Questions & Mysteries Why is Zoro much more relevant than Luffy to the fandom?

[Saikō No Kenshi]

I think the reason can be found in the deepest corners of the male stereotype.

Shonen are manga that are meant for men/guys.

Men associate themselves with strength, coolness and toughness, which are main character traits of the male stereotype.

Zoro is the embodiment of an ideal stereotype. Add to that badassness and a cool character design. In Dragonball his equivalent is Piccolo, they are very similar and both have green appearances, furthermore they both protect small mascots (Gohan& Chopper) and have a closer relationship with them.

Chopper and Gohan are the embodiment of Shonen Manga readers, anything but male. Piccolo and Zoro are the pure male embodiment in the Shonen manga they read. Unattainable male stereotypes.

That's what makes them so exciting and fascinating for Shonen readers, who are mostly boys.

 

[Finalbeta]

Nah. I'm serious. Zoro is way more enjoyable than Vegeta.

Both are very compelling to me.

So proud, powerful, epic, badass, courageous and many other great quirks like their astounding tenacity in goals reaching and their good heart.

 

[Weeman]

He's not more "relevant" but more interesting to discuss.

No one has any doubts that Luffy will win and accomplish his dreams and he's also too simple and straightforward, so the only meaningful discussion surrounding him is usually power levels or how other legends connect to him in some way lol.

 

[roronoa_fan]

I cannot speak for others, but for myself.

First of all, I prefer your fighting style to others. Luffy only cares about punches and kicks with absolutely no technique, I think it's boring. I like fights like taekwondo, but I think Oda also faltered a little with Sanji, if his fighting style was more technical I would like it better, he ended up like Luffy who only cares about giving a stronger kick.

Besides, I like his personality better than Luffy's. I've been following One Piece for over a decade, before it was less, but now some of Luffy's personality traits end up irritating me, like the fact that he doesn't deal seriously with situations that demand it. Zoro has very strong values, he respects Luffy's decisions, even if he is against it. He trains every day for his dream because he knows how hard it is to achieve it, feeling that it would be disrespectful to challenge someone who has given his best if he hadn't given his best. When he doesn't tell Sanji what happened to Kuma we can see that he didn't do it for the glory, he did it because it was what he felt was the right thing to do, then he decided that his life was worth less than Luffy's life.

 

[Dickie D. Dick]

Zoro = a man
Luffy = a condom

A man has worth without a condom however a condom has no worth without a man and also a liabilty on the man's manhood

 

[Blother Fertitta]

This was a good read. Especially the Shishio, RedAdmiral, Lanji banter

 

[notAfanboy]

i don't have seen any yc1/2 had made the half than zoro against kaido or big mom

Right.

This the reason I dont take part in power scale discussions. There is no clear pattern in OP.
But, dont you think he needs to fight against a YC1/2 first? And more importantly, how he compares to Rayleigh?

 

[serkeara]

Apart from the character itself, another aspect is integrity.

A swordsman is still a swordsman, trying to polish skill mastery.

A rubber man now becomes what? Professor X with future reading, invisible barrier, king aura, animal taming, who is also a son of super famous person and foreshadows Roger, Oden, Shank, Joy Boy, Rock, etc.

Not to mention the special devil fruit that is still unrevealed.

So, there is nothing to cheer for Luffy. If he can't become Pirate King, he must be very stupid.

 

[EmperorKinyagi]

Its not me saying that Zoro is a more relevant character in the story but rather the reaction he entices.
In this very thread if you want to get attention and generate massive amount of replies just mention Zoro in positive, negative or neutral, which all three of these terms are subjective in this context.

And its not just limited to thread that has Zoro's name in it, that isn't even necessary, instead you talk about Mihawk, talk about Ryuma, swordsmanship in general and it wound entice massive reaction.

Its not just limited to this forum, on Youtube comments, on twitter, facebook groups, topics linked to Luffy would have few responses and people would get over it but with Zoro people go ape shit.

Sup with that?

Cuz Zoro is cool.

 

[Saikō No Kenshi]

One of Zoros main characteristics is he is such a badass, yet he has a very big heart.

 

[The White Crane]

It's not that. It's whether Zoro deserved to be strong or not. If he have a good fight then he will grow even stronger.

Did the story ever imply that Zoro did not deserve to be strong?

 

[Zaretball]

For the same reason that Yami and Gojou are more relevant in their respective mangas too, basically they are all powerful characters with some cool catchphrases.

 

[M944]

He's not
Popularity wise he never won a Popularity contest
Luffy was always first.
Luffy is also more known among non-readers

Plot wise bar from toxic fandoms People barely talk about Zoro
He's connected to none of the important mystery
( Void Century, Will of D, DF and the OP itself)
The only place Zoro is relevant is in powerlevel discussion and it's probably just because he have a rivalry with Sanji

If you put aside PL discussion you have more topic about Gomu Gomu no mi itself than Zoro himself

 

[Hanners220]

When I first started getting into anime and manga there was this fad that emo characters were more fascinating or better developed. Emo doesn't mean deep or profound. I loved Luffy because he was fun loving and adventure seeking. I still enjoy him but I get annoyed with how selfish he is at times. Honestly he was my least favorite of Roof Piece because while other characters are working together, Luffy is not thinking of the consequences and his actions say screw the team.

Zoro is a fascinating character to me because he is similar to Vegeta and Piccolo, but he isn't a carbon copy of them. Oda didn't create him as a rival for Luffy. Instead he is his strongest supporter. Yet Zoro will also be stronger than many of Luffy's opponents by EOS. After all Luffy is gathering a crew that stands above all, so why not have his right hand man stand above other captains?

I am also drawn to Zoro for his stoicism. He can analyze a situation rather quickly and isn't afraid to tell the truth even when it is difficult. On top of that, he is the one who can carry a lot of burden or pain without complaint. His loyalty to his captain and crew is something that isn't always found in real life.

To conclude, Zoro also fascinates me because Oda uses the show don't tell method of writing. We see Zoro training, but we also see him become stronger with each fight he has had. We also see him interact with all of the SHs (some more than others). Each interaction shows us that the crew respects him. With Zoro's character, we don't just get information told to us from outside sources, his development happens in the manga.

 

[Finalbeta]

When I first started getting into anime and manga there was this fad that emo characters were more fascinating or better developed. Emo doesn't mean deep or profound. I loved Luffy because he was fun loving and adventure seeking. I still enjoy him but I get annoyed with how selfish he is at times. Honestly he was my least favorite of Roof Piece because while other characters are working together, Luffy is not thinking of the consequences and his actions say screw the team.

Zoro is a fascinating character to me because he is similar to Vegeta and Piccolo, but he isn't a carbon copy of them. Oda didn't create him as a rival for Luffy. Instead he is his strongest supporter. Yet Zoro will also be stronger than many of Luffy's opponents by EOS. After all Luffy is gathering a crew that stands above all, so why not have his right hand man stand above other captains?

I am also drawn to Zoro for his stoicism. He can analyze a situation rather quickly and isn't afraid to tell the truth even when it is difficult. On top of that, he is the one who can carry a lot of burden or pain without complaint. His loyalty to his captain and crew is something that isn't always found in real life.

To conclude, Zoro also fascinates me because Oda uses the show don't tell method of writing. We see Zoro training, but we also see him become stronger with each fight he has had. We also see him interact with all of the SHs (some more than others). Each interaction shows us that the crew respects him. With Zoro's character, we don't just get information told to us from outside sources, his development happens in the manga.

I have got this sensation too overall.

Vegeta and Zoro share a lot in common such as their proud, their lone wolf nature although that's more prominent for Vegeta, but Zoro also bears his own very peculiar style judging off the way he confronts his enemy and is even willing to let him trained by Mihawk putting pride aside for a while in order to reach his power goals. Also his multi-faceted personality, lone wolf like and yet so caring for the people of Wano.

 

[сука]

Cause ruffi is a hollow mascot for toddlers, injected with every shonen MC cliché possible. The reason you don't see people discussing him as much as Zoro is because infants don't tend to spend their time on forums/comment sections.

 

[Luffydom56]

Meanwhile me who visits tumblr/instagram and follow lots of japanese/korean/asian artists in twitter whose whole accounts are dedicated to Luffy.

Post automatically merged: Aug 11, 2021

Zoro = a man
Luffy = a condom

A man has worth without a condom however a condom has no worth without a man and also a liabilty on the man's manhood

 

[Dickie D. Dick]

Meanwhile me who visits tumblr/instagram and follow lots of japanese/korean/asian artists in twitter whose whole accounts are dedicated to Luffy.

Post automatically merged: Aug 11, 2021

Don't look at Don Le Fishe with disgust look he can't control himself!
STOP WITH THE FISH SHAMING!!! 😢🐠

 

[Roronoa W. Zoro]

Luffy is straight forward. A typical shouen protagonist. Nobody discusses whether he’ll beat Kaido or going to become Pirate King because we know he will, which makes him predictable. The most discussion you’ll get around him is whether he’s admiral/yonko level.

Zoro’s easily the most controversial character in op community. Even when he’s not in the chapter, discussions still become zoro related.

Furthermore, Zoro’s the most hyped up and downplayed character in the series. He’s at the centre of high tiers:

Zoro’s the middle child of the monster trio, so you have Luffy fans who don’t like ppl saying Zoro is equal to him or the rare fanboy that says Zoro stronger than Luffy. Sanji fans who are constantly downplaying Zoro, trying to say they’re equal and equate Zoro’s feats to Sanji. There was a time when Law vs Zoro was a common debate. Now there’s Kid fans, Yamato fans and King fans (mostly made up of Sanji fanboys/Zoro haters tbh) arguing that they’re stronger than Zoro. Kid is portrayed as one of Luffy’s rivals but do you see any Kid vs Luffy??

These fanbases attack Zoro fans because they view them as ‘toxic’, while ironically the haters can be even worse e.g. It went on for weeks how Zoro’s feats weren’t his and “it was enma” that fought Kaido. Zoro gets bandaged and they’re so many memes. Do you see that happen to Luffy or even Sanji?

Luffy might be the MC but when it comes to the Op community, Zoro’s the star.

 

[Hanners220]

Zoro is also a character that is comparable to Luffy and Sanji at different points throughout the story, which is a reason people discuss his character.

In Baratie, Sanji wants to follow his dream but he can't abandon Zeff. He observes the interactions between Krieg and Gin and the ones between Luffy and Zoro. Part of the reason Sanji leaves is he sees how Luffy and Zoro are different and stronger than Krieg and Gin. Luffy and Zoro have already decided to die for their dreams, while Sanji says it is ok to throw away your ambition. I am not trying to make this a Sanji hate post because I like the fact that he had someone who was holding him back as well as his own guilt about the situation. He needs to see Luffy fighting for others as well as his own dream before he can leave. Luffy and Zoro are unparalleled regarding their desire to follow their dreams.

Arlong Park is when Oda decided to start putting Zoro and Sanji on a more comparable level. It's possible that Oda's editors said it was better for the story for the main character to stand above his deutaroganist. A rivalry was still needed, so the most logical choice was Sanji.

The thing is while Sanji is strong, Zoro was critically wounded during Arlong Park. There was no way he could fight Arlong the same way that Luffy could. However, Oda emphasized just how terrified Arlong was of Zoro.

There are many more instances where Zoro is comparable to Luffy and Sanji.

TL;DR Zoro is comparable with both Luffy and Sanji throughout the story. These comparisons are canon and lead to a lot of discussion.