~Roronoa Zoro~

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

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

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

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

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


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

Zoro is unarguably one of the strongest characters revealed thus far. While most super powered pirates and villains gain power from eating one of the Devil Fruits, Zoro has gained his powers through hard work and training. Zoro has enough power in his lower body to allow him to keep up at a running pace with Sanji, who is a master of the Red Leg style. He can also move at near-inconceivable speeds and jump astonishing heights. He can even dodge bullets with ease. He has been known to effectively knock out much larger creatures with unarmed strikes. Zoro also defeats opponents with massive punches and kicks. In Enies Lobby Arc, the Franky Family and Galley-La carpenters noted twice that Zoro was strong enough to be the captain of the group.

To match his strength, Zoro also has ridiculous amounts of stamina and endurance. Some of the things Zoro has endured include Mr.1's two buzzsaws jamming into his chest during the Arabasta arc, Arlong's saw-like nose stabbing into his face, Mihawk's Black Sword slashing his chest, CP9's Kaku's many Rankyaku attacks, and Kuma's Ursa Shock. Zoro managed to stay conscious while everyone else was incapacitated. Zoro then convinced the Shichibukai to transfer all of Luffy's pain and fatigue into him. Kuma was confident Zoro wouldn't live. However, the swordsman was seen standing blood-drenched at the end of the chapter/episode, claiming that nothing happened.

During almost all of his major battles, Zoro is usually seen covered with blood at the end (Oda has stated that Zoro lost 5 liters of blood fighting Hachi and Arlong at Arlong Park [It should also be noted that the human body holds about 8 liters of blood]). Zoro's agility, speed, and overall reflexes are also extraordinary. In numerous occasions, Zoro has shown being able to evade (or block) high-speed attacks and projectiles. These high-speed attacks and projectiles move so fast that it would normally be impossible for an average human to even notice them, much less evade them.

A running gag throughout the series is that while he is very perceptive during battle (as well as out), his sense of direction is extremely poor, to the point of getting lost on a straight path. This is often the result of Zoro not understanding directions. In the Arabasta Arc, he mistakes going north for going up. In the Drum Island Arc, he believes that he can keep the ship on course by heading toward a large cloud (which can move and change shape). He is unaware of his lack of direction. Everytime he gets lost, he mutters "the others are lost again". This is further made fun of with Jigoro in Thriller Bark. Jigoro had Zoro's shadow implanted in him. While the Zombie Generals were heading to help, he goes in the opposite direction. However, Zoro has other strong senses and is often one of the first members of the crew to hear an enemy approaching or sense danger.

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

~Weapons~
Zoro is a master swordsman, being able to use one, two, and three swords in varying attack styles, going from melee-type all the way to artillery. Although he is most comfortable with his Santōryū (literally: three sword style), his skills with a single sword are very good, being able to hold off the Nyaban brothers, having bested several of the lower-ranked members of Arlong's crew (his two other swords were destroyed by Mihawk, leaving him only with the Wado Ichimonji), defeating Mr. 1, and most recently the zombie, Ryuuma. Lacking a third hand for a third sword, Zoro holds his third sword in his mouth. Some of his sword techniques use the air itself to hurt the enemy. Zoro often speaks with his sword held in his mouth, though it's unknown how he manages to do so. The creator of the series, Eiichiro Oda, has said that it is his heart that allows him to speak, though Oda is known for giving joke answers to fans' questions, as well as just making up answers on the spot to avoid leaving a fan's question unanswered.

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

If he is fighting weaker enemies (or innocent bystanders that he has no desire injuring in the first place), like the Galley-La employees in Water 7, he uses only the blunt sides of his swords. Although, as Nami pointed out, due to his strength, even that could cause fatal wounds. A long standing problem with Zoro was his inability to cut steel. He managed to instinctively cut steel during some of his encounters before learning how to control this ability during his battle with Daz Bones.

Zoro has shown a new ability called "Asura", which gives him the appearance of having six arms and three heads, like the deity of the same name. The exact nature of this attack is currently unclear, but Kaku suggested it was an illusion created by Zoro's spirit. He cut through Kaku's attack, and was able to deliver the finishing blow. He also may display a kind of haki, as he was able to instill fear into kidnappers at Sabaody Archipelago and because of the mysterious nature of the aforementioned Asura techniques.
Zoro using "Asura",with 6 arms,3 heads and 9 katanas 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) Wadō Ichimonji
2) Sandai Kitetsu
3) Shuusui

1~ Wadō Ichimonji (formerly belonged to Kuina)
2~ Sandai Kitetsu (formerly belonged to Ippon-Matsu)
3~ Shuusui (formerly belonged to Ryuuma)

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

----'.'Ω History Ω'.'----
~The Promise~
Nothing is known about Zoro other than as a boy, Zoro trained in a dojo in Shimotsuki village. Zoro states , in the Baratie that once he decided he would become an invincible Swordsman, he left his life behind.

Even as a child, Zoro was strong enough to defeat most adults. In the anime it is shown that he was a traveler who took down dojo signs (a physical form of honor to that dojo, being removed equating to loss of honour) after defeating them. However, there was one person Zoro could not beat - the sensei's daughter, Kuina (In the anime she is the reason he joins her father's dojo in the first place. Kuina's father made a deal that if he could defeat her Zoro would take the sign. If not, Zoro have to train under him. Obviously he lost, and thus trained to defeat Kuina). After their 2000th fight (and Kuina's 2000th victory) Zoro challenged her in private for one more match - with real swords. She beat him, and he cried with frustration, telling Kuina his dream of being the world's greatest swordsman. Hearing this, Kuina confided in Zoro, telling him that she shared the same dream but knew she could never attain it - her father had told her that girls could never be true sword masters, and that her fighting potential would decrease as her body matured. Zoro, annoyed by her defeatist attitude in spite of repeatedly winning against him, told her that one day he would beat her because he was more skilled, not just because she was a girl. The two make a promise - that either of them must become the worlds best swordsman. The next day, Kuina died falling down the stairs of her dojo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~Meeting Mihawk~
While Usopp and Luffy were testing out their ship's new cannon, Usopp shot down a large rock, earning him the title of sniper. Soon enough, Johnny emerges seaking revenge. As it turned out, he was on that rock, taking care of his dying partner Yosaku. His short battle with Luffy stops when he recognized Zoro as a previous bounty hunting partner. Nami diagnoses Yosaku with scurvy. Because scurvy involves fruit, and that Going Merry has a kitchen, they decided to get a chef before going any further. Johnny comments that "Hawk Eye" likes to eat at a near by restaurant, the Baratie (though this turns out to be "Red Eyes", the fact that Hawk Eye Mihawk appears was coincidence). Zoro finally got an opportunity to prove his skill when the crew came across Juracule Mihawk, who was attacking the ship of Don Krieg. The world's greatest swordsman was challenged by Zoro, but despite using his full power, Mihawk easily held him off with a six-inch knife, lamenting that he didn't bring anything smaller with him. Despite being badly wounded, Zoro continued to fight, refusing to take even one step backwards. Zoro knew he had lost, but would rather die than leave a loser, impressed by his courage and will power, Mihawk gave him a chance to face his Black Sword. Zoro used his strongest attack at the time, the ultimate technique of the Santouryuu: Sanzen Sekai (Three Thousand Worlds), but even so, two of his swords were shattered by Mihawk's following attack, leaving only Wadō Ichimonji. Zoro turned his chest to Mihawk, opening his arms to expose his chest further claiming "A scar on the back is a swordsman worst enemy". Smirking, Mihawk slashed down Zoro's chest (leaving a scar that stays with him through the rest of the series), assured Luffy that Zoro was alive and challenged Zoro to get stronger and challenge him again one day. From that point on, Zoro swore never to lose to another swordsman again.

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

~Arabasta~
Zoro has proven his skill with the sword against several powerful foes while fighting for the Straw Hats, defeating an entire town of Baroque Works agents at Whiskey Peak. He even defeated Das Bones, the powerful assassin in Baroque Works. After Baroque Works was defeated in Arabasta, he was given a bounty of 60,000,000.



€ Edit By : Roronoa Zoro