One Piece: Shanks Brother’s Secret Identity Teases Shanks’ Ultimate Fate

After fueling speculations for months on end, One Piece has finally revealed Shanks’ brother Figarland Shamrock in full, and his World Noble identity could actually be a huge clue to unraveling his and Shanks’ fate and roles in the story. Shamrock’s introduction in the latest chapter of One Piece finally realizes a plot twist that Eiichiro Oda has seemingly been building up to for seven whole years ever since Chapter 907 and the inspiration behind Shamrock’s character hints that Oda could have huge plans for him going into the Final Saga.

Chapter 1137 of One Piece confirms that the Shanks’ lookalike currently at Elbaf is, in fact, the current commander of the Holy Knights and Figarland Garling’s son, Shamrock. Figarland Shamrock’s World Noble identity actually confirms that Shanks and Shamrock could be based on Sköll and Hati, two wolves from Norse Mythology who chase the sun and the moon, respectively.

[Related: One Piece May Finally Reveal Luffy’s Devil Fruit’s Origins in Elbaf]

One Piece’s Inspiration For Shanks and Shamrock is Genius

Within Norse Mythology, Sköll and Hati are generally considered to be the sons of Fenrir, a giant chained wolf whose freedom from his binds is regarded as the beginning of Ragnarok, the final, world-ending war. This could hint that Garling’s yokai transformation could be very wolf-like. In the myth, Sköll is said to chase the sun while Hati chases the moon, thus bringing about day and night until Ragnarok where they catch up and devour these entities.

If Garling’s moonlike appearance is any clue, Shamrock likely represents Hati, chasing the ideals and glory of his father, the former commander of the Holy Knights. Meanwhile, Shanks most likely represents Sköll, chasing the sun or rather, in One Piece‘s case, Sun God Nika. Chapter 1136 of One Piece revealed that many in Elbaf idolize Sun God Nika and want to be like the legendary warrior and Shanks having a similar desire to bring Nika back could explain his motivations behind stealing the Nika Fruit twelve years ago as well as why Shanks bet his arm on Luffy and the new era.

Shamrock’s Name Confirms His Biological Connection to Shanks

Interestingly, the shamrock, a type of clover, is most famously used to represent the Holy Trinity in Christianity, making it clear that Shamrock is most definitely Shanks’ brother and not a clone as quite a few fan theories have speculated, with Garling representing the Father, Shanks representing the Son, and Shamrock representing the Holy Spirit as a Holy Knight.

Overall, Shamrock’s introduction certainly raises a lot of questions about Shanks, particularly his childhood. This includes how Shanks came to be in a chest at God Valley, and why Garling did not try to retrieve Shanks but instead left him to be raised by one of the most notorious pirates in the world of One Piece. That said, one thing is for sure: Shanks and Shamrock will be at the center of the final saga and, most climatically, the final war. In fact, the two brothers, together with Loki, may be the very catalysts that set off this final, world-ending war in One Piece.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media’s Shonen Jump and Shueisha’s Manga Plus.