One Piece is an anime that certainly has its share of strong and powerful characters. And even though its protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, has been featured most often in our One Piece comparisons, this one won't focus on Luffy at all. Namely, the protagonists of this comparison will be Zoro, a member of Luffy's crew, and Trafalgar D. Water Law, the captain of the Hearts Pirates. In this article, we'll be analyzing both, as we'll pit Zoro against Law to finally determine who is the stronger of the two.

The outcome of this fight would depend on the fighting style. If the two fought using only weapons and their physical powers and abilities, Zoro would certainly emerge victorious. On the other hand, if Law went all out against Zoro with his Devil Fruit, he would most likely defeat Luffy's friend and teammate.

The rest of this article will expand on the answer given above, as we'll compare Zoro and Law in more detail. Through several categories, you'll see who is the stronger of the two and why our answer is the way it is—that is, we'll elaborate on the two possible outcomes of this potentially epic fight.

Physical powers

Zoro is one of the physically strongest characters in the series. He demonstrates his strength when fighting Daz Bones, easily lifting a building despite his injuries. He is seen training on the Thousand Sunny with one-ton dumbbells. His strength is likely equal to or greater than that of a giant, as he was able to parry a direct blow from Oars with his swords.

After the time skip, Zoro's strength has increased considerably. This is evidenced by the fact that he was able to defeat a Pacifista with a single attack, whereas before the timeskip he and all his companions joined forces to defeat one. He was able to cut a pirate ship with a single blow. He was also able to defeat and seriously injure Hody Jones, a fish-man with physical strength above the average for his race while underwater and with several energy steroids consumed.

One of his greatest feats was defeating Pica in his gigantic form without a single scratch, despite having to rely on Orlumbus for increased mobility and momentum. Zoro has also shown himself to be very agile and fast. An example of this is that in the Whiskey Peak arc, he engaged a large number of Baroque Works agents, slipping through their ranks so quickly that they didn't notice him until he spoke.

Although Caesar stated that the Yeti Cool Brothers were very strong, Law managed to take out one of them with relative ease. He also displayed great resilience, withstanding a direct blow to Caesar's heart, which only caused him to lose consciousness momentarily. He was able to withstand a prolonged beating from Vergo, and although the fight was brutal and bloody, when he regained his heart, he defeated him with a cut, although Doflamingo stated that when Vergo used Busoshoku Haki, it was impossible to cut.

Even when defeated and injured by Donquixote Doflamingo and Admiral Issho, Law was able to quickly recover and escape. In his second confrontation with Doflamingo, he was able to fight him off, and despite still being injured from their first encounter and even after his right arm was amputated and further injured, he was able to continue fighting and stand up to Doflamingo, inflicting a serious injury with his Gamma Knife move. Even when incapacitated by Trebol, he was able to use his severed arm and even defeat the Supreme Officer.

This was the hardest category to evaluate here, but we still think Zoro is stronger than Law. He's trained harder and his physical abilities are truly incredible, so we have to give him the points.

Points: Zoro 1, Law 0

Devil Fruit

Roronoa Zoro is a very powerful character. He is known as one of the most powerful characters in the series and one of the best swordsmen in the series; he will likely, by all means, surpass even Mihawk in the future. Now, Zoro's powers and exploits certainly warrant the conclusion that he consumed a Devil Fruit, but is that really true? It isn't—Roronoa Zoro has never eaten a Devil Fruit.

This makes Zoro one of the few characters (most notably Shanks and Mihawk) who is extremely powerful, but has not actually consumed a Devil Fruit; most other powerful characters have their individual reputations to thank for their Devil Fruits.

Law possesses the power of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Ope Ope no Mi, which allows him to create a spherical area of ​​light blue aura. As Smoker says, after eating this Devil Fruit, Law becomes a "man-modifier." In this area, he is able to separate and spatially move anything and everything. With his powers, he is able to give the impression that he can quickly slice people into pieces from a distance with his sword.

He can also join the separated parts together as he sees fit, such as slamming someone's head against a barrel. People separated by this ability are not killed and can still feel their separated parts, no matter how far apart they are (much like Buggy separates himself using the powers of the Bara Bara no Mid fruit).

The effect persists even after Law deactivates his power. The separated pieces can be reassembled, even by someone other than Law. He can make people and objects within his sphere swap places, as he did with Jean Bart and Bepo to protect the latter from a Pacifista; for example, he can exchange pistol bullets for snowflakes contained within the sphere to protect himself.

The fact that Zoro has never eaten a Devil Fruit makes this category pretty clear. Trafalgar Law's Ope Ope no Mi is quite powerful and gives Law the edge in this category.

Points: Zoro 1, Law 1

RIGHT

Zoro is one of the few people to possess all three forms of Haki. Zoro possesses Royal Haki, the rarest form of Haki, whose users possess the qualities of a king. He is first mentioned as possessing this power by Kaido after Zoro's nine-sword attack. During his fight with King, he uses Royal Haki to coat his swords, a highly advanced form, and at the same time, members of the Beasts crew faint.

He didn't use Haki offensively against Monet, but he still managed to defeat her because she thought he was going to use Haki and that she would die. Monet's fear at that moment completely destabilizes her. He has learned to imbue his swords with Haki to make them more effective against Haki or Devil Fruit users.

He also used Armament Haki on Pica to slice him, meaning his Haki is more advanced than Pica's. Using Haki also allows him to counter Devil Fruit powers, as he did to temporarily stop the Birdcage.

He first uses Observation in his fight against Nuru, a Fishman capable of blinding his opponents thanks to the lantern on his forehead, even telling him that he only used his eyes to see and that was why he was weak; he used it again to find Caribou in the palace. He also uses it during the Dressrosa Arc, to find the whereabouts of the one who stole his saber but also to find Pica during his fight against him.

Luffy announced that Law possessed Haki. The extent of his ability to use it was not revealed, but he demonstrated sufficient mastery of Busoshoku Haki to block Donquixote Doflamingo's five colored strings, which still cut through half of his palace. During his battle with Doflamingo, he also used his Buoshoku Haki offensively, successively hardening his fist and then his foot to attack the Corsair Captain. During his battle with Smoker, Law proved capable of bypassing Logia's defenses.

At one point, after Law and his crew visited Amazon Lily to rescue Luffy and Jinbe, while Law's crewmates were admiring the beauty of the Amazons, prompting Law to warn them that they were dangerous, one of the Amazons fired an arrow imbued with her Haki at the Corsair Captain, and thus ducked her head to dodge it, presumably thanks to Kenbunshoku Haki. He is a skilled user of it, though he has never explicitly shown it.

The fact that Zoro can use all three types of Haki, while Law only knows two, makes this situation quite clear. This point simply has to come back to Zoro for reasons of quantity.

Points: Zoro 2, Law 1

Weapons

At the beginning of his pirate journey, Zoro only mastered Santoryu, his conventional fighting style; but over time, he began to master techniques from other schools, such as Nitoryu, Ittoryu, and Mutouryu. Currently, Zoro and the rest of the crew have improved their abilities to face the New World.

Zoro is known to be able to cut a Pacifista of the caliber of those found in the Sabaody Archipelago, so it follows that Zoro can relatively easily cut materials even harder than steel without using Shishi Sonson-type moves, most likely because he has learned to use busoshoku haki.

Law possesses a sword called Kikoku, this sword does not belong to any qualification named by Tashigi, because according to Oda it is a cursed sword. This sword appears to be a nodachi (sword similar to traditional katanas, but much longer, blade about 1.20 m). Law seems quite skilled in swordsmanship, as he can slice his targets from long distances (although this power is also due to his Devil Fruit). Law was able to deflect Doflamingo's ropes with his sword, which is remarkable, as Doflamingo has managed to effortlessly cut everything else so far.

Law isn't a bad swordsman, quite the opposite in fact, but compared to Zoro, who is probably closest to Mihawk and Shanks, he doesn't really stand a chance in the latter category.

Points: Zoro 3, Law 1

Roranoa Zoro vs. Trafalgar D. Water Law: Who Wins?

Zoro wins against Law on our points and this one is absolutely true, but on one condition: no Devil Fruits! Namely, Zoro is a better trained swordsman than Law, he is physically more imposing and knows all three types of Haki, while Law only knows two. If the two fought using only their weapon skills and physical powers, Zoro would certainly win. It wouldn't be an easy fight, but he would win!

But if Law used his Devil Fruit powers, Zoro wouldn't have much of a chance. Law's Devil Fruit has specific traits that Zoro couldn't really counter with his skills. He might be able to cause some problems with his Haki, but we don't think that would be enough to counter Law's Devil Fruit powers and abilities. In this scenario, Law clearly wins, regardless of the points.

As we said, this fight has two possible outcomes, and they depend on the conditions of the fight. Without the Devil Fruit, Zoro defeats Law, but with it, Zoro doesn't stand much of a chance.