Red-Haired Shanks is one of One Piece's most important characters, being introduced into the story in the very first chapter. For decades now, Shanks has remained a bag of mysteries to the fans, appearing only on rare occasions. So far, he has had very limited appearances and usually, fans get to see him react to Luffy climbing up the ladder of piracy.
On rare occasions, such as Marineford, Shanks became a presence important enough to stop the Paramount War with his mere presence, making fans wonder how strong he actually is. Over a decade after the Marineford war arc, fans still haven't seen a glimpse of what he is capable of in combat, however, with the story closer to its end than ever, the answers might not be too far away now.
How Strong Is Shanks?
Red-Haired Shanks was once a pirate apprentice on the ship of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King. Inheriting Roger's very own Straw Hat, Shanks was automatically special, to begin with. As the Roger Pirates disbanded, shortly afterward, Roger was executed in Logue Town, the town of beginning and the end. On that fateful day, Shanks, along with every other pirate there, received something special from Roger – a torch to ignite a new age of piracy. Consequently, Shanks became one of the bearers of Roger's light and set out on the path of piracy. With time, he established the Red-Hair Pirates and quickly rose through the ranks.
Shanks earned quite a lot of fame while growing up and some of the things he is well known for are his multiple duels with Dracule Mihawk, the Strongest Swordsman in One Piece. It is believed the two fought on several occasions in the past and every single duel between these men was great enough to ring across the Grand Line. Even before becoming a Yonko, Shanks was powerful enough to match Mihawk in combat, which is nothing short of staggering. Years later, Shanks lost one of his arms yet didn't stop growing strong. Six years later, he got even stronger despite having just one arm and ended up becoming one of the Yonko, also known as the Four Emperors of the Sea.
As one of the Yonko, Shanks is described to be a dangerous man by the legendary figures of the old. Garp considers him to be a shining star in the world of piracy while Whitebeard didn't hold back from praising his Haki when the two met. In fact, the two even clashed and Shanks proved to be quite a match for the World's Strongest Man. Shanks' strength mainly lies in his Haki as he doesn't have any Devil Fruit power that the fans know of. Just with his incredible Haki alone, he has established himself as one of the strongest people in the world and he might as well be the strongest.
Is Shanks The Strongest Pirate?
Shanks' strength is quite difficult to gauge when compared to the other pirates since he has rarely ever appeared in the story and he is barely ever seen in action. Apart from his clash with Whitebeard, Shanks was seen clashing with Admiral Akainu in Marineford and he displayed enough skill to block his magma powers with ease and even intimidate him a little. Shortly before Marineford, Shanks clashed with Kaido in the New World and while the battle was nothing more than a skirmish, he arrived on Marineford without even a single injury, showing that he was more than capable of matching Kaido as well.
Perhaps the most telling proof of Shanks' tremendous strength is the fact that he was considered by Kaido to be among the 5 only legendary men capable of fighting him. These included Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard, Kozuki Oden, Rocks D. Xebec, and finally Red-Haired Shanks. The fact that Shanks takes position among these men surely implies that Shanks is among the very strongest people in the One Piece world. There is no denying that Kaido is the strongest pirate alive in the One Piece world, and he's been repeatedly mentioned to be just that by people and even Eiichiro Oda himself. Following Kaido, however, are the men who he holds in the highest regard, and out of them, only Shanks is alive right now.
With the Wano Country arc close to ending, however, Shanks could very well be established as the strongest pirate alive in One Piece, after all. One of the Yonko, Big Mom, has already fallen during the battle on Onigashima to the team-up of Kid and Law. Kaido, on the other hand, is fighting Luffy in a one-on-one battle, but he will eventually fall as well. Kaido's fate can't be predicted right now. Perhaps he'll die by the end of the arc, or maybe he'll be severely incapacitated in some way and then locked up. Either way, following the Wano Country arc, Kaido will likely not be an active pirate, meaning it'd be time for Shanks to establish himself as the strongest one alive, alongside the likes of Blackbeard and Luffy.
At the same time, Oda needs to ensure that the stakes in One Piece don't fall. Having fought Kaido in a one-on-one, Luffy's next opponent cannot be weaker than Kaido or the fights will simply not be as fun anymore. If Oda's Jump Festa message from 2021 is to be believed, Shanks is making his move next, meaning the time for the two to clash could be soon. As such, The story cannot allow for Shanks to be any weaker than Kaido, and at best, his powers might as well surpass that of the man who was known to be the strongest creature on land, sea, and air, making him a menace of his own.
