 Luffy's role model, an old and trusted friend. But is he actually Luffy's greatest foe? Hello my Nakamitachi, this is Joygirl and today we are going to be delving into a fun discussion about Shang's and the possibility of him being evil. As you may or may not have seen, Oda left us One Piece Man's a message at the Jump Festa 2021 very recently. And one teeny little line in particular has driven the community wild with hype and anticipation, which is that one red-haired man will make his move in 2021. Which fans have taken to mean that Shang's is the red-haired man in question, meaning Shang's will finally be taking action and we will be seeing more of this legendary character in the year to come. Now, as much as I do believe and hope that Oda was indeed referring to Shang's, we should keep in mind that there are many red-haired individuals in One Piece. For example, we have Kid and Ichigi, both of whom are fair candidates for appearing and making some move next year. But I do have to agree that this seems less likely and it does seem like Oda was referring to Shang's. But that also doesn't mean that we will be seeing anything very substantial next year. Oda often likes to evade our expectations and is a master at showing us just glimpses of characters and events to drive us crazy. Which is what he may well do next year, showing us just a snippet of Shang's even if the character he referred to was the red-haired Yonko. And for that very reason, rather than drive myself bonkers trying to figure out exactly what this move will be, we are going to be having a fun discussion on Shang's and a pretty wild one at that. And this has been spurred because I've seen a few comments on previous videos suggesting that Shang's is not who we think he is at all and rather that Shang's is evil. Okay, settle down. Before you think I'm crazy, I should mention that this isn't my own personal theory. I also haven't looked into it too much as to the reasons of why or how this would work, but it is something that has piqued my interest and has been lurking deep in my mind ever since I first came across this hypothesis. So, considering the recent news, I thought this would be an apt time to have a fun discussion on the possibility of Shang's being a villain and these are just my ideas as to how this could work or be explained and I'm sure people have either come across some others or have their own ideas so please do feel free to share them in the comments below. Also, I should stress that this is not a theory video. Personally, I still find it hard to believe that Shang's is evil even despite the fact that we hardly know anything about him, but it is nevertheless a fun discussion to have and at the end of the day with Oda, you never know what you're gonna get. So hey, maybe these crazy ideas will end up being right after all. And before we begin, I should advise that though this video will be mostly free of spoilers there will be a mention of a fact only known to manga readers but I will warn you when I am about to discuss this section so please feel free to continue watching. And with that being said, let's get into it. Part of why the fanbase is going wild with Oda's announcement is due to the fact that despite being almost 1000 chapters in, we have only seen Shang's a handful of times, but he was at the beginning of the story, quite literally being introduced in the first chapter to spark Luffy's adventure. And then of course, we found out that Shang's was a former crewmate on the former pirate king Goldie Rogers ship being an apprentice at a young age, meaning that Shang's was also figuratively part of the beginning of Luffy's journey. And these two facts are what cements Shang's as somewhat of a good guy in most of the fanbase's mind. First and foremost, he was the role model that taught Luffy invaluable lessons such as that friends are worth fighting for as well as saving the young boy, sacrificing his own arm in the process. His refusal to retaliate when Higuma taunted and insulted him was a defining moment that forms the idea that Shang's is the bigger man, only resorting to violence when his friends are in danger. And then in addition to that, Shang's being a former Roger pirate further establishes him to be one of the good characters in One Piece. Because despite being a pirate and a pirate king at that, Roger has been built up to be a righteous and moral character, well as far as pirates go anyways, contrasted from pirates like Rox and Shiki who sought the One Piece for power. Roger is portrayed to be a man concerned with uncovering the world's truth and acquiring freedom. And with Shang's, a pirate of Roger's crew, it is natural to assume that he shares a similar philosophy. But what if these are Mr. X? What if Oda set us up for the biggest twist in One Piece? What if Shang's is not a good guy and is a villain after all? What if Shang's is actually a spy? Perhaps he was a spy even early on in his life ever since he was in Roger's crew. There are a few things that could contradict this, such as, and here is the manga spoiler to any anime-only fan so please get ahead to the time on the screen. Oda mentions in his journal that when Roger returned from finding the One Piece, he and Shang's talked separately, after which Shang's cried. Of course Shang's crying could simply be due to him being upset about his captain's impending death, but if we do assume Shang's is a spy, though we don't know the contents of their conversation, why would Shang's have this response, unless he cared about Roger or his mission regarding the One Piece? But this could be explained by the fact that A, despite being a spy, Shang's did come to love Roger, or B, Roger revealed to Shang's that he knew all along about his double-agent nature scaring Shang's, or even C, even despite knowing of Shang's identity as a spy, Roger loves and accepts the young boy anyways. Or even D, maybe Shang's only became a spy after Roger's death. Regardless of when he turned into a double agent, there are pressing questions, where depending on its answers, our reading of Shang's may be a lot darker, such as what was Shang's doing in Fusher Village in Chapter 1 anyways. Perhaps if he was a spy, having known of Roger's child, Shang's was keeping tabs on Ace, which is why he was at Galois Kingdom, staying close to report on Ace. Which does however beg the question of his meeting with Luffy, was it a coincidence? Or was he also keeping tabs on Luffy, the son of dragon, the most dangerous criminal in the world? Maybe Shang set Luffy up, and in this light, their encounter seems much more sinister, such as if Shang's was working with Hugu Ma so that he would have this shining moment where he would come save Luffy, thereby earning Luffy's trust and loyalty for the future. But then this does raise the question, who is Shang's working for? And the most obvious answer would be that he is part of the world government. He may even be part of the Celestial Dragons if his role as a spy began even as early as when he was part of Roger's crew. Or perhaps his lineage as a Celestial Dragon is something that Roger told him after Roger found the One Piece. Shang's relationship to the Celestial Dragons is something that I will actually be discussing in greater, more serious detail in another video. But for the purposes of this discussion, maybe Shang's is connected to the Celestial Dragons and with Luffy, an individual who has the will of the D, Shang's has been keeping tabs on him too. And there are other points that may suggest Shang's relationship to the world government or to the Celestial Dragons within the series. Firstly, his appearance at Marine Food. Shang's was able to single-handedly bring the war to a halt. Sure, he's a Yonko, but so was Whitebeard. So what sort of leverage does Shang's hold to be able to command so much power? If he was a Celestial Dragon, the world government's acquiescence would make sense, which would similarly explain Shang's exchange with the Gorosei. Despite his status as a pirate and a Yonko at that, the five elders still allowed him an audience and even treated him with respect, arranging a time which Shang's requested. The pirate that Shang's discussed with the elders has been assumed by many to be Blackbeard, as a dangerous individual who requires the attention of the world government. But what if the pirate that Shang's was approaching them about is Luffy? Back at Punk Hazard, Luffy says that he will eventually defeat all of the Yonko and that he would not want to fight Shang's first. When Luffy said this, he put up three fingers, suggesting that Shang's may not even be included in Luffy's list of Yonkos to defeat if Blackbeard is included instead. But we know how tricky Oda can be. What if this is a foreshadowing that Shang's will be Luffy's final opponent? Crazy. Because there are still some remaining questions that may be linked to Shang's being evil. Such as what he said to Kaido when he went to intercept the other Yonko at Marineford, or why he even went to stop Kaido. Was this related to a possible enmity against Luffy? Because since the most recent chapters, which I won't actually spoil in terms of content, so anime only viewers you're safe to continue listening, we would be led to assume that Kaido and Shang's were discussing Ace, but what if their interaction actually concerned Luffy? Which still wouldn't explain why Shang's stopped the war to save Luffy, unless it's part of a deeper plan that requires Luffy to survive up to some point. In any case, whilst it's not the most obvious conclusion, perhaps Oda will reveal Shang's true nature in 2021. Shang could be a world government spy, he could be the leader of a certain secret world government unit that has only been revealed to Manga readers so far in The One on Arc, or be even connected to the celestial dragons. Whilst this isn't really a theory video, I do think it's very thought provoking to consider the idea of Shang's being a villain. So if you have answers to any of my questions or any other supporting points as to why or how Shang's may be evil, please do leave a comment below. On that note, I am preparing a more serious, but equally wild theory about the Red Head Pirate, so if you are not already subscribed, please do so so that you will be notified when this new video is released. Please also like and share if you enjoyed today's video. This is Joygirl, and I'll see you again soon.