Roronoa Zoro

**Roronoa Zoro** (ロロノア・ゾロ, *Roronoa Zoro*) also known as "**Pirate Hunter**" **Zoro** (海賊狩りのゾロ, *Kaizoku Gari no Zoro*), is both a fictional character and protagonist of the *One Piece* series. He is one of the two swordsmen of the Straw Hat Pirates, the other being Brook, and a former bounty hunter. As a native to the East Blue, he came from the town known as Frost Moon Village, where he trained in the dojo and learned the sword styles: **One Swords Style** (一刀流, *Ittōryū*) and **Two Swords Style** (二刀流, *Nitōryū*). Zoro is a swordsman who is uniquely known as an expert of **Three Sword Style** (三刀流, *Santōryū*), where he wields up to three swords simultaneously, holding one in each hand and a third sword with his mouth in combat.

His dream is to become the greatest swordsman in the world. Throughout the series, his primary sword is Wado Ichimonji, a sword that he inherited from a childhood friend, and is frequently the sword that he wields in his mouth. To fulfill a promise to Kuina, his deceased childhood rival, he aims to replace "Hawk-Eye" Mihawk as the world's greatest swordsman. Traveling the seas in search of Mihawk and making a living as a bounty hunter, he becomes infamously.

Eventually, he comes into conflict with Helmeppo. To prevent the harm of innocent civilians, Zoro allows himself to be incarcerated temporarily, while Helmeppo plots to have him killed. Zoro is saved from execution at the Marine Base in exchange for becoming a pirate. He was the first member to join the crew, and, to date, is considered the largest threat and most dangerous member in it after Luffy. At that point, Zoro makes it clear that he would turn on his captain if he ever stepped between him and his dream. However, Zoro grows fond of his crew and after several defeats in their defense, his priorities change and he convinces Mihawk to take him on as a student.

His fame as a master swordsman and his great strength, along with the actions of his captain, sometimes led others to believe he was the true captain of the crew before he obtained his first bounty, while a few people believe him to be the first mate. Zoro is also regarded as one of twelve pirates who are referred to as the "Worst Generation". He currently has a bounty of 330,000,000 berries.

"*Over the nine mountains, across the eight seas, there is nothing I cannot cut!*"

—Roronoa Zoro.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Christopher Sabat (English), Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)
*Voice Actor (child)*: Brina Palencia (English), Megumi Urawa (Japanese),Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

### Biography

The first member to join the Straw Hat Pirates, a Three-Swords Style swordsman, who wields three swords to slash all enemies, who Luffy trusts implicitly. Studied the arts of the sword at a dojo in Shimotsuki Village of the East Blue, and set out for sea to challenge the world’s greatest swordsman “Hawk-Eye” Mihawk to a duel.

His dream is to become the greatest master swordsman in the world. He'll overcome any challenge to be the world's greatest! However, before he was able to achieve his goal, his lifestyle became troubled as he began to attack pirate ships and gain fame from earning bounty. When he was captured by the Marines, he was saved by Luffy and joined his crew. With his promise to his late friend engraved in his heart, he aims to become the world’s number one swordsman.

In the two years after the Battle of Navyford he received training in the sword from Dracule Mihawk. Under Mihawk’s harsh training, he learned to use Haki. His weakness is his poor sense of direction.

### Appearance

Zoro is a muscular young man of average height with lightly tanned skin. He always carries his three swords along with him, bundled up with a green haramaki over his right hip, allowing him to easily draw them with his left hand. Of the three swords he has on his person, he has always been seen carrying the Wado Ichimonji, while his other two swords have varied over time due to them being destroyed and subsequently replaced with progressively better ones. Although his right hand is usually seen resting over them, he can also use this hand to pull his swords out before sitting down. He has three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe. Zoro normally keeps a black bandanna tied around his left bicep and ties it around his head when he is fighting seriously against an opponent.

Zoro's body is covered with scars from his many battles, most notably the massive scar stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip that he acquired during his loss against the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, at Baratie. His other visible scars are the scars he inflicted upon his ankles in a desperate attempt to free himself from Mr. 3's Giant Candle Service Set by trying to cut his feet off at Little Garden. After the timeskip, he gained another scar over his left eye, obtained through unknown means.

Zoro's other remarkable feature is his cropped green hair, which Sanji often teases him about by calling him "marimo" (*moss-ball*, *moss-head* in the Viz Manga and FUNimation dub) due to its resemblance to one.

#### Pre-Timeskip

Similar to most of his male crewmates, Zoro has the same outfit throughout most of the series. Before the timeskip, he would consistently wear black trousers tucked inside black boots, a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar and his green haramaki. However, only Zoro's shirt varies from time to time in the arcs.

##### Outfits

During the *Arlong Park Arc*, he disembarked Sanji's fishing ship neglecting to put on a shirt. After beating up most of Arlong's crew, he wore an opened, navy blue shirt decorated with light blue whirlpools that he stole from one of the fish-men. Since Zoro received his scar from Mihawk during the *Baratie Arc* before the *Arlong Park Arc*, Zoro wore bandages that were visible underneath his shirt.

During the *Logue Town Arc*, Zoro acquires Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri to replace the two conventional katana which were broken by Mihawk in the *Baratie Arc*.

During the *Drum Island Arc*, Zoro was bundled up for the winter island, but later stripped down after a foolish choice to swim in the frigid water on the island. He remained shirtless and shoeless in the beginning of the arc after getting lost from the Going Merry and left unable to redress himself, until he stole a parka from a man in Wapol's army, which was a hooded, forest green parka with a light green sash and white fur on the cuffs, hood, and hem, as well as a pair of boots.

During the *Alabasta Arc*, he wore an orange keffiyeh with a gold chain on his head, a long-sleeved white coat with black lines all over it, and the bottom of his black trousers were torn above his ankles.

During the *Skypiea Arc*, he wore his usual outfit in the beginning of the arc until he took it off after fighting a skyshark to save Tony Tony Chopper from being eaten. Afterwards, he wore a long, deep blue T-shirt and goggles strapped either on his head or around his neck, which were later broken and discarded.

During the *Water 7 Arc*, he wore his usual outfit until near the end, where he wore an unzipped, bright yellow jacket with a closed pocket flap on each side. He continued wearing this outfit throughout the *Enies Lobby Arc*.

During the *Post-Enies Lobby Arc*, he wore a black shirt with the Galley-La Company emblem on it in white.

At the end of the *Thriller Bark Arc*, he wore an opened, gray shirt. He also replaced Yubashiri, which was rusted away by Shu in the *Enies Lobby Arc*, with Shusui, which was entrusted to him by the zombie of Ryouma brought to life by Brook's shadow.

During the *Sabaody Archipelago Arc*, he wore an opened white shirt with red stripes.

During his time at Kuraigana Island, shortly after being sent there by Bartholomew Kuma, he wore an opened, dark blue shirt. Since Zoro was critically injured when he arrived at the island, Perona patched him up, so bandages were all over his body.

#### Post-Timeskip

During and after the two-year timeskip, Zoro gains a new scar running down over his left eye, which is now implied to be critically injured as it is always closed. His frame gets larger, showing considerable more muscle mass and his hair gets shaggier while slicked back. Zoro now wears a long, open dark-green coat closed on his waist and is held by a red sash, in which his three swords are now tucked into, and his black bandanna is tied around his left forearm. His coat exposes his bare chest, revealing his green haramaki underneath the coat. He has also grown noticeably taller, as he is similar in height to Robin.

##### Outfits

During the *Punk Hazard Arc*, he wore a white furry coat for protection against the cold weather on the frozen side of Punk Hazard, which he took from Brownbeard's Centaur Patrol Unit.

During the *Dressrosa Arc*, he wore a black suit and a white dress shirt with the top button undone. He also wore black sunglasses and a fake white mustache as a disguise. His sunglasses were destroyed in his clash with Admiral Fujitora. Additionally, he discarded the mustache upon his identity being exposed. After the battle against the Don Quixote Pirates, Zoro took off his suit jacket, and unbuttoned his shirt leaving his chest and scar exposed.

During the *Zou Arc*, Zoro wore a dark-blue t-shirt with his green coat and haramaki over a pair of long, black trousers and boots.

During the *Wano Country Arc*, Zoro wore a white yukata with black details and a green cloud pattern on its bottom. He wore a dark green jittoku with a mon of a black sun over a khaki gear, and zōri with a black strap.

* Hair Color: Green
* Skin Color: Tan
* Eye Color: Black
* Age: 19 (flashback debut), 21 (Post Timeskip)
* Birthday: November 11th
* Height: 178 cm (5'10"; flashback debut), 181 cm (5'11¼"; after timeskip)
* Weight: Not Known

### Gallery

Zoro, the most common outfit after the timeskip.

## Personality

### Overview

Zoro usually maintains a very stern, serious, and distanced personality, but often loses his temper in a goofy and exaggerated comical style. It would seem however, that this anger is the only emotion that Zoro often feels comfortable showing. Outside of situations where he feels confident in battle, he tends to smile or laugh the least out of the Straw Hats and rarely fools around with the rest of the crew. In fact, his defeat at the hands of Mihawk and subsequent vow to Luffy is the only time since his friend Kuina passed that Zoro has been seen crying in the series.

Even in moments that are particularly tough on the crew and would warrant sadness, Zoro chooses to maintain a quiet solemnity rather than outwardly express his emotions. He has been shown to believe to a degree that these emotions can hinder his judgement as a swordsman: when Ohm asked him if he was out for revenge upon discovering Tony Tony Chopper wounded and unconscious, he replied that he doesn't like to fight for reasons like that. Despite this assertion, though, he cares deeply for his crewmates and wishes to protect them at all cost, telling Ohm that in spite of his preference for fighting without a motivation he can feel one coming on.

Zoro is also very perceptive, something he demonstrates by providing important and logical decisions at critical times and by evaluating the situation from an objective point of view, as he did in Water 7 by evaluating the best way to handle what, at the time, seemed like Robin's betrayal, and again when the crew wanted to bring Usopp back after he challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost. Zoro is the one who noted that Usopp was at fault for leaving the crew of his own accord.

Like Nico Robin, Zoro is also easily sensitive when put into embarrassing situations to where he prefers to object vocally (though Robin usually ignores these situations most of the time because of her patience), rather than respond violently like Nami or Sanji. Examples are during the *Thriller Bark Arc*, Zoro refused to do something stupid like address Franky as "Bro", or Franky's later joke technique "Pirates Docking 6" where after they disassembled, Zoro felt stupid for agreeing to do it in the first place. In the *Dressrosa Arc*, Zoro was embarrassed when he had Wicca with him when traveling through town, as trying to communicate with her made the people around them think Zoro was "talking to himself" as they could not see Wicca due to her small size (though it was revealed at the end of that arc that Dressrosa's citizens were secretly aware of the dwarves' existence). Also during anime-only events in the *Post-Enies Lobby Arc*, when Zoro was forced to help take care of children, he intended to make sure that the crew or any of the town's residents that knew him personally did not find out about this embarrassing situation. Zoro does have rare moments of responding violently in these situations, such as choking Chopper during Aqua Laguna for mentioning to Luffy and Nami the embarrassing story of how Zoro got stuck in the chimney of a house which Luffy laughed about (though Luffy was also in a similar situation earlier).

He also seems to be partially irreverent, but not seriously so, simply choosing to focus more on his training and what is clearly in front of him than worry about spiritual matters as well as questions about its mysteries that he cannot truly answer.

While he is quite indifferent to the gender or/and age of his opponents, many of his adversaries (like Tashigi and Monet) seem to believe he does not take women seriously when in fact it is only because Tashigi reminded him too much of Kuina and that Monet was merely a distraction. When the latter tried to take advantage of this belief, he cut her down without hesitation, only refraining from killing her because she was too weak to even be considered a proper opponent, using a non-Haki strike in lieu of a blunt attack. It should be noted that he does disagree to a certain extent about using excessive force against women. For example, when Nico Robin was violently electrocuted by Eneru, Zoro was extremely ferocious at him, reminding the God that his target is a woman.

During his time in Wano, Zoro began to adopt the mannerism and speech pattern of the samurais such as ending his sentences with Degozaru due to his affinity with Bushido, even employing them when he became a criminal.

Though he rarely shows hesitation in cutting down foes, Zoro allowed Urashima's men to capture Kiku, explaining that he does not want to cut "half naked" men.

### Honor and Loyalty

He has a strong sense of leadership and reasoning. Zoro follows the samurai philosophy and doctrine of Bushido, such as the code of honor and integrity where he strictly fight fair and square honestly by consistently refuses to attack an adversary whose back is turned, with the only exception being when his friends are in imminent danger of losing their lives in which Zoro would strike the attacker from behind, and Zoro himself considers a scar on the back to be a swordsman's greatest shame. He is also very loyal as he will stand by Luffy's decisions regardless of whether he personally agrees or not, stepping in only to point out the seriousness of a situation where it has been overlooked by his crewmates most notably when they wanted to bring Usopp back into the crew after Usopp challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost, even willing to quit the crew himself if Luffy just brushed the incident off because it betrayed his strong values in loyalty.

Zoro values loyalty highly and will not easily forgive fellow crewmates if they break ties with the crew, first seen when Nami took the Going Merry. Zoro was furious and stated that he never trusted Nami in the first place. When this happened again with Robin and Usopp, Zoro was wary of Robin, questioning whether they should treat Robin as friend or a foe, and after Enies Lobby, Zoro did not accept Usopp wanting to rejoin the crew saying he stepped on Luffy's pride. Furthermore, he wouldn't allow the sniper back unless he got down on knees and apologized for his disrespect to Luffy. This dislike for leaving crewmembers was shown once again in Zou; this time over Zoro's long-standing rival Sanji. Zoro was angry that Sanji had gone without an apology or a "thank you for everything", calling Sanji an "idiot" for messing around with Big Mom when they were already facing Kaido. This cold attitude towards crewmates received negative attention from the crew and will provoke certain crewmembers (mainly Nami) to yell at him.

### Kindness

Zoro has a very kind heart, shown as he was willing to risk his life for the sake of a little girl he did not know shortly after his introduction and when Charlos shot an innocent man, Zoro carried the victim to a hospital despite being total strangers. When fighting weaker or innocent people, he does try to hold back when fighting and use the dull side of his swords in order not to seriously injure them though as pointed out by Nami, his monstrous strength still manage to cause great damage. Another aspect of his kindness is he strongly detests evil men with extreme cruelty towards the innocent, as shown when Charlos shot Hatchan, Zoro was silently wrathful, as he fully intended to cut down the World Noble if it weren't for Luffy. He also held strong fury towards Pica for attacking the injured as well as attempting to kill Riku Dold III.

### Recklessness

Zoro has been absurdly reckless in the face of major battles, often at the cost of his own well-being. Many times, he has suffered injuries which would kill a normal person and muscled through them through sheer willpower, such as when he was given his gaping scar, which he allowed to be inflicted on himself deliberately, and when he absorbed all of Luffy's pain from his fight with Gecko Moria after Bartholomew Kuma pushed it out of him and made Zoro take it upon himself in return for sparing his captain's life, which was so traumatic that his eyes temporarily became bloodshot. As a result, he has often been left very heavily bloodied and bandaged, as well as gained scars more times than anyone else in the Straw Hat Pirates crew, all of which were notably inflicted after joining Luffy on his travels. Despite this, he has a habit of ignoring these dire injuries and continuing to fight, sometimes before he is fully healed. This has threatened his life by causing unhealed wounds to reopen or be strained, leaving him in crippling agony. His recklessness extends to the point of self-mutilation, willingly risking a limb by throwing the Sandai Kitetsu in the air while holding out his arm and allowing it to land and see if he could overcome its curse (a successful risk), and slicing up his ankles to escape a deathtrap, which not only failed, but made him lose a lot of blood and gain more scars. Furthermore, Zoro tends to face death in a defiant manner and show no fear of dying even when he is in a gravely injured state.

He also regularly resorts to drastic measures to solve simple problems, suggesting solutions that others would normally consider to be their last possible, worst-case-scenario choices. When he and Usopp were accidentally handcuffed together, Zoro's first suggested solution was to cut off one of their hands. In addition, when he, Vivi and Nami were stuck on Mr. 3's candle set, he actually tried to cut his own feet off in an attempt to escape, and when that failed, decided he would strike a cool pose for his dying moments upon being encased in wax.

### Ruthlessness

**Kaku**: "*I see you've already drawn your sword*"
**Zoro**: "*It has been growling; it craves blood.*"

—Zoro's reply to Kaku's comment when Zoro finds him in the Tower of Justice.
When Zoro has the intention to fight seriously, he ties his bandana (normally kept tied around his left arm) around his head. Zoro lives for the thrill of combat. Scratchmen Apoo commented on his "insane killing intent", acknowledging that Zoro was a "real beast". Indeed, when an average human has the intention of fighting Zoro, his glare alone is usually enough to make them back off. He also has a habit of smiling in satisfaction whenever he faces a particularly skilled opponent, which often unnerves both friend and foe alike.

However, Zoro will still maintain his stern demeanor during the thrill of combat if the stakes are high enough. In his battle with Ohm, the priest stood in the way of him rescuing Nami and Gan Fall from Nola's stomach. Against Kaku, the ability to save his crewmate hinged on him defeating the CP9 agent in a timely fashion. He instantly lost his cocky attitude against Shu after the latter destroyed Yubashiri, as his katanas were in serious danger. This seems to suit Zoro perfectly as any given moment where Zoro is not in battle, he's typically sleeping, lost, yelling at/being yelled at by someone, or training.

Unlike some of the members of the crew, Zoro does not shrink from the idea of using deadly force against dangerous enemies and has been noted by several of his fellow Supernovas to be capable of exuding a tremendous amount of murderous intent.

He can be extremely intimidating, easily frightening weaker opponents with just his glare. It has been stated that he has a monstrous killing intent evident from the fact where he almost drew his sword on one of the World Nobles. Furthermore, it has also been stated that Zoro is a born killer capable of showing absolutely no mercy during combat. It has been mentioned that Zoro has killed before joining the crew.

### Belief in Fate

**Zoro**: "*By all counts, it seems we'll just have to leave it...*"
**Chopper, Sogeking, Sanji, & Nami**: "*Whoa...*"
**Zoro**: "*...to luck.*"

—Zoro's "plan" on how to deal with getting the Rocket Man over the gap behind the Enies Lobby gate.
However, while on some occasions he can be the voice of reason, most of the time Zoro rushes into things and leaves it to fate to decide the details, much to the horror of crew members as he fails to see his own fault. He seems to have a very strong belief in fate and destiny in general. He is even known to resort to methods like drawing sticks or casting lots whenever the Straw Hats need to choose someone to do a particular task. One of the most obvious instances of this is when he took an interest in the cursed blade, Sandai Kitetsu, and left it up to fate to decide if he would wield it by testing his luck against the sword's curse; he tossed the sword spinning into the air and extended his left arm into its falling path, to see if it would cut him, fully aware that the sword was sharp enough to easily sever his arm.

This is later shown again after the two-year timeskip when he tells the pirates of the ship he had just destroyed to blame fate for him ending up on their ship.

When Eneru posed as god, Zoro was asked by Sanji if he believed in God, but Zoro did not show any devotion toward the idea of one, and did not care one way or the other. Also, there have been several instances where Zoro has bluntly stated that he does not believe in God and does not pray. Despite claiming to be an atheist, Zoro showed belief in a paradise after death, though Usopp joked that Zoro's behavior in his life was not likely to get him into heaven, with Zoro becoming offended because Usopp implied that he would go to hell. Zoro has also prayed at least once, which occurred at the end of the *Thriller Bark Arc* when laying his sword Yubashiri to rest at the burial site of the Rumbar Pirates.

### Running Gags

A running gag throughout the series is that while he is very perceptive during battle (as well as out), his sense of direction is extremely poor, to the point of getting lost on a straight path. This often results in Zoro not understanding directions. In the *Alabasta Arc*, he mistakes going north for going up. In the *Drum Island Arc*, he believes that he can keep the ship on course by heading toward a large cloud (which can move and change shape). He is unaware of his lack of direction. (For instance, in the Enies Lobby arc, when Nami said to go up the staircase, Zoro went to the opposite side, and then said that Nami has misguided him) Often when he gets lost, he mutters "the others are lost again". However, after the timeskip, Zoro is the first Straw Hat to arrive back at Sabaody Archipelago days before the others, shocking Sanji, though it was Perona who helped Zoro reach Sabaody early. He seems to make up for this, though, by confusing a gigantic pirate galleon for a fisherman's small boat when it is pointed out to him.

Another running gag of the series is Zoro's ability to effortlessly deliver perfectly timed lines in passing or even during battle that are deemed "cool" by other characters, leading him to be borderline worshiped and idolized especially by crewmates Usopp, Chopper, and Brook. Another running gag is how Zoro keeps untying bandages when he is not fully healed, claiming that they make it hard to move, only to be scolded by Chopper, who tells him that they are there so that he does not move.

A fourth running gag are the situations Luffy puts Zoro in. While in midair or far away Luffy tends to grab Zoro with stretched arms and make him fly through the air, crashing with force that would kill any normal person. Zoro´s usual response to this is that he is one day going to kill Luffy, while Luffy responds only with apologizing to Zoro.

### Pride

Zoro is very proud of the reputation he has built for himself both as a swordsman and as "**The Pirate Hunter**", starting with his 60,000,000 berry bounty which has quintupled since then. He also enjoys the fact that he has a higher bounty than Sanji. During the assault on Enies Lobby, one of the Marines (One Piece)Marines had referred to Zoro as "Luffy's underling" much to the amusing delight of Sanji, who quickly became instantly infuriated when Zoro pointed out that Sanji's lack of notoriety puts him below Zoro in status. Since then, once in a while to anger Sanji, Zoro will refer to him as "**Pirate A**". More recently he has been calling Sanji "**#7**", referring to his order of arrival at Sabaody.

However, in spite of his personal pride and self-respect, Zoro has shown to be willing to lower himself to the ground in complete humility for the sake of his friends, as was seen when he begged Bartholomew Kuma to spare Luffy's life in exchange for his own (Zoro's). And then again when he shamelessly bowed before Dracule Mihawk, begging the Warlord who is his enemy, to train him in the ways of the sword. This shows that despite Zoro not being completely humble, he is not overly arrogant.

Zoro can also be very vigorous when he is determined to achieve a goal or defeat an enemy. The risks that he will often take to pursue his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman often leave others wondering if he is crazy. As far as Zoro is concerned though, only he has the right to call himself "crazy". However, he is able to accept defeat when he perceives it to be inevitable.

### Usual Activities

While the crew sails from one island to another, he normally spends time lifting weights, practicing meditation or napping, only to be regularly awakened in a rather violent way by Nami, Sanji, or (accidentally) Luffy. He cares greatly for his swords and often holds them close while napping and was considerably upset when his Yubashiri was destroyed. He also likes to drink alcohol (sake), almost to the degree that Luffy loves meat, and Nami loves money. On top of this, Zoro loathes being deprived of alcohol, evident when Mihawk imposed temperance on him until he mastered coating his swords in Haki as an incentive.

While in his spare time, Zoro takes up hobbies such as fishing, drinking, and training.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Koshiro (his former Mentor)
* Kuina
* Johnny
* Yosaku
* Straw Hat Pirates
	+ Monkey D. Luffy
	+ Nami
	+ Usopp
	+ Sanji (his combat rival)
	+ Tony Tony Chopper
	+ Nico Robin
	+ Franky
	+ Brook
	+ Jimbei
* Veggie Pirates
	+ Carrot
	+ Pepper
	+ Onion
* Gaimon
* Baratie
	+ Zeff
* Nefeltari Vivi
* Karoo
* Mr. 2 Bon Clay
* Whitebeard Pirates
	+ Whitebeard
	+ Marco
	+ Portgas D. Ace
	+ Jozu
	+ Vista
* Kung-Fu Dugong
* Shandia
	+ Wyper
* Galley-La Company
	+ Pauly
* Hatchan
* Silvers Rayleigh
* Kuja
	+ Boa Hancock
* Revolutionary Army
	+ Emporio Ivankov
	+ Sabo
	+ Koala
* Kin'emon
* Barto Pirates
	+ Bartolomeo

### Neutral

* Worst Generation
	+ Heart Pirates
		- Trafalgar Law
	+ Jewelry Bonney
* Buggy
* Mr. 3
* Bellamy Pirates
	+ Bellamy
* Perona
* Aokiji

### Rivals

* Kuina
* Seven Warlords of the Sea
	+ Dracule Mihawk
	+ Bartholomew Kuma
* Smoker
* Tashigi
* Fujitora
* Ryouma
* Kid Pirates
	+ Eustass Kid

### Enemies

* Alvida
* World Government
	+ Marines
		- Sengoku
		- Morgan
		- Kizaru
		- Akainu
		- Sentomaru
		- Pacifista
	+ Cipher Pol
		- Rob Lucci
		- Kaku
		- Jabra
		- Blueno
		- Spandam
	+ Celestial Dragons
* Buggy Pirates
* Black Cat Pirates
	+ Kuro
	+ Siam
	+ Butchie
* Krieg Pirates
	+ Don Krieg
* Arlong Pirates
	+ Arlong
* Bliking Pirates
	+ Wapol
* Baroque Works
	+ Mr. 1
	+ Ms. New Year's Eve
	+ Mr. 3
* Sky Lord's Army
	+ Eneru
* Mysterious Four
	+ Gecko Moria
* Blackbeard Pirates
	+ Blackbeard
	+ Jesus Burgess
	+ Van Ogre
* Caribou
* New Merman Pirates
	+ Hordy Jones
* Guild Tesoro
* Spartan
* Don Quixote Pirates
	+ Don Quixote Doflamingo
	+ Caesar Clown

## Powers and Abilities

An extremely powerful and strong fighter with immense potential, Zoro is one of the crew's top four strongest fighters, having the third top bounty, after Luffy, Jinbe, and before Sanji. When taking his stern personality into account, others mistake him as the captain of the Straw Hats after witnessing his skills in battle on some occasions.

Despite a near constant rivalry with fellow Straw Hat Sanji, the two have proven to be a near-unstoppable force when working together, as exemplified in the fight against the Groggy Monsters. It should also be noted that during Zoro's fights with Luffy (canon and filler), the two are portrayed to be almost evenly matched.

### Physical Abilities

Through years of extremely rigorous training regimen since childhood, which consist mainly of grueling body building exercises in addition to hard training in swordsmanship, Zoro has immense superhuman physical prowess, particularly his strength and agility.

After two years of intense training with Dracule Mihawk, Zoro has grown significantly more powerful than before. It is shown during his first appearance after the timeskip, that he can cut through a large ship with ease, speed, and precision (also considering without the use of his left eye). Zoro was even able to cut a Pacifista in half with just one slash from his swords, whereas two years prior he barely managed to only slightly damage one.

Zoro's newly-found strength is further demonstrated when he averts the previously mentioned formula of fighting the arc's second strongest foe when he easily defeats Hordy Jones, a powerful fish-man and captain of the New Fish-Man Pirates. He accomplishes this with just a single, one-sword strike, despite being at a disadvantage at fighting a fish-man underwater. He has also grown strong enough to be able to effortlessly defeat a Logia user of inferior fighting ability, as he demonstrated to Monet by cutting her vertically in half without Haki, proving that she would have died if he were serious.

Even without his swords, Zoro has monstrous physical strength. At a very young age, he was able to lift boulders over his head for training and during his regular training regimen, he would constantly train with heavy weights. Overall, Zoro is able to lift and toss an entire building. Zoro's sword strikes were precisely executed with an enormous amount of force able to easily create compressed air slashes powerful enough to cut through armored soldiers and hard materials such as stone or steel and even break the Iron Body of Zoan Devil Fruit enhanced Kaku. He was even strong enough to deflect a punch from Oars before the timeskip, and has developed the ability to pump his arms up with pure muscle.

However, Zoro seemed unable to effectively control his strength prior to the timeskip. This is shown when he tried to hold back while fighting the shipwrights of Galley-La using the dull edge of his swords, and yet still caused serious damage.

After the two year timeskip, it seems that Zoro has exponentially increased in physical strength as he was able to block an attack from the huge King Neptune's equally massive trident with ease. In Dressrosa, while Zoro was trapped under a heavy gravitational field created by Issho, Zoro can still muster enough strength to perform an extremely powerful flying slash that bypassed the force of the gravitational field.

He has also been shown to be highly skilled in hand to hand combat even able to effectively knock out much larger creatures with unarmed strikes. Furthermore, he has been able to defeat opponents with punches and kicks and even is able to fight on par with Sanji during their arguments, even without his swords at times. He invented No Sword Style, a style of hand to hand combat based on his sword techniques.

Zoro's agility, speed, and overall reflexes are also extraordinary. He has shown that he is quick and agile enough to keep up with Sanji, who is an extremely agile martial art master, as well as two Shave users simultaneously, Kaku and Jabra, who were among the most powerful masters of the Six Powers martial arts. He can move at nearly imperceptible speeds, jump to great heights, and dodge bullets with ease.

On numerous occasions, Zoro has shown being able easily to evade or block high-speed attacks and projectiles that move so fast that it would normally be impossible for an average human to even notice them, much less evade them. Thus, Zoro was able to dodge simultaneous pressure shots as well as a laser blast from Bartholomew Kuma, both of which travel at extremely high speed, even after being heavily injured from his previous fights with Oars and fatigued from his fight with Ryouma.

After the timeskip, Zoro can even swim underwater at a speed faster than a fish-man. This was mentioned by a member of the New Fish-Man Pirates, who exclaimed that it was inconceivable for the swordsman to be faster than a fish-man (referring to the aforementioned battle with Hordy Jones) underwater.

To match his incredible strength, Zoro also has an immense tolerance to pain and astonishing amounts of stamina and endurance, evidenced by numerous situations he has thus far endured. Several examples are:

* Dracule Mihawk's black sword slashing his chest.
* Arlong's saw-like nose stabbing into his chest.
* Cutting into his own legs to try and free himself from Mr. 3's wax creation.
* Mr. 1's two buzz saws jamming into his chest.
* Eneru's massively powerful lightning based attacks.
* CP9's Kaku's many Tempest Kick attacks.
* Receiving a direct kick from the giant Oars.
* Kuma's explosive Ursa Shock attack.

"*How can he still be standing after taking a hit from the giant? I don't even know who the real zombie is anymore!*"

—Lola on watching Zoro get back up to fight Oars.
Finally, Zoro managed to absorb all of the damage and fatigue Luffy had accumulated, besides the damage inflicted on him during fights with Oars and Ryuma during the *Thriller Bark Arc*. This is especially impressive as Kuma had stated to Zoro that, since he was already close to death, taking in Luffy's pain and fatigue in addition to his would definitely kill him. Zoro, however, managed to survive and later only remarked afterward that "nothing happened" when questioned by Sanji, even though Brook saw it happen.

It is notable to mention that while Luffy fell unconscious after he defeated Moria due to his agony and exhaustion, Zoro, on the other hand, not only managed to survive but remained conscious even after accumulating all of the pain and fatigue he and Luffy had sustained, purely by sheer force of will and pride. Even with all the major damage he sustained, he still remained standing, although shortly thereafter he dropped into a coma for three days.

Zoro has survived numerous wounds that would easily kill normal people, showcasing his endurance and durability, and the majority of his battles lead to him being drenched in blood and sustaining lethal injuries. Even while in an almost death-like state, he is still able to battle against strong enemies and even fight with improved skill, tenacity, and a clear head.

All this demonstrates some of the greatest feats of endurance seen in the entire *One Piece* series, especially for one without Devil Fruit powers. He also has exceptional healing capabilities, able to recover from the most brutal injuries within a fairly short period of time, as shown that despite he nearly died after absorbing Luffy's immense pain and fatigue from Kuma's Devil Fruit powers, Zoro regained consciousness and was capable of walking again after only a few days.

## Lack of Orientation

Outside of battles, Zoro has one obvious weakness: his complete lack of orientation. He often demonstrates that he can easily get lost everywhere and always walks in the wrong direction. He even sometimes walks the wrong way when having his target in plain sight, looking for shortcuts. Zoro can also get confused by his own directions, such as in the *Skypiea Arc* when he intended to go right, but instead went to his left. Also, In Enies Lobby, Nami pointed towards a flight of stairs and told everyone to run to the roof of a building, but Zoro dashed away as if looking for some other way to the top of a building. He has also gotten lost running through a straight corridor. In Dressrosa, his lack of orientation gave the dwarf Wicca a terrible time while she desperately tried to lead Zoro in the right direction only to have him consistently run in a completely wrong direction even when Wicca pointed towards the right place to go,

These traits often worry the other Straw Hats and make them look out for Zoro and sometimes mock him for it (Sanji especially). However, just like Luffy, Zoro is hopelessly oblivious to or embarrassed by this fact and usually blames the other Straw Hats for being "lost". His terrible lack of orientation was so profound that when his shadow was used by Gekko Moriah to create the zombie Jigoro, the trait was passed onto the zombie as well, as seen when the zombie walked in the wrong direction as other General zombies who were heading to assist Tararan. After the two year timeskip, Zoro was able to be the first member to arrive at Sabaody Archipelago, shocking Sanji. However, this was due to Perona's help.

## Meditation

Zoro is an expert in meditation. He regularly practiced meditation to calm his mind and honed his focus and mental dexterity in swordsmanship. Due to his fervent practice of meditation, Zoro developed strong spiritual capabilities. In Ipponmatsu's sword shop, Zoro could accurately identify Sandai Kitetsu's supernatural nature as a cursed katana after holding it for the first time, and later he managed to fully tame the cursed sword and its violent nature for bloodshed with his will. When pushed to the brink of death during his fight with Mr. 1, Zoro would suddenly awaken 'the breath of all things', which allowed him to spiritually sense where all things were around him. In that instant, he was able to know where all the boulders Mr. 1 tried to collapse on top of him, and dodge accordingly.

He could also detect the Wado Ichimonji among a pile of rubble and later able to sense the Sandai Kitetsu while he was stuck in a chimney in Water 7 and the Shusui after it was stolen from him in Dressrosa. Due to his powerful spirituality, Zoro could actually incorporate mystical power into his swordsmanship, generating aura of various mythical beasts when performing certain sword techniques, the most prominent being the Nine Swords Style, a supernatural variation of Three Swords Style which he instinctively created during a fierce fight with Kaku, and managed to attain full control of this sword style on his second try, creating the aura of an Asura version of himself and defeat Kaku, an extremely powerful Six Powers user.

## Swordsmanship

Zoro is an extremely powerful master swordsman, being able to use one, two, and three swords in varying attack styles, going from melee-type all the way to artillery. He is even able to use **Flying Slash Attack** (飛ぶ斬撃, *Tobu Zangeki*), a sword technique that utilizes the very air itself to strike the enemy from a distance. Brook classifies Zoro as a user of the "**Power of Destruction**" (破壊力, *Hakairyoku*). Zoro can also carefully time his sword strikes to counter or deflect extremely powerful attacks such as Kaku's Rankyaku.

After his two years under Mihawk's tutelage, his skills in all the three styles have grown so powerful that he was able to defeat the fish-man Hordy Jones while underwater with a single sword strike, and effortlessly defeated Hyouzou, the best swordsman of Fish-Man Island, considering him to be too weak to even kill his boredom, despite the latter having gone through a transformation due to the Energy Steroids. Using Nitoryu, he is able to fight Monet, a Logia user and an officer of the Don Quixote Pirates without using his full strength. Zoro was also able to cleanly slice apart Pica's gigantic stone statue with Haki-infused sword strikes.

Additionally, after having Shusui taken from him and during his fight against the assassin Kamazo, Zoro was able to not only take the scythe from the assassin after being stabbed in the shoulder, but use it as an improvised blade to perform his Three Sword Style, which is another testament to his improved swordsmanship.

If he is fighting weaker enemies (or innocent bystanders that he has no desire to injure in the first place), like the Galley-La employees in Water 7, he uses only the blunt sides of his swords. Although, as Nami and Chopper pointed out, due to his strength, even that could cause fatal injuries.

A long standing problem with Zoro was his inability to cut steel. The anime incorrectly shows him instinctively cutting steel during some of his encounters before learning how to control and master this ability during his battle with Daz Bonez. After his two years of training Zoro is now able to easily cut through materials even stronger than steel. After the timeskip, he has shown the ability to slice through steel "like fruit", and is now strong enough to decapitate a legendary beast like a Dragon with ease.

While he is able to use both hands as well as his mouth in sword combat, Zoro seems to be predominantly left-handed. He keeps all three of his swords sheathed next to his right hip, an indication of being left-handed as it would be easier to pull a sword out from that side with a left hand. Despite being left-handed, Zoro has rigorously trained since his childhood to be extremely ambidextrous in his swordsmanship, able to use his right hand and his jaw to perform equally powerful sword strikes with incredible precision.

### Three Swords Style

*Main article:* *Three Swords Style*
The **Three-Swords Style** (三刀流, *Santōryū*) is a style of sword fighting where the practitioner wields three Katana; one in each hand and one in the mouth. There are many different techniques for this sword style, including high speed attacks ("Lion's Song"), direct hit attacks ("Demon-Slasher") and compressed air projectile attacks ("108 Caliber Phoenix"). Zolo is the world-famous swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates who created this style.

Since no one else has been seen using anything similar to his three sword style (except for Jigoro while he possessed Zoro's shadow), it can be assumed that Zoro invented not only Three Sword Style but most, if not all, of his sword techniques. He is even seen perfecting a new technique in his fight with Braham.

During the *Thriller Bark Arc*, Ryouma, the zombie given Zolo's shadow was also capable of this sword style due to the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's powers.

During the *From the Decks of the World: The 500,000,000 Man Arc*, in Frost Moon Village at the Isshin Dojo where Zoro trained as boy, Koshiro's young students are shown imitating Zoro and as a result have begun practicing the Three-Swords Style in an effort to emulate him.

### Two Swords Style

*Main article:* *Two Swords Style*
The **Two Swords Style** (二刀流, *Nitōryū*) is a style of sword fighting where Zoro has immense mastery which was his original fighting style in his childhood before he started practicing Santoryu. In Thriller Bark, before he acquired Shusui as a replacement for the destroyed Yubashiri, Zoro could dual wield both Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu with incredible power and precision, able to fight equivalently with Ryouma, an extremely powerful samurai zombie imbued with Brook's swordsmanship skills through the Shadow-Shadow Fruit for a majority of their battle before switching to use Ittoryu to finish off the undead samurai.

### One Swords Style

*Main article:* *One Sword Style*
The **One Sword Style** (一刀流, *Ittōryū*) is a style of sword fighting where Zoro has exceptional skills in, being able to hold off the Meowban Brothers of the Black Cat Pirates, defeat several of the lower-ranked members of Arlong's crew, as well as defeating Mr. 1, the strongest agent of the Baroque Works using only one sword, and the zombie, Ryouma.

While disguised as a ronin in Wano Country, Zoro used a short Tanto to perform a powerful flying slash that cut down a magistrate along with the building despite the short range of the blade, a further testament of his improved skills in swordsmanship. Also, when using one sword in combat, Zoro is usually seen using his left hand to wield the sword. His One Swords Style techniques have nearly always been executed with his left hand.

### Nine Swords Style

*Main article:* *Nine Swords Style*
During his battle against Kaku, Zolo manages to unlock a new swordstyle known as "Nine Swords Style", which gives him the appearance of having six arms and three heads, like the deity Asura, when activating the technique "**Demon Aura Nine Sword Style: Asura**". He also becomes surrounded by a dark aura while in this state, and the first time he achieved it, the ground shook and numerous holes appeared in it.

This ability also allows Zolo to utilize nine swords in combat to effectively triple his potential as a swordsman, and it is usually used as a very powerful finishing move. What this ability is, how Zolo attained it, and the exact nature of this style is currently unknown, but Kaku suggested that it was an illusion created by Zolo's spirit.

### Haki

*Main article:* *Haki*
It was stated by Luffy that Zolo possesses Haki, when discussing it in the context of members of his crew who could fight Caesar Clown, a Logia user. Because Law was referring to the ability to coat themselves in armor it confirms Zoro as a Armament Haki user.

Prior to the *Sabaody Archipelago Arc*, Zoro was never aware of Conqueror's Haki, something he (along with the rest of the crew) had not shown any knowledge of during the first half of the series. However he, along with Sanji, has commented on Luffy's ability to passively knock out half of Hordy's men, stating that if Luffy could not at least do that much then he would have had to have stepped down from being captain.

#### Observation Haki

Zoro is also very skilled in the use of Observation Haki, shown when he was asked by Luffy if he could sense a "wild animal" in the Ryugu Palace, he stated that he could. Zoro was then shown using Observation Haki to try and locate Pica during the Dressrosa Arc.

#### Armament Haki

While fighting Monet, a Logia user, on Punk Hazard, Zoro was able to slash her on the cheek, displaying the use of **Armament Haki**, after saving Tashigi. Being his personal Haki specialty, Zoro has extraordinary mastery of Armament Haki. During the Dressrosa Arc, it is revealed that Mihawk taught Zoro how to imbue his swords with Haki. He can imbue Armament Haki into all three of his swords at once; in doing so, he managed to cut down Pica, who had already covered his entire body with the same Haki, thereby also demonstrating his supreme mastery over Haki as compared to the Don Quixote top executive. In *One Piece Film: Gold*, Zoro was able to reinforce his arms with Haki to successfully defend simultaneous slashes from both his swords Sandai Kitetsu and Shusui without getting injured at all.

### Feats

#### Strength level

* Could lift boulders as a child.
* Can form winds strong enough to blow away giants by spinning.
* Can pick up and throw multi-story buildings
* Can cut through iron with ease
* Sliced a Pacifista in two.
* Physically overpowered eight marines.
* Tossed around a building while sustaining heavy injuries.
* Deflected a punch from Oars, who was roughly the size of a skyscraper.
* Strong enough to knock back a skyscraper sized giants.
* Trains with 4 tons while carrying those weights with his thumbs only.
* Sliced through steel.
* Stopped Neptune's massive trident with nothing but his swords.
* Slices a kraken's tail into pieces.
* Cuts a galleon ship into two.
* Strong enough to get out of Fujitra's gravity, which his gravity can casually bring down three meteorites.
* Blocks a blade strike from Pica and clashed with him that creates explosions larger than buildings.
* Can slice a mountain-sized rock monster in half with a casualy flying slice.
* Along with Luffy, he contributed to an attack that burst a giant hole through a huge tsunami.

#### Speed

* Blitzed Captain Morgan.
* Can outrun bullets while disappearing, and dodges shotgun bullets at point blank range.
* Intercepted cannonballs in mid-flight.
* Can keep up with a soru user, who is faster than the eye can track.
* Dodged a barrage of pressure blasts.
* Can cut cannonballs in mid air.
* Dodged a laser beam from Kuma then dodged multiple pad cannon attacks.
* Moved faster underwater than a Fish-man.
* Can swing his swords with such great strength and speed that he can create huge air slashes and tornados.
* Can slice up numerous bullets at close range in his fight against Ain.

#### Durability

* Survived a slash across the chest from Mihawk.
* Defeated Hatchan while losing tons of blood and still recovering from a lethal slash across his abdomen from Mihawk
* Survived a lightning bolt hitting him head-on.
* Tanked attacks from Oars, a giant.
* Proceeds to cut his legs just to free himself from an enemy attack.
* Survived having all of Luffy's pain being infused into his body while already heavily injured, courtesy of Kuma's powers.
* Kept fighting after getting stabbed in the chest.
* Took a body slam from Pica.
* Survived 30 million volts of electricity from Enel, comparable to an actual bolt of lightning.
* Could block an attack that cut two buildings in half.
* Tanked Daz Bones’ building-slicing slashes and buzzsaws.
* Tanked the force of Fujitora’s gravity.

#### Skill

* Can wield three swords at once.
* Trained by the world's greatest swordsman.
* Defeated a samurai who decapitated a dragon.
* Was offered a position in Baroque Works, and killed the agent who offered him the position.
* Decapitated a dragon.
* Can easily one-shot a Pacifista.
* Killed 100 bounty hunters who work for Baroque Works after outdrinking 12 people.

### Weaknesses

* Low intelligence outside of battle.
* Terrible sense of direction.
* His left eye seems to be blinded, possibly giving him low depth perception.
* Kyutoryu requires Zoro to be very angry to use.
* Reckless.
* Tend to take huge amounts of damage in his fights; if an opponent is strong enough to keep up with Zoro for an extended period of time, they could potentially win if they can just outlast him.
* CoO Haki has some weaknesses:
	+ If the opponent is too fast or Zoro can’t move, it doesn’t matter if Zoro can predict their moves.
	+ He can’t predict random attacks that even the opponent is unaware of.
	+ It can lose effectiveness if Zoro loses his concentration.

## History

### Past

#### Beginning of a Promise

##### Zoro and Kuina

As a child, Zoro trained at a dojo in Frost Moon Village. Zoro stated in the Baratie, that, "Once he decided that he would become an invincible swordsman, he left his life behind".

Even as a child, Zoro was strong enough to defeat most adults, but could not defeat Kuina, the Dojo master's daughter. After their 2000th fight (and Kuina's 2000th victory) Zoro challenged her in private for one more match - with real swords. Although he had improved tremendously since their first match, he still lost and cried with frustration, telling Kuina about his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman. Hearing this, Kuina confided in Zoro, telling him that she shared the same dream but knew she could never attain it - her father had told her that girls could never be true sword masters, and that her fighting potential would decrease as her body matured. Zoro, annoyed by her defeatist attitude in spite of repeatedly winning against him, told her that one day he would beat her because he was more skilled, not because she was a girl. The two made a promise - that either of them had to become the world's best swordsman.

The next day, Kuina suffered a fatal fall down the stairs of her dojo (to get a sharpening stone for her sword, something she would not have needed if she and Zoro had not fought with real swords), much to Zoro's anger and disappointment. Realizing that she would never have a chance to fulfill her dream, Zoro took it upon himself, asking his sensei, Koshiro, for her sword, Wado Ichimonji, and began working to develop his signature Three Swords Style, holding his own two swords in each hand, and Kuina's clenched between his teeth.

##### The World's Best

Eventually, Zoro learned of "Hawk-Eye" Dracule Mihawk, who currently holds the title of the Greatest Swordsman in the world. He set off to sea, searching for him in order to challenge him to a duel. However, he lost his way, and could not find his way back home. In order to survive on his own, he took on bounties to pay for living expenses. He quickly built a famous reputation for himself as a "Pirate Hunter" in East Blue Region and even in Grand Line as Baroque Works had heard about him; he was even considered the greatest swordsman of East Blue Region, after which he met the two bounty hunters, Johnny and Yosaku.

Because of his reputation as a bounty hunter, Zoro was offered a position as a numbered agent within the Baroque Works. He replied with that he would accept only on the condition that he would lead the organization (which they refused). He then killed Mr. 7, the agent who offered him the position, to defend himself.

## Battles

### Canon

* Zoro vs. Kuina (2001 times)
* Zoro vs. Mr. 7 (not seen)
* Zoro and Monkey D. Luffy vs. Morgan
* Zoro vs. Buggy
* Zoro vs. Cabaji
* Zoro vs. Siam and Butchie
* Zoro vs. Dracule Mihawk
* Zoro vs. Hatchan
* Zoro and Vinsmoke Sanji vs. Arlong
* Zoro vs. Tashigi
* Zoro vs. 100 Baroque Works agents
* Zoro vs. Monkey D. Luffy vs. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine
* Zoro vs. Mr. 5
* Zoro vs. Mr. 1
* Zoro vs. Braham
* Zoro vs. Ohm
* Zoro, Nico Robin, Gan Fall, and Wyper vs. Eneru
* Zoro and Sanji vs. Hamburg, Pickles, and Big Pan
* Zoro, Luffy, Sanji, and Chopper vs. Franky Family
* Zoro vs. T-Bone
* Zoro and Sogeking vs. Kaku and Jabra
* Zoro vs. Kaku
* Zoro vs. Shu
* Zoro vs. Helmeppo
* Zoro vs. Ryouma
* Straw Hat Pirates (minus Luffy) and Brook vs. Oars and Gecko Moria
* Zoro vs. Bartholomew Kuma
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. Flying Fish Riders
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. PX4
* Zoro, Usopp, and Brook vs. Kizaru
* Zoro vs. Humandrills
* Zoro and Vinsmoke Sanji vs. PX-7
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. Surume
* Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Brook vs. Ryugu Palace guards and King Neptune
* Zoro vs. Hordy Jones' captive human pirates
* Zoro vs. Hordy Jones
* Straw Hat Pirates and Jimbei vs. New Fish-Man Pirates
	+ Zoro vs. Dosun
	+ Zoro vs. Hyouzou
* Zoro and Luffy vs. Punk Hazard Dragon
* Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Robin vs. Brownbeard and his men
* Zoro, Brook and Kin'emon vs. G-5 Marines
* Zoro and Tashigi vs. Monet
* Zoro vs. Fujitora (near the Corrida Colosseum)
* Zoro vs. Pica
* Zoro, Luffy, and Trafalgar Law vs. Machvise, Senor Pink, and Dellinger
* Zoro and Luffy vs. Fujitora (during the Birdcage game)
* Zoro vs. Pica (On Pica's stone statue)
* Zoro vs. Carrot
* Zoro and Luffy vs. Basil Hawkins and his men
* Zoro, Luffy, and Kiku vs. Beasts Pirates and enemy samurai
* Zoro vs. Kyoshiro Family grunts
* Zoro vs. Gyukimaru
* Zoro vs. Kamazo

### Non-Canon

* Zoro vs. Dick
* Zoro vs. Eric
* Zoro vs. Lake
* Zoro vs. Golass
* Zoro vs. Pin Joker
* Zoro vs. Hotdog
* Zoro and Monkey D. Luffy vs. Saga
* Zoro vs. Maji
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. Governor
* Zoro vs. Monkey D. Luffy
* Zoro vs. Sanji
* Zoro vs. Mikazuki
* Zoro vs. Don Accino
* Zoro vs. Largo
* Zoro vs. Ettousaurus
* Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper vs. Shiki
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. Golden Lion Pirates
* Zoro vs. Indigo
* Zoro vs. Nuru
* Zoro and Luffy vs. Momonga
* Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji vs. Z
* Zoro vs. Ain (on Secon Island)
* Zoro vs. Ain (on Piriodo)
* Zoro vs. Zebra vs. Vegeta
* Zoro vs. Peseta
* Straw Hat Pirates vs. Treasure Pirates
* Zoro vs. Naomi Drunk
* Zoro vs. Narcie
* Zoro vs. Guild Tesoro
* Zoro vs. Dice
* Straw Hat Pirates (except Sanji), Wanda, and Carrot vs. Sutchies

## Early One Piece

Originally, Zoro was planned by Oda to be the bodyguard of Buggy. A picture of an incarnation of him in Buggy's crew was then later released in Volume 3 along with another picture of Buggy's crew. Oda described Buggy's crew as a family unit, in which Zoro was the elder brother.

Zoro has occasionally appeared wearing glasses in some of the color illustrations by Oda and in the 11th opening of the anime.

## Anime and Manga Differences

### Zoro's Past

Zoro's past was expanded upon in the anime. Zoro was a traveler who went around defeating dojos for their signs. However, there was one person Zoro could not beat - the sensei's daughter, Kuina. In the anime she is the reason he joins her father's dojo in the first place. Kuina's father made a deal that if he could defeat her Zoro would take the sign. If not, Zoro would have to train under him. When given the opportunity to use as many swords as he wanted, he grabbed as many as he could carry and faced off against Kuina. He lost and was told he had to start with one sword before he could use more. As per the consequences of his loss, he trained at the dojo as promised.

In the manga, Zoro enters to see her dead body, eyes covered and surrounded by the students and accuses her of running away, in the anime no such scene is shown, but a funeral takes place for her instead, though later on "Ocean Dream" arc in the anime, the original manga scene is shown in a flashback.

His story is extended also in the anime by showing the time he first met and befriended Johnny and Yosaku. They cash in when Zoro takes out a large bounty and, given they pay his tab at the bar he was at for his food, can keep the rest of the money for themselves as an apology for taking their 'head'. Later, Dick appears in the town with his horde of bandits, who proceed to loot the town. Johnny and Yosaku watch as a child tries to stop the thief to no avail. Johnny convinces Yosaku that they must stop him, to which Yosaku reluctantly agrees. The two are no match for Dick, but luckily Zoro comes to claim the bounty on Dick's head to pay for a katana that he broke. After a complete victory by Zoro, Johnny and Yosaku look up to Zoro and start to call him "Big Bro".

### Straw Hat Separation

His adventure in Shikkearu Kingdom is also extended in the anime.

Not only did Perona refuse to give Zoro his swords back, but she also tried to turn Zoro into her servant by using her Devil Fruit powers. She got as far as managing to dress Zoro like her former subordinate, Kumashi (covered in bandages), while he had passed out before he woke up and left the room in search of his swords. In the anime, Zoro's training will begin by defeating the leader of the humandrills who copied the swordsmanship of Mihawk.

### Running Gags

In most fillers, his lack of direction is further ridiculed as he has gone in the wrong direction even though his guide was still pointing in the correct way, and even turning to the right on a straight path.

Also, ever since episode 111, Zoro has been called marimo (moss-head in the dub) by Sanji in reference to his oddly colored green hair.

## Translation and Dub Issues

* Most of Zoro's attacks are puns and some also have religious connections. One of Zoro's more common attacks, Oni Giri (Demon Slash), is a pun on the Japanese word for an actual onigiri (rice ball). Another common attack, the 36/72/108 Pondo Hou, is a Japanese reference to the 36 passions of Buddhism. Another one of Zoro's powers, Asura, also borrows from a religion by taking its name from a group of Hindu demons. This is a bit ironic considering that Zoro is a stated apatheist, and Nami and Chopper have both claimed that Zoro is more arrogant than the self-proclaimed "god" Eneru.
* Zoro's name, was spelled "**Roronoa Zolo**" in the English dub, going with a more phonic spelling. Originally, the English version of the manga by VIZ spelled his name as "Roronoa Zoro", but it was changed to "Zolo" in chapter 50. It is possible that this name change was either a result of trademark issues with Zorro - who shares a similar name - or to maintain similarities to the English Dub. In the book **The Anime Encyclopedia - A guide to Japanese animation since 1917** (*2001*), Zoro's name was spelled "Zorro" in the One Piece entry. Such cases as this have been common in many translations across the world, mostly because of the similarity between the two names. To date, however, this has yet to raise concerns over copyright between the two characters. However, in the second 2011 volume of the U.S. Shonen Jump magazine, Zoro's name was been changed back to "Zoro". This is the first time Viz has called the character this since its first printings of Chapter 50. It was changed back to "Zolo" in the following issues, however.
	+ In Japanese promotions and in some art work, the character is often referred to as "Zoro" but is also spelled "Zolo" in only certain cases, mostly in promotions. However, there are fans that claim that "Zoro" was the creator's intended spelling, since it is almost always spelled that way in art and it is supposed to be based off the aforementioned character "Zorro". However, the appearance of "Zolo" in Japan can be explained without relating it to 4Kids or copyright laws due to interchangeable L and R sounds. Other characters who have displayed this problem include Franky (Flanky) and Robin (Lobin). In the end, in noted cases English speaking fans may choose to specifically refer to the dub version of Zoro as "Zolo", while referring to the original version as "Zoro".
* In the English dub by 4Kids, Kuina's death was removed. Instead, she was rewritten to have been seriously injured by a group from a nearby town, leaving her unable to fight; a situation which, ironically, is more violent than the original. Zoro's commitment, therefore, is to continue fighting for her sake, instead of in honor of her death. During the *Drum Island Arc* in the 4Kids dub, when the ankle scars he obtained during his fight with Mr. 3 were exposed, they were rewritten to have been gained from a bear trap since the Straw Hats never visited Little Garden in that version.

## Errors and Corrections

* Zoro has quite a few art errors during the serialization in the chapters. They have been corrected in their respective volumes.
	+ In Jump's edition of Chapter 598, he was shown to have a scar on his right eye, but in the next chapter, it is moved to his left eye. Oda wrote in Chapter 599 that the right eye scar was an error, and that the one with the scar on the left eye is the correct one. The error was corrected in volume 61.
	+ In the last panel of page 16 of Chapter 698, Zoro is seen with the wrong scar on his chest. Instead of the thin diagonal line given by Mihawk, he had the thick cross Luffy got from Akainu. This was corrected in volume 70.
	+ On the cover art of Chapter 699, Zoro is seen missing the scar on his left eye. This was corrected in volume 70.
* In the anime, Zoro's wanted poster did not include Usopp's shadow the first time that the bounty was issued, but this was later corrected in Episode 152. When the second bounty was issued Usopp's shadow was inexplicably omitted again.
* On the cover of Chapter 77, a chicken is seen holding a newspaper that says "Wanted, Roronoa Zoro, 1,000,000". This bounty is not canon however, because the covers do not relate to the main series (unless it is a cover story).
* In Chapter 599, Zoro's Shusui was shown with a different saya strongly resembling that of Trafalgar Law's nodachi. Although Oda did not write anything about it, it could be taken as a mistake as Zoro is then seen holding Shusui with its traditional sheath with no comments about the change. This error is fixed in the anime chapter that adapts this scene from the manga.

## Songs

* "Eyes of Zoro"
* "Spirit of Zoro"
* "Holy Holiday!" (as back-up singer to Luffy)
* "Respect!" (Luffy, Zoro and Sanji)
* "Family" (with other Straw Hats)
* "Utae! Jingle Bell" (with other Straw Hats)
* "You Are the One" (with other Straw Hats)
* "Sekaichi No Otoko to Yobareru Tame ni" (Zoro, Sanji and Usopp)
* "Akuma no Mi" (Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji)
* "Jungle Fever" (with other Straw Hats)
* "A Thousand Dreamers" (With other Straw Hats)
* "We Are!#Opening" (Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Usopp

## Other Appearances

### Cameos and Crossovers

* Zoro appeared in a Shonen Jump special, where Enel attacks Tokyo and Odaiba.
* Zoro and other characters also appeared in "Cross Epoch".
* Zoro has appeared in the games *Jump Super Stars* and *Jump Ultimate Stars* for the DS. He also appeared in Vattroller X for the Game Boy Advance and *Battle Stadium D.O.N* on the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Zoro is also in Jump Force alongside Luffy, Sanji, Sabo, and Blackbeard, which will be released in 2019.
* Zoro makes a cameo appearance in the anime, *Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei*: during Meru's introduction, Harumi is seen reading a yaoi manga featuring Sanji and Zoro. Also, in her room, we can see action figures of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Sogeking.
* In an episode of *Kuroko no Basuke*, an old man that is mopping the floor of the bathroom was dressed like Zoro.

### References in Popular Culture

* In *The Simpsons* episode "Treehouse of Horror XXV", several other incarnations from other franchises of the family are shown, each one with a respective theme. In the manga and anime theme, each of the family members was depicted as a specific manga/anime character, Homer is seen as Zoro, complete with green hair, three katana, and Zoro's post-timeskip outfit.
* In an episode of *Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei*, in Harumi's room, we can see action figures of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Sogeking.
* In the episode 7 from *Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyo*, the character Itaku use two sickles in his hands and the third in his mouth as Zoro

### Other Media

* Zoro is shown during the One Piece Premier Show 2012 as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates against the New World pirate, Chameleone.
* Zoro appeared in the 13th episode of the third season of the popular YouTube series, "DEATH BATTLE!", where he fought Erza Scarlet from the *Fairy Tail* franchise and won. Before that, he fought Kenshin Himura  from the Rurouni Kenshin series in the second season of the spin-off series, "One Minute Melee" and won. Later on, he appeared in Death Battle's other spin-off series, DBX, where he once again fought Rurouni Kenshin and won.

### Merchandise

* As a main character, Zoro has been the choice character in many forms of merchandise. He has been featured in the series of models Portrait of Pirates. He has featured in trading figure sets such as One Piece Motion Figure box and the One Piece Styling Figures. When the Wii game, *One Piece: Unlimited Adventure*, was released Zoro was one of the crew produced as a figure in the One Piece Locations Trading Figures series.
* He also featured in One Piece Gashapon sets, including the 5 piece One Piece VS Figure Gashapon set. Another Gashapon set he featured in was the One Piece Full Color R Gashapon, of what he was featured twice. He was sold alongside Robin in the One Piece Monkey Island Mascot Keychain series.
* He was issued alongside Kuina in a One Piece DeQue set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones.

### Video Games

#### Playable Appearances

* *One Piece: Become the Pirate King!*
* *Legend of the Rainbow Island*
* *One Piece: Treasure Wars*
* *Grand Battle! Swan Colosseum*
* *Treasure Wars 2 Welcome to Buggyland*
* *Birth of Luffy's Dream Pirate Crew!*
* *Grand Line Dream Adventure Log*
* *Big Secret Treasure of the Seven Phantom Islands*
* *Aim! The King of Berry*
* *One Piece: Going Baseball*
* *Dragon Dream!*
* *Set Sail Pirate Crew!*
* *Grand Battle!*
* *Grand Battle! 2*
* *Ocean's Dream! - Oceans of Dreams*
* *Treasure Battle!*
* *One Piece Grand Battle 3*
* *One Piece: Grand Battle! Rush!*
* *One Piece: Pirates Carnival*
* *One Piece: Round the Land*
* *Fighting for One Piece*
* *Battle Stadium D.O.N*
* *One Piece Grand Adventure*
* *One Piece: Unlimited Adventure*
* *One Piece: Unlimited Cruise*
* *Jump Super Stars*
* *Jump Ultimate Stars*
* *One Piece: Gear Spirit*
* *One Piece: Gigant Battle*
* *One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World*
* *One Piece Romance Dawn: The Dawn of the Adventure*
* *One Piece: Pirate Warriors*
* *One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2*
* *One Piece: Unlimited World Red*
* *One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X*
* *One Py Berry Match*
* *One Piece: Dance Battle*
* *One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3*
* *One Piece Treasure Cruise*
* *One Piece Thousand Storm*
* *One Piece: Burning Blood*
* *One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum*

#### Support Appearances

* *Chopper's Big Adventure*
* *One Piece (Game Boy Advance)*

## Etymology

* Zoro's surname, Roronoa, is the Japanese pronunciation of real-life French pirate François l'Ollonais.
	+ Zoro is the only Straw Hat Pirate to be named after a real life pirate, this being after the Japanese pronunciation of François l'Ollonais.

## External links

* Roronoa Zoro *Wikipedia*
* Roronoa Zoro *One Piece Encyclopedia*

## Notes & Trivia

* Zoro has his own jolly roger, like all the Straw Hat crew. It has Zoro's bandanna, two swords instead of crossbones, and a sword in its mouth (the white hilt suggests that it is Wado Ichimonji, which is always the one that Zoro holds in his mouth when using Three Swords Style).
	+ After the timeskip, the skull gains Zoro's three earrings and the left eye is closed with a vertical scar over it to match Zoro's own eye. The swords that make up the crossbones are more detailed: the blade pointing towards the right is dark, suggesting that it is Shusui while the other is Sandai Kitetsu.
	+ Another jolly roger is seen on his armor in the cover of Chapter 699. This jolly roger is a regular skull with three swords crossing behind it.
* Zoro is the only member of the crew that Luffy personally sought out to invite before they actually met.
* Zoro is the first known person since Ryouma to kill a dragon, an act which made the latter a legend. Both of them also killed the dragon the same way, by decapitation in the air.
* Along with Killer, Zoro is only one of two members of the Worst Generation who do not have a Devil Fruit power. Incidentally, they are the only two who are subordinates rather than a captain.
* Zoro's reintroduction to the series after the timeskip is reminiscent of how Mihawk was introduced. Both sliced a galleon in two and both seemingly did so due to an interrupted nap.
* Zoro has had the most English dub voice actors out of all the Straw Hats (2 as an adult, 4 as a child).
* In Japanese fan polls, Zoro was consistently the second most popular character, until his position was usurped by Law in the fifth poll, but he reclaimed it in the sixth poll. Furthermore, in the attack popularity polls his "**Three Swords Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds**" came in 2nd.
* Zoro is the highest bounty starter on the East Blue with 60,000,000 berry bounty, defeating Luffy that amounts double of his initial bounty (30,000,000 berries).

### SBS-Based Trivia

* Oda has hinted that one of the reasons why Zoro uses sushi-based puns in his Two Slash attacks is because he has never tried sushi and has some sort of fascination with it. However, this can be considered one of Oda's SBS jokes.
* Zoro's favorite foods are white rice, sea monster meat, and anything that goes with sake. His least favorite food is chocolate because it is too sweet.
* Zoro also does not like ice cream, the same as Nami, Sanji and Franky.
* Zoro's favorite dish to cook is sashimi.
* Zoro's favorite type of island and season is autumn on a autumn island.
* Zoro's specific number is 02.
* Zoro's specific color is green.
* Zoro smells like steel.
* If the Straw Hat Pirates were a family, then Zoro would be the eldest son.
* Zoro's animal resemblance is a shark, and the cover of Chapter 3 (in which he was introduced) shows a picture of Luffy riding on the back of a shark.
	+ However, in the chapter 651 when all the Straw Hat Pirates, except Luffy and Nami, were represented as animals, Zoro was shown as a tiger and he was turned into a tiger in the video game, *Chopper's Big Adventure*. He had dragon-based attire in the video game, *Unlimited Cruise*.
* If One Piece was set in the real world, then Zoro would be from Japan.
* Zoro's thoughts are "Sword, Sword, Strength, Train, Sleep", and like the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, "Friendship".
* When asked which flower Zoro resembles the most, Nico Robin's japanese voice actress replied he most resembles a thistle.
* Zoro's blood type is XF, the same as Franky's.
* Zoro bathes once a week, the same as Luffy and Brook.
* Trafalgar D. Water Law calls Zoro according to his name, Zoro-ya.
* Zoro represents the prefecture of Hokkaido.
* Other than taking naps, Zoro typically sleeps at 4:00 A.M. and gets up at 7:00 A.M.
* If the Straw Hat Pirates were not pirates, then Zoro would be a police officer.
* Zoro's hobbies are training and drinking alcohol.
* If the Straw Hat Pirates had a 50-meter race, then Zoro would come in fifth place. Oda clarifies that Zoro would be ranked higher in a shorter distance race, but Zoro would get lost in a longer race.