Roronoa Zoro

, also known as , is a fictional character in the manga series and media franchise One Piece created by Eiichiro Oda. The character made his first appearance in the 3rd chapter of the series, which was first published in Japan in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on August 4, 1997.

Zoro is the second member of the Straw Hat Pirates and the first to join, doing so after he is rescued by Monkey D. Luffy from execution. He is a highly skilled swordsman and serves as the crew's combatant. He possesses an extremely poor sense of direction, which is a running gag throughout the series.

Creation and conception

Zoro originally used two swords instead of three, and was originally planned to be part of Buggy the Clown's pirate crew and would have been recruited by Luffy away from Buggy. Zoro's surname, Roronoa, is based on the Japanese pronunciation of French pirate François l'Olonnais's name. In several Western adaptations, his name was spelled as Zolo.

Design

Zoro commonly wears a plain white shirt (though he can be seen wearing other types of shirts), black pants, and a light-green haramaki sash that holds his three swords. These swords' names are Enma, Wado Ichimonji, and Sandai Kitetsu. Zoro also has a black bandanna tied around his left bicep that he only wears on his head whilst in a serious battle. This bandana was inspired by Nobuhiro Watsuki, one of Oda's best friends and his mentor, as well as aspects of his character. Under his shirt, his torso is heavily scarred from many of the battles he has fought, especially since he joined the Straw Hats (like the one acquired during the battle against Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Strongest Swordsman in the World). He has three golden earrings in his left ear, which denote his style of combat using three swords. During a two-year time-skip, Zoro gains a scar across his left eye (obtained during his training under Dracule Mihawk, although not confirmed by the anime) and replaces his shirt with a long dark green samurai's coat, of which he opens the torso while fighting (e.g. against the New Fishman Pirates) or when he experiences heat (e.g the burning side of Punk Hazard). Concerning his ethnic appearance, Oda stated that he imagines Zoro to be of Japanese descent, albeit in a real-world context.

Zoro has many scars on his body. The most noticeable is the long scar running down his left eye, which is the one he got after returning from the two-year time skip. It is currently unknown how he acquired it, but he either can't or won't open his left eye because of it.

He also has a heavily scarred torso, having a large, diagonal scar running from left shoulder to right hip, obtained from fighting Dracule Mihawk earlier in the show. He also has scars on both of his ankles, which he obtained from trying to cut his own legs off to escape the candle prison of Mr. 3 (of Baroque Works) in Little Garden, an island in the early Grand Line.

Portrayals

</div>

In the original Japanese version of the One Piece anime series, Zoro is voiced by Kazuya Nakai as an adult and Megumi Urawa as a child. In the first OVA Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack from 1998, Zoro is voiced by Wataru Takagi.

In Odex's dubs of the first 104 episodes of One Piece in Singapore, Zoro was voiced by Brian Zimmerman. In the 4kids Entertainment's dub of the first 104 episodes of One Piece, Zoro was renamed "Zolo," which was later implemented in the Viz Media adaption of the manga series; he was voiced by Marc Diraison and Andrew Rannells as a child. In Funimation Entertainment's dubs of the entire One Piece franchise, adult Zoro is voiced by Christopher Sabat with Cynthia Cranz playing the role of child Zoro for episode 2 and by Brina Palencia for the rest of the franchise. Sabat compared Zoro's characterization with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles Kurogane and YuYu Hakushos Kazuma Kuwabara, describing them as "the tough guy with a heart of gold". As a result, Sabat feared that he sometimes performs similar voices despite the fact that the characters are different. He also tried seeing the original actors' works to avoid getting a more specific delivery. In the game One Piece: Unlimited Adventure, Sabat reprises his role as adult Zoro, with child Zoro voiced by Aaron Dismuke.

Zoro is portrayed by Mackenyu in the live action adaptation of One Piece, while Maximilian Lee Piazza portrays young Zoro.

Characteristics

Personality

Zoro is a confident serious and stoic individual who tends to act impulsively like his captain. He responds in a comical, short-tempered way towards minor conflicts. One of his running gags is his notoriously bad sense of direction, having gotten lost even while walking in a straight line; he is very insecure about this and always places the blame on somebody else after losing his way. While the crew is out at sea, Zoro can (usually) be found sleeping or training towards his goal of becoming the world's best swordsman. He and Vinsmoke Sanji have a long-running rivalry, often resorting to fighting and insults over the most minuscule of problems. He never calls Sanji by his name in the original Japanese manga; he uses phrases like "dumb-cook", "ero-cook", etc. Sanji calls him phrases like marimo (moss-head). etc.

Though not a samurai, he appears to maintain a certain degree of bushido and is frequently mistaken for one. Unlike Luffy and most of the Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro has killed his opponents if it is necessary, though never in cold blood. Zoro enjoys fighting a strong opponent, and he usually faces down the second strongest villain in each arc. Zoro tends to have a maniacal grin and serious glare when battling a worthy opponent.

On the ship, he normally either trains with weights or sleeps. The only work he is seen doing regularly is hoisting the anchor using his great strength and maintaining a lookout in the ship's crow's nest (which on the Thousand Sunny also doubles as his gym). He also likes sake, almost to the degree that Luffy likes meat, but like Nami, he never gets drunk due to his inhumanly high endurance and tolerance for alcohol. Despite his poor sense of direction, he is often the first to sense an enemy or danger and react. He is often displayed as being well aware of dangerous situations and the people around him.

Despite his stern personality, Zoro had a strong sense of loyalty and mutual respect towards his crewmates when accomplishing their dreams. After his humiliating loss to Dracule Mihawk, Zoro pledged his loyalty to Luffy as his captain, vowing that he would never lose again. As Luffy's first mate, Zoro often reminds others of the harsh reality of a sudden situation, which shocks some other crew members, although they usually decide he is right. Zoro insisted that Usopp apologize to his crewmates before he returned to the Straw Hats from an internal conflict he caused, displaying emotional maturity. Zoro has stated that he does not pray to any god, does not care one way or the other, and has never believed in anything except himself, and for him, only one man is above him (his captain, Luffy). He has also stated that he would follow Luffy till the end of his journey - becoming the King of the Pirates - but Luffy should not come between him and his dream either - becoming the world's strongest swordsman and surpassing Dracule Mihawk in the process. Zoro knows he still has much untapped potential and is constantly seen training and improving his fighting skills. He adheres to a sword master's code of honor (bushido) and never brags or lies about his abilities, sometimes openly admitting a weakness, even to an enemy. He never tries to escape from a fight or use trickery to win, believing that doing so is cowardly and scorning anyone who uses such tactics.

Haki

Zoro is proficient in Armament and Observation Haki and is one of the few known characters who possess Conqueror's Haki. During his battle against King, he unlocks an advanced form of Conqueror's Haki, which allows him to coat his swords with it, similar to Armament Haki, which can further increase the destructive potential of his attacks. Although it hasn't been confirmed, Zoro is heavily linked with Conqueror's Haki, an observation first made by Kaido himself after being injured by Zoro. He can also an advanced form of Armament Haki to shoot a short blast of Haki from a distance (Emission).

Appearances

One Piece manga

Roronoa Zoro first appears in the manga chapter , first published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on August 4, 1997. He first appears as a captured criminal awaiting his execution at the hands of the Marines, having offended Helmeppo by killing his pet wolf. For years, Zoro hunts pirates as a bounty hunter for a living alongside friends Johnny and Yosaku, after getting lost trying to locate Dracule Mihawk. When Luffy offers Zoro the opportunity to join his crew, Zoro initially refuses. But after Luffy saves him from execution, Zoro pledges loyalty to him. Zoro locates Mihawk at the Baratie in a chance encounter, where he is easily defeated but nevertheless impresses the latter.

Zoro's loyalty to Luffy is incomparable among the crew and develops through the series. Even though he joined Luffy's crew, his main goal was to become the strongest swordsman. Originally, Zoro threatened to kill Luffy if he ever got in the way of this goal. He listens to his captain's order and follows the order until the very end. On Jaya, Zoro followed Luffy's orders not to fight an enemy in a bar, no matter what, and followed it without hesitation. After fighting Daz Bonez in Alabasta, Zoro's bounty is initially set at 12px60,000,000 but is later raised to 12px120,000,000 after fighting the World Government at Enies Lobby. At Water 7, Zoro upholds the authority of Luffy as captain during Luffy's fight with Usopp and Usopp's leaving of the crew. Zoro pointedly refuses to allow Usopp to rejoin the crew without an apology and threatens to be the next to leave because letting Usopp "back as if nothing happened was an insult to Luffy's authority as captain.

At Thriller Bark, Bartholomew Kuma knocked out the Straw Hats, with Zoro trying to save Luffy and Sanji to no avail, as none of the pirates were aware of Kuma's intentions of having them separated to train for the New World far away.

In other media

Zoro has appeared in every One Piece licensed electronic video game to date, as well as crossover games such as Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, Battle Stadium D.O.N., and Jump Force.

Reception

Zoro is always among the top three most popular characters, usually only below Luffy in popularity. He ranked second in every Shōnen Jump character popularity poll except the fifth, where he ranked third after Trafalgar Law. Furthermore, in a 2007 poll by Oricon, Zoro was voted as the 4th most desired character to receive a spinoff. DVD Talk praises Zoro's "hilarious" three-sword fighting style as a great example of the show's sense of humor. Holly Ellingwood from Activeanime praised Zoro's fight against Luffy as one of the best moments from the 10th DVD from the series released by Viz Media, praising the action scenes. Sabat's work with Zoro has resulted in him being nominated in the category "Best Voice Actor (English)" in the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) Awards from 2008. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network commented on Sabat's work with Zoro as a "standout", noting that Zoro and Sabat are "well-matched. Kimlinger also found that his and Sanji's flashbacks from the anime "really do jerk tears, even if they are less than gracefully executed".

When Nico Robin refers to Zoro and Sanji as the "Wings of the Pirate King," it "suggests that they're the two most important people to Luffy becoming the Pirate King, for their ability to carry their responsibility effectively and fight at the highest level, if not more."

There has been mixed reception to the live-action version of the character.

Kenneth Seward, Jr. opined that Mackenyu "certainly looks the part of Rorona Zoro – especially when playing opposite of Godoy and during fight scenes – but his stiff take on the bounty hunter-turned-Straw Hat is a little off-putting", and Jesse Lab wrote that Mackenyu "comes across as bored and annoyed instead of aloof, turning what should be a badass character into a snarky afterthought."

Notes

References

External links

Roronoa Zoro's bio at One Pieces official website