Zoro is one of the most important characters created by Oda in One Piece. He is a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and a powerful swordsman who aims to become the greatest of all by defeating Dracule Mihawk. At the same time, Zoro also aims to help Luffy become the King of the Pirates and accomplish his dream. Given that he is a part of the Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro is exceptionally important to the story. However, even among the members of the crew, there are some who represent the core of One Piece more than others.
The East Blue 5 are especially important to the story and given that Zoro was the first of them all to join Luffy on his journey to become the Pirate King, he holds special importance in the crew. Zoro has already become a master swordsman and, currently, he is worthy of being compared with some of the strongest characters in the entire story. However, his journey to this point wasn't simple. Zoro's past is what defines his current greatness and is key to his character.
Zoro's Time In Shimotsuki Village
Zorro hails from a small village in the East Blue known as Shimotsuki village. This village was founded by none other than a member of the Shimotsuki Clan from the land of Wano. According to Oda, a member of this clan, namely Shimotsuki Kozaburo departed illegally from the land of Wano and settled in the East Blue. He established this village and, shortly afterwards, a dojo as well. His son, Koushiro was the head of the dojo when Zorro was a kid. One day, Zoro showed up at the dojo in a quest to become stronger. He challenged the strongest samurai there and while he did manage to beat quite a lot of them, Zoro always fell short of defeating Kuina.
The two fought so many battles that they ended up becoming serious rivals and, surprisingly, despite Zoro's tremendous physical strength, he was unable to beat her even once in combat. Eventually, Zoro trained harder and started wielding three swords because he believed that the more swords he carried, the higher his chances of getting stronger would become. Despite that, Zoro was unable to defeat Kuina. While he held some kind of envy towards her to an extent as a kid, which is fairly normal, Zoro also admired her quite a lot.
When Kuina's father told her that she can never be the strongest swordsman in the world because she was born a woman, it was Zoro who extended a hand to her and the two promised to each other that one of them would become the strongest swordsman in the world. Zoro and Kuina fought their last fight that night, which ended in Zoro losing once again, for the 2001st time.
Unfortunately, Kuina ended up dying shortly afterwards the reason was rather bizarre. According to her father, she died due to a fall from the stairs, and, even for someone as powerful as her, a minor fall was enough to kill her. This was a turning point in Zoro's life as it reinforced the idea that humans are very fragile in his mind and no matter what, that can occur at any point. To an extent, this also reinforced what Kuina said about being born weak as a woman in Zoro's head, which also explains why Zorro is always hesitant to strike women.
Most importantly, however, this prompted Zoro to ask Koushiro for Kuina's sword, the Wado Ichimonji. This sword represents the promise that the two made shortly before her death and is extremely important to Zoro. In the time that followed, Zoro became exceptionally powerful and eventually headed out to sea to fulfill the promise that he once made to his best friend, and that is to become the greatest swordsman of all time. To do this, Zoro had to defeat the man currently holding the title, Dracule Mihawk.
Zoro's Departure
Shortly after Zoro departed from the village, he ended up getting lost and, as things progressed, Zoro had no food or money to survive. The departure became disastrous for him, however, this is when he decided to become a bounty hunter. This way, he could make a living while chasing Dracule Mihawk. At the same time, he would also get stronger by defeating pirates and testing his skill against them. It wasn't long until Zoro made a name for himself as the Pirate Hunter. He was famous all over the East Blue and was one of the most renowned men in the entire sea. At some point, Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, tried to recruit him for Baroque Works. He sent Mr. 7 on a mission to recruit Zoro and he responded that he would only join the organization if he was allowed to become its leader.
Combat ensued between Mr. 7 and Zoro which resulted in the death of the former. Mr. 7 would then be replaced by a new man, who fans later saw in the Alabasta arc of the story. Eventually, Zoro found his way to Shell's Town, where, as fate would have it, he met Luffy and ended up embarking on a journey that would turn the world upside down in the future. Zoro's story is a tale of promise, courage, loyalty, and unwavering determination, and for that reason, he remains to be one of the very best characters in the entirety of One Piece.