Summary
For most of theOne Piecestory, Shanks' true strength was always kept a mystery to fans of the series, since Oda has always meant for it to be a huge reveal towards the end. However, fans have started to get occasional instances about how strong this Emperor truly is, most specifically in how he dealt with Eustass Kid and Ryokugyu at the end of the Egghead and Wano arcs respectively.
It’s no secret that Shanks' usage of Conqueror’s Haki may be the greatest in the current setting ofOne Piece, far surpassing that of even Luffy. To be at the level he is without any Devil Fruit ability, Shanks needs to be incredibly proficient in all forms of Haki, but while hisObservation Haki is easily among the best in the world, Scopper’s may just be better due to this one specific feat, so let’s see what it could be.
How It Might Be The Best In The Series
Shanks First Appearance
One Piece, Chapter 1, “Romance Dawn - The Dawn of Adventure”
Scopper’s First Appearance
One Piece, Chapter 19, “Devil Fruit”
Observation Haki has always been the most underrated of the three main Haki types, although it has served as a central concept in multiple arcs. The first time it was ever shown in the serieswas back in the Skypiea arc, where the natives of the land used it in a form called ‘Mantra’. The final villain of the arc, Enel, showed his unprecedented mastery of the technique where he could use it from miles away to hear what others were saying about him on the other side of the island.
Since then, Observation Haki has often been used in the story, mostly as a way of evading danger or sensing someone’s presence from a great distance away. With each of these Haki types, there’s an advanced version, with Advanced Observation Haki being one of the coolest and most overpowered abilities in the series. This is called ‘Future Sight’ and it was first seen to be used by the fan-favorite villain, Charlotte Katakuri.
Since then, Luffy has gone on to master Advanced Observation Haki and has even built up his Future Sight to great lengths. However, the strongest version of this ability was used by Shanks when Kid attacked his fleet. Here, Shanks saw a monumental 10 seconds into the future, where he foresaw the incredible destruction thatKid would unleash upon him and his allies, leading to the deaths of many. So, before Kid could even muster up the power for his attack, Shanks acted and almost singlehandedly destroyed the entire Kid Pirates crew.
With all that being said, how could Scopper match up to Shanks' Advanced Observation Haki? The reason for this comes in the Elbaf arc after Shamrock and Gunko finally make their appearance on the island. To start with, Elbaf is easily one of the biggest islands on the Grand Line, so, naturally, things are spaced out far more due to the land being centered around Giants. Despite this, Scopper was the only person to have detected the Gods Knight’s Haki on the entire island.
I felt some very abnormal Haki coming from the castle earlier.
At this stage, Luffy is the strongest he has ever been and is proficient in the advanced forms of all three Haki categories. Despite this, heonly found out about Shamrockand Gunko after he was told about them and went to Aurust Castle where he saw the Pentagram. This just shows that either Scopper’s Observation Haki picked up on Shamrock’s suppressed Haki or, more likely, he detected an all-new kind of Haki emanating from the Pentagram itself.
This is perhaps the greatest Haki feat in the series since no one else even had the slightest idea if anything had gone wrong at all. Scopper could either detect incredibly minute levels of Haki that were being suppressed or he could detect a special kind of Haki that no one else even knows exists, both of which ensure that his Observation Haki is easily one of, if not the single best in the series.
Is Scoppers Observation Haki Better Than Shanks’s?
Tackling The Question
The most likely scenario here is that Scopper almost assuredly has the same level of Future Sight that Shanks does, considering he was known as anequal to Roger and Rayleighand is one of the strongest characters in history. Although he hasn’t shown such an ability, the same can be said for Shanks, so it’s entirely possible that Scopper has the edge here.
However, the most likely case is that Scopper is behind Shanks in terms of strength and Haki proficiency, which is entirely due to age. He, and everyone else from his time, are far beyond their prime and age has caught up to them, while Shanks is in his prime. Although Shanks is undeniably stronger right now, the argument is entirely different for Scopper in his prime.
One Piececan be streamed onCrunchyroll.
One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
