 If I retreat even one step, my vow, my ambition, and my dream will be lost forever. One day we'll fight for the title. It's a promise. The world's greatest swordsman, the king of the pirates, is going to need him. He has to join my crew. However long it may take, I will await you at the top, strive to surpass me. This is my last chance. It's win or die. Greatest in the world, or death. Roa Noa Zora Bounty Hunter, alcohol, enthusiast, and profound dreamer. In fact, Zora's ever-expanding shoulders carry not just one, but two dreams. That of his childhood rival, Kawina, and that of his current captain, Monkey D. Luffy. Two different paths that will ultimately lead him to the same destination in order to challenge the world's greatest. Which is a journey that begins in a rather superficial way, really. Zora grew up in a tiny East Blue village in Oshimotski, studying swordsmanship at the local dojo. At this point, a miniature Zoro had an inexplicable lust for power and desire to become the world's greatest swordsman. Which served him very well, swiftly rising to a level of skill capable of defeating every other student, even the adults. However, there was one person in the village whom Zora could not defeat, being the Doja Master's daughter, Kawina. In fact, during their time together, Zora fought Kawina 2001 times, and he lost exactly 2001 of those matches. Highly frustrating for Zoro, and this feeling would be matched by Kawina, who concluded that Zora would eventually surpass her due to him being a boy. An idea that infuriated Zoro to no end, claiming that one day he would defeat Kawina through hard work alone, rather than genetics. The two of them then made a promise that one day they would fight each other for the title of world's greatest swordsman. Although in a case of very unfortunate timing, Kawina died the very next day. And after this tragic accident, Zora took up her sword and vowed to be the one to keep that promise. Embarking on a quest to become the world's greatest swordsman for both of them. A quest that would see him travel all across East Blue, primarily because Zoro, he lacked any sense of direction. He basically got lost, that's what I'm trying to say. And after an unsavory incident involving a man with a butt chin and his dog, Zora found himself being scheduled for execution. Only to be saved by a most unlikely man, boy thing, who was wearing a straw hat. Having heard word of a fearsome swordsman alone, Monkey D. Luffy had traveled to Shellstown, offering to free Zoro in exchange for becoming the first member to join the newly developed straw hat pirates. And when faced with the choice of dying right here and now, thus not keeping his promise, or initiating a rather abrupt career change to become a pirate, well, Zoro chose the latter. And thus the greatest doer when one piece was born, with Luffy not only supporting but insisting that Zoro become the world's best swordsman. Because the future pirate king would require nothing less than that. And unlike every other straw hat, Zoro would actually be given the opportunity to accomplish his dream extraordinarily early on. When the crew landed on the floating restaurant Baratier, and encountered a man named Dracula Miho, who just so happened to be the current wielder of the world's greatest swordsman title. Of course, Zoro immediately challenged him because, well, why not? I mean, one reason may have been because Zoro was wildly ill-equipped physically, mentally, or even sword's melee for this particular challenge. And to put this into some perspective, Dracula Miho was a world-renowned figure who had traveled the Grand Line and the New World, all on his own and in a teeny-tiny boat thing. And he was feared enough by the world government to have been made a wall of the sea, as well as a one-time sparring partner of one of the four emperors. Specifically, the one with the reddest of hair. Meanwhile, in the other corner, we had green hair, and under that green hair was Zoro. Who, well, by this point, the only thing he'd really done come to think of it was a defeat in acrobat on a unicycle. So this was hardly going to be the clash of the century. In fact, this was such a non-event that Miho refused to actually use a sword, instead deciding to wield this comically small knife thing. And what followed was something of a sick joke. With Zoro unable to overcome the glorified button knife, with the skills that he had been intensely training his whole life to acquire. However, the one thing that Zoro did have going for him was sheer spirit. No matter how outclassed he was, Zoro refused to back down. If I retreat even one step, my vow, my ambition, and my dream will be lost forever. And seeing a spark of potential within this otherwise pitifully weak man, Miho collected to reward Zoro by finishing him off with his actual sword, sending Zoro to the brink of death but not before issuing a challenge. Don't be in such a hurry to die, young warrior. However long it may take, I shall await you at the top. Strive to surpass me, Roan or Zoro. After which point, Zoro tearfully vowed to never lose again. Not just for himself, not just to fulfill Kuina's dream either, but also as a direct promise to Luffy. For his captain to become the Parrot King, Zoro would need to become the world's greatest swordsman. And, well, that was kind of that. It had to happen, so it was going to. From here on out, Zoro would fight wave after wave of opponents with renewed vigor. When thrown up against a foe with eight swords, Zoro simply stated, you may have eight swords, but they cannot compare to the weight behind my three. When thrown up against a man who could literally turn to steel, Zoro's resolve was such that he learned how to cut steel within that very battle. Whether it was a disciple of God, an elite world government assassin, or even the zombified remains of a samurai legend, Zoro never faltered, overcoming each and every one of them with a very simple philosophy. Even if most people would pass out from wounds like these, I cannot fall. Even if most people would die from wounds like these, I cannot fall. I have to defeat that man, so I cannot fall. However, Zoro's greatest challenge yet would come not in the form of a physical task, but rather a life-defining choice. On the rather quirky zombie-infested island of Thriller Bark, the Straw Hat Pirates found themselves caught in an exceptionally desperate situation. Having expended all of their energy on defeating one Warlord of the Sea, only to be immediately faced by another. A certain Bartholomew Kuma, a very intriguing man known as Cyborg, Manborg, a very intriguing Manborg, the Kuma basically offered the crew a compromise to spare all of their lives in exchange for handing over their Captain Luffy, which, well, it didn't go down well for anyone involved actually. The Straw Hat Pirates completely refused, thus thwarting Kuma's offer, and then they proceeded to be absolutely devastated by the Warlord, which they had no hope of victory against. In the end, only one remained standing, and rather appropriately, it was the person who had been consistently telling himself that he could not fall. Despite that creed, in this situation, defeat was inevitable. So Zoro had to make a decision. The choices in front of him were either to die in combat against an insurmountable opponent, thus leaving he and Kuina's ambition to become the world's greatest swordsman unfilled, or he could surrender the life of his Captain and forfeit Luffy's dream of becoming the Pirate King. And that's very much the problem of shouldering two dreams. They're not always going to be compatible. And at this very moment, Zoro needed to decide whose dream to abandon, the memory of Kuina or the future of Luffy. And all things considered, he came to a decision startlingly quickly. I can't say I'm as famous as Luffy, but if you consider that someday I would have been the world's greatest swordsman, then it can't be too much of a loss to you. Take my head instead. To which Kuma simply replied, Very well. I give you my word that I will not take the Head of Straw Hat Luffy today, but in exchange, I will give you a glimpse of Hell. At which point Kuma used his double fruit abilities to gather all of Luffy's pain, suffering and fatigue into a tangible bubble. To an already severely wounded Zoro, it was pretty much a big ball of death. It's very rare that you see such a straightforward interpretation like this in any kind of media. But in this moment, Zoro quite literally took on all of Luffy's burdens, his pain, his life, and most importantly, his dream. And after diving down into the pits of Hell, Zoro emerged on the other side, mere breaths away from death, but most importantly, still standing. Exactly how one human managed to survive this is unknown. Some credit raw durability, whilst others say that Zoro's sense of direction was so bad that he got lost on the way to Hell. However, to me, the answer is rather simple. Even if most people would die from wounds like these, I cannot fall. Those words have never and likely will never be more true than they were on that day. Through sheer ambition, Zoro had managed to preserve everything that he held dear. However, even loitering on the doorstep of death, the true ordeal was far from over. Having barely survived the chaos of Thriller Bark, the very next island would show no such mercy. After an incident involving a marine admiral and obese bodyguard, and the return of warlord Bartholomew Kuma, the straw hats were completely defeated and scattered throughout the world, with Zoro landing in a most intriguing location. Kuregana Island, better known as the home territory of the world's greatest swordsman, Dricul Mihawk. And as such, Zoro would be forced to confront his rival in the most sorry state of his entire existence. Yes, even more so than when he was crying on the boat. But in this case, he was still greatly wounded from Thriller Bark, still wielding nothing even close to the skill of Mihawk, and most importantly, he had failed to stay by his captain's side. And so on an island consisting of only his greatest rival, a miscellaneous ghost girl, and horde after horde of combat-savvy baboons, Zoro would swallow his pride and turn to the one he thought was capable of helping him most. It should be the baboons, actually. It's pretty funny. But after he dispatched all of the super-powered baboons, Zoro was left with no choice but to confront Mihawk. And in a rather stunning show of humility, Zoro met with his ultimate ambition and bowed before him. Quite different from their initial confrontation on Baratie, where Zoro rocked up to the world's greatest swordsman, proud and cocky, ready to take that title by force. But this time around, Zoro was an order of magnitude more wise. Knowing that no matter how strong he had become since Baratie, it was still nothing compared to the mountain yet to climb. Please teach me what you know. Teach me to surpass you. The statement which was met by a fit of laughter from Mihawk and to be fair, look, it is a completely absurd idea. Why train someone for the ultimate task of defeating you, the person who is doing the train? Seems very counterproductive. The thing is though, behind Zoro's words, Mihawk saw a deeper meaning. A proud man like Zoro would not simply bow before him for the sake of his own dream. There was another part to this equation, one that Mihawk knew had to do with the straw hat clad boy that he had also met on that fateful bright sunny day. And while the events of Thriller Bark are quite understood, this is definitely one of the most understated and underrated actions from Zoro. Within his personal code of honor, it's one thing to put your life on the line for the sake of another, very much akin and in line with the Japanese moral guidelines of Bushido, but it is completely another to admit your weakness and beg your greatest enemy to whip you into shape. And that's not very Bushido. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's quite Bushino. Regardless, Mihawk saw this greater drive and ultimately decided to train the man who would one day come to defeat him. And two years later, the results of that training were on full display when Zoro reunited with the crew, going on to display previously unimaginable skills and determined to go all the way this time. He would not be stopped again. This time, he was going to become the world's greatest swordsman and Luffy was going to become the pirate king. I will never lose again. From now till the day I beat him to become the world's greatest swordsman, I will never lose again. Got a problem with that, King of the Pirates? And so the journey continues, but to see journeys that may have not continued, then check out this video detailing some of the abandoned concepts of One Piece, including Zoro's original origins. Maybe redundant to say original origins. It doesn't matter. It's very intriguing stuff. So I look forward to seeing you there.