The King of Hell and First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro is a name feared across the seas. While he starts out as the Pirate Hunter, Zoro quickly becomes one of Luffy’s most stalwart crew member. Throughout the journey to become the greatest swordsman, Zoro has some of the best fights in One Piece, all ranked here!
Warning that this article contains spoilers for One Piece through Chapter 1092 of the manga. It is available to read on Viz and MangaPlus online, so catch up!
11. Escaping Shells Town
It might not be the most involved battle, but it does give some great teamwork between Luffy and Zoro. After he takes the offer to join Luffy when he’s taken down from the post in Shells Town, there’s another obstacle Zoro must overcome. Ax-Hand Morgan has been terrorizing the base for far too long, and Zoro intends to take him down along with Luffy. It’s more of a showcase of the two of them fighting, but Zoro does get a great chance to show off his three-sword style for the first time.
10. Zoro vs Kuro
Kuro isn’t going to be the one Zoro defeats, but he will warm the Black Cat Captain up for Luffy to finish the job after him. Zoro gives Kuro a damn good fight too, driving him against a wall for quite some time before eventually having to tag out. Their fight is short, but it accomplishes what Zoro needs it to and holds off the villain long enough for Luffy to get there and finish him with Gum-Gum Bell.
9. Hatchan vs Zoro
Even though Zoro is heavily injured from his fight with Mihawk at the Baratie, he faces down Hatchan in Arlong Park. With only one sword through most of the fight though, it’s a difficult struggle against Hatchan’s Six Sword Style. Zoro reopens his wounds, putting himself in even more danger as the fight rages on. It’s only through the help of Johnny and Yosaku, bounty hunters who lend Zoro their swords, that he’s able to pull out the win. Zoro, finally able to take control with his Three Sword Style, cuts Hachi down in one move before collapsing himself.
8. Punk Hazard: Zoro Vs Monet
Almost every character in Punk Hazard threw hands with Monet at some point. Zoro was the only one to so brutally disrespect her though. Despite the Snow-Snow Fruit powers Monet possessed, Zoro was able to cut through her with his swords like she was just a snowman. Then Monet tries to fly away from the battle and Zoro straight up chases her down, that’s not even the greatest flex he pulls in this fight either.
When he cuts her down, Zoro tells her that she’s nothing more than any other filthy beast he’s cut down. If that’s not the coldest goddamn thing on Punk Hazard, then what is? He straight up leaves Monet there after cutting her down too, still alive but barely. Then Caesar stabs her heart and kills her, thinking it will be Law’s. The Snow-Snow Fruit doesn’t protect from that kind of chill.
7. Whiskey Peak: Zoro Wipes Baroque Works
This is one of the single most badass pieces of character development in early One Piece. After Zoro got sidelined for a lot of later East Blue thanks to his injuries from Mihawk, the Straw Hats first stop in the Grand Line gave him a workout. The Baroque Works agents undercover there ply the Straw Hats with food and booze to get them to drop their guard but heavily underestimate Zoro’s alcohol tolerance. When they try to attack them during the night, Baroque Works are the ones who end up needing help.
Zoro mops the entire island with every single Baroque Works member there. It’s ridiculous how fast he does it too, with literally everyone knocked out before Luffy can even wake up to use the bathroom. Once he does and sees the amount of carnage around them, Luffy starts to fight Zoro without realizing what happened. It’s just a ridiculous moment in the early Straw Hat Pirates but is classic One Piece.
6. Zoro vs Kaku
Kaku is just one of the best foils for Zoro out of quite a few characters. The Cipher Pol 0 agent uses the Four Sword Style, one more than Zoro, and thinks that makes him better. Unfortunately for Kaku, that isn’t quite how it works, and everyone but him thinks Giraffes are stupid. The guy just can’t win, and then Zoro comes in to disrespect him even more by insulting his sword style AND Devil Fruit, all in one.
Their fight across Enies Lobby is legendary, and they destroy just as much of the place as Luffy and Lucci by the end. Zoro manages to cut through an entire tower on the island of justice too, before the fight finally gets into the endgame. When he finally does take Kaku out, it becomes a matter of making it out with the others. The two also have a mini-rematch later on Egghead Island, but it ends up with Kaku sent after Zoro to babysit. But their previous fight is definitely one of best fights yet in the series.
5. Daz Bones vs Zoro
The infamous Mister One of Baroque Works versus the Pirate Hunter is a defining fight of Alabasta. Daz Bones is the natural matchup for Zoro, with his Edge-Edge Fruit making him a living sword. The two fight hard, Zoro unable to overcome the ridiculous edge of his enemy and near defeat when he finally realizes what he needs to do. The entire fight is intense, but the ending is where things become absolutely insane.
Zoro channels all of his energy, listening in close to the sound of everything around him. With one slice, in his final move against Daz Bones, Zoro discovers how to cut through something as hard as steel. This is just one of his first milestones in his mission to surpass Mihawk, and he passes it with flying colors while cutting down the Baroque Works member. That’s why this is considered one of the best fights of Zoro.
4. Zoro vs Mihawk
Nobody said Zoro has to win for it to be one of best fights. When he faces down Mihawk outside of the Baratie, saying he means to be the World’s Greatest Swordsman, everyone thinks Zoro is insane. They’re right too, as he’s majorly out of his league going up against the Warlord of the Sea so early in his journey. There’s absolutely no way he can take on Mihawk, and the Warlord knows it just as well as he does, deciding to fight him with just a knife.
Mihawk kicks Zoro’s ass every which way on the deck of Baratie, sending the Pirate Hunter into a near-death state. Despite how ridiculously outmatched he is, Zoro still stands up and offers to take the final cut head-on. It’s enough to earn Mihawk’s respect, and Zoro is spared to pursue his dream of defeating him another day. It’s a major point in the character of Zoro, and pivotal to the journey he’s on to become stronger.
3. Zoro Wins against Shusui from Ryuma
Thriller Bark is just one of the best arcs One Piece has to offer, and setting up Wano in Zoro vs Ryuma is just one reason why. Remember this is still before the time skip, so the Grand Line still feels like a relatively unknown goliath in the distance. When a zombie of an old samurai named Ryuma shows up, using Brook’s shadow to give swordsmanship skills to the original personality, Zoro sees his chance. One of his swords broke back in Enies Lobby and the one Ryuma wields is a legendary blade named Shusui.
Their fight is almost as legendary as the blade, with Zoro again slicing through a tower. Throughout their fight, he manages to gain the respect of Ryuma, who bestows Zoro with Shusui before his defeat. With the new blade, Zoro grows even stronger and will have a topic of conversation when he reaches Ryuma’s homeland of Wano. The sword is a national treasure there, and Gecko Moria is still a major villain in Wano for stealing Ryuma’s body. Shusui was used on some of the best fights that Zoro had.
2. Dressrosa: Zoro vs Pica
Zoro didn’t have a whole lot of chances in the New World to show off the ridiculous new powers he learned in the time skip. His fights against Hody’s Pirates on Fishman Island were one-sided, while the fight with Monet was more violent in words than moves. Dressrosa brought in Pica, with the Stone-Stone Fruit as his power, and gave Zoro a new goal for his swords to slice through. While he cuts down the real body of Pica multiple times, it’s not quite enough as the villain keeps popping in and out of the stone around them. When he finally makes a massive stone version of himself, Zoro decides to go all out.
Zoro straight up decides the only way to get over it is to go through it, and manages to extend Armament Haki to his swords. Now with an even more reinforced blade for slicing through, he gears up and shows off a brand new move in the Three Thousand Worlds after Orlumbus throws him fast. His blades slice straight through Pica, bringing the Stone-Stone Man’s rampage to an end so Zoro can finally rest. Hence why this fight is considered one of the best fights that Zoro had.
1. The King of Hell: Zoro vs King (and Death)
Holy shit, after not seeing Zoro fight for so long this was the match to really bring him back. He did have a brief fight against Killer earlier in Wano, but that didn’t come down to life or death for him. No, this fight against King, Lead Performer of the Beast Pirates, is something that Zoro fans have been waiting ages for. Hell, Zoro even goes all out and gives Kaido a good injury before moving to fight against King on his own. Despite going down the first time, he even takes some medication from Chopper that lets him get back in the fight.
The fight against King is one of Zoro’’s most intense. When he finally learns the secret to the Lunarian’s defense, Zoro invents a new King of Hell Sword Style to defeat him. Here he infuses all three swords with Armament and Conqueror Haki, vastly powering up his slashes as he goes. With this he unleashes the King of Hell technique, slicing right through King and winning the battle. This isn’t the end though, as Zoro faces down Death immediately after and still comes out on top!
With the final saga of One Piece in full swing, Zoro is one of the Straw Hats that will definitely have some best fights ahead. He already had a brief rematch against Kaku at Egghead, and going to Elbaph will require his strength. Zoro is no doubt one of the best fighters in One Piece, and his fights will go down as some of the greatest in the series!
