Oda never gave Kid the type of focus Law got in PH/DR or Bonney is getting in Egghead. I feel like I’m not alone in being disappointed by that as I think the vast majority of the fandom assumed he’d be important from his introduction.
While some people think Oda changed his mind with Kid, I disagree. Kid’s character was always tied to Shanks.
He’s a red head with a scar on his eye and only one arm. It’s not a coincidence. In dressrosa we learned that Kid’s alliance was aiming at Shanks. In wano we learned the RHP took Kid’s arm. And in egghead, Shanks destroyed the Kid pirates.
Through all of this, there’s one question unanswered. Why does Kid hate Shanks so much? We know part of this is due to Beckman taking his arm, but why did he ever go after Shanks in the first place? He doesn’t have any road poneglyphs.
We didn’t even get a proper answer to this question in egghead as Kid was defeated before we could even have a real interaction between the two characters. I think it’s very likely the reason for Kid’s grudge against Shanks is tied to both Shanks’s backstory and Kid’s.
At the moment, it seems like Oda still isn’t willing for Shanks to enter the main story. Luffy is heading to elbaf, while shanks refused to meet Luffy in wano and is leaving elbaf.
What this means is that Shanks will most likely be Luffy’s last obstacle for one piece. He won’t be in elbaf, so that only leaves him with Lodestar. The final island before laugh tale.
If this is true, I think Oda’s treatment of Kid makes much more sense. Kid never got any real focus because his arc is Lodestar.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that law and bonney’s story seems to center around a celestial dragon antagonist. Law had Doffy. Bonney has Saturn. Kid has Figarland Shanks.
In the cases of both Law and Bonney, Luffy teamed up with them to help them overcome their CD adversary. The same will be true for Kid.
Obviously Shanks isn’t evil like Doffy and Saturn. Yet in attempting to claim the one piece, he inherently antagonizes Luffy. Luffy said back in chapter 1 that he wants to surpass Shanks. He said again in PH that he wants to beat all yonko including Shanks. At this point, Barto is in Shanks’s territory claiming it for Lufffy and Shanks refuses to meet Luffy for this very reason.
Sure, Shanks isn’t evil. But the story is leading up to his eventual clash with Luffy, likely in lodestar. When this happens, I suspect Kid will play a similar role to Law in dressrosa. He’ll get a rematch where he can actually hold his own but eventually still loses. Luffy will come in to save him like he did with Law.
Luffy fights Shanks in the battle for pirate king
Zoro fights Mihawk(CG probably allies with Shanks) in the battle for WSSM
Ultimately I feel like something like this needs to happen in order for Oda to do justice not only to Kid, but to Shanks as a character. He was introduced as Luffy’s goal. While it is possible Oda could pump and dump him by having Teach beat or kill him, it seems like a waste of his character.
Luffy’s big victories against the yonko are tied to the old generation legends.
Kaido and BM = the return of the rocks pirates
Teach = the successor of Whitebeard
That leaves one more old gen legend for Luffy to surpass. Roger.
Shanks and Buggy = return of the Roger pirates
While some people think Oda changed his mind with Kid, I disagree. Kid’s character was always tied to Shanks.
He’s a red head with a scar on his eye and only one arm. It’s not a coincidence. In dressrosa we learned that Kid’s alliance was aiming at Shanks. In wano we learned the RHP took Kid’s arm. And in egghead, Shanks destroyed the Kid pirates.
Through all of this, there’s one question unanswered. Why does Kid hate Shanks so much? We know part of this is due to Beckman taking his arm, but why did he ever go after Shanks in the first place? He doesn’t have any road poneglyphs.
We didn’t even get a proper answer to this question in egghead as Kid was defeated before we could even have a real interaction between the two characters. I think it’s very likely the reason for Kid’s grudge against Shanks is tied to both Shanks’s backstory and Kid’s.
At the moment, it seems like Oda still isn’t willing for Shanks to enter the main story. Luffy is heading to elbaf, while shanks refused to meet Luffy in wano and is leaving elbaf.
What this means is that Shanks will most likely be Luffy’s last obstacle for one piece. He won’t be in elbaf, so that only leaves him with Lodestar. The final island before laugh tale.
If this is true, I think Oda’s treatment of Kid makes much more sense. Kid never got any real focus because his arc is Lodestar.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that law and bonney’s story seems to center around a celestial dragon antagonist. Law had Doffy. Bonney has Saturn. Kid has Figarland Shanks.
In the cases of both Law and Bonney, Luffy teamed up with them to help them overcome their CD adversary. The same will be true for Kid.
Obviously Shanks isn’t evil like Doffy and Saturn. Yet in attempting to claim the one piece, he inherently antagonizes Luffy. Luffy said back in chapter 1 that he wants to surpass Shanks. He said again in PH that he wants to beat all yonko including Shanks. At this point, Barto is in Shanks’s territory claiming it for Lufffy and Shanks refuses to meet Luffy for this very reason.
Sure, Shanks isn’t evil. But the story is leading up to his eventual clash with Luffy, likely in lodestar. When this happens, I suspect Kid will play a similar role to Law in dressrosa. He’ll get a rematch where he can actually hold his own but eventually still loses. Luffy will come in to save him like he did with Law.
Luffy fights Shanks in the battle for pirate king
Zoro fights Mihawk(CG probably allies with Shanks) in the battle for WSSM
Ultimately I feel like something like this needs to happen in order for Oda to do justice not only to Kid, but to Shanks as a character. He was introduced as Luffy’s goal. While it is possible Oda could pump and dump him by having Teach beat or kill him, it seems like a waste of his character.
Luffy’s big victories against the yonko are tied to the old generation legends.
Kaido and BM = the return of the rocks pirates
Teach = the successor of Whitebeard
That leaves one more old gen legend for Luffy to surpass. Roger.
Shanks and Buggy = return of the Roger pirates
