The Inevitable Garling vs. Shanks Fight, Explained

This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf Arc.

Summary

• Shanks and Garling Figarland are related, making a future battle inevitable for these father and son characters.

• Shanks, a pirate and hero, is likely to fight Garling, a Sky Dragon from the World Government.

• Shanks can play a key role in defeating the Figarland family as part of the Final Saga in One Piece.

St Garling Figarland is one of the most intriguing characters in One Piece for now, and based on how Oda has been focusing on him lately and revealing bits about him, fans know he has a huge role to play.

Saint Garling Figarland was introduced in One Piece as the Supreme Commander of the Knights of God. But since then he has moved up the positions quite a bit and is now one of the five oldest. Fans know he's being set up as a massive antagonist, and given his connection to Shanks, he'll inevitably face him in battle one day. Their clash will have major repercussions for the story to come.

Garling And Shanks Connection

• Garling is Shank's father

• Shanks was separated from the Figarland family

As fans already know, Shanks and Garling are related. The very first mention of Garling figureland came in the Final Saga of One Piecewhere it was revealed to fans that he was the Supreme Commander of the Knights of God. Meanwhile, fans were also told that Saint Garling was a very powerful individual who established himself during the God Valley incident, where he was proclaimed the Champion of God Valley. Obviously, his strength was considered very high, and while it's certainly interesting for fans to get hints about his power level, what was even more interesting was the fact that this person was actually Shank's father. IN One Piece Movie Redthe five elders made it clear that Shanks was a member of the Figarland family.

Watch carefully, children! – Garling Figarland

Then fans got to see Garling in the flesh, essentially making it clear to them that this person could have been related to Shanks. In the God Valley Flashback that fans recently received, a younger version of Saint Garling was shown to them, and the fact that he looked exactly like Shanks essentially went on to confirm the fact that they are father and son. This was further backed up by the fact that Garling had his children with him in God Valley, and eventually Shanks separated from them and found his way to the Roger Pirates, where he grew up.

Obviously, Shanks and Garling have a very interesting connection, and fans know that Oda will continue to explore this connection later in One Piece. The Figarland family itself is a huge piece of the puzzle in the final Saga that Oda has placed great importance on. Inevitably, this family will see characters come face to face and that's exactly what fans are waiting for.

Why Garling will stop fighting Shanks

A clash between father and son is inevitable

Shanks and Garling Figarland will inevitably fight at some point in One Piece. This is simply due to the nature of their positions. Shanks is a pirate, while Garling is a member of the Five Elders. More specifically, Garling is a celestial dragon and a representative of the World Government. He is one of the descendants of the founders of the world government order that destroyed the Ancient Kingdom, and by definition he is a villain in history. Shanks, on the other hand, is one of the good guys, and he's doubly special because he's the man who set Luffy on the journey to become the Pirate King. Then you also have to consider the fact that Shanks is basically this generation's Roger, simply because he was openly labeled by many to be Roger's successor. The fact that Shanks even uses the same moves as Roger, such as Divine Departure, which directly aims to remove the Heavenly Dragon from power, is proof that Shanks is against them and will eventually continue to fight them when it it's time is coming.

I want to talk about a certain pirate! – Shanks's Twin

Of course, if Shanks is going to fight the government, the very best opponent for him will be his own father, Saint Garling Figarland. These two will have opposite ends in the Final Saga and a fight between them will be absolutely spectacular for fans to witness. Fans know that Garling is already very strong. In fact, Oda even hinted at his strength recently when he did a Q&A event where he answered 10 specific questions, one of which was about Garling Figarland. Considering his strength has been confirmed, it will be an extremely interesting fight when he clashes with Shanks.

Another interesting reason why Shanks could fight Garling could be related to his mother. As can be seen from Garling's color scheme, he doesn't have the strange red hair at all. Meanwhile, Shanks and his twin both have red hair, which essentially means they got this hair from their mother. It could be that Shank's mother is also a celestial dragon, but a very likely possibility is that she was a commoner, and possibly even a slave. There's a reason why Shanks doesn't go by the name Figarland, but he does go by the name Red Hair, named his pirate crew the Red Hair Pirates, and even named his ship the Red Force. Shanks obviously wants to be associated with the red hair that he has, while having nothing to do with the name Figarland. It is possible that Shanks knows his mother and cares deeply for her, and if that is indeed the case, then it would be incredibly exciting to see Shanks go up against Garling and basically beat him in battle once and for all.

Will Shanks destroy the Figarland family?

Shanks could spell doom for the Figar lands

Shanks will definitely come face to face with Garling Figarland in the Final Saga One Piece. This is especially the case since the five elders will need to be defeated at some point. As fans know, Luffy will most likely go up against Imu, meaning the other Elders will have to be dealt with by some other powerful individuals. When it comes to Garling, Shanks will be the best candidate of all. Shanks will most likely kill Garling, and his twin brother will likely be taken down by someone else, possibly well before the Final War event begins.

Essentially, Shanks could go on to destroy this family for good, and this shouldn't come as a surprise to fans at all. After all, Shanks carries Roger's will, and by definition is against the Celestial Dragons and wants them depowered. Hopefully, fans will get a phenomenal battle later when Shanks joins the final war, and it goes without saying that this battle will be very special.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by fans officially and for free in the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1135, is set for January 3, 2024.