Friends

Monkey D. LuffyLuffy looks up to Shanks as his role model, childhood hero and the man he wants to eventually surpass. At first, Shanks never took Luffy seriously as he was just a boy so mocked his dreams to become a pirate, dubbing him "Anchor".[8] Later after Luffy stood up for him in front of Higuma and his men, as they were leaving when Luffy declared he would be better than him Shanks begins to treat him seriously.

In the manga Benn Beckman tells Shanks that Luffy is going to make something of himself. Shanks confirms this by saying that Luffy reminds him of himself when he was Luffy's age.[10] Just as Luffy is currently looking for Shanks, Shanks eagerly awaits the day he meets up with Luffy. Shanks also sees Luffy as the future for piracy[13] and was delighted at his coming so much he threw a party to celebrate even though he was already suffering from a hangover over being drunk previously.

Portgas D. Ace
Shanks was on relatively good terms with Ace, who seemed to greatly respect him primarily for his role in saving his adoptive younger brother, Luffy, from the Sea King during the incident with Higuma. After setting out to begin his life of piracy, Ace immediately sought out Shanks to meet the man in person and thank him on Luffy's behalf. Shanks initially thought that Ace came to confront him (he was ready to unsheathe his sword at the Logia user on that very encounter), but immediately warmed up to Ace upon learning of his relation with Luffy.[14] Shanks showed some concern for Ace upon learning that he was in pursuit of Blackbeard. He personally sought out Whitebeard to vocally disapprove and attempted to persuade Whitebeard to recall Ace.[15] After the announcement of Ace's execution, it was revealed that Shanks personally intercepted Kaido, another of the Yonko, as the latter attempted to take advantage of the situation and attack Whitebeard.[16]

It is unknown if Shanks ever found out that Ace was the son of his captain, Roger, before Sengoku made this fact public to the world.

Dracule MihawkIn the past, Mihawk was a rival to one of the most powerful pirates in One Piece, Shanks. However, Mihawk lost interest in him after Shanks lost his left arm. He retains a neutral, though somewhat friendly relationship with Shanks, and is able to track him down if the need arises. He and Shanks do manage to get along, regardless of the fact that the two are opposites in personalities. Shanks is also able to get Mihawk to join in when he threw a party to celebrate Luffy's coming, even when moments beforehand Mihawk had scorned how laid-back Shanks was. Mihawk even mused out an apology to Shanks during the battle at Marineford, where he declares that he won't be holding anything against Luffy right before going after him. When Shanks showed up during the Whitebeard War, Mihawk left the battle, stating that fighting Shanks was beyond the scope of the World Government's orders.