For a long time, Shanks’ early life was a mystery. Fans only got a small hint when Eiichiro Oda shared a glimpse of baby Shanks in the One Piece Film: Red booklet. There was an unfinished drawing showing Roger and his crew discovering Shanks inside a treasure chest. The sketch quickly went viral. People loved it so much that they started recreating it in manga and anime styles. But at that point, this event had not yet appeared in the main story.
Now, fans don’t have to rely on fan art anymore. Oda finally showed the panel in One Piece chapter 1166 where the Roger Pirates find baby Shanks inside a treasure chest. During the God Valley incident, Rayleigh and Gaban helped rescue Roger. The Pirate King was badly injured and resting, but his crew wanted him to open the treasure they had taken from the Celestial Dragons.
Roger was amazed at the treasure, but then he heard a baby crying from one of the chests. Surprised, he opened it and found baby Shanks inside. Everyone was shocked to see a baby hiding in treasure. Oda recreated the scene almost exactly like the draft from the booklet. Fans were thrilled to see this long-awaited reveal finally in the manga.
Interestingly, in the original draft, Roger had his iconic mustache. But in the final panel, Oda left it off, showing that Roger still had a long way to go before growing it after the God Valley incident.
The story of how Shanks ended up in the treasure chest is incredible. He was first rescued by Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy’s father. But then Dragon lost him. On his own, baby Shanks climbed into a treasure chest when Captain John used his Jiki Jiki no Mi powers. Fans are overjoyed to finally see this adorable part of Shanks’ history unfold in the manga.
