Shanks

Red-Haired Shanks is the one who inspired Luffy to go on his journey and is the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates.

Appearence
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. The most striking thing about Shanks is the colour of his red hair, of which his nick-name 'Red Haired Shanks' comes from. He also has three scars across his left eye, of which the origin of have yet to be revealled, as well as having a missing left arm.

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

Statistics

 * Japanese Name: 赤髪のシャンクス
 * Romanized Name: Akagami no Shankusu
 * English Name: Red-Haired Shanks
 * Nicknames: "Red-hair"
 * Age: 27
 * Birthday: Unknown
 * Height: Unknown
 * Affiliations: Red-Haired Pirates
 * Japanese VA: Shūichi Ikeda
 * English VA: Tom Souhrada
 * First Appearence: Manga Chapter #1, Anime Episode #4
 * Last Appearence: Manga Chapter #234, Anime Episode #151 (however he has appeared in Flashbacks since).
 * Rivals: Buggy the Clown, Dracule 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk (ceased his rivalry when Shanks lost an arm).
 * Confirmed Relatives: None known.
 * Bounty: Unknown

Personality
Shanks 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. He also enjoys parties and having fun but at the same time is also serious when he has to be. 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.

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.

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. Later after Luffy stood up to the bandits and then as they were leaving 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 be big. 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.

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 still quite weak in comparison.

Shanks and his crew are almost always seen partying and drinking alcoholic beverages whenever they make an appearance, as the captain's favourite 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.

Abilities and Powers
Little is known about what Shanks is able to do. It is said that Shanks' sword fighting skills were once a match for the world's strongest swordsman, Mihawk. It also is said that the two men would often spar with each other. When Shanks lost his left arm which was also his good arm, Mihawk stopped seeking him out for duels.

Past Story
While Shanks was introduced during Chapter 1 of the manga and episode 4 of the anime, his story actually begins much earlier. In his past, he was a pirate in training aboard a ship alongside another would-be pirate, Buggy the Clown. 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 the rest of the crew.

They would remain forever at odds with each other 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, but 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. The location of the treasure was close by, so in desperation, Buggy jumped into the sea 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.

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.

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 the Bear, came into a bar where they were drinking and started harrassing Shanks when they found out that he and his crew drank all of the sake, but he refused to fight back, and after they left the entire crew broke out laughing, to Luffy's anger. After Luffy stood up to Higuma the Bear for insulting his role-model, Luffy got caught up in a hostage situation and his captives were defeated by the Red-Haired Pirates, who 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.

Present Story
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, Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk pays Shanks a visit, bringing news that delights the red-haired pirate: Luffy has gained a bounty.

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 also for some reason has an interest in Portgas D. Ace and Blackbeard, and has sent a messenger to deliver a note to Whitebeard concerning this matter. Shanks is now on his way to visit Whitebeard in person.

Although Shanks spent quite some time in Luffy and Ace's hometown, there is no evidence of any relationship between Shanks and Ace yet. However, Shanks does know Ace's captain, Whitebeard, so they could know each other. What exactly he wants to discuss with Whitebeard on Ace and Blackbeard remains a mystery.

The World Government fears that Whitebeard and he are forming an alliance with each other, though whether or not they will try to prevent Shanks meeting Whitebeard is another question yet to be answered. Shanks has already declared that he is prepared to defend himself and his crew if they get in his way. The World Government may be just observing his actions for now, but they have considered drastic measures such as elimination if he causes trouble.

Major Battles
None

Trivia

 * 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 onto explain the Arctic was just a mass of ice and that the Antarctic was a continent, 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.''