According to a One Piece theory, Shanks tried to save himself when he was attacked by Sea King, but Luffy forced him to lose his arm.

SUMMARY

Shanks is one of the most powerful characters in the One Piece storyline.
This is why, when he lost his arm saving Luffy, it didn’t made sense for the fans.
According to a One Piece theory, Luffy was responsible for Shanks losing his hands.

The bond of Shanks and Luffy is one of the most wholesome things ever in One Piece. The two characters have been friends for a long time, but ever since Luffy became a pirate, their meeting has been awaited by fans. Luffy has been wanting to become like Shanks and idolizes him a lot, and one of the main reasons behind this is that Shanks saved Luffy’s life.

Shanks and Luffy | Credit: Toei Animation

As One Piece fans know, when Luffy was a kid, Shanks visited his island and saved his life after he ate the Devil Fruit and was almost devoured by the Sea King. In the process of saving Luffy from the Sea King, Shanks lost his arm and, according to many fans, a huge amount of his powers. However, this event never made sense as Shanks was much more powerful than the Sea King.

If he wanted, he could have easily taken down the Sea King and saved Luffy without losing his hand. In fact, there are speculations that Shanks did try to avoid getting his hand eaten, but Luffy’s mysterious Devil Fruit powers forbade him to do so.

Shanks losing his arm never made sense

When Shanks was first introduced in One Piece, it was already hinted by Eiichiro Oda that he is one of the strongest characters in the series. His encounter with the bandits and his ability to steal a Devil Fruit from the Navy proved that he was not someone to be messed with. Also, he could already use Conqueror’s Haki at the time, which made him look even more dangerous.

Aside from all this, at the time, he was also battling it out with his rival, Dracule Mihawk, who is the Strongest Swordsman in the One Piece world. Thus, it is quite clear that even at the beginning of One Piece, Shanks was insanely powerful and could have taken down any opponent he wanted.

However, when Shanks saved Luffy from Higuma and the Sea King, it looked like he was not at all powerful, as he lost his arm to the Sea King. The Sea King was indeed a dangerous creature, but compared to Shanks’ strength, he wouldn’t have lasted a single minute, and thus, him losing his arm against the Sea King never made sense to One Piece fans.

Shanks was not responsible for losing his arm

It is highly possible that Shanks was not the one responsible for him losing an arm. In fact, it was Luffy and his mysterious Nika powers that manifested Shanks’ injury and let that happen. This was also the moment when Shanks realized that Luffy was indeed Joy Boy and decided to help him liberate the One Piece world.

Luffy’s Nika Transformation | Credit: Toei Animation

Luffy’s Devil Fruit, Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, allows him to turn his imagination into reality, which helps him attain freedom and creativity in battles. This way, he can manifest anything, and with the help of his powers, he can make those things come true. This mysterious power has not been explored much, but according to speculations, this is the reason Shanks lost his arm.

When Shanks came to save Luffy from the Sea King, he used Armament Haki to stop the Sea King from eating his hand. But because Luffy already manifested Shanks losing his arm, his powers didn’t allow Shanks’ haki to work, ultimately leading to the Sea King biting his arm off in One Piece.