One Piece: Yes, Shanks is a Swordsman and Here’s Why!

We at Fiction Horizon have already established that Shanks is one of the best characters from Oda’s One Piece series. The red-haired pirate is an epic badass and one of the most beloved characters in the whole series. Many One Piece fans love Shanks, if not all, and that is why his fate in the series is a very hot topic in the fandom. And while Shanks has yet to make his grand appearance in which he would show his true and full potential, people keep asking questions about the great pirate, and in this article, we are going to tell you why Shanks can be considered a swordsman.

Aside from the fact that several official sources have stated that Shanks is a “master swordsman,” it was obvious that he was not simply a sword user but rather a swordsman. He does not have a Devil Fruit, and while he has enormous mastery of all three types of Haki, Shanks primarily fights with his sword, and since he is so dangerous, it can only be deduced that his skills with the blade are amazing.

The rest of this article is going to focus on Shanks and his powers and abilities. Our main goal in this article is to determine whether Shanks is an actual swordsman or simply a sword user in One Piece. If you don’t know the whole story of One Piece, we have to warn you that there are going to be spoilers in the following paragraphs.

Shanks is undoubtedly a swordsman, and he is one of the best

And while you’d think anyone who fights with a sword in One Piece can be classified as a swordsman, you’d be wrong. Namely, in the world of Oda’s manga, some characters can be described as simple sword users, and those that can be described as swordsmen. The difference is in the skill.

A sword user simply uses a sword but has no formal training in swordsmanship; they are rarely very skilled and would lose to any swordsman with ease. On the other hand, a swordsman has been trained in the various arts of swordsmanship and can be, in most cases, considered a master in this art. Knowing this, is Shanks a swordsman or a sword user?

Well, we have certainly seen Shanks fight with a sword, with some of his most epic clashes being those against Mihawk (the best swordsman in the world), Whitebeard (his former friend and Yonko), and Kid (most recently, where he managed to slice the powerful pirate captain with one easy mode, possibly even killing him). Shanks is undoubtedly powerful; if you remember, we have listed him among the strongest swordsmen in One Piece. Shanks was able to fight both Mihawk and Whitebeard on equal terms, proving that he is not only a swordsman but a master swordsman.

If you don’t believe us, several written publications have confirmed this, including the Four Billion magazine, a data book, an SBS, and a light novel. You can check out the full list and the scanned pages here. But, does the series itself confirm this?

Shanks’ saber is known by the name Gryphon. The Gryphon saber has a longer than typical handle made of green, with a beige hilt. Shanks keep it in a blue holster that is fastened to the right side of his waist. Gryphon is a strong sword that can compete with Edward Newgate’s bisento.

The energy of this struggle was so great that it broke the sky’s clouds in half, but the sword suffered no harm at all. He can withstand the lava of Sakazuki when covered in Haki. Shanks has wielded three different swords at different times in the past: two different swords as an apprentice pirate aboard Gol D. Roger’s ship and another while in Luffy’s hometown.

But, seeing how Shanks hasn’t been seen in a truly challenging fight so far, it’s unclear what his genuine fighting prowess is. He is regarded as one of the four most powerful pirates in the world, but as one of the Four Emperors of the New World, his raw physical power is considered vast. While some pirate captains quavered at the mere mention of Whitebeard’s name, Shanks had enough strength to stand up to the toughest man in the world and did not fear him.

Even though he only briefly exhibited his swordsmanship prowess, the fact that he could parry Whitebeard’s blow with just one arm speaks volumes about the power of his blows. Moreover, Shanks can use his sword and Armament Haki to block Akainu’s Magma Fist. Since Shanks is an old opponent of Mihawk, considered the world’s greatest swordsman, we can contrast their proficiency with the blade. Although he continues to grip his sword in his left hand in flashback scenes, Shanks appears to have preferred using his left arm before losing it. He is thought to have had a left hand.

Well, now that we have established that Shanks truly is a master swordsman, we can speculate as to why that is. It is known that Shanks does not have a Devil Fruit (at least, that is what we know at this moment), meaning that his natural skills and abilities are the main source of his powers and notoriety. He is a powerful Haki user, but Haki is not an effective offensive move when facing strong opponents, which means that Shanks definitely has to offer more. Seeing how he is a Yonko and is feared even by Blackbeard and respected by the Five Elders, he must be powerful.

And while Shanks is definitely a unique combination of powers in the series, we have to confirm that he had to be a master swordsman because that is his main forte, individually. He is a mixture of different skills and techniques. Still, individually, his swordsmanship skills are above average, and he could, in that aspect, defeat almost every other character in the series. This focus makes sense, seeing how Oda did not give Shanks any special abilities.