Pop culture is also a family affair. Somehow, the concept of family trees has been a common sight in literature, movies, and animes. For one, in “Harry Potter,” the Black family tree – to which Potter’s godfather belongs – is a significant part of the story. You also have the Stark and Lannister families in “Game of Thrones.”
There’s another family tree that viewers are fascinated to learn about. That’s the family tree of the legendary Roronoa Zoro in “One Piece.” Let’s take a glimpse.
Who Is Roronoa Zoro?
For context, Roronoa Zoro, also known as Pirate Hunter Zoro, is the main combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates, the infamous and influential pirate crew in the story. Zoro is publicly recognized as the right-hand man of Monkey D. Luffy, the crew’s captain. He might have gotten his name from California hero Zorro. Both are great swordsmen, but “One Piece’s” Zoro isn’t masked.
Zoro comes from the East Blue village. He started his career as a bounty hunter. Later, eventually, he accepted Luffy’s request to join his Straw Hat Pirates and be his right-hand man. Zoro masters the three-sword style known as Santoryu.
Is Zoro Ryuma Shimotsuki’s Descendant?
What’s even more interesting about “One Piece” is that, unlike those of others, the story of Zoro’s family was kept under wraps for such a long time until the anime’s creator, Eiichiro Oda, finally disclosed all the details and confirmed them.
One of the questions that baffled fans was, “Is Zoro a descendant of Ryuma Shimotsuki?” Ryuma is the zombie swordsman who battled against Zoro in the Thriller Bark Arc. Fans quickly noticed the striking resemblance between Zoro and Shimotsuki.
Ryuma is a famous and respected swordsman in Wano country. He is the father of the entire Shimotsuki family, just like Abraham in the Bible. The Shimotsuki family is a highly respected clan in “One Piece” and quite a big family, too. Thus, many famous people in “One Piece” are descendants of this family.
Your question answered, Oda has confirmed that Zoro is a descendant of this family.
Who Are Zoro’s Parents?
Zoro’s family was shrouded in mystery in “One Piece” until recently, including details about his parents.
A “One Piece” fan on Instagram took the initiative to create a family tree of Zoro based on the revelations of the anime’s production team. See the family tree below.
As you can see, Zoro’s lineage can be traced to Ryuma. The dotted lines indicate the multiple generations that came in between Ryuma and the birthdays of his siblings.
Furiko is Ushimaru’s elder sister. When Ushimaru was staying in the Wano country, Furiko left the place to migrate to a village in East Blue. There, she married Roronoa Pinzoro and gave birth to Roronoa Arashi, Zoro’s dad. Arashi married a woman named Terra, the mom of Zoro but the daughter of a criminal. She gave birth to our sword hero.
Eventually, Arashi was killed in a battle with pirates, while his mom, Terra, died due to an unknown illness. This might be why the story of Zoro’s family was shrouded in mystery.
You can stream “One Piece” on Crunchyroll and Hulu or watch the live-action adaptation on Netflix.
