Roronoa Zoro


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

Roronoa Zoro, is a pirate and former bounty hunter. He is the second member of the Straw Hat Pirates and the first to join. He is also a master swordsman. Despite no clear role being given to him, Zoro is sometimes labeled by fans as the second-in-command of the pirate crew (the First Mate). Partially due to the fact that in the series, several captains refer to their first mate as their "Partners" or "Champions" and Luffy refers to Zoro by these earlier on in the series. Zoro is currently one of eleven pirates who have been referred to as "The Eleven Supernovas". He and Killer are the only supernovas who are not captains, they are also probably the only Supernovas not to have a Devil Fruit and they both rely on blade based weapons.

Appearance
He is almost always seen carrying around his three swords, usually bundled up with his green sash (or haramaki) over his right hip which is favorable so he could easily draw any one of them with his left hand; his right hand is usually seen resting over the swords. This may indicate that he is left-handed or even ambidextrous, for most sword wielding characters in the One Piece Universe wear their swords to the left. On his left ear he wears three earrings and he normally has a bandanna tied around his left arm that he ties around his head when he is fighting seriously. The rest of his clothes vary from time to time, however he usually wears a white shirt, dark green trousers, black shoes and the green haramaki 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. These scars are marked by black stitches

His other remarkable feature is his green hair, of which Sanji often teases him about, calling him 'marimo' (moss-ball, moss-head in the Viz Manga and FUNimation dub).

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). And while technically not a samurai, Zoro maintains Bushido to a certain degree (i.e. he consistently refuses to attack an adversary whose back is turned on him, and neither does he tolerate getting assaulted from behind himself except when his crew mate is really in dire situation of dying of from an enemy threat, such as Kuma trying to take Luffy away, Zoro silently attacked him with Shishi Sonson) and is constantly mistaken for one. 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 (again, such as Usopp rejoining the crew). He, like Luffy, has a lousy sense of direction (possibly even worse than Luffy's, since he usually assumes the others have gotten lost, and not the other way around). He is teased often because of it.

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, Sanji and (accidentally) Luffy. 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 (which is also a gym), 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 mostly never gets drunk due to his inhumanly-high tolerance for alcohol. He is sometimes prone to using serious methods for solving simple problems such as separating him and Usopp from cuffs by suggesting to cutting off a hand, and cutting off his feet to get himself unstuck from some wax.

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". However, he is not one who stubbornly refuses utter defeat, especially if it all seems so inevitable. When Zoro has the intention to fight seriously, he normally ties his black bandanna (which is usually tied around his left upper arm) over his head. Furthermore, like any great warrior, Zoro is one who lives for the thrill of combat; in fact, he has a habit of showing a joyful smile whenever he faces a particularly skilled opponent, which often unnerves both ally and foe alike.

Also, Zoro can provide important and logical decisions at critical times by evaluating the situation, as he did when the crew wanted to bring back Usopp in the Enies Lobby arc. Zoro is the one who mentioned that Usopp is at fault for leaving the crew on his own accord, and Luffy shouldn't take him back unless he apologizes for his mistake.

He also is one of the first Straw Hat members to suggest killing someone or threatening to kill someone.

Crew
Zoro trusts Luffy implicitly, and always goes for his decisions whatever the consequences, acknowledging it as a captain's decision, which a crew must carry out without questioning. 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 a nearly unstoppable team. Despite their comical fights and rivalry, they have a brotherly trust and care between them they`d never admit to. Both Usopp and Chopper are in total awe of his strength and 'tough-guy' attitude. He also appears to have a close relationship with Chopper, seeing as the youngest crew member runs to him when he is scared or in danger, and the swordsmen is the first one to jump into action whenever Chopper falls in the water. Owing to his simple, direct nature, he is often exploited by the more cunning Nami, particularly in financial matters. After Arabasta, when Robin joins the crew, Zoro didn't trust her, but later grows to trust her. Since Brook's entrance into the crew, he and Zoro have a sort of respect towards one another perhaps for both being swordsmen.

Friends
Before the storyline, Zoro had traveled around with two training partners, Johnny and Yosaku whom called him "Aniki" (older brother). He seemed to share a good relationship with them as a group of traveling 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 was also child-hood friends with Kuina. He never beat her but, after they made a promise, she died. He holds his vow to Kuina dearly and 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, thus he is often overly 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 wherever the crew ventures when compared to any other Straw Hat.

Zoro has a unique relationship with Ensign Tashigi of the Marines. Tashigi and Zoro met in Loguetown, where she helped him search for a 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, Hatchan, Mr. 1, Priest Ohm, Kaku and Samurai Ryuuma.

Abilities and Powers


Zoro is considered to be one of the Straw Hat crew's top three fighters; so much that people occasionally mistake him as the captain of the Straw Hat Crew after witnessing his fighting skills in battle. Mainly, while Luffy always fights the most powerful enemy, Zoro always fights the second strongest. Even without his swords, he has monstrous strength. He is able to toss an entire building at an opponent and even able to deflect Oz's punch singlehandedly. He can use some sword techniques without his swords. Zoro has shown to pack powerful punches. He even developed the ability to pump his arms up with pure muscle.

Zoro is unarguably one of the strongest characters revealed thus far. 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 Sanji, who is a master of the [Black Leg] style. He can also move at near-inconceivable speeds and jump astonishing heights. He can even dodge bullets with ease. He has been known to effectively knock out much larger creatures with unarmed strikes. Zoro also defeats opponents with massive punches and kicks. Also, during his fight with Kaku, he used an ability that gave him seemingly god-like powers. What this ability was, and how he attained it, are still unclear, but it was powerful enough to make numerous holes in the ground, as well as defeating Kaku. In Enies Lobby Arc, the Franky Family and Galley-La carpenters noted twice that Zoro was strong enough to be the captain of the group.

To match his strength, Zoro also has ridiculous amounts of stamina and endurance. Some of the things Zoro has endured include Mr.1's two buzzsaws jamming into his chest during the Arabasta arc, Arlong's saw-like nose stabbing into his face, Mihawk's Black Sword slashing his chest, CP9's Kaku's many Rankyaku attacks, and Kuma's Ursa Shock. Zoro managed to stay conscious while everyone else was incapacitated. Zoro then convinced the Shichibukai to transfer all of Luffy's pain and fatigue into him. Kuma was confident Zoro wouldn't live. However, the swordsman was seen standing blood-drenched at the end of the chapter/episode, 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 [It should also be noted that the human body holds about 8 liters of blood]). Zoro's agility, speed, and overall reflexes are also extraordinary. In numerous occasions, Zoro has shown being able to evade (or block) high-speed attacks and projectiles. These high-speed attacks and projectiles move so fast that it would normally be impossible for an average human to even notice them, much less evade them.

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 is often the result of Zoro not understanding directions. In the Arabasta 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. Everytime he gets lost, he mutters "the others are lost again". This is further made fun of with Jigoro in Thriller Bark. Jigoro had Zoro's shadow implanted in him. While the Zombie Generals were heading to help, he goes in the opposite direction. However, Zoro has other strong senses and is often one of the first members of the crew to hear an enemy approaching or sense danger.

Unlike some of the members of the crew, Zoro does not shrink from the idea of using deadly force against dangerous enemies.

Weapons
Zoro is a master swordsman, being 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), his skills with a single sword are very good, being able to hold off the Nyaban brothers, having bested several of the lower-ranked members of Arlong's crew (his two other swords were destroyed by Mihawk, leaving him only with the Wado Ichimonji), defeating Mr. 1, and most recently the zombie, Ryuuma. Lacking a third hand for a third sword, Zoro holds his third sword in his mouth. Some of his sword techniques use the air itself to hurt the enemy. 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.

Since no one else has been seen using anything similar, it can be assumed that Zoro invented not only Santōryū but most, if not all, of his sword techniques. He is even seen perfecting a new technique in his fight with Braham.

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. A long standing problem with Zoro was his inability to cut steel. He managed to instinctively cut steel during some of his encounters before learning how to control this ability during his battle with Daz Bones.

Zoro has shown a new ability called "Asura", which gives him the appearance of having six arms and three heads, like the deity of the same name. The exact nature of this attack is currently unclear, but Kaku suggested it was an illusion created by Zoro's spirit. He cut through Kaku's attack, and was able to deliver the finishing blow. He also may display a kind of haki, as he was able to instill fear into kidnappers at Sabaody Archipelago and because of the mysterious nature of the aforementioned Asura techniques.

Though Brook became the crew's 2nd swordsman, the level of mastery and power between the two is significantly different, made obvious when both swordsmen have attempted to take on the same foe. While Brook had been unable to defeat Ryuuma (no matter how hard he fought) while Ryuuma only used a fraction of his power, Zoro was able to defeat him at full power with only two of his swords. At the Sabaody Archipelago, Brook struck a Pacifista with a high speed sword attack, yet failed to do much damage to it and had to be rescued from this result afterwards. However, when Zoro attacked the same Pacifista, the results were very different.

Zoro's Swords
During his adventures, Zoro has acquired many swords. The three he currently uses are:
 * 1) Meitou; Wadō Ichimonji (formerly belonged to Kuina)
 * 2) Sandai Kitetsu (formerly belonged to Ippon-Matsu)
 * 3) Meitou; Shuusui (formerly belonged to Ryuuma)

Former Swords
For one reason or another, Zoro has one or more of his swords destroyed or incapacitated in some way:
 * 1) Katana x2 (destroyed by Juracule Mihawk)
 * 2) Johnny and Yosaku's swords (returned to them after battle)
 * 3) Meitou; Hana Arashi (Sogeking handcuffed to Yubashiri, stopped using when Sogeking was unlocked from Zoro)
 * 4) Meitou; Yubashiri (formerly belonged to Ippon-Matsu, destroyed on Enies Lobby by Shuu, now resting on Thriller Bark)
 * 5) Marine cutlass (destroyed by Shuu)

Zoro and Kuina
Nothing is known about Zoro other than as a boy, Zoro trained in a dojo in Shimotsuki village. Zoro states, in the Baratie 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 (a physical form of honor to that dojo, being removed equating to loss of honour) 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 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 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". In a point of this time, he met and befriend with Johnny and Yosaku.

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.

Meeting Luffy
During his journey, Zoro arrived in Shell Town where Helmeppo, the spoiled son of the corrupted Marine captain Axe-Hand Morgan, released his pet wolf in town. It tried to attack a girl named Rika, but Zoro saved her by killing it. Zoro was arrested and Helmeppo made a deal with him: if Zoro could survive a month without food, he would be pardoned.

A few days before Zoro was supposed to be freed, Coby and Luffy arrived in town with the intentions of Coby joining the Marines and Luffy inviting Zoro to be his first crewmember. They arrived where Zoro was tied up, then Rika arrived to give Zoro some riceballs, but she was literally thrown out by Helmeppo. After they left, Luffy asked Zoro to join him but he flatly refused to become a pirate. He asked Luffy to feed him the dirtied riceballs and thank Rika for him, revealing his kindness. Later in town, Rika explained to Luffy and Coby the reason of Zoro be in such situation. With this in mind, Luffy decided to free Zoro from Captain Morgan and Helmeppo. Then Helmeppo commented that he would execute Zoro the next day. Angered that Helmeppo broke his promise, Luffy punched him and Helmeppo went to his father.

With the promise of giving Zoro his swords back if he'd join Luffy's crew, Luffy went to the Marine Base. Luffy caught Morgan's wrath and forced Helmeppo to show where Zoro's swords were. Meanwhile, Coby explained the situation to Zoro while trying to untie him. Luffy came back just in time to save them from a firing squad. Refusing to die, Zoro accepted Luffy's invitation and revealed his unique fighting style. He also revealed his dream of becoming the best swordsman in the world, which Luffy supports, believing that the Pirate King should have the best in his crew. Luffy fought with Morgan. However, when Helmeppo threatened to kill Coby, Luffy knock him out while Zoro defeated the captain.

The Marines, seeing their tyrant leader finally defeated, rejoiced and allowed Luffy and Zoro to go free. However, since they were pirates, the Marines asked them to leave the island but promised not to report them to headquarters. As they were leaving, Commander Ripper asked about Coby's past. To help Coby hide it, Luffy provoked him into starting a brief fight between them. Zoro stopped the fight before it could get too serious, but it was enough for Coby to muster up the courage to ask Ripper if he could join the Marines, for which Ripper granted permission. Upon leaving, Luffy and Zoro were saluted by Coby and the Marines for their efforts. Luffy and Zoro then sailed onto their next destination.

Searching For A Navigator and a Battle with Buggy the Clown
After leaving the Marine Base, Zoro and Luffy realize that they don't know how to navigate, and begins searching for a navigator. Luffy manages to get his head stuck in the beak of a giant bird, leaving Zoro to paddle after him. Zoro comes across three pirates adrift at sea, and tells them to get on quickly because he wasn't stopping. The three are pirates working for Buggy The Clown and planned to rob/kill Zoro. Once they discover Zoro's identity, then begin rowing for him, though the commotion caused Zoro to lose track of Luffy's location.

In Orange Town, Luffy managed to get tricked by Nami, tied up, put into a cage with a cannon aimed at him. Zoro shows up just in time to save Luffy and Nami from Buggy's crew. Zoro appears to slice Buggy into several peaces. However, Buggy is immune to blades due to his Devil Fruit powers. Buggy then stabs Zoro from behind, heavily injuring him. Despite this, Zoro manages to flip the cannon aimed at Luffy to point it at Buggy and his crew. Once the cannon is fired back at them, Zoro picks up the iron cage Luffy was stuck in and drags him for a few blocks. After being taken in by Boodle, the mayor of the town, Zoro is taken care of and sleeps at his house until it is demolished by Buggy. Zoro rises from the debris, and is soon challenged against Cabaji, Buggy's second mate. Zoro defeats him, despite Cabaji hitting his wound several times. Zoro falls back asleep while Luffy battle against Buggy.

Nami agrees to temporarily team up with Zoro and Luffy, and the three sail off in the two small boats they obtained.

The Man in the Chest
The first part of this arc sees the group land on a mysterious island inhabited by strange creatures. After passing the "Test" of the forest, the Straw Hat Pirates (now comprising Luffy, Zoro, and Nami) meet Gaimon, a pirate stuck inside a treasure chest that was marooned by his crew. The four become friends and Luffy agrees to help Gaimon get down the treasure he has been guarding on top of the rock. When Luffy refuses to throw down the treasure chests, Gaimon realizes that the chests on the rock are the same as the island’s other treasure chests which are empty. Seeing Gaimon’s disappointment, Luffy offers to take him off the island. Gaimon decides to remain on the island and protect the island’s rare animals which he has befriended. With that, The Straw Hats bid Gaimon goodbye and continue on.

A Liar Joins The Crew and the Duel with Captain Kuro
After Buggy's incident on Orange Town, the crew then came upon Gecko Island. Upon landing, they met Usopp, the local troublemaker of Syrup Village and leader of the Usopp's Pirates. After some misunderstanding about coming to the island, they discover that Usopp's wealthy friend Kaya is bedridden, but is well-provided for by her two butlers Merry and Kurahadol. Luffy believes Kaya would be able to give them a boat, so they move forward to visit her. The group is sent flying into the backyard (by Luffy) only to intrude on an argument between Usopp and Kurahadol, who insults Usopp's father, and forces the group away form the house. While Usopp and Luffy bond, Nami and Zoro and the boys(Usopp's Pirates) come across the moon-walking hypnotist Jango.

After Usopp runs past them hysterically screaming that Kurahadol is a pirate, they go in search for Luffy. Luffy confirms that Kurahadol is actually Captain Kuro, who plans on killing Kaya and getting all her money. Usopp returns but tells the boys that it was just a lie, as they leave disappointed at Usopp lying to hurt people not entertain.

The Straw Hats gain a great deal of respect for Usopp for tricking the boys to protect their well being, and his planning to take on an entire pirate crew and agree to help him. Usopp planned to have an oil slip to stop the pirates, to which he could snipe them with ease. However the four are on the wrong side of the island. Nami falls into the oil slick but manages to switch spots with Zoro and runs off to fight. Luffy became lost on his dash, caused for Usopp and Nami to initially fight the pirates alone.

Just before the two are killed, Zoro and Luffy arrive and fight Kuro's crew. Jango hypnotizes the crew to increase their strength but accidentally hypnotizes Luffy, and Jango is forced to hypnotize Luffy to sleep again but accidentally causes the crew to be knocked out by the ship's stempost which Luffy was holding onto when he fell asleep. Meanwhile Jango summons the ship's guards the Meowban brothers, Buchi and Sham who fight against Zoro. Disarmed of all but one sword, Zoro must fight an uphill battle against the team-work of Buichi and Sham which is difficult without all three swords and Zoro prevents Usopp from helping him by taking a hit from his Lead Star to keep him from getting dragged into the fight. Kuro then appears disgusted by how Black Cat pirates are getting beaten by children and gives the Meowban brothers five minutes before he kills everyone.

Zoro still fighting at disvantage was helped by Nami who is able to recover Zoro's swords and kick back to him, allowing him to defeat the Meowban brothers, but Buchi survives and is hypnotized by Jango which injures Zoro faster. Nami goes to wake Luffy up, and Jango tries to stop her with his Chakram, but at the last second Nami steps on Luffy's face that gets him up in time to stop the Chakram with his rubbery body.

The battle of Luffy against Kuro, Zoro against Buchi and a latter combination of Zoro and Usopp against Jango comes to an end while Nami remains off screen robbing the Black Cat Pirates of all their treasure.

Usopp decides that news of a real pirate attack might be too upsetting for the villagers and would affect their peace of mind since pirates don't normally come to an out of the way village. So he orders everyone to keep it a secret, which Kaya and his crew agree with. Kaya, is grateful to the Straw Hat Pirates, and gives them her ship, the Going Merry (or the Merry Go in the English dub). Usopp is grateful to them as well, and now has the confidence to disband his pirate crew and strike out on his own to be a real pirate. Usopp says goodbye to the straw hat crew, who become confused and tell him to stop and get on their boat with them and that he is part of their crew.

Meeting Mihawk
While Usopp and Luffy were testing out their ship's new cannon, Usopp shot down a large rock, earning him the title of sniper. Soon enough, Johnny emerges seaking revenge. As it turned out, he was on that rock, taking care of his dying partner Yosaku. His short battle with Luffy stops when he recognized Zoro as a previous bounty hunting partner. Nami diagnoses Yosaku with scurvy. Because scurvy involves fruit, and that Going Merry has a kitchen, they decided to get a chef before going any further. Johnny comments that "Hawk Eye" likes to eat at a near by restaurant, the Baratie (though this turns out to be "Red Eyes", the fact that Hawk Eye Mihawk appears was coincidence). Zoro finally got an opportunity to prove his skill when the crew came across Juracule 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, refusing to take even one step backwards. Zoro knew he had lost, but would rather die than leave a loser, 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, the ultimate technique of the Santouryuu: Sanzen Sekai (Three Thousand Worlds), but even so, two of his swords were shattered by Mihawk's following attack, leaving only Wadō Ichimonji. Zoro turned his chest to Mihawk, opening his arms to expose his chest further claiming "A scar on the back is a swordsman worst enemy". Smirking, Mihawk slashed down Zoro's chest (leaving a scar that stays with him through the rest of the series), assured Luffy that Zoro was alive and challenged Zoro to get stronger and challenge him again one day. From that point on, Zoro swore never to lose to another swordsman again.

Just before the fight begun, Nami took off with The Going Merry, so once this fight was over, Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku and Zoro took off to get her, while Luffy stayed to fight Krieg and win over Sanji as a crew member.

Destruction of Arlong Park
Usopp, Zoro, and Johnny arrive at the island but, seeing that three Fishman have spotted them, Usopp and Johnny abandon ship leaving Zoro (who was tied up by the two to, ironically, prevent him from fighting the Fishmen) to be captured by them.

Zoro is brought to Arlong Park where he finds out Nami's allegiance to Arlong. After some banter, Arlong proudly states that Nami is the type of person who would betray even her own family for the sake of riches, which visibly disturbs her. To test Arlong's statement, Zoro throws himself into the water. Nami saves Zoro but beats him to reassure that she is still part of Arlong's crew. While Arlong is away at Nami's village, Zoro breaks free from the dungeon (with some help from Nami, who cut his ropes) and defeats all the Fishmen there. He meets the octopus Fishman, Hatchan, who is outside the park and is oblivious to what happened in it. Thinking Zoro is a guest, Hatchan tows him to Cocoyashi Village. But when he arrives, Arlong had already gone back to the park after capturing Usopp.

Running back to Arlong park, Luffy, Yosaku and the newly recruited Sanji fall from the sky only to meet up with Zoro. Johnny finds them as well and tells them what he saw happened to Usopp. Nami soon meets up them and reminds Luffy that she just partnered up with him for the treasure. She then tells them to take their ship back and get off the island. But Luffy refuses, causing Nami to angrily walk away. Johnny and Yosaku also split off, not wanting to be killed by the Fishmen. Zoro says he never expected Nami to murder someone, that she was only a small time criminal. Sanji becomes enraged at the comment and the two starts to fight, only to have Usopp's face take the impact of both. Usopp wakes up and tells tells them of what really happened. Nami's adoptive older sister, Nojiko, finds them and agrees to tell them the reason behind Nami's motives. Though Luffy leaves to take a walk and Zoro falls alseep, Sanji and Usopp (as well as an eavesdropping Johnny and Yosaku) listen to the story of how Arlong took over the island and killed Nami and Nojiko's adoptive mother, Bellemere; and how Nami is working for Arlong as a cartographer and stealing from other pirates to buy back their village

Once Nami breaks down after Arlong has his accomplice, the corrupted Marine Captain Nezumi, take all the money she has been saving for her village, she asks Luffy for help. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp joins him on the march to Arlong Park where Johnny and Yosaku were stopping Cocoyashi’s villagers entrance and waiting the Straw Hats. After entering, they manage to beat almost all fishmen there. But Luffy, after sticking his feet into the ground to beat the Arlong's sea-cow Momoo, is thrown into the water by Arlong. Zoro, Sanji and Usopp take on Hatchan, Kuroobi and Chew respectively. Despite his wound and fever, Zoro manages to win against Hatchan's six-sword style (borrowing Johnny’s and Yosaku’s swords), breaking his swords and defeating him. Sanji defeats Kuroobi and Usopp defeats Chew outside Arlong Park.

After Sanji assures Zoro that Luffy is alive, he and Sanji then fight against Arlong. But they both get defeated and agree that only Luffy could win. While Zoro keeps Arlong distract, and with minor interference by Hatchan, Sanji dives back into the water and frees Luffy's body. But on land Arlong rips off the bandages on Zoro’s chest, injuring him even more and shocking everybody. Luffy rises from the water and trades places with Zoro by tossing him into the air. He falls into the sea and falls asleep after pulling himself out of it. When Luffy destroys Arlong Park and defeats Arlong, Zoro wakes up in time to beat Nezumi, who came to take the credit of defeating Arlong. Nami makes Nezumi return all the money and help fix up the island. Humiliated, Nezumi leaves and reports the incident to the Marine's Main Base, ensuring that Luffy recieves a high bounty.

Back in Cocoyashi Village, Dr. Nako tends to the wounds of Zoro, Luffy, Yosaku, and Johnny. Then, to celebrate their freedom, the entire island throws a big party. When the party is over, Nami rejoins the crew and the Straw Hats sail to their next adventure.

Arrival at Loguetown
Having defeated Buggy, Kreig and Arlong, the Marines issue Luffy his first bounty. Luffy, Usopp and Sanji starts to discuss about Luffy' wanted poster. Meanwhile, Zoro tells that he catch sight of an island. Nami explains about island' major city, Loguetown, the city of the beginning and the end, where Pirate King was born and died.

Arriving at Loguetown, Zoro stated that he wants to buy something, so he asks for some money to Nami. Walking on the street, Zoro witnesses Tashigi,a marine swordswoman exactly like Kuina, beating some pirates. Entering in the Weapons Shop, Zoro looks for two swords and the owner of the shop, Ippon-Matsu, tries to trick him and buy his beloved sword, but Tashigi rushes into the shop and accidentaly ruins the owners business. Tashigi points to Zoro a cursed sword named Sandai Kitetsu. Ippon-Matsu tells to them about Kitetsu' curseline which intrests Zoro. The latter decides to buy the sword and test his lucky against the sword' curse(he throw the sword up, then hold out his arm), but the sword circles around Zoro' arm. After witnesses Zoro' willingness, the owner gives Yubashiri to Zoro for free, saying that he passes his dream to him.

After leaving the shop, Zoro reunite with the crew, except Luffy who is in trouble. So, Zoro and Sanji rush to the execution place and start to fight Buggy' crew hoping save Luffy, but the latter is save by a thunder that strikes the place(since he is made of rubber it doesn't damage him). Zoro, Luffy and Sanji rush from the execution place to reach Going Merry, but Tashigi and Smoker intercepts them and Tashigi engages in a battle against Zoro, and Smoker engages in a battle against Luffy and Sanji. Zoro defeats Tashigi and Dragon saves Luffy from Smoker. Finally, they reach Going Merry and leave Loguetown. Followed by this, the Strawhats make promises about their dreams and sail to Grand Line.

Traversing Reverse Mountain and Meeting Laboon
Heading to the Grand Line, Nami search for more information about it. Then, the Straw Hats make a reunion where Nami explains about the only way to reach Grand Line, the Reverse Mountain.

The Straws Hats arrive at Reverse Mountain through the storm, though they are nearly blown off course and into the Calm Belt but eventually reach the entrance of Reverse Mountain and manage to climb its uphill rapids despite some tricky close calls. As they come down they hear a noise and notice something is blocking their path. They identify the blockage as a huge whale which is threatening to crush the Going Merry. Luffy manages to keep the ship from crashing into it, but seeing the bow broken off enrages Luffy and he attacks the whale. The whale swallows the Going Merry and the crew, except for Luffy who manages to escape onto the whale's back. Inside, the Straw Hats suddenly find themselves in what looks like an outside setting with a house in the middle of the water where they meet an old man named Crocus. Sanji tries to get information from Crocus, who look long periods of time to reply, causing Sanji and Zoro great comical frustration. Eventually Luffy reunites with the Straw Hats and it is revealed that the strange setting is in fact the whale's stomach. Crocus reveals that the whale's name is Laboon, and he cries trying to run into the mountain because of a promise made 50 years ago and that two mystery people named Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday are there just to kill the whale to feed the people in their town, but they are knock out by Luffy.

Once they exit Laboon, the Straw Hats throw Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday on the sea. Luffy makes a promise to the whale hoping solve his past problem. The crew is making the preparation for their journey when Nami realizes that the compass doesn't work there, Crocus explains that they need a Log Pose to travel through the Grand Line and gives to them one, also Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday ask the Straw Hats to take them to their town. Since everything is ready they sail onto the first Grand Line island.

Zoro Runs Wild at Whiskey Peak
Zoro has proven his skill with the sword against several powerful foes while fighting for the Straw Hats, defeating an entire town of Baroque Works agents at Whiskey Peak.

War in Arabasta
He defeated Das Bones, the powerful assassin in Baroque Works. After Baroque Works was defeated in Arabasta, he was given a bounty of 60,000,000.

Adventure in a Sky Island and Taking Down a God
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 Blue Sea.

Davy Back Fight
After returning from Skypiea, the Straw Hats come across a mysterious pirate ship with no captain and navigator after trying to escape a giant wave. Soon they arrive at an island with some strange long animals, the Longring Longland Island. As Luffy, Usopp, Chopper go onboard, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin are challenged by the Foxy Pirates to a Davy Back Fight with Luffy. Luffy accepts it with a gun shot. When Foxy decides to take Chopper after the first round, the "Donut Race", Chopper cries, saying that he only went out to sea because he knew that his nakama will be the Straw Hats. Zoro lectures Chopper, telling him that he must be a man and that he is responsible for becoming a pirate. In the second game, called "Groggy Ring", he and Sanji are partnered. They are fighting over who who will be the 'ball man' until Sanji takes the position (at Nami's request). The referee tells them that weapons are prohibited in the game, so Zoro was forced to use No Sword Style. They defeated the Groggy Monsters and won, allowing the Straw Hat Pirates to reclaim Chopper. The last game, "Combat", is a fight between the two captains. Luffy defeats Foxy and chooses to destroy the Foxy pirate flag rather than steal a crew member. Luffy makes them a new flag, which ends up being hideous because of his poor artistic ability.

The Encounter with Admiral Aokiji
After returning to Tonjit's hut, they meet the Admiral named Aokiji (in the anime, they meet him on a different island). When Robin sees him, she is shocked and trembles. Aokiji tells them that he is only there to confirm that Robin is still alive. Aokiji states that he will eliminate Luffy. Aokiji uses Ice Saber to slice up Robin, but Zoro stops it. Sanji immediately kicks the sword and Luffy runs toward Aokiji to release a Gomu Gomu no Bazooka, but they get frozen in one attack. Zoro's right shoulder gets frozen. Robin attacked Aokiji then break. Aokiji hugged Robin and got fully frozen. Usopp and Chopper immediately carry Robin to the ship for a treatment. Zoro and Sanji follow them later. When Usopp questioned them where is Luffy, Sanji states that Luffy challenged Aokiji a mano e mano or one on one duel. When he comes back with Sanji, they seen Luffy got frozen too. They carry him to the ship for a treatment like Robin. After being treated, Zoro thinks that Luffy must be stronger to fight a stronger enemy.

Water7, The Water Capital
As the Straw Hats continue their journey, they encounter a sea train on their way. They stop at a train station and ask an old woman named Kokoro where they can repair the ship and recruit a shipwright. Kokoro gives them a picture of a person named Iceburg and told that is the person for whom they are searching. They set sail and open the picture only to find it was only a drawing. When they arrived at Water 7, Zoro pulled out the sail and accidentally breaks it. Soon Luffy, Nami, Usopp go onboard to hire a shipwright immediately. Then, Robin and Chopper go shopping followed by later by Sanji. Zoro remained sleeping and guarded the ship. When a man named Kaku, a shipwright from the Galley-La Company came in to check the ship, he mistook him for Usopp. Upon completing the inspection, Kaku states that the ship can't be repaired anymore. Zoro disagrees. Soon the carpenter went home. Later, the ship has been surrounded by a mysterious strangers called the Franky Family. They attacked but were easily defeated by him. He later joins Chopper, Sanji, Luffy to look for Usopp and their money. They found Usopp unconscious outside of the Franky House. They attack the Franky Family and destroy their base, more so for beating up Usopp than for stealing their money.

While Usopp is under medical treatment from Chopper, Luffy decided to get a new ship. When Usopp wakes up, Luffy tells him this and Usopp angrily disagrees. They start a quarrel whether they will leave the ship or not. Usopp goes outside saying that he quits being a Straw Hat Pirate, then he challenges Luffy to a duel, the winner claims the ship. Later, Zoro is seen fighting with Sanji over who is the responsible for it. They also wondering where Robin had gone. After the duel, Zoro tells Luffy that, as captain, he must never hesitate. Otherwise the crew can't rely on him. He then states that they can never come back to the Going Merry again. When they rent a hotel room, he just sits on the rooftop. Later lost of running away from civilians because the entire Straw Hat are suspects to attempted murder of Iceburg.

When Zoro saw Luffy, Chopper, and Nami, they plan how to enter to the Galley-La to talk to Iceburg. As Luffy disappeared, they've been spotted by the Galley-La guards and start running. When Zoro became annoyed of the carpenters, he decided to use the back of his swords to defeat them. As they enter the building, they see Luffy with Paulie, there, they discover the true identity of Blueno, Kalifa, Kaku, and Lucci as CP9. They see Robin with them too. Zoro attacked Kaku saying that he is not a true shipwright but Kaku replied that he did his job correctly when examinating Going Merry. Afterwards, Zoro was quickly sent by Lucci in Leopard form flying into a chimney.

While he was stuck on a chimney he was helped by Chopper, who gave him Kitetsu and he destroyed the chimney. When he was finally freed, Zoro and Chopper ran as quickly as possible to get away from the Aqua Laguna. Zoro and Chopper, along with Nami and Luffy, were helped by Paulie from drowning. As they plan to sail in a storm to save Robin, Paulie disagreed to their plan as he will fight them to stop them. Kokoro arrives there and introduce the Rocketman, another sea train.

After Enies Lobby
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 Straw Hat 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 dignity).

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.

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 120,000,000. 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. Zoro took a stand on letting Usopp back in, Zoro stating that Usopp shouldn't be allowed back with the crew if he returned 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.

When Luffy and Usopp started arguing in the first place... I didn't care about whose emotions were stronger... or who was correct... but a duel between men was fought and the conclusion was set in stone.

-Part of Zoro's speech on Usopp rejoining.

Adventure on Thriller Bark
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, by chance, initially accepts 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 was caught in what was apparently an oversized spider web, Zoro and the rest disembarked onto 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 Ittouryuu: 36-Pound-Cannon attack. However, the zombie's body was that of Jigorou, the zombie that received 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 was woken up by Usopp.

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 short but intense 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 Straw Hats. Zoro wanting to fight him only cut of his left tusk before being defeated by Oz's attack. Later on he alongside the other Straw Hats 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 adept using it. After Moria manipulates Oz's body to allow it to stretch the Straw Hats 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, Zoro tried to damage the arm, but fails since zombies do not feel pain, and is taken out.

After being carried away from the fight between Nightmare Luffy and Oz, by the Thriller Bark Victim's Association, he regains consciousness, and helped Luffy use Giant 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.

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, knocking out everybody. However, when Kuma was about to take Luffy, 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 Luffy's. 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 trembling voice.

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 that Franky built for Brook to honor the Rumbar 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.

An Incident on Sabaody Archipelago and the Destruction of the Straw Hat Crew
As the Straw Hats continue their journey, Zoro became embroiled in the battles against the Flying Fish Riders in protection of former enemy Hatchan against the slave trader Duval. Assisting Hatchan in his escape, he comes to an understanding with his former enemy while defeating those in their way. After the incident, the Straw Hats arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, where Zoro decided to go off on his own, presumably to get some liquor, as he was later seen chugging on a bottle of one. Though he claimed he knew where the Sunny was docked, a misread sign made the swordsman run off into the unknown, getting himself lost again. Eventually, he enters a bad area where a Tenryuubito is messing around with his slaves and the local population. Although other members of the The Eleven Supernovas were watching, Zoro attempted to challenge one for his mistreatment. But before he could get too far, Jewelry Bonney knocked him out of the gunfire, forcing him to play along to escape the Noble's wrath. After a brief argument with Bonney, Zoro proceeds to carry the civilian injured earlier by the Noble to the nearest hospital, ignoring Bonney's protests. Several of the Supernovas watching the encounter comment that Zoro is a 'beast' and radiates an 'insane killing intent'. They contemplate how powerful his captain (Luffy) must be to keep such a powerful and seemingly uncontrollable man, with such a high bounty in check.

He apparently jumps onto Luffy's flying fish (after being told by the latter to) in an attempt to find his way back to the ship, but is crashed into the Auctioning House along with them. After Hatchan is shot, Zoro witnesses Luffy punch Saint Charloss in the face, the same Noble he himself almost attacked. Zoro remarked that Luffy should've given him the chance to slice the noble himself. He also witnessed the mechanic they were looking for, Silvers Rayleigh who uses an ability known as "Haki" to knock out most of the crowds, as well as Saint Shalulia. Zoro assisted Luffy and battle his way out the massive horde of Marines, before escaping along with Rayleigh with the help of Duval's Rosy Life Riders.

They return to Shakky's Rip Off Bar to rest. There, Rayleigh reveals he was Gold Roger's First Mate, and reveals the truth about how what led to his execution. Indeed Roger was never captured, rather he gave himself up. Four years before his death, Roger contracted an incurable illness and spent most of the years going on his final adventure to the Grand Line, eventually reaching the end, and conquering it. Roger then became known as the Pirate King, but that didn't matter to him as he was still about to die. A year before his death, he secretly disbanded the Jolly Roger Pirates and the members disappeared. Roger mentioned to Rayleigh that he isn't going to die. in Roger's final year, he gave himself up to the Marines, and sentence to public execution. The Marines publicly claimed that they captured Roger as a show of power, and used his public execution to set an example to all pirates, but his last words before his death started "The Great Pirate Age". While Rayleigh himself didn't witness Roger's execution, his subordinates, Shanks and Buggy were present. The mention of the latter mildly irritates Zoro.

Rayleigh congratulates the Straw Hats on making it to the first half of the Grand Line but tells them he's going to need three days to coat the Thousand Sunny. In addition due to the arrival of an Admiral, he will move the ship as not to be noticed, so he gives the Straw Hats pieces of a Biblicard to meet up once its done. Because of the Admiral threat, Zoro mentions they too should split up, to avoid getting caught and meet up at Rayleigh's location. Sanji notes that this is an ironic comment going from him. As they say their farewells to Shakuyaku, Keimi, Pappag and Hatchan, the Straw Hats depart but are confronted by the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma. As he attacks, the Straw Hats retaliate, now at full strength as opposed to worn out from their prior encounter at Thriller Bark. Zoro notes that there is something different about his "atmosphere" from before. The Straw Hats continue to fight "Kuma" and Luffy, Sanji and Zoro finally deliver a successful counter-attack in the form of the Gomu Gomu no Diable Jet Mouton 600 Pound Cannon combo, knocking "Kuma" back. Zoro notes that it may not be the real Kuma as he hasn't reflected their attacks or teleported with his Nikyu Nikyu no Mi abilities. This poses a problem because there is one or more copies of Kuma with similar levels of strength. Zoro suddenly collapses from the phantom pain of when he had all of Luffy's pain and fatigue was transfered to him but managed to get up and hit Kuma with a new Asura technique which badly damages the clone, before Luffy finishes it off.

As the Straw Hats catch their breath, they contemplate how powerful their opponent was, and how he came so early as they planned to hide for the next three days, and were worried as to how they are going to deal with more opponents like that. Just then, a broadaxe-wielding warrior named Sentōmaru appeared with yet another Pacifista and ordered it to capture the Straw Hats. As the Straw Hats separated to avoid capture, Zoro, Brook and Usopp were suddenly confronted by Kizaru: one of the 3 Admirals and he proceeded to attack Zoro with a blast from his kicks. With Usopp and Brook unable to do anything to Kizaru due to the power of the Pika Pika no Mi, the Admiral attempted to finish Zoro off, but had his kick deflected by Silvers Rayleigh appearing to save him. Usopp and Brook again try to escape with Zoro, but as the PX-1 Pacifista starts coming after them Zoro tells them to put him down, and he will let them get away. But Usopp refuses saying Zoro is more useless than him right now. Even with Sanji's help they are all beaten down by the Pacifista. Before they can get up to run again, or it can attack once more, the real Bartholomew Kuma shows up, and orders the Pacifista to stop. Zoro instantly recognizes this as the real one, and they briefly talk, before Kuma asks Zoro "Where would you like to go?", while removing his glove. He then swiftly touches Zoro with his hand, making him vanish.

Straw Hat Separation Adventure- Kuraigana Island
He is shown having landed in the exact same spot Perona was sent to, the ruins of Shikkearu Kingdom, Kuraigana Island, in the Grand Line. He wakes up having been bandaged ridiculously by Perona, wondering where he is. As he awakes, he asked for his swords but Perona refuses to give him his weapons back.

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 that this name change was either a result of trademark issues with Zorro - who shares a similar name - or to maintain similarities to the 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 similarity 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, 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 have 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, oddly, 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 arc in the 4Kids dub, when the ankle scars he obtained during his duel with Mr. 3 were exposed, they were rewritten to have been gained from a bear trap- the Straw Hats never visited Little Garden in that version.

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)
 * A Thousand Dreamers (With other Straw Hats)
 * We Are! (Mugiwara Version) (Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Usopp)

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 its mouth.
 * Zoro is described as being somewhat like the eldest son of the family that is the Straw Hat crew.
 * 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 has frequently had some sort of handicap. In some cases, this is having a physical disability prior to a battle, such as fighting Morgan and his Marines after starving for weeks, fighting Cabaji after being stabbed by Buggy, or being seriously wounded by Mihawk prior to fighting Arlong and Hachi, or having to endure the aftereffects of when Kuma transfered all of Luffy's pain onto him when he fought a Kuma clone. In others, he has been handicapped by a lack of one or more swords - having two swords stolen prior to fighting Sham and Buchi simultaneously; being disallowed to use swords in the Groggy Ring during the Davy Back Fight; losing Yubashiri before his battle with Ryuuma. Sometimes he faces an opponent that can only be beaten by a sword skill Zoro hasn't mastered yet - not knowing how to cut steel against Daz Bones, - or even by other crew members, such as having Usopp chained to his hand during his fight with Kaku.
 * Oda has hinted that one of the reasons why Zoro uses food-based puns is because he has never tried sushi and has some form of fascination with it. However, this can be considered one of Oda's SBS jokes.
 * Zoro is the only Straw Hat (except Luffy) that defeated a main villain in Fifth movie, Saga, as well as Morgan.
 * It was revealed after the Little Garden Arc, that the "long forgotten" reason Dorry and Broggy were fighting, was a debate over who had acquired the most food. The remains of the food is still there: two skeletons of dinosaurs. In the Little Garden arc, Sanji and Zoro started a contest to see who could acquire the most dinosaur meat and later fought over the subject.
 * Zoro has held 3 of the world's Meitou.
 * Zoro has had the most English dub voice actors out of all the Straw Hats (2 as an adult, 4 as a child).
 * In Chapter 401, Kaku states "I can feel your spirit, [Zoro]. An ominous beast like spirit" whether this is a nod towards Zoro being a Haki user or not currently remains unclear. However, Kaku's later comments on Zoro's Kyūtōryū seem to support this.
 * Zoro is the only Straw Hat known to have directly killed someone. He killed the former Mr.7 who unsuccessfully tried to recruit Zoro into Baroque Works.
 * Zoro is the first Straw Hat (The second being Luffy) and the first person seen in the series to fight a Shichibukai (i.e Juracule Mihawk) one on one
 * Zoro looks a lot like Ryuuma from when he was still alive in Oda's oneshot Monsters; except Ryuuma had black hair worn in a top not. They're slightly similar in personalities as well.
 * Zoro learned to cut steel during his fight with Mr. 1. After he won, Mr. 1 asked him if he was going to learn to cut diamond next. Mihawk himself was unable to cut Jozu's diamond body. It is unknown if Mihawk possesses a technique capable of such.

Related Articles

 * Captain Morgan arc
 * Kuina
 * Mihawk
 * Santōryū
 * Straw Hat Pirates
 * Tashigi
 * Bounty Hunters
 * Swordsmen

Romance Dawn Remake
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