Shanks

Red-Haired Shanks (赤髪のシャンクス, Akagami no Shankusu) is the pirate who inspired Luffy to go on his journey and is the Captain of the Red-Haired Pirates. He is also one of the Yonkou. However even though Shanks is one of the major figures for One Piece he has only been shown in 5 appearances in the whole One Piece story so far, including flashback stories and present.

Appearance
Shanks always wears a long black cape over his shoulders and, until he met Luffy, wore a straw hat that he had worn for many years beforehand. He always wears trousers that are cut below the knee as well as a pair of sandals and is unshaven with a short beard. The most striking thing about Shanks is the color of his red hair, of which his nick-name 'Red Haired Shanks' comes from. He also has three scars across his left eye, which were revealed to have been given to him by Blackbeard, and saving Luffy from a sea king he had lost his left arm. He usually carries a sabre on his right hip.

At the start of One Piece, Shanks bore much more similarity to Luffy. As Oda's style changed, Shanks began to become more distinct. The shape of his eyes are drawn much sharper. His nose has become more redefined, similar to how Nico Robin's nose is heavily defined from other character's in the series. His trademark red hair is also slightly longer with his fringe pushed more toward the sides.

Personality
Shanks is one of the most laid back characters in the world of One Piece, preferring to take his time as he and his crew travels around the world rather than rushing from one place to another. Shanks isn't cruel like many other pirate captains, nor does he rule over his crew with fear to gain respect. His friendly nature means he won't purposely seek to harm others, and he is able to make serious characters like Mihawk join in with his fun. Yet despite how simple minded he appears at first, Shanks is a complex person with some rather difficult to understand views. For example, he believes if two people share very different views, its better they go their seperate ways.

Shanks doesn't seem to mind what happens to himself. He'll take others throwing food and drink or spitting on him without even fighting back, laughing with his crew at his own misfortunes. Even losing an arm did not bother him much. However he would never forgive anyone for attacking a friend. Shanks and his crew are almost always seen partying and drinking alcoholic beverages whenever they make an appearance, as the captain's favorite pastimes are attending and hosting parties and banquets. According to Oda, Shanks is the one character that resembles himself the most out of all the One Piece characters, because of his fun-loving partying nature and cheerful personality. He also is against the idea of needless bloodshed, even if honour is involved and so far seems to only step up for a fight when a friend is in danger.

He also likes teasing people, as demonstrated by his apparent reactions to Luffy as a child. Oda also stated that if a child asked Shanks for a Devil Fruit he'd tease them about being 10 years too young to eat one. Shanks himself was like Luffy (as a child) in his younger years.

Despite being calm and brave most of the time, he has displayed a side of him that likes to panic when things go wrong.

Crew
While only a few of Shanks' crew have been named, he seems to generally get along with them all and they look up to him with respect as their captain. Shanks looks out for the well-being of the entire crew, from refusing to take a child (Luffy) on board his ship to denying Rockstar permission to take on Whitebeard's men who had insulted Rockstar's honor.

Of the Jolly Roger Pirates, most relationships between Shanks and the other crewmates remain unknown. However, it has been shown through flashbacks that he would fight with Buggy over just about anything. The Marines themselves described their relationship as a 'brotherly bond' and Whitebeard himself had noted the pair were always together. Shanks appears to still consider Buggy as a friend. He also still refers to Rayleigh as "Master" Rayleigh.

Friends
Listen up...you can pour drinks on me, you can throw food at me...you can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off. But...good reason or not...nobody hurts a friend of mine!!!!

-Shanks' warning to Higuma on hurting Luffy.

Luffy looks up to Shanks as his role model, childhood hero and the man he wants to eventually surpass. At first, Shanks never took Luffy seriously as he was just a boy so mocked his dreams to become a pirate, dubbing him "Anchor". Later after Luffy stood up for him in front of Higuma and his men, as they were leaving when Luffy declared he would be better than him Shanks begins to treat him seriously.

In the manga Ben Beckman tells Shanks that Luffy is going to make something of himself. Shanks confirms this by saying that Luffy reminds him of himself when he was Luffy's age. Just as Luffy is currently looking for Shanks, Shanks eagerly awaits the day he meets up with Luffy. Shanks also sees Luffy as the future for piracy and was delighted at his coming so much he threw a party to celebrate even though he was already suffering from a hangover over being drunk previously. Meanwhile Garp blames Shanks for poisoning Luffy's mind with ideas about being a pirate when he wanted Luffy to become a Marine.

Enemies
The World Government view Shanks as a problem and a trouble maker, but realizes he is a man who won't try to change the world by himself. However due to the position he holds, they fear he could get out of hand and are prepared to eliminate him if he ever does.

So far, outside of the World Government, the only one who appears to oppose Shanks is Buggy the Clown. Ironically, in their youth Buggy accused Shanks of being too naive and innocent to ever make it as a pirate and yet presently Shanks is a great pirate while Buggy and his crew are quite weak in comparison. As his rivals, the other Yonkou are enemies.

Abilities and Powers
Little is known about what Shanks can do. According to Buggy as a young man, he was a strong fighter and had it not been for his ideals, he (Buggy) would have wanted him on his crew. What is also known is that, as a member of the four Emperor Pirates in the second half of the Grand Line, his power is equal to that of Whitebeard and that losing an arm did not weaken him in any way. He appears to be an excellent swimmer as well, having reach the young Luffy in time out in the middle of the sea before the Sea King could devour him.

Haki
While Shanks has yet to display the full extent of his combat abilities, it is heavily implied that he's one of the strongest characters in the series. After saving Luffy from a Sea King, Shanks was able to frighten it off with a single angry glare using Haki. Later, while boarding Whitebeard's ship for their meeting, half of Whitebeard's crew lapses into unconsciousness and the ship itself begins taking damage from Shanks' mere presence. Whitebeard's men attribute this to his superior "Haki." Also, when Shanks and Whitebeard clash with their weapons, the sky above them split, hinting the incredible power of the Yonkou.

Weapons
So far in the series, Shanks has only been seen wielding a sword in combat. While his use of it was only briefly shown, the fact that he was able to match a blow from Whitebeard is a clear indication of the strength he puts behind his attacks. Before losing his arm to rescue Luffy, Mihawk would often seek him out for duels. Since Mihawk is classified as the world's greatest swordsman, and Shanks is a former rival of his, it can be assumed that Shanks is an extremely proficient swordsman. It's also possible that his sword is one of the greatest swords and that he is close in skill as a swordsman to Mihawk.

The Apprentice Pirate
While Shanks was introduced during Chapter 1 of the manga and episode 4 of the anime, his story actually begins much earlier.

Shanks comes from the West Blue and in his past, he was a cabin boy aboard a ship alongside another would-be pirate, Buggy the Clown. They were members of Gol D. Roger's crew and took part in many things such as fighting with Whitebeard. Although their joining date was unknown, the two spent most of their time together arguing over meaningless things, such as which pole was colder, the North or the South. Their constant bickering was met with annoyance by crew's first mate, Silvers Rayleigh.

Shanks would remain forever at odds with Buggy, after they raided a ship where they found a treasure map and a Devil Fruit. After hearing about how much he could sell them for, Buggy switched the fruit with a fake and ate the fake in front of the entire crew. Due to this action, he could successfully sell the real fruit without anyone noticing. However, when Buggy retreated to a lifeboat with the fruit and the treasure map, Shanks surprised him twice--the first time causing Buggy to hide the fruit in his mouth, and the other causing him to swallow it. Buggy also dropped the treasure map into the ocean, so in desperation, he jumped into the water to get it, only to start drowning. He was rescued by Shanks, but since then Buggy blamed him for ruining his plot to become rich.

Twenty-six years before the storyline starting date, Roger had contracted a fatal illness and made one last voyage with his crew into the Grand Line to conquer it. A year before he died, he disbanded the Jolly Roger Pirates. Shanks and Buggy were last seen together at Loguetown on the day of Roger's death. Shanks immediately began his quest to form his own crew by offering a place to Buggy. Buggy refused and the two separated. They have not seen each other since., However, Shanks has heard rumors that Buggy is still a pirate.

The Rise of Captain Red-Hair
At some point in his life (date unknown), he met Blackbeard who was then a member of Whitebeard's crew. What happened is unknown, however Blackbeard left Shanks with the 3 scars across his left eye. Shanks also fought often with Mihawk and their battles were said to echo through the whole of the Grand Line.

As his strength as a pirate Captain rose, he and three other pirates were named the Yonkou, including Whitebeard and Kaidou.

Shanks and the Boy Luffy
Years later, after becoming the captain of his own pirate ship, Shanks arrived on an island where he met a strange young boy named Monkey D. Luffy. Intrigued by the boy and enjoying the atmosphere of Luffy's village, he decided to make the island his crew's base for a short period of time (which turned into a year).



Luffy quickly grew attached to the crew, so much so that he wished to join their ranks and become a pirate as well. Shanks refused to allow the boy into his crew on the basis that he was too young. One day, a group of bandits, led by Higuma, came into a bar where they were drinking. Higuma demanded sake, but Shanks and his crew had just finished all but one bottle. When Shanks offered the last bottle, Higuma smashed it over him. When Shanks refused to fight back, Higuma took the liberty of smashing the food the captain was eating over him. In anger Luffy shouted at Shanks for not standing up to him, it was then to the captain's horror he found out Luffy had eaten a Devil Fruit they'd stolen off an enemy ship.

Soon afterwards, Shanks went back out to sea, Higuma returned in his absence. After Luffy stood up to Higuma for insulting his role-model, Luffy got caught up in a hostage situation and his captives were defeated by the Red-Haired Pirates. Shanks considered a friend to be something worth fighting over, but the bandit leader Higuma had fled out to sea with Luffy, only for the two to be attacked by a Sea King. Higuma was eaten, but Shanks mangaged to save Luffy. However the incident cost Shanks his left arm. Shortly after, Shanks set sail along with his crew, but before leaving, he and Luffy promised each other that one day Luffy would surpass Shanks and become the Pirate King and then Shanks left Luffy his straw hat as a parting gift, telling him to return it once he surpassed him.

Shanks returned to the Grand Line, eventually arriving on the Sabaody Archipelago and meeting Rayleigh again. He told Rayleigh about Luffy. He also met Ace, since the latter had promised Luffy that he would find and thank him for saving his little brother.

News of Luffy Arrives
After leaving Luffy's home town, we next see Shanks and his crew 10 years later after the main storyline begins. They are seen relaxing on an island after drinking heavily. Then much to the terror of a few of Shanks' weaker crew members, Juracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk pays Shanks a visit, bringing news that delights the red-haired pirate: Luffy has gained a bounty of 30,000,000.

Message to Whitebeard
Currently, Shanks and his crew are sailing the Grand Line, but while they are aware of Luffy's rise to fame, they have not yet encountered the younger pirate or his crew. Shanks had an interest in Portgas D. Ace and Blackbeard, and had sent Rockstar to deliver a note to Whitebeard concerning this matter. After Whitebeard refused to take the note, Shanks set out to visit Whitebeard in person.

The World Government considered drastic measures such as elimination if he caused trouble. However Shanks declared he would fight anyone who got in his way. As he traveled to see Whitebeard, a fleet of Marine ships tried to stop him, but his crew forced their way through.

But he is not a man who would try to upset the world himself. We will observe him without taking rash actions!

- A member of the Gorousei on how they should deal with Shanks.

Meeting Whitebeard
After the two Yonkou meet, Shanks and Whitebeard discuss the past. Whitebeard talks about how far Shanks has come since he was on Roger's crew as a mere cabin boy. Shanks reveals he was at Roger's death, and that rumors say Buggy is still around as a pirate.

Shanks tried to convince Whitebeard that allowing Blackbeard and Ace to meet is a bad idea. He reminds Whitebeard that it was Blackbeard who scarred his left eye and that Blackbeard is a serious threat to Whitebeard's rule on the seas. However, Whitebeard refused to accept any other alternative solution to the matter. After Whitebeard holds his grounds on the issue at hand, the talks between the two break down.

Current Events
To the horror of the Marines, reports came in that Shanks had intercepted Kaidou who was advancing to attack Whitebeard at the time as he progressed to save Ace. While the two captains had come to a stalemate, the Marines were afraid what a fight between the two may have led to.

Major Battles

 * Vs Whitebeard's crew (as an apprentice pirate, none have yet to be shown).
 * Vs Mihawk (none of his matches have ever been seen).
 * Vs Blackbeard (details unknown, yet left Shanks with his scar).
 * Vs Whitebeard (not really a fight, just a break down in talks between him and Whitebeard).
 * Vs Kaidou (yet to be seen).

Early One Piece
Shanks was first featured in the first pilot of One Piece Romance Dawn V.1 in the Shonen Jump specials showcasing upcoming artists, about a year and a half before One Piece began. Much of his storyline remained the same with the major difference being that Higuma the Bear was absent from the story in this version. Another minor difference was that his arm was bitten off by a shark instead of a Sea King. Shanks himself is described as Peace Maine type of pirate.

In the second pilot Romance Dawn V.2 of One Piece (featured in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine itself), Luffy got both his hat and the Devil fruit he ate from his grandfather, not Shanks. According to Oda the reason for not featuring Shanks was that he wanted Shanks to be kept a secret until One Piece was serialized so he would have a greater impact.

Unlike Luffy, there was no real significant change in appearance from Romance Dawn V.1 to the final version. Even with change of art style, aside from being drawn less realistic, he is the same, the only real exception being the absence of his black cloak, although he did adorn a decorative short cape over his left shoulder at the end of the chapter.

Anime and Manga Differences
In the manga, when Shanks is floating in the sea holding Luffy after loosing his arm, blood can be seen dripping from his missing arm. In the anime, this blood is missing.

The initial scene where Shanks meets Mihawk was very small in the manga. The anime extended this scene greatly. In the manga, Shanks asks Mihawk if he would join them in celebrating while in the anime, Mihawk is seen joining in Shanks' fun.

Translation and Dub Issues
Shanks is mostly the centre of the removal of alcohol related alterations in the English dub by 4Kids. For example, the scene where Mihawk brought news of Luffy's coming suffered heavy cuts. Shanks still asks Mihawk to stay, but much of this scene was removed because of the alcoholic references, including references to him throwing a party to celebrate Luffy's coming. Thus Shanks' fun-loving nature was lost and instead it depicted him with an evil tone. Also, the scene was cut from its original episode and added at the end of a much earlier episode.

In the process many other scenes from the original episode were also cut from the 4Kids version and never shown, such as the scene showing Kaya and Luffy's hometown.

He also speaks with a cockney accent in the English 4Kids dub.

In the book The Anime Encyclopedia - A guide to Japanese animation since 1917(2001), there was a short article about One Piece. In it there were 2 mistakes concerning Shanks; his name is written as "Junx" and he was written to have been saved by Luffy instead of the other way round. Of all these errors, the name "Junx" would remain in several revisited editions of the book.

Cameos and Crossovers

 * Shanks has appeared in the game Jump Ultimate Stars for the DS.

Merchandise
He was issued alongside Luffy and Lord of the Coast in a One Piece Block Figures set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones. He has featured in One Piece Gashapon sets. Another Gashapon set he featured in was the One Piece Full Color R Gashapon series. There was also a Plushie released for him. He was also featured in the Portrait of Pirates series.

A note with many of the products produced featuring Shanks is that quite of few of them have a second arm hidden beneath his cloak (sometimes blackened out).

Songs

 * Katayoku no Taka
 * Talking Blues

Trivia

 * Higuma's brag about having a bounty can be seen as a joke, considering that Shanks is a Yonkou and one of the most wanted men in the world, whereas Higuma's bounty was just [[Image:Bsymbol10.gif]]8,000,000, one of the lowest seen in the series.
 * Another thing that can be considered a joke is that Buggy didn't think that Shanks had what it takes to be a pirate, but currently Shanks is one of the most powerful pirates on the planet, while Buggy is a weak pirate with a bounty of only [[Image:Bsymbol10.gif]]15,000,000.
 * In one of the SBS sections of One Piece, in reference to Shanks and Buggy's 'which is colder' question, a fan asked Oda who got it right. He went on to explain that the Arctic was just a mass of ice and the Antarctic was a continent, which was made of land. Since land is colder then the sea (and the Arctic is frozen sea whereas the Antarctic is frozen land), Shanks was correct and the South Pole is colder. However, it is not the coldest place in the world. 
 * Oda has been asked at least once on Shanks' bounty, but has not stated the amount yet.
 * Even though he has traveled the world, Shanks believes the best sake can be found in his hometown in the West Blue. He also refers to Alcohol to Whitebeard as "Healing Water".
 * Shanks is one of the characters in One Piece with a unique laugh, starting it with a "Da" (i.e. Dahahahahaha!).
 * Shanks' nickname for Luffy as a child ("anchor") is partly ironic as a "Shank" is part of a ship's anchor.
 * Both Shanks and Saga from the (non-canon) fifth movie lost an arm to save a friend at sea, Luffy and Zoro respectively. And both are still proficient swordsmen despite their handicap. Only instead of dismemberment, Saga's was merely disabled. Also, while Saga lost his right arm, Shanks lost his left.
 * Shanks starred in the Mugiwara Theatre - Mugiwara High School written and drawn by Oda. The strip was done after he claimed first place in a poll for characters fans wanted to see appear in the Mugiwara Theatre series. During the JUMP Festa 2008, Shanks' voice actor was absent for the One Piece stage show where all the One Piece voice actors put on a act together. During this, the Mugiwara High School was acted out. In Shūichi Ikeda's place, Oda himself went on stage with a chalkboard while wearing a hot pink wig and introduced himself as "Shanks".
 * Shanks shares the same birthday as Franky (March 9).