One Piece may have revealed how one Yonko rose to power in chapter 1131

Modified Nov 09, 2024 06:30 GMT

One Piece may have revealed how one Yonko rose to power in chapter 1131 (Image via Toei Animation)

Following the manga’s long, two-week break, fans were excited to see the release week for chapter 1131 of mangaka Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece series finally arrive. Shortly thereafter, spoilers for the issue began leaking from reputable, verified sources, which made chapter 1131 out to be incredibly exciting and fairly revelatory.

However, chapter 1131 also has one subtle detail which many fans are glossing over. As Loki speaks with Luffy, he reveals that he was first imprisoned six years ago. Coincidentally, one Yonko was said to have risen to power in the title six years prior to current events as well. Chapter 957 reveals this to be none other than Shanks, and One Piece fans may finally know how he claimed the title given chapter 1131’s reference of six years.

Shanks may have claimed his Yonko title from Loki prior to Luffy’s adventures in One Piece

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One of the biggest reasons why the simple mention of Loki’s term of imprisonment serves as meaningful evidence is Oda’s penchant for avoiding giving specific dates. Generally speaking, One Piece very rarely gives viewers a concrete sense of time and date. There are some exceptions to this, such as the Montblanc Noland flashback, but how few there are emphasize how rare this is.

With this in mind, there’s almost certainly a connection between Loki having been imprisoned for six years and Shanks having been a member of the Yonko for six years. Further supporting this is the fact that Loki has a 2.6 million Beri bounty from the World Government despite having been inactive for six years. More likely than not, his bounty comes from when he was the fourth Yonko alongside Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido.

Speaking of Kaido, Loki being a similar type of Yonko would explain why all of Elbaph seemingly was united against Loki and determined to imprison him. More likely than not, Loki was actually the ruler of Elbaph, and a tyrannical, abusive one like Kaido was. This would also explain why Loki was issued a “special bounty” by the World Government; it’s special because he was a Yonko who apparently wielded a Legendary Devil Fruit.

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Further supporting this idea is the fact that One Piece has established that Yonko can directly replace those they defeat, as seen with Luffy and Kaido. While this doesn’t necessarily happen all the time given Buggy the Clown receiving Big Mom’s Yonko spot, it’s clear that it can happen as a result of one-on-one battles. This makes it even more likely that Shanks actually did defeat Loki and take his Yonko spot from him.

This could also explain why the Giants have such seemingly universal reverence for Shanks, since he’d have effectively saved Elbaph by helping the Giants to defeat Loki. This could even tie into the widespread theory that Shanks stole Luffy’s Devil Fruit from Elbaph some time ago. Despite having actually stolen it, he was able to regain Elbaph’s trust and respect via his role in imprisoning Loki.

Final thoughts

Shanks' rise to power may have been fueled by Loki's defeat (Image via Toei Animation)

While this is all still speculative and predicated on a single, concrete piece of evidence, it is a very strong argument nonetheless considering Oda’s writing style. Thankfully, fans can expect more elaboration on Loki’s origins and how he was imprisoned as the manga continues going through the Elbaph Arc and exploring who Loki really is.