I'm going to start this off by saying that ALL of this is probably going to end up being a waste of everyone's time. I think the following "theory" is pretty unlikely to be true. It's not even really a "theory" per se. More of a collection of odd, stray thoughts that I've kind of forced into being related?
But...I can't really get it out of my head? And I kind of want to write it all down and see where it takes me. So, I 'm taking you all along with me!
Let's start this off with a observation that kind of informs the rest of this idea. All of the Red Hair Pirates are seemingly "normal" humans with no Devil Fruit powers.
Now that we know about the world flooding, this actually kind of makes sense. Shanks' crew is the only one who won't have to worry about drowning, now. But, it is fairly unusual for a high ranking Pirate crew. Shanks is the only person who went in this direction, possibly other than Roger himself.
But, I also find it interesting that there's no Fishmen, or Long Limbed Tribe, or any other race on Shanks' crew. Now, that's not really unusual. Honestly, Luffy's crew is kind of the odd one out when you compare it to everyone else's crew compositions. Most of the Pirate crews we know about are fully staffed with only humans. But, out of everyone else in the story, I feel like Shanks was the one who was most likely to mirror Luffy's crew in this regard, bringing different races together. And if his crew all being "normal" humans is JUST because of the flooding, then there really isn't any good reason NOT to recruit a Fishman or two, at least.
Now, I'm not saying that Shanks is "racist". He's on pretty good terms with the Giants, at least. Shanks doesn't seem to have a problem with the other races, as far as we can tell. His crew just happens to be made up of all humans.
But, I do wonder if Shanks could have a problem with "magic" or "unnatural" powers? Could there be a bigger reason for Shanks shunning Devil Fruit powers, other than just planning ahead for the flooding of the world? Could Shanks actually be working FOR "Mother Ocean"? Trying to restore the "natural balance" of the world that the Devil Fruit and other powers upset?
For example, the few times we've seen Shanks recently, he's been attacking other Pirate crews. He's already taken out Kid and Bartolomeo. These people have threatened the people under his protection. He's defending his territory, this all makes sense.
But, he's also made it a point to destroy their ships, in both instances. Again, this makes sense. If you want to make SURE a Pirate crew stays defeated, you take away their only way to move around from island to island.
But, what if that's not the only reason for Shanks to destroy these ships? What if Shanks is basically killing two birds with one stone?
What if Shanks is purposely destroying these pirate ships in order to destroy the Klabautermann that lives within them?
Klabatuermann seems to naturally form from any ship that is loved for any amount of time. We don't really know how much Kid loved his ship. But, I think we can assume Bartolomeo LOVED the Going Luffy-Senpai to pieces. Barto clearly put a lot of love into designing the ship at least. Which means, the Going Luffy-Senpai likely either ALREADY HAD or was in the process of FORMING a klaubatermann of it's own. (Sidenote: It would have been VERY interesting to see what the Going Luffy-Senpai's Klabatermann looked like. Could you imagine?)
So, could Shanks actually be targeting Klabautermann and hunting them down on purpose?
It's possible that Klabautermann are somehow key to claiming the One Piece Treasure. Maybe just wants to make sure he's the only one with a klabautermann so that no one else can get to Laugh Tale first.
Or, maybe there's some other stage that Klabautermann go through that makes them a danger? There is a theory out there that Imu could be the Klabauterman of the Space SHIP Earth. Maybe the klabautermann that we know about is only the "pupa" stage of this creature, and as it ages it eventually gains more powerful in it's "butterfly" form. So, maybe Shanks is just trying to prevent another Imu from being born.
And yes, a lot of this IS just me wanting klabautermann to come back into the story again. But, keep a eye on this. I think Oda might be hiding something along these lines right under our noses, like he often enjoys doing.
And then there's Shanks asking Barto to "poison" Luffy for him in Chapter 1126. We all assume this was just testing Barto's loyalty, because clearly Barto wasn't poisoned after he drank what was in the bottle.
But, one, why would Shanks do that? He's got his own crew, he probably LIKES Luffy, but why go so far to test random guys for how loyal they are to him? It's kind of Luffy's own business to maintain his own "crew". Not Shanks' problem.
And two...what if Barto just wasn't poisoned in the way we THINK he could have been?
What if what Shanks gave to Bartolomeo wasn't a "traditional" poison....but actually a Devil Fruit Cure? A way to remove a Devil Fruit user's powers?
Now, we've never heard of any such thing ever existing. In fact, by all accounts, it seems pretty likely that there's no way to reverse getting a Devil Fruit after you've eaten it. But, Oda does like to introduce things rather abruptly into the end of the story. He likes his twists. So, I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of Devil Fruit Cure could potentially exist.
Plus, does anyone else find it odd that Barto didn't try to use his Barrier ability to stop Yasopp's attack? Sure, it was a surprise attack from behind. But, we've seen Barto react pretty quickly to attacks in the past. Maybe Barto just got taken by surprise. Or maybe Barto TRIED to use his Barrier ability to stop Yasopp's shot...and he found out he couldn't use it anymore.
If the next time we see Barto, he "mysteriously" has lost his Devil Fruit powers, that could make for some VERY interesting drama down the line.
It would also explain why Shanks was so relaxed about blowing up Barto's ship if he seemed to actually kind of like Barto. If Shanks' poison removed Barto's Devil Fruit from his body, that means Barto can swim, so blowing up the ship is less of a sure-fire death sentence for him, now.
As for the why, maybe it's just as simple as Shanks wanting to take Luffy's Nika Fruit off the board. Shanks has potentially been talking to the Gorosei. It's possible he made some sort of deal with them to deal with Luffy, so they wouldn't have to, and prevent a all out war with the World Government from starting up. Maybe Shanks even got this Devil Fruit Cure from Imu or the Gorosei themselves. If anyone would know about something like this, it might be the people who have been around for hundreds of years. Or maybe Shanks simply wants the Nika Fruit for himself. There are multiple possibilities here.
Before we get to the last part of this thought experiment, here's a little bonus...SOMETHING to consider.
Is Shanks' name weird? I feel like Shanks' name is weird. It's not really a "traditional" name. I feel like it could be a reference to something, but I'm not sure what.
So, I got to thinking, what could Shanks' name mean? I laid awake at night thinking about this, like a normal healthy sane person.
"Shanks...Shanksu?...Shanks Su?...Zhang Zhu?....Sun Tzu?!"
Is it possible that Shanks' name is a reference to Sun Tzu, the author of the Art of War?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu
The names...sorta sound alike. Kinda. If you mumble. I mean, it's possible that Shanks is a bit more tactical and strategic than other pirates. Probably not on Blackbeard's level, but he's the villainous master manipulator of this manga. Shanks is probably at least the second most strategic Pirate captain around.
It's not a great fit otherwise. And there are other candidates, but those are even worse matches. So...I'm just going to throw this out there. Maybe someone else can figure out something about this that I can't. Maybe this will spark a thought in someone else, because I think it's a bit of a dead end right now. I can't figure it out if this actually goes anywhere, and it probably doesn't, but maybe someone else will have a thought about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Xiang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Xiu_(warlord)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zhu
Finally, lets talk about one of the bigger reasons why Shanks may be fighting against "magic", Imu. Imu has a bunch of seemingly "strange" magic, even for the One Piece world. Imu can seemingly lend their power to others, such as the Gorosei. And make them immortal.
I want to draw attention to another theory I've seen, because I'll be using something from their theory and taking it in another direction. Monkey D Monkey's "Imu has the Fruit Model Green Dragon" theory. All credit to them for bringing a few interesting tidbits to my attention. It's a good theory, check it out.
https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/forum/threads/imu-has-the-fruit-model-green-dragon.60078/
Now, this is less about the "Green Dragon" part of the theory and more about the Chinese Medicine Emotional Wheel information they give us. In Chinese, "Mu" corresponds to the emotion of anger and the color green. This is further supported by the sound "Mu" also being the sound effect for puffing out one's cheeks in anger, like one often sees in anime. Both things correspond to "anger" being a important part of Imu's character.
So, we have Imu. A character who has anger issues. Is associated with the color green. Can "empower" others. And has a connection with giving characters functional immortality. You know who that reminds me of?
That's right...Tinker Bell!
And this works...FAR better than it has any right to.
Imu likes to spend a lot of time in gardens, surrounded by butterflies. Which is kind of a stereotypical fairy thing to do.
Imu seems to be fairly (heh heh) short, as far as we can tell. Not Tontatta or pixie short, but still, she do be smol.
Imu can make the Gorosei "immortal" in a similar way to bringing children to Neverland does.
Also (spoilers for the book version) but at the end of the end of the story, Tinker Bell dies of old age. Which would actually make sense for Imu to die, if Imu's powers get taken away somehow, like what happened to Saturn. (Yeah, downer, I know)
Imu has her shadow Yokai powers she gives to the Gorosei, and Tinker Bell has her fairy dust. Imu's powers might just be a "corrupted" version of fairy dust. Maybe you even have to think "angry" thoughts to make the powers work, like Tinker Bell's "happy thoughts" powered abilities, which would explain why the Gorosei always seem so grumpy.
So, yeah...I think Imu could potentially be a parallel to Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. Imu could basically be a fleshed out version of that old "Don't you believe in fairies?" meme. And sure, Tinker Bell's green dress is exclusive to the Disney version of the character, but Oda's not above a bit of a Disney reference, I don't think.
And it kind of works on a slightly deeper level, too. Because Luffy and Nika actually work REALLY well as a Peter Pan parallel. They're all characters who love adventure and act childish seeking out fun. All are agents of chaos, in their own ways.
So, if Imu is Tinker Bell, and Luffy/Nika is Peter Pan, who are the other characters that Imu was looking at photos at back in Chapter 908? Lili/Vivi works pretty well for Wendy. Blackbeard makes a pretty decent Captain Hook. And Shirahoshi....admittedly Shirahoshi doesn't fit as well. But, Shirahoshi could be a stand in for Tiger Lily or the Unnamed Neverland Lagoon Mermaids.
And in the story, Peter Pan did banish Tinker Bell from Neverland for trying to hurt Wendy. Maybe Joyboy"banished" Imu in a similar way because Imu tried to hurt LIli? Peter didn't actually MEAN it, because Peter doesn't really MEAN anything. But, it hurt Tinker Bell's feelings and she ended up teaming up or being captured by Hook to get Wendy out of Neverland. Maybe Imu did something similar?
So, maybe Imu doesn't want Vivi because Imu had a crush on Lili. Maybe Imu is after Vivi because Imu had a rivalry with Lili over Nika, like how Tinker Bell was jealous of Wendy spending time with Peter? I mean...it'd be weird for Imu to keep a painting around of a person they hate, but some people do like to keep their obsessions close at hand. It's unlikely, but not impossible.
And Blackbeard has shown a lot of interest in taking over the world. So, maybe Blackbeard will eventually kidnap Imu the same way that Hook kidnapped Tinker Bell?
And the thing is, I've seen a few different evil Peter Pans in different media before. Probably due to the whole "child kidnapping" thing. But, I don't think I've EVER seen someone do a evil Tinker Bell before. She's just...too cute, I guess. So, this would actually be a little novel, if Oda is going in this direction. The backstory of this entire manga could basically boil down to a war between Pan and Tink!
But, just to be fair, here's one BIG thing that kind of ruins any credibility this overall "Shanks' War on Magic" thing could potentially have.
Shanks has Haki.
Like...a LOT of Haki.
Haki is still effectively "magic".
It'd be a little hypocritical if Shanks was trying to destroy magic, by using his OWN magic system to do it. Not impossible, but it does kind of disrupt the message a little.
If I do somehow manage to be right about this, I can point to this thread and go "See! See! I called it!" So, in the slim chance that I'm actually onto something, I want a record of it somewhere.
But, yeah, chances are this was all a LONG journey down the wrong path. But, hopefully, it was a interesting path to walk down, even if it did end in a dead end, probably. It's break week. I was bored. And this was entertaining to write. Hopefully, it was entertaining to read, even if it most likely turns out to be nothing but nonsense.
But...I can't really get it out of my head? And I kind of want to write it all down and see where it takes me. So, I 'm taking you all along with me!
Let's start this off with a observation that kind of informs the rest of this idea. All of the Red Hair Pirates are seemingly "normal" humans with no Devil Fruit powers.
Now that we know about the world flooding, this actually kind of makes sense. Shanks' crew is the only one who won't have to worry about drowning, now. But, it is fairly unusual for a high ranking Pirate crew. Shanks is the only person who went in this direction, possibly other than Roger himself.
But, I also find it interesting that there's no Fishmen, or Long Limbed Tribe, or any other race on Shanks' crew. Now, that's not really unusual. Honestly, Luffy's crew is kind of the odd one out when you compare it to everyone else's crew compositions. Most of the Pirate crews we know about are fully staffed with only humans. But, out of everyone else in the story, I feel like Shanks was the one who was most likely to mirror Luffy's crew in this regard, bringing different races together. And if his crew all being "normal" humans is JUST because of the flooding, then there really isn't any good reason NOT to recruit a Fishman or two, at least.
Now, I'm not saying that Shanks is "racist". He's on pretty good terms with the Giants, at least. Shanks doesn't seem to have a problem with the other races, as far as we can tell. His crew just happens to be made up of all humans.
But, I do wonder if Shanks could have a problem with "magic" or "unnatural" powers? Could there be a bigger reason for Shanks shunning Devil Fruit powers, other than just planning ahead for the flooding of the world? Could Shanks actually be working FOR "Mother Ocean"? Trying to restore the "natural balance" of the world that the Devil Fruit and other powers upset?
For example, the few times we've seen Shanks recently, he's been attacking other Pirate crews. He's already taken out Kid and Bartolomeo. These people have threatened the people under his protection. He's defending his territory, this all makes sense.
But, he's also made it a point to destroy their ships, in both instances. Again, this makes sense. If you want to make SURE a Pirate crew stays defeated, you take away their only way to move around from island to island.
But, what if that's not the only reason for Shanks to destroy these ships? What if Shanks is basically killing two birds with one stone?
What if Shanks is purposely destroying these pirate ships in order to destroy the Klabautermann that lives within them?
Klabatuermann seems to naturally form from any ship that is loved for any amount of time. We don't really know how much Kid loved his ship. But, I think we can assume Bartolomeo LOVED the Going Luffy-Senpai to pieces. Barto clearly put a lot of love into designing the ship at least. Which means, the Going Luffy-Senpai likely either ALREADY HAD or was in the process of FORMING a klaubatermann of it's own. (Sidenote: It would have been VERY interesting to see what the Going Luffy-Senpai's Klabatermann looked like. Could you imagine?)
So, could Shanks actually be targeting Klabautermann and hunting them down on purpose?
It's possible that Klabautermann are somehow key to claiming the One Piece Treasure. Maybe just wants to make sure he's the only one with a klabautermann so that no one else can get to Laugh Tale first.
Or, maybe there's some other stage that Klabautermann go through that makes them a danger? There is a theory out there that Imu could be the Klabauterman of the Space SHIP Earth. Maybe the klabautermann that we know about is only the "pupa" stage of this creature, and as it ages it eventually gains more powerful in it's "butterfly" form. So, maybe Shanks is just trying to prevent another Imu from being born.
And yes, a lot of this IS just me wanting klabautermann to come back into the story again. But, keep a eye on this. I think Oda might be hiding something along these lines right under our noses, like he often enjoys doing.
And then there's Shanks asking Barto to "poison" Luffy for him in Chapter 1126. We all assume this was just testing Barto's loyalty, because clearly Barto wasn't poisoned after he drank what was in the bottle.
But, one, why would Shanks do that? He's got his own crew, he probably LIKES Luffy, but why go so far to test random guys for how loyal they are to him? It's kind of Luffy's own business to maintain his own "crew". Not Shanks' problem.
And two...what if Barto just wasn't poisoned in the way we THINK he could have been?
What if what Shanks gave to Bartolomeo wasn't a "traditional" poison....but actually a Devil Fruit Cure? A way to remove a Devil Fruit user's powers?
Now, we've never heard of any such thing ever existing. In fact, by all accounts, it seems pretty likely that there's no way to reverse getting a Devil Fruit after you've eaten it. But, Oda does like to introduce things rather abruptly into the end of the story. He likes his twists. So, I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of Devil Fruit Cure could potentially exist.
Plus, does anyone else find it odd that Barto didn't try to use his Barrier ability to stop Yasopp's attack? Sure, it was a surprise attack from behind. But, we've seen Barto react pretty quickly to attacks in the past. Maybe Barto just got taken by surprise. Or maybe Barto TRIED to use his Barrier ability to stop Yasopp's shot...and he found out he couldn't use it anymore.
If the next time we see Barto, he "mysteriously" has lost his Devil Fruit powers, that could make for some VERY interesting drama down the line.
It would also explain why Shanks was so relaxed about blowing up Barto's ship if he seemed to actually kind of like Barto. If Shanks' poison removed Barto's Devil Fruit from his body, that means Barto can swim, so blowing up the ship is less of a sure-fire death sentence for him, now.
As for the why, maybe it's just as simple as Shanks wanting to take Luffy's Nika Fruit off the board. Shanks has potentially been talking to the Gorosei. It's possible he made some sort of deal with them to deal with Luffy, so they wouldn't have to, and prevent a all out war with the World Government from starting up. Maybe Shanks even got this Devil Fruit Cure from Imu or the Gorosei themselves. If anyone would know about something like this, it might be the people who have been around for hundreds of years. Or maybe Shanks simply wants the Nika Fruit for himself. There are multiple possibilities here.
Before we get to the last part of this thought experiment, here's a little bonus...SOMETHING to consider.
Is Shanks' name weird? I feel like Shanks' name is weird. It's not really a "traditional" name. I feel like it could be a reference to something, but I'm not sure what.
So, I got to thinking, what could Shanks' name mean? I laid awake at night thinking about this, like a normal healthy sane person.
"Shanks...Shanksu?...Shanks Su?...Zhang Zhu?....Sun Tzu?!"
Is it possible that Shanks' name is a reference to Sun Tzu, the author of the Art of War?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu
The names...sorta sound alike. Kinda. If you mumble. I mean, it's possible that Shanks is a bit more tactical and strategic than other pirates. Probably not on Blackbeard's level, but he's the villainous master manipulator of this manga. Shanks is probably at least the second most strategic Pirate captain around.
It's not a great fit otherwise. And there are other candidates, but those are even worse matches. So...I'm just going to throw this out there. Maybe someone else can figure out something about this that I can't. Maybe this will spark a thought in someone else, because I think it's a bit of a dead end right now. I can't figure it out if this actually goes anywhere, and it probably doesn't, but maybe someone else will have a thought about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Xiang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Xiu_(warlord)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zhu
Finally, lets talk about one of the bigger reasons why Shanks may be fighting against "magic", Imu. Imu has a bunch of seemingly "strange" magic, even for the One Piece world. Imu can seemingly lend their power to others, such as the Gorosei. And make them immortal.
I want to draw attention to another theory I've seen, because I'll be using something from their theory and taking it in another direction. Monkey D Monkey's "Imu has the Fruit Model Green Dragon" theory. All credit to them for bringing a few interesting tidbits to my attention. It's a good theory, check it out.
https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/forum/threads/imu-has-the-fruit-model-green-dragon.60078/
Now, this is less about the "Green Dragon" part of the theory and more about the Chinese Medicine Emotional Wheel information they give us. In Chinese, "Mu" corresponds to the emotion of anger and the color green. This is further supported by the sound "Mu" also being the sound effect for puffing out one's cheeks in anger, like one often sees in anime. Both things correspond to "anger" being a important part of Imu's character.
So, we have Imu. A character who has anger issues. Is associated with the color green. Can "empower" others. And has a connection with giving characters functional immortality. You know who that reminds me of?
That's right...Tinker Bell!
And this works...FAR better than it has any right to.
Imu likes to spend a lot of time in gardens, surrounded by butterflies. Which is kind of a stereotypical fairy thing to do.
Imu seems to be fairly (heh heh) short, as far as we can tell. Not Tontatta or pixie short, but still, she do be smol.
Imu can make the Gorosei "immortal" in a similar way to bringing children to Neverland does.
Also (spoilers for the book version) but at the end of the end of the story, Tinker Bell dies of old age. Which would actually make sense for Imu to die, if Imu's powers get taken away somehow, like what happened to Saturn. (Yeah, downer, I know)
Imu has her shadow Yokai powers she gives to the Gorosei, and Tinker Bell has her fairy dust. Imu's powers might just be a "corrupted" version of fairy dust. Maybe you even have to think "angry" thoughts to make the powers work, like Tinker Bell's "happy thoughts" powered abilities, which would explain why the Gorosei always seem so grumpy.
So, yeah...I think Imu could potentially be a parallel to Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. Imu could basically be a fleshed out version of that old "Don't you believe in fairies?" meme. And sure, Tinker Bell's green dress is exclusive to the Disney version of the character, but Oda's not above a bit of a Disney reference, I don't think.
And it kind of works on a slightly deeper level, too. Because Luffy and Nika actually work REALLY well as a Peter Pan parallel. They're all characters who love adventure and act childish seeking out fun. All are agents of chaos, in their own ways.
So, if Imu is Tinker Bell, and Luffy/Nika is Peter Pan, who are the other characters that Imu was looking at photos at back in Chapter 908? Lili/Vivi works pretty well for Wendy. Blackbeard makes a pretty decent Captain Hook. And Shirahoshi....admittedly Shirahoshi doesn't fit as well. But, Shirahoshi could be a stand in for Tiger Lily or the Unnamed Neverland Lagoon Mermaids.
And in the story, Peter Pan did banish Tinker Bell from Neverland for trying to hurt Wendy. Maybe Joyboy"banished" Imu in a similar way because Imu tried to hurt LIli? Peter didn't actually MEAN it, because Peter doesn't really MEAN anything. But, it hurt Tinker Bell's feelings and she ended up teaming up or being captured by Hook to get Wendy out of Neverland. Maybe Imu did something similar?
So, maybe Imu doesn't want Vivi because Imu had a crush on Lili. Maybe Imu is after Vivi because Imu had a rivalry with Lili over Nika, like how Tinker Bell was jealous of Wendy spending time with Peter? I mean...it'd be weird for Imu to keep a painting around of a person they hate, but some people do like to keep their obsessions close at hand. It's unlikely, but not impossible.
And Blackbeard has shown a lot of interest in taking over the world. So, maybe Blackbeard will eventually kidnap Imu the same way that Hook kidnapped Tinker Bell?
And the thing is, I've seen a few different evil Peter Pans in different media before. Probably due to the whole "child kidnapping" thing. But, I don't think I've EVER seen someone do a evil Tinker Bell before. She's just...too cute, I guess. So, this would actually be a little novel, if Oda is going in this direction. The backstory of this entire manga could basically boil down to a war between Pan and Tink!
But, just to be fair, here's one BIG thing that kind of ruins any credibility this overall "Shanks' War on Magic" thing could potentially have.
Shanks has Haki.
Like...a LOT of Haki.
Haki is still effectively "magic".
It'd be a little hypocritical if Shanks was trying to destroy magic, by using his OWN magic system to do it. Not impossible, but it does kind of disrupt the message a little.
If I do somehow manage to be right about this, I can point to this thread and go "See! See! I called it!" So, in the slim chance that I'm actually onto something, I want a record of it somewhere.
But, yeah, chances are this was all a LONG journey down the wrong path. But, hopefully, it was a interesting path to walk down, even if it did end in a dead end, probably. It's break week. I was bored. And this was entertaining to write. Hopefully, it was entertaining to read, even if it most likely turns out to be nothing but nonsense.
Last edited: