Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece Film: Red.Here is a breakdown of every reveal about Shanks and his crew, the Red Hair Pirates, in One Piece Film: Red. One of the biggest selling points of One Piece Film: Red was that it would be the One Piece story to finally shine the spotlight on Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates after having them exist largely in the background since the beginning of the series. The actual movie ended up not having them involved for most of the story, but even with that, Red managed to add a lot to their characters; Shanks, especially, received a lot of development that’s on a scale that it will undoubtedly have an impact on the main story later down the line.
One Piece Film: Red added a lot to Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates, and this is every reveal about them in the movie. It should be noted that while all the Red Hair Pirates do have new information revealed about them, Shanks gets the majority of the development out of all of them, so a lot of the focus will be on him. Even so, every new reveal is important for each member of the Red Hair Pirates, as they serve to finally flesh out their characters after being ignored in the main series for so long.
Shanks & The Red Hair Pirates Didn’t Destroy Elegia
The reveal about Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates that’s probably the most relevant to One Piece Film: Red is the reveal that they weren’t responsible for the destruction of Elegia. The One Piece anime’s tie-in story to Red revealed that the Red Hair Pirates had destroyed the kingdom of Elegia, the main setting of Red, but as it turns out, the true person responsible for the destruction was Uta. Uta accidentally used the power of her Sing-Sing Fruit to summon Tot Musica who proceeded to destroy Elegia, but Shanks and his crew took the blame for it so Uta would be able to become a singer without having to worry about the Marines coming after her.
Shanks Can Negate Observation Haki
A big reveal about Shanks in One Piece Film: Red comes in the form of his power, specifically how he can use Conqueror’s Haki to negate Observation Haki. One Piece's Shanks can harness the power of his Conqueror’s Haki to use a special technique called Observation Killing which, as the name implies, can prevent someone from using Observation Haki to see into the future. Oddly enough, this technique wasn’t actually used in Red and is only mentioned in volume 4 billion, a special information booklet given to Japanese viewers (via Twitter), but since the information given about Shanks and his crew is meant to be treated as canon, it will undoubtedly make its way into the main series at some point.
Shanks’ Fighting Style Is Finally Revealed
Another big reveal about Shanks’ power in One Piece Film: Red is the movie finally showing how he fights. Naturally, Shanks fights as a swordsman with his sword, Gryphon, but 2022's One Piece Film: Red reveals that he does so by coating Gryphon in a fiery aura of sorts. It’s not made clear if the aura is Shanks’ Haki, the Foxfire Style technique that Kin’emon and Zoro can use, or some combination of the two, but that’s likely another thing that will be elaborated on at a later point in the manga.
Shanks Was Adopted By Gold Roger
Probably among the biggest reveals about Shanks in One Piece Film: Red is the reveal that Shanks was adopted by Gol D. Roger. During the climax of the film, when Shanks is reflecting on his time with Uta, it’s shown that he found an infant Uta locked inside a treasure chest and took her in because that was the same way that Roger found him so many years ago. This reveal was briefly foreshadowed during Oden’s backstory; while holding a baby Momonosuke, Gol D. Roger says that it’s been a while since he held a baby, and considering how young Shanks and Buggy were, it would make the most sense for the baby in question to have been one of them.
Shanks Is Part Of The Figarland Family
Another major reveal about Shanks’ family history in One Piece Film: Red is the reveal of him being part of the Figarland family. When the Elder Stars learn that Uta is Shanks’ daughter, they start to discuss if they should interfere with her concert, and one of them, under the assumption that Uta is Shanks’ biological daughter, questions if they can do that if she’s part of the Figarland family. Red doesn’t give any further details on the Figarlands, but with Shanks being adopted in the aftermath of the God Valley Incident (via Onepiece-film.jp), the Figarlands are likely Celestial Dragons. If One Piece truly reveals that Shanks is a Celestial Dragon, then that could work to explain why Shanks was able to go into Mary Geoise to meet with the Elder Stars during the Levely arc.
The Red Hair Pirates’ Powers Explained
The last big reveals in One Piece Film: Red come from the film revealing the powers of the principal members of the Red Hair Pirates. Benn Beckman fights by infusing his bullets with Haki, something that was already implied by how he held Kizaru at gunpoint during the Paramount War, and Yasopp is a master marksman just like his son, Usopp, in addition to being able to use Observation Haki. Lucky Roux is the crew’s chef and fights by rolling himself into a ball and charging at incredible speed, and the musician duo of Bonk Punch and Monster fight together with brute strength. Limejuice uses electrified weapons and the Six Powers technique Moonwalk in a similar vein as One Piece's Sanji, Hongo is the crew’s doctor who’s good at disassembling machines, Building Snake is the navigator and fights with a “Two Sword Juggling Style” that involves acrobatics, and Howling Gab can weaponize his roars, something that appears to be his natural power instead of a Devil Fruit ability. Much of the Red Hair Pirates’ abilities were shown off in the final battle against Tot Musica, but like other information revealed about Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates, some of it was only fully elaborated on in the Japan-exclusive volume 4 billion (via Reddit), but since the various reveals about Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates are meant to be treated as canon, they’ll likely be shown in a future story in the One Piece manga at some point.