Mihawk and Shanks

[ahill]

didn't luffy say him and shanks would be enemies once he got his own crew? that should imply they were after the same objective imo. most pirates that know about the OP are also after it. it'd be a little strange for shanks to know about it and just want to go to the final island but not to get it.

 

[SSJ2]

Whitebeard and Roger were enemies despite Whitebeard having no intention of claiming the One Piece/going to Raftel.

 

[Warmmedown]

Yeh it's strange, so maybe he can't get it for some reason.


But then again, because we don't know what it is, there could be a good reason he doesn't want it, if he already knows what it is.

 

[ahill]

WB and Roger were enemies and fought each other before the age of the pirates though.

 

[SSJ2]

Any pirate crew that is not in an alliance would be considered an enemy.

 

[ahill]

Why be enemies if you aren't after the same goal? At least I don't see why they'd envision Shanks as an enemy.

 

[SSJ2]

Because that's how the world of pirates works. The world of pirates is not such a nice place that you'd simply ignore another pirate crew if they didn't share the same goal as you. Shanks is an enemy because he is one of the Yonko. Luffy has stated many times that he wants to take them all down in order to become the Pirate King. Whitebeard would have been included in this group in the past, and as I said he was never after the One Piece. Too little is known about Shanks to assume that his goal is to become the Pirate King. Of all of the Yonko, he's the only one who should easily be able to reach Raftel by virtue of being a part of the crew that has been there. Whitebeard said that the One Piece would be able to turn the world upside down or something to that extent. If Shanks wanted to be the guy to do this, he should have been able to do it by now. Instead we see him working alongside the World Government directly, and also being interested in maintaining the peace during the Summit War. Doesn't sound like a guy who wants to be the Pirate King to me.

 

[ahill]

Again, Luffy would have no reason to want to crush Shanks if they weren't after the same goal. I just read the chapter 668 or so and Luffy clearly stated he wants to "crush" all 4 emperors. Being enemies is one thing, but want to crush someone that doesn't want to claim the "pirate king" title seems forced and pointless. Luffy also stated that "as long as Shanks isn't the 1st one, he's fine with Law's proposition", implying he'll inevitably fight Shanks one time or another. Shanks doesn't oppose Luffy's idea of the world like enemies that didn't show interest in the One Piece like Enel and Crocodile so they aren't bound to be enemies unless their interests clash in some aspect, the One Piece being very likely this one thing.

I've never said the world of pirates is nice either, nor implied it. I'm simply saying that Luffy placing Shanks as a future enemy is doubtful if they aren't at the same goal. As far as we know, the pirate king's title is obtained by getting the One Piece. If Shanks isn't after it then he won't become or be recognised as the pirate king, therefore not an enemy other pirates, mainly Luffy, should have in sight.

 

[Kyo]

Luffy doesn't even have any reason to believe that Shanks is after One Piece, if he assumes Shanks is after it then that's his assumption. He talks back to Whitebeard all the same despite knowing nothing of his motives either (WB has no interest in being PK or finding OP). Regardless of everything else, becoming the Pirate King means being the strongest in the sea and to that end he has to beat Shanks.

 

[ahill]

Shanks could of told Luffy that he's after the One Piece. We weren't shown it but it's a possibility and if he lumps the Yonko all the same then it's a likely one.

 

[SSJ2]

No.

 

[ahill]

I take back a little on what I said though, Shanks doesn't want confirmedly to discover the treasure, but I find that likely, a strong possibility.

Firstly, we have Shanks saying he wants to access the final island his own way, getting there in his own pace with his own crew:

That shows he shared a good deal of interest in reaching the island, as he wanted to venture there when he had the strength to do that his own way. That also denotes a good level of curiosity.

Eiichiro Oda said in one of his interviews that Shanks is the character that resembles him the most and the own Oda stated that he sees why many fans are itching in curiosity for the one piece, meaning logically that the matter would also be of interest to Shanks, being someone that resembles him a lot.

When Roger was executed, we can see Shanks holding his hat and getting his hands to his chest, a gesture that most take to mean someone will carry the other's will:

Rayleigh also said Shanks is one of the few to take away something Roger said:

I think this means that Shanks put on himself the mission and burden of becoming the pirate king and shaking the world. Whitebeard said that the world will be "turned upside down" when the treasure is found. The finding of the treasure is directly tied to the "carrying of Roger's will" as apparent in White Beard's last words.

Roger passing the hat to Shanks also might be a gesture of trusting him to carry on the will of the D and to really change the world.

Luffy also seeing Shanks as a role model ought to mean something as well. Luffy was set-on becoming the pirate king right after his encounter with Shanks, his role model:

Oda's words:

"Luffy wanted to be exactly like Shanks in the future. Shanks is established by the author himself to be Luffy’s role model, not just a figure he respects, like Rayleigh, Ace or Roger."


Btw, that's my input. I admit it isn't 100% sure but I think it's well backed up that Shanks was the prime candidate, character-wise, to become the pirate king until Luffy got into the scene.

 

[SSJ2]

Spoiler

It was common knowledge among the crew that the one to find One Piece wasn't born yet and would arrive 20 years in the future. Based on this panel alone, isn't it strange that Roger leaves out Shanks when asking about who will find the One Piece? Roger knew Shanks better than anyone and didn't even consider him here. It was established here that it wouldn't be Shanks - who had a chance to butt in and say that he would be the one to find it, but that didn't happen.

If you ask me, it seems that he accepted the prophecy and became more of a gatekeeper to the One Piece if anything.. It could also feed into what Crocus said at Reverse Mountain:

Later on, Rayleigh had said that he wanted to meet Luffy after speaking with Shanks - who had just said this about Luffy:

So idk, Shanks seems to be in on the idea that Luffy could be the guy to become the next Pirate King. He did his best to inspire Luffy to become a good pirate during his youth and even gave him Roger's straw hat. I find it more likely that he is assuming the role of the "gatekeeper" until this pirate was ready to claim the throne.