The legend of the One Piece treasure in Oda's One Piece series is the central narrative point of the entire series. The great treasure hidden by Gol D. Roger somewhere on Laugh Tale is the key everyone wants; it is the ultimate proof that one has become the Pirate King. This is why Luffy is looking for the treasure and why it is so important to the story. But where is it? What is it? There are more questions than answers surrounding the One Piece treasure, and in this article, we will answer one of these questions. Namely, some fans believe that Shanks knows where the One Piece is, and in this article, we will elaborate on this.

There is no evidence that Shanks actually knows where the One Piece is, except for the fact that everyone knows it's on Laugh Tale. Theories suggest that he might know where and what it is, as he was a member of Roger's original crew during his voyages, but this doesn't seem too plausible. Since he was a cabin boy, it's more likely that he wasn't even on the voyage when Roger discovered and hid the One Piece.

The rest of this article will focus on One Piece and Shanks, as we'll explain what One Piece is and how it's possible that Shanks, of all characters, actually knows its location. If you're not familiar with the entire story of One Piece, we must warn you that there are spoilers in the following paragraphs.

Where and what is One Piece?

As far as we know, Roger was dubbed the Pirate King because he and his crew, the Roger Pirates Crew, were the only ones to conquer the Grand Line. According to legend, before joining the Navy, Roger hid his treasure, the famous One Piece, on the last island of the Grand Line, Laugh Tale.

At the beginning of the story, only Edward Newgate, aka Whitebeard, knows that One Piece actually exists, as Roger told him himself before joining the Navy. Just before dying at Marineford, Whitebeard shouted out loud that One Piece existed. Whoever found it would then become the Pirate King. But at the beginning of the story, it has been more than 22 years since Roger's execution that pirates have set sail to try to find it and no one has arrived yet (Monkey D. Luffy, the main protagonist of One Piece, desperately wants to find this treasure to become the freest man on the seas).

It could easily be that the One Piece isn't actually treasure, but rather an item Roger loved. Or it could be an item from the Void Century, which would be likely, since the Rio Poneglyph is located on the same island, Laugh Tale. All the Pirates are looking for it, but no one really knows what One Piece is, aside from the surviving members of the Roger Pirates, excluding—most likely—Shanks and Buggy.

The Straw Hat Pirates almost discovered the truth when they met and shared secrets with Rayleigh on the Sabaody Archipelago. When Usopp asked Rayleigh what One Piece was, Luffy intervened and said that it would destroy the purpose of traveling and having adventures and that becoming the Pirate King would be pointless if we already knew how to access One Piece and what it actually was.

How could Shanks know where the One Piece is?

To answer this question, we must return to Shanks's youth. Shanks hails from the West Blue and was once a member of Gol D. Roger's crew, the former pirate king. On the Oro Jackson, he was a sailor with his friend Buggy. As the Roger Pirates were the most powerful pirate crew in the world, Shanks fought against powerful pirates such as Shiki and Edward Newgate, better known as Whitebeard.

At some point, Shanks acquired Roger's straw hat, though the circumstances and date of his acquisition are still unknown. Shanks spent a lot of time with the hat in the company of his comrade Buggy, arguing over trivial matters like which pole was colder. Their frequent bickering annoyed the second in command, Silvers Rayleigh.

At one point, Roger's crew was preparing to attack a nearby ship. As they prepared for battle, Shanks and Buggy had a discussion about the importance of treasure. Shanks said that treasure wasn't the most important thing in life. After the battle, the crew held a party to celebrate the victory. Shanks tried to invite Buggy to join them, as they had found a strange treasure.

The two recruits discussed what they would do when they left the crew. Buggy said he would be happy to accept Shanks as a member of his crew. Shanks stated that he didn't want to be Buggy's disciple and that people with different beliefs like them should take different paths. The two men agreed that they would become enemies as soon as they left the crew.

At one point, the Roger Pirates caused a ruckus on an island. After defeating a group of Marines, they learned that the Whitebeard Pirates were docked on the other side of the island. The Roger Pirates then clashed with the Whitebeard Pirates for three days and three nights before the skirmish finally turned into a gift exchange. Shanks and Buggy discussed Marshall D. Teach's inability to sleep.

The Roger Pirates were later joined by Kozuki Oden and his family, as well as Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. At some point, the crew traveled to Skypiea, where Oden transcribed Roger's message into a poneglyph. After leaving Skypiea, the crew's journey took them to Water 7, Tequila Wolf, the Sabaody Archipelago, and Fishman Island. Sometime later, they left Toki, Momonosuke, Hiyori, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi in Wano Country.

After Roger returned from Laugh Tale, Shanks asked Roger something and then shed tears. Roger was the first to leave, and after parting ways with their captain, the rest of the crew sent Oden back to Wano Country. The other members, including Shanks, left the crew one by one. Twenty-six years before Monkey D. Luffy became a pirate, Roger contracted a fatal illness and made one last voyage with his crew to the Grand Line to conquer it. A year before his death, he disbanded his crew.

Shanks and Buggy were together one last time in Loguetown on the day of Roger's death. Shanks immediately began his quest to form his own crew by offering Buggy a place, but Buggy refused, and the two parted ways. Shanks continued to hear rumors that Buggy was still a pirate somewhere in the following years.

As you can see, Shanks might know about One Piece because he was a member of Roger's crew and therefore had access to the same information as the other crew members, and since the only people who know what One Piece is and where it is are the surviving members of Roger's crew, Shanks—and Buggy—might also have this information.

Does Shanks know where the One Piece is?

Having said all that, we don't think Shanks actually knows where the One Piece is. Namely, he was a very low-ranking member of the crew and was essentially a cabin boy at the time, along with Buggy. He participated in some of the fights, but he wasn't on Roger's entire journey and he certainly wasn't informed of all the crew's secrets. Also, Shanks doesn't really act like he knows the secret of One Piece and there's this: if Shanks knows, then Buggy does too, and knowing how greedy Buggy is, he would definitely have tried to get it, but since it's obvious Buggy doesn't know where the One Piece is, Shanks probably doesn't know either. There are three theories that explain this:

The first is that neither Shanks nor Buggy know about One Piece, and that seems the most likely answer based on what we know now. Shanks doesn't really care about treasure, that's true, but Buggy does, and we don't think Buggy would pass up the chance to become the Pirate King just like that. Sure, Buggy could avoid it because he's not strong enough to get it, but Buggy tends to think of himself in superlatives, so it doesn't seem likely that he'd be unaware of that fact. That's why the fact that they don't know seems plausible.

The second theory is that Shanks knows about the treasure, but Buggy doesn't. This could explain Shanks's behavior—he knows it's there and simply doesn't care, because he doesn't care much about treasure anyway, and he doesn't have ambitions to be the new Pirate King. This could also explain Buggy's behavior, but there's a problem. Namely, they were together almost all the time and were close friends who shared everything with each other, so it's unlikely that one would know, while the other wouldn't.

The third theory is that both of them know where it is, but Shanks doesn't want to claim it simply because he doesn't care, and Buggy knows he would die during the journey. This one doesn't seem plausible enough and isn't based on what we know from the manga. And that concludes our analysis of the matter. Shanks probably doesn't know where the treasure is, but we'll see if Oda decides to surprise us at some point!