One Piece: Observation Killing – The Rarest Type Of Conqueror’s Haki, Explained

Highlights

Conqueror’s Haki is a powerful and enigmatic ability in One Piece that only a few people possess.
There are multiple applications and subtypes of Conqueror’s Haki, including intimidation, incapacitation, and pressure.
Shanks, one of the main characters, has the ability called Observation Killing, which allows him to disrupt his opponents’ Observation Haki and prevent them from seeing the future. This gives him a major advantage in battle.

Conqueror’s Haki is an incredible ability in One Piece that fans have seen quite a lot of over the years. this power has remained, by far, the most enigmatic ability in the entire series and, it is no surprise that only a handful of people wield it. Over the years, fans have seen many users of Conqueror’s Haki, however, among these users, only a handful have managed to tap into the true power of this ability.

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The true potential of Conqueror’s Haki was recently explored quite a lot in the Wano Country arc in One Piece; however, what fans know right now isn’t the extent of what this ability can offer. In fact, there are many other powerful applications of Conqueror’s Haki, and one of them is Observation Killing, which might just be one of the most dangerous powers in One Piece.

The Many Subtypes Of Conqueror’s Haki

Shanks Looking At His Straw Hat In One Piece

Conqueror’s Haki is a multifaceted ability and, while it has not been focused on quite as much, which is understandable, given the complex nature and the rarity of this power, it is certainly one of the most incredible ones to exist in the story. Every single type of Haki that fans have seen in One Piece has deeper layers. Observation Haki might just be the most complex ability out of them all as it is believed to have the most types. Armament Haki also has many types, and while one might believe that Conqueror’s Haki exists in just two forms, they couldn’t be more wrong.

Conqueror’s Haki has many applications and subtypes and one of them is Observation Killing as well. The very first subtype of Conqueror’s Haki that fans have seen in One Piece is the power to intimidate others. This might just be the most common form of Conqueror’s Haki and the one that the fans saw at the earliest. This is the same ability that Shanks used to scare away the Coastal King. Luffy used this ability on Motobaro shortly before Sabaody and, with time, it was revealed that this was one of the most basic forms of this power. When one learns to control this power completely, they gain the ability to control animals however they will and simply make them obedient to them.

Another incredible application of Conqueror’s Haki is incapacitation. This might just be one of the most commonly known forms of Conqueror’s Haki. Essentially, using this power, one can simply knock out those in their surroundings, provided there is a big difference in strength and if the target has weak willpower. This is the type of Conqueror’s Haki that fans are very familiar with and it has been seen countless times in the story already.

Another incredible subtype of Conqueror’s Haki is pressure. Using this power, the user can damage their surroundings simply by exuding Conqueror’s Haki at a larger scale. This was first seen when Shanks managed to damage Moby Dick while stepping on Whitebeard’s ship. Conqueror’s Haki pressure can also be created when two users collide. When incredibly strong users do this, it leads to the creation of an incredible amount of pressure that can even split the skies apart. People in the surroundings can also completely be blown away by Conqueror’s Haki users of this caliber.

What Is Observation Killing?

A very rare subtype of Conqueror’s Haki is Observation Killing. This ability has not officially made it into the manga just yet, however, Oda has explicitly explained it in the 4 billion volume, which was written for One Piece Film Red. This volume showcased the abilities of many members of the Red Hair Pirates, which also included Shanks. Given that this information comes from Oda himself, this is completely canon and will certainly make its way into the manga when Shanks is focused on a bit more. Essentially, Shanks can use his Conqueror’s Haki in another incredible way than what fans have already seen.

Simply put, Shanks has trained his Conqueror’s Haki to such a degree that he can kill the Observation Haki of his opponent. He can do this by exuding his aura and destabilizing his enemy somehow. It isn’t exactly clear what Shanks does, however, it is believed that by using his own aura of Conqueror’s Haki, he can prevent his opponents from seeing the future. It must be remembered that Observation Killing has, so far, only been applied to killing the enemy’s Future Sight. However, since it destabilizes the enemy completely, it can be assumed that it completely kills their Observation Haki or, at the very least, significantly weakens it.

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As Katakuri put it in Whole Cake Island, Observation Haki is a technique that best works when the user is calm. If Shanks can use his Conqueror’s Haki to destabilize his enemies to the point where they cannot stay calm, then, naturally, they cannot utilize the ability of Observation Haki at all. This is an incredible ability as it would then prevent them from fighting to the best of their abilities and it would also allow Shanks a major advantage in battle. This is especially dangerous when Shanks himself is a user of Future Sight Observation Haki. Shanks has the best Future Sight that fans have seen in One Piece so far, and for someone like him to completely kill the Observation Haki off his enemy just goes to show that they stand absolutely no chance against him.

How Shanks Uses Observation Killing

Shanks Looking Intimidating In One Piece

Sadly, fans have not seen Shanks utilize this ability in One Piece just yet. However, the story is now in the Final Saga and Shanks is one of the main players. It is only a matter of time before Shanks will start using this power and fans will see what he is truly capable of. Oda has previously teased the fact that Shanks has a unique fighting style, and this Observation Killing ability might actually be a part of it. One can assume that Shanks uses this ability to prevent his enemies from looking into the future and then destabilizing them to the point where he can finish them off in one shot.

Since they cannot foresee any attacks and can’t dodge them, they are left open to Shanks’s powerful Conqueror’s Haki blows and, thus, defeated. There might be more to Observation Killing than what the fans know so far, however, that can only be explained by Oda once Shanks comes into focus a bit more. When this skill of Shanks is combined with everything else that he has to offer, he might just be the strongest One Piece character in the current era.

In 2024, Shanks might be at the forefront of things in One Piece, and fans can only hope that he takes part in a major battle which would then give them an opportunity to see him at the very best of his abilities.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. Since One Piece is going to be on break, the release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1102, is set to be December 25, 2023.