Roronoa Zoro is one of the main characters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece and he's a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Luffy. Zoro aims to become the strongest swordsman in the world by beating the one who currently holds that position, a man who goes by the name of Dracule Mihawk.
Over the course of nearly a thousand chapters, Zoro has had his fair share of incredible moments and also others where he just looked plain bad. Here are five best Zoro moments in the story so far and five things fans wish he'd rather not have done.
10 BEST: Ate Rika's Onigiri
One of the most beautiful moments featuring Roronoa Zoro comes at the beginning of One Piece where Zoro is tied up and set for execution because he defended a girl named Rika from Helmeppo.
During the time of his capture, Rika brings Zoro some Onigiri with sugar sprinkled on them instead of salt. Helmeppo, upon tasting them, stomps on them with his feet, however, later, Zoro eats the stomped Onigiri and makes sure to deliver his gratitude to Rika because he respects the effort and love put into making food for him. Although underrated, this is definitely one of the best Zoro moments in the story.
9 BAD: Got Stuck In A Chimney
One of the most embarrassing moments for Zoro in One Piece was when he attempted to fight Lucci and got thrown out of Galley-La building.
Although Zoro was fine for the most part, his stupidity led to him getting stuck in a chimney during a very important time. For a man who is serious all the time, this certainly wasn't a great showing.
8 BEST: Unwavering Conviction Vs. Mihawk
Zoro's fight against Mihawk was his first taste of what the strongest characters in the world are truly like. Upon crossing blades, Zoro immediately knew he was out of the league of the man who held the title of the strongest, however, he still didn't back down.
This is was because of two things in particular, according to Zoro, the first being his ambition to be the best, and the second being his promise to Kuina about rising to the top. Even in defeat, Zoro managed to impress Mihawk with his conviction.
7 BAD: Gender Bias
Contrary to popular belief, Zoro is a character who avoids hurting women at all costs because he considers them to be inferior. Although Zoro initially didn't carry these beliefs, Kuina's death gave a big blow to him.
When fighting the mercenaries on Whiskey Peak, Zoro used the blunt edge of the blade to attack women because they weren't worthy of being cut down. Zoro refused to use his swords against Miss Monday and attacked her with his hands, showing a lack of respect, and on Skypiea, he was annoyed at Enel attacking Robin because according to him, going easy on women is the right thing to do.
6 BEST: Cutting Steel
Possibly the greatest fight that Zoro has been in so far came against Mr. 1 of Baroque Works. Zoro started the fight as someone inferior to Mr.1, whose entire body was made of blades, thanks to the power of the Supa Supa no Mi.
However, his ambition made him grow stronger during the fight and he somehow managed to tap into a power similar to Haki that allowed him to defeat Mr.1. In the process, Zoro also managed to learn how to cut steel.
5 BAD: Cut Down A Galleon
Zoro's reintroduction after the time-skip was quite epic indeed as he recreated the famous scene of Mihawk's introduction during the Baratie arc where he chopped down Don Krieg's Dreadnought Sabre. Akin to Mihawk, Zoro chopped down a galleon to show fans a glimpse of how far he had come.
However, he did this just because he got on the wrong ship by his own mistake. While rules don't really apply to Zoro as he's a pirate, it certainly doesn't make him look good either.
4 BEST: Took Luffy's Pain
Perhaps the greatest Roronoa Zoro moment in the story so far comes from Thriller Bark, where Kuma attacked the crew and demanded the head of Straw Hat Luffy. To protect everyone and the ambition of his captain, Zoro stepped up to fight him and was ready to give his own dreams away.
This is especially moving because a man such as Zoro was willing to cut down anyone for his dreams once, however, making Luffy the Pirate King became just as important for him over time, if not more.
3 BAD: Didn't Kill Monet
One of the worst Zoro moments in the series comes during the Punk Hazard arc, where Zoro tells Luffy to take the New World seriously and get a hold of himself. Ironically, moments later, he fights Monet and, once again, because she's a woman, refuses to use Haki to cut her down.
Instead, he relied on fear and intimidation to make her stop in her tracks instead which, ultimately, could've led to the death of the entire Straw Hat crew along with hundreds of kids who were experimented on, had Caesar not accidentally stabbed Monet's heart.
2 BEST: Bowed Before Mihawk
Another incredible Zoro moment came shortly before the two-year time-skip in the story, where Zoro, after reading Luffy's message, decided to ask Mihawk to train him.
Although Mihawk initially rejects the proposal, he soon realized that Zoro was doing this for the sake of someone else, that is, his captain and his crewmates. For a man like him, swallowing his pride and asking his biggest rival to train him must've taken an incredible amount of courage.
1 BAD: Almost Ruined The Akazaya's Plan
Zoro, upon witnessing the death of Tonoyasu in Wano, took it upon himself to kill Kurozumi Orochi, the Shogun of Wano Country, in the streets of the Flower Capital. This rash decision of his would've destroyed every single thing that the samurai of Oden, the Akazaya Nine had planned for 20 years.
Zoro refused to hear Sanji's warnings and proceeded to attack Orochi, only to be stopped by Kyoshiro. Thanks to his intervention, Akazaya's plan stood intact and things didn't get unnecessarily complicated for the alliance.
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