This article contains spoilers for the One Piece manga.

Summary

Luffy is Close to Becoming Pirate King, Only Missing One Major Key
Shanks Might Be Closer to Obtaining One Piece Than Luffy
Blackbeard is Also Close to Achieving Pirate King Status

For almost 30 years now, fans have been patiently awaiting the moment Luffy finally accomplishes his goal — to become the Pirate King.

One Piece_ Two More Straw Hats Are Getting Conqueror's Haki, And Oda Has Already Confirmed It (1)

One Piece: Luffy Is The Main Character, But 1 Straw Hat Might Be Just as Important

This Straw Hat pirate might be just as important as Luffy in One Piece.

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By Rei Penber

Now, into the final saga, Luffy is closer than ever to Laugh Tale, and with it, the One Piece. While he’s close, he is still missing one major key to accomplishing this goal. However, another character might already have it, and could beat him to his goal.

Luffy is Getting Closer Every Day To His Goal Of Becoming the Pirate King

Luffy is the protagonist of the One Piece series, and one goal he has worked consistently towards since the beginning of the story is becoming the Pirate King.

To become the Pirate King, one has to conquer the Grand Line and arrive at the last island, Laugh Tale. There, whoever arrives will find the One Piece, a legendary treasure about which much remains unknown. To reach that island and the One Piece, one needs the four Road Poneglyphs scattered in the world. The previous Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, achieved just that with his crew, the Roger Pirates.

“I will become King of the Pirates!” — Monkey D. Luffy

At the moment, Luffy and the Straw Hats are technically pretty close to their goal. They have three of the four Road Poneglyphs in their possession — the one from Big Mom, the one from Kaido, and the one from Zou. They have yet to get the last one, however, the one in possession of the mysterious Man with the Burn Scar.

While Luffy and the crew are close, there is one man who is doing better than them at the moment.

Shanks Might Be Closer To Obtaining The One Piece

Shanks is The Next Roger
Blackbeard Isn’t Far Behind Either

The man who’s the closest to becoming the Pirate King is actually none other than Shanks, the only Yonko still standing from the previous generation.

While fans don’t know exactly how many Road Poneglyphs Shanks has, he, at the very least, has the same three as Luffy. He even possibly has the fourth one, and if that’s the case, he could in theory go after the One Piece whenever he wants.

After all, a popular theory among fans is that the Man with the Burn Scar is Scopper Gaban, someone who Shanks is very close to and grew up with during his time on the Roger Pirates crew.

The only reason Shanks never became the Pirate King is because he didn’t want to, not because he couldn’t.

Of course, Blackbeard is also close, but not quite as much. Blackbeard should, in theory, also have three poneglyphs after defeating Trafalgar Law who was present in both Zou and Wano. He just needs the last one, like Luffy.

Where to Read One Piece?

Available to Read On Manga Plus

The One Piece manga is on break. The next One Piece chapter, One Piece Chapter 1152 will be out in two weeks. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on June 25. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1152 is June 25, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.

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Release Date: October 20, 1999
Network: Fuji TV
Directors: Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou