Much has been written about Shanks here on Proximity Japan, but he's truly such an amazing character that he fully deserves our full attention. This article will also focus on Shanks, as we'll be explaining the relationship between him and Luffy in One Piece. Namely, Luffy and Shanks have a very close bond, and Shanks is quite protective of Luffy, but could the two actually end up fighting? We'll examine that possibility in this article.

It is unknown if Luffy will fight Shanks before the end of the series. Shanks loves Luffy as a son and is very protective of him, and Luffy shares those emotions, which is why a fight between the two seems unlikely at the moment, but with a whole new saga being written as we speak, things could change and we could probably be in for the most epic fight of the series.

The rest of this article will focus on Shanks and Monkey D. Luffy, as we'll explain why they share such a close bond and whether there's a chance we'll see a fight between them. If you're not familiar with the entire story of One Piece, we must warn you that there are spoilers in the following paragraphs.

Will Luffy have to fight Shanks in the future?

To answer this question properly, we believe it's necessary to explain the nature of the bond between Luffy and Shanks. Luffy considers Shanks his hero, a true idol. He has inherited some of the red-haired pirate captain's characteristics. For example, like Shanks, Luffy pays no attention to insults.

At first, Shanks didn't take Luffy seriously since he was just a boy, mocking his desire to be a pirate and calling him "Anchor." Later, when Luffy defended Shanks and his crew in Higuma, later declaring that he would create his own crew, Shanks began to take him more seriously. Benn Beckman told Shanks that Luffy would do something on his own, which Shanks confirmed after noticing the boy's resemblance to him despite being the same age as Luffy.

Shanks treats Monkey D. Luffy very well, as he stated to Silvers Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipelago. He considers him like his former captain, Gol D. Roger. Although he often teases him in Foosha Village, saying he will never become a pirate and that he swims like an axe, etc., Shanks actually likes how Luffy aspires to become a pirate.

He inspired Luffy to become a pirate, and with his jokes, he awakened a dream in the boy: to become the pirate king and find the greatest treasure in the world—the One Piece. For this reason, Monkey D. Garp blames Shanks for Luffy becoming a criminal. Furthermore, on Whitebeard's ship, Shanks claimed that Luffy was his bet for the New Age.

Shanks believes in Luffy and knows he will definitely achieve his goal. Because of this belief, Red Hair even gave him his straw hat, which he inherited from his captain, Gol D. Roger, and which was dear to him. Shanks is eager to see Luffy again. Although he had the opportunity to do so at Marineford, he rejected the idea as it would have broken his promise.

Shanks considered Luffy a future pirate and was incredibly happy to learn of Luffy's first bounty, even throwing another party despite being away from the previous one and also worrying about him after the Marineford War. He mentally turned to Luffy and told him that it was okay to cry and that the Straw Hat Pirates could handle it.

Shanks was also responsible for Luffy eating his Devil Fruit: Red Hair brought the fruit back from a trip and planned to sell it; Shanks left it on the bar next to Luffy and turned away when the boy ate it, thinking it was dessert. Everyone was surprised when they discovered it, and Shanks panicked.

As you can see, Luffy and Shanks have a very close bond. Shanks told Luffy to come back to him when he becomes the Pirate King, which suggests that he won't be the one standing in his way. On top of that, Shanks has also been following Luffy's adventures with a big smile on his face. What does that tell us? Well, from that perspective, it doesn't seem like Luffy will be fighting Shanks at any point.

Still, Luffy has fought almost everyone (even Usopp!) at some point, so this fight isn't completely out of the question. It's unlikely, but with a whole new saga in the works, things could change. Shanks and Luffy could end up having conflicting interests, making a fight inevitable. Shanks betraying Luffy—or vice versa—doesn't seem like a possible reason based on what we know about them.

Long story short, we don't know if Luffy and Shanks will fight. From what we know so far, they definitely won't, but things could change, and we can't completely rule it out, even though it's highly unlikely. The only thing we do know is that it would be both epic and emotional.

Could Luffy defeat Shanks?

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This is one of the most difficult questions a One Piece fan can ask. Namely, we know that Shanks is certainly among the three most powerful living pirates in One Piece. In fact, we've never seen the full extent of his powers, which makes the situation quite difficult. So we don't know if Shanks is the most powerful living pirate, but the only ones who might be stronger than him right now are Blackbeard and Luffy (Mihawk is a better swordsman, but not a better pirate overall), but that remains to be seen.

On the other hand, Luffy activated both Gear 5 and the true extent of this Devil Fruit, allowing him to defeat Kaidou. Okay, to be fair, Shanks could have defeated Kaidou as well, but Luffy's powers are truly incredible right now, and it's unclear if Shanks could actually offer anything to counter them, simply because we don't know the true extent of Shanks' powers and abilities.

We'd still give Shanks a slight edge, but Luffy will likely be able to outsmart him at some point in the story, just not now. And that's all we know about whether Luffy will have to fight Shanks before Oda finishes his story.