Even after running for 25 years and ongoing, One Piece still has plenty of mysteries left. Many of the mysteries of the world of One Piece are revealed through the manga volumes published. The volumes contain not only multiple chapters but also some extra tidbits directly from the creator, Eichiro Oda. The last released volume, One Piece Volume 105, revealed one of the greatest mysteries of the series that fans have been dying to know. The most exciting thing Volume 105 finally revealed is Zoro’s Family Tree!
Table of Contents
The Mystery of Zoro’s Family
Roronoa Zoro is the swordsman of Straw Hat Pirates and the first crewmate Luffy got himself. During the course of the story, many fans have wondered if Zoro’s superior swordsmanship is a product of his heritage or if he’s just a common man with no special heritage.
The opinion of the fandom regarding this has been polarizing. There have been multiple speculations, and that got more pronounced after the introduction of Wano, the land of the samurai.
In the Wano Arc, this becomes most prominent as fans come to know of the Shimotsuki family. The members of the Shimotsuki family very closely resemble our green-haired swordsman, which leads fans to believe that Zoro belongs to the Shimotsuki family.
Zoro’s fight with the legendary Ryuma, who also hailed from the Shimotsuki family, gave weight to this theory. Not only did Zoro defeat the revived samurai, he also earned his respect.
Though the fact was never directly addressed in the Wano Arc and even after that, leaving fans wondering about the truth of Zoro’s heritage, that is until now.
Zoro’s Connection to Shimotsuki Family
It helps that Zoro himself belongs to the Shimotsuki village, training under Shimotsuki Koushirou and inheriting Wado Ichimonji from his daughter, Kuina. This strongly pointed to Zoro having a connection to the Shimotsuki family.
During the Wano Arc, we meet several of the Shimotsuki, and it becomes clear that the Shimotsuki family in East Blue originated from Wano and is a branch of the original family.
In Wano, we get to know about three prominent Shimotsuki figures: Shimotsuki Ushimaru, Shimotsuki Kozaburo, and Shimotsuki Yasuie. Each one of the three plays a certain role in the story and leaves a strong impression on viewers. This is to be expected as the Shimotsuki family is one of the most significant families in Wano, having a rich history in the country.
During the Wano Arc, Zoro meets a perpetually smiling man, Yasuie, who accompanies him briefly during his journey. While initially not coming off as anything but a weird man, Yasuie proves his worth and character multiple times, most notably by sacrificing himself to protect the plan of the alliance of the Akazaya Nine, the Minks, the Straw Hats, and the Heart Pirates.
It is then revealed that Yasuie not only has a connection to Kozuki Oden, but he also hails from the Shimotsuki family.
There’s also Shimotsuki Kozaburo, who appears in Chapter 1033 of the manga, named after the character himself, and also has a connection to Zoro. Kozaburo was a swordsmith and the crafter of Wado Ichimonji and Enma. He met young Zoro in the Shimotsuki Village and taught the boy “sunacchi”.
The third prominent Shimotsuki we meet is Shimotsuki Ushimaru. He appears in Yamato’s flashback, imprisoned by Kaido. Though Ushimaru is shown to have no direct connection to Zoro, fans did notice the similarity between their appearances.
Zoro’s Family Tree
One Piece Volume 105 finally reveals one of the most anticipated truths of the series: Zoro’s family tree. In this volume, the mangaka, Eichiro Oda, addresses the anticipation of fans regarding Zoro’s family tree and finally gives them the answer.
The volume reveals that Shimotsuki Kozaburo disregarded the laws of the country and left Wano fifty-five years ago, along with a group of 25 people. These people included Shimotsuki Furiko, who is Ushimaru’s sister, and a carpenter named Minatomo. The crew sailed across the sea and finally reached East Blue.
In East Blue, they saved a village from bandits, and 10 people from the crew stayed in the village while the rest left. This village eventually came to be the Shimotsuki Village.
In the village, Kozaburo and Furiko married a village girl and a village swordsmith, respectively. This village swordsmith Furiko married was none other than Zoro’s grandfather, Roronoa Pinzoro. This makes Zoro a descendant of the Shimotsuki family.
Furiko and Pinzoro had a son, Roronoa Arashi, who married Tera, the daughter of a criminal. Tera died of illness when Zoro was very little, while Arashi gave his life to the hands of pirates. This also connects to Zoro’s initial occupation as a pirate hunter.
It is already known that Kuina was the granddaughter of Kozaburo, and this makes Zoro and her distant cousins. But their familial relationship is never mentioned in the series by the two of them or through others. It might mean that they probably did not know that they were relatives, but it’s only a conjecture.
In short, Zoro’s family tree looks something like this:
The Significance of Zoro’s Family Tree
The revelation of Zoro’s family tree brings a lot of excitement among fans, not only because it was due to its time but also because this could have a huge impact on the story and the character of Zoro himself.
In the Whole Cake Island Arc, we finally learn the truth about Sanji’s family, and that changes our whole perspective on his character and his powers.
The same could be the case for Zoro. Until now, his family and heritage have never been the focal point of the story. But this revelation will change things, and Oda surely is planning a whole part of the story to explore Zoro’s family tree.
Some of the histories of the Shimotsuki family can be huge plot points further in the story, like the rest of Kozaburo’s crew and whether they still live in East Blue or somewhere else in the world. They can be allies for the Straw Hats in the future or may become villains.
This concludes our discussion of Zoro’s family tree that Oda revealed in One Piece Volume 105 SBS. Zoro is a fan-favorite character, and this revelation of his heritage hyped fans all the more, so don’t forget to stay tuned with the One Piece manga.
The manga is currently in the Egghead Arc, while the anime is still covering the Wano Arc. Read the manga on VIZ Media and MANGA Plus.
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Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.
