- [Instructor] Most people think that
the very first chapter of "One Piece"
showcases Shanks being super iconic,
sacrificing his arm for Luffy,
and putting on a brave face to cover it all up.
But let me expose him because there is a very devious reason
for this here smile
because Shanks already had a plan to fix the situation
by equipping a prosthetic subscribe button
for the Grand Line Review,
thus allowing everyone he comes in contact with
to press it and receive regular "One Piece" content
uploaded straight into their YouTube feeds.
To go on in this battle
will only lead to more losses on both sides.
We won't allow you to go on
making a spectacle of their deaths.
However, if any of you want to fight then bring it on.
We will be the ones to fight you.
Hello and welcome to "One Piece" 101.
The series that breaks down everyone and everything
in the "One Piece" world.
And today, we are going to be examining
one of the most powerful and profoundly influential crews
to have ever existed in the series,
being the Red Hair Pirates.
The Red Hair Pirates are a crew most notoriously led
by their namesake, Captain Red Haired Shanks,
and with that alone this group
immediately has quite the pedigree attached to it
because Mister Shanks just so happened to serve
as a rookie pirate aboard the Oro Jackson,
which was captained by the former pirate, King Gol D Roger.
And during this time it really must be stressed
that Shanks was but a tiny lad who,
as far as we know, was part of the crew
at the tender age of nine-years-old
and would remain with the group
until Roger disbanded the crew.
By which point Shanks was at least 14.
One year later, this boy would go on
to witness Roger's execution at Log Town,
throwing the teenager into a pit of despair.
But one that he would indeed eventually overcome
and he decided that he would form his own pirate crew.
And this moment would be the inception
of the Red Hair Pirates.
However, the first piece of evidence
we have on their activity
would come two years down the track when, alone,
Shanks would arrive at Syrup Village
in search of a man Yasopp whom he asked to join his crew.
Now, this scene would appear to imply
that Yasopp was the first official member
of the Red Hair Pirates, barring Shanks himself of course.
But then again it could also very well be the case
that Shanks just went to the island alone
for reasons, I guess.
Of course it should be noted that
Yasopp is the father of Usopp,
who would go on to join the Straw Hat Pirates
and just, while we're here, fun fact.
At this very moment that Shanks was recruiting Yasopp,
a certain sheep butler on the island
was hard at work designing the Going Merry,
the future vessel of the Straw Hat Pirates.
But following this, Shanks would go on
to assemble quite a crew over the years,
including many world-renowned names such as Ben Beckman,
a stern, level-headed individual
who is said to be the man with the third highest IQ
in all of East Blue.
However, let's be fair here.
His competition is not exactly fantastic
because second and third places allegedly belong
to Captain Kuro and Nami, respectively.
So East Blue does not appear to be well known
for producing wildly intelligent beings all that often.
Despite this, Ben is a pretty chill guy at heart
and certainly enjoys drunken shenaniganry with the crew.
Oh, and of course, Ben Beckman also has the distinction
of being the First Mate of the Red Hair Pirates,
putting him in second in command behind only Shanks himself.
Then there's also Lucky Roux,
a very well-rounded individual
both physically and in terms of personality,
who is most often seen living out Luffy's dream
of always having a chunk of meat in hand to nom on.
And Roux in contrast to Ben
seems to be incapable of performing anything less
than a glaringly wide smile at all times,
which along with his extremely bright taste in fashion
makes him a definite highlight of the crew
and generally the life of the party.
And although Roux's exact role in the crew is unknown,
he is designated as an officer.
And as we mentioned before,
we do also have Yasopp
who serves as the sniper of the Red Hair Pirates.
And just as with Roux and Ben,
he is also an officer class member.
And at this point in the story,
these were the only named members of the crew.
However, it should be said that the Red Hair Pirates
gathered a small legion of trusted members
who remained and would grow with the group
from its humble beginnings,
all the way to its utter domination of the seas.
And I'm sure that one day we will find out
who these individuals are,
but that day is sadly not quite today.
Speaking of seafaring dominance though,
even at this stage the Red Hair Pirates
were becoming a notorious name all over the world,
with Shanks in particular becoming well known
for his consistent duels with the man
who would go on to become
the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk.
And these battles were said to send echoes
throughout the entirety of the Grand Line.
However, arguably one of their greatest impacts
on this planet would come
in the most unlikely of places
as for reasons currently unknown to us,
the Red Hair Pirates would come
to spend a year of their lives in East Blue.
Quite specifically on Dawn Island
which is where they got to know our serious protagonist,
Monkey D. Luffy, who became inspired
to pursue the path of piracy
and even repeatedly begged Shanks
to allow him to join the Red Hair Pirates.
And, of course,
Shanks repeatedly denied him this opportunity
due to Luffy being too young which is, you know,
kind of hypocritical because when you think about it,
Shanks was only two years older than Luffy
when he was first spotted with the Roger Pirates, so, hmmm.
In any case, what would follow would be an altercation
with the man known as Higuma the Bear and his bandits
whom the Red Hair Pirates similarly dismissed.
However, in the effort to rescue Luffy from Higuma,
as well as a lot of the coast,
Shanks would sacrifice his left arm.
Although he would go on to consider it
an investment in the New Age,
even leaving Luffy with his straw hat
and asking the boy to return it to him
when he became a great pirate.
Thus setting the events
of "One Piece" as we know it into motion.
And with this, the Red Hair Pirates left the island
and would eventually return to the Grand Line
where several years after meeting Luffy,
Shanks would be approached by a man named Portgas D. Ace,
the alleged brother of Luffy,
who wanted to thank Shanks directly for saving Luffy's life.
After which the Red Hair Pirates did what they do best
and threw a party.
And not only that, but years later once again,
during another one of their famed parties,
the crew would be visited by Shanks' old rival,
Dracule Mihawk, who came bearing a wanted poster
featuring Luffy who had just received his very first bounty
of 13 million berries.
Now after all of this,
I feel like I may be giving you the wrong impression
of the Red Hair Pirates,
as they very much sound like a drunken hoard.
But that is only some of the time.
In reality, if we could sum up
the lifestyle of the Red Hair Pirates
in one quote from "The Simpsons,"
it would be "We work hard, we play hard."
And that work would pay dividends
as six years before the commencement of Luffy's journey,
Shanks would become recognized
as one of the four emperors of the sea
with the Red Hair Pirates expanding their power
and influence to carve out their own mighty claim
on this world.
And furthermore, the Red Hair Pirates
have been playing a large role
in the background of the series,
specifically in regards to the figure of Marshall D. Teach
who would come to be known as Blackbeard.
In fact, Blackbeard was the person responsible
for giving Shanks that scar on his face
which would then be incorporated
onto the flag of the Red Hair Pirates.
Sadly though, Shanks and his group
would appear to be the only group in the world
that was concerned about Blackbeard whatsoever,
as demonstrated when Shanks sent an envoy
to the Whitebeard Pirates which were the crew
that had formally housed Blackbeard.
This envoy's name was Rockstar.
We haven't spoken about him before now
because he had only recently joined the crew at this point
and touted a massive bounty of 94 million berries,
which, let's be fair, that was huge at the time
given that Luffy's bounty had just tipped over
to 100 million berries.
And that kind of comparison should tell you
quite a lot regarding the strength of the Red Hair Pirates.
The fact that someone like Rockstar
would be considered a rookie speaks volumes
about Shanks and the officers.
However, Whitebeard refused to hear Rockstar out
claiming that if Shanks wanted to send him a message
then he would need to come in person.
Which, eventually, he did
to express concern about Blackbeard.
But this interaction went no better
than the one with Rockstar
as it resulted in Shanks and Whitebeard clashing
as well as splitting the very sky above them open.
And at this point,
things were just that little bit too late anyway
as Blackbeard had set into motion
a series of events that would come to reshape the world.
Having captured Ace, now a member of Whitebeard's crew,
and prompting Whitebeard to attack Marine Headquarters
in an event known as The Paramount War.
However, Whitebeard was only allowed
to embark on this crusade
thanks to the actions of the Red Hair Pirates.
Because another one of the four emperors being Kaido,
had mustered his forces in an attempt
to intercept Whitebeard prior to arriving at Marineford.
And it's unknown at this point
exactly why Kaido chose to do this,
but Shanks prevented it
and allegedly engaged in conflict with Kaido,
or at least his forces.
It's hard to say what happened
because we never actually saw the event,
we only really heard little tidbits about it.
And in fact, there's quite a few different ways
it could have played out.
In any case, using the sheer power of Shanks,
the Red Hair Pirates were eventually able
to either defeat, placate, or escape the Beast Pirates
and afterwards, they made immediately for Marineford.
However, by this time they were too late
as both Whitebeard and Ace had been killed in the battle
that had been raging.
However, this did not stop the Red Hair Pirates
from becoming involved, with Shanks
leaping into defense of combat against Admiral Akainu
and Ben Beckman going on to threaten Admiral Kizaru.
After this, the main force of the Red Hair Pirates assembled
with Shanks making the bold declaration
that if there was anybody who still wanted to fight,
then they would be their opponents.
To which the world government,
the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates,
and the Blackbeard Pirates all said,
"No thanks, we're good."
And The Paramount War was brought to an abrupt end.
Then being the mostly honorable fellows they are,
the Red Hair Pirates assisted the Whitebeard Pirates
in their retreat from the Marine base,
as well as arrangements for the burial
of both Whitebeard and Ace.
As for the next major conflict,
well, it's another one of those unseen events
because the Red Hair Pirates are fantastic
at operating in the background of the series.
However, during the two year time skip,
they would come to fight against a member
of the Worst Generation, being Eustass Kid
which, let's just say, things did not go well for Mister Kid
and it would even cost him a left arm,
which, funnily enough, is the same arm
that Shanks himself lost all those years ago
while saving Luffy.
This outcome did not settle matters though
and Kid would go on to form an alliance
with other members of the Worst Generation
with the goal of taking down the Red Hair Pirates.
Although that alliance didn't work out for Kid either
due to a spot of the old betrayal.
But to this day, he still holds a powerful vendetta
against both Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates.
And as for their next experience,
the Red Hair Pirates would be featured on a cover story
where they were seen attending the wedding
of an unknown individual
and reacting to the then new bounties of the Straw Hats.
However, since then only Shanks has been seen
in the modern timeline,
which was at the conclusion of Whole Cake Island,
and finding himself in a most unlikely spot
on the holy land of Mary Geoise,
requesting an audience with the five elder stars
in order to discuss a certain pirate.
Some more fun facts about the Red Hair Pirates.
The flagship vessel of the Red Hair Pirates
is a mighty beast known as the Red Force,
which we haven't seen very much of at this stage.
However, it should be noted that this is not the same ship
that the crew were using when they were stationed
on Dawn Island, which was a much more simple vessel.
So at some stage between then and now,
the Red Hair Pirates upgraded to this beast of a ship.
While the Red Hair Pirates are certainly the emperor faction
that we know by far the least about,
we do have confirmation that like most emperors,
they do control their fair share
of individual territory within the New World.
Which was confirmed during Bartolomeo's portion
of the Grand Fleet cover story
when he arrived on one of their islands
and promptly burned the flag of the Red Hair Pirates,
replacing it with that of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Oh, and he also forcibly sold the townsfolk
a wide variety of straw hat merchandise,
much to their extreme shock and perpetual terror.
Interestingly enough, in a strange alternate reality,
it is entirely possible that Buggy
could have been a member of the Red Hair Pirates
because he was actually the very first person
Shanks invited to join the crew.
But Buggy being Buggy refused this offer outright
and, of course, would go on to have his own,
let's say, relatively successful pirating career.
In an extraordinarily rare set of circumstances
for the "One Piece" world, the Red Hair Pirates
appear to be the only collective
considered an emperor-level force
that does not have any Devil Fruit users within it.
Or at the very least, at this stage
there are no confirmed Devil Fruit users amongst them.
That could very easily change in the future
as more is revealed about them.
Despite being a primarily background presence
in the lifespan of "One Piece,"
the influence of the Red Hair Pirates
has actually spread into the real world
as their Jolly Roger was even adopted
by the Japanese Coastguard in an exercise
where they were pretending to be a pirate vessel.
And finally, a truly useless fact.
Just in case it wasn't obvious enough
from their roles in the series,
the way to distinguish an officer ranked member
of the Red Hair Pirates is that they each come adorned
in a personalized cape, generally imitating
they're sent by Shanks.
Although Yasopp's is fairly unique
what with all the stars and everything,
plus he seems to prefer having it tied up.
So, yeah, in conclusion capes are cool.
And don't you even try to deny it.
But that pretty much does it for the Red Hair Pirates.
But what do you guys think?
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and I'll see you next time.