Roronoa Zoro is undoubtedly one of the most well-known One Piece characters. Like Luffy, Zoro wants to be the best in his class, that is, he wants to become the best swordsman in the world, surpassing his idol and rival, Dracule Mihawk, who is considered the best swordsman in the world. People have speculated about Zoro's powers for years, especially since he has never eaten a Devil Fruit, and there is a common theory that he might be so skilled with his swords because he is a demon and related to the legendary Asura, which is a motif seen in some of his techniques. In this article, we will tell you whether this is true or not.

No, Roronoa Zoro is not a demon in One Piece. He is an ordinary human with exciting and powerful skills and abilities, but none of them are supernatural. Zoro was falsely labeled a Ryūma at one point, and the fact that his Nine Swords Style is associated with the Asura has also been falsely attributed to Zoro himself being a demon. He occasionally displays a demonic aura, but this is purely symbolic.

The rest of this article will focus on Zoro's character and his relationship with the Asura and the undead warrior Ryūma Shimotsuki of Wano Country in One Piece. We'll tell you if Zoro is related to either of them, meaning if he can be considered a supernatural or demonic being in the series. This article may contain a smaller number of spoilers, so be careful while reading.

Zoro has no relation to the Asura, it's just his fighting style.

In Hinduism, the Asura are a group of power-hungry, warlike deities, sometimes considered demonic or sinful. The negative personality of the Asura in Hinduism appears to have evolved over time. Generally speaking, the oldest texts indicate that the Asura presided over moral and social phenomena (for example, Varuna was the guardian of the Rita, religious rites, and Bhaga was the patron of marriages).

The Deva presided over natural phenomena (for example, Indra was the god of storms and Ushas was the dawn). As you can see, these are not really characters from One Piece but rather from Hindu mythology, and they serve as a motif in One Piece. This means that Zoro cannot really be a descendant of the Asura, nor a demon god like the Asura. The connection comes from the fact that Zoro's Nine Sword Style is connected to the Asura, so we will explain it here.

The Nine Swords Style, also known as Kyūtōryū, is a variation of Zoro's main Three Swords Style in which "nine swords" are used. The Nine Sword Style gives the illusion that Zoro possesses nine swords—nine heads, nine arms, and nine replicas of his swords—while actually being an extension of his mind. Zoro appears as an Asura because of this. After the time skip, Zoro unintentionally introduced Haoshoku Haki while using the Nine Sword Style. Known techniques include:

• Kiki Kyūtōryū: Ashura is a transformation of Zoro's, allowing him to perform Kyūtōryū and greatly increasing his combat power. He first uses it against Kaku and defeats him with Ichibugin. Against the PX-4, he can destroy parts of his armor by letting Makyūsen follow this transformation. He can also defeat Indigo with Ugui and reduce a massive connecting bridge to ruins.
• Ashura: Ichibugin is a move created by Roronoa Zoro, which he first introduced in Enies Lobby. Zoro assumes the Ashura fighting form and positions everyone with their swords in front of him. Zoro uses the attack as the finishing move in his fight against Kaku, stopping his Rankyaku Amanedachi and defeating Agent CP9.
• Ashura: Makyūsen is an attack first introduced by Roronoa Zoro on the Sabaody Archipelago. Here, Zoro assumes the same Ashura form as in the fight against Kaku, when he used his Ashura: Ichibugin to destroy Kaku's Rankyaku Amanedachi and defeat him. The difference lies in the swirling arrangement of swords that Zoro uses to attack his opponent. Zoro deploys the attack on the Sabaody Archipelago as part of a series of attacks against the Pacifista PX-4 by the Mugiwara pirate gang.
• Ashura: Ugui is a technique used by Zoro, which he performs with the help of Kiki Kyūtōryū: Ashura using "nine swords." It strikes his opponent while spinning like a tornado, which is then launched high into the air. Zoro uses this attack against Indigo for the first time and is able to defeat him after a short fight. This technique is not canon.
• Ashura Bakkei: Mōja no Tawamure is an after-time jumping technique developed by Zoro as part of his Nine Swords style. It is performed using Enma, which Zoro holds in his right hand, while holding the other swords in his mouth and left hand as usual, after which he enters his Asura-like demonic state.

The probability of Zoro being connected to Ryūma is not that high

As for Ryūma, he was born in the Ringo region of Wano Country to the Shimotsuki family. In real life, Ryūma was a samurai from Wano Country in the New World who lived about four hundred years ago; famous for slaying a dragon in the Flower Capital and stopping the island's constant foreign invasions. His exploits against the beast were recounted in Oda's previous work, Monsters, in which he is the main protagonist. The events of this story took place long ago, in an unspecified location, in an unspecified part of history.

One Piece Figure

Come see

Regarding our topic, most theories based on Zoro being a descendant of Ryūma Shimotsuki are, in fact, Zoro fanboys and fangirls who want to give Zoro a deeper story and meaning beyond the fact that he is a powerful and talented character with a clear purpose. Oda himself hasn't really hinted at anything similar and while it could happen, now that the Wano Country Arc is over, it doesn't seem likely that Oda will revisit the entire story just to make a dead character Zoro's descendant.

People note that they looked a lot alike when they were the same age, which is somewhat true, that they have similar skills, and that Zoro grew up in Shimotsuki Village, which some fans consider an Oda hint. Other than that, there's no evidence to corroborate a relationship between Zoro and Ryūma Shimotsuki, including the fact that Zoro isn't from Wano Country and there's no indication that he could be from there. Additionally, he had a very close relationship with Kuina, a descendant of the Shimotsuki family, so changing that relationship would be a bit much if you ask us.

Officially, Zoro and Ryūma Shimotsuki are not related. Some theories could turn out to be more or less true, so we can't completely rule anything out, but officially, there is no connection between them, and from what we know of the story so far, it's unlikely that Oda will change that fact anytime soon.