At Proxymité Japon, we've already established that Shanks is one of the best characters in Oda's One Piece series. The red-haired pirate is an epic badass and one of the most beloved characters in the entire series. Many, if not all, One Piece fans love Shanks, which is why his fate in the series is a very hot topic in the fandom. And although Shanks hasn't yet made his grand appearance in which he would show his true and full potential, people continue to wonder about the great pirate, and in this article, we'll explain why Shanks can be considered a swordsman.

Aside from the fact that several official sources have stated that Shanks is a "master swordsman," it is clear that he is not simply a swordsman, but rather a swordsman. He does not possess a Devil Fruit, and while he is highly skilled in all three types of Haki, Shanks primarily fights with his sword, and since he is so dangerous, one can only infer that his skills with the blade are incredible.

The rest of this article will focus on Shanks and his powers and abilities. Our main goal in this article is to determine whether Shanks is a true swordsman or simply a sword user in One Piece. If you're not familiar with the entire story of One Piece, we must warn you that there are spoilers in the following paragraphs.

Shanks is undoubtedly a swordsman, and he is one of the best.

And even if you think that everyone who fights with a sword in One Piece can be classified as a swordsman, you'd be wrong. Namely, in Oda's manga universe, some characters can be described as simple sword users, and those who can be described as swordsmen. The difference lies in the skill.

A sword user simply uses a sword but has no formal training in swordsmanship; they are rarely very skilled and would easily lose to any swordsman. In contrast, a swordsman has been trained in the various sword arts and can, in most cases, be considered a master of that art. Knowing this, is Shanks a swordsman or a sword user?

Well, we've certainly seen Shanks fight with a sword, with some of his most epic clashes being those against Mihawk (the world's best swordsman), Whitebeard (his former friend and Yonko), and Kid (most recently, where he managed to slice through the mighty pirate captain with a single simple mode, or even kill him). Shanks is undoubtedly powerful; if you remember, we listed him among the strongest swordsmen in One Piece. Shanks was able to fight Mihawk and Whitebeard on equal terms, proving that he is not just a swordsman but a master swordsman.

If you don't believe us, several written publications have confirmed this, including Four Billion Magazine, a data book, an SBS, and a light novel. You can check out the full list and scanned pages here. But does the series itself confirm it?

Shanks's saber is known as the Gryphon. The Gryphon saber has a longer than usual green handle with a beige hilt. Shanks keeps it in a blue sheath strapped to the right side of his waist. The Gryphon is a powerful sword that can rival Edward Newgate's bisento.

The energy of this fight was so great that it shattered the clouds in the sky, but the sword suffered no damage. It can withstand Sakazuki's lava when coated in Haki. Shanks has wielded three different swords at different times in the past: two different swords as an apprentice pirate aboard Gol D. Roger's ship and another in Luffy's hometown.

However, since Shanks has not been seen in a truly challenging fight so far, his true fighting prowess is unknown. He is considered one of the four most powerful pirates in the world, but as one of the four emperors of the New World, his raw physical power is considered vast. While some pirate captains would stumble at the mere mention of Whitebeard's name, Shanks had enough strength to stand up to the toughest man in the world and did not fear him.

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Although he only briefly displayed his swordsmanship, the fact that he was able to parry Whitebeard's blow with one arm speaks volumes about the power of his blows. Furthermore, Shanks can use both his sword and Armament Haki to block Akainu's Magma Fist. Since Shanks is an old adversary of Mihawk, considered the greatest swordsman in the world, we can compare their mastery of the blade. Although he continues to hold his sword in his left hand in flashback scenes, Shanks seems to have preferred to use his left arm before losing it. It is believed that he was left-handed.

Well, now that we've established that Shanks is truly a master swordsman, we can speculate as to why this is so. It's known that Shanks doesn't have a Devil Fruit (at least, that's what we know for now), which means that his natural skills and abilities are the main source of his powers and notoriety. He's a powerful Haki user, but Haki isn't an effective offensive move against powerful opponents, which means Shanks certainly has more to offer. Considering how much of a Yonko he is, and that he's feared even by Blackbeard and respected by the Five Elders, he must be powerful.

And while Shanks is definitely a unique combination of powers in the series, we must confirm that he must have been a master swordsman, as that is his main strength individually. He is a blend of different skills and techniques. However, individually, his swordsmanship skills are above average, and he could, in this aspect, defeat almost any other character in the series. This focus makes sense, considering Oda didn't give Shanks any special abilities.