One Piece Teases The Real Reason Shanks Lost His Arm May Be Far Darker

After spending years moving in the shadows, One Piece‘s Elbaf Arc is finally bringing Shanks to the forefront of the series, though not in the way fans expected. The latest arc has taken fans completely by surprise with the introduction of Shanks’ Holy Knight twin brother Shamrock, finally confirming Shanks’ Figarland heritage which was first teased in One Piece Film: Red. Shamrock has only briefly touched on his relationship with Shanks so far though the main takeaway so far is that Shanks wants nothing to do with his noble lineage, and this could even tie in with another major aspect of Shanks’ character, namely, his missing arm, and why gave it up to a Sea King all those years ago.

Chapter 1140 of One Piece introduced two new Holy Knights while also finally explaining how the Five Elders and Holy Knights are able to teleport using the peculiar summoning circles called abyss pentagrams. St. Killingham, one of the newly introduced Holy Knights explains that only those with a certain mark can be summoned using the abyss pentagrams with St. Sommers, the other new Holy Knight, sporting a suspicious circular tattoo on his left forearm that could potentially be the mark in question. If so, it is possible that Shanks intentionally let the Sea King take away his left arm because of the summoning mark on it, thus taking away the Celestial Dragons’ ability to summon him as they please while also literally and metaphorically cutting ties with his biological family in the process.

One Piece Teases Shanks May Have Lost His Arm On Purpose

While it is yet to be confirmed whether the arm on St. Sommer’s arm is indeed the same mark that allows the Holy Knights and the Five Elders to travel through the “abyss” it is arguably the only mark or tattoo that fans have seen on any of the Holy Knights so far. Judging by the fact that giving the children of Elbaf the mark isn’t an option and that other Celestial Dragons have been shown to use normal means of travel in the series so far, this mark seems to be reserved only for the Holy Knights and the Five Elders.

The most likely assumption is that this mark and the abyss pentagrams themselves are part of Imu’s powers and presumably give him control over the individuals that sport them as hinted by how Saint Saturn was instantly stripped of his positions, powers, and even his life. As for when Shanks might have received the mark, Shamrock reveals in Chapter 1138 that Shanks did once visit the Holy Land and though Shamrock does not mention an exact timeframe, this instance presents the perfect opportunity for this theory to take hold while also justifying the mention of Shanks’ visit in the first place.

[RELATED: One Piece Foreshadowed Shanks’ Brother Over Two Decades Ago]

Another interesting idea is that Shanks may have chosen to lose his arm to set himself apart from his twin brother Shamrock. Aside from their different tastes in fashion, Shamrock’s luscious long locks, and the iconic scar on Shanks’ face, the two brothers are a splitting image of each other. Chapter 1138 even sees the guards at Aurust Castle mistake Shamrock for Shanks despite Luffy’s fervent claims that Shanks wouldn’t unnecessarily attack someone. In the very same chapter, Loki too, instantly deduces that Shanks and Shamrock must be related. This arguably more than justifies Shanks not wanting to be mixed up with Shamrock, even at the cost of one of his limbs.

Shanks Initially Lost His Arm For a Different Reason

Admittedly, this would be a clear retcon on the series’ part as the real reason Shanks lost his arm is rather mundane. In an interview with all of One Piece‘s past editors titled, Successive Generations’ Editors “Grand Meeting,” published in Issue 41 of Shonen Jump 2010, Kaoru Kushima, the series’ very first editor, reveals the true reason Shanks lost his arm was simply to make the series more interesting. Kushima worked with Oda in 1994 right as Oda’s career as a mangaka was taking off and thus had a huge hand in shaping Romance Dawn. Kushima shared in the interview:

“When I saw the name ‘Romance Dawn,’ I thought it lacked something definitive, something that would shake your heart, so I told Oda-sensei, ‘The climax of the story isn’t good enough,’ but the next week they added a scene in which Shanks loses his arm, and I thought, ‘This person is cool.’”

Clearly, Shanks losing his arm was initially added to help make the Romance Dawn Saga more memorable and exciting and it is safe to say the scene more than accomplished what it set out to do. Since then, One Piece has reflected on this defining moment multiple times, adding more meaning to it as the series progresses. Chapter 434 even sees Shanks directly address why he gave up his arm when speaking to Whitebeard, saying that he did so “for the sake of the new era.”

The Wano Arc has since further added fuel to the fire by implying that Shanks may have intentionally stolen the Gum-Gum Fruit from Cipher Pol knowing its true name, identity, and significance, though that is a discussion for another day. For now, only time will tell whether the introduction of the abyss pentagrams will truly tie back to Shanks, though it would surely be mind-blowing if the Elbaf Arc manages to redefine this defining moment in One Piece.

One Piece is available to read from Manga Plus and Viz Media.