One Piece Anime

Roronoa Zoro (ロロノア・ゾロ?, spelled as "Corona Zolo" or "Roronoa Zorro" in some English adaptations), also known "Pirate Hunter Zoro" Zoro (海賊狩りのゾロ Kaizoku-Gari no Zoro?), is a fictional character in the One Piece. He was a pirate and a former bounty hunter.


He is one of the two swordsmen of the Straw Hat Pirates, the other being Brook. In the story, Zoro is the first to join Monkey D. Luffy after he is saved from being executed at the Marine Base. As a native to the East Blue, he came from the town known as Shimotsuki, where he trained in a dojo. He is an expert swordsman who uses three swords for his Santōryū (Three Sword Style), but is also capable of the one and two-sword styles(Ittoryu and Nitoryuu). He seems to be more comfortable and powerful using three swords, but he also uses one sword or two swords against weaker enemies. He usually keeps his Wadou Ichimonji on his mouth when he performs santoryuu. Before fighting Ryuuma he used to use his Wado Ichimonji as his first choice for one sword style but after the fight and especially after the two-year timeskip, he uses the black sword Shusui as his first choice of his one sword style.

His fame as a master swordsman and his great strength, along with the actions of his captain, sometimes led others to believe he was the true captain of the crew. He is one of the best three fighters in the crew alongside Luffy and Sanji, and his dream is to become the greatest swordsman in the one piece world. Zoro also inclueded as one of twelve pirates who are referred to as "The Worst Generation" (formerly known as "The Eleven Supernovas".

Zoro is a muscular young man with lightly tanned skin. He always carries his three swords along with him, bundled up with a green haramaki over his right hip, allowing him to easily draw them with his left hand. Of the three swords he has on his person, he has always been seen carrying the Wado Ichimonji, while his other two swords have varied over time due to them being destroyed and subsequently replaced with progressively better ones. Although his right hand is usually seen resting over them, he can also use this hand to pull his swords out before sitting down. He has three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe. Zoro normally keeps a black bandanna tied around his left bicep and ties it around his head when he is fighting seriously against an opponent.

Zoro is confident, but often acts in a very comical manner. He also has a terrible sense of direction which he is very insecure about since he never admits it when he gets lost, instead he always blames someone else. While the crew is out at sea, Zoro can be found (usually) sleeping or training towards his goal of becoming the world's best swordsman. He and Sanji have a great rivalry, often resorting to fighting (both verbally and physically) over issues from minor to extreme.

Zoro often also reminds others of the harsh facts, which often shocks some of the other crew members, although they usually decide he is right. Zoro is an atheist, because he stated that he does not pray to any god, and has never believed in anything except himself. Even so, Zoro knows that he still has a lot of untapped potential, and is constantly seen training and trying to improve his fighting skills. He also adheres to a strict sword master's code of honor, and never falsely brags or lies about his abilities, sometimes outright admitting a weakness, even to an enemy. He also never tries to escape from a fight or use trickery to win, believing that doing so is cowardly and scorning anyone who uses such tactics. Zoro is very vigorous, strong-willed, and determined.

He has a strong sense of leadership and reasoning. While technically not a samurai, Zoro maintains Bushido to a certain degree (e.g. he consistently refuses to attack an adversary whose back is turned, the only exception being when his friends are in imminent danger of losing their lives in which Zoro would strike the attacker from behind, and Zoro himself considers a scar on the back to be a swordsman's greatest shame). Whether he agrees with them or not, he will stand by Luffy's decisions, stepping in only to point out the seriousness of a situation where it has been overlooked by his crewmates (most notably when they wanted to bring Usopp back into the crew after Usopp challenged Luffy to a duel over the Going Merry and lost, even willing to quit the crew himself if Luffy just brushed the incident off because it betrayed his strong values in loyalty).

Zoro is very proud of the reputation he has built for himself both as a swordsman and as "The Pirate Hunter", starting with his Beli60,000,000 bounty which has quintupled since then. He also enjoys the fact that he has a higher bounty than Sanji. During the assault on Enies Lobby, one of the Marines referred to Zoro as "Luffy's underling" much to the delight of Sanji, who quickly became infuriated when Zoro pointed out that Sanji's lack of notoriety puts him below Zoro in status. Since then, once in a while to anger Sanji, Zoro will refer to him as "Pirate A". More recently he has been calling Sanji "#7", referring to his order of arrival at Sabaody. However, in spite of his personal pride and self-respect, Zoro has shown to be willing to lower himself to the ground in complete humility for the sake of his friends, as was seen when he begged Bartholomew Kuma to spare Luffy's life in exchange for his own (Zoro's). And then again when he shamelessly bowed before Dracule Mihawk, begging the Shichibukai who is his enemy, to train him in the ways of the sword.

Unarguably an extremely powerful and strong young fighter with immense potential, Zoro is one of the Straw Hat Pirates' top three fighters, and his strength is considered so great that, when taking his stern personality into account, people occasionally mistake him as the captain of the Straw Hat Crew after witnessing his skills in battle. While Luffy always fights the strongest enemy, Zoro usually fights the second strongest enemy. Although Zoro and Sanji would usually let their rivalry impede their fighting performances, they have proven to be a near-unstoppable force if they agree to cooperate for the battle, as seen when they instantly turned the tables against the Groggy Monsters.

Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy (モンキー・D・ルフィ Monkī Dī Rufi?) is a fictional character and the hero of the One Piece manga establishment made by Eiichiro Oda. Luffy is introduced in One Piece chapter 1 "Romance Dawn" (Romance Dawn - 冒険の夜明 Romansu Dōn - Bōken no Yoake?), it was first published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on July 19, 1997, as a young boy whose body gains the properties of rubber after he accidentally  eats a supernatural fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit (Goma-Goma or Rubber), one of many Devil Fruits that can be found in the One Piece world.


In One Piece, Luffy sails from the East Blue to the Grand Line in search of the legendary treasure called One Piece to succeed Gol D. Roger as the King of the Pirates. He is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and along his adventure, he recruits new crew members with unique abilities and personalities. He fights several antagonists, such as the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the World Government, during his travels, while also aiding and befriending the locals of various islands. Luffy has a nonchalant demeanor but is quick to become serious whenever he senses that a friend is in danger. Luffy is able to use the elasticity of his body to concentrate his strength and power to execute a diverse range of attacks, the most prominent being his signature Gum-Gum Pistol, in which Luffy slingshots his punches at opponents from a distance.

As the main charachter, Luffy appears in most of the episodes, films, television specials, and OVAs of the anime series One Piece, as well as several of the franchise's video games. Due to the series' international popularity, Luffy has become one of the most recognizable and iconic anime characters in history. Outside the One Piece franchise, Luffy has had an appearance in the crossover manga Cross Epoch, and in a collaborative one-shot manga with Toriko. He has also been the subject of other parodies, and has appeared in various special events throughout Japanese pop culture

Gol D. Roger was known as the Pirate King, the strongest and most infamous pirate to have sailed the Grand Line. The capture and death of Roger by the World Government brought a change throughout the world. His last words before his death revealed the location of the greatest treasure in the world, One Piece. It was this revelation that brought about the Grand Age of Pirates, men who dreamed of finding One Piece (which promises an unlimited amount of riches and fame), and quite possibly the most coveted of titles for the person who found it, the title of the Pirate King.

Enter Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy that defies one's standard definition of a pirate. Rather than the popular persona of a wicked, hardened, toothless pirate who ransacks villages for fun, Luffy’s reason for being a pirate is one of pure wonder; the thought of an exciting adventure and meeting new and intriguing people, along with finding One Piece, are his reasons of becoming a pirate. Following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Shanks, Luffy and his crew travel across the Grand Line, experiencing crazy adventures, unveiling dark mysteries and battling strong enemies, all in order to reach One Piece!

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Eiichiro Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump at a young age. As a child he was inspired by Vikings and he aspired to become a manga artist. Later, he created Pandaman for Yudetamago's Kinnikuman. In 1992, Oda at the age of 17, submitted the manga called Wanted!. This got him notice to join the staff, at the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, where he became an assistant under several established manga writers including Shinobu Kaitani, Masaya Tokuhiro and finally Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Oda had interest in making a pirate manga both from his obsession with vikings as a young man and inspired by various pirate events including the discovery of the pirate ship of Edward Teach (known by his pirate name of "Blackbeard"). He wrote two separate one-shots in the mid-1990s, both of which were called "Romance Dawn". The stories introduced Monkey D. Luffy, a straw-hat wearing boy who set out to sea to become a legendary pirate. Several concepts of the eventual serialization appeared in these stories, including Luffy's inspiration for being a pirate and a mysterious power he gained from eating a special fruit that turned his body into rubber (a prototype for the Devil Fruit).

In August 1997, Oda took many of his "Romance Dawn" ideas and started using them in a weekly serial under the title "One Piece". It was first serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, the weekly shonen magazine owned by Shueisha. The series quickly caught on and became popular from the initial chapters on, establishing itself as one of the premiere manga series in the magazine.

Originally, Oda wanted his series to run for 5 years (meaning One Piece could have ended in 2002), but he went longer than expected and has no idea how many more years his story will be. However, it should be noted that Oda has stated that the end of Chapter 597 marks the end of the first half of One Piece. Oda has already planned the ending for One Piece. Despite how long it will take him to complete it, he will end One Piece the way he planned from the start.

Plot

The current story takes place 800 years after the Great Kingdom fall and the World Government takes over the world stage and 22 years after Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, was executed and inspired the Golden Pirate Age. After his death, countless Pirates set out to find his greatest treasure: One Piece. The story begins before the Battle of Marineford. A seven year old boy name Monkey D. Luffy from East Blue was inspired by the pirate Shanks, who turned out to be the former Cabin Boy of Gol D. Roger, and during this time he accidentally ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. He yearns to become the Pirate King. Ten years later, he sets out from Foosha Village and during his adventures, Luffy gathers a crew and faces many challenging trials.