One Piece: Shanks Should Be the Strongest Character But One Detail Can’t Be Ignored

One Piece’s beloved character Red-Hair Shanks is not only a Yonko but also Luffy’s role model. Luffy met a pirate crew in Foosha Village when he was a child. They changed his perception of what being a pirate means and Shanks, in particular, had a major impact on Luffy. He lost his arm to a sea king while trying to save Luffy. Although Shanks was powerful enough to defeat the sea king with ease, he wanted Luffy to learn an important lesson about the dangers that lie ahead for him if he wishes to be a pirate. Luffy’s recklessness almost cost him his life and he wouldn’t have survived if not for Shanks. He left the Foosha Village after a short while and made a name for himself in the New World, ultimately becoming a Yonko.

Although he has the status of a Yonko, his power far surpasses that of Kaido and Big Mom. Over the years, he has fought several powerful characters. Considering that Imu’s powers are unknown, no character alive has shown strength remotely as close to the Red-Hair Yonko. What’s more, we have only seen a glimpse of his powers so far. All of the evidence suggests that Shanks is the strongest character alive but Mihawk’s title of World’s Strongest Swordsman is the only thing holding him back.

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Shanks Has Always Been Hyped in One Piece Because of His Strength

Aside from legendary pirates like Roger, Whitebeard, and Xebec, Shanks is the only character who appears to have unparalleled strength. Eiichiro Oda doesn’t spare a chance to hype him up in any circumstance. One Piece Chapter 533 mentions Shanks stopped Kaido from reaching Marineford and he even ended the war single-handedly. What’s truly noteworthy is that he only had to challenge the pirates and Marines so that they would give up. No one wants to fight the Red-Haired Pirates, not even the Admirals and the Warlords, especially after dealing with the Whitebeard Pirates.

He commands respect and authority even in front of the most high-ranking Marine officers. He has demonstrated the best Future Sight and Advanced Conqueror’s Haki in the show. In Chapter 1079, he defeated Eustass Kidd and Killer with a single blow. Before Kidd attacked them, Shanks saw a terrible future where the young pirate lands a devastating attack on his crew. He didn’t waste a second before using Divinde Departure on him. It’s worth mentioning that Kidd is one of the strongest pirates in the New World with a bounty of 3 billion berries. His teamwork with Law brought down Big Mom, a Yonko.

Additionally, in One Piece Chapter 1122, Emet uses Joyboy’s Haki, which was compared by Shanks. This Haki brought Imu, the mysterious ruler of the world to their knees from miles away. Dorry and Brogy sense the power behind that Haki and question if it’s stronger than Shanks’. The two giants have been pirates for over a century. They have traveled the world and met all kinds of powerful people and yet, Shanks is the first person who comes to their mind in that situation. In the latest One Piece Chapter 1136, the giants reveal that Shanks stopped Loki, Elbaf’s Prince with a bounty of 2.6 billion berries, after all the warriors failed.

Mihawk Still Holds the Title of the World’s Strongest Swordsman

Ever since the East Blue Saga, Mihawk has been revered as the World’s Strongest Swordsman. He’s Zoro’s end goal and someone the first mate of the Future Pirate King must defeat. However, despite the title, Mihawk has yet to show any feats that place him above Shanks. His biggest accomplishment mentioned in the story is that he fought the Red-Hair pirate a few years ago, which ended in a tie. Mihawk, like other Warlords, participated in the Marineford Arc but didn’t have anything impressive to show. Of course, the reason could be that he wasn’t particularly interested in the war, to begin with.

The problem lies with his portrayal. He’s considered one of the top-tier characters without having anything to show for it. He’s a laidback person and not interested in fame and fortune. Hence, he always gets sidelined since he hasn’t done anything interesting yet. This is underwhelming, especially considering his introduction is one of the best in the entire series. Even though the One Piece manga is in the Final Saga, it hasn’t even been confirmed if he possesses Conqueror’s Haki. Despite all this, the title somehow calls for him to be placed above Shanks in terms of powers.

It’s unclear if Oda decides to resolve the debate between Mihawk and Shanks’ fans. But with the way things are going, Mihawk may very end up nothing more than a plot device as Zoro’s victim. The only reason he holds at least some weight in the story is because he is someone Zoro must surpass. After the Reverie, he joined the Cross Guiled with Buggy and Crocodile, willingly allowing Buggy to assume the role of the leader in front of the public. It’s unclear what his intentions are but Mihawk needs to show something equally or at least more impressive than Shanks to rank highly in the story.