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The latest chapter of One Piece left readers intrigued with the emphasis on the Holy Knights, the strongest soldiers sent by the mysterious Im, the leader of the World Government, to perform punitive raids in the countries who dare to rebel, refusing to pay their tributes.
The identity, appearance, and abilities of the Holy Knights are still unknown, but many fans have started speculating that these individuals have something in common with two major characters in the series, "Red Hair" Shanks and "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga up to Chapter 1084.
The ties between the Holy Knights and two of the strongest One Piece characters
The Holy Knights are a force to be reckoned with
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The Holy Knights usually intervene to mediate disputes between Celestial Dragons. However, as disclosed in One Piece 1083, these individuals are elite warriors whom the World Government sends to deal with any insurgent kingdom.
Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, emphasized their might, declaring that once the Holy Knights make their move, that's when the real battle begins. From the way it looks, each warrior is sent to single-handedly take on one of the rebellious kingdoms.
The Holy Knights are only shown in the form of darkened silhouettes, meaning that their identities, appearances, and abilities are still unknown. This is a typical ruse from One Piece author Eiichiro Oda to generate interest within the fandom, teasing readers and causing them to elaborate the most creative theories.
Shanks and Mihawk are two absolute icons of the series
Very few One Piece characters can compete with the likes of Shanks and Mihawk, two individuals whose strength may even eclipse that of the Four Emperors. Depicted as sort of equals, they share a world-renowned rivalry based on their ferocious battles, which once shook the entire Grand Line.
The fact that even the all-powerful Edward Newgate "Whitebeard" acknowledged those fights as legendary is telling of their level. Mihawk and Shanks are indeed portrayed as perfect counterparts, creating an interesting connection between them.
They are the embodiments of Yin and Yang, the perfect duality between two opposite sides that complement each other into a flawless balance. Their birthdays fall on the same date, March 9, placing them under the sign of Pisces, which is directly tied to the concept of Yin and Yang.
Mihawk is the World's Strongest Swordsman, making him a bit more powerful than even Shanks, a swordsman who became the captain of the Red Hair Pirates as well as one of the Four Emperors. Granted, given how they have been consistently portrayed, it is clear that they are very close in power.
The rivalry between Shanks and Mihawk is very similar to the equivalent connection between Roger, the Pirate King, and Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man. Like them, Shanks and Mihawk have fought tremendous battles to death, until eventually becoming sort of frenemies.
Crossing blades duel after duel, Mihawk and Shanks developed mutual respect. They are very competitive, but there is no sign of hate between them. Despite their polarly opposite personalities, they get along pretty well, displaying an amiable relationship outside of combat.
Despite easily possessing the required strength, Mihawk is not interested in being one of the Four Emperors. He openly rejected obtaining that status. Conversely, Shanks not only led his group to become one of the greatest Yonko crews but wants to compete for the One Piece.
Their approaches and behaviors are completely different, but their might is the same. Feared as the "Marine Hunter", Mihawk gained fame by defeating stronger foes until he had no worthy challengers left. Not even Shanks could beat him.
Mihawk now reigns at the top, sitting on the throne of the World's Strongest Swordsman, i.e. the one who dominates all swordsmen. Shanks recently decided to partake in the rush for the One Piece, and may be behaving on behalf of the mysterious words that Gol D. Roger whispered to him after returning from Laugh Tale.
Since the beginning of the One Piece series, Shanks and Mihawk have been established as two primary benchmarks for Luffy and Zoro to reach and surpass. Zoro's goal is to defeat Mihawk, while Luffy aims to become a pirate even greater than Shanks.
Shanks is enigmatic, but is he one of the Holy Knights?
So far, it is almost impossible to tell what Shanks truly aims for, leaving room for countless theories about the true goals of the fearsome "Red Hair". Always surrounded in a mysterious and yet charming aura which makes him unique, Shanks is one of the most controversial characters in the series.
As shown in One Piece 1084, the silhouette of one of the Holy Knights resembles that of Shanks in every possible way, from his body, posture, and clothing. The darkened figure even owns a sword that is incredibly similar to Shanks' Gryphon.
Rumored to have a Celestial Dragon heritage as a former member of the Figarland Family, Shanks may not be the person concerned, but it would be possible that his family of origin had another son. The mysterious individual could be Shanks' twin brother, or another relative, like his father.
This links with the trending theory of the "two Shanks", according to which the person who met the Five Elders during the Levely wasn't the "Red Hair" that all fans know, but his twin brother. While seemingly crazy, this assumption would explain many weird issues, starting from why the Five Elders would ever meet a major outlaw like Shanks.
If the person they met wasn't the pirate Shanks, but his twin who serves the World Government as a Holy Knight, everything would make sense. After all, readers were shown a person with the same appearance as that of the "Red Hair", but the Five Elders never called it by name.
To make things even more intriguing, Shanks' distinguishing physical features, the scar and the lost arm, were never shown in his meeting with the Five Elders. Admittedly, while these points are pretty solid, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda may be just teasing fans with a red herring. Still, as of now the theory can't be dismissed.
The shocking similarities between Mihawk and Im
One Piece 's Holy Knights are likely inspired on the real-life Templar Knights, warriors who started to operate during the Crusades, until eventually becoming a military elite. Interestingly, the same Christian religious theme that connects Holy Knights and Templars, is also a main trait of the all-powerful Dracule Mihawk.
Mihawk wears a crucifix-like pendant, and his sword, the strongest Black Blade Yoru, has a similar shape as well. Shockingly, the markings on Mihawk's Yoru are identical to those on Im's Empty Throne, and even the swordsman's own eyes are ring-shaped, like those of the cryptic leader of the World Government.
While these similarities may just be coincidences or red herrings on Oda's part, they certainly are intriguing, hinting at some tie between "Hawk Eyes" and Im. It is possible that the current World's Strongest Swordsman was once Im's bodyguard, or even some sort of relative of the latter.
The World Government leader Im dwells in the Pangaea Castle, which is based on the "Chateau de Chambord", a castle constructed by the king of France in the 16th century. Interestingly, Mihawk's clothing and overall design is clearly based of that of musketeers, the elite guards of the French monarch in the 16th and 17h centuries.
Mihawk's theme fits, curiously, not only a religious topic but also a completely unholy as well. His sword Yoru resembles a cross, but may be considered as a reverse cross as well, depending on the point of view. His vampiric traits, from his name to his coldblooded attitude, speak for themselves.
It's possible that Mihawk was a Holy Knight, but became "unholy," turning against them once he realized how messed up they were, and not wanting to be a pawn for the Celestial Dragons. After fulfilling his ambition to become the World's Strongest Swordsman, he then resigned to live in peace.
Final thoughts
As of now it's a mere conjecture, but Mihawk may have been a member of the Holy Knights in the past. Regarding Shanks, his ties with the organization via the Figarland Family are even more feasible. Potentially, these involvements may have been the reason which caused the two to start fighting many years ago.
After Buggy's comical and yet determined declaration of intent, the Cross Guild is going to actively partake in the rush for the One Piece. As the group's main fighting force, Mihawk may cross blades with Shanks once again, like they used to do in the past.
Regardless of their enigmatic ties with two of the established icons in the series, the Holy Knights are going to be real monsters. There's no doubt that they are the strongest soldiers at the service of the World Government. Hopefully, their capabilities will be showcased properly in the next One Piece chapters.
