Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind

[maleficent-raven]

Figarland Family Headcanons

Shamrock has finally heen revealed in the new Elbaph PV. He's Finally here. Now we will have the entire Figarland Family so I wanted to share some of my Figarland headcanons.

- Shamrock never wastes an opportunity to point out that he is the older twin

- They carry each other vivre card.

- Shamrock leaves his hair long as a momento for Magnolia

- The twins got along really well while Shanks was in Mary Geoise.

- Shamrock was younger he always spent his time preparing for his brother arrival. On his birthday he would always set aside toys and later clothes for his lost twin. So by the time Shanks was brought to Mary Geoise his room was filled with unopened gifts and a full wardrobe

- Shamrock and Shanks will team up to defeat Garling.

- Shamrock  and Shanks are/were extremely protective of each other. Now I don't mean in the overprotective way. The two can clearly take care of themselves but I could see Shamrock making excuses for Shanks behavior for example excusing the Pirates of corrupted him or getting mad if the other Holy Knights insult Shanks. Maybe Shanks is willing to ask Shamrock for help if he needs to be in two places at once. I wouldn't be surprised if Shamrock holds a grudge against Blackbeard for scarring Shanks face.

- Both the twins have lobster as a favorite food

- Shamrock was happy when Roger was executed, since he believed Shanks would finally come home

- Shamrock is a little nicer to the slaves. Which isnt saying much since he still owns slaves, but at least he wont kill one because the kitchen was out of his favorite food or because they were too slow.

- Shamrock told Shanks about Imu.

- Shamrock hates Garling.

- Because of Imu and his mark I doubt that Shamrock is a spy but I don't think he's as loyal to the government as we think.

- Garling seemed happy when talking to Magnolia, and she seemed to really love him. I doubt Garling has the capability to care for anyone other then himself, and he seems willing to manipulate his kids but I would love to know more about those two.

- Shamrock and Shanks are equal on strength. Shamrock might be slightly stronger thanks to Imus power.

- Judging the Garlings "Only women worthy" quote. Figarlands don't take multiple wives. And are very "selective" with who they decide to "marry."

- Since Maffey seemed surprised that Garling would have a child, he doesn't have any other children.

These will change or be added too when more is revealed

[winged-wolf-tsuki]

[maleficent-raven]

Her name was Magnolia

OMG. Her name is Magnolia. That is beautiful. This means the twins are named after their mother and father.

I repeat, Magnolia, named Shamrock after her (flowers), and Shanks is named after Garling (weapons). That is so cute. Garling you don't deserve her.

I wonder if Shamrock purposely wears his hair similar to her as a way to spite his father.

[cerberus-bites]

Sometimes everything's alright.

Then I remember the pain little Shamrock must’ve felt when his brother was taken away from him and he spent the night lying awake in an unfamiliar crib, alone, crying for Shanks. They were inseparable since birth, their hearts beating as if they were one. And now that second heartbeat was gone. Replaced by only the echo of Shamrock's screams.

And suddenly, nothing's alright anymore.

[maleficent-raven]

With the new release of chapter 1171, I've seen people wondering if Garling really does care for his kids. Personally I really doubt it, but then he does or says something that makes me wonder. The World Noble assigned to watch the twins knew that Garling would kill them if he found out they were stolen. He constantly sent the Holy Knight to retrieve Shanks, although I do wonder why he didn't go himself. The line he used when Shanks returns in the new chapter implies that he must feel something. And he/they let Shanks leave alive after Shanks betrayed them instead of sending the other Holy Knights after him.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to an evil guy but a good parent Garling, it'll be a way to give him some depth beyond evil prick, but with his personality and what we know of him I still REALLY DOUBT IT. Maffey seems surprised that Garling had kids, so I doubt he's the type to want children to take care of. For Garling, I think his children are merely an asset, just something to help extend his bloodlines and social standing. His "adoption" of Shamrock was less about fatherly love and more about retrieving his property. When introducing Shanks to Loki, he shows no warmth to his sons, only discussing them as one would a new valuable tools for the World Government. I think that Garling is proud of his sons' strength, but his love and pride are something his sons have to earn. If Shamrock did anything, even something as small as showing mercy to a slave or refusing an order to kill Shanks, Garling would strike him down without a second thought.

I've seen a couple theories going around about him. One that wondered that since he didn't kill the twins' mother, Garling may have had a small feeling for his lover and was actually being controlled by Imu. It would be a nice twist but I don't buy it; I saw it more as Garling being so evil and callous he couldn't even put the twins' mother out of her misery. Another theory wondered if Garling was thinking of Shanks when he killed Donquixote Mjosgard, and another wondered if they had a cordial relationship.  Anyone who is so awful that other Holy Knights call him a prick just can't be that great of a guy. Would Shanks have acted like that if he was? He hates Garling, and I wouldn't be surprised if he hates himself as well for being his son. I wonder if thats why he drinks so much? I don't know; I need just a little more proof.

[drowning-moonlight]

Being raised a Celestial Dragon, Shamrock was immediately on my shit-list when he was first introduced because I automatically consider CDs evil assholes until or unless proven otherwise. (Mjosgard for example, RIP).

But since chapter 1167 - where he showed at least some level of compassion for Shanks - what if Shamrock isn't actually evil?

He expresses concern over Shanks' wound healing, and this could just be Shamrock only caring because Shanks is now - or at least appearing to be - loyal to the Celestial Dragons.

But what if it's not just that? I think we don't know enough about this character yet to say but I wonder if he actually cares about Shanks just for being his brother and not for being a noble.

I think the Evil Twin Trope is kind of contrived at this point so I wouldn't really want to see it in One Piece but maybe Oda could pull it off in a satisfying way? However, I think it would be more interesting if Shamrock did have genuine love for Shanks and has secretly been trying to help him and undermining the other CDs. (kind of like how Katakuri recognized that Big Mom is evil but he stayed with her to protect his siblings).

[maleficent-raven]

Do you think Shamrock inherited a tiny bit of his mother's kind heart?

He doesnt appear to be needlessly cruel; I mean he offered to spare Loki’s dog if he joined them, and Sommers asked if he was there to visit Haralds grave so Shamrock must be capable of feeling something other then contempt for “filth", which isn’t much but is better then what most World Nobles would have done, perhaps he is even a little nicer to the slaves and is only willing to use violence as a last resort. He's very similar to Shanks when you think about it.

I read and reblogged a post I really liked that noticed how Shamrock is shown to not feel one way or another about Celestial Dragon ideals and prejudices; after all, he didn't seem to care about the missing slaves and more about Shanks injury. I think he has been so beaten down and indoctrinated that he has become numb and is only doing what is expected of him. Even his 15-year-old self seemed empty; he didn't speak or make any arrogant comments and gives off the demeanor of a beaten-down soldier.

Clearly Garling views his children as useful tools or pawns. If I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if Shamrock (and Shanks) despise Garling.

Shamrock probably tried to bond with Shanks, and hopefully Shanks tried as well. But his duty (and being apart for 23 years) probably made doing so very difficult. Shamrock must have been heartbroken and felt betrayed when Shanks left.

Maybe Shamrock even intentionally broke the rules by telling Shanks about Imu; after all, Harald seemed surprised to find someone sitting in the chair, so a Holy Knight apprentice must not be privy to that information.

He doesnt act like your typical evil older brother or even your average World Noble. He does seem to be protective of Shanks telling him to wait and heal up in chapter 1167. The outfit he wore in chapter 1137 does seem close to the one Shanks wore in 1167. Maybe he attacked Loki not because he threatened him but because he also threatened Shanks.

Since I'm sure Shamrock has the Depths Covenant, I doubt that he is working with Shanks, but maybe he is secretly keeping in contact with him. Other than a few rare cases, I don't think Oda ever had siblings fighting each other, so I can't really see the twins fighting. But if I had to guess, Imu might try to take control of him, but either Luffy's Nika powers or Shanks's "brotherhood" powers will be enough to break through to him. I also don't see any of the Figarlands remaining obedient slaves; I can definitely see Garling trying to take Imus's position.

[melkyt]

Shamrock being shown to not feel one way or another about Celestial Dragon ideals and prejudices is interesting, atleast for now now

When we look at Doffy, who thinks that the entire world is there to serve him.

I havent seen Shamrock say it in the same way, he calls them filth the first time we see him but it doesnt feel like he is doing anything more then parroting what is expected of him

It would be interesting if he does not think about or hold celestial dragons ideals, but has been so beaten down and indoctrinated that he does nothing

Maybe he had the same anger as Shanks once, a smart kid like his mother who wanted to learn and understand the world and its people but was told time and time again that all the knowledge he needs is that he is god and better then everyone.

Garling taught his son how to be a holy knight, the perfect son.

I think Shamrock is so worn down and stiffled by being a Celestial Dragon that he is numb to all of it, broken and empty

He doesn't care about anything one way or another, and is only doing what is expected of him

Now whatever the truth is, the au where Shamrock once had ideals to save people, to reason with his kind, only for his spirit to be trampled into nothing by Garling mmm

[cerberus-bites]

[ Chapter 1167 Spoilers! ]

From the moment Shamrock lays his eyes on Shanks for the first time, he instantly feels a connection to this red-haired stranger who looks just like him. He doesn’t question it when father introduces him as his long lost twin brother, he doesn’t doubt that Shanks belongs here nor does he frown at his poor manners like the other knights.

No, Shamrock embraces his sibling. He welcomes him and drags him into his bedroom, where he pulls out an old uniform and helps Shanks get dressed. He fixes his collar, buttons his coat and braids his hair.

And when he's done, he brushes his fingers over the dirty bandages covering his left eye.

"May I?" Shamrock asks and Shanks sighs.

"It's alright, it's nothing really," he mumbles, but it's not enough to deter his concerned brother.

Shamrock carefully unwraps the bandages, Shanks hisses in pain as the fresh wound is revealed underneath. Three jagged cuts going from his forehead down to his cheek, someone had mutilated him, deformed his face so it would never look like Shamrock’s again. It breaks something in the older twin's heart.

"Who did this to you?" He demands to know, hardly keeping his anger at bay. His hand trembles as he throws away the bandages.

Shanks looks up at his brother, trying to come up with an answer that won’t lead him to storm out of the room, but he knows that there is no use in lying.

"A pirate named Blackbeard," he admits.

"Then I shall have his head cut off."

And even now, 15 years later, Shamrock still plans to follow up on that promise.

[melkyt]

Shamrock being shown to not feel one way or another about Celestial Dragon ideals and prejudices is interesting, atleast for now now

When we look at Doffy, who thinks that the entire world is there to serve him.

I havent seen Shamrock say it in the same way, he calls them filth the first time we see him but it doesnt feel like he is doing anything more then parroting what is expected of him

It would be interesting if he does not think about or hold celestial dragons ideals, but has been so beaten down and indoctrinated that he does nothing

Maybe he had the same anger as Shanks once, a smart kid like his mother who wanted to learn and understand the world and its people but was told time and time again that all the knowledge he needs is that he is god and better then everyone.

Garling taught his son how to be a holy knight, the perfect son.

I think Shamrock is so worn down and stiffled by being a Celestial Dragon that he is numb to all of it, broken and empty

He doesn't care about anything one way or another, and is only doing what is expected of him

Now whatever the truth is, the au where Shamrock once had ideals to save people, to reason with his kind, only for his spirit to be trampled into nothing by Garling mmm

[crinj-central]

Considering how Loki remembers the circumstances of his birth, does that mean Shanks and Shamrock remember how Garling killed their mother?

[murphmurphthejerk]

Yeah, I think it's very possible at least Shamrock remembers Garling killing their mother. Actually, Shanks might not remember because of the bonk on his head & that was Oda's way of making Shanks feel even less connected to his bio family.

Also, 100% agree with this line of thinking. I would not be surprised I'd Shamrock really wanted Shanks in his life, but Shanks being Shanks didn't realize or just couldn't connect with him.

I think there's a good chance Shamrock is also being a double agent for his brother. Or at the very least, I can see Shamrock sacrifice himself to save Shanks when the time comes.

Oda loves tragic siblings after all & Shamrock is the OLDER one 👀

[crinj-central]

Now that you mention Shamrock working as a double agent, didn't Dragon say something about the Revs having a "trusted source" regarding the God's Knights? It might be him 👀

I think the bonk was definitely relevant for Shanks maybe "forgetting" the traumatic event, as well as Dragon holding onto him all this time in an attempt to save him + getting adopted by the Roger pirates on the same day. We dont know if Shamrock even got the luxury of getting cradled at all, he was crying when Maffey was holding him up like some doll. There's a high chance that he didn't get comforted by anyone, which DOES raise the chances of trauma sticking. This would be very similar to Loki who didn't get any comfort either, and was even denied it.

Shanks is also really aloof by his nature, so I can definitely see how his actions would once again hurt someone who's close to him, without him realising how deeply he has hurt them. I wonder if Shamrock called him a coward, too.....

[sableu]

great to see others considering these possibilities for the twins! the more we see of them the more i can definitely see a "shamrock genuinely cared about shanks and felt betrayed by him leaving" angle ending up as canon. after all, there's already a trend of that happening with other characters who care about shanks.

something else that struck me in this chapter is that in the one shot we see of shamrock as a teen, he is 1) clearly already well on his way to becoming a knight despite being only fifteen and 2) doesn't look particularly happy. i really don't think shamrock has had a great time on mariejois with garling, whether he even consciously realizes it or not.

and if you divorce the twins' relationships from the greater systems of the WG and piracy surrounding them and just look at it on an interpersonal level....

imagine you grew up alone with no siblings and a dead mother, with only your abusive father who is basically just trying to raise you as a child soldier so you can one day fill his role.

then after decades, the brother you thought you lost forever reappears! he says he hated the time he spent without you and had a miserable first 24 years of his life, which honestly you did too, and you feel a sense of comradery you haven't ever felt before. and even though you maybe felt uncertain about your father or your destiny as a soldier before, now your brother is here and he's really gung-ho about everything which makes you feel better about it, and like the burden of responsibility your bloodline has put on you is now shared.

if your brother was to then turn around and be like "sike i was actually lying through my teeth, i had a great childhood with a huge family that loved and took care of me, and also i hate all you people and i never want to come here again" and bounce, leaving you alone...that would be a pretty damn affecting experience.

so if shamrock really does love his brother, i hope for his sake he's able to love him enough to eventually defect to his side. assuming he hasn't already!

[bottlepiecemuses]

Garling Thinks His Son Suffered As A Foster Child Under The Roger Pirates

I just love how fickle their understanding of suffering is.

[aeg-here-art]

Shanks and shamrock dynamic is really interesting 😂 I’m surprised that shamrock actually really cares about shanks and in this scene shamrock being such a caring responsible older brother to an edgy younger brother 😂 shanks is such a great actor 👍

[titi-292]

Shamrock later on changed his uniform to look like Shanks

Oda will write them as another tragic brothers I can just feel it

[actuallyazombie]

Shamrock is a lot like Shanks, actually.

Note : I use some french translated scans, since it's easier for me to find them. I did try to use english scans when I could.

The recent Elbaph arc has introduced a character whose existence was theorized about since the Reverie : Figarland Shamrock, aka Shanks' twin brother.

Part of the fandom has already sorted him as the "evil twin", Oda's final exploration of the nature VS nurture thematic which began with Dressrosa (the question of Doflamingo's supposed evil nature) then continued with Whole Cake Island.

If we compare Shanks and Shamrock's appearance, they couldn't be more apart : a carefree drunk hobo-looking pirate and a prissy and prim aristocrat.

But the deeper we look at Shamrock’s actual behavior in the new arc, the more it becomes clear he reflects Shanks far more than we initially supposed.

An avoidance of conflict

During his first appearance, Shamrock consistently shows a reluctance to engage in direct violence, opting for alternatives.

Shamrock : "If we spare it, will you change your mind ?"

During his mission, he needs to make Loki join the Holy Knights. He first asks him. Then he tries to negotiate by taking his wolves' hostage. He doesn't show any anger when dealing with Loki's refusal. Celestial Dragons in the series show extreme anger when being denied their demands or being treated with disrespect. Gunko's reaction is more in line with other CD (threatening death).

Shamrock's lack of anger and willingness to kill resembles Shanks’ behavior throughout the series. He is the one who taught Luffy not to use unnecessary violence in Makino's bar.

His expression is again partially hidden.

They cross paths again when Shanks halts the Marineford War. Shanks' preference for de-escalation is clearly established in the series and is one of his main characteristics as a person.

This tendency to de-escalate conflicts is sometimes received with scorn from other people who call him a coward (Luffy, Loki, the bandit in Windmill village, Buggy).

"Needless killing doesn't make you a man."

Shamrock similarly doesn't finish Loki after he is done with him and gets called a coward for it by Loki.

Gunko : "Let's kill him." Shamrock : "Calm yourself, Gunko." He is the one holding Gunko back from killing Loki. The panel shows his face covered with a speech bubble, hiding his reaction to Gunko "Kill him." Is it approval ? Is it disapproval ? Oda uses the same technique when it comes to Shanks. There are several panel where some of his expression is hidden by a bubble or an object.

The panel is off centered and the bubble is hiding part of his face, probably to represent Shanks' hidden feelings on the matter.

When talking about Buggy, the bubbles hide half of his face, probably because Shanks is yet again holding back his feels.

Shanks is a character who hides a lot of his thoughts and feelings. He shows the world the persona of a carefree pirate but underneath it there is a calculative and melancholic man who represses himself constantly.

A reluctance to dirty their hands

Shamrock distances himself from brutality and never indulges in direct violence unless required.

When convincing Loki fails, Shamrock allows Gunko to perform the torture while observing rather than intervening himself. When Gunko wants to kill Loki, he finally steps in.

Shamrock : "It's enough, Gunko."

This tendency to have his subordinate (or crew mate) do the dirty work is seen twice with Shanks :

First in Luffy's flashback when Lucky Roo shoots one of the bandit threatening Shanks with a gun ;

Second when Yassop shoots and sinks Batholomeo's ship;

After Loki provokes him by threatening both brothers, Shamrock gets visibly upset for the first time, mirroring Shanks during Kid's attack. Though it's more the reason for his anger is more ambiguous with Shamrock, is it because Loki threaten him or is it because he care for his twin ?

When provoked, Shamrock uses his sword's strange power, using it more like a subordinate than like his weapon. He sends his sword's dogs to Loki more like a subordinate.

Shanks’ anger when Kid threatens his crew (Ch. 1076)

Although Shamrock Figarland was framed as Shanks’ opposite, his behavior reveals he’s more similar to his twin than initially supposed.

Of course, there is still a lot we don't know about it. He appears in very few chapter but I think he's going to be more of an anti-villain than, let's say, Doflamingo or Sanji's brother.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was like Sanji as a child who unlike Sanji never escape and had to suppress himself to fit in.

[sableu]

and what if i say that sabo and stelly are parallels to shanks and shamrock

what if you were the black sheep, the one who wants nothing more than freedom and to escape the suffocating confines of your birth family's expectations and their stuffy rich town because you care more for your adoptive family than you do for your blood.

besides, your birth father has somebody else to replace you. you have a brother who's just like him and who lives up to his every expectation. you know that your father is a horrible, abusive man and your hometown is a hell dressed up like heaven. but your brother seems to like them, so it's fine. so you leave him there to bear the weight of your father's expectations alone and seek your own freedom with your own chosen family.

you see your brother again years later. he is exactly what your father wanted him to be. but at what cost, to himself and to everyone else?

[wyvernslovecake]

It's also important to keep in mind that we still don't know Shamrock's exact thoughts on Shanks. All he has to say about his brother so far is this

He clearly thinks poorly of Shanks's decision to stay on the surface world, but he also doesn't seem angry or overly disgusted when he says this. You could argue he's dispassionate and doesn't give two shits about Shanks, but you could also read it as him being sad about it.

Stelly clearly never had any love for Sabo and vice-versa, but what if that's a key difference between them and the red-haired twins?

What if Shamrock did love Shanks? Still loves Shanks? What if he was excited at being reunited with his twin brother and genuinely wanted to form a connection with Shanks when he came back to Mariejois But everything that Shamrock was raised to believe was normal and entitled to them as gods, Shanks was horrified by and Shamrock couldn't understand why. They were twins. They should be exactly the same. Dress the same way, like the same things, always be by each other's sides.

So why was his brother turning his back on their birthright? Why was his brother looking at him like he was some kind of monster? Why was he abandoning Shamrock again?

Why won't his brother come home? It's not going to feel like home without Shanks.

I fully believe that while Garling is rotten to the core and wants nothing more than to revel in his status as a Gorosei and possibly even climb higher than that to Imu's position, all Shamrock wants is to have a family. To have his brother back in his life. But all he's ever known is the toxicity of Mariejois and he doesn't know how to break away from that. He doesn't even know he should break away from that.

And that's not even getting into whether Shanks even knows about his brother's inner turmoil or just wrote him off as a lost cause. The man's not exactly good at reading people or being present when they need him, Buggy and Uta can attest.

[wyvernslovecake]

The volume 113 cover has dropped and with it we finally have the official colour schemes of the God Knights and my LORD are they…coloured!

I wouldn’t have been able to predict any of these beyond maybe Shamrock, ESPECIALLY Gunko! I was so sure she was gonna be hit with the Oda orange-y blonde curse!! Blue is an…interesting choice 👀👀 especially since we still have a certain clown prince of evil unaccounted for as we wrap up the GV flashbacks 👀👀! The heterochromia is also a fun way to show Imu's control with the one red eye!

As for the others: Gaban and Luffy are lovely as always, Sommers being so violently ginger is making ppl think he and Nami are related which THEY BETTER NOT BE >:0 and Kiringham not being purple kinda broke my heart

STOP THE PRESSES WE GOT NON-GAUDY GOD'S KNIGHTS! I REPEAT! NON-GAUDY GOD'S KNIGHTS!!

After the piss monstrosity that was Garling, it's good to see that Shamrock isn't following in his dad's horrendous fashion footsteps. The blue on his cloak was an unexpected choice, I was expecting more of a burgundy. Possible foreshadowing for Shamrock also becoming enamored with Buggy and fighting Shanks over him? We shall have to wait and see.

I've actually been suspecting for a while that Gunko would be blue-haired and that's because it serves as a connection to Lily Nefertari, who probably had blue hair like Vivi. Imu is obsessed with Lily so it would make sense for them to want somebody who looks like her around that they can 'possess' as a proxy for Lily, whose corpse they may already be inhabiting in addition to that.

Sommers is one of those old guys who dyes his hair religiously because he can't accept the fact that he's getting older, I know this in my bones. It also sets him apart from guys like Rayleigh and Gaban who rock their grey hair and don't have a problem with being old-timers. Well Gaban sort of does but that's only because he wants to grow old and wrinkly alongside his wife which is just the sweetest thing!

I didn't really have any color expectations for Killingham and I think I might have seen a kirin in a tapestry with a similar coloration as this before. But you're right, purple would have been a great choice! Maybe with the golden mane or a teal one too.