The Final Boss of One Piece is here, and he may be significantly more red-headed than previously anticipated because Shanks just got serious. He’s going after the One-Piece, bringing him into direct conflict with our protagonist. However, it should be known that it was definitely Luffy who picked this particular fight, all the way back in Chapter 1 in fact when Luffy gives his trademark juvenile yet superbly ambitious speech: “One day I’ll have a ship and crew better than yours!’ he insisted. ‘And we’ll have the biggest hoard of treasure in the world!’
‘I’m gonna be king of the pirates!!!’
So Luffy very directly challenged Shanks, although strength is not one of the metrics Luffy cited. To Luffy, being the greatest pirate is more about who has the best friends than most treasure, and probably who throws the best parties, because that’s how Luffy understands pirates. He understands them through the scope of Shanks. It’s a very distorted view of piracy but Luffy is essentially challenging Shanks to a Shanks-off, and it really could be Luffy’s goal to attain wealth, fame and power all for the purpose of throwing the world’s greatest party, one that not even Shanks could host because it’s an exclusive ability of the pirate king. Therefore, Luffy becomes the better pirate. No punches thrown, no swords crossed. No harking, no fruit shenanigans, no nothing – just a solid, solid party! That’s Luffy’s potential motivation anyway.
Things, however, get much more murky when putting crimson Shank’s goggles on and asking the question: Why is Shanks going after the One Piece? What does he have to gain from finding the treasure? He’s never really displayed a desire other than balance and planting seeds for the future, although as a young Shanskling he did say that one day he and Buggy would go to Laugh Tale together, which is looking increasingly possible with the current make-up of the four emperors. Imagine that… all this time Shanks could have gone to Laugh Tale whenever he saw fit, but he was waiting for his best friend Buggy to catch up.
One major reason Shanks could be making a play for kinglihood is to block Blackbeard, using his red to cancel out the black and thus allow Luffy a path forward, or, in the worst-case scenario, Luffy fails and Shanks steps in to prevent Blackbeard from doing his evil Blackbeard things.
However, it could also be much more personal. When Roger returned from Laugh Tale, he said something that made Shanks cry, something that indicated this island was intrinsically linked to Shanks’ own personal journey. To be honest, at this point it doesn’t matter. The fact is that Shanks had entered the game and is now an opponent of Luffy, and a powerful one at that. He is the demonstrable front-runner for Pirate King at this point because, as threatening as Blackbeard is, he is not at the level of sheer divinity that Shanks inhabits.
In 2009, a theory was proposed that Shanks is in fact, evil. It’s such a comically sketchy idea that the internet took and cultivated it into what eventually became a semi-decent idea. An idea which reached its peak in Chapter 907 which featured the bombshell ending of Shanks meeting with the five elder stars. This was an interesting moment because you have one ‘allegedly’ good man speaking with five definitely very bad men. So the only way we can make sense of this is if we actually have six bad boys. Five elder stars and 1 red dwarf. This spawned many wild theories, like Shanks being the head of a secret cipher cell or even a world noble in disguise.
The second point is actually heavily implied in Film Red, where it is suggested that Shanks is of world-noble heritage and a descendant of the Figarland family, which was further implied by the fact that Shanks was found by Roger in a chest in God Valley as a baby. This was not in the movie, nor explained in the series, but was actually given to us in Volume 4 Billion where we saw sketches of the Shanks origin story.
Shanks being a world noble is potentially debunked by his sheer handsomeness, however, because when it comes to celestial dragons, their outward appearance tends to mirror their inward nature. Regardless, evil Shanks is considered to be more or less debunked these days, since Oda answered the question face on, replying that you will know the answer if you watch Film Red (where the intention was to portray Shanks as a good guy). So Shanks is a genuinely good man, however he is still a problem for Luffy. So how can Shanks both be the final boss whilst still remaining friendly?
Is there a way that Luffy and Shanks can compete without some sort of brutal fight? The answer is yes. They can do this through the one and only pirate tradition that we know of through the series – A Davy Back Fight.
The Davy Back Fight began long ago on Pirate Island, a pirate paradise somewhere in the ocean, which has since been named as Hachinosu, a territory currently held by Blackbeard. According to the rules of The Davy Back Fight, once you are recruited you are unable to quit the crew. So why is this relevant now? In this case, the greater point is that the Davy Back Fight is an honored pirate tradition, and what better way to prove that you’re a greater pirate than another pirate, than to beat them at a pirate game?
Remember that Luffy’s metrics for becoming a great pirate have nothing to do with strength. Luffy basically just needs to prove that his friends are better than Shanks’ friends, which could result in all kind of absurd duels and fun stuff. But instead of wagering crew members, the straw hats and the red haired pirates could wage Poneglyphs, which could be a friendly way of deciding who gets to go to Laugh Tale.
However, Blackbeard is a sinister, volatile, putrid smelling murderer, which ticks all of the piracy boxes making him the perfect pirate. And as a piracy purist, I can absolutely see him agreeing to a Davy Back Fight.
Tradition is hard-coded into his rum-soaked blood. And he also has information to wage, although Blackbeard himself may be interested in acquiring crew members such as a certain Nico Robin. The Straw Hats may also be interested in acquiring some of Blackbeard’s non-consensual crew such as Charlotte Pudding, Trafalgar Law or even Koby. As twisted as Blackbeard and his crew are, really they are not so different from the other crews. The all abide by one simple law: we work hard, we play hard. And adding Blackbeard would also bring a sense of foul play into the game that is unlikely to be sourced from the more noble straw hats or red-haired factions.
However, we are still missing the most important element of any pirate contest, which is blatant and shameless cheating, which can easily be provided by Buggy the clown, turning this into the world’s greatest Davy Back Fight including all four emperors. This is all speculation of course, but it is the most pirate solution we can think of!
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