Shanks is one of the most popular One Piece characters who, despite not having done much in the story so far, is loved by all the fans. Shanks made his first appearance in the very first chapter of the story as a pirate captain who made Foosha Village in the East Blue his base for a year. It is there that Shanks met Luffy and, eventually, went on to entrust his Straw Hat to him.
Shanks posed a challenge to Luffy, wanting him to surpass him and his pirate crew and then, eventually, return the Straw Hat to him. He is primarily responsible for Luffy setting out on the path to becoming the Pirate King and, as such, fans, just like Luffy, love him quite a lot. Now that One Piece has entered its final saga, Shanks is about to be more relevant than ever before, and in front of him stands Eustass Kid, who has challenged him to a duel in the New World.
Shanks Over The Years
Shanks has always been very important to One Piece and, one could argue that he is the most important side character, given that he set Luffy out on the path to becoming the Pirate King. After that, however, Shanks did not play a major role in the story at all. Fans did see glimpses of him every now and then, however, he never had full focus thrown on his character. Shanks mostly reacted to Luffy's rapid rise in infamy and, other than that, he only played the role of a mediator. He was involved in the events shortly before the Paramount War when he met Whitebeard and attempted to get him to stop Ace from pursuing Blackbeard.
Shanks then went on to stop the war of Marineford, however, by this point, Ace and Whitebeard had already died. That said, Shanks was so well respected that even the Marines stopped at his command, despite him being a pirate. In the New World, after the timeskip, Shanks hasn't played a big role until now. During the Reverie, fans saw him somehow enter Mariejois and, there, he called a meeting with the Five Elders, which was surprising for all the fans alike. Despite them being the highest power in the world after Imu, Shanks was able to call a meeting with them and discuss things about a certain pirate. Evidently, he has played very little role in the story so far, however, after the war of Wano concluded, everything changed.
Shanks Vs. Kid
Following the conclusion of the war of Wano, Shanks was seen outside the seas of the country and it is there that he claimed that he's going for the One Piece now. Finally, Shanks has entered the great game himself and it is time for him to take the main focus in the story. The Four Emperors saga saw the fall of Big Mom and Kaido. Now, a new era has begun with Luffy, Shanks, Buggy, and Blackbeard as the new generation of the Yonko. The war for the One Piece has well and truly begun and Shanks is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, people in the world right now. After his small confrontation with Green Bull, Shanks was seen recently in the land of Elbaf.
Fans know this country to be the land of the Giants and, as many had predicted, this land falls under the protection of Red-Haired Shanks. In One Piece 1076, fans saw Shanks meet up with old friends, Dorry and Broggy, who already made their debut during the Little Garden arc. It was revealed soon after that Eustass Kid, one of the members of the Worst Generation had arrived on Elbaf and started attacking the allies of the Red Hair Pirates. As such, it signaled time for Shanks to make a move and indulge in his very first proper fight in the story. Shanks versus Kid is about to happen and fans are desperate to see this fight pan out.
What This Fight Means For Shanks
It must be remembered that Shanks is a character who has never had a proper fight in One Piece. He is a character that Oda has hyped up time and again and is also someone who is a fan favorite. In fact, he is not just a favorite of the fans but also Oda himself. As such, expectations are high from his character and whatever display he is about to put in the upcoming chapters is going to be very heavily scrutinized by the fans. That said, Oda will most likely deliver as Shanks will definitely not lose the very first battle that he takes part in in the entire story. Given that he has decided to go for the One Piece, things don't look too well for Kid at the moment.
While Kid is not a pushover, and his 3 billion berri bounty shows that, he is not someone capable of defeating an Emperor such as Shanks right now. In Wano, he needed the help of Trafalgar Law to subdue Yonko Big Mom. Right now, he has no help. What's even more dangerous for Eustass Kid is the fact that Shanks has his entire crew, along with the help of Dorry and Broggy, to take on the Kid Pirates. To counter that, the Kid Pirates only have Kid capable of fighting the likes of the Red Hair Pirates, along with Killer. Other than those two, none of them are even remotely deemed worthy to put up a fight against the Red Hair crew. As such, it is highly likely for Kid to lose this battle. This will then go on to parallel the fight between Trafalgar Law and Blackbeard. Shanks and Blackbeard are going to be two major players in the Final Saga and both of them are going to dispose of the members of the Worst Generation.