'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABeAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAYQAAICAQQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEDAgQABQYSIREiMQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgYRAAMBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQAERL/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMK7cWq6BFFVNqy2dlzUte2wybGxTxnEsJPtIGZ7yKe/dx15FMb9vismA8OI6j18GMZPSo9s8moxYkEknno03jmzNNvhnT1iAB73/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
One Piece 1076 left fans in amazement with the unexpected appearance of the iconic Red Hair Pirates on the island of Elbaf. It seems that a major turn of events is about to feature them, involving them in a fight against the Kid Pirates.
Shanks has recently declared to his second-in-command, Benn Beckman, that he has decided to compete for the One Piece. With Kid and his men having arrived in Elbaf with warlike intentions, the two crews are likely to collide. Despite Kid and Killer's status as prominent Supernovas of the Worst Generation, they will have a hard time against the Red Hair Pirates.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1076 and reflects the writer's personal views.
Few groups in One Piece have the same presence as the Red Hair Pirates
An overview of the crew
The Red Hair Pirates are the most balanced group among the Yonko crews. All their members, including the lesser officers, are fearsome pirates in their own right. They rely on Haki mastery rather than on the usage of Devil Fruit abilities.
Several years ago, the Red Hair Pirates attacked a World Government ship and stole the Gom-Gom, a Paramecia-type Fruit. It is yet to be revealed if they were aware of Gom-Gom being the Nika-Nika, a Mythical Zoan Fruit, in reality.
The Red Hair Pirates used to relax in Foosha Village, where they met and eventually befriended Luffy. Only a kid at the time, Luffy became fascinated with them. At one point, he erroneously ate the alleged Gom-Gom Fruit.
Two years ago, the Red Hair Pirates intercepted Kaido, who, assisted by his right-hand man, King, tried to attack Whitebeard, who was about to confront the Navy with the aim of rescuing Ace. Shanks and his men later went to Marineford and succeeded in ending the ongoing battle.
"Red Hair" Shanks is the captain of the crew. He started his pirate career as an apprentice in the Roger Pirates, eventually creating his own crew and becoming a Yonko. He is the group's chief, with overall authority over the crew.
Benn Beckman is the crew's first mate. He is Shanks' right-hand man and the most powerful among the senior officers of the Red Hair Pirates. Below him rank Yasopp and Lucky Roux. The rest of the crew is composed of seasoned pirates.
The Red Hair Pirates share many parallels with Roger Pirates and Straw Hat Pirates. Shanks was an apprentice to Roger and later became a role model and mentor to Luffy. They are all connected through a straw hat that Roger left to Shanks, who, in turn, gifted it to Luffy.
In these crews, the second-in-commands are close in strength to the respective captains (Rayleigh to Roger, Benn to Shanks, and Zoro to Luffy) and act as loyal brothers to them. Moreover, the other members are also high-caliber individuals.
Throughout the series, Shanks has always maintained a neutral position, seeking balance and a diplomatic resolution of conflicts. However, the Red Hair Pirates aren't necessarily peaceful. When the Kid Pirates challenged them, they brutally crushed them.
Shanks recently declared to Benn his intention to partake in the rush for the One Piece. Hence, the Red Hair Pirates will likely take on everyone who competes for the same accomplishment.
Shanks, the captain
Shanks started his career as an apprentice in the Roger Pirates. He eventually created his crew and became a great pirate, worthy of being included among the Four Emperors and becoming the role model who inspired Luffy to start his own adventure.
As narrated in One Piece's prolog, Luffy decided to become a pirate after being impressed with Shanks, who sacrificed his arm to protect him. Shanks entrusted Luffy with the straw hat that Roger gifted him. He has always been shown to be happy with Luffy's accomplishments. However, his true goals and motivations are yet to be revealed. His mutually respectful terms with the World Government are certainly uncommon for a pirate.
Shanks' reputation for strength is immense. Even Ryokugyu, a Marine Admiral, was scared to fight against him. After Shanks released his Conqueror's Haki, Ryokugyu felt he was outmatched and decided to give up without even attempting to fight back.
The captain of the the Red Hair Pirates wields a sword called Gryphon, a large saber which he can coat in a flaming aura. He can use his Conqueror's Haki to overwhelm his foes, preventing them from using Future Sight. This capability earned him the moniker of "The Observation Killer."
Shanks is one of the few characters who can fight on equal grounds with Dracule Mihawk, the World's Strongest Swordsman. Their ferocious battles became famous throughout the entire Grand Line. Even the mighty Whitebeard acknowledged those clashes as legendary.
After Shanks lost his left arm to save Luffy, Mihawk becomes uninterested in fighting him. Still, the former maintained enough strength to clash on par with Whitebeard as well as block a magma-enhanced punch from Admiral Akainu.
The connection between Shanks and Mihawk is, for all purposes, an analogy to the rivalry between Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard. Just like them, Shanks and Mihawk have a friendly relationship outside of combat, getting along despite their opposing personalities.
Usually easygoing and carefree, Shanks is also a peaceful individual. He despises needless bloodshed. However, he completely changes his attitude when people dear to him are threatened.
Benn Beckman, the second-in-command
Benn is the vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates. Within the crew, he is the second strongest below Shanks and the only one whose power is, at least to a certain extent, close to that of the latter.
Benn's fighting capabilities have indeed been directly compared to those of Shanks. Undoubtedly, he is the person Shanks can rely on the most. He is sort of brother-in-arm to him, like Zoro to Luffy and Rayleigh to Roger.
Benn is fast and physically strong. Moreover, he is incredibly ingenious. One Piece author Eiichiro Oda declared that Benn is the smartest among all the characters featured in the East Blue Saga.
It was stated that Benn's Haki is comparable, if not superior, to that of the Marine Admirals. This overwhelming power allows him to turn a flintlock rifle into a fearsome weapon. By shooting Haki-enhanced bullets, he can penetrate any enemy.
Even Kizaru, a Marine Admiral, didn't dare to confront Benn when the latter had him held at gunpoint. At one point in the series, Benn inflicted a crushing defeat on Worst Generation member Eustass Kid. he not only beat Kid but also mutilated his left arm.
Lucky Roux
Lucky Roux is the third most powerful member of the Red Hair Pirates. Within the crew, his strength is only inferior to Shanks and Benn Beckman. A relaxed man who enjoys eating, Roux is ready to kill without a second thought if someone dares to threaten Shanks.
Despite having a large round body, Lucky Roux can move with remarkable quickness. He is frequently depicted with a flintlock pistol. At the beginning of the One Piece series, he used it to kill a person who menaced Shanks.
The cook of the crew, Lucky Roux possesses strong legs and is awkward with women, despite his attempts to approach them. Sharing these parallels with Sanji, Roux seems to be his counterpart within the Red Hair Pirates.
Yasopp
Yasopp is one of the of the most prominent officers of the Red Hair Pirates. He is the father of Usopp and a sniper, even more skilled than his son. Yasopp met Shanks many years ago and decided to follow him. Becoming a pirate, Yasopp left his wife, Banchina, who eventually fell ill and died.
However, Usopp greatly respects him. He takes great pride in Yasopp being a part of the Red Hair Pirates. Unlike his son, Yasopp is a powerful fighter, acknowledged even by the World Government. A master marksman, Yasopp is so skilled with Observation Haki that he can use the "Future Sight" ability with proficiency no lesser than Katakuri's.
The other members of the crew
To this day, the other officers of the Red Hair Pirates have barely been shown in the series. Still, they are all dangerous pirates with notable bounties on their heads.
- Limejuice - A skilled aerial fighter, he wields an electrically charged staff.
- Building Snake - He is the navigator of the crew. His fighting style involves a combination of swordsmanship, martial arts, and acrobatic moves.
- Hongo - He is the doctor of the crew. In combat, his weapon of choice is a polearm.
- Bonk Punch and Monster - They are the musicians of the crew. They fight as a duo: Monster uses his agility to pressure the foe, while Bonk strikes him with a strong physical hit. Despite being a monkey, Monster fully understands humans.
- Howling Gab - A hunky man who can roar, generating air blades from his mouth.
- Rockstar - He joined the crew just over two years ago. He is a swordsman who performs a style called "Splitting Sword."
Elbaf's giants are allied with the Red Hair Pirates
Recognizing their superior power, many pirate crews are affiliated with the Red Hair Pirates, obtaining protection from them in exchange for their subordination. Instead of treating them as henchmen, Shanks considers them his allies.
The Red Hair Pirates are especially close to the giants who inhabit Elbaf. One Piece 1076 showed Dorry, Brogy, Oimo, Karsee, and other giants from the Giant Warrior Pirates joyfully drinking and partying with the crew.
Dorry and Brogy, seeming no longer in a mutual feud, even called Shanks a "brother". He asked them to assist him in battle, and they happily agreed. The alliance with the Giant Warrior Pirates is a further boost to the military might of the Red Hair Pirates.
However, the giants of Elbaf deeply loathed Big Mom, who once wreaked havoc in their country. Should they recognize Kid, who partook in Big Mom's defeat, they may ask Shanks to spare him. This could stop the battle before it leads to the unavoidable destruction of the Kid Pirates.
Final Thoughts
Shanks' charming and mysterious aura makes him unique among One Piece characters. Fans have been waiting for years to see him and the Red Hair Pirates in action, formulating several theories with regard to their involvement in the series.
Most One Piece fans expected a clash between the Red Hair Pirates and Blackbeard Pirates. Marshall D. Teach, the captain of the latter, is Shanks' sworn enemy. The two have fought once in the past, with Teach injuring Shanks, leaving him with a noticeable scar on his left eye.
Shanks considers Teach to be the greatest threat. As such, a fight between the Red Hair Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates seems bound to happen sooner or later. However, for the time being, both crews are busy with other foes.
Confident in his superiority over Kid and his men, Shanks is calmly heading into battle. However, before resorting to violence, he aims to resolve the conflict through diplomacy. He proposed to Kid to hand over his Poneglyph in exchange for his safety. Kid's cocky and high-tempered behavior, as well as his attitude as a Conqueror, will likely lead him to reject the proposal and try to fight. Such a decision may cost Kid deeply. This time, he could lose more than an arm.
Kid and Killer's strength has massively improved since the days of the battle that cost the former his left arm, but they probably can't sustain the comparison with the Red Hair Pirates. Benn Beckman alone is more than a match for Kid.
Kid needed to join his efforts with Trafalgar Law and exploit the advantage in numbers to barely beat Big Mom, who is most likely weaker than Shanks, as well as a fighter much less competent than him. Admittedly, the Red Hair Pirates are on a level of their own.
