 Red-haired Shanks, a character who despite being introduced to us in the very first chapter of the series remains much of a mystery. Will insight into some of his real-life inspirations be able to shed some light onto this enigma? Hello my Nakamitachi, this is Joygirl and today we are continuing our series of videos where we examine the gallery of One Piece characters and discuss the various influences which may have inspired Oda in his creation and development process. If this is a series you're interested in, then I do urge you to subscribe and click that notification bell for discussions of other characters as well as a very diverse range of topics regarding One Piece. For this video, we will continue our examination of members of the Goldie Roger Pirates by looking at a former apprentice who has gone on to become the captain of his very own crew. When we consider that Oda didn't originally plan for One Piece to run as long as it has, the fact that Shanks had a close relationship to our main protagonist suggests that he was always going to be a very significant character, which is not only evident from the Redhead captain's role and actions within the story, but also the real-life figures who seem to have inspired Oda when creating Shanks, suggesting the great amount of thought and planning that was dedicated to his character. So without further ado, let's get straight into these real-life inspirations. The earliest sources of inspiration for Oda in creating One Piece were Vikings, or in particular, Little Vicky the Viking, a television series which sparked the mangaka's love for pirates. And whilst One Piece is largely premised on more modern-day concepts of pirates, it's clear that these Nordic early types of Scandinavian seafaring combatants continue to play a role in the beloved series. One of such examples seems to be through the character of Shanks and the parallels to a Nordic mythological deity known as Tyr. Tyr was one of the Norse war gods and most renowned to have presided over matters of law and justice. This Norse war god of justice has also been adopted into Germanic mythology where Tyr is associated with the formalities of war, especially that of treaties. The belief of Tyr's role as the divine jurist comes from the tale of the binding of Fnir. According to Norse mythology, Fnir was a wolf pup whom despite being only a baby was feared by the gods due to his alarming speed of growth and the prophecies which warned that Fnir would one day cause them harm. As a result, the gods planned to tie Fnir up so that he couldn't escape. After multiple unsuccessful attempts in keeping the mighty Fnir restrained, the gods finally created fetters which would be strong enough to hold him. The rope which was called Glenapyr was smooth and light as silk and was made with a combination of very strange materials such as the beard of a woman or the breath of a fish amongst other very unique things. Suspicious of the appearance of Glenapyr and fearing magic must be involved, Fnir declared that he would only let the gods place the fetters around him if one of the gods would stick an arm into his mouth as a sign of good faith. Out of all the gods, Tyr was the only one willing to comply. After tying up the wolf who soon found he was unable to free himself, Fnir bit off Tyr's arm. Tyr's actions not only symbolized his heroism by saving the rest of the gods from the fearsome creature but also the sacrifice of his arm made their actions in capturing and binding the young wolf a just and fair transaction. Thus warranting the respect of gods and humans alike. The connections between this mythological deity and Shanks is clear. The red-haired captain remains in our memories after witnessing his heroic action in sacrificing his arm to save Luffy in the very first chapter, an action which parallels Tyr's loss of his arm. Moreover, whilst being a formidable fighter, Shanks is also considered to be somewhat of a diplomat or the maintainer of peace and justice based on his various, albeit limited actions and decisions which we have seen. He is only seen to engage in violence when absolutely necessary, such as to save his friends from danger. And whilst his motivations are not transparent, Shanks seems to be preoccupied with keeping peace and saving humanity from unnecessary bloodshed above all else. However, Tyr isn't the only Nordic figure whom Shanks seems to resemble, leading us to the discussion of another historical figure, Eric the Red. Oda seems to have drawn inspiration from a well-known Nordic Viking from the medieval era named Eric Thorvaldson, who was given the epithet Eric the Red due to the colour of his hair and beard. Eric is known to have left Norway for western Iceland at a young age around the mid-10th century after his father was exiled for manslaughter. As a boy, Eric is said to have grown up brazen and volatile, which also seems to have contributed to his nickname. After his father's death, Eric moved to northern Iceland where he settled with his wife. However, Eric was once again forced to move, this time travelling further north with his family after being banished due to a fight he had with his neighbour which resulted in Eric killing his neighbour's kinsmen. But even in his new village, Eric would continue to get himself into trouble. The Viking explorer entrusted his ascetic to another settler named Thorgast who later refused to return the artifact, a special wooden beam with Viking symbols which held mystical value in Nordic religion. Eric was able to take the beam back but fearing retaliation, he set up an ambush which led to a massive brawl where two of Thorgast's sons were killed. This again led to Eric's exile for manslaughter. Like his father who moved a long way to Iceland from Norway after being exiled for the same crime, Eric too decided to leave Iceland altogether. Traveling a massive 900 nautical miles or over 1600 kilometres of open ocean to arrive at a large landmass west of Iceland which he heard was discovered almost a century prior by another Norwegian sailor. Eric and his family were able to mitigate the dangers of such a voyage due to the advanced design of the Viking ship and Eric's own superior navigation skills. Eric became the first permanent settler of Greenland giving the island its deceptive name in hopes of inciting others to come settle there. When Eric's exile expired, he returned to Iceland and brought more settlers to his colony. His eldest son, Lief Ericsson would go on to become the first European to have set foot on Northern America arriving there approximately 500 years before Columbus. Eric was actually meant to accompany Lief on this voyage but decided not to after falling off his horse which he believed was a sign from the gods to stay home instead. According to legends, Eric soon died after the new millennium possibly due to complications from the injuries sustained during this horse accident. Perhaps the most glaring detail connecting shanks to Eric is their bright red hair colour resulting in their similar epithets. Aside from this obvious detail however, there also seems to be other inspirations which Oda drew from Eric such as the designs of the ships of the red hair pirates. Both shanks' crew's former ship which you saw in the first chapter as well as the Red Force have figureheads resembling that of a dragon head. This seems to be modelled after the design of classic Viking ships called Drakkar which Eric is thought to have sailed on. And though this next one is a bit of a stretch, like how Eric is the settler of Greenland, a country north west of Iceland, shanks is known to have hailed from the west blue. Furthermore, while shanks hasn't been displayed to be quite as volatile as the Viking, shanks does nonetheless have a reputation of being a fierce combatant as well as not hesitating to bring justice to those who deserve it. But moving on from Vikings to more modern day renditions of pirates, another real life figure who seems to have been an inspiration for the character of shanks, Captain John Calico Jack Rackham. John Rackham was a well-known English pirate who operated during the Golden Age of Piracy, also infamously known as Calico Jack given this epithet for the Calico clothing which he donned and Jack being a nickname for John. Calico Jack was an English pirate who operated in the Bahamas and Cuba in the early 18th century. Not much is known of his earlier days before he became a pirate with the first record only concerning how he served as the quartermaster for pirate Charles Vane in the New Providence Island which was notorious for being the pirates republic. Jack was voted to become the captain when Captain Vane retreated from battle against the navy whilst Jack argued that they should fight, gaining the support and respect of majority of the crew. After being voted the new captain, Jack gave Vane one of their fleet ships as well as a decent supply of ammunition and goods as the former captain left with only a small number of men. As the new captain, Jack and his crew continued operating in the region, usually targeting smaller merchant and passenger transport vessels. Apart from targeting merchants, Jack also attacked smaller pirate ships though it is said that rather than viewing them as competition and enemies, Calico Jack would invite them to join his crew after defeating them. During one of his exploits, Jack managed to gain control of a large Jamaican vessel named the Kingston which was the largest prize he had ever managed to attain in his operations as a pirate. Unfortunately, this victory took place within sight of the Port Royal Harbour where many government officials and merchants witnessed the ordeal. Not raged by the pirates actions, they commissioned a pirate hunting Spanish ship to capture the captain. Though Jack and his crew were able to escape by taking advantage of the low tide which prevented the Spanish ship from approaching, they also had to leave their prized ship and treasures behind. This resulted in the crew taking up the amnesty which had been granted to all pirates in 1719 by the English government by pleading to Governor Rogers that they had been forced to become pirates by their old Captain Vane. However, this pardon didn't last long because while at port in the Bahamas, Jack began an affair with Anne Bonny, the wife of a sailor who worked for Governor Rogers. And as a result, the new couple and the crew had to escape to sea. Interestingly, Bonny wasn't the only female pirate on board as Jack is well known for being unique in that his ship carried two women, the other being Mary Reed who hid her gender from others by disguising as a man. Jack's operations as a pirate didn't last long as in 1720, the captain and his crew were captured whilst anchored in Jamaica. Pirate Hunter Barnett was able to surprise the pirates who were drunk from partying and though Anne Bonny and Mary Reed led a fight against the capture, the entire crew were ultimately caught and sentenced to hanging for their crimes of piracy. Captain John Calico Jack Rackham was executed in November 1720 where he was hanged, gibbeted and put on display to serve as an example to all other pirates on the Caribbean. Whilst Jack's stint as pirate captain didn't last long nor was he very successful in amassing great amounts of riches or power, he has remained a well known pirate for his era. This is primarily for having two female crew members as well as for establishing the modern image of pirates through his Jolly Roger. Whilst most pirate crews used to design their flags using the whole human skeleton armed with some weapon, Jack promoted the now iconic design of the human skull with two crossed swords. And indeed, this Jolly Roger is one element which seems to connect this real life pirate to the character in focus of today's discussion. Whilst most of the Jolly Rogers in the series follows the now standard design of featuring a skull rather than the whole skeleton, the Jolly Roger of Shanks's red head pirates is one of the very few in one piece which also features the double swords rather than a crossed pair of bones. Making it more similar to the flag sported by Calico Jack's pirate crew. Another detail between the two figures is that of their unique actions or fighting styles. Rather than being renowned as a tremendously skilled combatant, Jack is more remembered for his cunning mind and tendency to use politics and interestingly, backstabbing to further his goals. Whether the backstabbing nature of Calico Jack will one day be incorporated into Shanks's character is the big question. However, it is nonetheless arguable that the red head pirate has been shown to avoid fighting where possible and has displayed more diplomatic tendencies instead. Even shown to interact with the world government, though the reasons or outcome of this is unknown. And whilst we're on the topic of speculations, it's worth noting that it's often speculated or joked amongst the fan base that Shanks is the father of Makino's baby. Which if true, would seem alike the scandalous love affair between Jack and Bonnie. But while speculations aside, now another figure we could find some connections to, though this one is a bit questionable. Captain Red, a pirate character who first featured in 1994 as part of Valiant Comics. Considering that Captain Red only first appeared a few years before 1P started, meaning that some of the characters traits may have been developed over some years, thus perhaps parallel to when Odell was writing his story, it's difficult to say that Captain Red has likely influenced the development of Shanks's character. Moreover, as a fictional character himself, it seems more probable that Captain Red was influenced by the same figures we have mentioned so far. However, there are some similarities between the two, which does make it seem possible that Shanks's character drew some inspiration from Captain Red. Apart from the fact that they share similar nicknames and the fact that they are both pirate captains, Captain Red also lost his arm during the series, which is now replaced with the prosthetic. Captain Red has a bold flamboyant, passionate and fearless personality, which, apart from flamboyant, are adjectives which seem fitting of Shanks's character. Furthermore, Captain Red is a skilled fighter who wielded both a cutlass and a pistol as his weapons. Shanks is known to wield Gryphon, a sabre which is similar to a cutlass in that they're both curved blades, though a sabre, and Gryphon in particular is much longer than a cutlass. As for the pistol, Shanks himself isn't known to carry one, though many of his crew are known to be formidable shooters, and one of Shanks's best quotes uses a pistol as an analogy for how people should act. Or perhaps, this is a fighting style which we have yet to see from the Redhead pirate, as this is an area that does indeed remain a mystery. And now, onto another real-life figure whom Shanks resembles, and one confirmed by Oda himself, is actually Oda himself. In SBS Volume 24, Oda answered that Shanks is the character most like him, citing a clever mind, cool and calm personality, as well as stand out attire as the reasons why. Though this comment did seem to be somewhat of a joke, with the mangaka implying that he doesn't think many fans will believe this is true, so perhaps this answer was just a case of wishful thinking on Oda's part, or maybe there's a side to Shanks which we have yet to see. In which case, I would love to see it. And that brings us to the end of this discussion. Please let me know of any other figures whom Oda may have drawn inspiration from when creating Shanks by leaving a comment below, and please subscribe so that you don't miss out on the next video discussing real-life inspirations behind One Piece characters. This is Joygirl, and I'll see you again soon.