Roronoa Zoro/Abilities and Powers

Within this very battle, he transcended himself...

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. And while Luffy always fights the most powerful enemy, Zoro always ends up fighting the second strongest (with the exeption of the Baratie arc). Even without his swords, he has extremely unbelievable monstrous strength. At a very young age he lifted boulders over his head for training, and is now able to toss an entire building at an opponent. He can use some sword techniques without his swords. He has also been shown to pack powerful punches. He even developed the ability to pump his arms up with pure muscle.

Zoro is unarguably an extremely strong fighter. Unlike the pirates and villains who gained their powers from eating one of the Devil Fruits, Zoro has gained his power and skills through hard work and training alone instead. 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 his own Leg-based style. He can also move at nearly inconceivable speeds and jump at 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 called "Asura" that gave him seemingly god-like powers.This move is stated to be more powerful than Luffy's third gear. 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. Another testament to Zoro's strength is his ability to fight to a stalemate against Luffy, his captain and powerful Devil Fruit combatant, at the island of Whiskey Peak. Zoro could deflect a punch from Oars which is another testimonial to his monstrous strength. He also lasted the longest against Oars out of his crew with only Luffy not being present. Also he is the only known character in One Piece to have landed an attack on Kuma, who seemed untouchable until then.

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

To match his strength, Zoro also has an incredible tolerance of pain, evidenced by numerous situations he has thus far endured: Mr. 1's two buzz saws jamming into his chest during the Alabasta arc, Arlong's saw-like nose stabbing into his chest, Mihawk's Black Sword slashing his chest, CP9's Kaku's many Rankyaku attacks, Oars' kick and Kuma's Ursus Shock. This last is especially impressive as Zoro managed to absorb the tremendous amount of punishment Luffy had taken, besides the damage inflicted on him during fights with Oars and Ryuma only remarking afterward "Nothing happened" when questioned by Sanji.

During almost all of his major battles, Zoro is usually seen covered with blood at the end. 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.

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

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 shattered 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. The anime incorrectly shows him 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. Some say that this is just the speed making him look like he has 6 hands and some think its the work of a demon. 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.

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, maybe as a demonstration of his skill because he can use any sword he must at any time, Zoro has one or more of his swords destroyed, removed from his possession, 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 (left behind after immediate battle)

Battle Handicaps
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. In others, he has been handicapped by a lack of one or more swords. Sometimes he faces an opponent that can only be beaten by a sword skill Zoro hasn't mastered yet or even by other crew members. Or fighting opponents who cannot be defeated by swordplay at all.

The amount of handicaps have been noticed and the following are examples of the times a handicap was seen:
 * Fighting Morgan and his Marines after starving for weeks.
 * Buggy's splitting ability.
 * Fighting Cabaji after being stabbed by Buggy.
 * Having two swords stolen prior to fighting Sham and Buchi simultaneously.
 * Being seriously wounded by Mihawk prior to fighting Arlong and Hachi.
 * Being literally on fire and with his legs severly damaged during his fight against Mr. 5.
 * Not knowing how to cut steel against Daz Bones.
 * Being disallowed to use swords in the Groggy Ring during the Davy Back Fight while all three of his opponents snuck in weapons.
 * Having Usopp chained to his hand during his fight with Kaku.
 * Shuu's rust powers.
 * Losing Yubashiri before his battle with Ryuuma.
 * Having to endure the after-effects of when Kuma transferred all of Luffy's pain to him when they fought on Thriller Bark.

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