Recent arcs inOne Piecehave slowly transformed Shanks into one of its most enigmatic characters, by far. While it doesn’t appear that he’s working with the World Government, as many people suspected, between being the son of a Celestial Dragon and his having gone to Mary Geoise for an unknown reason, it’s clear that there’s still a lot about him the audience has yet to be made privy to.
Shanks’ past remains one ofOne Piece’s biggest mysteries, but that’s finally set to change as of chapter #1152. Chapter #1152 begins another flashback story, with it now being known that Shanks was on Elbaph the day Loki allegedly killed King Harald, and in a surprise twist,one small detail inOne Piecechapter #1152 gives a major hint about Shanks and Imu’s true power. Everything that can be drawn from it is largely speculative at the moment, but with how big this could be, it’s still more than worth going over.
One Piece All But Says The Truth About Shanks’ Past
What One Piece Just Revealed About Shanks' Past
RecentOne Piecechapters revealed that Shanks spent some time on Mary Geoise before returning to the lower world, and while it’s unclear what he did there, chapter #1152 might finally have an answer. In a flashback to when Shanks still had his left arm, it’s shown that Shanks used to have a tattoo that, upon closer inspection, bears a clear resemblance to the insignia ofthe Holy Knights of the World Government. That means thatShanks was a member of the Holy Knights at one point, although it’s clear that he had left by the time of the flashback.
There might be even more to that mark than the uniformity, of course. The Holy Knights all possess nigh-immortality and powerful regeneration abilities and the ability to teleport large distances through something called the Abyss, all of which are shared by the Five Elders, meaning thatShanks once had all the vaguely magical abilities of the Holy Knights and the Five Elders. Shanks likely had to give them all up when he rejected the Holy Knights, but it still says a lot about how Shanks could have been even stronger than he already is.
One Piece’s Latest Twist Emphasizes How Terrifying Imu’s Power Is
Imu Continues To Be One Piece’s Biggest Threat
Whilethe true nature of Imu’s powersremains a massive mystery, what is clear is that they have the power to possess the Holy Knights and act through them, the key to it likely being the mark of the Abyss that serves as their insignia. Furthermore, judging by how Saturn couldn’t do anything to stop Imu from killing him, that connection isn’t something that can simply be ignored, so the fact that Shanks still had his mark after leaving Mary Geoise means thatShanks was still susceptible to Imu’s control until he lost his arm.
All of that, of course, ties into the biggest theories about Imu’s identity. The key traits that Imu is defined by are their need for control at the expense of other people’s autonomy, and fans have also noted how much that plays into the devil imagery they’ve been associated with recently. Assuming that the insignia of the Holy Knights truly is the Abyss mark, that would mean thatthe mark Shanks and the Holy Knights possessed was the literal mark of the devil inOne Piece, and it makes everything tied to it all the more horrifying to think about.
If anything, though, all of these reveals and hypotheticals only serve to benefit Shanks’ character. Not only did he reject Imu’s power to continue Roger’s ideal, but even losing his arm can now be seen as him deciding to fully cut ties with his past and put his faith in Luffy, so overall,Shanks’ rejection of Imu’s power perfectly emphasizes how much of a heroic figure Shanks is. The Elbaph arc continues to be doing wonders for Shanks’ character, and it will be great to see what elseOne Piecehas in store for him in future chapters.
