In One Piece, the strongest conquerors are those who have multiple conquerors beneath them. Just look at:
All of the legendary pirate have not just one conqueror under them. They have multiple. I think this is an important distinction because Kaido, BM, and post wano Luffy all have a single conqueror under them: Doffy, Katakuri, and Zoro. Yet neither of them are elevated to the level of the above 3.
That brings us to Shanks. I believe that as a major contender for One Piece and basically the Roger of the mid generation, Shanks should have multiple conquerors beneath him. Specifically, I believe those conquerors are:
I have two major reasonings behind this theory:
1. Shanks's portrayal
Shanks is the Roger of the mid generation. There is no question about that. Amongst all of the yonko, none bar WB have ever received hype on the level of Shanks's. Even look at Kaido. Shanks has barely had any screen time and his haki feats already seem much more impressive than Kaido's.
I believe that by destroying Kid's will and causing him to join the RHP, Oda will put Shanks above Kaido as well. As we know, Kaido also defeated Kid, tortured him, and tried to break Kid's will. However he was never successful. He was also unsuccessful at taming Yamato and Luffy. The only conqueror he ever got to submit to him was Doffy and its unclear to what degree Doffy even followed him, as on paper, he wasn't a beast pirate.
If Shanks is successful on the other hand, it will show that he is one of the greatest conquerors. By doing this, Oda will be raising the stakes. The new opponents that Luffy is going up against, Shanks and Teach, are on a different level from the old gen yonko that were just defeated in wano. This will show that despite beating Kaido, Luffy is still the underdog in the race for One Piece, creating a more compelling narrative.
Also, if Kid, a 3 billion berry pirate, joins the RHP, it would undeniably boost Shanks's bounty, likely to the 5 billions. Again, this would indicate an increase in stakes and would re-affirm Shanks's portrayal.
One thing many people were able to pick up on with the end of chapter 1079, is that this scenario perfectly mirrors the experience Luffy went through at sabaody. In both instances, Luffy and Kid were crushed. However, as we established, Kid isn't Luffy, he is a failed version of Luffy.
Luffy took a massive loss in Sabaody, Impel Down, and Marineford. This loss effected him so much that for the first time in the series, Luffy nearly lost resolve to become King of the Pirates. However, the thing that ultimately saved him was the fact that he still had his crew.
I think that the most logical route for Oda to take Kid's character would be for him to experience the same thing as Luffy, but to not have the support of his crew and ultimately lose his will to become Pirate King. What I think will happen is that Killer died in 1079. This is Kid's equivalent to Ace's death. However, I think in addition to this, his remaining crew will either have also perished, or will abandon him due to his recklessness and weakness. I believe this will ultimately cause Kid to lose his will to become pirate king.
What will he do from there? Well after sabaody and marineford, the SHs had a 2 year timeskip where they momentarily put aside their ambitions to train and become stronger.
I believe Kid will have a paralleled, but very different experience. Kid will lay down his dream of becoming pirate king for good, deciding instead to follow Shanks with the ultimate goal of surpassing him and killing him. Shanks will offer to teach Kid the advanced versions of haki, allowing Kid to become stronger and get closer to his goal of killing shanks. In return for this, Shanks will require that Kid follow him as a subordinate until he is capable of defeating him.
Ultimately, in contrast to Luffy overcoming his grief and momentarily putting aside pursuing PK in order to train, Kid will be overcome by his grief. So much so that it will overshadow his ambitions for PK. Kid's only goal post 1079 will be to avenge Killer and kill Shanks. The only way he will be able to proceed is by resigning his PK ambitions to Shanks, becoming a RHP, and accepting Shanks's training. This will complete Kid's arc as a failed version of Luffy and ultimately re-affirm why the SHs are so important to Luffy's goal of becoming PK.
I think Kid will be a pawn in Shanks's larger game to become PK. After having crushed his will and destroyed his dreams, Shanks will use Kid as a weapon against Teach, Luffy, and Buggy in order to further his own interests. I think Kid would be very useful to Shanks under this circumstance. Look at Shanks's archenemy, Teach.
Teach has 10 commanders:
Now look at the RHP commanders:
Kid would offer the RHP something similar to what Aokiji offers Teach. He would be a massive powerhouse of less than good intentions that Shanks would keep on a leash. With advanced haki training, Kid would even be able to match Aokiji in power, thereby closing the gap between the RHP and BBP.
Anyways that's the theory, hope y'all enjoyed it.
- Roger
- Rayleigh
- Oden
- Shanks
- Xebec
- WB
- Kaido
- BM
- WB
- Oden
- Ace
All of the legendary pirate have not just one conqueror under them. They have multiple. I think this is an important distinction because Kaido, BM, and post wano Luffy all have a single conqueror under them: Doffy, Katakuri, and Zoro. Yet neither of them are elevated to the level of the above 3.
That brings us to Shanks. I believe that as a major contender for One Piece and basically the Roger of the mid generation, Shanks should have multiple conquerors beneath him. Specifically, I believe those conquerors are:
- Ben Beckman
- Eustass Kid
I have two major reasonings behind this theory:
- to re-emphasize Shanks's portrayal as the Roger of his generation
- to re-emphasize Kid's portrayal as a failed version of Luffy
1. Shanks's portrayal
Shanks is the Roger of the mid generation. There is no question about that. Amongst all of the yonko, none bar WB have ever received hype on the level of Shanks's. Even look at Kaido. Shanks has barely had any screen time and his haki feats already seem much more impressive than Kaido's.
- The wi-fi haki he used on GB
- The future sight against Kid
- The fact he matched WB in an ACoC clash, the same WB who matched Roger
- Inherited the straw hat
- inspired Luffy to be pirate king
- ended the marineford war
- Spoke to the gorosei in mariejois
I believe that by destroying Kid's will and causing him to join the RHP, Oda will put Shanks above Kaido as well. As we know, Kaido also defeated Kid, tortured him, and tried to break Kid's will. However he was never successful. He was also unsuccessful at taming Yamato and Luffy. The only conqueror he ever got to submit to him was Doffy and its unclear to what degree Doffy even followed him, as on paper, he wasn't a beast pirate.
If Shanks is successful on the other hand, it will show that he is one of the greatest conquerors. By doing this, Oda will be raising the stakes. The new opponents that Luffy is going up against, Shanks and Teach, are on a different level from the old gen yonko that were just defeated in wano. This will show that despite beating Kaido, Luffy is still the underdog in the race for One Piece, creating a more compelling narrative.
Also, if Kid, a 3 billion berry pirate, joins the RHP, it would undeniably boost Shanks's bounty, likely to the 5 billions. Again, this would indicate an increase in stakes and would re-affirm Shanks's portrayal.
2. Kid's portrayal
Kid is a failed version of Luffy. He was very obviously introduced with many similarities to Luffy. However while some took these similarities to mean that he was some sort of major rival of Luffy's, its now very clear that his similarities to Luffy exist to emphasize his role as a failed version of Luffy's.One thing many people were able to pick up on with the end of chapter 1079, is that this scenario perfectly mirrors the experience Luffy went through at sabaody. In both instances, Luffy and Kid were crushed. However, as we established, Kid isn't Luffy, he is a failed version of Luffy.
Luffy took a massive loss in Sabaody, Impel Down, and Marineford. This loss effected him so much that for the first time in the series, Luffy nearly lost resolve to become King of the Pirates. However, the thing that ultimately saved him was the fact that he still had his crew.
I think that the most logical route for Oda to take Kid's character would be for him to experience the same thing as Luffy, but to not have the support of his crew and ultimately lose his will to become Pirate King. What I think will happen is that Killer died in 1079. This is Kid's equivalent to Ace's death. However, I think in addition to this, his remaining crew will either have also perished, or will abandon him due to his recklessness and weakness. I believe this will ultimately cause Kid to lose his will to become pirate king.
What will he do from there? Well after sabaody and marineford, the SHs had a 2 year timeskip where they momentarily put aside their ambitions to train and become stronger.
I believe Kid will have a paralleled, but very different experience. Kid will lay down his dream of becoming pirate king for good, deciding instead to follow Shanks with the ultimate goal of surpassing him and killing him. Shanks will offer to teach Kid the advanced versions of haki, allowing Kid to become stronger and get closer to his goal of killing shanks. In return for this, Shanks will require that Kid follow him as a subordinate until he is capable of defeating him.
Ultimately, in contrast to Luffy overcoming his grief and momentarily putting aside pursuing PK in order to train, Kid will be overcome by his grief. So much so that it will overshadow his ambitions for PK. Kid's only goal post 1079 will be to avenge Killer and kill Shanks. The only way he will be able to proceed is by resigning his PK ambitions to Shanks, becoming a RHP, and accepting Shanks's training. This will complete Kid's arc as a failed version of Luffy and ultimately re-affirm why the SHs are so important to Luffy's goal of becoming PK.
Shanks's endgame
But why would Shanks do this? Why would he accept someone as violent as Kid, who he knows hates him and wants him dead?I think Kid will be a pawn in Shanks's larger game to become PK. After having crushed his will and destroyed his dreams, Shanks will use Kid as a weapon against Teach, Luffy, and Buggy in order to further his own interests. I think Kid would be very useful to Shanks under this circumstance. Look at Shanks's archenemy, Teach.
Teach has 10 commanders:
- Burgess
- Shiryu
- Laffite
- Van Augur
- Avalo Pizarro
- Catarina Devon
- Sanjuan Wolf
- Vasco Shot
- Doc Q (and Stronger)
- 10th commander
Now look at the RHP commanders:
- Ben Beckman
- Lucky Roo
- Yasopp
- Limejuice
- Bonk Punch(and Monster)
- Building Snake
- Hongo
- Gab
Kid would offer the RHP something similar to what Aokiji offers Teach. He would be a massive powerhouse of less than good intentions that Shanks would keep on a leash. With advanced haki training, Kid would even be able to match Aokiji in power, thereby closing the gap between the RHP and BBP.
Anyways that's the theory, hope y'all enjoyed it.
