Shanks is currently one of the four strongest pirates in One Piece. Just through his Haki, he can make opponents flee before a battle with him. But why did he lose his arm in the first episodes? Several fan theories aim to explain this.
Why did Shanks lose his arm? A particularly popular theory ties back to the inspiration for Shanks. Just from the wooden figure of his ship, it can be seen that the red-haired pirate is based on Viking lore.
Shanks is said to have been inspired by the Norse god Tyr. Tyr sacrificed his arm to the Fenris wolf to ensure the balance of the Nine Realms. According to the theory, the one-armed pirate also willingly sacrificed his arm to ensure a better future through Luffy (via reddit).
The scene can be seen on the Crunchyroll YouTube channel:
Alternatively, Shanks might have wanted to teach little Luffy a lesson with this action. The straw hat boy wants to become the king of pirates, but he did not behave accordingly in childhood. That’s why Shanks didn’t want to take him aboard his pirate ship.
It could be that the red-haired pirate wanted to show what it means to be a captain and to take responsibility through the lost arm. Moments later, he can scare away the Sea King with just a glance – Shanks would indeed have been capable of confronting the Sea King.
But there could be a much simpler reason: Oda originally did not plan for Shanks to lose his arm (via Twitter). In an interview in the Jump magazine from 2010, it was revealed that the idea came from his editor.
The reason for this was that it would add more spice to the story. Therefore, it could be that there is actually no reason within the One Piece story as to why the arm ended up in the stomach of a Sea King.
Currently, One Piece continues with the Egghead arc:
How did Shanks lose his arm? 10 years before the start of Luffy’s journey to the Grand Line, he is threatened to sink in the sea. Shanks jumps into the sea and saves little Luffy from a Sea King that wanted to devour the boy. It is a gigantic and dangerous sea monster.
However, instead of Luffy, the Sea King grabs Shanks’ arm. Since then, the red-haired pirate has only been seen with one arm. Despite the missing arm, he is among the 5 pirates who have a chance at the One Piece.
