 A wound that would make an ordinary man unconscious, I won't lose to it. A wound that would kill an ordinary person, I won't lose to it. To face one who is extraordinary, I can't allow myself to be ordinary. Hello and welcome to One Piece 101, the series that breaks down every one and everything in the One Piece world. Today we are going to be examining the unofficial vice captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, the swordsman Roanoa Zoro. Roanoa Zoro is a rather stoic and serious individual whose dream is to become the world's greatest swordsman. This dream began during his childhood where he trained at a dojo in Shimotsuki Village in East Blue. Here Zoro grew powerful enough to beat most adult students, however there still remained one individual who Zoro could not overcome, the dojo master's daughter, Kuina. With Zoro's drive to be the best on full display, in total he challenged Kuina to two thousand and one matches and proceeded to lose all two thousand and one. After the final match which was the only one conducted with real swords, Zoro cried out in frustration and confessed his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman. Following this, Kuina confided that she had the same dream, however her quest would be impossible as her father had told her that women cannot become true sword masters. Zoro annoyed that he was being beaten repeatedly by someone with such a defeatist nature then claimed that he would one day defeat her not because she was a girl but because he would be more skilled. The two then made a promise that either one of them had to become the world's greatest swordsman in the future. Sadly this promise didn't get off to the greatest of starts as the very next day Kuina suffered a fatal fall down some stairs. Zoro then inherited Kuina's sword the Wadawichi Monji and resolved to become the world's greatest swordsman to fulfill both of their dreams. Now here I should point out that achieving that dream is fairly simple on paper. One simply needs to defeat the current world's greatest swordsman in order to gain the title and eventually Zoro learned the name of the man he had to surpass which was Dracul Mihawk. He then set out to see in search of Mihawk but was never able to return home because he got lost. Zoro's sense of direction is actually notoriously poor and he is incapable of taking even the most basic of instruction. It's actually so bad that there have been situations in which characters have quite literally pointed in the direction he needs to go and Zoro has gone in the complete opposite way. Generally this quirk is used as more of a gag but in this case it's actually quite vital to his history as due to not being able to find his way home Zoro decided to make a living as a bounty hunter. Eventually Zoro grew notorious enough that he was given the epithet of pirate hunter and was even offered a job by then warlord of the sea Sir Crocodile and Zoro was even prepared to accept the position on the condition that he was made the boss of the organization. The agent offering Zoro the position then refused and allegedly Zoro proceeded to kill him in self-defense. Some time later Zoro found himself in Shellstown and after an altercation involving an innocent girl being attacked by this pricks dog Zoro was tied to a wooden pole crossed thingy for a month. It should be noted that Zoro agreed to this punishment in order to preserve his reputation in the eyes of the Marines and be able to continue his bounty hunter lifestyle. However nine days into his sentence everything changed when a boy by the name of monkey D. Luffy invited him to become the first member of his new pirate crew. Zoro like most reasonable human beings refused this offer outright at first however after a dastardly plot to execute Zoro was uncovered he accepted Luffy's invitation and the two of them proceeded to wreck face. Over time as a member of the straw hat pirate Zoro's true nature has emerged showing him to be a much more fun loving individual than we would have previously thought and although he does remain the most serious member of the crew he is exceptionally tolerant of their antics and is capable of highly comical anger as well as a wide array of other quirks that make him a perfect fit within this band of misfits. However one of Zoro's most defining traits is that of honor and loyalty. As a swordsman Zoro follows the strict code of Bushido refusing to engage in underhanded tactics in battle believing that a scar on a swordsman's back is a sign of shame. Zoro is also fiercely loyal and obeys his captain's commands without question even if he personally disagrees with them. More often than not though Zoro has complete faith and belief in Luffy making them an exceptionally powerful pair. Now Zoro is also particularly unique because he was given the chance to make his dream a reality very very early on in the series when by chance the straw hats encountered Dracula Mihawk during the Baratier arc. Zoro challenged Mihawk instantly who absolutely obliterated him with nothing but his cogotana. Once Zoro realized his defeat he presented himself to Mihawk in order to be dealt the final blow. Mihawk impressed by Zoro's honor as a swordsman rewarded him by using his famed sword Yoru to finish the fight. Mihawk then set Zoro a challenge to surpass him and Zoro tearfully exclaimed to Luffy that he would never lose again. And thus far Zoro has made good on that promise encountering stronger and stronger enemies as the straw hat sailed through a sploo and into the grand line managing to dispatch each and every one of his opponents using his signature combat style known as Santoryu. Performing this martial art requires wielding one sword in each hand as well as one rather unconventionally in his mouth. And look it doesn't seem that odd anymore after 900 chapters but this is incredibly weird and we should never forget that. However Santoryu is undeniably cool and gives Zoro access to a whole host of offensive and defensive maneuvers due to the extra sword. With that said Zoro has also proven to be a master of Itoryu and Nitoru which are one and two sword styles respectively meaning that Zoro doesn't necessarily need to use all three swords at any given time. In fact despite being a swordsman Zoro doesn't need any blades to fight whatsoever as he also uses the backup style of Mutoryu literally no sword style. Finally Zoro also has access to Cutoryu meaning nine sword style. I should stress that very little is actually known about the logistics of this but essentially Zoro is able to produce copies of his arms as well as his swords which are somehow not illusions and are capable of dealing actual damage substantially increasing Zoro's range of abilities. Zoro's progress as a swordsman through the grand line has also earned him the ability to cut steel as well as a bounty of 120 million berries prior to the time skip. His connection to his crewmates has also deepened during the journey especially towards Luffy for whom at one stage Zoro was ready and willing to sacrifice his life in order to ensure the safety of his captain. This was even taken a step further after the straw hats were forcibly separated on Sarbadi Akipelago. Zoro was sent to Kurogana Island by Bartholomew Kuma which is more commonly known as the home of Drekyl Mihawk. After some time Zoro came to the realization of exactly how weak he was and decided to beg Mihawk to train him so that he could become stronger for Luffy's sake. Zoro then spent two years training under Mihawk before reuniting with the straw hats proving to be significantly stronger, faster and able to use observation and armor mentality the latter of which he generally imbues into his swords. As the straw hats traveled through Fishman Island and into the new world Zoro has displayed pure dominance over his encountered opponents as he continues to make good on his promise to never lose again as well as to make way towards his ultimate dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman. Some more fun facts about Zoro, after the time skip Zoro appeared with a scar running vertically down his left eye. How the scar was attained is currently unknown. At the time of this recording Zoro has used a total of eight swords, those being his current lineup of the Wadawichi Monji the Sundaikitesu and Shusui as well as Yubashiri, two miscellaneous swords that were destroyed by Mihawk and Johnny and Yosaku's blades. This number increases to 10 if we count the two random marine cutlassers during the tail end of the Enisobi arc and a mighty 11 if we count Hana Arashi literally meaning Nose Storm which was the result of Usopp holding the Yubashiri while Zoro wielded Usopp himself. Following the dress Rosa Arc, Zoro's strength was further recognized by the world government and his bounty was raised to 320 million berries. Roa no Azoro's name is based on the real-life French pirate whose name I am going to undoubtedly butcher François Lollonais. Originally Zoro was planned to be introduced as part of Buggy's crew in which he would have been a bodyguard however this idea was scrapped for the much better introduction taking place at Shellstown. According to Oda if the Straw Huts were to run a 50 meter race Zoro would finish fifth but also stress that it's very important that it's only a 50 meter race because if it were any longer Zoro would simply get lost. And finally a truly useless fact, Zoro is the only one-piece character to have ever been referenced on The Simpsons specifically in the Treehouse of Horror 25 episode where one of many incarnations of the family featured Homer in Zoro's post timeskip attire. And that pretty much does it for Roa no Azoro. If you enjoyed this video then please feel free to like favorite or subscribe and if you are in any way inclined to support this independent channel then please feel free to check out my Patreon Discord server or Twitter the links to which are in the handy description below. And finally please do comment with who, what or where you'd like to see featured in the next One Piece 101