Roronoa Zoro


 * The subject of this article is sometimes called Roronoa Zolo.

Roronoa Zoro, is a pirate and former bounty hunter. He is the first person to join Luffy's crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, and is a master swordsman. Despite no clear role being given to him, Zoro is often labeled by fans as the second-in-command of the pirate crew (the First Mate).

Appearance
Zoro is Luffy's First Mate, partner, and champion, almost always is seen carrying around his three swords. On his left ear he wears three earrings and normally a bandanna tied around his left arm. The rest of his clothes vary from time to time, however usually he wears a white shirt,dark green trousers, black shoes and a green obi sash around his waist.

His body is covered with scars from his many battles- during the Baratie Arc he lost a duel with his rival, Mihawk, and was left with a massive scar across his torso. In the Little Garden Arc he tried to free himself from a wax prison by cutting off his feet. Although he did not entirely succeed, he gave himself a scar around each ankle.

The other remarkable feature is his green hair, of which Sanji often teases him about, calling him 'marimo' (moss-ball).

According to Oda, Zoro resembles a shark. Oda uses the color green to represent Zoro, and he smells of steel.

Personality
Zoro usually maintains a stern, serious and distanced personality, but often loses his temper in a goofy and exaggerated comic style. He has a strong sense of reason when it comes to actual leadership of the crew and will often point out the seriousness of situations (such as Usopp's leaving the crew). Whether he agrees with them or not, he will stand by Luffy's decisions, stepping in only to voice an opinion when the others have failed to see the true reality of a situation (such as Usopp rejoining the crew).

When the crew sails from one island to another, he normally either trains with weights or just sleeps and is normally awakened in a rather violent way by either Nami or Sanji. His only apparent job on-board the Going Merry was using his enormous strength to haul up the anchor. Aboard the Thousand Sunny, however, he has been shown to seemingly spend most his time in the Crow's Nest, so it is possible that he was designated as the ship's lookout. He also likes sake, almost to the degree that Luffy likes meat, but like Nami, he never gets drunk due to his inhumanly-high tolerance for alcohol.

Zoro can also be very vigorous and won't back down when he is determined to achieve a goal or defeat an enemy. The risks that Zoro will often take to reach his dream of becoming the best swordsman, often leaves others wondering if he is crazy. As far as Zoro is concerned though, only he has the right to call himself "Crazy". When Zoro has the intention to fight seriously, he normally ties his black (dark green in the anime) bandanna (which is usually tied around his left upper arm) over his head.

Crew
Zoro, like Nami, is often critical of Luffy's haphazard leadership, but in the end, trusts him implicitly. Zoro likes to compete with Sanji and they often get into fights over petty matters, often at inopportune moments. However, when the pair fight together against a common foe, they're an extremely tough, nearly unstoppable team. Both Usopp and Chopper are in total awe of his strength and 'tough-guy' attitude. Owing to his simple, direct nature, he is often exploited by the more cunning Nami, particularly in financial matters. Since Brook's entrance into the crew they have a sort of respect towards one another perhaps for both being swordsmen.

Friends
Before the storyline, Zoro had travelled around with two training partners, Johnny and Yosaku whom called him "Aniki" (brother). He seemed to share a good relationship with them as group of travelling bounty hunters. When they last saw each other, Zoro parted with them on good terms; however, they acknowledge that as a criminal they cannot be seen with him.

He also holds his vow to his friend Kuina dearly. Whenever he comes close to defeat (such as the events with Morgan and Mihawk), he recalls her memory and his promise to spur him on.

Enemies
He lacks Luffy's trust in others and is often over cautious when dealing with certain people. But usually, he will resort to intimidation when it comes to most situations, causing others (usually people much weaker than him) to react with complete fear. Zoro has a habit of making many more enemies where ever the crew ventures than any other straw hat.

Zoro has a unique relationship with Chief Petty Officer Tashigi of the Marines. Tashigi and Zoro met in Loguetown, where she helped him search for new katana. Zoro defeated her once when she attacked him after finding out that he was a pirate, but refused to fight her again in later confrontations due to her uncanny resemblance to his childhood friend, Kuina. So far, whenever he has seen her, he has run away claiming that she is the one person he cannot fight.

During his journey, Zoro has also made or met many rival swordsmen such as Mihawk, Mr. 1, Samurai Ryuuma and Kaku.

Abilities and Powers
Zoro is considered to be one of the Straw Hat crews top three fighters. Even without his swords, he has monstrous strength (in one instance he lifted and tossed an entire building at an opponent ) and he can use some sword techniques without his swords. Zoro has shown to pack powerful punches even developing the ability to pump his arms up with pure muscle. Zoro is inarguably one of the strongest characters in One Piece; while most super powered pirates and villains gain power from eating one of the Devil Fruits, Zoro has gained his powers through hard work and training. Zoro has enough power in his lower body to allow him to keep up at a running pace with the latter as well as move at near-imperceivable speeds and jump astonishing heights. He has also been known to effectively knock out much larger creatures using massive kicks

To match his strength, Zoro also has ridiculous stamina, vitality, endurance, and tolerance for pain, withstanding Mr.1 jamming two buzzsaws into his chest during the Arabasta arc and Arlong stabbing his saw-like nose into his face, not to mention surviving a slash to the chest from Mihawk's Black Sword, and managing to stay conscious (or at least the first to get back up again) after Kuma fired his Ursa Shock throughout Thriller Bark (which incapacitated everyone else) right before convincing the Shichibukai to have transfered all of Luffy's pain and fatigue into him - something which Kuma was confident Zoro wouldn't live through afterwards, only for the swordsman to be seen standing blood-drenched at the end of the chapter, claiming that nothing happened. During almost all of his major battles, Zoro is usually seen covered with blood at the end (Oda has stated that Zoro lost 5 liters of blood fighting Hachi and Arlong at Arlong Park)

Though 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 (to which Sanji angrily yells "HOW CAN YOU GET LOST IF YOU CAN SEE THE PATH RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, EVEN YOU CAN'T HAVE A SENSE OF DIRECTION THAT BAD"), however he has other strong senses and is often one of the first members of the crew to hear an enemy approaching or sense danger. Unlike other members of the crew, Zoro does not shrink from the idea of using deadly force against dangerous enemies.

Weapons
Zoro is a master swordsman, able to use one, two and three swords in varying attack styles, going from melee-type all the way to artillery, although he is most comfortable with his Santōryū (literally: three sword style). Lacking a third hand for a third sword, Zoro holds his third sword in his mouth. Some of his sword techniques can be used as projectiles - using the air itself to hurt the enemy. If he is fighting weaker enemies (or innocent bystanders that he has no desire injuring in the first place), like the Galley-La employees in Water 7, he uses only the blunt sides of his swords. Although as Nami pointed out, due to his strength even that could cause fatal wounds.

Zoro has shown a new ability called "Asura", which gives him the appearance of having six arms and three heads, like the demons of the same name. The exact nature of this attack is currently unclear.

Zoro often speaks with his sword held in his mouth, though it's unknown how he manages to do so. The creator of the series, Eiichiro Oda, has said that it is his heart that allows him to speak, though Oda is known for giving joke answers to fans' questions, as well as just making up answers on the spot to avoid leaving a fan's question unanswered.

Zoro's Swords
During his current adventures he uses the following swords:


 * 1) Wadō Ichimonji
 * 2) Sandai Kitetsu
 * 3) Shuusui

Former Swords
For one reason or another, Zoro has some or one of his swords destroyed or incapacitated in some way
 * 1) Yubashiri (destroyed on Enies Lobby by a marine during the Buster Call and now resting on Thriller Bark)
 * 2) Katana x2 (destroyed by Mihawk)
 * 3) Meitou Hana Arashi/Usopp (stopped using it after unlocking the cuffs connecting him to Usopp)

The Promise
Nothing is known about Zoro other than as a boy, Zoro trained in a dojo in Shimoshiki village. Zoro states that once he decided he would become an invincible Swordsman, he left his life behind.

Even as a child, Zoro was strong enough to defeat most adults. In the anime it is shown that he was a traveler who took down dojo signs (which was something of an honor to that dojo) after defeating them. 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 have to train under him. Obviously he lost, and thus trained to defeat Kuina). After their 2000th fight (and Kuina's 2000th victory) Zoro challenged her in private for one more match - with real swords. She beat him, and he cried with frustration, telling Kuina his dream of being 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 swordmasters, and that her fighting potential would decrease as her body matured.

Annoyed at her defeatism, Zoro told her that one day he would beat her because he was more skilled, not just because she was a girl. The two make a promise - that either of them must become the worlds best swordsman. The next day, Kuina died falling down the stairs of her dojo.

Zoro, remembering the promise, decided to fulfill the promise for both of them, and he asked the teacher for Kuina's sword, Wadō Ichimonji, and he started to develop a new fighting style - santōryū, a three-swords-style. Before her sudden death, Zoro fought with two swords, but after her death Zoro started using her sword as well, clenched in his mouth.

The World's Best
Somehow he eventually learned of Mihawk, who is currently the greatest swordsman in the world. Zoro eventually went to sea looking to find and challenge Mihawk to a duel, but got lost and could not return to his home. Since fighting is more or less the only thing Zoro is really good at, he would usually take on a bounty hunter job in order to pay for sword repairs and meals. From then on, he quickly made a reputation as a "Pirate Hunter".

Because of his reputation, Zoro was offered a position and a number in Baroque Works because of his bounty hunting skills, but declined when he was not allowed to become the boss. Afterwards, he killed the person who offered, an earlier Mr. 7 of Baroque Works, for trying to kill him for refusing.

Held at the Marine Base
A moment of kindness landed Zoro in trouble with Helmeppo, the wimpy son of the Marine captain Axe-Hand Morgan. Zoro joined Monkey D. Luffy's crew after being saved from execution by the Marines, and is now one of Luffy's crew as the first mate. Holding on to his dream of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world he only joined Luffy to accomplish that goal, though Luffy doesn't mind - on the contrary, he only sees it natural that the greatest swordsman and the greatest pirate are on the same crew.

Meeting Mihawk
Zoro finally got an opportunity to prove his skill when the crew came across Dracule Mihawk, who was attacking the ship of Don Krieg. The world's greatest swordsman was challenged by Zoro, but despite using his full power, Mihawk easily held him off with a six-inch knife, lamenting that he didn't bring anything smaller with him. Despite being badly wounded, Zoro continued to fight, and impressed by his courage and will power, Mihawk gave him a chance to face his Black Sword. Zoro used his strongest attack at the time, Sansen Sekai (Three Thousand Worlds), but even so, two of his swords were shattered by Mihawk's following attack, leaving only Wadō Ichimonji. From that point on, Zoro swore never to lose to another swordsman again.

Journey onwards
Zoro has proven his skill with the sword against several powerful foes while fighting for the Straw Hats, including taking down the fish-man Hatchan, and defeating an entire town of Baroque Works agents at Whiskey Peak. He even defeated Das Bones, the powerful assassin in Baroque Works. After Baroque Works was defeated in Alabasta, he was given a bounty of 60 million beli.

He continued to travel with the Straw Hats to Skypiea, defeating Ohm, one of Eneru's underlings. With the defeat of Eneru, Zoro and the Straw Hats returned to the Grand Line.

After Enies Lobby
Chapter 430: With the Going Merry, everyone has managed to escape Enies Lobby safely. However, after escaping, Iceburg arrives with the Galley-La company just in time to pick up the Strawhat Pirates as the Merry suddenly breaks apart. Luffy then gives the Going Merry a viking funeral by burning it as the crew tearfully says goodbye (Zoro, though, maintained his tough guy appearance).

2 days later, back in Water 7, he is seen staring at the broken hilt of his sword wondering what he should do. Finally, he was then seen rushing to meet the others, to warn them of the marines arrival. However, as usual, Zoro ends up getting lost on the way there. When he arrived, he was attacked by Sergeant Helmeppo with dual kukri knives, but quickly defeated the young man.

In Chapter 435, He was seen trying to buy a sword but had no money and was thrown out. Later on, Zoro's new bounty is revealed; the bounty is set at 120 Million beli. He also helped launch Franky towards the "Thousand Sunny", the Straw Hat's new ship. He was later seen, when he and Sanji inform the rest of the crew that Garp's battleship was near the island. As of chapter 438, Zoro takes the position that Usopp shouldn't be allowed back with the crew if he returns still full of pride, his reasoning being that Luffy as captain must stand firm as it was Usopp that left them and lost the duel with Luffy over the fate of the Going Merry. As so, he smiles when Usopp apologizes for being stubborn and asks if he can re-join the crew.

Adventure on Ghost Island
After sailing for some time on the Thousand Sunny, Zoro and the rest of the crew came across a mysterious barrel floating on the ocean. Upon opening it, a flash shot up from it. After braving a storm that mysteriously came afterwards thanks to Nami and Franky, Zoro and the rest of the crew found themselves in the presence of a ghost ship.

This ship apparently belonged to a skeleton named Brook who through by chance initially accepted Luffy's offer to join the crew. This apparent new addition to the crew made Zoro scold Nami and Sanji for not keeping Luffy from inviting the skeleton. Zoro then joined for dinner as the skeleton related his past to the others. Just as Brook was about to perform before Zoro and the rest of the crew, a ghost appeared and some clanking sounds were heard. These sounds were caused by the gates of the island that suddenly appeared, Thriller Bark, closing. These events prompted Brook to head to the island before Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hats' eyes.

After witnessing Franky's present to the Straw Hats that the cyborg decided to show them, Zoro and the rest of the Straw Hats decided to look for Nami, Usopp, and Chopper who had not returned. However before Zoro and the rest could go to the island, they were stopped by an invisible thing. The thing stole one of Zoro's swords and tried to stab Luffy with it. Luckily, Franky kicked it away before it found it's mark. The thing later left Zoro and the rest baffled.

After the Thousand Sunny got caught in what was apparently a spider web, Zoro and the rest descended to the island. There they met the Cerberus which didn't intimidate Zoro. After Luffy tamed the beast, Zoro and the rest met two more of the island's creatures. Luffy caught the "Geezer Tree" while Franky caught the unicorn. Zoro, along with Sanji, then stopped Luffy before he could allow the "Geezer Tree" to join the group.

Zoro and the rest then came across some ghosts who affected some of them with their strange abilities. Zoro seeing his companions in such a pitiful state merely shook the whole matter off only to be affected by one of the ghosts himself. After Zoro and the rest who also affected by the ghosts recovered, they pressed forward. Zoro and the rest later met with some Zombies and defeated them with a combo technique. The group then met with a old man who looked like a Zombie. The old man asked them to defeat Gecko Moria who had stolen his shadow.

While in Hogback's mansion, Zoro disappears not long after Sanji does. Later, a shadowed figure was shown attacking Robin, Luffy, and Franky with Zoro's Ishitoryu: 36-Pound-Cannon attack. However, the zombie's body was that of Jigorou, the zombie that recieved Zoro's shadow. It is later reveled that the zombie has inherited Zoro's Shadow and thus is able to use all his techniques. Zoro was found asleep on the Thousand Sunny with Sanji and Luffy and woken up by Usopp.

Counter Attack


After purifying some Zombies, Zoro Franky and Sanji are about to cross a bridge leading to Hogback's laboratory when Oz smashes it. With the construction of a new bridge done by Franky, Sanji departs to save Nami. Later on Zoro and Franky finds the defeated Brook, and saves him in the last moment from "legendary samurai" zombie. Seeing the samurai's sword Zoro claims he intend to fight and take it. After a long and hard battle, he defeats the legendary samurai and gained the sword Shuusui, from an ashamed Ryuuma.

When Moria gained control of Oz, he ordered him to rampage Thriller Bark and defeat the Strawhats. Zoro wanting to fight him only cut of his left tusk before being defeated by Oz's attack. Later on he alongside the other Strawhats regain consciousness and started a series of combo attacks against Oz. Using a 108 Pound Cannon at Oz, Zoro notes how his Shuusui is heavy and he is still not addapt using it. After Moria manipulates Oz's body to allow it to stretch the Strawhats are taken down one by one. But before Zoro is taken down Chopper formulates a theory that his right arm is his weak point. As his final movement has Zoro tried to damage the arm, but fails since zombies does not feel pain, and is taken out. After beeing carried away, from the fight between Nightmare Luffy and Oz, by the Thriller Bark Victim's Association, he regains consciousness, and helped Luffy use Gigant Bazooka to shatter Oz's spine. As Moria uses Shadow Asgard he stands by, watching the fight between Moria and Luffy, and is almost burned away by the sun until, with the defeat of Moria, his shadow is finally returned. After launching an attack on the Thriller Bark Victim's Association Bartholemew Kuma targets Zoro.

Current Events (Spoilers)
Zoro tries to fight Kuma, but Kuma just pushes his attacks away with his Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, leaving Zoro at a disadvantage. Kuma then comes with an ultimatium: give up Luffy and the rest will be allowed to survive. Zoro and the crew refuse and so Kuma calmly detonates the island with an Ursa Shock. However, Zoro rises again and even launches a succesfull Shishi Sonson [Lions Song] on Kuma, revealing that he is cyborg. Kuma then states that he is a cyborg but not like "Cyborg" Franky and furthermore tells that he is an incomplete human weapon, created by the World Government, and Dr. Vegapunk, called Pacifista. Zoro then proceeds to ask for his head to be taken in exchange for Luffys. Kuma agrees, but at that point Sanji wakes up and wants to give his head instead. Zoro calmly hits one of his wounds and knocks Sanji out. Kuma then proceeds to use his powers and draw out all of Luffy's pain and fatigue. Luffy had so much pain and fatigue that it formed a gigantic paw of energy. Kuma gives Zoro a small sample of it and Zoro can barely tolerate the pain. Zoro then says "Let me choose the location". Zoro then takes the paw of pain and goes to a nearby forest. He takes a few breaths before he places his hands inside of the giant paw. When the Straw Hat crew awakens along with the Rolling Pirates Sanji goes out to look for Zoro and finds him in the forest covered from head to toe in blood. When Sanji asks what happened to him, Zoro replies "Nothing...nothing at all" in a seemingly calm tone. He is seen sleeping in the Thriller Bark Mansion, with wounds Chopper says were life threatening, while his nakama (minus Chopper, who was taking care of him and Nami, who was watching over him) celebrate their victory. Two days later Zoro is awake and goes to the grave the Franky built for Brook to honor the Rumba Pirates and asks Brook permission to lay his Yubashiri to rest near the grave and later jokes that Brook has bad luck since this crew is varied to which Brook jokes back with him.

Filler Battles

 * Zoro vs. Erik the Whirlwind
 * Zoro vs. Billy the Bandit
 * Zoro vs. Mountain Whale Dick
 * Zoro vs. Reik
 * Zoro vs. Golass
 * Zoro vs. Pin Joker
 * Zoro vs. General Hotdog
 * Zoro and Luffy vs. Saga
 * Zoro vs. General Maji
 * Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, and Robin vs. Governor
 * Zoro vs. Don Achino

Early One Piece
Originally, Zoro was planned by Oda to be the bodyguard of Buggy the Clown. A picture of an incarnation of him in Buggy's crew was then later released in vol 3 along with another picture of Buggy's crew.

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 onigiri (rice ball). Another common attack, the 36/72/108 Pondo Hou, is a reference to the 36 passions of Buddhism. Zoro's newest power, Asura, also borrows from religion by taking its name from a group of Hindu demons. This is a bit ironic considering that Zoro is a stated atheist, and Nami and Chopper have both claimed that Zoro is more arrogant than the self-proclaimed "god" Eneru.

In the English dub of One Piece, Zoro is referred to as "Zolo". 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 this name change is a result of trademark issues with Zorro, who shares a similar name. Or possible changed to "Zolo" to keep similarities with 4kids' 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 simularity between the two names. To date, however, this has yet to raise concerns over copyright between the two characters.

In Japanese promotions and in some art work, the character is often referred to as "Zoro" but is also spelled "Zolo" in a few cases, mostly in promotions. However, many fans 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 of "Zorro", the aforementioned character. 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 have include Franky (Flanky) and Robin (Lobin). In the end, many English speaking fans 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 censored and instead she was written to have been badly hurt by a group from a nearby town and was unable to fight anymore--oddly enough, this can be seen as more violent than the original. Zoro's commitment therefore is to continue on fighting for her now she cannot fight any more instead of because she died. During the Drum arc in the 4Kids dub, when his scars are exposed, they were rewritten to have been gained from a bear trap.

Cameos and Crossovers

 * Zoro appeared in an 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 Battle Stadium D.O.N on the GameCube and PlayStation 2.

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 Block Figures set featuring the Straw Hats and their past mentors/loved ones.

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)
 * Sekai ichi 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)

Trivia

 * Zoro owns his own Jolly Roger, like all the Straw Hat crew. It has Zoro's bandanna, two swords instead of cross-bones, and a sword in it's mouth.
 * His family name, Roronoa, comes from the real-life French pirate François l'Ollonais.
 * In Japanese Fan Polls, Zoro is consistently the second most popular character.
 * Zoro's favorite foods are White rice, sea king meat and anything that goes with ale.
 * When fighting in major battles, Zoro seems to have a handicap of some sort almost every time. From being injured before the fight; Fighting Cabaji after Buggy has stabbed him, Mihawk wounding him severely, before fighting Arlong and Hachi; to having to be teamed up with another character; Usopp being chained to his hand while fighting Kaku or having to fight without his swords in the Davy Back Fight Game Groggy Match and only having two swords during his battle with Ryuuma.

Related Articles

 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * Captain Morgan arc
 * Mihawk
 * Kuina
 * Tashigi