Roronoa Zoro/Abilities and Powers

Overview
Zoro has devoted their life to becoming a powerful swordsman and fighter, and in their time as a bounty hunter and later the combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates, they have become extremely well-renowned for their exemplary abilities and accomplishments in battle.

By the time they met Luffy, Zoro had established themself as a fearsome bounty hunter in the East Blue, so much so that Koby had heard they were a "demon in the form of a man". Their accomplishments in hunting pirates were significant enough to earn them the epithet of "Pirate Hunter", which they remain known by even after becoming a pirate. When Zoro dueled Dracule Mihawk, their former partners Johnny and Yosaku were completely confident that they would win due to Zoro's dominance over East Blue opponents, though they were ignorant to the fact that the East Blue is the weakest of the world's seas. Indeed, Zoro was utterly outclassed by Mihawk, a Warlord of the Sea from the Grand Line.

Since that defeat, they promised to never lose a battle again, and as they have explored the Grand Line with the Straw Hats they have so far kept their word and not been defeated in combat. Since entering the New World, they have rarely even been wounded or seriously challenged, only sustaining their first major injury after coming to Wano Country.

Alongside Luffy and Sanji, Zoro is considered one of the Monster Trio (怪物三人組) of the Straw Hats due to their strength. Zoro's infamy has frequently been treated as second only to their captain Luffy's, and in some instances they have even been mistaken as the leader of the Straw Hats due to their more extensive reputation; onlookers have also wondered how they could not be the captain after seeing demonstrations of their power. Zoro was the second Straw Hat member to receive a bounty, and for much of the crew's existence their bounty has been the second highest (although it is currently the fourth highest with Sanji and Jinbe now being ahead of them). Zoro was identified as a Super Rookie after having obtained a bounty of over 100,000,000 by the time they reached Sabaody Archipelago; they were only one of two non-pirate captains (alongside Killer) in their generation to have that distinction.

Spiritual Aura


Multiple times, Zoro has been shown to have an animal-like spirit which occasionally manifests around them when they are readying an attack, including when they used Mutoryu.

This aura has not been indicated to be the result of any type of Haki; rather, it is mainly noted as a manifestation of Zoro's killing intent and tremendous power. Even Kaku, a CP9 agent with superhuman abilities, was able to greatly feel this spirit from Zoro. Notably during their duel with Ryuma, Zoro's finishing strike possessed the aura of a dragon, and after the cut was made the wound was set on fire; how this happened is uncertain.

Weaker people have been shown to be easily intimidated by Zoro, as Koby remarked that they had a "demonic aura" at Shells Town even as they were tied up and starved of food for over a week. This has held true even in the New World, as when Monet came to suddenly realize the degree of power and killing intent Zoro had, she froze in place as Zoro charged her. After Zoro intentionally performed a harmless attack, she then became seized by fear to such a degree that she was unable to reform her Logia body to its normal state. When Zoro gets serious in a battle, they usually don their black bandanna on their head, though whether or not it has any real psychological effect on their abilities is uncertain.

Strength


Zoro possesses superhuman physical strength, and frequently spends their time at sea lifting incredibly large and heavy weights to keep growing stronger. Zoro's strength plays a large role in their abilities as a swordsman, as their strikes possess a great amount of power and range in their cutting ability. Thanks to their strength, Zoro is capable of clashing equally with superhumanly large and powerful opponents, and can send normal opponents flying away with ease. Although they initially had trouble cutting Mr. 1's skin due to the latter's Devil Fruit, Zoro's strikes had enough power to knock the powerful martial artist to the ground. Zoro was able to clash with the likes of Kaku, a superhuman assassin whose strength was further increased by their Zoan transformation, and even managed to overpower them after flexing their biceps and performing their Nigori-Zake attack.

They also clashed evenly with Hatchan, who as a fish-man is ten times stronger than a normal human, even while being severely injured, and also equally dueled with Neptune and Pica, two extremely large and powerful warriors whose weapons even dwarf them in size. At Whisky Peak, Zoro was able to equally match the blows of their captain Luffy, who themself is extremely strong, with their clashes causing considerable collateral damage. When they first clashed with the Marine Admiral Fujitora on Dressrosa, they resisted Fujitora's overwhelming gravitational force just enough to unleash a flying slash toward the admiral to disrupt the force from underground.

Even more notably, Zoro demonstrated enough power to redirect a punch from Oars capable of causing massive structural damage, and two years later was able to use their swords to withstand the teeth of Dragon Number Thirteen, a giant dragon with extreme physical might. In perhaps their most notable feat of strength yet, Zoro was able to use their swords to withstand a combined attack from Kaido and Big Mom, two of the Four Emperors who are among the strongest people in the entire world, long enough to allow their allies to dodge the attack's otherwise inescapable attack radius. Despite sustaining heavy injuries from that attack, Zoro was able to muster enough strength to cut deeply into Kaido's nigh-indestructible body, to the point of leaving a scar, becoming the second swordsman after Kozuki Oden to do so.

When Zoro attempts to use non-lethal force against opponents they will attack with the hilts of their swords instead, though their strength makes these blows extremely powerful regardless. In Orange Town, they used two of their sheathed swords to simultaneously hit four of the Buggy Pirates and keep them away from Nami. In Arabasta, they positioned two of their sword hilts under Chopper and Vivi while they were in midair and used them to successfully propel the duo up all the way to the clock tower many meters above them. Zoro also used their sword blades in an unusual manner on Thriller Bark, when they used them to lift a pair of giant stone pillars that Franky had converted into nunchaku in order to use them against Oars. Zoro rarely engages in hand-to-hand combat, but their strength makes them quite capable at it, as shown when they easily knocked one of Wapol's guards to the ground with a punch. In Whisky Peak, Zoro simultaneously launched Luffy, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine into a faraway building with a single kick.



Zoro's strength is such that they have picked up, carried, and thrown people and objects that rival them in size multiple times with relative ease, with such instances including carrying a large stone cage on their shoulder with Luffy inside it, throwing the fish-man Hatchan over their shoulder while heavily wounded, and lifting Usopp off the ground with one hand and wielding them like a sword. In Whisky Peak, Zoro was able to easily overpower Miss Monday, a fighter with considerably above-average physical power, in a match of strength, and when they were tied up by Mr. 9's iron rope, they were able to use the rope to pull Mr. 9 into the path of their other opponents and their attacks. During the Davy Back Fight, Zoro picked up the very large Pickles by their ankles and spun them around before launching them a great distance forward, and later they were able to flip Big Pan, a wotan, backwards in midair by grabbing their nose. Perhaps their most notable display of raw strength was in Arabasta, when they picked up an entire collapsed building and held it over their head while injured before throwing it toward Mr. 1.

Mutoryu


When they lacked their swords during the Groggy Ring event in the Davy Back Fight, Zoro used an ability known as Mutoryu (meaning "No Swords Style") in which they were able to use their body's physical power to emit shockwaves resembling their sword slashes. By throwing their arms forward, they created a whirlwind force sending Pickles spinning into their teammate Big Pan. Since Pickles was wielding swords, the attack caused them to cut Big Pan numerous times.

Speed and Agility
Although they are typically a strong, bruising fighter, Zoro has frequently demonstrated considerable speed and agility to pursue opponents and avoid their attacks. They is considered one of the faster Straw Hats due to their physical power increasing their running ability, although it is difficult to quantify their speed in a race due to their tendency to become lost. Similar to their crewmate Brook, they can cut opponents in the blink of an eye and even unsheathe and re-sheathe the sword before opponents can react. In their duel with the zombie master swordsman Ryuma, the two of them were able to parry the other's attacks before the onlookers even registered that they had performed attacks, only noticing once the strikes took effect on their surroundings. At Whisky Peak, they overwhelmed a hundred bounty hunters at once with their speed, and was capable of dodging the many bullets they fired at them.

Zoro has great jumping and climbing power, notably leaping a great distance from one roof to another using a falling ladder as a stepping stone in Whisky Peak. While fighting Braham on Upper Yard, Zoro ran up the trunk of a large tree before propelling themself into the air with their legs to attack their opponent. In the Enies Lobby Courthouse, they got up to the roof by cutting through the ceilings and jumping from level to level, while on Dressrosa they were able to keep up with and eventually catch up to the dwarf Wicca despite having to run across and jump between multiple roofs; later, after being sent plummeting into a deep hole by Fujitora's gravity, Zoro easily jumped out of it once the gravity stopped.

Zoro possesses tremendously quick reflexes, as shown in Whisky Peak when they dodged a large variety of attacks used against them by the Baroque Works agents, including gunfire, melee weapons, blinding gas, and even a bazooka, despite numerous attempts by the agents to surround and trap them. In their fight with Braham, Zoro dodged much of the warrior's shots despite Braham using Flash Dials to obstruct their vision with flashing light, and when they encountered Saint Charlos on Sabaody, Zoro easily dodged the World Noble's attempt to quickly draw their gun and shoot them. Zoro showed the ability to keep up with Mr. 1, a martial arts master whose Devil Fruit allowed them to turn any part of their body into a blade, parrying and dodging the majority of their highly varied techniques. Even without Kenbunshoku Haki, Zoro was able to quickly recognize what the CP9 agents' Rankyaku attacks would do right as they were performing them and shout at Nami and Chopper to get down to avoid them. Later, Zoro was able to counter Kaku's attempted strike without issue despite the agent using Soru to move at blinding speed. After the timeskip, with the aid of their Haki, Zoro was quick enough to intercept Batman's sudden arrow shot with their sword mere centimeters away from the face of Batman's target Tsuru.

After the timeskip, Zoro has demonstrated tremendous speed swimming underwater, being able to traverse through the depths of the ocean in a small bubble and easily perform a powerful attack against a giant kraken. Notably, they were able to easily move past Hody Jones and strike them down while underwater, despite Hody being exponentially more powerful underwater as a fish-man. On Punk Hazard, Zoro was able to fight off multiple sharks despite being submerged in the freezing cold center lake.

Durability and Endurance
Zoro has an immense level of durability and endurance, having survived numerous serious injuries and oftentimes continuing to fight and move around while afflicted with them. This was first shown in Orange Town when they kept fighting after being stabbed in the torso by Buggy, to the point of even lifting and carrying a large and heavy cage with Luffy in it. After briefly resting, they fought and defeated Buggy's top henchman Cabaji; despite Cabaji deliberately trying to target their wound, Zoro one-upped them by cutting their wound open more and remaining steadfast despite the blood loss. During their battle against Mr. 1, Zoro received a rapid series of cuts so powerful that they tore apart the pillar behind them and caused it to collapse. But although Zoro lost a tremendous amount of blood from these strikes, they not only was able to quickly get back up and defeat Mr. 1, but also maintained enough mental clarity to avoid the falling debris from the destroyed pillar. Following this battle, Zoro was able to continue fighting against the Baroque Works forces without receiving medical attention.

Although Mihawk deliberately left them alive during their duel, Zoro still sustained wounds so severe that they put them on the brink of death, with Johnny noting that such wounds should normally disable a typical man for half a year, if not kill them, and the doctor Nako stating that it would normally take someone two years to fully recover from them. In spite of this, Zoro began walking around very quickly afterwards with only rudimentary treatment, and fought and easily defeated several members of the Arlong Pirates. When fighting the powerful six-sword wielding Hatchan, Zoro was in constant pain and on the brink of fainting, but despite even taking a headbutt to their wounded area, they were able to muster enough strength to counter Hatchan's six-sword barrage and defeat the fish-man. After receiving proper treatment in Cocoyasi Village, Zoro was not shown to be affected by Mihawk's wounds.

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



Zoro's most extreme display of endurance came on Thriller Bark, which began when they were able to get up after being struck by the attacks of Oars, an ancient giant zombie with the power to destroy entire buildings; this caused Lola to compare them to a zombie. Following the fights against Oars and Gecko Moria, Zoro suffered multiple powerful blows from the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, including a Pacifista laser blast and a massive shockwave, the latter of which knocked out everyone except them, Sanji, and Brook.

Zoro remained conscious following this and continued attacking Kuma, but then proceeded to make a deal with the Warlord to receive the pain and suffering Luffy had endured in exchange for Kuma letting the rest of their crew live. At that point, Luffy had taxed their body while fighting Oars and Moria to the point that they had fallen unconscious, and both Kuma and Zoro believed that Zoro receiving Luffy's fatigue in addition to their own would undoubtedly kill them. Upon receiving Luffy's suffering, Zoro bled profusely to the point where their entire body and many of the rocks around them became covered in their blood. However, Zoro not only survived this, but managed to remain conscious until their crewmates came to, where they claimed to them that nothing had happened. Zoro managed to recover after being in a comatose state for three days and receiving medical treatment from Chopper, although it took them a while longer before returning to full strength, as shown during the fight against the Flying Fish Riders and later against the Pacifista on Sabaody.

Another more recent display of their endurance came during their fight on the rooftop of the Skull Dome in Onigashima, as they not only withstood the brunt of a combined attack from Kaido and Big Mom, an attack that encompassed a majority of Onigashima, but did so long enough to allow their fellow Worst Generation members fighting to escape from the attack, despite sustaining serious injuries as a result. Even after being heavily injured by the attack, Zoro managed to continue fighting long enough to help separate Big Mom from her Homie, Prometheus, continue battling Kaido, and finally muster the last of their strength to save their captain from Kaido and even injure them to the point where Kaido themself said that their attack would leave a scar.

Zoro has fallen from rooftops and various other high places multiple times, but has never been seriously affected by such falls, even in Arlong Park where they were flung into the air by Luffy and landed on a hard platform while severely injured. In Skypiea, Zoro fell many meters from the Upper Ruins onto the hard streets of Shandora and had large pieces of rubble fall onto them, but quickly lifted the rubble off them and emerged with little injury. They remarked that they almost died, and Robin replied that a normal person would have. Due to the lack of serious effect of these falls, they are often portrayed comedically.

In their introduction in Shells Town, Zoro had gone nine days without eating in an attempt to do this for an entire month to win back their freedom. However, they retained enough strength that once they freed themself, they were able to withstand an assault from a horde of Marines and battle them alongside Luffy. On the wintry Drum Island, Zoro trained their body by swimming in the freezing cold water and meditating. Zoro has an extremely high tolerance for alcohol, being capable of out-drinking 13 bounty hunters in Whisky Peak before pretending to faint in order to intercept a potential attack. When confronting the bounty hunters soon afterward, Zoro showed no sign of being inhibited by alcohol, indicating their true tolerance is far greater. Despite the animals in Wano Country having powerful toxins in their body due to drinking contaminated water, Zoro ate them as they pleased for several days and only suffered from an upset stomach. After being struck by KYP gas and sent falling off a cliff by the Yeti Cool Brothers, Zoro was able to remain conscious just long enough to spot the icicle trap that their group was falling toward and destroy it with a sword slash.

Swordsmanship
Zoro has been a tremendously masterful swordsman since their youth. When training at the Isshin Dojo in Shimotsuki Village as a child, they were able to consistently beat adult swordsmen in duels, with Kuina being the only person they were unable to beat. Since their goal is to obtain the title of Greatest Swordsman in the World, Zoro has devoted themself to this craft and is well-known across the world for their swordsmanship ability. When Zoro confronted the current Greatest Swordsman Dracule Mihawk two years ago in the East Blue, they were utterly outclassed and was even overpowered by Mihawk's Kogatana. However, Mihawk was impressed by their conviction and so left them alive, believing that Zoro could continue to get stronger and one day make it to the top. Several months later, Zoro would train under Mihawk for two years and further increased their abilities exponentially.



Although Zoro usually wields three swords as part of their style known as "Santoryu", they have shown themself to be an exceptional duelist and combatant while wielding two swords or even just one. Several of Zoro's finishing moves involve using only one sword to execute a powerful strike; Zoro has defeated multiple opponents using Ittoryu, with one notable example being when they decapitated the very large and tough Dragon Number Thirteen with a single strike to its neck.

Zoro's swordsmanship style incorporates their tremendous physical strength to overwhelm opponents and cause significant damage with their sword slashes, aided by the quality of the swords they currently possesses; they were noted in Thriller Bark to have destructive power similar to the legendary swordsman Ryuma, whose corpse they were evenly dueling with. Zoro has enough power to unleash flying slashes to cut and damage objects beyond their normal range. When plunged into a hole by Fujitora, Zoro was capable of sending a slash to travel through the ground toward the admiral. With their destructive power and flying slashes, Zoro is capable of cleaving through entire buildings and other large structures, notably including Pica's giant stone golem which towered high above every other structure on Dressrosa. After receiving the powerful sword Enma, Zoro unwittingly cut off an entire chunk of a coastal cliff while attempting to cut through a tree. When they returned to Sabaody Archipelago after the timeskip, Zoro was able to destroy a large galleon by themself. During their duels, particularly when wielding all three of their swords, Zoro has frequently defeated their opponent by charging toward them and cutting them with a single attack, rather than managing to find openings to strike them in the midst of a duel; they have also used their strength to get the upper hand in deadlock clashes and strike down their opponent.

Although their strength plays a large role in their swordfighting ability, Zoro is also capable of performing extremely precise cuts. At Whisky Peak, they were capable of bisecting Mr. 5's explosive booger in midair, causing its two halves to fly to the sides of themself and Vivi and explode. On the way to Enies Lobby, Zoro perfectly bisected a Sea Train car lengthwise with a single cut. Zoro's precision skills allow them to use their swords to block projectiles, even a rapid series of them like Cabaji's spinning tops and Kaku's Rankyaku slashes. Notably, in Wano they were able to stop a flying arrow by intercepting it with the flat side of their sword blade, and later they used a sword to deflect bullets shot by Kurozumi Orochi. Zoro has cut objects even in small confines, including cutting themself free from their rope bindings in Shells Town and cutting apart the chimney they were stuck in in Water 7. Zoro has additionally shown enough skill to unleash cuts on opponents and objects while in midair, including defeating Ryuma and Pica while moving high above the ground at great speed.

Multiple times, Zoro has managed to fight off and defeat large groups of opponents on their own, with their most notable accomplishment in this area being when they singlehandedly defeated a group of 100 bounty hunters from the powerful organization Baroque Works. Some weeks later on Kuraigana Island, they managed to battle and eventually defeat a large horde of Humandrills, giant monkeys with advanced skill in battle and inhuman durability, despite having sustained severe wounds prior to arriving at the island. Even Dracule Mihawk themself was stunned to learn that the Humandrills had been defeated. Although quite skilled at dealing with attacks from multiple opponents simultaneously, Zoro cannot always keep it up, especially if their opponents are skilled in their own right, as shown in Wano when Gyukimaru's sudden attack distracted Zoro enough to allow Kamazo to strike them.

Zoro gained the ability to cut through steel when fighting Mr. 1 in Arabasta. After being heavily injured by Mr. 1, Zoro began hearing the "breath" of their sword, gaining a special affinity toward it that allowed them to control its cutting power. Upon achieving this skill, Zoro was able to cut through Mr. 1's steel body and defeat them with a single strike. Since then, they have had no trouble cutting through metal, as shown when they bisected the Sea Train car and later cleaved through two of Hyouzou's swords as well as through Goki's very large metal club with ease. Against the Franky Family, they used their three swords to bisect at least seven iron cannonballs flying toward them at once before proceeding to bisect the entire cannon. Together with Kin'emon, they were able to slice through the giant iron shutter in one strike to enter Caesar Clown's laboratory. Before the timeskip, Zoro only managed to leave slight nicks in the special metal exoskeleton of the Pacifista, but two years later, they were able to greatly damage its entire body with a single attack.



After the timeskip, Zoro has also demonstrated the ability to use other kinds of blades to complement or even fully execute their attacks. As a ronin in Wano, they were capable of slicing through part of an entire building several meters away from them with only a hiltless, knife-like tanto blade intended to be used for committing seppuku. Later after losing Shusui, they incorporated a large scythe into their Santoryu and was able to use it to defeat Kamazo. Despite seemingly losing sight in their left eye during the timeskip, this has not yet been shown to be a liability for Zoro in any of their battles.

During the Raid on Onigashima, Zoro has also demonstrated themself to be capable of replicating the sword styles of other swordsmen through observation alone, being able to almost perfectly replicate Kitsunebi-ryu without prior instruction in it.

Santoryu


Santoryu (meaning "Three Swords Style") is Zoro's main style of swordfighting. Unusually for a human, they wields three swords at the same time, holding one in each hand as well as one in their mouth. Many of Zoro's Santoryu attacks use all three of the blades to strike opponents, cutting them multiple times or cutting multiple opponents at the same time. When performing flying slashes with Santoryu, Zoro can create whirlwind-like attacks that have shown the ability to catch and strike dozens of opponents at once. They is also able to effectively use all three of their swords to parry attacks, and can even counter attacks performed by multiple opponents at once. Zoro has shown little issue dueling against opponents wielding more swords than them, particularly the six sword-wielding Hatchan and the eight sword-wielding Hyouzou, viewing the latter as not even worth their time.

Nitoryu


Nitoryu (Meaning "Two Swords Style") is Zoro's original fighting style in their childhood before they started practicing Santoryu. Like Santoryu, Zoro has immense mastery of this style of swordfighting, dual-wielding two of their swords in battle with great power and skill, even incorporating unsheathing and re-sheathing techniques, as well as flying slashes. In Thriller Bark, before they acquired Shusui as a replacement for the destroyed Yubashiri, Zoro could dual wield both Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu with incredible power and precision, able to fight equivalently with Ryuma, an extremely powerful samurai zombie imbued with Brook's swordsmanship skills through the Kage Kage no Mi for a majority of their battle before switching to use Ittoryu to finish off the undead samurai. Using Nitoryu, they are able to fight Monet, a Logia user and an officer of the Donquixote Pirates who they finished off using Ittoryu as well as Gyukimaru, an extremely powerful warrior monk, without using their full strength. They was also able to defeat several members of the Orochi Oniwabanshu, the strongest ninjas in Wano, with ease despite only having two swords at the time.

Ittoryu


Ittoryu (Meaning "One Sword Style") is a swordfighting style that Zoro began to perfect, and eventually master. Like the previous styles, Zoro has exceptional skills and mastery of Ittoryu, and has repeatedly used this style to perform finishing moves against a variety of opponents. Like Nitoryu, flying slashes, as well as various unsheathing and re-sheathing techniques are used in this style, mainly to defeat or injure powerful opponents with a single strike. This style has been shown being able to hold off the Nyaban brothers of the Black Cat Pirates, defeat several of the lower-ranked members of Arlong's crew, as well as defeating Mr. 1, the strongest agent of the Baroque Works using only one sword. Using Ittoryu, they are able to incapacitate a Fish-man such as Hody Jones underwater, finish off Ryuma, a powerful samurai and zombie, and even decapitate a dragon.

Kyutoryu


Kyutoryu (Meaning "Nine Swords Style") is the most extreme application of Zoro's spirit projection abilities. With sufficient anger, a dark aura surrounds them as two full apparitions of their body appear on the sides of their real one, giving them the essence of nine swords. Despite its seemingly purely spiritual nature, Zoro's attack power increases threefold, letting them disperse Kaku's Amane Dachi, their strongest Rankyaku and cut them several times in an instant. This form is used very rarely in canon, having been shown against Kaku on Enies Lobby and later against a Pacifista on Sabaody. It was used for the first time after the timeskip against Kaido alongside Busoshoku Haki, which was powerful enough to inflict a permenant scar on them. According to the Emperor, Haoshoku Haki was also involved in it, however, Zoro wasn't aware of this fact themself.

Kitsunebi-ryu
During the battle against Kaido and Big Mom, Zoro has proven to be capable of utilizing Kitsunebi-ryu, a sword style employed by the samurai and leader of the Nine Red Scabbard, Kin'emon, which allows one to cut through fire. Using this, they could cut through Big Mom's sun Homie, Prometheus. Zoro has noted that they "stole" it from Kin'emon, meaning that they learned it through observing them, and they were able to even utilize this sword style to generate and attack using flames.

Zoro's Swords


Currently, Zoro is known to have owned seven swords, all of them katanas, and has briefly borrowed multiple other swords and weapons when necessary. Due to their Santoryu style, they usually own three swords at a time. These are the swords they currently owns.


 * 1) Wado Ichimonji: One of the 21 Great Grade Meito. Forged by the legendary Wano swordsmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo and previously owned by their granddaughter and Zoro's friend Kuina; given to Zoro 11 years ago by Kuina's father Koushirou after her untimely death. The only one of Zoro's swords that did not shatter when Zoro first clashed with Mihawk's Supreme Grade sword Yoru.
 * 2) Sandai Kitetsu: A Grade Meito; it is said to be "cursed" and will bring great misfortune upon its owner. Forged by the great Wano swordsmith Tenguyama Hitetsu and given to Zoro two years ago in Loguetown by the arms dealer Ipponmatsu.
 * 3) Enma: One of the 21 Great Grade Meito. Also forged by Shimotsuki Kozaburo and was originally wielded by the legendary samurai, Kozuki Oden. Oden's daughter, Kozuki Hiyori who inherited Enma bestowed it to Zoro under the promise that they return Shusui to Ryuma's grave. Until the Onigashima Raid in the Wano Country Arc, it was one of the two swords to cut Kaido of the Four Emperors and give them their one scar. Enma has the special trait of drawing out large amounts of the wielder's Busoshoku Haki.

Former Swords
These swords were once owned by Zoro, but were either destroyed or removed from their possession.


 * 1) Two unnamed katanas that were used alongside Wado Ichimonji for an unknown period of time. They were shattered during Zoro's first duel with Dracule Mihawk.
 * 2) Yubashiri: One of the 50 Skillful Grade Meito. Formerly an heirloom of Ipponmatsu's family, they gave it to Zoro after witnessing the swordsman's great fortune. It was destroyed by Shu, who rusted it to the point of crumbling on Enies Lobby, and was put to rest at the Rumbar Pirates' gravesite on Thriller Bark. While handcuffed to Usopp on Enies Lobby, Zoro had them hold Yubashiri while they held their crewmate like a sword hilt, calling this situational weapon "Hana Arashi".
 * 3) Shusui: One of the 21 Great Grade Meito and a powerful Black Blade. Famously wielded by the legendary samurai Ryuma and a treasured heirloom in all of Wano Country, it was stolen along with Ryuma's body by Gecko Moria and used by Ryuma's corpse when it became animated into a zombie. Ryuma bestowed it to Zoro after being defeated by the swordsman on Thriller Bark two years ago, and Zoro utilized it as a replacement for Yubashiri. The sword was stolen by Gyukimaru in Wano Country two years later and returned to Ryuma's grave, where Zoro let it remain in exchange for Enma at Hiyori's behest.

Situational Weapons
These weapons were used by Zoro for extremely brief periods, usually to allow them to use Santoryu when they lacked one or two of their swords.
 * 1) Johnny's and Yosaku's swords, which were borrowed by Zoro during their fight against Hatchan in Arlong Park while they only possessed Wado Ichimonji. They returned the swords to them after the fight concluded.
 * 2) A Marine cutlass to replace Yubashiri in the remainder of the battle on Enies Lobby, which was abandoned immediately afterward.
 * 3) A tanto meant for them to perform seppuku, which they instead used to cut down Toyama Tsujigiro.
 * 4) A scythe wielded by Kamazo, which Zoro seized after it pierced them and used in place of the missing Shusui to cut down Kamazo.

Tactical Skills
Zoro typically does not plan out actions and strategies ahead of time, but they have shown themself to be extremely skilled at coming up with tactics in the middle of battle in order to gain an advantage over opponents or to take on an opponent who cannot be fought through conventional means. During their fight with the bounty hunters at Whisky Peak, Zoro utilized their environment to their advantage with tactics including using a large table as a shield as well as cutting a hole in the floor right at the spot where several hunters attempted to strike from above. Zoro's on-the-spot tactical abilities were also shown to a significant degree when they fought Pica on Dressrosa. When Pica inhabited a giant stone golem and moved several kilometers in the span of minutes to attack Zoro's allies, the swordsman quickly came up with five potential strategies to stop them, and as they were on the move they easily deduced the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy until settling on one that worked.

However, given that Zoro still has a rash attitude in almost all situations, they have also heavily relied on and frequently benefited from luck and fortune. This was seen to its most extreme degree at Ipponmatsu's shop in Loguetown, where Zoro decided to test Sandai Kitetsu's "curse" on themself by throwing the blade up in a vertical spinning motion and holding their arm in the path of its descent. Miraculously, Sandai Kitetsu spun perfectly around their arm, missing it entirely; Ipponmatsu was left speechless at Zoro's incredible fortune.

Lack of Orientation
One of Zoro's most prominent weaknesses is their utter inability to follow directions, resulting in them frequently getting lost. They only became a bounty hunter after leaving Shimotsuki Village because they lost their way while out at sea looking for Mihawk. They has no knowledge of how to identify cardinal directions, and frequently misinterprets them as either right or left; when traveling alone, they tend to frequently change direction without realizing and follow arbitrary indicators of direction like animals. In Arabasta, they even confused the cardinal directions with vertical ones, causing them to scale up Alubarna's clock tower when told to head north.

Generally, the only way to get Zoro to reach a destination is for another person to lead them there; if they are left unattended even briefly, they are extremely likely to wander off regardless of how obvious their path is. In Enies Lobby, Zoro could not even understand directions when going to the courthouse roof; even when Nami guided them and the others up a set of stairs, Zoro ended up going up a different set of stairs instead. They was eventually able to make it to the roof by simply moving upwards and cutting through the floors above them, rather than traversing the building's hallways. While traveling to Oden Castle in Wano, Zoro only had to sit and ride on the steed Komachiyo to get there, but still somehow ended up wandering off on their own.

Haki
Zoro is one of the few people in the world who is capable of using all three forms of Haki.

Haoshoku Haki
Zoro can use Haoshoku Haki, a very rare form of Haki whose users are stated to have the qualities of a king. As of now, this power has laid dormant within Zoro and they are unaware they possesses it; they were first noted to have used it by Kaido after the Emperor was struck by Zoro's Kyutoryu attack.

Busoshoku Haki


Busoshoku Haki is Zoro's main expertise concerning Haki, which has proven to be extremely proficient in, having mastered imbuement under Mihawk over the two-year timeskip, almost always using it in serious battles. He's skilled enough to imbue it into a flying slash, wounding a Logia user, overwhelming the same foe with the notion that had Zoro used it, she would've died. They could imbue all three swords with Haki, turning them all into black blades, proving their superior mastery compared to the Donquixote Pirates' executive officer, Pica in their battle, as they cut them down despite their entire body being covered in Haki.

On Wano, Zoro further displayed their mastery of Busoshoku Haki, hardened a stolen scythe, in addition to their two other katanas. After testing out Enma, a sword notorious for draining all the "Ryuo" of weaker swordsmen, emaciating their arm, but Zoro retook all their Haki seconds later, then overcame it in three days. As such, Zoro wielded Enma on Onigashima without the negative side-effects before and after fighting against the Emperors. In all the clashes against Kaido, they hardened Enma, causing a black flame-like aura to exude from it, wounding them in their dragon form like Oden, members of the Nine Red Scabbards, and Luffy. Reaching their limit, after tanking "Hakai" from them, Zoro strengthened their "Kyutoryu: Asura" using Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki, which allowed them to leave a permanent scar on Kaido in their hybrid-dragon form.

Kenbunshoku Haki
Zoro can also use Kenbunshoku Haki, as shown when they were asked by Luffy if they could sense a "wild animal" in the Ryugu Palace, which they stated they could. Zoro also detected Batman attempting to kill Tsuru with an arrow fired from a far distance in the air.