Roronoa Zoro

Roronoa Zoro also known as "Pirate Hunter" Zoro.

Roronoa Zoro, also known as "Pirate Hunter" Zoro,is the combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates, and one of their two swordsmen. Formerly a bounty hunter,[5] he is the second member of Luffy's crew and the first to join it, doing so in the Romance Dawn Arc.

As a master of Three Sword Style, a swordsmanship style which he created during his childhood training in Shimotsuki Village, Zoro is among the three most powerful combatants of the Straw Hats, alongside Luffy and Sanji. His dream is to become the greatest swordsman in the world, in order to honor a promise he made to his deceased childhood friend Kuina.

In addition to his infamy as one of the Straw Hats and as a former bounty hunter, Zoro is also regarded as one of twelve pirates who are referred to as the "Worst Generation".

Personality

Overview

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

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

Although Zoro cares for his crew, he can also come off as a very blunt and cold person, especially when he is trying to get his point across. During the Davy Back Fight, when Chopper was forced to join Foxy's crew after losing an event, Chopper cried and complained, which prompted Zoro to yell at him and stating he was disgraceful. He reprimanded Chopper, reminding it was his choice to join the Straw Hats and compete in the fight and told him to man up and have faith in the crew to win him back. As with the ordeal when Usopp left the crew, Zoro refused to let him come back and even yelled at Nami to shut up when she tried to say otherwise. Zoro lectured the entire crew reminding them Usopp was the one who picked the fight with Luffy and left of his own free will and they cannot let him come back unless he accepts responsibility for his actions and apologizes for his behavior. Zoro also often reminds others of the harsh facts, which often shocks some of the other crew members, although they usually decide he is right in the end. This is especially true in regards to strangers, as Zoro rarely shows much trust in others. This was made apparent when Robin joined and he was the only one to keep his guard up around her due to her being a former enemy. However, over time, he seems to have learned to place his trust in others more, as he agreed with the alliance with Law and believed Hiyori when she revealed her identity to him.

Zoro is also very perceptive, something he demonstrates by providing important and logical decisions at critical times and by evaluating the situation from an objective point of view, as he did in Water 7 by evaluating the best way to handle what seemed like Robin's betrayal. And later again when the crew wanted to bring Usopp back after he challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost, saying that they shouldn't pity Usopp. Zoro was the one who noted that Usopp was at fault for leaving the crew of his own accord.

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

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

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

Like Luffy, Zoro shows little interest or attraction to women. He was not enticed or won over by the beauty or charms of Nami or Robin when they joined, did not peep on the women's bath when Nami and Vivi were bathing, nor does he show interest in overwhelming beauties such as the Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi or Boa Hancock. Zoro seems to rather focus on whatever task is at hand and his own training. Despite this, Zoro has acted flustered around some women, though not in romantic ways. During his childhood, Zoro was seen blushing when Kuina mentioned her figure was beginning to develop. When he first met Tashigi, he was visibly shocked by her strong resemblance to Kuina and whenever he encountered her, he would constantly try to run away unable to face her. This is no longer the case after the timeskip, as he lost his uncomfortable behavior around her and treated her coldly during their fight with Monet and was more irritated when she complained about him carrying her after she passed out. During his interactions with Kozuki Hiyori, Zoro was very startled to wake up seeing her sleeping on top of his chest and tried to explain to Brook that nothing happened, and more so when she playfully asked if he enjoyed it.

Though he rarely uses it, Zoro knows various phases of the traditional warrior's battle cry of "Sunacchi"; something that he recounts hearing and learning from Shimotsuki Kozaburo in Shimotsuki Village. He's never used it personally however, but has told Momonosuke about it to energize the latter in his sword training, saying that it would strengthen his heart when his courage falters.

Appearance

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

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

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

Personality

Honor and Loyalty

He has a strong sense of leadership and reasoning. Zoro is a dedicated follower of the samurai philosophy and doctrine of Bushido, such as the code of honor and integrity where he strictly fights fair and square by consistently refusing to attack an adversary whose back is turned, with the only exception being when his friends are in imminent danger of losing their lives in which Zoro would strike the attacker from behind. Zoro himself considers a scar on the back to be a swordsman's greatest shame. Due to his affinity with Bushido, Zoro chose to disguise himself as a Ronin, a masterless samurai, while working undercover in Wano, adopting the mannerisms and speech pattern of the samurai such as ending his sentences with Degozaru, even employing them when he became a criminal. He also requested Hiyori to allow him to pay his respect to Ryuuma, a legendary samurai hero, and is willing to relinquish Ryuuma's parting gift Shusui back to Wano in exchange for Enma, one of the dual legendary swords of another great samurai Oden. Despite so, Zoro refused to wear samurai armour that Hitetsu provided due to his combat pragmatism as it would hinder his movements.

He is also very loyal as he will stand by Luffy's decisions regardless of whether he personally agrees or not, stepping in only to point out the seriousness of a situation where it has been overlooked by his crewmates, most notably when they wanted to bring Usopp back into the crew after Usopp challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost, even willing to quit the crew himself if Luffy just brushed the incident off and treated it as another joke because it betrayed his strong values in loyalty.

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

While the crew sails from one island to another, he normally spends time lifting weights, practicing meditation or napping, only to be regularly awakened in a rather violent way by Nami, Sanji, or (accidentally) Luffy. While in his spare time, Zoro takes up hobbies such as fishing, drinking, and training.

Kindness and Morality

Zoro selflessly saved Hiyori and Toko despite not knowing who they were.

Zoro has a very kind heart, as he was willing to risk his life for the sake of a little girl he did not know shortly after his introduction. When Rika made him some food, Zoro kindly accepted it and thanked her for the meal. When the meal was stepped on by Helmeppo, Zoro asked Luffy to take it and feed it to him, then tell Rika he thought it was delicious. When Charlos shot an innocent man, Zoro carried the victim to a hospital despite being total strangers. Even though Hiyori and Toko were strangers at first, he did not hesitate to protect them from Killer. When fighting weaker or innocent people, he does try to hold back when fighting and use the dull side of his swords in order not to seriously injure them though as pointed out by Nami, his monstrous strength still manages to cause great damage.

A rarely seen aspect of his kindness is that he strongly detests evil individuals with extreme cruelty towards the innocent, as shown when Charlos shot Hatchan, Zoro was silently wrathful, as he fully intended to cut down the World Noble if it were not for Luffy injuring Charlos first. He also held strong fury towards Pica for attacking the injured as well as attempting to kill Riku Doldo III. When Shimotsuki Yasuie was executed by Orochi and seeing the citizens of Ebisu Town laughing along with his daughter Toko, Zoro was furious and only calmed down after Hiyori explained they laugh due to the SMILE fruits having robbed them of their emotions. When Zoro learned how Orochi fed them faulty SMILE fruits to rob them of their ability to express sorrow over the suffering and misery he caused them, Zoro silently angered and stood up trying to kill Orochi when the latter tried to kill Toko.

Zoro is also very humble when it comes to receiving gratitude from others whenever he saves people. Like Luffy, he didn't care and didn't like to be called a hero, instead yelling for the fishmen and mermaids to bring him sake instead. This was shown again when he saved Hiyori and Toko from Kamazo and merely desired food and alcohol for protecting them. When in the poverty town Ebisu, Zoro was given a small portion of water despite what little resources they could offer. Seeing their suffering, Zoro politely turned down their offer, knowing how hard it is for them to get by.

Zoro also has a soft spot for children and women. At Skypiea, he rushed to catch Robin before she could hit the ground after she was attacked by Enel and berated him for attacking a woman, despite ordinarily sharing the self-proclaimed god's mindset of not holding back against a woman in battle. At Punk Hazard, he did not object to helping save the children Caesar Clown was experimenting on and later agreed to help Kin'emon look for Momonosuke. Also instinctively grabbed Sanji's hand when he slipped on the snow while Sanji was in Nami's body. While in Wano, he did not hesitate to protect Tsuru when she was being attacked by Kaidou's men and later defended a wounded Hiyori from Kamazo's attacks despite being attacked by Gyukimaru. Even though he knew that taking down Kamazo would cause problems for him, he still chose to fight him to protect Hiyori and Toko despite not knowing them or their situation. In Onigashima, he initially berated Luffy for causing unnecessary commotion before facing Kaidou, but when he learned how the Beasts Pirates callously wasted food while the poor Wano citizens constantly suffered hunger, Zoro went along with attacking the enemy.

Recklessness

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

He can also allow his temper to get the better of him, as after Orochi murdered Yasuie in cold blood and tried to kill his daughter over a trivial matter, Zoro was so furious, he attacked the shogun in a rash fit of rage, completely ignoring the consequences of his actions.

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

Abilities and Powers

Spiritual Aura

Zoro projecting the aura of a dragon during his duel with Ryuma.

Multiple times, Zoro has been shown to have an animal-like spirit which occasionally manifests around him when he is readying an attack, including when he used No Sword Style.

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 his 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 he had a "demonic aura" at Shells Town even as he was tied up and starved of food for over a week.[32] 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.[33] When Zoro gets serious in a battle, he usually dons his black bandanna on his head, though whether or not it has any real psychological effect on his abilities is uncertain.

Tactical Skills

Zoro typically does not plan out actions and strategies ahead of time, but he has shown himself 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 his fight with the bounty hunters at Whisky Peak, Zoro utilized his environment to his 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 he 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 him, and as he was on the move he easily deduced the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy until settling on one that worked.

During the Raid on Onigashima, it was shown most in his battle against King, as he has tried figuring out the inner workings of his unknown powers, which were apart of his species not his Devil Fruit throughout their entire battle. Zoro managed to pick up the Lunarians' main weakness from fighting against King, which became an important factor in defeating him.

Luck

Zoro decided to test Sandai Kitetsu's "curse" on himself by throwing the blade up

However, given that Zoro still has a rash attitude in almost all situations, he has 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 himself by throwing the blade up in a vertical spinning motion and holding his arm in the path of its descent. Miraculously, Sandai Kitetsu spun perfectly around his arm, missing it entirely; Ipponmatsu was left speechless at Zoro's incredible fortune.

Lack of Orientation

One of Zoro's most prominent weaknesses is his utter inability to follow directions, resulting in him frequently getting lost. He only became a bounty hunter after leaving Shimotsuki Village because he lost his way while out at sea looking for Mihawk. He has no knowledge of how to identify cardinal directions, and frequently misinterprets them as either right or left; when traveling alone, he tends to frequently change direction without realizing and follow arbitrary indicators of direction like animals. In Arabasta, he even confused the cardinal directions with vertical ones, causing him 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 him there; if he is left unattended even briefly, he is extremely likely to wander off regardless of how obvious his path is. In Enies Lobby, Zoro could not even understand directions when going to the courthouse roof; even when Nami guided him and the others up a set of stairs, Zoro ended up going up a different set of stairs instead. He was eventually able to make it to the roof by simply moving upwards and cutting through the floors above him, 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 his own.

Physical Abilities

Strength

Zoro lifting weights after the Thriller Bark Arc.

Zoro possesses immense physical strength, and frequently spends his time at sea lifting incredibly large and heavy weights to keep growing stronger. Zoro's strength plays a large role in his abilities as a swordsman, as his strikes possess a great amount of power and range in their cutting ability. Thanks to his strength, Zoro is capable of clashing equally with superhumanly large and powerful opponents, and can send normal opponents flying away with ease. Although he 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 his Zoan transformation, and even managed to overpower him after flexing his biceps and performing his Nigori-Zake attack.

He 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 him in size. At Whisky Peak, Zoro was able to equally match the blows of his captain Luffy, who himself is extremely strong, with their clashes causing considerable collateral damage. When he first clashed with the Marine Admiral Fujitora on Dressrosa, he 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 his swords to withstand the teeth of Dragon Number Thirteen, a giant dragon with extreme physical might. In perhaps his most notable feat of strength yet, Zoro was able to use his swords to withstand a combined attack from Kaidou and Big Mom, two of the Four Emperors who are among the strongest people in the entire world, long enough to allow his 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 Kaidou'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 he will attack with the hilts of his swords instead, though his strength makes these blows extremely powerful regardless. In Orange Town, he used two of his sheathed swords to simultaneously hit four of the Buggy Pirates and keep them away from Nami. In Arabasta, he positioned two of his 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 him. Zoro also used his sword blades in an unusual manner on Thriller Bark, when he used them to lift a pair of giant stone pillars that Franky had converted into nunchaku in order to use them against Oars.[60] Zoro rarely engages in hand-to-hand combat, but his strength makes him quite capable at it, as shown when he 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 picking up an entire collapsed building in Arabasta.

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

No Sword Style

Zoro using No Sword Style.

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

Speed and Agility

Although he is typically a strong, bruising fighter, Zoro has frequently demonstrated tremendous speed and agility to pursue opponents and avoid their attacks. He is considered one of the faster Straw Hats due to his physical power increasing his running ability, although it is difficult to quantify his speed in a race due to his tendency to become lost. Similar to his crewmate Brook, he can cut opponents in the blink of an eye and even unsheathe and re-sheathe the sword before opponents can react. In his 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, he overwhelmed a hundred bounty hunters at once with his speed, and was capable of dodging the many bullets they fired at him.

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 himself into the air with his legs to attack his opponent. In the Enies Lobby Courthouse, he got up to the roof by cutting through the ceilings and jumping from level to level, while on Dressrosa he was 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.

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 he 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, he fought and defeated Buggy's top henchman Cabaji; despite Cabaji deliberately trying to target his wound, Zoro one-upped him by cutting his wound open more and remaining steadfast despite the blood loss. During his battle against Mr. 1, Zoro received a rapid series of cuts so powerful that they tore apart the pillar behind him and caused it to collapse. But although Zoro lost a tremendous amount of blood from these strikes, he 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 him alive during their duel, Zoro still sustained wounds so severe that they put him on the brink of death, with Johnny noting that such wounds should normally disable a typical man for half a year, if not kill him, 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 his wounded area, he was 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.

Zoro after enduring Luffy's suffering.

Zoro's most extreme display of endurance came on Thriller Bark, which began when he was 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 him 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 him, 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 his crew live. At that point, Luffy had taxed his body while fighting Oars and Moria to the point that he had fallen unconscious, and both Kuma and Zoro believed that Zoro receiving Luffy's fatigue in addition to his own would undoubtedly kill him. Upon receiving Luffy's suffering, Zoro bled profusely to the point where his entire body and many of the rocks around him became covered in his blood. However, Zoro not only survived this, but managed to remain conscious until his crewmates came to, where he 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 him 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 his endurance came during his fight on the rooftop of the Skull Dome in Onigashima, as he not only withstood the brunt of a combined attack from Kaidou and Big Mom, an attack that encompassed a majority of Onigashima, but did so long enough to allow his 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 Kaidou, and finally muster the last of his strength to save his captain from Kaidou and even injure him to the point where Kaidou himself said that his 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 he was 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 him, but quickly lifted the rubble off him and emerged with little injury. He remarked that he 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 his introduction in Shells Town, Zoro had gone nine days without eating in an attempt to do this for an entire month to win back his freedom. However, he retained enough strength that once he freed himself, he was able to withstand an assault from a horde of Marines and battle them alongside Luffy. On the wintry Drum Island, Zoro trained his 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 his 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 he 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 his group was falling toward and destroy it with a sword slash.

Three Sword Style

Zoro using three swords to perform his signature attack, Oni Giri.

Three Sword Style is Zoro's main style of swordfighting. Unusually for a human, he wields three swords at the same time, holding one in each hand as well as one in his mouth. Many of Zoro's Three Sword Style 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 Three Sword Style, Zoro can create whirlwind-like attacks that have shown the ability to catch and strike dozens of opponents at once. He is also able to effectively use all three of his 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 him, particularly the six sword-wielding Hatchan and the eight sword-wielding Hyouzou, viewing the latter as not even worth his time.

King of Hell Three Sword Style

During the Wano Country Arc, Zoro developed King of Hell Three Sword Style , an enhanced version of Three Sword Style, where Zoro uses Busoshoku Haki with Enma, while Haoshoku Haki is infused into all three swords. This allowed him to deal significant damage to even a Lunarian, who were treated as Gods in the past.

Two Sword Style

Zoro using two swords to perform his Nigiri attack.

Two Sword Style is Zoro's original fighting style in his childhood before he started practicing Three Sword Style. Like Three Sword Style, Zoro has immense mastery of this style of swordfighting, dual-wielding two of his swords in battle with great power and skill, even incorporating unsheathing and re-sheathing techniques, as well as flying slashes. In Thriller Bark, before he acquired Shusui as a replacement for the destroyed Yubashiri, Zoro could dual wield both Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu with incredible power and precision, able to fight equivalently with 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 One Sword Style to finish off the undead samurai. Using Two Sword Style, he is able to fight Monet, a Logia user and an officer of the Donquixote Pirates who he finished off using One Sword Style as well as Gyukimaru, an extremely powerful warrior monk, without using his full strength. He 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.

One Sword Style

Zoro using the technique, One Sword Style Iai: Shishi Sonson.

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 One Sword Style, and has repeatedly used this style to perform finishing moves against a variety of opponents. Like Two Sword Style, 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 One Sword Style, he is able to incapacitate a Fish-man such as Hody Jones underwater, finish off Ryuma, a powerful samurai and zombie, and even decapitate a dragon.

Nine Sword Style

Nine Sword Style: Ashura

Nine Sword Style is the most extreme application of Zoro's spirit projection abilities. With sufficient anger, a dark aura surrounds him as two full apparitions of his body appear on the sides of his real one, giving him the essence of nine swords. Despite its seemingly purely spiritual nature, Zoro's attack power increases threefold, letting him disperse Kaku's Amane Dachi, his strongest Rankyaku and cut him 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 Kaidou alongside Busoshoku Haki, which was powerful enough to inflict a permanent scar on him. According to the Emperor, Zoro also used Haoshoku Haki when performing the attack, though Zoro had no idea.

Foxfire Style

During the battle against Kaidou and Big Mom, Zoro has proven to be capable of utilizing Foxfire Style, a sword style employed by the samurai and leader of the Nine Red Scabbards, Kin'emon, which allows one to cut through fire. Using this, he could cut through Big Mom's sun homie, Prometheus. Zoro has noted that he "stole" it from Kin'emon, meaning that he learned it through observing him, and he was able to even utilize this sword style to generate and attack using flames. Zoro's mastery of Foxfire style quickly surpass Kinemon as he could incorporate it into his King of Hell Three Sword Style to cleave past King's giant flame dragon, along with King himself.

Haki

Haoshoku Hak

Zoro infusing all three swords with Haoshoku Haki.

Zoro can use Haoshoku Haki, a very rare form of Haki whose users are stated to have the qualities of a king. This power has laid dormant within Zoro and he was unaware he possesses it. He was first noted to have it by Kaidou after the Emperor was struck by Zoro's Nine Sword Style attack.

During Zoro's battle against King, in deciding to go all out using Haki, he ended up using it to knock out multiple low-ranked Beast Pirates, causing him to acknowledge he possessed it. At the same time, he ended up using its advanced application, infusing it into his three swords, with all three emitted streams of black lightning signifying its infusion. As their battle continued on, Zoro managed to gain conscious control over the advance technique, infusing it into all three swords, or infusing it into Sandai Kitetsu to deal significant damage to King.

Busoshoku Haki

Zoro using "Buso" to harden his swords.

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 is 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 have died. He could imbue all three swords with Haki, turning them all into black blades, proving his superior mastery compared to the Donquixote Pirates' executive officer, Pica in their battle, as he cut him down despite his entire body being covered in Haki.

At Wano, Zoro further displays his Busoshoku Haki mastery, hardening a stolen scythe, in addition to his last two remaining katanas. Testing out Enma for the first time, a sword notorious for draining the "Ryuo"—Wano's term for Busoshoku Haki—from much weaker swordsmen, turning them into a husk, but he managed to retake all his Haki seconds later. During the Battle on Onigashima, from working on mastering it, he managed to gain some control over Enma, releasing a flame-like aura from it, wounding Kaidou in dragon form like Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Luffy.

Reaching his limits after blocking Kaidou's and Big Mom's combined technique, Zoro strengthened his "Nine Sword Style: Ashura" by utilzing both Busoshoku and Haoshoku Haki, which enable him to leave another permanent scar on Kaidou in his hybrid-dragon form. Against King, he could also use Busoshoku Haki in order to defend himself from a point-blank fiery explosion.

Kenbunshoku Haki

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

Weapons

Wado Ichimonji (white), Sandai Kitetsu (red), and Shusui (black), the three swords that Zoro owned from Thriller Bark to Wano Country.

Current Swords

These are the swords that Zoro currently owns.

1. Wado Ichimonji: One of the 21 Great Grade Meito. Forged by the legendary Wano swordsmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo and previously owned by his 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 he return Shusui to Ryuma's grave. Until the Onigashima Raid in the Wano Country Arc, it was one of the two swords to cut Kaidou of the Four Emperors and give him his 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 his possession.

1. Two unnamed katanas that were given to him as a child from Shimotsuki Kozaburo. They were used alongside Wado Ichimonji for an unknown period of time until 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, he gave it to Zoro after witnessing the swordsman's great fortune. While handcuffed to Usopp on Enies Lobby, Zoro had him hold Yubashiri while he held his crewmate like a sword hilt, calling this situational weapon "Hana Arashi". It was then 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.
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.