One Piece: Does Shiki's appearance in Wano have a purpose?

The record-breaking manga One Piece follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who sets sail dreaming of living the greatest adventure ever. However, many years before the current story and the start of the Great Piracy Era, there were already some who were hailed as legends of the seas, key among them being "Golden Lion" Shiki, an ambitious pirate who aimed to conquer the world.

Shiki started his pirate career as a member of the Rocks Pirates. He later became the captain of his own crew, the Golden Lion Pirates, and challenged Roger, but during the Battle of Edd War he and his fleet were completely wiped out by a sudden storm. After Roger's death, Shiki attacked Marineford, where he was defeated and subdued by Garp and Sengoku.

While Shiki didn't stand a chance against the combined might of the two Marine legends, the battle between them was still fierce enough to destroy half of Marineford. Once defeated, he was imprisoned in Impel Down. He eventually managed to escape, becoming the first prisoner to obtain such an achievement.

For these feats, Shiki is considered a living legend of the One Piece world, which is why, when fans spotted his face in the latest episode of the anime, they were left wondering what this might mean.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1058 and reflects the writer's personal views.

---

Did One Piece episode 965 hint at a connection between Shiki and Wano?

An interesting scene from episode 965 of the One Piece anime caught the attention of fans, when in a completely unexpected turn of events, Shiki's face appeared in front of Wano's future illegitimate shogun, Orochi Kurozumi.

In fact, it wasn't Shiki himself, but Higurashi Kurozumi who took the former's appearance using the powers of the Clone-Clone Fruit, which granted her the ability to perfectly replicate other people's aspects.

The Clone-Clone Fruit allows the user to turn into a physical double of anyone they have touched, meaning that to imitate Shiki's looks, it's logical to suppose that Higurashi has met him sometime in the past. Judging from the fake Shiki's youthful appearance, it can be assumed they met a long time before that moment, which was set up 41 years preceeding the current events of the One Piece series.

For this to happen, it can be assumed that either Shiki went to Wano when he was young or Higurashi was part of the Rocks pirates - the crew that the "Golden Lion" was a member of. A popular theory is that Shiki is a Kurozumi just like Higurashi and Semimaru. While the two stayed in Wano to find the clan heir, who will later be revealed in Orochi, he went to sea to find someone strong enough to help them seek revenge against the Kozuki.

According to this theory, Higurashi touched Shiki before he went out to sea, so that she would be sure to be recognized by the person Shiki found, once this person was to arrive in Wano. A possible evidence to back up this theory is the fact that the person who "welcomed" Kaido when the latter arrived in Wano was none other than the old lady Higurashi.

Supporters of this theory also believe that Shiki is the last remaining living Kurozumi, which is why he might reappear later on in the story.

Other widely shared theories among One Piece fans assume that Higurashi has been part of the Rocks Pirates, or that the old Kurozumis were affiliated with Rocks. What's for certain is that her interactions with Kaido and her involvement with Orochi raised a lot of doubts.

While Higurashi Kurozumi's connection with Rocks seems to be a widespread theory, some fans also believe she and Semimaru know about Pluton, the Ancient Weapon, being in Wano. Having orchestrated Kaido's arrival in Wano, Orochi's rise and the elimination of Oden, Higurashi proved herself to be an adept strategist with incredible knowledge of the world.

After escaping from Impel Down, Shiki's whereabouts are currently unknown. It's possible that he was involved in some plot regarding Wano. One eye-catching element is the fact that Shiki is one of the very few One Piece characters outside Wano to have a Japanese-style outfit.

After witnessing episode 965 of the One Piece anime, fans speculated if that detail was Eiichiro Oda's subtle way of hinting at something.

---

Final thoughts

The recent One Piece episode, which showed Higurashi Kurozumi using his power to replicate Shiki's looks, has generated a lot of curiosity in the One Piece fandom, as fans were left wondering about the possible reasons behind this sudden appearance.

Despite Shiki being a canon character, he got most of his screentime from an anime-only movie, One Piece: Strong World, which was set up during the pre-time skip half of the story.

Given that Shiki was one of the main players of the Old Era, fans held this character in a high regard. Hopefully, more about him will be revealed once the story focuses on the Rocks Pirates - the crew where he started his career.