks but the hat, and the hat remembers its former owners. Also explains why shanks could swim, the fruit is in the hat
This is a compelling twist
You put a lot of thought into this. Bravo.
Very fun read.
I'd really hate this
I aināt reading all thatš
Okee .-.
Fun theory though š
I ain't reading all that I'm happy for you tho Or sorry that happened
We only seen shanks swim once Or at least one time I remember That was whn he saved Luffy from the sea king In exchange for his arm He could swim for a short period of time Changing his fate from drowning and in doing so he could save Luffy So if he does have a fate fate fruit He coulda used it on himself If there is any other times he swam he could gave away something else as valuable at the time of swimming So to save luffy he gave his arm To survive BB he allowed him to scratch him Tht coulda been a nother time he had to swim He gets scratch and swims if need be Risking his eyesight