Kid vs. Shanks: Who Would Win in a Fight?

One Piece is undoubtedly a series that has its fair share of strong and powerful characters. Due to these characters’ powers and abilities, we can use more than enough characters for our comparisons. The protagonists of this comparison will be Eustass Kid, one of the most formidable members of the “Worst Generation,” and Shanks, one of the Yonko, both of who are among the best swordsmen in the world of One Piece. In this article, we will analyze the two, as we will pit Eustass Kid against Shanks to finally determine who the stronger and better swordsman is.

Shanks would and, from what we know, has already beaten Eustass Kid. Eustass Kid lost his arm and received his scars earlier in the story while confronting Shanks’ pirate crew a while back; it is not known whether Shanks personally did it or not, but it is known that Eustass Kid is aware that Shanks is stronger but still wants to battle the legendary pirate.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we will compare Shanks and Eustass Kid in more detail. Through several categories, you will see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Shanks would ultimately be able to defeat Kid in a direct fight.

Physical powers

Kid has shown enormous strength, being able to carry dozens of gigantic rocks in a very short time on practically equal terms with Luffy while wearing handcuffs containing sea stone and with only one arm. He also defeated Dobon, a leader of the Beasts Pirates, along with Luffy with great ease, all with the aforementioned disadvantages. He is also strong enough to destroy a ship with the help of Luffy and Law.

He also possesses enormous stamina, as he could withstand a direct punch from Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, who he sent flying right after with the power of her fruit. He was shown to be able to gain enormous weight from ingested food and, like Luffy, quickly digest it to return to her normal form. It is unknown if it is due to some ability of his or if it was just a comical moment.

Shanks’ abilities remain unknown, as he has yet to be seriously engaged in battle. However, as a member of the Four New World Emperors, his raw physical power is believed to be immense, and he is known to be one of the four strongest characters in the world. Shanks did not fear even Whitebeard, the strongest pirate in the world, and even had enough strength to stand against him, while some pirate captains trembled at the mere mention of his name.

As one of the Yonko, Shanks is definitely stronger than Eustass Kid, as he is one of the most powerful characters in the whole series. This means that Shanks gets this point easily.

Points: Kid 0, Shanks 1

Devil Fruit

Kid ate the Jiki Jiki no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit connected to magnetism that allows him to attract and repel metal objects at high speed as if his body were a huge and powerful magnet. Thanks to this, he can repel bullets and return them to his shooter or attract all the metal in the area and create huge limbs, such as arms, to hit his enemies or block attacks, such as a laser beam from a Pacifista.

In addition, he has a great physical condition to resist the extra weight of those metals. Kid can launch compressed scrap bullets at high speed in the Unlimited Cruise game. Kid can also attract himself to metal structures using his metal arm as a magnet, providing him with air travel.

Shanks is the only one among the Four Emperors that doesn’t have Devil Fruit powers, as he has never eaten one; from what we can gather, it seems that Shanks never had any desire to eat a Devil Fruit whatsoever.

As is usual in this category, the character with the Devil Fruit always wins the point if the other character doesn’t have a Devil Fruit. Since Shanks doesn’t have one, as far as we know, Kid wins this point.

Points: Kid 1, Shanks 1

Haki

Kid can use all three types of Haki, one shown non-canon. Kid can use Kenbunshoku Haki, being able to detect Luffy after he activates his awakening. Kid can use Busoshoku Haki, but its level of use is unknown. In One Piece: Stampede, Kid he was able to harden two metallic arms that he created with Busoshoku Haki. Kaidou revealed that Kid possesses Haoshoku Haki. In the anime, Kid uses it to intimidate various members of the Beasts Pirates, showing that he can use it consciously.

Shanks can use all three types of Haki. Even Whitebeard complimented him on his Haki when he used it during his “visit.” He demonstrated the use of Royal Haki and Armament Haki. When Shanks and Whitebeard clashed, the “heavens” above them split apart, showing the incredible power of Armament Haki that both Emperors had imbued on their weapons.

He imbued Armament Haki onto his blade during the Battle of Marineford in order to deflect an Akainu attack in the style of a Logia. Shanks has a rather strong degree of Observation Haki because he notices a weird presence among the Wano County residents. Moreover, Shanks has access to the one-in-a-million power of Royal Haki.

He used his Haki and an angry expression to scare the sea monster away after freeing Luffy from it. Later, as Shanks enters Whitebeard’s ship, many of Whitebeard’s men—seasoned warriors who had survived in the New World—have already been rendered unconscious by his super-effective Royal Haki, and the ship has even started to sustain physical damage from Shanks’ mere presence, demonstrating the extent of his strength.

And while both of them can use all three types of Haki, there is absolutely no doubt that Shanks’ Haki skills surpass those of Eustass Kid in every way possible, which is why, ultimately, Shanks wins this point.

Points: Kid 1, Shanks 2

Weapons

Around his torso, he carries a pistol and a purple-handled dagger. Despite having drawn the latter on several occasions, he never actually did it in combat, so her abilities with it are unknown until now. At some point during the timeskip, his left arm was replaced with a metallic one, making him a cyborg. The ability this new arm grants him is as yet unknown, but he is able to combine it with his Devil Fruit abilities.

Shanks is usually portrayed as a great swordsman. Shanks can be presumed to be an extremely skilled swordsman, given that Mihawk is the best swordsman in the world and is his old opponent. Although there is speculation that the redhead once used dual swords, which would account for Mihawk’s lack of interest in fighting him after losing his arm and would match the double swords of the redhead’s Jolly Roger, it is assumed that the redhead preferred his left arm before losing it because he is always depicted holding his sword in his left hand during flashbacks.

And while Kid is definitely not someone to be underestimated in this aspect, it is Shanks who takes this final point as well because he is an exceptionally proficient swordsman on Mihawk’s level.

Points: Kid 1, Shanks 3

Eustass Kid vs. Shanks: Who would win?

The points clearly confirm that Shanks would be able to defeat Eustass Kid in a direct fight, and that is absolutely correct. Eustass Kid is simply not on Shanks’ level, and while he definitely is a formidable fighter whose abilities cannot be underestimated, Shanks is simply too powerful; this is also confirmed by the fact that Shanks and his crew are responsible for the loss of Kid’s arm and his scars, which additionally confirms our conclusions in this particular case.