The origins of Shanks and his role in the story remained a mystery for over 1000 chapters until Oda started to reveal his family members one by one. The revelations about Figarland Garling and Shamrock got us curious about whether Shanks used to be a part of the Celestial Dragons family in the past. When Shamrock made his debut, the elder twin spilled the truth that Shanks once returned to the Holy Land. Now we finally know why Shanks went to the Holy Land, as he used to serve as a God’s Knight in One Piece chapter 1167.
Spoilers Warning: This article contains spoilers about Shanks’ past. Proceed with caution.
Shanks Served as God’s Knight in the Past
In One Piece Chapter 1167, Shanks put his pirate career on a pause and returned home to his Figarland family in the Holy Land, Mary Geoise. Garling stated that he was the long-lost twin brother of Shamrock, and now he has joined them after enduring adversities in the world below. Surprisingly, Garling also noted to Harald that Shanks joined the ranks of God’s Knights organisation as a God’s Steel (same as King Harald). Garling saw Shanks’ potential and claimed that he would become an asset to the World Government just like his elder brother.
Since coming to the Holy Land, Shanks’ attitude and personality have undergone drastic changes and are very reminiscent of the arrogance of a Celestial Dragon. Even Shanks was so curious to learn everything there is to know about the Holy Land. However, we soon realised that it was all a facade that Shanks had put up as he was on a serious mission.
In his first visit to the Holy Land, it is now revealed that Shanks was the one who freed Fisher Tiger from his shackles. In addition, Shanks opened up the armoury for him and lent a big hand in freeing the slaves from Mary Geoise that day. Back in the day, we were a bit confused about how Fisher Tiger was able to pull off this feat single-handedly. Now, we finally know that he had a helping hand, and it was none other than our peacekeeper, Shanks.
Shanks will continue to keep up his act and gather intel on the World Government. Perhaps, this is how he learned the truth about the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika and went on to snatch it from the World Government. Shanks acted as the mole inside the God’s Knight in the past, and soon his betrayal of the Figarland family will be revealed in the upcoming chapters. That said, what do you think about the reveal that Shanks used to be a Holy Knight? Let us know in the comments below.
