‘One Piece’: Does Shanks Have a Son?

Everyone knows that Shanks is one of the best characters from Oda’s One Piece series. And while Shanks’ story has yet to be fully revealed, the recent events in the series are slowly heading toward some big revelations regarding one of the franchise’s best and most popular characters. This article is going to discuss Shanks’ family, which has been in focus thanks to the recent revelations in the manga, which are tied to the events originally depicted in the One Piece Film: Red. Namely, while Shanks’ predecessors seem to be entering the spotlight, fans still wonder whether Shanks has any descendants. Uta’s story has been written about here on more than one occasion, and in this article, we are going to do something different – we are going to tell you whether Shanks has a son in One Piece.

No, Shanks does not have a son in One Piece. His only child in the series is Uta, who is his daughter, but even she is not his biological child. Uta is Shanks’ adopted daughter, and he finds her in a treasure chest he took from the pirates that pillaged Uta’s village and most probably killed her parents. The theory that Makino’s son is Shanks’ child does not seem to be true based on the other facts presented in the story.

The rest of the article will answer many relevant questions surrounding the character of Shanks and his family. You will find out everything you want to and need to know about the issue of whether Shanks actually has a son in the series, as we intend to answer some burning and interesting questions raised in the series, especially in relation to the recent manga revelations about Shanks’ family. If you don’t know the whole story of One Piece, we must warn you that there will be spoilers in the following paragraphs.

No, Shanks does not have a son, as far as the canon is concerned (at this point)

Shanks is undoubtedly one of the most popular One Piece characters. The emperor is not just powerful, but he has an awesome personality, and due to his close ties to Luffy, he is beloved by most, if not all, fans of the series. Now, while we do know that Shanks is powerful, we also know that his story is one big mystery, with his family history being an especially big and important enigma.

Namely, we know that he was born 39 years before the present timeline, but he was found as a one-year-old baby in a treasure chest by the Roger Pirates, who took him with them and raised him as one of their own. Until recently, his whole family history has been one big mystery, and while Oda definitely has a lot more to tell us, we now know (or think we know) just a bit more. Namely, as far as it seems, Shanks seems to be a member of the Figarland Family.

This was first implied by the Five Elders, who mentioned that Uta could be a member of the Figarland Family due to her connection (relation) to Shanks in the One Piece Film: Red. At that moment, though, we knew nothing of the Figarland Family, and since the movie itself wasn’t canon, many fans were skeptical about whether this fact would be relevant to the manga.

But, the recent chapters point to this fact’s extreme importance. Namely, we know that Shanks was found in a chest from God Valley, the location of an infamous incident from the history of Oda’s world, and it was confirmed that Saint Figarland Garling was the former king of God Valley, which means that there is a significant possibility that Shanks is his son or another close relative.

But, while these facts tell us more about Shanks’ ancestors and his own family, they do not tell us about his possible descendants. So far, Shanks has only one child, Uta, who is his adopted daughter. Uta was born 19 years before the present timeline in an unknown town. At some point, when she was two years old, Uta’s birthplace was attacked by pirates, who not only pillaged the place but also killed Uta’s parents and kidnapped the young girl, and took her with them.

While sailing, they stumbled upon Shank’s Red Hair Pirates, who attacked them and took their loot. In one of the chests, Shanks found the two-year-old Uta smiling cheerfully. Remembering his own past, Shanks decided to take Uta in and adopt her as his daughter, taking her on his journeys and adventures. This is how Uta met Luffy.

And now that we have told you this… does Shanks also have a son? No, he does not. As we’ve said, his only child is Uta, but even Uta is not his biological daughter. She is his adopted daughter. But where does the theory that Shanks has a son come from? Well, it is simply a fan theory, so we don’t have much to tell you here.

Remember Makino? From Luffy’s village? Yes. Remember how Makino has a son that looks just like her? Some fans think that this green-haired boy is Shanks’ son because Shanks seems to have a good relationship with Makino, and the boy has no father. But this is just a fan theory, really, as there is absolutely nothing in the story that confirms this.

First, the boy looks nothing like Shanks; his hair is also completely green, just like his mother’s. Secondly, as far as we know, Shanks was not in the village at the time, and while we don’t really know Shanks’ whereabouts for the whole story, he still cannot teleport, so it is unlikely that he was actually in the village at the time.

On top of that, facts introduced later in the story actually confirm that Shanks is not the boy’s father, and this seems to be just another false fan theory.