One Piece: Shanks Will Never Get His Arm Back; Here’s Why Fans Think Otherwise!

Shanks is a well-known One Piece character and one of the most popular ones. He is one of the Four Emperors, served as a mentor and role model for Luffy, and gave the young pirate his trademark straw hat. On top of that, Shanks also sacrificed his left hand to save Luffy from a Sea King and has been without it ever since. And while Shanks is unlikely to get his hand back, we will tell you why some fans think he will.

Shanks will not get his arm back in One Piece as there is no way a character who lost a limb can regain it naturally; One Piece simply isn’t that story. His arm was bitten off and eaten by a Sea King, so it is lost forever, and Shanks doesn’t seem like someone who’d use a prosthetic arm. Some fans think that Shanks could take Kidd’s arm, but that doesn’t seem likely, knowing Shanks.

The rest of this article will recount the tale of how Shanks lost his left arm, i.e., what happened and how it happened. We will then tell you what the implications of this scene are, i.e., why the chances of Shanks getting his arm back are basically impossible, but we’ll also explain why some fans think that he could actually get it back. This article will contain a small number of spoilers, so be careful how you approach it, although we won’t reveal too much about the plot.

Shanks won’t get his arm back, but some fans disagree

Well, we are, of course, first going to tell you how Shanks lost his arm in the first place. After another one of his travels, Shanks’ crew returned and headed to Partys Bar, outside of which he saw Woop Slap and Makino, whom he asked why there was no one waiting for them at the port but stopped as soon as he saw that someone was holding the Luffy’s head on the ground, wondering what was happening.

He then recognized that they were the criminals he had already encountered once and made fun of the child, remembering that he had told him that his fist was more deadly than a gun. Luffy then told him to shut up. Higuma told them he didn’t know what they wanted and advised them to run away before they got hurt. Shanks advanced, so the robber declared that if he came any closer, he would be a dead man, also calling him a coward.

One of the enemy’s subordinates pointed a gun at his head, asking him if he hadn’t heard and telling him not to take another step or else he would make his head fly. Shanks replied that, having drawn the gun, he was ready to risk his life. The man didn’t understand, so he explained that it wasn’t a threat, as Lucky Roux killed the robber with a bullet to the head.

Shanks told his enemies that they were dealing with pirates and that they would not forgive them for hurting his friends. Higuma then laughed loudly at what Shanks said and ordered his subordinates to kill them all. Benn Beckman then told him to leave them to him, claiming that he alone would be enough; in fact, he quickly defeated them all.

He then pointed his gun at Higuma. The robber tried to justify himself by saying that the child had provoked them, but Shanks replied that, even if things had gone like this, he was still a wanted man with a price on his head. Higuma then resorted to a smoke bomb and disappeared, taking Luffy with him. Shanks admitted that he was distracted and pointed out that Luffy had been kidnapped, asking his subordinates what they could do.

Makino revealed to him that Luffy had defended his crew when Higuma was speaking badly about them. Shanks then noticed Luffy in the sea and that he was about to be devoured by a Sea King who had just done the same to Higuma and intervened to help him, losing his left arm in the process. The pirate resorted to using Conqueror’s Haki to scare the beast away, which, terrified, did exactly that.

Then he thanked Luffy for standing up for them, telling him that Makino had revealed what happened to him. He then told him not to cry because he was a man after all, but the child became even more desperate since Shanks had lost his arm. The latter told him that it was nothing, being happy that he was safe.

As you can see, the story of Shanks losing his arm is quite emotional, as he did it to save Luffy. And while characters who lost their limbs cannot regain them in One Piece, some fans don’t agree (credits to Reddit user diggels):

Hearing Kid have a hard time in the new world, with him getting chased by BM for injuring one of her commanders, getting his arm cut off by shanks crew ,and recently this thing with kaido.

Shank’s crew taking kid’s arm makes sense!

When was the last time we saw Shanks – with a cloak covering his arm back in the Reverie Arc.

Know it sounds a bit far fetched because he needed the cloak that time- but it could happen later in the story.

Wouldn’t that be the best way to fix one of Oda’s major plotholes which he never wanted?

Giving Shanks two hands to become a better end game boss. Plus it makes Kid a central character look cool.

Might be an interesting plot device for Kid too in future arcs.

(Source)

This might seem like an entertaining theory in light of the recent fight between Shanks and Kidd, but knowing Shanks, he wouldn’t do that. His crew might end up stealing Kidd’s arm, but they would do it for fun, not because Shanks would use it. Shanks isn’t the type of character to resort to such things, as he has proven himself capable enough of maintaining the same level of power even without the arm.