A new manga reveal concerning Red-Haired Shankswill have major ramifications forOne Pieceseason 2 after casting suspicion over Luffy’s pirate mentor. Played by Peter Gadiot,Shanks debuted inOne Piece’s live-action adaptationin much the same way as Eiichiro Oda’s original manga series. Shanks' ship temporarily docked at Windmill Village, Shanks befriended the local pirate wannabe known as Monkey D. Luffy, then Shanks follows Luffy’s piracy career with great interest after the youngster sets off on his own voyage some years later.
At this early juncture, Shanks' portrayal is nothing but positive - a powerful but kind, somewhat careless, pirate with a strong moral compass, and a great role model for Luffy as a captain. Nevertheless, Shanks has a lot to answer for. It was because of the Red Hair Pirates thatLuffy accidentally ate the Gum Gum devil fruitleft lying around by the crew. Over the decades,One Piecehas dropped hints that Shanks' motives may not be as innocent as they appear, but a late 2024 revelation completely changes the audience’s perception of the character ahead ofOne Pieceseason 2.
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Previously, the biggest Red Hair red flag came inOne Piecechapter 907, released back in 2018.Shanks, wearing a cloak with a hood, strolled into the chamber of the Five Elders, the highest authority inOne Piece’s world, and asked to discuss a “certain pirate.” With Shanks being one of the foremost pirates on the seas and the Five Elders presiding over the Marines, these two parties should be mortal enemies, but the brief scene strongly implied a close familiarity between Shanks and the villainous rulers ofOne Piece’s universe.
The genuine Shanks is the pirate who befriended Luffy, while his lookalike is operating at a high level above the World Government.
Oda’s final installment of 2024,One Piecechapter 1134, finally sheds some light on Shanks' clandestine connection to the Five Elders by hinting at the existence of a Shanks doppelgänger. The chapter’s final panels depict a figure identical to Shanks arriving at the island of Elbaph. Just like the Five Elders scene,“Shanks” is wearing a hooded cloak and is only shown from an angle that hides where the real Shanks' eye scar would be.
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Since no more information has been provided, it remains vaguely plausible that this dark double is the real Red-Haired Shanks. Far more likely, however,Shanks has some kind of twin or clone. The genuine Shanks is the pirate who befriended Luffy, while his lookalike is operating at a high level above the World Government, servingOne Piece’s villains.
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Even if Shanks himself is a morally upstanding character, the reveal of an identical copycat casts suspicion over his part in theOne Piecestory. For starters,the actions of Shanks' doppelgänger could have been misinterpreted as the actions of original recipe Shanks, either by mistake or because the double sought to deliberately sow confusion. Furthermore, Shanks having a twin who rubs shoulders with the highest authority inOne Piece’s government could signal Shanks' own links to the upper echelons of power. Red Hair may be far more than just a simple pirate making his way in the world.
The twin-Shanks twist could be a clue that young Luffy eating the devil fruit wasn’t the accidental mishap it appeared to be.
ForNetflix’s live-action anime adaptationspecifically,One Pieceseason 1 becomes a very different watch after reading chapter 1134. Reexamining the episodes, it feels unlikely that an impostor could be pretending to be the Red Hair pirates' captain in any scenes he’s involved in. Shanks' crew would surely notice the difference, and there’s no reason the cloaked Shanks would pose as his counterpart in Windmill Village or when discussing Luffy with Dracule Mihawk.
Alas, the suspicion isn’t lifted completely. Shanks letting young Luffy munch the Gum Gum fruit was, at best, a rookie error. The oversight looks even more grave when considering thatLuffy’s Gum Gum fruitis secretly the mythical Nika devil fruit, feared by the Five Elders for its legacy and power.
The truth of Luffy’s devil fruit is revealed inOne Piecechapter 1044.
One Piece’s evil Shanks has no apparent motive to actually trick Luffy into eating the Nika fruit, butperhaps Shanks was only carrying this dangerous devil fruit because of his doppelgänger. Shanks may have beaten his twin to the punch by swiping the Nika fruit, then retreated to hide in the remote Windmill Village where Luffy fatefully decided to eat it for lunch. Heading deeper downOne Piece’s rabbit hole, the twin-Shanks twist could be a clue that young Luffy eating the devil fruit wasn’t the accidental mishap it appeared to be.
If Shanks knew his brother/clone/cosplayer was chasing down the Nika fruit, the best way to hide it would have been inside a host. Said host would need to be off the Five Elders' radar, but also someone Shanks could trust not to abuse the fruit’s power. Luffy fits that bill perfectly, sowhile Shanks acted shocked and worried when Luffy started stretching in Netflix’sOne Pieceseason 1, he may have planned the whole thing, shifting Peter Gadiot’s character into more ethically ambiguous territory.
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Red-Haired Shanks is unlikely to play a major role inOne Pieceseason 2, as the character is absent during the manga chapters Netflix’s next batch of episodes will adapt. Having said that,One Piecefaces the same issue with characters such as Garp and Coby, yetGarp actor Vincent Regan has confirmed his presence in season 2, so the live-action series is evidently willing to bend canon to accommodate existing members of theOne Piececast. Shanks could, therefore, appear in a limited capacity when the Straw Hats sail back onto Netflix.
With knowledge of future events from the manga,One Pieceseason 2 finds itself in the fortunate position of being able to subtly foreshadow the existence of a duplicate Shanks. This could be as simple as a character mentioning they saw Shanks somewhere he couldn’t possibly be, or acting in a way that sounds out of character to Luffy.One Piececould even be bolder and actually show Peter Gadiot’s Shanks behaving strangely, echoing the manga by filming his right side to obscure where the scar should be.
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Another possibility forOne Pieceseason 2 would be bringing forward a key moment from further ahead in the manga. InOne Piecechapter 434, Shanks met with fellow pirate emperor Whitebeard, who curiously remarked that seeing Shanks' face caused “the scar I got from him” to ache. In hindsight, this could have been a reference to Shanks' doppelgänger. Technically, this scene should come afterOne Pieceseason 4 in the live-action show’s chronology, but because Shanks and Whitebeard’s meeting is relatively self-contained, it’s a moment that could slot easily enough into season 2.
One Piece
One Piece follows young pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his diverse crew as they embark on a daring quest for treasure. Released in 2023, the film brings the adventurous world of the popular manga to life, capturing Luffy’s relentless pursuit of the legendary One Piece treasure.
