[One Piece] “Devil Fruit Users Can’t Swim” — So How Did Shanks Become a Yonko? Japanese Fans Tear the Logic Apart
#01 EAST BLUE
Shanks (2018/06) — If Devil Fruit Users Can’t Swim, Why Is a Non-Ability Pirate a Yonko?
If Devil Fruit users can’t swim, pirates should logically avoid them. Yet the strongest pirates and marines are almost all Devil Fruit users. So why did Shanks — who seemingly has no ability and lost an arm — rise to Yonko status?
The “Devil Fruit Users Can’t Swim” Argument Doesn’t Match Reality
1: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 How did this guy become a Yonko when he’s this weak and clueless?
Shanks:
“Like hell you’re cut out to be a pirate!!”
“Not being able to swim is a fatal flaw for a pirate!!”
2: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Almost all top pirates and marines can’t swim anyway.
3: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Most fights happen on land in the first place.
4: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 He awakened after a fish ate his arm.
8: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 It was just an excuse to stop Luffy.
9: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 The real top-tier pirates probably aren’t ability users. Rayleigh can swim.
14: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Didn’t he have sword skills equal to Mihawk back when he had both arms?
30: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 If he made it to Yonko, he had plenty of chances to get a Devil Fruit.
32: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 He casually shows up at Marineford and the Celestial Dragons’ place — is he a teleporter or something?
39: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 What happens if you just dump all the industry leaders into the sea?
Shanks’ Strength Is Off-Screen by Design
46: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Shanks being the final boss theory is pretty convincing. More than Blackbeard, honestly.
72: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Logia users can basically fly, so swimming doesn’t even matter.
78: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 >>72 Even without powers, everyone flies anyway.
73: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Editor: “Make Shanks lose his arm for impact.” Oda: “Okay…” That’s the real story.
79: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Has Shanks ever actually been shown being strong?
94: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 >>79 Only the Whitebeard meeting and blocking Akainu. Not much to go on.
154: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 The whole “can’t swim” premise is probably wrong. Shanks might be an ability user who avoids the drawback somehow.
Fan Theories: Final Boss, Power Scaling, and Mihawk Catching Strays
171: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 Mihawk is just a bully hunter. His real strength is only on par with Whitebeard’s commanders.
203: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 >>171 Well, he’s just a Shichibukai after all.
216: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 >>171 Vista being equal to Mihawk who’s equal to Shanks just means he’s doomed to be a jobber. He’ll get instantly killed to hype someone stronger than Shanks and Mihawk.
183: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 The Shanks final boss theory has been around since the early days.
45: Anonymous Pirate. 2018/06/10 The New World is absolutely packed with ability users.
👉 Why Japanese Fans Keep Questioning Shanks’ “Visible” Strength
Japanese readers aren’t actually saying Shanks is weak. They’re reacting to how little direct evidence the story gives them.
In a series where power is usually proven through fights, Shanks is defined by absence. That absence creates discomfort — and endless logic puzzles — for readers who expect strength to be shown, not implied.
👉 Shanks as a Narrative Tool, Not a Power Scale Problem
For many fans, Shanks exists outside normal power scaling. He’s protected by narrative gravity, editorial intent, and mystery.
That’s why theories jump to extremes: teleportation, final boss, hidden abilities. When the story refuses to show strength, fans fill the void themselves.
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