#One Piece really is alot about paving the way for the future generation and it shines in actions like this

[breezy-cheezy]

Uh, I mean yea, the context changes a bit, and OPLA makes the situation a bit less intense, but in the end both versions have Shanks making what's essentially an adult making a mad unthinking dash to protect a kid. His kid. Thinking gets weird when fear and protective instincts take over. Like when people and deer freeze in front of an incoming car. And like-

Ooookay wow um. That's alot of comments. Fiiiirst of all, "pet peeve" or no, that's on you to handle; It's your responsibility to curate your dash experience, so if you're seeing a theory that pisses you off so much all the time, maybe start unfollowing/blocking people.

Personally this is the first time I've heard the notion. I don't see it as canon, I don't think ageofzero does either. We're both new to the fandom space, so like...I know you're irritated about seeing this theory again, but you could have easily made your point without the condescending tone.

Like in the end, Shanks is a very mysterious person. Bottom line is, we don't know what he's thinking like a majority of the time. All we really know is through Luffy's eyes and the brief snapshots in the story proper. We can't know what was going on in his head when he protected Luffy, and it's silly to get irritated about it, I think.

Personally, I don't think Shanks like, lost his arm fully on purpose. It's just. Luffy was more important. So he threw out his arm to protect Luffy, that's all. Good point on him not being as powerful 10 years ago too, I get that.

Now do I think that sacrifice made a big impact on Luffy's life and ways of thinking? Oh yeah. Boy's got a protective streak a mile wide, and a loyalty that shook hardened bandits before even meeting Shanks (when he was beaten to near death for not telling the bandits where Sabo and Ace's treasure was. Because he didn't want to betray even the POSSIBILITY of friendship. Because :

I'm only on the Vegapunk arc, but I've seen Luffy does react VERY badly to sacrifice, especially sacrifices for him. I think Shanks's arm was a big part of that. Losing Ace, who died right in front of Luffy after taking a fatal blow for him, only solidified this.

So yea no, I don't think Shanks and Zeff looked at these kids and thought "I'm gonna teach this kid how hard the world is by brutally losing a limb, that'll show 'em" and more like.... "that kid has their whole life ahead of them, while I've lived a solid part of mine. I'll give whatever I need to make sure they're safe and thriving."

Idk, there's alot of nuance to it, I think. These parental figures can sacrifice, save, and softly traumatize their kids all in one go! It makes them very human.

Annnnd as Brennan in D20 Burrow's End put it:

You are deep in the paint about One Piece and me and my datemate watched OPLA recently so I will tell you this thing I said while we were talking about Shanks.

He said something to the effect of Shanks is CRAZY STRONG, perhaps one of the strongest, and has some special ability that allows him to tell anyone weaker than him to GTFO, so it's a fucking mystery why he lost his arm when by all rights he never needed to lose the arm. He's still the strongest without it, but why'd he lose it in the first place if he didn't have to???

So I replied, after like a minute of thought, "Because he might not need the arm, but Luffy needed him to lose his arm". Luffy needed the lesson he was going to learn for Shanks giving up that piece of himself to save Luffy's life. He needed to see the stakes and be given that lesson of actions, consequences, collateral damage, giving pieces of yourself for the sake of your crew/family/nakama.

Furthermore, with Sanji and Luffy being connected through "my mentor/surrogate father literally gave up a piece of himself to save my life", stands to logic that Sanji also needed that lesson in the narrative sense. These older guard pirates passed along something vital, giving up something that they don't need to live fulfilling lives but would be seen as incredibly important, to teach the next generation something and give them tools with which to do better.

I don't go here (I don't have the spoons for the entirety of One Piece tbh), but I liked the conclusion I came up with and wanted to share it in the hopes that you might like it too. I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here tbh but as an outsider, it was neat to think about.

I SURE AM, BUDDY X'''D Thanks for popping in! 👀 I got thoughts (and manga screencaps since you won't read it anyway, FREE REIN:

Hm. I mean point taken, but I mean...even the strongest people aren't infallible? Even IF Shanks has Conquerer's Haki (the power in question) which is something very special someone has to be born with and trained to use to its fullest, that doesn't mean it'll fix everything. Also like. He's also been shown to kinda....lose control of it when nervous or on edge.

Like my dude did not have to do this. He mentions later he doesn't like being on different territory or something LOL (he's visiting a different powerful pirate leader here).

Anyway to rescue Luffy at that time, he had to act FAST and was probably SCARED FOR HIM so like. Maybe didn't have the time to make the Haki register? It came down to losing Luffy or bodily thrusting his own arm forward to block the bite from the sea king....and well. Shanks has 2 arms. Only one Luffy. The choice was easy. Even upon losing the arm he didn;t seem upset by it really.

For the sake of the new era he says....the face of it being Luffy himself. And yea the wording really is "I gave it up" and him clearly having no regrets.

STILL I think you do have a point, this was VERY important for Luffy to learn. This same kid stabbed his own face to prove he was "manly enough" to be a pirate (so Shanks wouldn't leave without him....like his brother Ace....like his brother Sabo, to an extent, through "death" in his case) so the realization that being a pirate....would not be easy. There would be sacrifice. There would be pain. But also in a way, it was Shanks showing how important Luffy was to him. This, and passing down that straw hat much to big for Luffy....yeah.

It's clear then he's not ready. Not yet. It's with these parting gifts that Luffy is finally able to let Shanks go, and improve himself so he's strong enough to protect others, so they don;t have to do for him what Shanks did. Luffy learned to live, and while Shanks's sacrifice was devastating to Luffy, he took it to heart to keep going and grow stronger. And yea, that Nakama is just that important, more than limbs. More than life.

NOW SANJI ON THE OTHER HAND....similar but different. Luffy and Sanji were very lonely kids, but for different reasons. Luffy was clingy to anyone who showed him anything close to kindness, while Sanji....puffed up like a scared cat. Without going deep into details, he's from an extremely abusive family that beat into him he's not worth anything because he's weak. Especially from his father. So when Zeff gives him all the food, and sacrifices his own leg....well...

"Why did you do that for me?! I never gave you a reason to be kind to me!!!" And Zeff responds with their shared dreams of the All Blue...but I also feel like it's just. Sanji is a kid. He's just a kid. Again a face of the new generation to come. Zeff had his chance to search for the All Blue and be a pirate, but Sanji's life is just beginning. I'm sure that fueled his decision too.

But unlike Luffy, this just made Sanji cling harder. In a way he gave up his dream to support Zeff, out of guilt, out of a sense of duty and kindness he'd....not really experienced and didn't know what to do with. And Zeff probably allowed it for awhile, because goodness Sanji is just a kid, and he needed someone to help him grow and learn.

But it took Luffy to come along, bringing "I will live for you" to challenge Sanji's "I will die for you" conclusion.

Which uh. Didn't really fix Sanji's self sacrificial nature, but it HELPED, lmao. Eventually he was able to let go of suppori=ting the Baratie to finally chase his dream...as long as he doesn't die for a crewmate in the process hsdhfhdsk

So YEA IDK how much their mentors/father figures knew/thought about their sacrifices, but there sure were willing choices to give up their limbs for the upcoming generation/era, no matter what. I loved Zeff emphasizing that to Garp in OPLA, I think that's extremely important and a huge theme to One Piece in general. Cycles, power, and how many conflicts rise from powerful forces refusing to let go of their power, thus suffocating the new generations (the World Government smacking down so hard on the age of pirates).

Shanks and Zeff gave their support and protection to ensure these kids could live their fullest lives, and I think that's beautiful!