This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.
One Piece is currently in the Final Saga, which Oda himself has hyped up to be the most exciting part of the story, overall. Ever since One Piece began, Oda has been itching to draw the Final Saga of the story, and all the other exciting battles that come with it. Finally, after a decades-long wait, Oda has the opportunity to illustrate and explain all that he has kept as a secret away from the fans, as well as focus on some of the most important characters in the story that he had been saving for the longest time.
It's Time To Welcome Luffy's Final Gear In One Piece
Luffy's Gear 5 isn't his final power-up, and more is coming in One Piece.
When One Piece was in its very early stages, Oda clearly stated to the fans that when a certain red-haired man starts appearing frequently in the manga, then fans can assume that One Piece is in the Final Saga. In other words, Shanks was always going to be deeply involved in the Final Saga of the series. Oda himself believes Shanks to be an extremely important character, even going as far as to label him the Child of Destiny. But if all that isn't enough, Goro Taniguchi, with whom Oda shared the ending of One Piece, openly mentioned that Shanks is as important to One Piece as Luffy himself, which makes him, in a way, the second protagonist of the series, specifically in the Final Saga of One Piece.
Shanks Is As Important To One Piece As The Protagonist Luffy
Goro Taniguchi Confirms His Importance To The Plot
- Oda has a special role for Red Haired Shanks
- Shanks is the Child of Destiny
Shanks being as important to One Piece as Luffy might seem absurd at first, but it makes sense the more one thinks about it. Shanks is the man who was responsible for setting out Luffy on the path to becoming the Pirate King. He was Luffy's idol, and still is. Without Shanks, Luffy's journey wouldn't exist. But there's more to Shanks than just being the trigger for the story.
When Shanks appears frequently in the story, you can assume that the story is in the Final Saga. — Oda
It's Time To Admit One Piece's Marineford Arc Will Be Beaten By The Upcoming Arc
Marineford is big, but it will be nothing compared to this upcoming One Piece arc.
Shanks is the man who stole the Gomu Gomu no Mi from the World Government and the person who was looking for the next Nika. Shanks is also the same person who was biding his time in the Great Pirate Era until Nika showed up. Clearly, Shanks is deeply tied to the liberation of the One Piece world and breaking it free from the clutches of Imu and the World Government.
But, there's more to it than just that. The current God Valley Incident flashback clearly highlights what Shanks truly means to One Piece. Shanks was born on the same Island that was the homeland of the Davy Clan, the group of people fated to oppose the World Government. Shanks was also born as the son of Garling Figarland, a Celestial Dragon, yet could've also had Davy blood. Additionally, Shanks, just like Blackbeard, was saved by a twist of fate on the island of destiny. Shanks ended up becoming the Child of Destiny, and whatever happens to the One Piece world will be greatly affected by the path that Shanks takes in the future.
Remember, you're the Child of Destiny. — Scopper Gaban to Shanks
Each One Piece Arc Has Its Own Deuteragonist
Oda Switches Deuteragonist Based on Arcs
In the grand scheme of things, Shanks is a major protagonist of the Final Saga of One Piece, even bigger than most Straw Hat Pirates, aside from Luffy. This shouldn't be confused with being the Deuteragonist of an arc. That is something that Oda changes with every arc. One Piece doesn't have a set deuteragonist, and each arc has its own. But, for the Final Saga of One Piece, if there's one character who comes close to Luffy in importance, it's only Shanks, and it's one character that fans should watch out for.
One Piece Chapter 1163 will be out this week. 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 October 26. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1163 is October 26, 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
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
