History Characters / OnePieceRoronoaZoro

* {{Foil}}:
** As TheLancer, he's a neat contrast to Luffy in many ways; a former bounty hunter with an outwardly stern and menacing disposition who actually resembles the traditional pirate far more than Luffy does due to Luffy's own cheerful demeanor.
** To Sanji as well. Zoro mostly fights with tools in his hands and pulls a lot of his strength from his arm muscles, while Sanji fights by using his legs. Zoro often ends up severely injured during his fights, but he often defeats his enemies after getting one clean hit on them; Sanji often doesn't get as injured as much as Zoro, but his enemies are only beaten after getting kicked several times by him. Zoro is unaware of his heritage [[spoiler:as a descendant of the Shimotsuki clan]] and doesn't care anyway, while Sanji is aware of his heritage as member of the Vinsmoke family and he hates it. Zoro doesn't show any open interest in women, while Sanji is a prime example of man simping for women.

* OneHitKill: Downplayed, and it's not often noticeable because of how long Zoro's fights tend to be, but Zoro generally defeats his opponents after getting one good critical hit at the opponent. There are multiple instances of his opponents either being too fast or too far away or completely impervious to his slashes. Once he actually manages to figure out how to cut the enemy or finds the right opportunity, they usually fall over and are defeated. Enemies who are too powerful for Zoro completely avoid being defeated by him. By contrast, Zoro has to endure lots of different injuries during his fights, and even when he fought against Mihawk and lost, it took one stab and multiple cuts to make Zoro fall.

** The blue to Luffy's red. Albeit both are reckless and always looking for a fight, Zoro is calm and stoic while Luffy is constantly energetic and emotional.
** And a much bigger Blue to Sanji's Red, Zoro is grumpy, stoic and hides his affection towards his crewmates with actions as opposed to words. His most powerful techniques are reliant on a cool head and cold, steely focus. However, with him and Sanji's case, it gets switched around when they fight, with Sanji often becoming the tactical, [[SpannerInTheWorks villain-spanning]] Blue Oni while Zoro becomes the [[BloodKnight fight-happy]] Red Oni if suitably provoked. Post-TimeSkip: In an extended scene in episode 519 of the anime, when [[VitriolicBestBuds he and Sanji]] [[VolleyingInsults start fighting]], Zoro has a blue aura and Sanji has a red one. The [[PlayedForLaughs battle fury is so intense]] that all that is seen are the two {{Battle Aura}}s colliding with each other.

* {{Foil}}: As TheLancer, he's a neat contrast to Luffy in many ways; a former bounty hunter with an outwardly stern and menacing disposition who actually resembles the traditional pirate far more than Luffy does due to Luffy's own cheerful demeanor.

** Zoro is usually calm, at most getting excited when he's fighting a strong opponent, but when [[spoiler: all of Ebisu Town's inhabitants laugh at Yasuie's death, he gets visibly angry and upset]].

* MasterSwordsman: Zoro is already considered a master at his "Three Sword" style and his ultimate goal is to become the greatest swordsman in the world. He was also trained by ''the'' MasterSwordsman of the setting – Dracule "Hawk Eye" Mihawk.

* MasterSwordsman: Zoro's ultimate goal. He was also trained by ''the'' MasterSwordsman of the setting – Dracule "Hawk Eye" Mihawk.

* MrFanservice: Zoro is an attractive man with a muscular and well proportioned body and there are many scenes, while he's fighting or training, in which he doesn't wear anything on his torso.

* NeverGetsDrunk: One of the greatest examples. Zoro can hold ridiculous amounts of alcohol.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: At the beginning of the series, Zoro already has a reputation as a top tier swordsman in the East Blue and a dangerous pirate hunter. Most of his battles end in [[SingleStrokeBattle single stroke]] and he's more feared than Luffy, who is initially seen as a nobody. When faced against Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in the world, it turns out to be a complete and utter curb stomp with Mihawk deflecting all of Zoro's strikes with a tiny knife. When he enters the Grand Line, Zoro encounters opponents that give him a run for his money.

* SpiderSense: Obtained the Observation Haki during the Timeskip, which functions similarly to spider sense.

* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: He has no skills beyond fighting (and drinking). While all of the other Straw Hats have responsibilities like medicine, navigation or sharpshooting with the cannons, the only thing he does is guard the ship and try not to get lost. Like Luffy, it is safe to say he probably would've starved to death if he didn't join the Straw Hats when he did.

** By the Egghead Island arc, the rest of the crew are actively ''refusing'' to have him help look for someone on the grounds that ''they'd have to find '''him''' in the process''.

** In Skypeia, Zoro, who is in a group with Nami and Robin, gives a Tarzan yell while swinging on a vine, declaring it the right way to swing from a vine. Later, Luffy, who's in a team with Usopp and Sanji, does the same thing when he swings from a vine himself.

** When Luffy and Nami [[spoiler: are captured, imprisoned and restrained by Big Mom's crew, Luffy intends to get out by tearing off his arms, which is very similar to Zoro, who intended to cut off his legs to escape Mr. 3's Giant Candle Service Set.]]

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Zoro and Sanji, who generally bicker with each other, face the Groggy Monsters durin the Davy Back Fight. The latter's coordination almost beat Zoro and Sanji, who instead spend the first half of the fight yelling at each other, until the duo decides to make a break from their rivalry and completely beat their enemies.

** While most fights might downplay how badly Luffy and others, it's kinda hard to do with Zoro, as he almost always fights swordsmen. This makes him more and more a terror to fight as the series continues, particularly against rival swordsmen.

* ButtMonkey: While not the worst amongst the crew, he's definitely the butt of a lot of jokes and gets into a lot of weird situations. He's also the most frequent victim of Luffy's recklessness, including being rammed by a beached sailboat that Luffy is steering or getting knocked off the Merry into the sea during a nap because Luffy swung his arm too hard. Getting stuck in a chimney in Water 7 is yet another weird example. He was also run over by his own ship at one point. There are also the numerous times he's [[NoSenseOfDirection gotten lost]], in ways that shouldn't be [[EpicFail physically possible]] and his crew never letting him live it down.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Despite being aware of Mihawk's fame, Zoro challenges him for the title of the world's strongest swordsman. Mihawk accepts, but decides to use only his smallest knife since he doesn't consider Zoro worth using anything bigger on, (heck, he even considers using that one overkill and admits he would've use a smaller blade if he had one), and completely defeats Zoro with it.