Throughout Shonen Jump's most successful series, One Piece, we've accompanied the main character Luffy on his journey to become the Pirate King and retrieve the legendary treasure left by Gol D. Roger. This journey began early on when Luffy was inspired by a friendly pirate he met in his hometown, the Red-Haired Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates, and Shanks trusted Luffy with his iconic straw hat, asking Luffy to take care of it and come back to tell him when they meet again at sea. This leads some people to wonder: when will Luffy meet Shanks again in One Piece?

Straw Hat Luffy has yet to canonically meet the red-haired Shanks in One Piece. However, Shanks has seen Luffy more than once at this point during certain instances of the series while Luffy has passed out. The One Piece series still seems to plan this encounter to take place at the end of its story.

Even though we didn't actually see Luffy reunite with Shanks in One Piece, the moments where it almost happened are already considered iconic by many fans. It's definitely worth sticking around and checking out each time they almost meet and how close Luffy came to seeing Shanks again in One Piece.

When did Luffy first meet Shanks in One Piece?

Luffy's relationship with Shanks in One Piece has always been an important and intriguing part of the series, especially when we discover early on that Shanks is considered one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, the most powerful pirates in the world. But how exactly did Luffy meet Shanks?

Luffy first met Shanks when the Red-Haired Pirates landed in Windmill Village, Luffy's hometown. At that time, Luffy had no interest in becoming a pirate, and didn't even seem to like them. Luffy began to get along with Shanks, his crew, and his daughter Uta, who was about his age. Luffy grew to admire Shanks, seeing him as the ultimate pirate and an extremely good person.

At one point, Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates had to leave Windmill Village for good, leaving Luffy extremely sad that he couldn't accompany them as he cared so much for the entire crew and Shanks even lost an arm protecting Luffy. Because of this, Luffy and Shanks make a promise that they will meet again at sea when Luffy has become a pirate greater than Shanks himself with a very admirable crew, leaving Luffy with his iconic straw hat, so he can return it when they reunite.

When did Luffy and Shanks reunite in One Piece?

As of 2022, Luffy and Shanks have yet to reunite in One Piece. However, there have been many moments where they almost met that are worth watching.

Marineford Arch

During the Summit War Saga of One Piece, a massive battle took place at Marineford, the base of operations for the Navy Headquarters, to prevent the government from executing Luffy's brother, Ace. Many pirates and prominent figures participated in this all-out battle, including the entire Navy, the entire Whitebeard Pirates, Blackbeard and his partners, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, as well as Luffy and the prisoners he freed from Impel Down.

This war is made up of many moments considered by fans to be the best of the series and actually changed the entire course of the anime and manga's history. One of these moments is when Red Haired Shanks appears at Marineford and joins the war. In fact, Shanks went to Marineford to end the war, not to join the battle, which is exactly what he did.

During his time on the battlefield, Shanks noticed Luffy's and even held his straw hat, but Luffy fainted after seeing his brother die at his hands and receiving a massive blow from Akainu, one of the marine admirals. Even though Shanks was offered a chance to see Luffy after 10 years and was eager to do so, he chose not to do so as it would break the promise they made the last time they saw each other.

Shanks decided not to meet Luffy even though he was unconscious, but what stopped them from meeting the other times it almost happened?

Wano Country Arc

After the events in Onigashima during the Wano Country arc of One Piece, did Luffy meet Shanks again? Not enough.

Sometime after Luffy's battle with one of the Four Sea Emperors, Kaidou, a navy admiral named Ryokugyu entered Wano hoping to kill Luffy. Instead, Momonosuke and the other samurai met him to try and stop him. While this battle was taking place, Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates were sailing near the shores of Wano, and Shanks noticed the battle taking place and stopped it using his Conqueror's Haki.

Before that, Shanks and his team checked Luffy's new bounty and what happened in Wano through the newspapers. Shanks truly recognized Luffy's worth as a pirate and thought back to the little kid he used to be. Even though Shanks and the rest of the Red-Haired Pirates wanted to finally meet Luffy after so long, Shanks thought it was best if they didn't since Bartolomeo was causing confusion in one of Shanks's territories and they couldn't let this slip away because it could harm Shanks' reputation as the Emperor of the Sea.

While Shanks was using his Haki, Luffy and some of his crew were seen watching Momonosuke fight Ryokugyu. Sanji and Zoro were wondering who was using this powerful Haki, so Luffy stated that a familiar face appeared in his head, smiling.

Again, Luffy didn't meet Shanks in One Piece because Shanks didn't want to. Have they ever gotten any closer than that?

One Piece Movie: Red

Did Shanks and Luffy meet during the new One Piece Film: Red? They didn't actually meet, but they did get closer than ever. However, this film is considered non-canon by many fans, although Oda has confirmed that the characters in it are canon.

In the final battle of the film, Shanks and Luffy fight the same villain at the same time but in different locations. While Luffy fights Tot Musica in the dream world, Shanks fights him in the real world. Both of them are able to attack the villain together thanks to Usopp, Yasopp, Katakuri, Luffy, and Shanks' Observation Haki, which forces them to coordinate their attacks. In doing so, Luffy and Shanks sense each other's presence.

After the fight is over, Luffy returns to the real world but is asleep. Although Shanks sees Luffy this time while he sleeps, he doesn't stay long enough for them to properly meet. When Luffy wakes up, Shanks leaves in his ship near him, but Luffy doesn't try to go see him because of what happened to Uta.

Luffy hasn't met Shanks in One Piece yet, which only makes fans even more excited for this reunion to happen. While this reunion didn't happen, the movie has fans eager to see Gear 5 in action while they wait for the anime adaptation to culminate in the Wano Country Arc. Until then, we just hope to see more cool content from the One Piece series.