The best explanation Oda can give is that he has a Devil Fruit and was weakened. I made a theory way back on OJ about how those with Devil Fruits who have strong enough Willpower can actually resist the negative effects of the sea to certain degree. Sanjuan Wolf has a Devil Fruit and he's capable of maintaining his massive size and tread water, so Shanks having a Devil Fruit and being weakened to the point where he can't fend off the lord of the Coast, but still be able to swim makes perfect sense.
Luffy also implied something along those lines when he fought Hordy using snake shot to maneuver his arm underwater, and stated something like "it's still not good enough."
And there is also the fact that Luffy and Kid were capable of doing 10 times the amount of work in Udon as the other prisoners despite being weakened by seastone cuffs.
Wanted to start a discussion in, regards to Shanks lost arm .. there has been a lot of users who believe Shanks did not decrease in strength or that he is still as powerful with both arms, a wanted to put some of those things to bed.
Firstly : Editors sentiment to have Shanks lose his arm :
Oda had no intention that Shanks lost his arm, but after an editor told him that the story was not interesting enough, Oda decided to cut his arm off.ONE PIECE Grand Countdown 2 (2010)
When deciding to remove Shanks arm the influence did stem from an editors point of view, however the point from the editor was that the story was not interesting enough removing Shanks arm was still Oda's decision there were other avenues he could have taken, but didn't - if anyone has additional information on the editors influence please post it.
Secondly : Shanks strength did not dwindle since he lost his DOMINANT arm
i.) This statement from everyone comes from a mistranslation/misunderstanding from a data-book with Shanks which states "Even with one-arm his power is overwhelming!! He can stop Akainu's Logia attack with his sword!!"
ii.) Mihawk’s Epithet as “Clairvoyant” which has been highlighted multiple times in series and has been accurate on numerous occasions A.) Luffy's real power capable of drawing in people B.) Telling Zoro he'd already lose before the fight even began (East Blue) C.) first to realize Whitebeard Strength dropped since being old D.) Directly stating Shanks is a one-armed has been in front of commanders and a Yonko army - could be the same thing Kid lost his arm for stating
iii.) Slight detail from Oda which he added, Shanks keeps his scabbard on the right hand side while he only has his right arm - this is an unbalance for a swordsman, Shanks is left handed and it would seem as though he has still not adjusted (even though it's been a decade) since he's lost his arm.
Just wanted to provide some info on Shanks and details on his missing arm, I do believe it is a factor that it is missing and if he still maintained that arm he'd be fighting Mihawk toe to toe.
Shanks with His arm would definitely be better than shanks with lost arm. Even in a psychological POV, Mihawk, which is a lot of you consider to be a very respectful And worthy character“ literally told shanks that he has “no interest in fighting a man with one arm”. He told him that even though Shanks is a Yonko, this means the lost arm took something from Skanks, wether it’s a bit of power or more of a mentality loss.
Shanks became Yonkou after losing his arm. There are quite few handicapped characters in OP. Neku and Inu are missing limbs, so do Kyros. Fujitora is blind, Aokiji is using leg made of ice. Everything depends on what Shanks was doing ofter leaving Luffy's island. Furthermore, WB was surprised that Shanks lost his arm on most peaceful sea.
Actually, Oda is hiding his arm under his Cape. We might get some surprises, when he finally starts fighting.
Shanks became Yonkou after losing his arm. There are quite few handicapped characters in OP. Neku and Inu are missing limbs, so do Kyros. Fujitora is blind, Aokiji is using leg made of ice. Everything depends on what Shanks was doing ofter leaving Luffy's island. Furthermore, WB was surprised that Shanks lost his arm on most peaceful sea.
Actually, Oda is hiding his arm under his Cape. We might get some surprises, when he finally starts fighting.
why don't we wait for how the details play out in that duel?
we don't know how strong they were
what powers they unlocked by that time
please just hear me out once , I don't try to downplay anyone
think of me as a Zoro fan once ...
what I'm saying is base on plot cause people are as strong as plot need them to be
Shanks and Teach both have a good place in plot as of now
as the bosses of story AFTER Kaido and Big Mom
so they CAN be that strong
but Mihawk role in the story is unclear .... and people as strong as plot need them to be ... right?
I will hype him to max level as soon as we see lore around him
Mihawk can be related to Imu .... since they have same eyes ... there can be something in to it
since Shanks and Mihawk know each other since young age ... there might be something there as well
Shanks can be son of Rocks while Mihawk is son (related) to Imu
Shanks and Mihaw bound would be off chart as of now
they already share same part of fight style , back story , Luffy and Zoro , height , being Haki master , being end gamer and ...
in this way Shanks and Mihawk ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT top 2 strongest people alive
I don't even care if Mihawk be above Shanks and Roger at that point
he earned it
I WILL hype the fuck out of Mihawk as soon as we are clear about Mihawk role in plot ... it's not fair if he just be a solder
Portrayal wise, Kaido > Mihawk (extreme diff). Now Shanks did not only lose an arm (which potentially halved his AP), he lost his dominant arm. How can a crippled swordsman compete with the other Yonko, when he and the other Yonko including WB have been portrayed as more or less equal. With Shanks fighting off Kaido and going to MF to challenge it confidently.
While I don't want to portray it as a fact, I do think there is a possibility of Oda went a different road with Shanks after he lost an arm. Shanks was still pretty young when he lost his arm and Mihawk was his first big love rival. So enough time to lay emphasis on something else. With emphasis I mean that he is still a very strong swordsman, but simply handicapped in that domain, hence using other methods.
It's true that we have other handicapped people, but they are not nearly as nerfed. Aokiji lost a leg, no problem. He just replicates it with an ice leg without losing power, since his power and fighting style is not influenced at all by whether his leg consists of flesh or ice. Neko lost an arm, not that much of a problem, he just replaced it with a gun. But Shanks losing a gun instantly cuts his battle power in half.
why don't we wait for how the details play out in that duel?
we don't know how strong they were
what powers they unlocked by that time
please just hear me out once , I don't try to downplay anyone
think of me as a Zoro fan once ...
what I'm saying is base on plot cause people are as strong as plot need them to be
Shanks and Teach both have a good place in plot as of now
as the bosses of story AFTER Kaido and Big Mom
so they CAN be that strong
but Mihawk role in the story is unclear .... and people as strong as plot need them to be ... right?
I will hype him to max level as soon as we see lore around him
Mihawk can be related to Imu .... since they have same eyes ... there can be something in to it
since Shanks and Mihawk know each other since young age ... there might be something there as well
Shanks can be son of Rocks while Mihawk is son (related) to Imu
Shanks and Mihaw bound would be off chart as of now
they already share same part of fight style , back story , Luffy and Zoro , height , being Haki master , being end gamer and ...
in this way Shanks and Mihawk ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT top 2 strongest people alive
I don't even care if Mihawk be above Shanks and Roger at that point
he earned it
I bet hes rayleighs son and i bet rayleigh trained shanks like he trained luffy.
Son vs student would always be a natural rivalry.
Shanks role in the story was never about his power level. Mihawks is.
Imo the reason mihawk is bored and doesnt challenge anyone else and wants zoro to surpass shanks must be because apart from mihawk there is no swordsman > shanks. Mihawk already fought the top challenger shall we say and sees no reason to drop below that.
@HA001 why didn't Mihawk challenge Big Mom, neither in the past nor in the present, when he was searching for strong opponents? Big Mom reached her prime when Shanks was still young at the time of his arm loss. I'd say Big Mom at the time of Shanks' arm loss was > Shanks. And sure, she was kinda producing kids at that time but I doubt Mihawk took that into consideration and called Big Mom to ask whether they can schedule a fight.
Or is it because Mihawk is not interested in facing her power, which isn't really dependent on the sword. She might as well use an axe (axe can also produce Spear of Elbaf), her natural properties as a natural born destroyer, plus the DF she heavily relies on to create storms, lightning and fire.
If your strongest asset is swordsmanship and other abilities are just supplementary at most -> Mihawk is interested.
If swordsmanship is actually the supplementary part of your main, greater power -> Mihawk doesn't really care.
Just my thought, ain't posing it as a fact though.
I bet hes rayleighs son and i bet rayleigh trained shanks like he trained luffy.
Son vs student would always be a natural rivalry.
Shanks role in the story was never about his power level. Mihawks is.
Imo the reason mihawk is bored and doesnt challenge anyone else and wants zoro to surpass shanks must be because apart from mihawk there is no swordsman > shanks. Mihawk already fought the top challenger shall we say and sees no reason to drop below that.
as soon as I see Mihawk next great hype moment or feat
as soon as I see Mihawk blood line or things like that
as soon as I see Mihawk story arc and his role in plot
I will hype the fuck out of him ....
am a plot wanker ... cause I know Oda don't give a fuck about power level ... he just make people as strong as they need
that's why we have so many stupid power level shit talk cause people did what they shouldn't ...
I would not be ashamed to change my mind if I see I'm wrong or lack claim
I'm willing to say BIG MOM is now above Shanks cause of better screen time ... Mihawk would be an easier chose
but as of now I see plot give Shanks more power than Mihawk
and their duel in past are not perfect way to scale them in current day
hope that's be fair enough .... I can't do better than that :)
@HA001 why didn't Mihawk challenge Big Mom, neither in the past nor in the present, when he was searching for strong opponents? Big Mom reached her prime when Shanks was still young at the time of his arm loss. I'd say Big Mom at the time of Shanks' arm loss was > Shanks. And sure, she was kinda producing kids at that time but I doubt Mihawk took that into consideration and called Big Mom to ask whether they can schedule a fight.
Or is it because Mihawk is not interested in facing her power, which isn't really dependent on the sword. She might as well use an axe (axe can also produce Spear of Elbaf), her natural properties as a natural born destroyer, plus the DF she heavily relies on to create storms, lightning and fire.
If your strongest asset is swordsmanship and other abilities are just supplementary at most -> Mihawk is interested.
If swordsmanship is actually the supplementary part of your main, greater power -> Mihawk doesn't really care.
Just my thought, ain't posing it as a fact though.
One like you said she was always pregnant.
Two we dont know how strong mihawk and shanks were then.
All we know is they had multiple duels
And shanks a yonko is most famous for gis duels with mihawk (ace novel)
The duels were that high level even wb was impressed and still talks about it.
And they were said to have shaken the grandline.
as soon as I see Mihawk next great hype moment or feat
as soon as I see Mihawk blood line or things like that
as soon as I see Mihawk story arc and his role in plot
I will hype the fuck out of him ....
am a plot wanker ... cause I know Oda don't give a fuck about power level ... he just make people as strong as they need
that's why we have so many stupid power level shit talk cause people did what they shouldn't ...
I would not be ashamed to change my mind if I see I'm wrong or lack claim
I'm willing to say BIG MOM is now above Shanks cause of better screen time ... Mihawk would be an easier chose
but as of now I see plot give Shanks more power than Mihawk
and their duel in past are not perfect way to scale them in current day
hope that's be fair enough .... I can't do better than that :)
Yes, because his reputation as a pirate has increased. It's entirely possible for someone to improve in the real world after losing a dominant limb and so in fiction I can also believe it's possible. But mainly, it's that his status as a pirate has improved since and I wouldn't overcomplicate that.
Kaido wouldn't show him any mercy, we saw his strength in sparring Newgate, and everyone present backed down when he threw out the welcome mat at Marineford. Any other explanation of where he stands involves convoluted bias.
So his notoriety increased ... means that his power increased ? ?
The two are not equal to one another there is more to One Piece besides individual strength.
Shanks didn't spar with Edward it was a clash which even Yasopp commented they are not going to fight.
In regards to Shanks challenge in Marineford this is the status of each faction :
1.) Marines : with heavy causalities and their top brasses not in tip top shape
2.) A Yonko's crew that is already defeated and trying to flee
3.) Blackbeard who admitted it's not time yet to fight Shanks. (just earned a new ability - still green)
Fighting a Yonko's crew with this many problems is clearly witless.
As I stated we can use information from the drafts or the rough ideas to get more of an understanding on a character if it's backed by the manga.
Zoro was never Buggy's nakama -- but what we can understand from Zoro's character if you have a weak will or weak minded he will not remain on the crew since Oda's plan was to have Zoro leave Buggy's crew.
Shiki is not an admiral - nothing canon as yet has been presented for Shiki besides being on Rocks
He has feats which are displaying Clairvoyance - since you mention that telling how strong someone is based from CoO do you have any other characters who can do so.
At the moment the only person who's shown this Rayleigh.
So his notoriety increased ... means that his power increased ? ?
The two are not equal to one another there is more to One Piece besides individual strength.
Shanks didn't spar with Edward it was a clash which even Yasopp commented they are not going to fight.
In regards to Shanks challenge in Marineford this is the status of each faction :
1.) Marines : with heavy causalities and their top brasses not in tip top shape
2.) A Yonko's crew that is already defeated and trying to flee
3.) Blackbeard who admitted it's not time yet to fight Shanks. (just earned a new ability - still green)
Fighting a Yonko's crew with this many problems is clearly witless.
So when has notoriety increased considerably without being accompanied by an increase in strength? Bounties are not determined by strength, but strength is what facilitates a pirate's reputation. The only real exception is Buggy and I hope we can agree that it's deliberately made to be a completely different situation.
Blackbeard stole the show at Marineford, playing the two sides against each other, using his status to trash Impel Down and steal the worst criminals, stealing the gura gura no mi... total mastermind shit. But it wasn't until he dominated Marco's guys and proved his strength that he was called a Yonko.
To say that Shanks came to be known as a Yonko without proving himself doesn't make sense. And if he's weaker than he used to be, why wasn't he a Yonko then? Nothing in the manga will provide an answer for you there.
So when has notoriety increased considerably without being accompanied by an increase in strength? Bounties are not determined by strength, but strength is what facilitates a pirate's reputation. The only real exception is Buggy and I hope we can agree that it's deliberately made to be a completely different situation.
Blackbeard stole the show at Marineford, playing the two sides against each other, using his status to trash Impel Down and steal the worst criminals, stealing the gura gura no mi... total mastermind shit. But it wasn't until he dominated Marco's guys and proved his strength that he was called a Yonko.
To say that Shanks came to be known as a Yonko without proving himself doesn't make sense. And if he's weaker than he used to be, why wasn't he a Yonko then? Nothing in the manga will provide an answer for you there.
That would actually amuse me as I have no problem with Shanks being a weasel. It just doesn't make sense is all, as we've seen how that "weasel with leverage in lieu of strength" story play out a million times.
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