Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1126.One of the benefits ofOne Piecebeing in its final saga is thatShankshas been appearing far more frequently. Not only was he one of the main characters ofOne Piece Film: Red, but he’s now consistently been appearing in the manga. With the increase in Shanks’ prominence,there has also been a better insight into what sort of person he is, and surprisingly,One Piecechapter #1126 shows thatShanks is a much darker figure than he had previously been made out to be,
Shanks' behavior can be described as cruel as he’s seen relishing in torturing psychologically the poor Bartolomeo, who, while surely guilty of picking a fight with the Red Hair Pirates, is still merely a blip on an Emperor’s radar. It would be presumptuous to call Shanks a villain, but he’s far from being a straightforward hero, and that might make his character more interesting as a result.
One Piece Chapter #1126 Shows Just How Dark Shanks Truly Is
Shanks Is Far More Complicated Than People Think
One Piecechapter #1126 finally picked up the plot thread of Shanks going after Bartolomeo when the latter started burning down his flags, and after beating up him and his crew, Shanks gave Bartolomeo a choice:be killed by him, or poison Luffy within a month. Bartolomeo took a third option and drank the poison himself. While it turned out that the poison was fake, the Barto Club Pirates were still shot down by Yasoppwhen they attempted to leave, and it’s currently unknown if they’re dead or alive.
It’s clear that Shanks was testing Bartolomeo’s loyalty and resolve with the fake poison, but it was stilla very twisted mind game, and he still possibly killed a group that had already given up fighting against him. Taking all that into account,One Piecechapter #1126 makes it clear that Shanks isn’t anywhere near as virtuous as the story and fans often make him out to be. Granted, he’s still likely to be on Luffy’s side until the end of the series, but it’s clear that he’s a character with much more gray morality than one might have expected.
Shanks’ Treatment Of His Enemies Shows Why He’s An Emperor
One Piece Chapter #1126 Completely Changes The Context Of Kid’s Defeat
Something else of note about Shanks’ cruel treatment of the Barto Club is that it completely recontextualizesShanks' crushing defeat of the Kid Pirates. Originally, it could have been assumed that Shanks only went as far as he did because Kid was going to kill his allies, but with how similarly he dealt with the Barto Club despite them doing far less,Shanks probably would have destroyed the Kid Pirates even without the pretense of protecting his allies. That idea retroactively makes Shanks’ actions even darker, and it further adds to the idea of him not being a straightforward hero.
As cruel as Shanks’ most recent actions might be, all of them work to perfectly illustrate why Shanks is one ofthe Four Emperors. Even if Shanks is a good person at heart, being an Emperor means he can’t afford to do anything that makes him look weak, and that includes going easy on people who encroach on his territory like Kid and Bartolomeo did.It would have been more out of character for Shanks to go easy on Kid and Bartolomeoand still call himself an Emperor, so it makes perfect sense that things progressed the way they did.
Shanks’ actions are also an excellent callback to one of his most defining moments from the beginning of the series. In the very first chapter ofOne Piece, Shanks established both thatpirates shouldn’t be afraid to kill their opponentsand that threatening his friends was unforgivable. In that respect, Shanks’ ruthlessness is just an extension of what was established about his character since the very beginning ofOne Piece. The only difference is that it’s now being framed in a harsher and more serious light.
Shanks Being A Darker Character Makes Him Much More Interesting
Above all else, Shanks being a darker character can serve to make him much more interesting. Shanks being a straightforward heroic figure could easily work to make him boring to watch, but being depicted as a more gray figure inOne Piececan give him more depth and allow for a wider variety of stories for his character, something that works especially well for the final saga.
It should be remembered that, at the end of the day, fans know almost nothing about Shanks, his past, and his motivations. Even ifShanksisn’t necessarily a hero, there’s still plenty to look forward to with his future actions inOne Piece.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
