One Piece: Shanks' Role In The Final Saga, Explained

gamerant.com:

Introduced at the very beginning of One Piece, Shanks is a beloved character who has played a major role in Luffy's journey towards becoming the Pirate King. Back when Luffy was merely a 10-year-old child, it was Shanks who ended up inspiring him to become a pirate. Despite several attempts to try and impress him, the red-haired pirate never allowed Luffy to join him on a voyage to the sea, however, he did something much bigger than that by giving him a dream to chase.

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Not long after, Shanks saved Luffy's life and entrusted his hat to him, asking him to return it to him when he becomes a Great Pirate one day. Ever since then, Luffy has only gone from strength to strength and proved himself on the high seas. Currently, he stands level with Shanks as one of the Yonko of the Sea, and now, as the story heads into its final phase, the two are all set to face off against one another. However, what exactly will Shanks' role be in the last arc of One Piece?

For the majority of the time, Shanks has played the role of a peacekeeper in One Piece. This was evident from his laid-back demeanor. Even to the World Government, Shanks hardly ever felt like someone who would do something reckless. Yet, there have been times when Shanks has taken drastic action and shown his real personality. When the Gomu Gomu no Mi was on the CP9 vessel, Shanks attacked the Government ship and stole it, showing that he does indeed have some interesting motivations. Later on, when Ace was on the hunt for Blackbeard, Shanks broke through a Navy fleet to engage Whitebeard and asked him to stop Ace. He even intervened when Kaido was on his way to Marineford and allowed the Whitebeard Pirates to try and save Ace.