Theory Shanks is the head of the underworld

Seth

𝐊𝐨𝐤𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐢
#22
Yakuza cut their left pinkie finger. Shanks lost his left arm. Traditionally, like from medieval times, the finger-cutting is meant to cripple your swordsmanship, as the pinky finger grips the handle the most tightly. We know Shanks is a swordsman and lost at least some level of ability in this skill because of Mihawk refusing to duel, and from how he uses it in flashbacks, his left arm was his dominant arm. And actually, even earlier than the yakuza, finger-cutting comes from medieval japanese gamblers. Losing a finger was seen as a way to resolve a bet if you didn't have another way to pay. This really makes that "I bet it on the next generation." line come across a different way to me. It's not the focus of this and ive posted it before, but in my opinion, Shanks losing his arm was an intentional act to cement his influence over Luffy, because Shanks could see what Luffy's future might hold.

The marines don't call him "captain" by the way, they call him "ogashira/大頭", or "big boss". like he's the head of a criminal organization. His crew just uses "kashira/頭", a more informal "boss". the yakuza organization structure IRL places the "wakagashira"/"young boss" right under the oyabun/kumicho, so shanks' title is alluding to the yakuza without being one of their real titles. rather than the group leader, hes the head of the family. same idea, different phrasing.

we also have the father/son cups sake ritual. the yakuza use the sakazuki cups to cement organization structure and loyalty. the grand fleet start calling Luffy "ogashira" after it, even though they don't do the "real" exchange of cups. Kyoshiro's family in Wano use it to swear loyalty, so it even has explicit ties to the yakuza within the world of One Piece. I imagine Shanks and his crew did the same father/son cups ritual as any other yakuza family when forming the red hair pirates, considering their deferment to his rank and level of respect. Also, Shanks is from the West blue, where the best sake comes from, and he's always got a supply. Coincidentally, the west blue is overrun by underworld mafia figures under the Five Families of the West, and any importing of booze probably goes through them, so Shanks probably has ties to and influence with the Underworld. How far does it actually go? Well, we know the Underworld business goes all the way to the top of the government. We know Shanks can just walk into the holy land and discuss whatever he wants with the 5 Elders. We know the underworld is acting as a go-between for the WG, the yonko, and other weapons dealers and criminals across the world. Everyone called Doflamingo the most influential man in the Underworld, but he was just one broker. After Dressrosa we find out that the underworld is much bigger than just one country's exports, and see guys like Giberson the Hider the warehouse kingpin, "god of fortune" Du Feld, "shipping king" Umit, Big News Morgans, etc. But even these guys most people dont know about specialize. The organization structure has to lead up to something, right? Who's pulling the strings?

Akagami (red hair) is written like this "赤髪" but if you say akagami and write it like this "垢神" it means something like "dirty god" or like "god of filth". akagami no shankusu. What if Red Haired Shanks is also Shanks the Dirty God, the man at the top of the underworld?

i started looking for more puns after this and figured Oda likes doing stuff with bounties. shanks is 4,048,900,000. its got 489 (shi-ya-ku) in it and this led me in some wild directions. first off 師役(shiyaku) could mean "playing the role of teacher/master", like the example wiki gives is saying something like "suzumiya haruhi-yaku, aya hirano." so, playing the role of teacher, shanks. (or playing the role of Death, ooh spooky) then theres a bunch of gambling references! yaku means your hand in mahjong, for one. but then the other one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oicho-Kabu , a japanese gambling card game literally called "89". turns out its the origin of the word yakuza.

so i wanted to see if there were any notable connections between the syllable "shi" and the yakuza and got https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Jirocho
- most famous yakuza in history
- adopted
- life has no recorded notable incidents between the death of his father and becoming a young adult
- became a gambler and criminal and started building a private navy
- played the revolutionary army and the government against each other
- swordsman
- folk hero/robin hood figure in japan
- famously made sure people were buried properly after a war and defied the government in doing so
- was known to be able to settle major conflicts without casualties

"The pistol is cold. The pistol is a mechanism. There is no personification in it, and the sword is an extension of the human hand, human flesh, and I can convey the entire depth of hatred towards the enemy when the blade of my sword pierces his body, plunging the hand-sword into the body of the enemy. Then there is no greater pleasure to say: "Shinde moraimasu", that is, "I ask you to die."
 Shimizu Jirocho

"its dangerous to point guns."
Shanks
That's a very nice theory. If this would turn out to be true. Damn. On hell of a twist.
 
#24
Yeah it's interesting;




Could be a wrong translation still.
I checked every version of anime .... they still called him Okashira

but again ... he IS a captain also ... but known as that

Teach is Admiral
Big Mom is Queen
Kaido is Governor
Shanks is Boss
Post automatically merged:

[QUOTE="Erkan12, post: 867156, member: 69"

It's really weird people want to see the opposite, or wants Shanks to show up as a betrayer. The guy is good,[/QUOTE]

I mean ... he can Boss of underworld and STILL a rather good man ...

but some evil actions from him and RHP are needed ... Shanks seems way too perfect in a story full of non-perfect people
 
#28
I see it too.

The Pirate King itself can't rule over all yonko cause the yonko can still join forces and mess it up. This is how it is.
yea ... that's why Oda made Luffy fight Yonko before being pirate king .... unless the title is not as meaning full ....

but again Shanks FOR SURE have something of an alternative job ....

as a pirate is not like other 3 ... so he should do something beside being a Yonko .... I think this part is not even a ? ....
 

Finalbeta

Law Nerd
#29
yea ... that's why Oda made Luffy fight Yonko before being pirate king .... unless the title is not as meaning full ....

but again Shanks FOR SURE have something of an alternative job ....

as a pirate is not like other 3 ... so he should do something beside being a Yonko .... I think this part is not even a ? ....
Perhaps, we shall see.

Wonder if and how much he was invested into Revo matters for example.

We found out how Kuma was a former member but no one would of excepted such thing the first times he'd be introduced.
 
#30
I checked every version of anime .... they still called him Okashira

but again ... he IS a captain also ... but known as that

Teach is Admiral
Big Mom is Queen
Kaido is Governor
Shanks is Boss
Post automatically merged:

[QUOTE="Erkan12, post: 867156, member: 69"

It's really weird people want to see the opposite, or wants Shanks to show up as a betrayer. The guy is good,

I mean ... he can Boss of underworld and STILL a rather good man ...

but some evil actions from him and RHP are needed ... Shanks seems way too perfect in a story full of non-perfect people
It's the same with Whitebeard, Roger, and Oden. Shanks is the last one of them.
 
#31
It's the same with Whitebeard, Roger, and Oden. Shanks is the last one of them.
Whitebeard was part of Rocks Pirates so he had his dark past

and Roger and Shanks are not same type of pirate really ... Shanks is an emperor ... Roger was limited to his crew


sure ... I never ever assume Oda would make him an evil man

but as lord of underworld ... he have more political power to keep the world in peace ... and that's the defining role of Shanks so far
 
#32
Whitebeard was part of Rocks Pirates so he had his dark past

and Roger and Shanks are not same type of pirate really ... Shanks is an emperor ... Roger was limited to his crew


sure ... I never ever assume Oda would make him an evil man

but as lord of underworld ... he have more political power to keep the world in peace ... and that's the defining role of Shanks so far
What underworld? You assume that the ''theory'' is confirmed. I don't see how that could be true based on his crew calling him ''boss''.

They also called Whitebeard as boss, so that doesn't prove anything.





I guess Shanks is not old enough or type of guy who wants to be father, so they are calling him boss instead, nothing important. Barto and others also tried to call Luffy as boss.

 
J

Jo_Ndule

#33
What underworld? You assume that the ''theory'' is confirmed. I don't see how that could be true based on his crew calling him ''boss''.

They also called Whitebeard as boss, so that doesn't prove anything.



The difference is that

Shanks is shady even tho he is not a cruel pirate like kaido and BM.

It makes sense for Shanks to have underworld links too and be the Biggest player who's fooling WG and others at once.

Teach : hunting dfs and weapons... did a lor between 2 years and now
Kaido : warmonger who want chaos , has underworld deals and had Joker . Rivaled WB and BM, challenging Navy and yonko by himself...
BM : Has the best intel...deep connections, wants utopia... rivaled WB Shiki Roger and kaido for decades.
Shanks : if this theory is true, Shanks bounty is justified.

Shanks being from West blue while Roger is from East blue... a contrast .
... West blue is known for its Underworld businesses, Mafia...
East blue is known to be weak with bandits.
 
#34
The difference is that

Shanks is shady even tho he is not a cruel pirate like kaido and BM.

It makes sense for Shanks to have underworld links too and be the Biggest player who's fooling WG and others at once.

Teach : hunting dfs and weapons... did a lor between 2 years and now
Kaido : warmonger who want chaos , has underworld deals and had Joker . Rivaled WB and BM, challenging Navy and yonko by himself...
BM : Has the best intel...deep connections, wants utopia... rivaled WB Shiki Roger and kaido for decades.
Shanks : if this theory is true, Shanks bounty is justified.

Shanks being from West blue while Roger is from East blue... a contrast .
... West blue is known for its Underworld businesses, Mafia...
East blue is known to be weak with bandits.
I don't see what's the evidence for his underworld connections, everyone calls each other as boss, even Barto called Luffy boss, it doesn't mean anything.
 
#35
What underworld? You assume that the ''theory'' is confirmed. I don't see how that could be true based on his crew calling him ''boss''.

They also called Whitebeard as boss, so that doesn't prove anything.





I guess Shanks is not old enough or type of guy who wants to be father, so they are calling him boss instead, nothing important. Barto and others also tried to call Luffy as boss.

again .... none of this people are saying "Okashira" in this places .... check the anime if you like ....

I'm not assuming that theory is canon

but I rather ... IT CAN BE VERY WELL TURE
 
#36
Anyways, based on what we've seen, there is no clue that Shanks will show up as someone like who doesn't care about the lives of his friends, the guy already proved his worth many times.

The guy is peaceful, he is after peace, he does anything to save his friends lives. He has no pride when it comes to that.

It's really weird people want to see the opposite, or wants Shanks to show up as a betrayer. The guy is good, no reason to doubt it, just because he talks with Gorousei people started to doubt about the guy, Lmao. People like Fujitora and Sengoku serves Gorousei, and even Garp (doesn't matter admiral or not). Now that Shanks is just ''talking'' with Gorousei, he should be a bad guy, Lol.
That's the thing though. If shanks is a yakuza inspired character who is running the underworld nothing stops him from also trying to maintain peace and defend his friends. The guy I think he's based on also did that
 
#38
Yakuza cut their left pinkie finger. Shanks lost his left arm. Traditionally, like from medieval times, the finger-cutting is meant to cripple your swordsmanship, as the pinky finger grips the handle the most tightly. We know Shanks is a swordsman and lost at least some level of ability in this skill because of Mihawk refusing to duel, and from how he uses it in flashbacks, his left arm was his dominant arm. And actually, even earlier than the yakuza, finger-cutting comes from medieval japanese gamblers. Losing a finger was seen as a way to resolve a bet if you didn't have another way to pay. This really makes that "I bet it on the next generation." line come across a different way to me. It's not the focus of this and ive posted it before, but in my opinion, Shanks losing his arm was an intentional act to cement his influence over Luffy, because Shanks could see what Luffy's future might hold.

The marines don't call him "captain" by the way, they call him "ogashira/大頭", or "big boss". like he's the head of a criminal organization. His crew just uses "kashira/頭", a more informal "boss". the yakuza organization structure IRL places the "wakagashira"/"young boss" right under the oyabun/kumicho, so shanks' title is alluding to the yakuza without being one of their real titles. rather than the group leader, hes the head of the family. same idea, different phrasing.

we also have the father/son cups sake ritual. the yakuza use the sakazuki cups to cement organization structure and loyalty. the grand fleet start calling Luffy "ogashira" after it, even though they don't do the "real" exchange of cups. Kyoshiro's family in Wano use it to swear loyalty, so it even has explicit ties to the yakuza within the world of One Piece. I imagine Shanks and his crew did the same father/son cups ritual as any other yakuza family when forming the red hair pirates, considering their deferment to his rank and level of respect. Also, Shanks is from the West blue, where the best sake comes from, and he's always got a supply. Coincidentally, the west blue is overrun by underworld mafia figures under the Five Families of the West, and any importing of booze probably goes through them, so Shanks probably has ties to and influence with the Underworld. How far does it actually go? Well, we know the Underworld business goes all the way to the top of the government. We know Shanks can just walk into the holy land and discuss whatever he wants with the 5 Elders. We know the underworld is acting as a go-between for the WG, the yonko, and other weapons dealers and criminals across the world. Everyone called Doflamingo the most influential man in the Underworld, but he was just one broker. After Dressrosa we find out that the underworld is much bigger than just one country's exports, and see guys like Giberson the Hider the warehouse kingpin, "god of fortune" Du Feld, "shipping king" Umit, Big News Morgans, etc. But even these guys most people dont know about specialize. The organization structure has to lead up to something, right? Who's pulling the strings?

Akagami (red hair) is written like this "赤髪" but if you say akagami and write it like this "垢神" it means something like "dirty god" or like "god of filth". akagami no shankusu. What if Red Haired Shanks is also Shanks the Dirty God, the man at the top of the underworld?

i started looking for more puns after this and figured Oda likes doing stuff with bounties. shanks is 4,048,900,000. its got 489 (shi-ya-ku) in it and this led me in some wild directions. first off 師役(shiyaku) could mean "playing the role of teacher/master", like the example wiki gives is saying something like "suzumiya haruhi-yaku, aya hirano." so, playing the role of teacher, shanks. (or playing the role of Death, ooh spooky) then theres a bunch of gambling references! yaku means your hand in mahjong, for one. but then the other one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oicho-Kabu , a japanese gambling card game literally called "89". turns out its the origin of the word yakuza.

so i wanted to see if there were any notable connections between the syllable "shi" and the yakuza and got https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Jirocho
- most famous yakuza in history
- adopted
- life has no recorded notable incidents between the death of his father and becoming a young adult
- became a gambler and criminal and started building a private navy
- played the revolutionary army and the government against each other
- swordsman
- folk hero/robin hood figure in japan
- famously made sure people were buried properly after a war and defied the government in doing so
- was known to be able to settle major conflicts without casualties

"The pistol is cold. The pistol is a mechanism. There is no personification in it, and the sword is an extension of the human hand, human flesh, and I can convey the entire depth of hatred towards the enemy when the blade of my sword pierces his body, plunging the hand-sword into the body of the enemy. Then there is no greater pleasure to say: "Shinde moraimasu", that is, "I ask you to die."
 Shimizu Jirocho

"its dangerous to point guns."
Shanks
This one of the best theory
 
#39
Damn son no reference to me or the original redditor I had this discussion with. 80% of your post is a copy/paste from my own. This post even happened on the same day.

:/


https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/forum/threads/shanks-is-not-who-we-think-he-is.8949/post-865779


Weird to see that happen. Even weirder to see this referenced on reddit lol, which is how I found out about it.

Just gotta throw at least one person in here so I know I'm not crazy @Zoro D Goat


Edit: I'm an idiot, disregard. @ArturCantSpeakJapanese is the reddit user I credited in my post, holy shit the coincidence. I should just asked:/
 
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