Roronoa Zoro Is the Swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates and the very first character who joined Luffy on his journey to become the Pirate King. Zoro is an exceptionally important character and one of the two Wings of Luffy. He holds his very own lofty dreams and ambitions as he wants to become the Strongest Swordsman in the World to fulfill his promise to his deceased best friend, Kuina. At the same time, Zoro also wants to make Luffy the King of the Pirates and, that is the essence of his character, for the most part.
Zoro is a phenomenal character whose story is one of hard work and the willpower to never give up, along with self-sacrifice and honoring loved ones. It is no surprise that Zoro is widely loved by One Piece fans, however, it was rather strange that up until this point in the story, nothing was known about his family at all. That changed recently as Oda finally revealed all the secrets about his family in the latest SBS corner.
Zoro's Ancestor Ryuma
Zorro shares his lineage with the legendary swordsman of Wano Country, Shimotsuki Ryuma. Fans know Ryuma from the Thriller Bark arc, where it was revealed that Moria had stolen the corpse of the legendary samurai and reanimated it with Brook's shadow. Ryuma was a legendary samurai and one who was honored as the God of the Blade back in the day. It is not known when exactly he existed, however, it is possible that he lived during the time of the Void Century. Ryuma once slew a giant dragon in Wano, which earned him a great reputation. This, however, was just one of the many great achievements of the swordsman Ryuma.
Ryuma's clan, the Shimotsuki, preserved their bloodline and were active until recently in the story. It was a twist of fate that Zoro came face to face with Ryuma during the Thriller Bark arc and only in Wano was it finally revealed that Zoro and Ryuma share quite a lot of similarities. For one, both of them have very similar fighting styles. What's more, Hyogoro revealed on Onigashima that just like Zoro, Ryuma was also a one-eyed samurai.
Zoro's Connection To Shimotsuki Ushimaru
Zoro doesn't just share a connection with Shimotsuki Ryuma. In the Wano Country arc, the fact that Zoro looked identical to Shimotsuki Ushimaru was brought to light. However, no more context on this was given to the fans, that is, until the recent SBS corner of volume 105 of the One Piece manga. In it, Oda revealed a detailed family tree of Roronoa Zoro, and it is now been confirmed that Zoro actually does share blood with Ushimaru. Nearly 50 years ago, a ship left the land of Wano illegally and settled in the East Blue. The manga went on to reveal that this ship carried Shimotsuki Kozaburo, a legendary swordsmith from Wano. However, he was not the only member of the Shimotsuki clan on the ship.
It was revealed in the SBS that a woman named Shimotsuki Furiko was also aboard the ship. This woman is none other than Zoro's very own grandmother. She also happens to be the elder sister of Shimotsuki Ushimaru, who Zoro looks very similar to. When Kozaburo got to East Blue, he established his own village and named it Shimotsuki Village. There, he also established a Dojo and later, his son, Shimotsuki Koshiro was seen heading it. Meanwhile, Furiko, Zoro's grandmother, got married to a swordsman in the village named Roronoa Pinzoro, and that is exactly where the family name of Roronoa comes from. This name was then passed down and eventually found its way to Zoro, everyone's favorite Straw Hat swordsman.
Zoro's Father
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Zoro's family tree goes on to reveal that Shimotsuki Furiko and Roronoa Pinzoro had a child and they named him Roronoa Arashi. Very little was revealed about Arashi, Zoro's father, however, it can be assumed that he was either a samurai or someone who, at the very least, studied the blade, given that both his parents were proud samurai. What fans do know about Arashi, however, is the fact that he died in a battle against pirates in the East Blue at an unknown point in time. Before Arashi died, however, he got married to a woman named Terra. Just like Arashi, Terra does not have much revealed about her. Oda only mentions that she was the daughter of thieving bandits and most likely fell in love with Arashi. Together, the two had a child and this child was named Roronoa Zoro.
Soon after, Terra got extremely sick and succumbed to her illness, orphaning Zoro in the process. It isn't known if Terra died shortly after childbirth or if she raised Zoro until a certain point in time. Zoro then went on to study the way of the blade in the Shimotsuki Dojo in the village and it is there that he met his cousin, Kuina. Whether Zoro knows of the fact that Kuina and he were related by blood remains to be seen. Regardless, fans finally know the entire family tree of Roronoa Zoro and it can now be said that Zoro, too, has an interesting past.