Ok, y’all, can I talk my shit again? Because I have thoughts and feels about our good old one-armed favorite disaster of a party pirate, Akagami (Red-Haired) Shanks. I’m going to be completely honest: I may have had this rant before, but I can’t find it, and no one else has this take. I need to talk about my vision of him that I’m like 60/40 percent sure is correct canon-wise and would explain so many of his—let’s call them quirks.
I think one of Oda’s beliefs and the teachings that One Piece has so blatantly told us about, such as personal freedom, charting your own destiny, and making your own adventure along the way, are a reflection of Shanks’ character as someone who never got that chance and never would. That, to me, makes him one of the saddest characters in One Piece.
Let me cook here. I’m not going to cite anything because I don’t want to, and I do that enough already in college, so we’re running on trust me: I’ve read the manga and watched a lot of theory videos. So lock in because this is gonna be long.
Anyways, back to my thesis. Shanks is a character of contradictions. He was the youngest person to ever become a Yonko (but then Luffy came in), probably one of the strongest men of his generation. He regularly fought the world’s strongest swordsman for fun. He has a crew whose members each have over a million bounties on their own and are so physically or politically strong that they can stop a war in its tracks just by waltzing in and saying "stop." Not only that, he stopped Kaido in his tracks and made him turn around. His father was the Pirate King and claimed him as his successor; he could even be tied to the Celestial Dragons. He’s charismatic, and when things need to get done, he gets down to business.
On the other hand, he’s also a goofy guy who regularly gets blackout drunk, has a horrible sense of pant style, parties his life away, and thinks bullying kids is the height of comedy. He cares about his kid to the point that he forgets to be a responsible Yonko but also wants to fight him for the One Piece. He seems so blasé about everything but is obviously, in the background, making connections and being all sneaky about something; he has plans but also didn’t decide to go after the One Piece until after his prime. He’s been stagnant but moving and shaking around the world, all for some big ideal, some big plan, something huge.
It is my stance, idea, theory, if you will, that all this makes sense if you look at it from the viewpoint that nothing—not the planning, not stealing the fruit, not the power growth, or making his way to Yonko status, not building his crew, even the hurry-up-and-wait—he’s been doing all these years, his whole life? Is because he’s hasn’t made a single decision for himself since Gol D. Roger died.
Outrageous! You cry! Shanks, a man who supposedly spouts on about being free and charting your own course and being a pirate? Is none of those things? Impossible, you will say. I will ask you how you got into my house and to please leave. But aside from the pirate bit, yes, and I can prove this. Calm my chili-baby’s and listen.
Yes, Shanks had his life taken from his adventure, his destiny set and marked right before the Loguetown execution. It is my belief that all this can be laid at the feet of—drumroll, please—Gol D. Roger himself!
Gasp! Crying! Fainting in the audience! I know, what a twist. Let me explain. In a flashback, we see Roger talking about Ace. It was Roger’s belief that Ace (his child) would be the savior of the world, the new Joy Boy, destined to destroy the World Government with what they learned from the Poneglyphs and Laugh Tale. He believed their generation was too early and that the next would usher in the new world. Ace would be his true successor. A little narcissistic, but a man like Roger probably couldn’t help but be. Not just that but it probably felt prophetic he found Laugh Tale of course that had to mean something?He was also dying as it was and put things in place for Ace to survive. He told Garp where he was so Garp could take him away with Rouge—a safety net, that sure was useful. Once she ya know, died.
With the understanding that the next generation would usher in the new age, Roger took aside a thirteen-year-old Shanks and revealed everything. He told him about the birth of the new Joy Boy, everything about Laugh Tale, and how he believed his son would usher in this age. I believe he gave Shanks this purpose: to pass on the straw hat to his son and help him become a man strong enough to fight the World Government. I think little traumatized Shanks, who is about to lose his father and has had the weight of the world put on his shoulders, takes it to heart and buries everything he is to fulfill his captain's last wish. And that’s horrible. I’ll get into the psychological implications later, but holy shit, Roger, what the fuck? He’s thirteen! And about to watch you die!
But yeah, doesn’t this make sense? Why the hell when Buggy wanted to go after the One Piece, did Shanks hold back and say they should wait, losing his brother because he has a secret his captain entrusted him with. Why the hell did they know about the Gum Gum Fruit and were searching for it? Why did Shanks spend so long on a little island like Fousha in the East Blue? Not only was he looking for the fruit, but he was also looking for Ace! (And maybe Rouge.)
Why has he been making all these connections but doing jack shit with them? Why did he become a Yonko but claim no territory for fucking years on end and do nothing really with his status? Why does he rely on such a small crew of such powerful individuals? Why does he party his life away, seem almost aimless, and not start to go after the One Piece until Luffy reaches Gear 5?
Because he’s the one to pass on the legacy; he’s the placeholder, a cog in the proverbial machine that is fate. He made sure Joy Boy would exist. And now that the dominoes have been placed and are falling fast, he’s going to challenge Luffy and make sure he’s strong enough to fight for it—strong enough to take on the World Government, the Celestial Dragons, and Imu—and then hand him a big red button to help do it afterward. That button will be all the sneaky shit he’s been doing in the background.
He’s been the bridge between his captain and this new age. Sure, it was too early, but his influence rippled out through the people he trusted and touched in his life. The same way Rayleigh trained Luffy, knowing what he was preparing him for in the next part of his journey, waiting years for him to arrive at Sabaody.
And all that needed to happen was the dreams, adventures, and sacrifices of a young boy. It’s almost poetic—a son for a son (or sun, in this case). My therapist says I make light of dark shit so I don’t have to emotionally feel the pain.
And now we get into the sad portion of today’s episode. Prepare the tissues because this is why I think Shanks is one of the saddest characters in One Piece.
Because think about it: Shanks’s life was charted for him; his adventure and future were stolen, decided with the reveal of Laugh Tale and all the secrets around it—everything, all so the next generation could one day rise up and bring a new dawn. Shanks never got to have a dream because it was stolen from him. He’s a walking, talking empty automaton, fulfilling his captain's dying promise made by a grieving thirteen-year-old.
He is dreamless, and for a man who is, in some sense, the freest in the world—can go anywhere, can do anything, is powerful enough to stop wars—he’s still trapped, chained to a future he can only wait for.
I don’t think he knows who he is outside of this. I don’t think he thinks he’ll live beyond it. (Which like I will fucking cry because this is gonna be kinda true.) I don’t even want to call it an ambition. Duty, maybe. Damned promise, more likely. And it’s ruined every relationship outside of it he’s ever had. Aside from one—
(Don’t even get me started on him and Mihawk and miscommunication, failed expectations, and Mihawk being the epitome of everything Shanks isn’t. With his dream chasing to the ends of the world, ending up unfulfilled and alone. Finding companionship and what he thought were similar drives in each other, but once Shanks lost his arm and his hat, he realized Shanks was never fighting for something he wanted. And it broke him a little; it broke their relationship—one of the only relationships Shanks chose for himself, with nothing to do with his mission.
And Buggy—he gave up his brother, was forced to leave him alone, and couldn’t say anything, couldn’t tell him the truth, couldn’t destroy his dream. And he couldn’t even be selfish enough to make him stay. Like, oh my God, the drama.)
Doomed yaoi aside, the only thing and person I think that messed up his perfectly made plans is Luffy.
Sweet baby Luffy wasn’t so sweet before the Red Force arrived. In the manga, it is mentioned that he was an angry, bitter child, lashing out almost like Ace to a degree. But Shanks, by just being kind, by being good, and by reaching out and teasing this little ball of anger, transforms him, saves him in a way. He gives him a drive, a dream, and a morality to live by. He gives him everything he never got—everything stripped from him. Shanks turns him into the type of person a special kind of Devil Fruit might call out to and get eaten by.
Nika chose Luffy because Shanks saved him by just being good and kind, giving this kid something beyond his anger and bitterness. Shanks gave Luffy the idea of freedom, and in return, he allowed Shanks’s perfectly clear mission to shatter. I think this Shanks makes the first real decision in his life: he goes, "Fuck, well, we’re backing this horse now," and Luffy becomes his child—not his captain's, but his future to bet on and help grow.
And I fucking love that. Luffy saves him just as he saved Luffy, in a way. And that’s his kid, his successor, more than it ever was for Roger. I will die on this hill. (If you want, you can even look at it as Shanks finally choosing a dream all his own and it’s Luffy.)
Will Oda see it this way? Probably not. He has a habit of brushing off stuff like this; I think he’ll make Shanks’s character into a noble man dedicated to stopping the World Government and not even think about the implications of tying all that to him at such a young age. But I do think Shanks expects to die when Luffy comes to fight; I think he wants to, just how Mihawk wants to die from Zoro’s blades. Because what is there beyond this? (And again, parallels!)
And I believe he will live! (Not Mihawk—he's gonna die.) Shanks will live, and symbolically, Luffy will free him from this self-imposed duty, this promise made by a child. Shanks will have made, even unwittingly, the thing that would free him, allowing him to move forward in a world where all the purposes he needs to find are his own.
And holy shit, that’s a lot for him, but then Blackbeard will happen, and he’ll die only having known freedom for a short while. Luffy will cry and create a new dawn, and it won’t be for nothing—except it will be for everything to Shanks.
In conclusion, Shanks doesn’t have a dream of his own. He never had a dream; if he did, it was squashed out of him in order to fulfill a promise set by his father, Gol D. Roger.
He loses his brother, loses his control over his destiny, and as his father sets such things into motion, Ace, Roger’s child, will become the new Joy Boy.
He makes a connection with someone outside of that mission and purpose, and in doing so, creates the opportunity for his own freedom and his own choice in Luffy.
Later down the line, Nika/Luffy will eventually free him in the same way he created his own freedom back then, giving him a new choice going forward. They will free him from the mission that was placed on his shoulders as a thirteen-year-old child, and afterwards, he will consequently be killed by Blackbeard, and everything will be horrible, and we will all cry. The end.
I hope everyone enjoyed this thesis on Shanks. Feel free to use it and steal it to your hearts content. I would love to write more if anyone has any questions or things they want to ask; I will be opening up my ask box for questions. I would love to go into more detail on his relationship with Luffy, his rivalry with Blackbeard, and how that ties into all of this, as well as his relationship with Mihawk (fuck man the parallels!!) or maybe Buggy. (Which I have less on it’s just really tragic.)
it stands out to me how the two zoldyck children that are considered ‘unlikeable’ both in and out of verse are the ones that were born before killua..
it makes me wonder if the two of them went through especially harsh training due to their failure to be born as the heir, bad enough that it led them to react so much more negatively personality wise than the other kids.
like everything considered, killua and kalluto, even alluka, are all significantly more socially adjusted than illumi and milluki.
with killua, even though he too was treated cruelly, both his parents and grandfather clearly express affection for him. in addition, kikyo expresses affection for kalluto, and killua cares for alluka. illumi and milluki don’t seem to receive any type of affection from anyone in their family - this even extends to the butlers’.
i would guess that as young children, illumi and milluki experienced such awful treatment that it messed them up enormously, and then the neglect they experienced following killuas birth only worsened this effect. the two of them effectively served as test subjects for what should be done to the heir once he is born.
this could then connect to illumis extreme attachment to killua- he’s convinced himself killua loves him, because if killua doesn’t, nobody does.
illumi and milluki also have very few outside influences, even as adults. milluki outright refuses to leave the house and illumi goes out frequently but seems to have no interest in interacting with others (aside from sex criminal murder clown) so they’re both very entrenched in the toxicity of their home lives.
but i think the biggest factor to this is that the youngest three are currently going through crucial stages in their development whereas illumi and milluki are no longer children. your values and beliefs come from your formative experiences and for the younger ones they are still in that period whereas illumi and milluki have already had their foundation built and it’s a bad one. don’t get me wrong, they’re both still very young and it’s entirely possible to change as an adult, but it’s hard to let go of the core beliefs you’ve had since childhood. especially when those beliefs such as “human lives are not valuable” and “violence and cruelty are a means to an end”, are confirmed (beaten into you) again and again
Mike sheds his summer coat all at once but he still loses a lot of fluff, Illumi uses so many lint rollers it's insane.
Killua and the gang buy random phone numbers on Craigslist to bully Illumi and whenever he gets these texts, he kicks his feet like a little girl.
Silva told all the other Zoldycks not to buy Killua a birthday present so he could seem like the best dad ever and comfort his son when the rest of the family “forgot”
Kikyo is a flat earther.
Hisoka finds Illumi’s hair everywhere in his apartment.
Hisoka is actually a natural ginger but he covers up his freckles with texture surprise and dyes his hair.
Milluki hates Killua because in his eyes his brother took everything from Illumi (he did but it wasn't his fault) and he knows Illumi won't hate him so he feels like he has to do it for him.
Milluki is always worried about Illumi because well... He's Illumi.
Milluki and Illumi flip each other off if they pass by each other in the hallway.
Chrollo spams Illumi with texts equivalent to “Quit your job, join my emo band”
Whenever Illumi returns from an especially long mission, Kikyo picks him up when she hugs him.
Zeno gave up his role as head to Silva on the condition he got a say in what happened to Killua, he doesn't care about any of the other kids and won't do anything about Silva being a terrible human being as long as it doesn't affect Killua.
Illumi talks about his siblings so much (Especially Killua but that was implied) that sometimes Hisoka feels like he’s dating a single mom.
Illumi loves his mother but secretly feels that he would be a better fit as Killua’s mother despite being a man.
Zeno constantly makes fun of Silva for letting Kikyo dress their sons up as little girls and “Giving in to his woman”
Since the Zoldycks are immune to poisons, Kikyo wears dresses in authentic scheele’s green and to build up tolerance the Zoldycks would give their children toys painted with it.
When Killua was little, Illumi used to just sit on his bed and watch sleep all night; gently stroking his hair every now and then.
Kikyo is manic, she hurts her children and then cries about them being hurt while bandaging them up.
Kikyo’s mood changes rapidly, with Illumi she is jealous of him and berates him half the time and is the most supportive mother the other half.
Not really a headcanon but if Illumi can sharpen his nails like Killua, which I assume he can, I feel bad for Hisoka though he probably enjoys it.
Illumi can crack all his joints and it freaks Milluki out.
The Zoldyck siblings are mad creative with insults.
Kalluto has 3 dads and none of them are Silva (Chrollo, Phinks and Illumi)
Illumi is very nitpicky once he comes out of his shell.
Hisoka and Illumi have specialty weapons that are a lot higher quality for when they eventually fight each other.
One time Illumi was in a really good mood and got way too excited to see Mike, the giant beast had lipstick stains all over him.
Illumi tried to summon a demon because Hisoka told him he needed a hobby and he wasn’t sure what to do, Chrollo happily volunteered as the sacrifice.
Illumi enjoys embarrassing his siblings.
The phantom troupe members always ruffle Kalluto’s hair when they walk by him.
Hisoka blasts music while getting ready and Illumi smashes dishes to drown out the sound because he thinks Hisoka’s music is trashy.
Illumi has all of his siblings baby teeth in a jar on his nightstand.
One time Gon tried to make his own orange juice but he added salt instead of sugar to it and cried.
Kalluto knows fan language and uses it on Zushi who is absolutely oblivious.
Illumi organizes when he’s stressed but eventually he runs out of things to organize som he goes into Milluki’s room and cleans. Milluki used to get pissed but now he’s found out that he can pretend he did it an only gets slightly annoyed.
Kalluto and Illumi have a long standing game where Kalluto will try to land a hit on Illumi as he goes about his day to day, he’s only be successful four times and usually ends up getting held upside down by his feet.
Hisoka actually has a lot more aura than it seems, he just uses a lot of it on bungee gum to keep his ridiculous outfits in the right places.
Illumi throws pins around his room when he’s bored but it drives Milluki nuts because they share a wall.
it stands out to me how the two zoldyck children that are considered ‘unlikeable’ both in and out of verse are the ones that were born before killua..
it makes me wonder if the two of them went through especially harsh training due to their failure to be born as the heir, bad enough that it led them to react so much more negatively personality wise than the other kids.
like everything considered, killua and kalluto, even alluka, are all significantly more socially adjusted than illumi and milluki.
with killua, even though he too was treated cruelly, both his parents and grandfather clearly express affection for him. in addition, kikyo expresses affection for kalluto, and killua cares for alluka. illumi and milluki don’t seem to receive any type of affection from anyone in their family - this even extends to the butlers’.
i would guess that as young children, illumi and milluki experienced such awful treatment that it messed them up enormously, and then the neglect they experienced following killuas birth only worsened this effect. the two of them effectively served as test subjects for what should be done to the heir once he is born.
this could then connect to illumis extreme attachment to killua- he’s convinced himself killua loves him, because if killua doesn’t, nobody does.
if this is mentioned at some point in the part of naruto i havent seen yet ignore this- but cant hinata and neji see kakashis face through his mask with their byakugan?
i can imagine naruto asking hinata to describe kakashi and her having a breakdown bc she’s taking to him leading naruto to think there’s something so wrong with kakashis face it’s making her lose it
I can't think of any other character with one exactly like his. While many other shonen mcs have friends/people they like who have done bad things, no other character is really like gon in the way that their entire determination of whether an individual is good or bad is based on their own opinion of their character.
Firstly, he befriends Killua despite his background as an assassin, who, in his own words, has killed hundreds/thousands of innocent or unsuspecting people. In Yorknew --Zepile says this outright, how Gon isn't particularly concerned with what is right or wrong-- Gon condemns and despises Chrollo and denies Nobunaga the right to mourn uvogin's death, only to mourn pakunoda's. Shortly after, his respect for Razor doesn't falter in the slightest after being told that he's an ex-con(and neither did Ging's).
Later, Pitou is the scum of the earth to him while he is willing to befriend defected squadron leaders who have killed/told others to kill hundreds of civilians.
I think it stems back to his relationship with Ging, since his opinion of him is really the first instance we see of this skewed moral compass. He never once sees Ging as a bad person, never hates or blames him for staying away, even after he's told outright that Ging intends to avoid him. If Gon chose to build his view of morality around the bad actions one has objectively committed, his life would've been significantly worse than it is. I think this is what he built his view around, that who a person is to him is what matters most, and him thinking very highly of a person can override any negative actions they may have committed otherwise.
it makes me wonder though if he would've thought differently of certain people if he'd met them in different contexts- like if pitou hadn't killed kite, and their first interaction was him seeing them heal komugi, would he still have hated them solely due to their involvement with the (basically)genocide in East Gorteau?
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