Shanks' recent moves in One Piece were triggered by Joy Boy's return, not by Kaido and Big Mom's defeats

Modified Jul 10, 2024 10:08 GMT

One of the most enigmatic yet enthralling characters in author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s original best-selling One Piece manga series is “Red-Haired” Shanks. The current Yonko and captain of the Red Hair Pirates has been present in the series’ story from the beginning, but has generally done little in the manga’s 1100+ chapters when compared to other characters.

This likewise has spawned many agendas regarding Shanks within the greater One Piece community. One of the most commonly argued is that Shanks waited to make his move on the series’ titular treasure until his biggest foes, Big Mom and Kaido, were dealt with.

However, there’s substantial evidence that this isn’t the case, and that their shared demise just so happened to coincide with what Shanks was truly waiting for to make his move.

Joy Boy’s awakening in One Piece is what prompted Shanks to make his move, not Kaido’s and Big Mom’s losses

The Oden flashback forms the basis of Shanks' motivations for recent moves in One Piece (Image via Toei Animation)

One of the most foundational pieces of this theory stems from the Kozuki Oden flashback in One Piece’s Wano arc, which also focused on former Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Here, it’s heavily implied that the titular treasure is only meant to be found after Joy Boy’s return. This is done via Roger claiming he and his crew “were just too early,” and that he “wonder[s] who will find it.”

It’s also worth mentioning that while Shanks didn’t make the trip to Laugh Tale with Roger and the rest of the crew, he is said to have had a long talk with Roger after they got back. This talk also ended with Shanks crying, possibly suggesting that he was told the full truth, including the fact that they were too early and that Joy Boy was the one who must find the treasure.

This knowledge of the One Piece would then, in turn, explain why Shanks stole the so-called Gum-Gum Fruit, true name, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, from the World Government. The World Government knew this Fruit’s true name, and knew it was the key to Joy Boy’s return.

With this in mind, it’s implied Shanks also knew this information via learning the tales of Joy Boy and Sun God Nika from Roger, and targeted the Fruit likewise.

Shanks specifically seeking out the Gum-Gum Fruit further supports the idea (Image via Toei Animation)

This also explains why Shanks truly wasn’t upset in any meaningful way about Luffy eating the so-called Gum-Gum Fruit in Windmill Village. At this point, Shanks realized Luffy was the person destined to claim the series’ titular treasure as the return of Joy Boy, allowing him to change the fate of the world.

It can be argued in this context that Shanks’ words to Koby after he saved Luffy during the Marineford arc are also indicative of his knowledge of these matters.

While admittedly weak evidence in and of itself, it’s the fact that Shanks’ move was specifically timed with the return of Joy Boy which ties it all together. It also explains why he was so patient and made no meaningful moves in the series beyond his presence at Marineford up to this point. Although he had been ready to claim the One Piece for quite some time, he needed to wait until Luffy fully awakened as the next Joy Boy.

Also read: One Piece chapter 1120 spoilers

This would also explain why Shanks was in the waters surrounding Wano in the weeks after the Onigashima Raid’s conclusion. He had likely heard of these developments and wanted to see if Luffy had truly awakened for himself. Furthermore, just like how Luffy sensed a familiarity in Shanks’ Conqueror’s Haki blast at Admiral Ryokugyu, it’s possible Shanks used his Observation Haki to sense a difference in Luffy following recent events.

This is all speculative as of this article’s writing, even if there is a substantial argument when all the evidence is put together with the timing of Shanks’ moves. Thankfully, with the series on the verge of ending the first arc in its Final Saga, fans can expect to learn the full truth behind Shanks’ timing at some point in the (relatively) near future.