What happens to Zoro after Luffy becomes Pirate King?
Roronoa Zoro is the favorite Straw Hat for tons of One Piece fans, and we just can’t
wait to see him achieve his goal of becoming the world’s strongest swordsman.
But what waits for Zoro after he finally defeats Dracule Mihawk?
After the One Piece is found and the World Government is taken down, what’s left for
our favorite pirate crew?
While the manga will eventually end, we readers want to imagine the world and the characters
in it living on beyond that final page.
Will Oda give us an epilogue that gives us a happily ever after for each of our Straw
Hat pirates - or will there be a bittersweet twist?
That’s what we want to speculate on today.
For some Straw Hats, it’s easy to imagine what they’ll do in the future.
There will always be hungry people, and Sanji wlil always want to cook for them, most likely
with tasty fish from the All Blue.
Franky will never want to stop tinkering with his machines and building bigger and better
ships, even after the Thousand Sunny completes its voyage around the world.
And with his immortality, Soul King Brook will probably give Keith Richards a run for
his money when it comes to rockstar longevity.
But today, we want to focus on Roronoa Zoro.
Zoro’s goal is to become the strongest swordsman in the world.
By the end of the series, it’s extremely likely that Zoro will achieve that goal by
facing down his mentor, Dracule Mihawk, once and for all.
Unlike some of the other Straw Hat’s dreams, his has a singular goal, and when it’s done
it’s done.
By defeating Mihawk, he will definitively become the strongest swordsman.
His goal will be completed, so what comes next?
Zoro’s entire existence is characterized by his pursuit of strength.
He’s constantly lifting giant weights and practicing his swordsmanship.
He’s always surpassing his limits by cutting down stronger and stronger opponents.
He started from almost nothing, getting completely washed by Mihawk.
But eventually, in his duel with Daz Bones, Zoro learned how to cut steel (possibly tapping
into haki long before we ever learned about it properly in the series.
And now, he’s tapped into even Conqueror’s Haki.)
In Wano, he’s managed to match the strength of the legendary Kozuki Oden by cutting Kaidou’s
nearly-invincible scales as well as learning Kinemon’s technique for cutting through
flames.
Now, it’s looking like he’ll have to fight an opponent he can’t even see as the Straw
Hats face off against the Blackbeard Pirates, as he’ll likely fight Shiryu of the Rain.
And if a popular fan theory is correct, he may even fight someone who inherits Jozu’s
fruit, learning to cut the hardest substance in the world: diamond.
What does someone who pursues strength so single-mindedly do after they finally become
the strongest swordsman in the world?
What else does Zoro have to strive for?
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But now, back to Zoro.
Thankfully, when it comes to predicting what Zoro might do in the future, we’re not working
totally blind here.
Oda has actually given us a few hints to what the future might look like for the Straw Hats.
In the SBS sections of the manga volumes, he’s actually provided some illustrations
of what various Straw Hats would look like at age 40 or 60, and he generously gave us
both good timelines and bad timelines.
If you haven’t checked out these drawings in the recent SBSes, definitely do yourself
a favor and give them a look!
For the good timeline, Zoro ages very gracefully.
Really, he hardly looks to have aged at all, save for a few wrinkles here and there.
With a nice comedic touch, Zoro at age 40 declares that he has mastered the four-sword
style and at age 60, he’s even upgraded to five-swords.
I’m not even sure I want to know how he’s holding those fourth and fifth swords, but
feel free to leave your best guesses down in the comments.
This goes to show, though, that Zoro’s pursuit of strength doesn’t have to end just because
he’s the strongest swordsman in the world.
Even if he overcomes Mihawk and stands above any other challenger, there’s still one
important opponent he’ll have: himself.
He can always continue lifting his oversized weights and surpassing his own limits.
He’ll likely maintain his disciplined training rather than resting on his laurels.
After all, he’s already achieved so much in the story and that hasn’t changed his
razor sharp focus on improving himself.
As we mentioned earlier, he learned how to cut steel, but that’s only the beginning
of what Zoro has accomplished.
He’s helped hold his crew together in the toughest moments, such as when Usopp left
the Straw Hats during Water 7.
He’s defeated formidable foes like the legendary warrior from Wano, Ryuma, gaining the fabled
sword Shusui.
And also in Thriller Bark, who could forget him taking on all of Luffy’s pain in order
to save the rest of his crew, and in a truly iconic moment, professing that “Nothing
Happened.”
And recently in Wano, like we mentioned, he’s managed not only to scar Kaidou, a feat formerly
only accomplished by Oden, but also to temporarily block a dual attack from Kaidou and Big Mom.
He also, of course, tamed Oden’s sword, Enma and evidently even fought back the grim
reaper himself.
And as we enter the final saga, Zoro shows no signs of slowing down.
Like Mihawk, he may live a quiet and reserved life, though with barrels of sake instead
of glasses of wine.
He’ll train consistently, waiting and searching for the time that a worthy opponent may arise,
wanting to take the mantle of world’s greatest swordsman for themselves.
However, on the opposite end of things, we have the terrifying “bad timeline” Zoro.
Tragically, he loses his hair along with several teeth, and definitely stops working out.
At age 40, he’s long given up swordsmanship, claiming that “holding that katana with
my mouth makes my back hurt.”
If I were to guess, I’d say that’s probably how he lost those teeth, too.
At age 60, things are even worse - in this timeline he’s become a beggar, claiming
that he’ll bow down to anyone who will give him some spare change.
We can only guess as to what terrible events would convince Zoro to drop his swordsmanship
along with his convictions.
The Zoro we know would never bow to anyone - after all, he’s a conqueror, just like
his captain.
And while Oda’s drawings give us hints as to what Zoro might do after the story, it
doesn’t tell us where he’ll be doing it.
Where might Zoro go after Luffy becomes the pirate king and the Thousand Sunny stops its
voyage?
There are a few options - after Zoro dethrones Mihawk, perhaps he’ll eventually take over
as the steward of Kuraigana Island after the Shichibukai passes on.
Someone has to keep all those apes company, after all.
However, occupying Mihawk’s home chateau seems more up Perona’s alley - and something
tells me Zoro would rather not spend any extra time with her.
After all, he’s not as keen on that Tim Burton, goth aesthetic.
If any Straw Hat were to look at home there, it’d probably be Brook.
I could also see Zoro ending up on Sabaody Archipelago, taking up Silvers Rayleigh’s
job.
Zoro’s the first mate to the future pirate king, so maybe it would be fitting for him
to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, the first mate of Gol D. Roger.
Zoro, too, could keep an eye out for up and coming rookies making their way to the New
World, and perhaps even giving them a test of strength before they descend into the second
half of the Grand Line.
Another option could be to return to Wano.
After all, it’s become clear that Zoro is a Shimotsuki, and even the possible heir to
a Daimyo position.
Zoro’s way around a katana, and the way he seems to attract Wano blades like the Kitetsus,
the Wado Ichimonji, Shusui, and now Enma to him seem to suggest a natural attraction to
his homeland.
I’m sure certain shippers would not be disappointed to see him end up with Hiyori either, given
some of their chemistry in the Wano arc.
Besides, where better to find tough opponents than among the samurai of Wano.
Perhaps, though, Zoro will travel all the way back to the East Blue, to his home in
Shimotsuki Village.
After becoming the greatest swordsman, he’ll visit Kuina’s grave to show her that he
achieved his goal - after all, he did it in part to carry on her legacy.
A truly touching scene could be him teaching young pupils at the dojo where he learned
swordsmanship, igniting the same spark in them to become the strongest that was lit
in him as a child.
And since we already suggested that Zoro could end up with Hiyroi, while we’re shipping,
we might as well wonder if he might become closer to Tashigi.
Obviously their relationship has been pretty strained, with him comparing her to Kuina,
and her being a marine and trying to capture his crew, but they sure do love a good sword,
so that’s something they have in common.
Maybe Zoro will never settle down at all.
Something tells me Luffy will always be up for an adventure, and he’ll probably need
his most reliable crew mate at his side.
And if you really want to understand why Zoro is so loyal to Luffy and how their relationship
has grown throughout the story, you simply can’t miss out on that video right here.