Shanks' scar may be from Blackbeard, but not the persona One Piece fans know so far

Modified Jun 08, 2024 16:30 GMT

Blackbeard is one of the final antagonists of One Piece and also one of the most mysterious pirates on the Grand Line. Despite being introduced before the timeskip, fans know hardly anything about the pirate, other than his history as a Whitebeard Pirate.

Another one of the biggest mysteries is how Shanks got the scar on his face from Blackbeard, despite the former being one of the strongest characters in the series. But a more interesting question in this case would be, was it Blackbeard who gave Shanks his scar?

The concept of dual personalities has already existed in the series, with characters like Cavendish, but the popular theory of Blackbeard possessing more than one heart supports the concept of him having multiple personalities, one of which could be behind scarring Shanks' face, as the pirate himself is not that strong or strong-willed.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

One Piece: Exploring the persona that gave Shanks the scar on his face

The meeting between Whitebeard and Shanks (Image via Toei Animation)

In One Piece episode 316, Shanks visited an Emperor of the Sea, Edward Newgate, more commonly known as Whitebeard. The reason behind this visit was for the Emperor to stop one of his commanders, Portgas D Ace, to avoid visiting Marshall D Teech, more commonly referred to as Blackbeard, a former Whitebeard Pirate.

Blackbeard killed a fellow pirate to steal a devil fruit he wanted for a while, the Dark-Dark devil fruit. As Teech was under Ace's leadership in the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace took it upon himself to punish Blackbeard for this betrayal.

Shanks' scar as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

While Shanks' comments hurt Whitebeard, the meet-up was also a revelation of something that made Blackbeard a behemoth if he wasn't one already. Shanks revealed that there was a wound that still throbs and it was the one that he received on his face, delivered by none other than Blackbeard.

Blackbeard's personality is that of a coward who tries to use cheeky attempts to win battles. Considering how he scarred one of the strongest characters in the series, there could be more to him other than his cowardliness.

The Straw Hat Pirates after meeting Blackbeard (Image via Shueisha)

Blackbeard's first appearance in the series was during the Jaya arc. He met the Straw Hats after Bellamy and his group beat them. After witnessing Teech, Zoro and Luffy termed him as "they." During the Paramount arc, Blackbeard stole Whitebeard's devil fruit and became the first person to wield two devil fruits.

Coming back to the concept of 'dual personalities,' Cavendish is the captain of the Beautiful Pirate who has a condition where a new personality awakens inside him after he sleeps. This personality is called Hakuba and grants him unbelievable speed.

Similar to Cavendish, Blackbeard could also have another personality that is stronger than his real self. This personality could also be the one that scarred Shanks after the latter defeated the real Blackbeard. This also shows that the persona who scarred Shanks may differ from the one who met Monkey D. Luffy in Jaya.

Final thoughts

There is a theory of Blackbeard possessing three hearts, which is one of the most popular fan theories of One Piece. It wouldn't be surprising for one of these three personalities to be the one that scarred Shanks.

With one of his personalities being that of a coward and one being that of a strong-willed person, this brings to question what could the third personality be. But as this is all based on speculations, take this with a huge grain of salt.

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Edited by Pradyot Hegde