Shanks is one of the most fearsome people in the One Piece world. Introduced quite early in the series, Shanks was revealed to be a pirate captain who led the Red Hair crew. At the time, little to nothing was known about him other than the fact that he had a rather easygoing personality and valued his friends a lot. At the same time, Shanks was responsible for giving Luffy a dream to chase.
As the story went on, it was eventually revealed by Garp after the Enies Lobby arc that Shanks was actually one of the most brilliant pirates on the seas. He was revealed to be one of the Four Emperors of the Sea of the One Piece world, a pirate of the same caliber as the likes of Whitebeard. Expectedly, this piqued the fans' interest in Shanks even more. However, very little has been revealed about Shanks's rise to this position. Now, fans have their first look at Red Hair Shanks' pirate life.
Shanks' Time As A Pirate
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Shanks decided to be a pirate at quite an early age. Having been raised by the likes of Roger and Rayleigh aboard the Oro Jackson, it's a given for Shanks to have followed a similar dream and enjoy the freedom of the seas as a pirate. Shanks' served his role as Roger's apprentice, along with Buggy, for quite a few years. After Roger found the One Piece and disbanded the crew, everyone went their own way, as did Shanks.
Having had the beliefs of a pirate from a very young age, Shanks pursued the dream to be free and became a Great Pirate on the seas. Shortly after Roger's execution, he set out on his path to becoming a pirate. Over the years, Shanks became quite a renowned pirate and accumulated a powerful crew. In the East Blue, he recruited the likes of Ben Beckman and Yasopp, while Lucky Roux came to join the crew from the South Blue. In the following years, the Red Hair Pirates grew only stronger and Shanks' reputation grew as well.
His constant duels with Mihawk, as well as skirmishes with many other powerful, pirates only made his reputation grow even further. This was confirmed by Whitebeard himself when the two met and drank sake on the Moby Dick. According to him, Shanks had already made a great name for himself on the seas before he even went to Foosha Village. His constant battles with Dracule Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman, rang across the Grand Line, as did the many other clashes that he took part in.
As such, it was a known fact that Shanks had acquired a great bounty by this point already. Furthermore, actions such as attacking a government vessel guarded by the CP9 only made him even more notorious and earned him a much higher bounty. In One Piece Film: Red's 4 Billion volume, it was revealed that Shanks' did indeed have a high bounty when he met Luffy. This was further confirmed in One Piece episode 1029, which was a build-up episode to Film Red.
Shanks' Old Bounty
Eiichiro Oda finally revealed that Shanks had a bounty of 1,04,000,000 berries when he came to set camp in the East Blue. This means Shanks was far from being a Great Pirate at this time. However, he was still making a name for himself in the pirate world. Shanks' stay in Foosha Village was quite a long one and the crew is known to have stayed there for a whole year. It is unknown why the Red Hair Pirates were there in the first place, however, it has likely got to do with Shanks wanting to look for a successor for Roger, or for someone to be given the Gomu Gomu no Mi to.
With a twist of fate, it was Luffy who ended up eating Shanks's Devil Fruit, and what followed is the story that the fans hold so dear to their hearts today. Shanks' journey didn't stop there, however. As mentioned earlier, he was far from his peak at this point. Despite having a bounty of slightly over a billion berries, Shanks wasn't recognized as one of the strongest people in the world at this point. In fact, his bounty was even lower than what Katakuri has today. In the coming years, Shanks grew in strength tremendously and his reputation grew quite a lot as well. This is especially staggering since he lost his dominant arm in the East Blue while saving Luffy's life. Despite that, he grew to become a monstrous pirate, and, 6 years after saving Luffy, he rose to the position of a Yonko.
Shanks established himself as a Great Pirate and consolidated his position among the likes of "King of Beasts" Kaido, "Queen of Totland" Charlotte Linlin, and "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate. During this time, Shanks established a crew that is widely regarded as the most balanced pirate crew among all the Yonko. As such, his bounty increased even further. Currently, Shanks holds a bounty of 4,048,900,000 berries, which is the third-highest known active bounty, provided Kaido and Big Mom are still alive. With One Piece entering its final saga, a lot more attention will now be thrown on him. Details from his past, such as his old bounty reveal, will now be made known to the fans slowly. Although the wait for Shanks to get involved in the main story was quite long, it's finally time for him to make his move.