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The ongoing Egghead Arc has finally allowed One Piece fans to learn more about Joy Boy, the man of whom franchise’s protagonist Monkey D. Luffy is said to be the second coming. The first person to ever sail the seas as a pirate, Joy Boy fought against the founders of the ominous World Government during the Void Century.
Some time before ultimately succumbing to his enemies, Joy Boy compressed a portion of his Conqueror’s Haki within a knot, which he gifted his friend Emet, telling the latter to use it when the time was right. During the Egghead Incident, Emet unleashed Joy Boy’s all-powerful Haoshoku to overwhelm the Five Elders.
In One Piece chapter 1123, Dorry and Brogy couldn’t help but express their admiration for Joy Boy’s outstanding potency, to the point where they declared the former’s Haki to surpass even that of “Red Hair” Shanks.
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Even if it might seem so, this is far from a dehype for Luffy's mentor and role model.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to chapter 1123.
One Piece confirmed that Joy Boy has stronger Haki than Shanks, but that doesn’t downgrade the “Red Hair”
Joy Boy, the most impressive Haki user to ever live
Out of the countless One Piece characters, only a few are born with the potential to develop and use the Color of Conqueror, also known as Haoshoku. This rare type of Haki, which can be considered as the embodiment of the user’s spirit, allows the strong to overwhelm the weak by unleashing an intimidating aura.
Even among the very few natural-born Haoshoku users, only a handful of the very strongest are powerful enough to use the advanced version of Conqueror’s Haki. By coating their bodies, weapons, and attacks with the Color of Conqueror, these individuals obtain a whole new level of might.
Kaido himself described the Haoshoku’s advanced form as a game-changing ability that grants its users an unparalleled power output, separating the best from the mere good.
Of course, Shanks is among this restricted group of elite fighters. It could not be otherwise, as the “Red Hair” is clearly portrayed as one of the strongest One Piece characters.
Furthermore, he is the very person through whom Eiichiro Oda introduced his readers to the concept of Haki. Even though it wasn’t explicitly labelled as Conqueror’s Haki, there’s no doubt that the mysterious power that Shanks used to intimidate the Sea King in One Piece chapter 1 was Haoshoku.
Based on the One Piece manga’s most recent installments, however, even the charismatic, all-powerful Shanks doesn’t compare to Joy Boy. The latter’s Haki can be preserved for centuries and, even after so much time, maintain such intensity to completely overwhelm the likes of the Five Elders.
When Emet released the Haki blast that Joy Boy had implanted into him, the power of said attack was something never seen before in the series.
It not only knocked unconscious every Marine near the island of Egghead, including several Vice Admirals, but even overpowered the Five Elders, all of which are established top tier fighters.
As absurd as it seems, the burst of Joy Boy’s Color of Conqueror literally forced the Five Elders out of their fiendish transformations. It broke the summoning that had brought Warcury, Nusjuro, and the others to Egghead, sending them back to Mary Geoise in their human forms.
Even Imu-sama, despite being far away in the Holy Land, felt the power of Joy Boy’s tremendous Haki.
Needless to say, this stands out as the most impressive Haki feat in the entire series, concurrently making Joy Boy the strongest Haki user to ever live in the One Piece world, at least to the readers’ current knowledge.
Shanks remains one of the biggest "big shots"
Upon seeing the extent of Joy Boy’s power, Dorry and Brogy noted that it surpassed even that of Shanks. However, that’s far from being a downgrade for the iconic “Red Hair”. As the One Piece world’s first pirate ever, as well as the original owner of the Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika before Luffy, Joy Boy is meant to be in a realm of his own.
Even powerhouses of the caliber of Shanks, Mihawk, and Akainu don’t measure up to such a god-like individual. In all fairness, taking into account Joy Boy’s unreal might, what Dorry and Brogy said shouldn’t come as a downgrade for Shanks. If anything, it’s the opposite.
Through their words, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda wanted to emphasize how Joy Boy is such a monster that even Shanks, an absolutely formidable fighter, seems almost ordinary in comparison. Oda considers Shanks a viable yardstick to hype Joy Boy, which only proves how the mangaka respects the “Red Hair”.
Granted, it must also be kept in mind that Dorry and Brogy are familiar with Shanks, but probably don’t have the same degree of knowledge about Mihawk, Akainu, Dragon, and the other big shots of the One Piece world. Hence, it’s safe to say that they used Shanks as a terms of comparison simply because they know him well.
If instead of Dorry and Brogy there was Zoro, he would have probably used Mihawk as the yardstick to praise Joy Boy. Likewise, if the observer was Sabo, the benchmark would have been Dragon, and so on.
That said, Shanks’ Haki prowess and overall strength are simply undeniable. Even among the mightiest Conqueror’s Haki users, the “Red Hair” is special.
A testament to this, Shanks can use his Haoshoku to suppress other people’s abilities, He can indeed prevent his opponents from using Future Sight by performing “Observation Killing”, a peculiar technique of which he is the only known user.
With his overwhelming Haki, Shanks can even force a Marine Admiral into submission. When Ryokugyu was about to attack Luffy and the others, who were still recovering from the battles of the Onigashima Raid, Shanks unleashed a burst of Conqueror’s Haki towards the Admiral, leaving him intimidated to the point where he left without even trying to fight back.
Interestingly, what Shanks did to Ryokugyu, who was seemingly paralyzed and forced to release his Wood-Wood Fruit powers, reminds of the effect of Joy Boy’s Haki on the Five Elders. Shanks is also a true master of the Advanced Conqueror’s Haki, displaying incredible proficiency with it.
Coating his sword Gryphon with Haoshoku, Shanks generated enough power to clash on par with Edward Newgate “Whitebeard”, the World’s Strongest Man. The collision between their blows wiped out the clouds, splitting the skies.
A single Conqueror’s Haki-enhanced slash was enough for Shanks to defeat Eustass Kid, a prominent Worst Generation member. With just one strike of his Divine Departure technique, Shanks slaughtered Kid, cutting through his Railgun before the latter could even finish charging his attack.
This is all the more impressive as Kid and his right-hand man Killer are very tough individuals, who could endure several blows from Big Mom. Yet, Shanks defeated them with a single strike, proving his complete superiority even over the fellow Yonko.
A lead player in One Piece's final saga
Even Whitebeard, an experienced and fearsome pirate with very high standards, held Shanks to a high esteem, praising the latter’s battles with Dracule Mihawk as legendary clashes that shook the entire Grand Line.
Powerful enough to match the World’s Strongest Swordsman and the World’s Strongest Man, as well as intimidate a Marine Admiral and utterly destroy one of the mightiest Supernovas, Shanks is a force to be reckoned with.
He is bound to play a pivotal role in One Piece’s endgame, especially as his true goal remain ambiguous.
The “Red Hair” has just revealed his intent to claim the One Piece treasure, but many fans believe that there’s more to him than meets the eye, also considering his ties with the sinister Figarland Family. What’s certain is that a sort of invisible thread spans the centuries to connect Joy Boy to Luffy, and Shanks is part of it.
An apprentice to Gol D. Roger, Shanks received the late Pirate King’s precious straw hat, which he later entrusted to Luffy, inspiring the main character to begin his adventure across the seas. That's not even considering that Shanks was in possession of the very Nika-powered Devil Fruit that Luffy ended up eating, obtaining the same abilities that Joy Boy once wielded.
Related Links
- One Piece Chapter 1123: Release Date and Time, Where to Read, and More
- One Piece chapter 1123 spoilers
- One Piece chapter 1123 raw scans
- One Piece chapter 1123 may have explained Sanji actions regarding Vegapunk
- One Piece episode 1112: Shanks vs Kid, the full fight explained
