One of the Yonko inOne Piece, Shanks is an incredibly powerful character who also holds tremendous significance to the plot of the series. Shanks was introduced quite early in the story as the man who set Luffy on the path to becoming the Pirate King. Since then, his appearances were rather limited, however, it wasn’t long until it was clearly established that Shanks was truly a monster in combat and ranked among the four most powerful pirates in the story.
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While Shanks spent most of his time on the sidelines,One Pieceentering its final phase means that now is the time for him to enter the fray as well. In the final arc, Shanks is going to be a key character and will make his presence felt. Given that he’s a Yonko, every fan ofOne Pieceknows that Shanks is a mighty powerful pirate and his mainsource of strength is his incredible Conqueror’s Haki.
The Portrayal Of Shanks' Conqueror’s Haki
Although Conqueror’s Haki is a power that was explained properly by Silvers Rayleigh quite late into the story, shortly before the timeskip, Shanks was the first person in the story to demonstrate its usage. Upon saving Luffy from the Lord of the Coast in the East Blue, Shanks used his Haki to intimidate the beast. Back then, fans had no idea about Shanks' capabilities as a user of Conqueror’s Haki, however, it wasn’t long until a good display of this power was given to everyone. After the Enies Lobby arc,Shanks met with Whitebeard in the New Worldand gave the fans a proper demonstration of his Conqueror’s Haki, which was certainly quite impressive. The likes of Jozu and Marco were well aware of what he was capable of and the former even commented on this power of his being incredible.
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Shortly afterwards, Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, also made sure to establish the fact that Shanks' Haki was more than impressive. The two then went on to clash with their Haki which ended up splitting the skies and the heavens themselves. In the Marineford arc,Shanks' Conqueror’s Haki was able to intimidate even Akainuand made someone as strong as Coby pass out completely. It was already quite evident that Shanks was an incredibly powerful user of Conqueror’s Haki based on his portrayal. Furthermore, among the Four Emperors, Shanks was the only person without a Devil Fruit, meaning his Haki must make up for the other power that he doesn’t possess. After the two-year timeskip, Oda went a step beyond and finally showed the fans the true power of his Conqueror’s Haki during the Wano Country arc.
How Strong Is Shanks' Conqueror’s Haki?
Right off the bat, it was quite clear to see that Shanks' Conqueror’s Haki was very powerful. During his visit to Whitebeard, he was able to do physical damage to the Yonko’s ship while trying to suppress his Haki, which was the very first indication of this power being used as an offensive ability in physical combat. Oda himself built up incredible hype around Shanks' Conqueror’s Haki upon being asked about this power in an SBS corner. According to him, someone like Shanks could easily have knocked out all 100,000 Fishmen in the Fishman Island arc. Furthermore, Shanks' ability to intimidate others doesn’t just work on fodder. Instead, he’s managed to intimidate even the likes of the Admirals, which is nothing short of staggering. In the Marineford arc, Akainu was seen sweating upon Shanks unleashing his Conqueror’s Haki.
At the same time, InOne Piece1055, Shanks displayed the full extent of his Conqueror’s Hakiby letting loose against Green Bull. Surprisingly, he was able to strike him with his Haki even though he was miles away from him. From the seas around Wano, Shanks’s advanced usage of this ability was such that it struck and paralyzed the Admiral and made him sweat quite easily. Furthermore, Shanks was also somehow able to communicate with Green Bull using his Haki despite being miles away from him. Whether or not this ability is related to Conqueror’s Haki remains to be seen, however, it is evident that Shanks' usage of this power is the best in the series right now.
In fact, some members of his own crew were knocked out when he unleashed Haki in a fit of rage inOne Piece1055. His top executives, such as Lucky Roux, were also seen fearing the display of his power and urged him to calm down and not go all out. Above all, Shanks hurting, paralyzing, and scaring off an Admiral from miles away is proof enough thathe is, in fact, in a league of his ownand that is something even the strongest creature in Kaido acknowledged during the Wano Country arc.
