This article contains spoilers for One Piece's Elbaf Arc.
One Piece finally entering its final saga over two years ago always meant great things for the character of Red Haired Shanks. Fans know very well that Shanks is crucial to the overall plot of One Piece, and even Oda has highlighted him as a character of immense importance, with his role comparable to that of Luffy himself.
One Piece: Oda Reveals A Legendary Pirate From The Void Century Even Stronger Than Rocks
Rocks D. Xebec is a powerful figure in the One Piece world, but not stronger than this legendary pirate from the Void Century.
Since the Final Saga of One Piece began, fans have found out a good deal of information about Shanks, and even though the vast majority of it remains uncovered still, Oda has revealed some interesting bits, such as why Shanks ended up giving his left arm to protect Luffy right at the beginning of the story. For those who look into the finer details, Oda has also hinted at the existence of an ancestor of Shanks who lived long ago, during the Void Century. This individual was also incredibly overpowered, just like Shanks himself.
Shanks Is From The Figarland Family in One Piece
- Shanks Is Shamrock's Twin Brother
- The Figarland Family Is One Of The Founding 20
The very first thing that fans need to keep in mind when it comes to Redhaired Shanks is that he is from the Figarland family. Shanks was long believed to be of Celestial Dragon lineage by the fans. While Film Red gave the fans a very good hint by directly correlating him to the Figarland family, the fact is that fans had theorized long before Film Red that Shanks was born into a noble lineage.
Akagami's daughter? Does she belong to the Figarland Family as well? — Five Elders
That ended up being true, and it has now been confirmed that Shanks is actually the younger twin brother of Saint Shamrock Figarland, and the son of Saint Garling Figarland. The Figarland Family itself is very influential in the Holy Land of Marijoa. The fact that they've been at the helm of the Holy Knights for a long time, and that Garling, in particular, was Imu's first pick for Saturn's replacement means that they're mighty powerful. In fact, Oda even teased their tremendous strength recently in a Q&A:
Garling is strong. There’s a *reason* behind his strength. — Eiichiro Oda
Oda Drew A Red-Haired Main Character Before One Piece Began
Oda's Character Could Be Shanks's Ancestor
Interestingly enough, when it comes to Shanks, one thing that's particularly associated with him is powerful Haki. But, more often than not, Haki is a quality that Marines rarely excel in, likely due to it being tied to spirit, and in the case of Conqueror's Haki, kingly ambition. Yet, Shanks excels at it. It must mean that this family is very skilled with the art of using Haki.
One Piece: Blackbeard's Third Devil Fruit Has Already Been Revealed By Oda
Blackbeard will get a third Devil Fruit, and he might steal it from a powerful One Piece character.
In fact, Shanks's ancestors might actually be very powerful pirates. To make sense of that, one needs to go back to Oda's very first drawing of his characters who would later go on to feature in One Piece. Oda drew three characters, one boy who looked like Luffy, a Red-haired man with an eye patch, and a girl with brown hair.
The Figarland Family Could've Betrayed Joy Boy
The red-haired man, in particular, likely went on to become the prototype for Shanks, and this character might actually be the ancestor of Shanks. Fans might brush him off as an irrelevant character, but Oda has already incorporated Ryuma from Monsters One Shot into his story.
Recently, Oda also revealed that another character from his one-shot, WANTED, named Gill Buster, is actually now incorporated into One Piece as well, and he is a member of the Rocks Pirates. This red-haired man with an eye patch could very well be the first Figarland, and possibly a pirate who later went on to side with the World Government, just as Lily sided with Joy Boy.
One Piece Chapter 1158 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 August 31. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1158 is August 31, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- 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
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
