My biggest issue with him is his lack of interactions with other Straw Hats, which makes him look like an ally more than an actual member of the crew. Especially with Nami, their interations were crucial and now there was barely a single discussion between them (in Zou) during the whole post time skip.
General & Others How would you make Zoro a better character?
- Thread starter TheAncientCenturion
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I’d probably crowdsource a bunch of opinions from two groups of people - one full of homers who will never admit he has flaws, and one full of haters who won’t focus on anything but - and then compile those responses on an unmonitored and unlovable Internet forum while Eiichiro Oda bathes in a vat of puréed yen and pulls his tiny pud thinking about the futility of man 
They're doing a bit too little to flesh out the important elements of zoro's backstory and emphasize his progress to his dream.
Playing up his origins is cool and all, but its not really leading to significant growth on zoro's part like it did for sanji. I think it could if done differently, and also made good on zoro's promise of leading the wano samurai but right now its a nothingburger. I think Oda had a good opportunity with tashigi's character over the course of the story (to call back to zoro's origins with kuina) but kind of neglected/dropped it.
Otherwise, zoro hasn't really had a showdown with enough true swordsmen it feels like, as of late. King is the closest but zoro goes out of his way to say that King isn't a swordsman. Its hard to get the same feeling of progression even though he's beating some strong people because they're not strong swordsmen. At the very least some more info on the end goal, mihawk, would be nice.
He's handled lots better than most straw hats post TS though.
Playing up his origins is cool and all, but its not really leading to significant growth on zoro's part like it did for sanji. I think it could if done differently, and also made good on zoro's promise of leading the wano samurai but right now its a nothingburger. I think Oda had a good opportunity with tashigi's character over the course of the story (to call back to zoro's origins with kuina) but kind of neglected/dropped it.
Otherwise, zoro hasn't really had a showdown with enough true swordsmen it feels like, as of late. King is the closest but zoro goes out of his way to say that King isn't a swordsman. Its hard to get the same feeling of progression even though he's beating some strong people because they're not strong swordsmen. At the very least some more info on the end goal, mihawk, would be nice.
He's handled lots better than most straw hats post TS though.
i didn't like how odw handle Zoro through the NW till wano he looked like an outsider than a nakama didn't have the relation that he used to have
With wano Zoro i'm very happy he was the one who most involved with the country and they're suffering also before onigashima he was the first one who was willing to make a toast with their nakamas he is having the moments that he had before with his crewmate (chopper,luffy,Sanji franky,brook robin)how they're going to focus in the character since he is near to death also at the end of the arc he will have more development with swords,ryuma,shimotsuki hiyori
With wano Zoro i'm very happy he was the one who most involved with the country and they're suffering also before onigashima he was the first one who was willing to make a toast with their nakamas he is having the moments that he had before with his crewmate (chopper,luffy,Sanji franky,brook robin)how they're going to focus in the character since he is near to death also at the end of the arc he will have more development with swords,ryuma,shimotsuki hiyori
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My one issue with Zoro post timeskip is how stagnant his character has been. Oda still provides him with the cool highlights here and there, but he lacks those really strong character moments he once had pretimeskip. I think back on all of Zoro's best moments, almost all the ones people list are from pretimeskip. And while he has it way better than a lot of the other Strawhats, I can't help feeling he's one such character that's been neglected and is currently coasting off his character arc pretimeskip.
Even in Wano, an arc which has seen more development in Zoro than the last few, it feels like the things Oda established for his arc he's chosen to walk back on.
-Shusui and Ryuma connection
-His relationship with Yasu
-Hatred for Orochi
-Sunnachi
-His connection with the Shimotsuki
They all appear thrown aside after the big chapter 955. Zoro's back to his default state, with no indication to his previously developed plotlines besides the fact they provided him Enma in some fashion. Of course, Wano isn't over, so I don't want to completely rule out their continued developments. But with how much has to get done and how much of it can get focus, I'm not confident in these particular bits getting further emphasis. With Shusui/Ryuma, best I see a short moment between Zoro and Ryuma's grave by the end of the arc. The others, I've little hopes on being followed up. All he went through was to just get him a new sword, and now that he has it, no need to further focus on them.
Still though, my favorite Zoro moment in all of Post timeskip is easily when he encountered Yasu and the people of Ebisu. Always good to see a tough guy shed that persona, even for just a bit, and reveal a good, human heart. A sweet reminder Zoro's more than some catch phrase spewing, deadly badass. Even if he doesn't get much focus later in the arc, a good moment like this is all I need.
Sorry if this wasn't exactly me providing how to make Zoro a better character. Just airing out some of my personal grievances with it.
Even in Wano, an arc which has seen more development in Zoro than the last few, it feels like the things Oda established for his arc he's chosen to walk back on.
-Shusui and Ryuma connection
-His relationship with Yasu
-Hatred for Orochi
-Sunnachi
-His connection with the Shimotsuki
They all appear thrown aside after the big chapter 955. Zoro's back to his default state, with no indication to his previously developed plotlines besides the fact they provided him Enma in some fashion. Of course, Wano isn't over, so I don't want to completely rule out their continued developments. But with how much has to get done and how much of it can get focus, I'm not confident in these particular bits getting further emphasis. With Shusui/Ryuma, best I see a short moment between Zoro and Ryuma's grave by the end of the arc. The others, I've little hopes on being followed up. All he went through was to just get him a new sword, and now that he has it, no need to further focus on them.
Still though, my favorite Zoro moment in all of Post timeskip is easily when he encountered Yasu and the people of Ebisu. Always good to see a tough guy shed that persona, even for just a bit, and reveal a good, human heart. A sweet reminder Zoro's more than some catch phrase spewing, deadly badass. Even if he doesn't get much focus later in the arc, a good moment like this is all I need.
Sorry if this wasn't exactly me providing how to make Zoro a better character. Just airing out some of my personal grievances with it.
To me, 1033 is still the strongest chapter of Wano. From beginning to end, Oda focuses on the conflict Zoro faces; both inside and out, as he fights Enma and King. This leads him to reflecting on himself and his journey, and overcoming the self doubt he's always had. Whenever Zoro trains, it's always under the pretense he's not good enough. And while a mentality that you can always improve is great, I feel Zoro is more afraid he'll never be good enough. He's a negative perfectionist. This is what caused him to come at odds with Enma. It's the first sword to truly want to test him, and him alone. And instead of trusting his potential, and therefore his sword, he hesitated to give the sword what it wanted all along in fear he isn't worthy of it, and that the attempt will kill him. All the pressure of taking down the Yonko probably didn't help either, since Zoro has always had them on his mind moreso than the other Straw Hats.
Zoro had to embrace his desire to be the WSS once more. He needed to forget about all the baggage he's developed and only have his eye on the prize, which is what allowed him to awaken his Conqueror's and bloom his haki. And the result, a Zoro who is fully confident in his abilities, and not just determined of his duties.
1033 was all character centric, and it was great for it.
And now we're in the middle of Zoro having to face death. He is a man of action. That's just who he is. His character thrives when he's in a life or death situation. There's opportunity here to further explore him as a person. You know the saying - "your life flashes before you die". A look at his origin is still on the cards, which can lead into Wano. His ties to Wano continue to deepen. Such as his similarity to Ushimaru, bringing Shusui back is seen as an act of fate, his continued parallelism to Ryuma, and his motives for fighting in the arc greater than in any other, almost as if he has a stronger connection to Wano than the other countries. Whatever we learn can greatly enhance his place in the arc and the series as a whole. Or ruin it. Either way, Oda's laid the ground work. We just need to see how it plays out.
A Zoro Wano Character arc analysis may be in order by the end.
Two things bother me about Zoro currently.
1- His "lone wolf" feel inside the crew. Seems like Oda is pushing some Luffy-Zoro bond that tries to mirror Roger/Rayleigh. I think his interactions with Luffy are actually fine, but his interactions with the other crewmembers are actually lackluster, even his bickering with Sanji became completely one dimensional and lack some peaceful moments between these two.
2- I would think about a PU progression that is unique to Zoro. I can't shake this feeling that, after TS, Oda turned Zoro into one of those baboons on Mihawk's island. He actually just copy stuff. Mihawk gets black blade? Zoro needs to get black blade. Luffy gets adv coc? Zoro gets it as well. Some samurai cut a dragon's head centuries ago, let Zoro do the same thing now. Kinemon cuts fire? "Hippity Hoppity your technique is now my property".
His 3 sword style is unique to him. His Asura is unique to him. I would invest more on things that set him apart from others, instead of being the Imitating Baboon.
Repeating some feats are ok storywise, but when the character becomes all about mimicking others, that's when I get a problem with it.
1- His "lone wolf" feel inside the crew. Seems like Oda is pushing some Luffy-Zoro bond that tries to mirror Roger/Rayleigh. I think his interactions with Luffy are actually fine, but his interactions with the other crewmembers are actually lackluster, even his bickering with Sanji became completely one dimensional and lack some peaceful moments between these two.
2- I would think about a PU progression that is unique to Zoro. I can't shake this feeling that, after TS, Oda turned Zoro into one of those baboons on Mihawk's island. He actually just copy stuff. Mihawk gets black blade? Zoro needs to get black blade. Luffy gets adv coc? Zoro gets it as well. Some samurai cut a dragon's head centuries ago, let Zoro do the same thing now. Kinemon cuts fire? "Hippity Hoppity your technique is now my property".
His 3 sword style is unique to him. His Asura is unique to him. I would invest more on things that set him apart from others, instead of being the Imitating Baboon.
Repeating some feats are ok storywise, but when the character becomes all about mimicking others, that's when I get a problem with it.
