Monsters, Eiichiro Oda’s one-shot manga before he published the wildly popular One Piece, recently got its anime adaptation which was released on Netflix earlier this month. The one-shot follows Shimotsuki Ryuma, the legendary samurai from Wano, and features his famous act of slaying a dragon.Â
Ryuma’s mighty swordsmanship reminds us of the other prominent swordsman in One Piece: Roronoa Zoro. Aside from their swordsmanship, the two also have more connection between them. Zoro faced Ryuma’s zombie in the Thriller Bark Arc and defeated him. Later, it was revealed in One Piece Volume 105 SBS that Zoro is a descendant of the Shimotsuki family, and thus, Ryuma.
These two swordsmen from two different times have a lot in common which makes us wonder what would happen if they were to fight each other at their full strength. Here is our take on Zoro vs. Ryuma and how their powers compare to one another:
Table of Contents
Roronoa Zoro: Powers and Abilities
Roronoa Zoro is the swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates and the first one to join Monkey D. Luffy’s crew. He’s from Shimotsuki Village in East Blue where he learned swordsmanship as a child and vowed to become the best swordsman in the world, especially after the death of his friend and rival, Kuina. His current aim is to defeat Dracule Mihawk and earn the title of the world’s best swordsman for himself.
Powers and Abilities
Zoro is currently among the strongest characters in One Piece. He’s the second strongest in his crew, falling only behind his captain. Not only that but he’s also a member of the Worst Generation, being one of the only two non-captain members of the group. A hint of Zoro’s power and potential lies in his high bounty which currently stands at 1,111,000,000 bellies.
- Zoro’s swordsmanship style is iconic in not only One Piece but in all anime and manga in general. He practices the Three Swords Style by wielding three swords, two in each of his hands and one in his mouth.
- Currently, the three swords Zoro owns are Wado Ichimonji, Sandai Kitetsu, and Enma which previously belonged to Kozuki Oden.
- Aside from the Three Swords Style, Zoro can also use the Two Swords Style, One Swords Style, No Swords Style, and Foxfire Style. In the last swordsmanship style, he can cut through fire.
- Zoro is a high-caliber swordsman and his skills have gotten only better over the course of the story. At present, he can cut through almost anything with his swords, be it metal or an entire ship, without breaking a sweat.
- He is also a skilled practitioner of Haki. In fact, he is one of the only few characters in the story who can perform all three kinds of Haki.
- Zoro’s Busoshoku Haki is very strong. He can infuse Busoshoku Haki into his swords to strengthen his attacks. His Kenbunshoku Haki is also quite skilled, though he hasn’t been seen much using it.
- As for Haoshoku Haki, Zoro unlocks this particular Haki during the Onigashima Arc, becoming one of the few characters to be able to use it and one of the fewer non-leaders to do so.
Shimotsuki Ryuma: Powers and Abilities
Shimotsuki Ryuma was a legendary samurai from Wano who was known as the greatest swordsman in the world. He lived during the golden age of Wano when the nation was known as the Country of Gold. Because of his swordsmanship and the nobility of his personality, he was known as the Sword God and the King. His most prominent achievement was his slaying a dragon during the events of Monsters.
Powers and Abilities
Ryuma is one of the greatest swordsmen of all time, revered through generations because of his grand feats. During the events of Monsters, he’s shown to be extremely proficient in swordsmanship as a young man, being able to defeat a powerful foe like Shirano and slaying a deadly dragon with ease. It’s safe to assume that he’d only gotten stronger with time since that incident.
- Unlike Zoro’s Three Swords Style, Ryuma practiced the more standard swordsmanship with one sword. He used to wield Shusui, one of the 21 Great Swords, and was buried with it. In the anime adaptation of Monsters, he slays the dragon with his Shusui while in the manga, it was another sword.
- As the slayer of a dragon, it needs no explanation of how great a swordsman Ryuma was. He could even cut through a copper statue like it was nothing.
- Though the true extent of Ryuma’s use of Haki is unknown, he is confirmed to be able to use Ryou, the advanced form of Busoshoku Haki taught in Wano. His Busoshoku Haki was strong enough to turn Shusui into a black blade.
Zoro vs. Ryuma: Comparison
Comparing Zoro and Ryuma’s powers can be a bit tricky because while Zoro’s powers and abilities are explored broadly in the story, we don’t get to see much from Ryuma. Besides, the two of them have already fought on Thriller Bark with Zoro winning and receiving Shusui from Ryuma as a prize.Â
But their fight on Thriller Bark cannot be counted as the true result of Zoro vs. Ryuma. This is because at that time, Ryuma was a zombie carrying the shadow of Brook which gave him the abilities and skill set of Brook, rather than himself. Zoro was clearly stronger than Brook, so, it was no surprise that he won the fight.
But if Zoro were to fight Ryuma at the latter’s full strength, would he be able to win?
We believe with the current skill set and power scaling of Zoro, he could win the Zoro vs. Ryuma fight. Ryuma was the strongest swordsman at his time; this might not be true in the present. And as for Zoro, when it comes to pure swordsmanship, his skills currently come only second to Mihawk.
Not only that but Zoro is also able to use all three kinds of Haki and his Haoshoku-infused attacks can be deadly for any opponent, as we’ve seen from his fights against Kaido and King. Given Ryuma’s reputation, he might’ve also been able to use all three kinds of Haki, but we don’t know that for sure. So, as of now, Zoro has the edge over his ancestor.
Zoro has also fought all kinds of powerful opponents which gives us a hint that he probably has surpassed Ryuma by now in terms of swordsmanship. So, our verdict for now is that the Pirate Hunter would win the Zoro vs. Ryuma fight if they were to clash at their full power.
Conclusion
This is where we conclude our discussion on Zoro vs. Ryuma. As we’ve mentioned before, we can see Zoro winning the fight based on their individual power and abilities that we know. But remember, this verdict also comes from our lack of knowledge about the true extent of Ryuma’s abilities. So, until we know, we’ll have to consider our resident moss-head as the winner of the Zoro vs. Ryuma fight.
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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.
