Hello everyone, i always wanted to do a thread about Zoro and his personality, strength, ambition and how Oda handles him since the beginning of One Piece. Zoro is a special character that lots of people love but also at the same time hate. The recent chapters 997th and 1000th clearly showed the characterization of Zoro and how much Oda loves him or at least doesn't consider him just a friend of the MC. Oda clearly gave Zoro the place of deuteragonist since the beginning of the manga but 50% want to ignore it because they want their character to also be important and shine which is understandable but if you are honest, you can clearly understand that Oda put Zoro next to Luffy and not as simple underling.
Deuteragonist means "the second most important character, after the protagonist. The deuteragonist may switch between supporting and opposing the protagonist, depending on the deuteragonist's own conflict or plot" (definition by Wikipedia). Here Zoro doesn't oppose to Luffy's ambition but supports him at 100% but at the same time he is not just a supporting character because he didn't forget his own ambition which is to become the WSS. And many won't like it but the WSS title put you directly in the top 5 of the OPverse considering how many Top Swords(wo)men we have in the manga. This is what I will explain to you in the following arguments and why Zoro could be considered as the Dark Horse of One Piece.
Personality :
First of all, Zoro was created in 1997 so the only one shonen characters with whom we can compare is Vegeta so no Zoro is not Sasuke, Kenpachi nor Escanor, he is Zoro.
But again except the pride arguments for Vegeta and Zoro, they are not at all the same. Zoro just after few chapters, was ready to give his life to save Luffy (Buggy arc), we waited a long time for Vegeta. That's where the comparison between Zoro and Vegeta stops, when Vegeta had a character development through whole DBZ, Oda already showed Zoro as the buddy everyone want in their life : the friend who is ready to do anything for you.
But Zoro also got a character development, the more the manga progressed the more serious he became especially after his fight against Mihawk who changed forever Zoro. He understood that playing and goofing around are not gonna help him anymore because he is not Luffy. He trains everyday and fights opponents who are dangerous and lethal. As I said many times, tanking a slash from edged weapons is not comparable to tank punches/kicks. I don't want to underestimate any characters but let's be honest, fighting a guy with your barehands and fighting a guy who has a sword, it's completely a different thing.
Anyway back to Zoro, his personality changed the moment he faced Mihawk and not post-skip as many claim because it's not the case. He seems to be more arrogant but in backstage, he keeps telling himself that he is still weak and needs to become stronger. That's Zoro and the 2nd main character.
Strength :
Zoro since the beginning of One Piece was always compared to Luffy. Many people even thought he was the captain and not Luffy, but why ? In normal case, no one would even talk about that because Luffy is the MC but why Oda keeps doing that everytime ? Even when Luffy showed his COC at FMI, Zoro said "expected from my captain, if not he needs to step down", why again ? Because Oda wants to show that Zoro won't follow any random people but only the chosen one : Luffy.
Let's talk about post-skip which is more interesting. At FMI, Zoro one shoted Hody underwater and beat Hyouzou so the strongest fishmen in the island.
Why Zoro and not any other SH (not even Jimbei) ? Because Oda wanted to draw a parallel between Luffy and Zoro. Again only those two fought an overpowered fishmen who ate many drugs (Hody and Hyouzou), only both of them.
At PH, no one from the ennemies were strong enough for Zoro. Monet was no-match for Zoro and Oda knew that, that's why for the first time in One Piece, Oda introduced something new : Beating an opponent without even touching him. So Zoro defeated a logia just by his menacing stare and that's where Oda put Zoro in whole new powerscale.
At Dressrosa, when law, sanji and luffy fought Doffy, only one didn't face doffy : Zoro. Why ? Law and Sanji got defeated by Doffy, so Zoro facing him and taking a L would have been normal considering Luffy was Doffy's main opponent. And the moment Zoro faced Doffy and was ready to attack him, Oda brought Fujitora a guy who hate Warlord more than anything to stop Zoro. It doesn't make sense unless Oda made that on purpose because he didn't want a Zoro vs Doflamingo. The only reason for that is probably because Zoro was not a pushover for Doffy, he could have defeated Doflamingo but that would have meant the end of the arc. Where is the suspense ? So Fujitora came and used his power against a non-intel Zoro, he send Zoro under the ground. Oda could have ended this fight as he did with King vs Sanji but no, he made Zoro to counter Fuji's gravity while Zoro was suffering by the gravity and pushed Fujitora few meters back. That was the first time to see a character besides the high/top tier to counter an Admiral, the strongest forces of Navy and also the moment Oda showed that Zoro is not a pushover for a top tier.
After that, Zoro faced Pica but again Pica was too weak for him, that's why Oda gave to Pica a formidable DF "Ishi Ishi no Mi", the power to be one with any stone. Oda made Pica a walking mountain size golem, that even the official One Piece site wanked during Zoro's birthday this year. For those who don't understand japanese, the article said "the hand of pica was the size of city in dressrosa » so Golem Pica's was the size of many cities. So despite Pica being weak, Oda still wanked Zoro and gave him an island lvl feat. That was an amazing feat because only few people are capable to do that only with their raw strenght. In Zoro's novel, people are already comparing his feat to a Yonkou and a WSS themselves :
So that means, Zoro's feat is comparable to top tier feats. And again only Luffy is comparable because he defeated Doflamingo.
In WCI, Zoro wasn't there and Luffy beat Cracker and Katakuri. One thing people should understand is the fact that Luffy wasn't weaker than Cracker or Katakuri, actually Luffy was YC1 lvl since post-skip. What made the fights interesting were the powers of those SC. Cracker with his DF and Katakuri with his DF and especially his FS. But again the G4 was not useless against them because Luffy defeated them when he successfully touched them. So G4's strenght is more than enough for YC, it's the versality and the external powers of the fighters that make them YC lvl. So if Zoro was against them, Oda would have made Zoro win against them somehow like he did previously with Zoro's fights such as Mr.1 or Monet.
Now let's talk about Wano, Zoro was the first one to ever defeat another member of WG. Oda choose him and not even Luffy, he fought hawkins and if the tiger didn't came, he would have probably win because he cut one of the strongest card of Hawkins without taking any serious damages after that. He didn't just defeat Killer and Apoo but he one shotted them and got the respect of Drake. Actually Zoro really shined against his fellows WG members.
And it's not even the end, Oda gave to Zoro "Enma" the sword of Oden who wounded Kaido and decided to make Enma a cursed sword when Oda didn't want to wank Ame which also cut Kaido, why is that ? Because Oda wanted Zoro to have at least one sword from Oden and decided to make that, special.
And now when everyone claimed things such as Zoro is way weaker than Luffy, he is one of the 5 members of WG to face not one but two Yonkou. A man way weaker than his captain can really face someone who one shotted the latter ? There is 0 logic in that.
So that means Zoro was already around YC1 lvl since the post-skip. He didn't beat YC but he faced 3 WG, an Admiral and Oda gave him a special treatment such as beating the strongest swordsfishman, cutting a mountain size golem and defeating a logia without even touching her.
We can clearly understand that Oda didn't make any mistake until now with Zoro's strenght. Removing always Zoro when SHP face someone strong because he has the potential to beat them or at least not being a pushover because it's not possible with him. Oda could have made Zoro struggling and having extreme diff fights against any of his opponents or even loosing but no, Zoro didn't face any loss this entire time because someone who trained everyday during two years with a top tier won't be take out easily.
Now Zoro is facing Kaido and Big Mom two people from the elite again with his captain Luffy. So strenghtwise, Zoro was always next to Luffy that's why Oda choose them to stand together front of Yonkous. They are the future PK and WSS, so it's understandable for them to be front of two powerhouses.
Importance and Ambition :
Out of everyone in this war, Oda choose 5 people to stand front of Kaido and Big Mom for the symbolic 1000th, one of them is Zoro. We saw many people loosing their minds because for them, it came from nowhere and it doesn't make sense. Really ?
As i said, from the beginning until now, Oda made it clear that all SH are important but two stand out : Luffy and Zoro. Both of them share a special connection, the connection between the 1st and 2nd MC. Both of them were the only ones to have a bounty for a long time among the SHP, both of them are part of the Worst Generations, both of them will reach the highest positions in OP world. Oden's speech clearly talk about those two and Zoro/Luffy are a mix of Oden. Zoro's main fights always bring something for him (a PU or a rare feat only few unlocked or never seen before).
Luffy has COC and as many people expected Oda gave a big hint about Zoro having the COC in the future (997th). If you think it's just random and there is no meaning behind that then you are as wrong as you didn't expect Zoro standing with Luffy front of two yonkou. But still Luffy is the MC, that's why he has also the D. importance.
Anyway, here is one panel of 1000th :
The チャキ means as @Fenaker said many times
So basically Zoro is ready to attack kaido and big mom with no fear, exactly like Luffy who punched Kaido. They will be the one who will get the most credits end of Wano. Luffy for his Wano friends and Zoro for all the things he witnessed in wano and for hiyori, yasue.
The whole ZKK didn't came from no where because there are lots of hints behind that theory. A theory, Zoro confirmed in the 997th : "i came here to cut Kaido in pieces". Maybe it will happen or not but the people who claimed the ZKK weren't wrong because Oda made that happen. Never ever before Zoro was too much interested about taking the boss (compared to Luffy) but Oda made him important here. A connection to Ryuma who cut a dragon above the capital, and guess what ? Kaido is bringing Onigashima to the capital. You can still claim that is a coincidence, but come on how many time you can say it's a coincidence ?
I understand people who are saying "man One Piece is about Luffy and only him". Yes and no, Luffy is the main character in One Piece but he is not the only one who shine in everything and everytime, and it's not an obligation that all arcs should be the same. Yes Luffy is the 1st MC but Zoro is the 2nd MC or maybe even more for Oda. Luffy shines everytime so tell me now, is it that illogical if the 2nd one shine at least one arc ? I can mention 99,99% of other mangas where the 2nd also shine and not only the 1st MC. So Zoro defeating King and after that killing Kaido at the end or being a huge reason for Kaido's death are perfectly fine and it's something the future WSS and the 2nd deserves to get.
Conclusion:
All the things I said, could be illogical for some people but what you need to understand is the fact Zoro is special character for Oda. His ambition and strength are always hyped by the author himself which can even compete to Luffy. That's why Zoro could be compared to be the Dark Horse of One Piece and someone who should not be underrated because at the end he continues to progress and overtake the other characters who were once stronger than him in terms of portrayals and hypes.
Edit: I forgot to mention this, i posted that on discord but not here.
"Currently in the acclaimed story of "Wano Kuni", Zoro made lots of noises by saving people, even got separated from Luffy and met with Kozuki Hiyori and Toko by coincidence. Knowing the horrific reality of Wano, will the wrath of his sword save Wano?! From now on, Zoro's activities will not be ignored"
Sorry if the thread is damn long, i actually said a lot but at the same time, i think i even forgot to say lots of things haha!
Anyways thanks if you read it to the end (sorry for the mistakes, not english native).
Deuteragonist means "the second most important character, after the protagonist. The deuteragonist may switch between supporting and opposing the protagonist, depending on the deuteragonist's own conflict or plot" (definition by Wikipedia). Here Zoro doesn't oppose to Luffy's ambition but supports him at 100% but at the same time he is not just a supporting character because he didn't forget his own ambition which is to become the WSS. And many won't like it but the WSS title put you directly in the top 5 of the OPverse considering how many Top Swords(wo)men we have in the manga. This is what I will explain to you in the following arguments and why Zoro could be considered as the Dark Horse of One Piece.
Personality :
First of all, Zoro was created in 1997 so the only one shonen characters with whom we can compare is Vegeta so no Zoro is not Sasuke, Kenpachi nor Escanor, he is Zoro.
But again except the pride arguments for Vegeta and Zoro, they are not at all the same. Zoro just after few chapters, was ready to give his life to save Luffy (Buggy arc), we waited a long time for Vegeta. That's where the comparison between Zoro and Vegeta stops, when Vegeta had a character development through whole DBZ, Oda already showed Zoro as the buddy everyone want in their life : the friend who is ready to do anything for you.
But Zoro also got a character development, the more the manga progressed the more serious he became especially after his fight against Mihawk who changed forever Zoro. He understood that playing and goofing around are not gonna help him anymore because he is not Luffy. He trains everyday and fights opponents who are dangerous and lethal. As I said many times, tanking a slash from edged weapons is not comparable to tank punches/kicks. I don't want to underestimate any characters but let's be honest, fighting a guy with your barehands and fighting a guy who has a sword, it's completely a different thing.
Anyway back to Zoro, his personality changed the moment he faced Mihawk and not post-skip as many claim because it's not the case. He seems to be more arrogant but in backstage, he keeps telling himself that he is still weak and needs to become stronger. That's Zoro and the 2nd main character.
Strength :
Zoro since the beginning of One Piece was always compared to Luffy. Many people even thought he was the captain and not Luffy, but why ? In normal case, no one would even talk about that because Luffy is the MC but why Oda keeps doing that everytime ? Even when Luffy showed his COC at FMI, Zoro said "expected from my captain, if not he needs to step down", why again ? Because Oda wants to show that Zoro won't follow any random people but only the chosen one : Luffy.
Let's talk about post-skip which is more interesting. At FMI, Zoro one shoted Hody underwater and beat Hyouzou so the strongest fishmen in the island.
Why Zoro and not any other SH (not even Jimbei) ? Because Oda wanted to draw a parallel between Luffy and Zoro. Again only those two fought an overpowered fishmen who ate many drugs (Hody and Hyouzou), only both of them.
At PH, no one from the ennemies were strong enough for Zoro. Monet was no-match for Zoro and Oda knew that, that's why for the first time in One Piece, Oda introduced something new : Beating an opponent without even touching him. So Zoro defeated a logia just by his menacing stare and that's where Oda put Zoro in whole new powerscale.
At Dressrosa, when law, sanji and luffy fought Doffy, only one didn't face doffy : Zoro. Why ? Law and Sanji got defeated by Doffy, so Zoro facing him and taking a L would have been normal considering Luffy was Doffy's main opponent. And the moment Zoro faced Doffy and was ready to attack him, Oda brought Fujitora a guy who hate Warlord more than anything to stop Zoro. It doesn't make sense unless Oda made that on purpose because he didn't want a Zoro vs Doflamingo. The only reason for that is probably because Zoro was not a pushover for Doffy, he could have defeated Doflamingo but that would have meant the end of the arc. Where is the suspense ? So Fujitora came and used his power against a non-intel Zoro, he send Zoro under the ground. Oda could have ended this fight as he did with King vs Sanji but no, he made Zoro to counter Fuji's gravity while Zoro was suffering by the gravity and pushed Fujitora few meters back. That was the first time to see a character besides the high/top tier to counter an Admiral, the strongest forces of Navy and also the moment Oda showed that Zoro is not a pushover for a top tier.
After that, Zoro faced Pica but again Pica was too weak for him, that's why Oda gave to Pica a formidable DF "Ishi Ishi no Mi", the power to be one with any stone. Oda made Pica a walking mountain size golem, that even the official One Piece site wanked during Zoro's birthday this year. For those who don't understand japanese, the article said "the hand of pica was the size of city in dressrosa » so Golem Pica's was the size of many cities. So despite Pica being weak, Oda still wanked Zoro and gave him an island lvl feat. That was an amazing feat because only few people are capable to do that only with their raw strenght. In Zoro's novel, people are already comparing his feat to a Yonkou and a WSS themselves :
So that means, Zoro's feat is comparable to top tier feats. And again only Luffy is comparable because he defeated Doflamingo.
In WCI, Zoro wasn't there and Luffy beat Cracker and Katakuri. One thing people should understand is the fact that Luffy wasn't weaker than Cracker or Katakuri, actually Luffy was YC1 lvl since post-skip. What made the fights interesting were the powers of those SC. Cracker with his DF and Katakuri with his DF and especially his FS. But again the G4 was not useless against them because Luffy defeated them when he successfully touched them. So G4's strenght is more than enough for YC, it's the versality and the external powers of the fighters that make them YC lvl. So if Zoro was against them, Oda would have made Zoro win against them somehow like he did previously with Zoro's fights such as Mr.1 or Monet.
Now let's talk about Wano, Zoro was the first one to ever defeat another member of WG. Oda choose him and not even Luffy, he fought hawkins and if the tiger didn't came, he would have probably win because he cut one of the strongest card of Hawkins without taking any serious damages after that. He didn't just defeat Killer and Apoo but he one shotted them and got the respect of Drake. Actually Zoro really shined against his fellows WG members.
And it's not even the end, Oda gave to Zoro "Enma" the sword of Oden who wounded Kaido and decided to make Enma a cursed sword when Oda didn't want to wank Ame which also cut Kaido, why is that ? Because Oda wanted Zoro to have at least one sword from Oden and decided to make that, special.
And now when everyone claimed things such as Zoro is way weaker than Luffy, he is one of the 5 members of WG to face not one but two Yonkou. A man way weaker than his captain can really face someone who one shotted the latter ? There is 0 logic in that.
So that means Zoro was already around YC1 lvl since the post-skip. He didn't beat YC but he faced 3 WG, an Admiral and Oda gave him a special treatment such as beating the strongest swordsfishman, cutting a mountain size golem and defeating a logia without even touching her.
We can clearly understand that Oda didn't make any mistake until now with Zoro's strenght. Removing always Zoro when SHP face someone strong because he has the potential to beat them or at least not being a pushover because it's not possible with him. Oda could have made Zoro struggling and having extreme diff fights against any of his opponents or even loosing but no, Zoro didn't face any loss this entire time because someone who trained everyday during two years with a top tier won't be take out easily.
Now Zoro is facing Kaido and Big Mom two people from the elite again with his captain Luffy. So strenghtwise, Zoro was always next to Luffy that's why Oda choose them to stand together front of Yonkous. They are the future PK and WSS, so it's understandable for them to be front of two powerhouses.
Importance and Ambition :
Out of everyone in this war, Oda choose 5 people to stand front of Kaido and Big Mom for the symbolic 1000th, one of them is Zoro. We saw many people loosing their minds because for them, it came from nowhere and it doesn't make sense. Really ?
As i said, from the beginning until now, Oda made it clear that all SH are important but two stand out : Luffy and Zoro. Both of them share a special connection, the connection between the 1st and 2nd MC. Both of them were the only ones to have a bounty for a long time among the SHP, both of them are part of the Worst Generations, both of them will reach the highest positions in OP world. Oden's speech clearly talk about those two and Zoro/Luffy are a mix of Oden. Zoro's main fights always bring something for him (a PU or a rare feat only few unlocked or never seen before).
Luffy has COC and as many people expected Oda gave a big hint about Zoro having the COC in the future (997th). If you think it's just random and there is no meaning behind that then you are as wrong as you didn't expect Zoro standing with Luffy front of two yonkou. But still Luffy is the MC, that's why he has also the D. importance.
Anyway, here is one panel of 1000th :
The チャキ means as @Fenaker said many times
So basically Zoro is ready to attack kaido and big mom with no fear, exactly like Luffy who punched Kaido. They will be the one who will get the most credits end of Wano. Luffy for his Wano friends and Zoro for all the things he witnessed in wano and for hiyori, yasue.
The whole ZKK didn't came from no where because there are lots of hints behind that theory. A theory, Zoro confirmed in the 997th : "i came here to cut Kaido in pieces". Maybe it will happen or not but the people who claimed the ZKK weren't wrong because Oda made that happen. Never ever before Zoro was too much interested about taking the boss (compared to Luffy) but Oda made him important here. A connection to Ryuma who cut a dragon above the capital, and guess what ? Kaido is bringing Onigashima to the capital. You can still claim that is a coincidence, but come on how many time you can say it's a coincidence ?
I understand people who are saying "man One Piece is about Luffy and only him". Yes and no, Luffy is the main character in One Piece but he is not the only one who shine in everything and everytime, and it's not an obligation that all arcs should be the same. Yes Luffy is the 1st MC but Zoro is the 2nd MC or maybe even more for Oda. Luffy shines everytime so tell me now, is it that illogical if the 2nd one shine at least one arc ? I can mention 99,99% of other mangas where the 2nd also shine and not only the 1st MC. So Zoro defeating King and after that killing Kaido at the end or being a huge reason for Kaido's death are perfectly fine and it's something the future WSS and the 2nd deserves to get.
Conclusion:
All the things I said, could be illogical for some people but what you need to understand is the fact Zoro is special character for Oda. His ambition and strength are always hyped by the author himself which can even compete to Luffy. That's why Zoro could be compared to be the Dark Horse of One Piece and someone who should not be underrated because at the end he continues to progress and overtake the other characters who were once stronger than him in terms of portrayals and hypes.
Edit: I forgot to mention this, i posted that on discord but not here.
"Currently in the acclaimed story of "Wano Kuni", Zoro made lots of noises by saving people, even got separated from Luffy and met with Kozuki Hiyori and Toko by coincidence. Knowing the horrific reality of Wano, will the wrath of his sword save Wano?! From now on, Zoro's activities will not be ignored"
Sorry if the thread is damn long, i actually said a lot but at the same time, i think i even forgot to say lots of things haha!
Anyways thanks if you read it to the end (sorry for the mistakes, not english native).
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