Shanks

"Red-Haired" Shanks,[9] commonly known as just "Red Hair",[12] is the chief[5] of the Red Hair Pirates[2] and one of the Four Emperors that rule over the New World.[3] Having sailed with the legendary Roger Pirates since he was an infant, Shanks would begin his pirate career on their ship as an apprentice alongside Buggy, before forming his own crew following Roger's death.[4] Twelve years ago, while operating in the East Blue, Shanks inspired the young village boy, Monkey D. Luffy to go on his own pirate journey,[13] thus being responsible for the boy becoming the notorious outlaw he is today. He accidentally provided Luffy with the Gomu Gomu no Mi to eat,[14] and even sacrificed his left arm to save the boy from being eaten by the Lord of the Coast out at sea. Most notably, he also owned the straw hat that once belonged to Gol D. Roger himself and has become Luffy's signature accessory, having gifted it to the boy as part of a promise for them to meet again someday. Ever since the beginning of the series, Shanks has been an important background character, usually being shown accompanying Luffy's ever-growing reputation as a pirate. He is a late, but still vital ally during both the Marineford and Wano Country Arcs. He and his crew also have a sizable role in One Piece Film: Red, which centers on Uta, Shanks' adoptive daughter.Shanks is a tall, muscular man with a tan complexion. Among the original lineup of the Four Emperors, he stood out as the smallest, most normal-sized human by far, the others being inhumanly proportioned to varying degrees. True to his epithet, Shanks has distinctly red hair, usually depicted across media as a deep crimson. Worthy of note is that, uniquely among all characters seen so far, even ones with a comparable hair tone, Shanks' hair is the sole one filled with grayscale in the black-and-white manga (instead of inked black or left white). Shanks' first-seen hairstyle was a straight, middle-parted one kept loosely down to nape length, with shorter (at eye level), curtained bangs in the front.[5] In later appearances (at ten years older), he is shown with slightly longer hair, wavier, and more slicked back than before, except for some few strands he lets fall down the sides of his face, pushed farther sideward than said prior bangs.[15][16][17][18] On his face resides a secondary trademark: a triple set of parallel, linear scars that pass vertically, at an angle over his left (untouched) eye, revealed to have been given to him by Blackbeard some unknown time before the start of the series.[19] Additionally, Shanks' left arm is missing from below the deltoid, as a result of him saving Luffy from a Sea King when the future Straw Hat captain was just a child.[20] As did his hair, Shanks' face changes as the manga's art style progresses: initially, it appeared more youthful, with a soft jawline tapering down to a small, pointy chin. Its features were similarly milder than later depictions and, save for his small nose, also larger, most so his plain black eyes, topped by thin brows.[5] Later appearances show him more markedly countenanced, with the square of his jaw, the sharper, narrower pair of eyes, and the chiseled, more prominently bridged nose lending him a manlier appearance.[15][16][18] More consistently stays his facial hair, however, as he has always kept it in a neatly thin connection of beard and mustache stubble, forming the beginnings of a circle beard. Clothes-wise, Shanks used to wear a certain straw hat obtained from Gol D. Roger (his former captain)[21] that was synonymous with his image[22] until he passed it on to Luffy.[23] Otherwise, Shanks' outfit always includes a sweeping long, sleeveless, high-collared cape of black color (in the anime bearing a lighter, gray inside) and beneath a simple, white shirt half-buttoned up, exposing the middle of his chest and upper abs. Additionally, Shanks is always wearing pants cut below the knee, collected halfway up the shin. Initially, the pair was a slightly loose, plain brown one with golden buttons down the outer leg sides, and a red sash around his waist to keep his shirt tucked inside.[5] Later on, Shanks is wearing a different, mildly baggier pair of pants with a green-yellow, indiscernible floral pattern (now revealing plenty of leg hair), and his shirt is left out of his sash, which is now shown holding his saber at his right side. Finally, his footwear consists of simple brown sandals, their soles gray studded.[15][16][18] After the timeskip, he is at some point wearing different pants yet again, light-colored with a rose pattern.[24] From 9 to 14 years old, Shanks was already used to wearing Roger's straw hat and had a similar, longish hairstyle in the middle part as his present one. His clothes were simple, including white, either plain or pinstriped shirts, occasionally a buckled shoulder belt of brown leather, an orange waist sash holding a green-hilted saber reminiscent of Gryphon, and simple (red or blue) shorts.Shanks is an extremely laid-back man, preferring to take his time by traveling around the world with his crew while enjoying himself as opposed to rushing from one place to another.[32] This was already the case in his youth, where he was portrayed as playful and innocent in contrast to the grumpy and opportunistic Buggy, his fellow apprentice. However, Shanks still suffered from occasional bouts of immaturity, starting trivial arguments with Buggy solely out of stubbornness. In many ways, Shanks was very similar to Luffy (as a child) in his younger years.[33] Shanks and his crew are almost always partying and drinking alcoholic beverages, as the captain's favorite pastimes are attending and hosting parties and banquets.[34] He is even able to waver the resolve of prominent figures, such as Dracule Mihawk to join in with his fun, as a testament to his strong charisma.[2] Shanks is endlessly fond of parties and will start them for all sorts of occasions (regardless of whether he had already partied beforehand), as he did when he finally met Luffy's brother, Portgas D. Ace. Shanks is also quite the jokester and has a penchant for teasing others. “ Listen up… You can pour drinks on me, you can throw food at me… You can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off. But… Good reason or not… Nobody hurts a friend of mine. ” Despite his outward simplicity, Shanks has a rather complex moral code. His aversion to conflict has led him to believe that if personal opinions conflict, no matter how close the individuals may be, it is better for them to part ways.[35] It is indicative that Shanks prefers others to see him as someone who cares little about his own well-being, preferring to laugh off even dire situations as opposed to taking direct conflict.[36] His carefree nature ends, however, when those under his leadership or protection are threatened, which extends to those he views as friends.[37] As one of the Four Emperors, Shanks acknowledges that he too has a reputation to maintain and will hunt after those that dare cause trouble on his territories, regardless of his own personal thoughts on the troublemakers. This was best exemplified by his handling of the Barto Club at Gartel Island, as while he showed fondness for Bartolomeo and his devotion to Luffy, Shanks still had the crew shot down at sea for burning down his flag, since, as an Emperor with many people relying on his name for protection, he could not risk being perceived as weak by the Marines or rival pirates. As noted by the Five Elders, Shanks is a pacifist by nature who does not actively seek to cause chaos and disorder. He is also against the idea of needless bloodshed, even if honor is involved, and so far he seems to only step up for a fight when a friend is in danger.[38][37] He seems to admire those who display extreme bravery for the sake of humanitarian reasons, having protected and commended Koby for gathering his courage to stop the Summit War of Marineford in front of the ruthless Marine Admiral Akainu, as the young Marine believed that it was pointless to continue fighting and treating the wounded should be prioritized.[39] While Shanks seems to always favor peaceful solutions, he will stand up and fight if the enemy leaves him no choice or if he wants to avoid further destruction to places he cares about.[40] Unlike some of his fellow Emperors, Shanks is not arrogant and is fully capable of acknowledging the threat his enemies can pose. In his talk with Whitebeard, Shanks admitted the scar he got from Blackbeard was not because of a mistake on his part, but proof of Blackbeard's power at the time. This allowed Shanks to understand Blackbeard had been biding his time onboard Whitebeard's ship to build up his power until he was ready to make his move. Despite his own immense strength, he does not underestimate his opponents, using Future Vision before fighting Eustass Kid and quickly assaulting him when he saw Kid's attack. When he decides that he needs to fight, he is ruthless, having the Victoria Punk destroyed and seemingly wiping out the Kid Pirates.[41] This aspect makes Shanks harder to defeat compared to other Emperors such as Kaidou, Big Mom, and Blackbeard; he will not give his opponent any openings or play around with them. Instead, he will properly crush them. Shanks also has skills in diplomacy, which, coupled with his status as one of the Four Emperors, means that his words usually carry enormous weight for those aware of his reputation. He brokered a ceasefire between the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government because he knew that joining the fight himself would have tipped it against the Marines. Shanks managed to convince Sengoku, the then Marine Fleet Admiral, to agree with his proposition, even though Sengoku has a strong hatred for pirates. Despite being calm and brave most of the time, Shanks is sometimes surprisingly careless, acting and reacting in ways that are not always fitting to what others expect from him, a trait noted by Buggy to be "endlessly annoying". Those include panicking when things go wrong[43] or shrugging off Buggy's angry disposition towards him to greet him in a friendly manner.[44] That said, Shanks can be surprisingly serious and mature while dealing with certain topics, which runs opposite to his normal, fun-loving persona. It has been noted that he has problems relaxing while in enemy territory, causing his Supreme King Haki to burst out of his control, even though, outwardly, Shanks appears fine.[45] Like many of his rival pirates, Shanks has an interest in obtaining the One Piece, stating his intention to start battling for it after the downfalls of two of his fellow Emperors, Kaidou and Big Mom. Additionally, Shanks is also aware that he needs the Road Poneglyphs to achieve this goal and therefore does not shy away from fighting for the copies himself.[40] Having traveled around the world, Shanks believes the best sake can be found in his hometown in the West Blue, indicating a nostalgic streak.[46] During his encounter with Whitebeard, he referred to alcohol as "healing water".[16] Like other characters in One Piece, Shanks has his own unique laugh, starting it with a "Da" (i.e., Dahahahahaha!).[47]Shanks is the adoptive father of Uta and she formerly served in his crew as a musician. She had a lot of respect for him as a great pirate and joined him in their adventures, taking care of the ship while they were off. He is shown to care a lot for her and her ambitions to be a singer, as he left her with Gordon to fully develop her singing abilities. Afterwards, he would take the blame for Elegia's destruction in order to prevent Uta from feeling guilt. Shanks sees Uta as an unmistakable part of his family as his daughter, going as far as to face two admirals to protect her.[11]