One Piece: Is Shanks a God’s Knight?

We at Fiction Horizon have already established that Shanks is one of the best characters from Oda’s One Piece series. 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 answer one of them. We know that some time ago, Shanks visited the Five Elders, which shocked a lot of fans, and with Oda not revealing any additional information, this situation has mostly been forgotten. But, with the recent revelation of the God’s Knights, Shanks’ relationship to the World Government is once again in the spotlight, and we are going to tell you whether Shanks is a God’s Knight or not.

A silhouette of the God’s Knights revealed a character that looks a lot like Shanks in many ways, but it is currently unknown whether he is a God’s Knight. It currently seems unlikely that it is truly Shanks, so it could just be someone looking like Shanks or even a clone of his (which wouldn’t be strange), but we’ll have to wait and see to know the definitive answer to this question.

The rest of this article will focus on Shanks and his relationship with God’s Knights and the World Government in general. Our main goal in this article is to determine whether Shanks could be one of God’s Knights, as shown in one of the panels of the most recent One Piece chapter. 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.

The God’s Knights have finally been introduced

The God’s Knights were mentioned for the first time in Chapter 1054, but nothing particular was revealed about them at that point. Sakazuki mentioned them while discussing the recent attack on Mary Geoise executed by the growing power of the Revolutionary Army.

Sakazuki mentioned that the mere fact that the God’s Knights are summoned poses a problem for them, the Marines, which means that the God’s Knights are an organization that holds more power than the Marines, which is impressive. Also, it seems that God’s Knights have jurisdiction over disagreements arising between the World Nobles, which shows just how much power they hold.

After Sabo and the Revolutionary Army launched the surprise attack on Mary Geoise, which was an unprecedented move, and came out victorious, the Holy Land was in complete chaos and it was obvious to the World Government that the Marines weren’t enough to take care of the issue.

During the attack, an unknown perpetrator tried to assassinate Saint Charlos, and Saint Mjosgard was suspected of letting him escape. Instead of the Marines investigating the whole affair, the God’s Knights were summoned to take over the investigation, to which the Marines reacted with a lot of concern.

Nothing was said about them again until Chapter 1083, when Monkey D. Dragon and Emporio Ivankov discussed the attack’s aftermath on Mary Geoise. Dragon was quite aware of the existence of God’s Knights, and he mentioned the possibility that the group could be mobilized to intervene after the Revolutionary Army’s successful attack on the Holy Land.

We then got a glimpse of their silhouettes, as it was implied that Monkey D. Dragon was well-acquainted with the group and the identities of its members (it could be that Oda simply revealed that unrelated to what Dragon was saying, but it did not seem like it from our perspective).

It was quite clear that the God’s Knights were something of a trump card of the World Government, as even Monkey D. Dragon spoke of them with respect. The fact that the World Government doesn’t utilize them unless there is a major crisis speaks for itself, and it seems that Dragon was well-aware of that fact.

He also commented how the God’s Knights could make Sabo their primary target, as he was not only the leader of the attack on Mary Geoise but also a new symbol of hope for the people, which made him exceptionally dangerous. He also hinted that the Revolutionary Army would have to face the God’s Knights soon, possibly foreshadowing another major battle in the series.

It has been confirmed by both Sakazuki and Monkey D. Dragon the God’s Knights hold more power and authority than them; they are exclusively tied to Mary Geoise, but their power there is much bigger than that of the Marines.

It is not actually known how powerful they are in terms of regular physical powers and abilities, but from everything we’ve gathered, they are quite powerful. Sakazuki openly dislikes them, while Dragon is quite cautious about them and does not think too lightly of them. This would make them one of the most powerful groups in the series as a whole.

Shanks’ connection to the World Government remains a mystery

Now, the silhouette suggests that there are at least nine God’s Knights in the series and one of them looks a lot like Shanks, which has prompted fans to ask whether Shanks is one of their members. Although it is impossible to rule it out at this point, it doesn’t seem to be likely but allows us to elaborate.

The first thing that most people mention here is Shanks’ mysterious and unexplained meeting with the Five Elders. It is highly unusual for a pirate to meet with the Five Elders in such a manner, especially because they seem to show great respect towards Shanks, even though he is a Yonko and, thus, their mortal enemy. Sure, we have also stated that it was Shanks, and everyone thought that the Five Elders knew Shanks’ strength and respected him because of that, but these new revelations could shed new light on that meeting.

Namely, fans will know that Shanks was, in that panel, portrayed without his trademark scar. Sure, it was Shanks, but a vital part of him was actually missing. On top of that, we know that Shanks is a very mysterious character and while he has been an ally of Luffy and an ally of the pirates in general, it has been seen that some of his actions aren’t always… straightforward and that they could be interpreted differently; this is a great thing in terms of character development, but it makes our job all the more difficult.

Now, it could be, as Oda stated, that he simply forgot to draw the scar in this panel, but it could also be that this wasn’t Shanks. When asked about it, Oda did not deny that there could be “two” Shanks’ in the series, although he did not confirm it either. Sure, no one really entertained this back then, but with the silhouettes now seen, it could very well be that this Shanks wasn’t the one we know but rather a copy or a clone or someone who looks a lot like Shanks (perhaps a relative of is that we do not know about?).

The thing with Shanks is that he is a very mysterious figure. We know a lot about him, but there’s even more that we do not know about him. From that point of view, and knowing Oda’s narrative approach, it could very well be that God’s Knights are going to reveal something new and important related to Shanks.

We don’t really think it would make much sense for him to actually be the guy shown in the panel (see above), as it would change this character a lot and would demand a major reinterpretation of the whole story up to that point (it would simply raise too many questions, and we’d have to go back to his debut to reinterpret some scenes and explain some of Shanks’ actions unless Oda actually provides us with a proper explanation himself), and it just doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do.

The possibility that the World Government is having a copy, a clone, or a relative of Shanks’ seems more likely from a narrative-stand point. It would be shocking and a great revelation, but it wouldn’t completely change a character in his core and it wouldn’t demand any retroactive reinterpretation of Shanks’ story as we have seen it up to this point. We don’t know if this is true or not, but it seems like the smarter option when compared to the first theory.

Finally, it could also be that the silhouette was just a tease and that Oda did it intentionally to fool the fans, which wouldn’t be anything unusual, really. The silhouette is highly suggestive, we have to give him that, but it could very well be that he simply did it like that intentionally and that the character only has a vague similarity to Shanks but actually looks completely different. These are the possible theories, and the good thing here is that God’s Knights will probably be revealed soon, so we won’t have to wait too long to find out the truth.