General & Others No one cares about the Worlds Strongest Swordsman title other than Zoro and Mihawk

#61
Am I the only who noticed that other than Zoro and Mihawk, no one cares about the WSS title? Like Oda introduced like a dozen captains in Sabaody vying to become the Pirate King as rivals just for Luffy, this is on top of the already existing Yonko's who're also vying to be Pirate King.

On the other hand, people vying for the WSS title other than Zoro? 0. Zoro has no rivals competing for the WSS title unlike Luffy. Heck even other powerful swordsman, Shanks, Fujitora, Rayleigh, Vista, Shiryu, none have shown any interest in obtaining the title, no wonder Mihawk has been waiting for a challenger for so long because no one actually seems to give a fuck about being the strongest swordsman other than him and Zoro.

Seriously it's honestly shocking that despite being 20+ years and 1000+ chapters into the manga, having met 1000s of civilians, marines and pirates in the Grandline, not a single one other than Zoro has shown any interest in becoming the WSS.

I think it’s time people admit Oda has fumbled on the title, like if Mihawks title was a story it would have 0 worldbuilding.
You aren't wrong, I've always said Zoros actual journey to become the strongest/greatest swordsman is shallow and is a goal that was given to Zoro just because.
 
#63
The WSS thing was just there to give motivation to Zoro.
It's not any more relevant to the story than Laboon is
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its just oda shitting on every strawhat's dream except ofc the main character , atleast the wss title was mentioned by zoro in this arc , whats the last time some strawhat mentioned their dream except luffy saying he will become the PK for the 1000th time .
Usopp brings up his dream all the time
 
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#64
Overall WSS feels weak, but the biggest reason for me is that Zoro's dream feels divorced from the main plot.

Most of the Strawhats dreams essentially revolve around finding the One Piece or the idea of a unified world/bringing the dawn

Luffy becoming PK and finding One Piece
Nami making a map of the world
Sanji and All Blue
Robin and the true history
Franky and Thousand Sunny successfully sailing the Grand Line
Jinbe and what I assume is the racial harmony between humans and fishmen
Maybe even Brook seeing Laboon depending on what happens (say the Red Line being destroyed)


Usopp and Choppers dreams are more individualistic like Zoro's, but they're more flexible and can be seamlessly inserted into finding the One Piece .

The problem with Zoro wanting to be WSS is that it has been intrinsically tied to Mihawk, who at this point in the story seems more of an ally than adversary so Mihawk won't get in the way of the Strawhats finding One Piece or bringing the dawn. You could make Mihawk lose his title to someone like Shiryu who would be a part of a group that would oppose the Strawhats in the climatic part of the series...but IMO it would feel extremely cheap to build up Mihawk for so long only to fall before Zoro can beat him. Yeah it would mirror the Kuina situation but it would feel redundant.


Only way to salvage WSS in my eyes is to have Mihawk secretly be a Celestial Dragon or someone who is deemed to be the greatest warrior of the CD's. Having him be a genuine obstacle to the Strawhats goals would go a long way in making Zoro's dream stronger, thematically at least.
 
#66
The thing is most of the community focuses on "Swordsmen" in case for the Strongest title. But how about this. Do you see characters going around saying that they want to be the World Strongest Man, Creature, Most Wanted? Not really except for BB.

But the truth is Strongest Man/Swordsman/Creature are meaningless to the overall of things in the World. Even if you disagree there are characters who are actually interested in facing other titles.

For some reason Shanks sought Mihawk for duels because Mihawk was famous enough to be considered "Strong" and one of them became the Strongest Swordsman.
Blackbeard cared to become the Strongest because this is his plan to ascend to the Top was to get the most powerful fruits if he wanted to be the Strongest himself Physically he would have tried to surpass Kaido or Mihawk. He never wanted to face Shanks and ran away from Akainu even after declaring that he is the Strongest Man now.
The whole reason Mihawk came to Marineford was to face "Strongest" if he only cared for the Swordsman title he never would have come.

Now finally Zoro and how Oda wrote him should tell you exactly what Oda thinks of this whole situation. Both Zoro and Luffy gets motivated to fight Strong People regardless of how they fight. If Zoro only cares about being the Strongest Swordsman why was he interested in Kaido being the Strongest/Toughest/Powerful in the world? and many other occasions where he gets excited over fighting Admiral, Oars etc even in Mock Town he in the same manner as Luffy gets annoyed over the fact someone is calling himself a Champion. which is one the reasons Oda doesn't give Zoro swordsmen as his opponents. Because to him being the Strongest Swordsman doesn't have to be fighting just Swordsmen. Because no one cares about becoming the Strongest "Something" except few people.

Mihawk, BlackBeard, Ace and Zoro. feel free to add more because those 4 are what comes to mind now.

Its simple really these characters fight because their opponent is worthy of fighting regardless of their titles.
 
#68
I'm surprised you of all people believe this

It's not necessarily a fraud title just not hyped enough for how big of a deal it should be

MOST pirates/marines are swordsmen yet I can name the people gunning for the title on one hand

Shit, I can name the people that even really care about the title on one hand

Zoro shouldn't be the only young guy that wants to become the WSS. It should be a race between him and at least a handful of characters to become the strongest there is

Tashigi has been in the story since Logue Town and is supposed to be Zoro's marine counterpart just like Luffy has Koby/Smoker but she's terribly weak, Killer could've been his WG rival but Zoro embarrassed him, Cavendish could've been a really cool rival with the alter ego shit but he's a meme, etc

The rest of the SHs dreams aren't handled very well either but I expect a lot more from Oda when it comes to Zoro

Though you could argue the All Blue is even worse

There's more All Blue content in filler than there is in canon

:vistalaugh:
 
#72
Who in the world gives a fk about All Blue the fish pond? None, literally none. Even Sanji at one point gave up on it after watching more beautiful fishes.

When was last time someone in the manga actually mentioned All Blue?
Fishman Island, and again it was about Sanji giving up on it.
Not sure where Sanji comes in (I personally don't see the purpose in constantly comparing Zoro and Sanji at all times) but in regards to his dream, it's highlighted in the Baratie arc that few people even believe the All Blue exists since there's no proof of it. World's Strongest Swordsman and Pirate King are both titles that are incredibly well-known and even though you kinda have to believe Roger and, later-on, Whitebeard's word on the One Piece being real, that's already a lot more than the All Blue has going for it in proof.

My point is the All Blue isn't meant to be something Sanji is competing with others for since it's a mythical sea with no proof regarding it's existence. Both Zeff and Sanji simply belive it exists and that's why his dream is such a big deal to them (no one else thinks it's real which makes him have to search it out despite everyone's discouragement).

Becoming the World's Strongest Swordsman and finding the All Blue are fundamentally different dreams/goals, no point in needlessly comparing.

Once again, I want to clarify that I don't belive there being few people interested in Mihawk's title, detracts from it's legitimacy or from Zoro's dream, I just think it would make sense for some more notable people similar to Zoro to be interested.
 
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#74
+ Zorotards*

Oda didnt know how to handle this shit because if you erase Mihawk from One Piece equation, nothing changes. Zoro could have arrived where he is without his existence and he can reach top of swordsmanship without him as well because none of his rivals care about swordsmanship and being the best, so he only needs to keep fightning any kind of fighter until he reach his goal.
 

BangOO🍅

Pepebusi Spammer
#75
simple, the manga called ONE PIECE

Of course Oda will portray so many people desperate to find ONE PIECE rather than being World Strongest Swordsman.
 
#76
the WSS title doesn't attract trash.
WSS is an instinct, not a childish dream.

PK can be sought after by any run-of-the-mill bottom feeder who can steal a boat.
that's why you'll never find any swordsman saying pathetic shit like this:

-shanks himself doesn't want to be PK, but he was interested in swordsmanship enough to seek legendary duels with mihawk.
-vista said that every swordsman in the world have an instinct that makes them want to cross blades with mihawk.
-roger wanted to meet and fight with oden because he heard of his strength as a swordsmen.

even fodder swordsmen get carried over by the swordsman instinct and will draw their blades against the WSS, the instinct will override their self preservation.

while fodder pirates would cower in fear, and surrender into servitude.
 
#77
Because this is just the dream of the character. Have you ever seen anyone care about all blue?
Luffy's dream revolves around the theme of this work, so there will be so many competitors. WSS has nothing to do with these. It's just Zoro's dream
Of course, the most important thing is that Luffy is the protagonist, Zoro is not
If this work is called the swordsman king, Zoro will have more competitors
 
#80
Nobody cares about the World's Strongest Creature title.

Nobody cares about the World's Strongest Man title.

Nobody cares about the Yonko tile.

It's literally just a title you get. Just like the Pirate King title was given to Roger, and it not being something he looking to achieve.

Zoro Tax thread
 
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